PORT ISABEL ROTARY CLUB
JULY PRESIDENTS PROGRESS REPORT
Let’s start by saying…I probably will forget something in this report but I wanted to try and recap what we have accomplished since I started my presidency….so I am sorry if I left something out.
MEMBERSHIP
Yes, I have started with membership…since it is so critical to our “survival.”
- The board approved the creation of a membership lane and the chair, Traci Lichtensteiger, will, consequently, serve on the board.
- Traci has created committees of three. Each committee has been asked to find at least one new member during the coming year. That would mean a minimum of 13 new members.
- Traci has created a committee made up of herself, Tony Meyn, and Bob Fudge.
- Her committee will begin contacting club members who have not been attending once she receives Sammy’s July attendance report.
- Sammy will begin providing monthly attendance records for members to review and correct prior to his reporting to the powers that be starting in early August.
- We inducted two new members in July: Ginni and George Riley. They are Rotarians that transferred their membership from Sebastopal, California.
- We lost a member in July: Jeff Aldridge L due to increased job responsibilities.
- Two members were given/or will be given retroactively temporary leaves of absence: Paul Estrada because he was reassigned to bail out WalMart stores in need of his expertise—out of the area. Debbie Holliday had to return to Oklahoma to take care of a medical emergency and it may take several months to resolve.
- We now have 41 members…one more than we started July with.
These groups were picked by going down the alphabet and counting off by 14s. Then I (Traci) was told to take some people out, so the two remaining of that group were added to the first two groups randomly.
Group 1-Jerry Adams, Marie Ferrier, Rob Nixon, Duane Rasmussen
Group 2-Deeonda Ahadi, Bill Foster, Bob White, Debbie Holliday
Group 3-Ebbie Ahadi, Bob Fudge, Tom Plumb
Group 4-Daniel Alaniz, Roxanne Guenzel, Dan Quandt
Group 5-Ralph Ayers, Jeff Hughes, John Reed
Group 6-Ron Boudreaux, Ken Irwin, Sammy Reyes
Group 7-Paul Cardile, Beckie Johnson, Rick Ridolfi
Group 8-Jeff Church, Mike Krieder, George Riley
Group 9-George Colley, Dave Krummel, Ginny Riley
Group 10-Pam Dean, Traci Lichtensteiger, Robert Rodriguez
Group 11-Diane Delgado, John Magee, Charles Rogan
Group 12-Jacqui Dempsey, Darrell Mangham, Phil Taylor
Group 13- Paul Estrada, Tony Meyn, Bettina Tolin
For quite a while we have enjoyed the presence of about 25 of our 39 (now 41) members each week—this is a 64% attendance record. We all have other commitments and many times we cannot attend. However, part of the membership lane responsibility is to keep on top of this and contact those that have slipped in their attendance—so please do not be offended by that contact. Fortunately, many people who cannot attend the weekly meeting do participate in activities during the week—THANKS!
And, thanks to former PI Rotarian Stan Hulse, who printed it at cost, we have an incredible new directory.
Duane is our parliamentarian…shall we say frustrated Parliamentarian…and he tracks needed changes to our By-Laws and Constitution.
There were no necessary changes to our by-laws but we made the following changes to the constitution (by board vote and then club vote):
In Article IX Attendance, Section 2 Extended Absence on Outposted Assignment. Halfway through the fourth line a phrase beginning with "within the member's" and ending with "designated club." was removed as not belonging there.
In Article XV Acceptance of Object...we removed the phrase "an admission fee and" because we do not have admission fees.
In Article XVI Arbitration we added "and Mediation". We also added Section 3 -- Mediation that contains more detail on the conduct of mediation, the mediation outcomes and how to handle an unsuccessful mediation. Section 4 on arbitration was added and Section 5 on "Decision of Arbitrators or Umpire." These were all required by RI.
- A basketball fundraising committee was established with the following members: George and Ginni Riley (as chairs), Tom Plumb, Ralph Ayers, Paul Cardile, Bob Fudge, John Reed, Ken Irwin, Jeff Aldridge, Tony Flaig, Dan Quandt, and Robert Rodriguez.
- We have signed a contract with the Harlem Ambassadors for a February 14, 2010, game at the Port Isabel High School gym and paid a $500.00 deposit towards the $3,300.00 fee.
- The South Padre Bank is our first $500.00 sponsor.
- The capacity of the gym is 1,000 people.
- The ticket price will be $10.00.
- We can sell refreshments but cannot allow them in the new gym.
- We cannot sell paraphernalia because the Ambassadors will be selling some. We will get 10% of their sales after the first $300.00.
- Tony Flagg will help recruit a local team to play against the Ambassadors for one half of the game. We hope to have the Boys and Girls Club field a team for the other half.
- We will need to provide or pay for janitorial services, security, game board technician, referee, etc.
Pirates Landing has agreed to let us set up our machine on their property during the Heritage Festival planned for October 10.
Debbie Holliday has offered to help with the subscription billing!!! Bettina has assured me that bills for past due subscriptions re ready to be sent out.
FISH FRY, PANCAKE BREAKFAST AND AMBULANCE/POLICE/ FIREFIGHTER RECOGNITION
July 24 Lionel Betancourt, Adoption Picnics, Ralph
A program on Early Act was presented by Ralph. He and Tom are interested in starting an Early Act Club in Derry Elementary. A committee was created to pursue this once Derry comes back in session—comprised of Ralph, DeeOnda, and Eloina Fudge.
Lionel Betancourt, the czar of Adoption picnics from San Benito, came to speak to the club about Adoption Picnics. Three members expressed an interest in forming a committee to get involved—Pam Dean, Traci Lichtensteiger, and DeeOnda Ahadi.
We had extensive coverage of DeeOnda’s involvement with the disabled, veteran scuba divers in the Island Current, Brownsville Herald and internationally.
We had a photo and caption of Pirates Landing Restaurant receiving their “Business of the Year” award in the PI Press
Jerry Adams has agreed to be the Foundation czar…he is in need of a committee to educate us about the Foundation and encourage our members to help out financially. Every year we receive two Matching Grants so we need to keep this in mind when we are asked to give back to the Foundation.
The Polio Plus jar has reached $200.00. Rotary International has asked us to try and raise $1,000.00 for polio plus this year. Please throw your spare change in the jar each week—so we won’t have to tap our budget!! Thanks!
Traci Lichtensteiger, Ralph Ayers, John Reed and Tom Plumb have each donated $100.00 to the Rotary Foundation through their dues payments.
Tom Plumb, Bob White, and Rick Ridolfi continue to be $1,000.00 Paul Harris Society members.
Wendy Hauschildt has been hired to redesign our website (www.pirotary.org) and to assist four of us in updating it ourselves. She has started the process to transfer the domain name to our ownership. We have established a GoDaddy account to make this possible.
Tom, Bob Fudge and Ralph have had an initial meeting with her. Jeff Church also serves on this committee. Bob Fudge is the committee leader.
We still need to find a location (that does not have a liquor license—so we can provide the drinks) for the Friday night potluck supper.
Our visit to Monterey will be November 6, 7 and 8. Yes, we will have a golfing outing for the golfers but we are also hoping to arrange alternative side trips for those who wish to go on better shopping trips, do ecotourism, and visit cultural sites. A city tour has also been suggested for one of the afternoons. To participate we will need to sign up ahead of time and probably pay additional fees. We hope to have these activities planned for Friday and Saturday afternoons…on Friday you can choose from column A and on Saturday you can choose from Column B : )
Robert Rodriguez and Bob White have prepared a Matching Grant application to purchase Radiology equipment for the Clinica Teresita. The total project cost is $60,950.00. The hoped for funding sources are as follows:
Port Isabel Rotary $4,000.00
District 5930 funds $4,000.00
District 4130 funds $4,000.00
The Rotary Foundation $12,000.00
Clinica Teresita clinic $30,450.00
This project will require $2,000.00 more from our club than originally planned. This change will be discussed/blessed at the board meeting on August 12.
During July, the Honduran power company and villagers completed the installation of a power supply for the community of Cunda and began the installation of power for the Pech Indian village of Moradel. The power company is providing the labor free of charge—saving our matching grant money. We have two more power projects ahead of us—La Brea and Caribbean Mission. All are funded through a matching grant approved last year. The monies saved due to the free labor have been assigned to the La Brea power project and a new dam for San Martin.
Tom is applying for a Matching Grant for Honduras again this year. Our budget allows for $4,785.00 for Honduras this year. These funds will either be applied to the Matching Grant or a school as needed. Tom is applying for a matching grant to build a community slow sand water filtration system and clean water tank for the 11,000 residents of Barrio San Martin (we built them a 36,000 gallon water storage tank this year); pipeline to connect the Barrio Cristales dam (3,000 residents) to the 26,000 gallon tank we built in 2008 and then to the new slow sand community filtration system and clean water tank (to be provided by a $27,776.00 Matching Grant that was just awarded to District 5830) and then to a central distribution system; and a filtration tank that will allow for the settlement of sand, gravel and silt out of the water supply serving the 4,000 residents of Barrios Buenos Aires and Miramar.
Barrio San Martin $25,000.00 (free labor)
Barrio Cristales $24,611.68 (free labor + half cost)
Barrio Buenos Aires and Miramar $33,014.84 (half cost)
Rotary Foundation $23,062.82
Barrio Cristales $12,305.84
Barrio Buenos Aires $16,507.42
We have budgeted $2,500.00 to help the orphanage with an air conditioning system. I believe this is a part of another Club’s Matching Grant application.
Members are always needed to help out with starting an EarlyAct Club at Derry, getting involved in an adoption picnic, helping sell margaritas and water at the Heritage Festival in October, helping start and perpetuate the new Social Club, assist with the Fish Fry, raise and lower flags, help Jerry with the Foundation committee, orchestrating a visit to the Matamoras orphanage, and many other activities. If you haven’t gotten involved with an actual activity—as opposed to “sit” on a lane—please consider volunteering—or step forward, if asked.
Bettina Tolin, President-elect (and Community Service lane chair)
Ralph Ayers, Past President
Robert Rodriguez, International Service Lane Chair
Pam Dean, Club Service Lane Chair
George Colley, Vocational Service lane chair
Traci Lichtensteiger, Membership lane chair
In the past, apparently, the budget was prepared by the Lane Chairs and Treasurer and voted on by the Board and then presented to the club.
I discovered why—but still prefer my method of presenting a draft to the club for their input, living with the criticism—and very good suggestions for improvement. As a consequence we added in a few line items/donations that had been left out in the past—unbeknowst to the membership (eg Boys and Girls Club and Boy Scouts).
The Club also seemed unaware that we have been living off savings—built up during the days of the boat raffle—for the past two years. Spending at the same rate this year would have eliminated those savings—and no planning had been done regarding what to do after that—except draconian cuts in services or immediate quickee fundraising.
The basketball game, unbudgeted gravy from selling margaritas and water at the Heritage festival, increased revenues due to improved billing for the Flag program—and more sales, and a proposed pancake breakfast should make for a balanced budget this year (a common refrain among the criticisms received). We have balanced the budget—although a requested increase of $2,000.00 more (above the original Lane request) for Monterey--makes that goal a little precarious. Without the increase, the budget calls for $30,850.00 in income and $28,285.00 in expenses. With the increase, our cushion is gone and factoring in optimistic fundraising goals we may not actually balance the budget. Despite that—I support the increase—and hope that members will step forward to help us reach our fundraising goals.
Our District increased our dues to the district from $25.00 to $30.00 per member. Our board voted not to pass that increase on to our members. The board also voted down a proposal to include a $40.00 surcharge in the dues to pay for the bus going to Monterey. So the dues remain at $190.00 per year. We are expected to pay out dues to the District and Rotary International in July—so we need your dues paid as soon as possible.
Marcelo’s has been impacted by a/n (merited) increase in the minimum wage and needs to pass on that cost to us. Therefore, the amount we need to pay Marcelo’s out of our $10.00 meal cost has gone from $8.50 to $9.00. That, of course, when you factor in the raffle winnings, dramatically impacts our net. Assume 25 meal eaters each week and a loss of 50 cents per meal—that is a loss of $650.00 per year. We have absorbed a $5.00 per member increase in District dues already—and, as we insist on balanced budgets—at some point we need to pass on increases. The board will be considering how to address the increase on August 12. We reduced our weekly meal/raffle cost from $11.00 to $10.00 recently (primarily for ease of money exchange—okay jump on me for that statement)—I will be supporting a change back to $11.00.
Due to Ralph’s commitments in New Jersey during June, we had to carry over several of his awards into this current year.
Bill Foster, our treasurer, was awarded the Rotarian of the year award, as Ralph’s “go-to man”.
Our Business of the Year was Pirates Landing for their extensive community service—in particular their involvement with and support of the Museums of Port Isabel and Lighthouse. Scott Friedman accepted the award on behalf of the restaurant.
Ralph presented four $1,000.00 scholarships to students selected by the Vocational Lane. One of those recipients should be eligible for a 3:1 (3 more annual $1,000.00 scholarships provided by the University) match…Texas A&M in Kingsville has a matching grant program for students planning to major in sciences. That is being investigated. Next year we plan to present the scholarships at the graduation ceremonies..and, I hope, include high school community service as a criteria.
PROJECTION SCREEN
We have always made-do with a make shift projection screen. Traci was able to get WalGreens to donate a small pull down screen for our use—thanks Traci!!
Pam has ben working on developing a monthly social night (eligible for make-ups) at the Sea Ranch. We hope this will provide a venue for winter Texans to make up as well as our own members and bring in a younger crowd of potential members. Once we get confirmation from the Sea Ranch…we will get this underway.
The Rotary sign as you enter Port Isabel is in great need of repainting and straightening…Jerry Adams has agreed to take it down, scrape it, and repaint it. Thanks, Jerry!!!
SHOWER
It don’t rain in south Texas….but we do have our showers. Thanks to all those who attended Traci’s shower at Pam and Jerry’s (and thanks go out to Pam and Jerry). It was fun…even if we didn’t get the promised shower with Traci and/or Jake!
UNDER THE RADAR, RI LICENSE PLATES
When I arrived here from Vermont, I approached TxDOT about getting a Rotary license plate—similar to the one I had in Vermont. They did not exist—despite numerous attempts to create one. So……..the quest to create one began. The first three years were spent going through channels to get the 10 Texas District Governors to sign off on it—which required an $800.00 per district commitment—and there were always 2 or 3 who did not have it in their budget and the concept died. There is also the potential for $22.00 of the $30.00 additional fee for a specialty plate that could go to a project chosen by the plate proposer. TB was chosen by the 20087-2008 DGs—so we approached the Health Department to be our sponsor (a plate requires a state sponsoring agency if we want to tap that $22). This year, after 3 failed years of getting DGs to authorize the effort, I went directly to all the clubs in Texas—much to the chagrin of some of the DGs—and raised the $8,000.00 deposit. All ten DGs have now signed off on it and RI has authorized the use of the Rotary emblem on the plate. The Health Department is now finalizing the agreement to sponsor the plate and administer the funds on behalf of TB (clubs can apply for the funds). Hopefully, we will be on TxDOTs agenda this Fall authorizing the manufacture of the plates. We will be the largest state in the USA with a Rotary plate. Recent attempts in California and Florida failed.