Meeting Notes, 2-05-08.
There being no bell available, president Tim Ferris loudly greeted our members with a “good
morning!” In some quarters we wondered if such conditions qualified us for the
no-bell peace prize? Members rose to their feet and Fred Smith led the Pledge
Allegiance, Ed Velayos the 4-Way Test and Marvin
Pollard the Rotary Invocation. At this time, Tim invited the
members to leave their tables and greet members seated at tables across the
room After an interval of several minutes, the president called us back to
order. Bob Leith named Shelley Alexander, who needs no introduction here, as
the only visitor. Larry Tubbs’
ticket was drawn for the raffle, but his choice was not the joker. Today’s
Pearl of Wisdom, read by the Sgt. at Arms, was a humorous litany of aging
symptoms and the color of pill to relieve discomfort. It ends: “How nice it is
that wrinkles don’t hurt.”
Announcements and business:
Ralph Wiley,
reporting for John Rademacher, said
a meeting at Sam Houston Elementary School
is scheduled for 8:15 a.m.
on Wednesday, Feb. 6th. After
that, we will have presented 1033 dictionaries to third graders in eleven
school of the Denton ISD. Ralph suggested any member available to help with
Wednesday’s gifting should contact John.
Ralph continued, this time on the topic of the Chile GSE
Team. The dates they are to be hosted in Denton
have been moved forward one week to April 13-19. Denton-South and the noon club will share hosting
responsibilities. If you have overnight accommodations for one or two, contact Brian Glenn. Also, if you could devote a day or two
(or six) transporting members of the visiting team, contact Brian Glenn.
Ambassadorial Scholarship candidate Lisa Eickemeyer must be
interviewed by a team of Rotarians prior to the deadline of March 1st.
Ralph Wiley (940-321-5139) is
seeking members willing to serve on the interview committee. Call him and get
the details.
Marion Scott
notified us that the Denton Area Preliminary 4-Way Test Speech Contest would be
Tuesday evening in Flinn Hall of the Denton
1st United Methodist
Street on Locust & Sycamore streets at 6:00 p.m. There are about a dozen
registered entrants. This is another project shared with the noon club of Rotary. Four of these
contestants will be finalists, and appear at our meeting on next Tuesday (Feb.
12th) to compete for cash prizes of $400., $300., $200.and $100. The
preliminary contest may be attended by interested visitors.
Program
Prior to introducing today’s program, Judy
Willis reported having spoken to Joe
Fritz. He misses being a Rotarian, but physical restraints
continue to hamper his mobility. John Duffy
is reported to have experienced some back-set-backs in his recovery. He
appreciates hearing from members.
Dee Leggett, our program presenter, is Vice President of
Communications and Marketing for Denton County Transportation Authority. Her
office is in Lewisville.
Her higher education was taken at Union
University in Tennessee and her early
employment and residence was in that state. She enjoys her work and residence
in the north Texas Metroplex and looks forward to remaining in this area. She
did mention the short-lived pleasure of having found residence only 9 miles
from her place of employment. She was anticipating a quick drive to work; only
to face the reality of congested traffic on I-35 and other highways in the
area. She said she brings this personal experience to her work with DCTA.
During Dee Leggett’s presentation and her responses to
numerous questions from our membership, we heard:
-
The primary focus for DCTA at this time is to develop a
rail service between Denton
and downtown Dallas
that utilizes both light rail and heavy rail and riders will not have to
transfer during the trip.
-
To continue to provide a robust bus system that is
environmentally clean and serves riders, especially
college students and the elderly,
and connects with the rail system at several locations.
- Q. “Are you breaking even?” A. No. Like highways, public transportation
does not make money. Rider
fares, Toll roads and subsidies finance public
transportation.
-
DCTA is seeking input from bus riders regarding
suggested improvements.
-
Informational Meetings are planned: on March 3rd
in Denton and
March 4th in Lewisville.
Time and places to be announced.
Members applauded Dee Leggett’s presentation and President
Ferris informed her that a book, donated in her name, will be given to the
Cumberland Presbyterian Children’s Home. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted, Marvin
Pollard.
Speaker Schedule
02-12 Pete McCleskey
02-19 Glen McKenzie
02-26 Eric Burns
Questions about the schedule?
Contact Judy Willis
Some Food for Thought
Police Station toilet stolen....Cops
have nothing to go on.
Schizophrenia beats being alone.
If at first you don't succeed,
redefine success.
You have the capacity to learn from
your mistakes. You will learn a lot today.
What happens if you get scared half
to death twice?
Hard work never killed anyone, but
why chance it?
All true wisdom is found on
T-shirts.
If a thing is worth doing, it would
have been done already.
Lord, if I can't be skinny, please
let all my friends be fat.
Good health is merely the slowest
possible rate at which one can die
Sometimes too much to drink isn't
enough.
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
Money isn't everything, but it sure
keeps the kids in touch.
Losing a husband can be hard. In some
cases almost impossible.
My Wild Oats Have turned to Shredded
Wheat!
Is reading in the bathroom
considered multi-tasking?