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August has been a Momentum filled month! Perfect for a Rotary, People of Action news release.
First, we received news of the selection of Jennifer Jones, of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, as the first Woman selected for the Presidency of Rotary International. She will serve during the Rotary Year 2022-23.
Next, the Nominating Committee of District 5830 Chaired by IPDG Jim Finstrom selected Karen Maines, of the Rotary Club of Longview-Greggton as the DGN Designate, to serve as District Governor during Rotary Year 2023-24.
And then we received news that District 5830 had been approved to receive a $25,000 Rotary Foundation COVID Relief Grant. Our thanks to each and every Rotarian for your service and support of the Rotary Foundation and for PDG Ted Huffhines and IPDG Jim Finstrom who applied for the Rotary Foundation COVID Relief Grant, and Shirley Pinnix-Evans, and Sarah Fox who helped organize and orchestrate the payment delivery.
August also began DG Visits to our active, vibrant, growing clubs, both virtually and in person. Attending them, Ava and I were literally able feel their energy, seeing the magic of Rotary in action, discussing each club’s accomplishments and plans for this Rotary year, and disbursing TRF COVID Relief Grant Funds.
Your District 5830 is blessed with many fine clubs with Rotarians whom are truly a blessing to their communities, and among them are thirty 2019-20 Citation Clubs with many also earning one or more Presidential Distinctions.
The service our clubs preform is phenomenal and each of our District Rotarians need to recognize the incredible role they play in changing lives.
Rotary is, after all, fellowship, friendship, and service. District 5830 is truly back to work.
If your Club has concerns about meeting, here is a plan for re-awakening. A member of my DG Class in our Rotary Zones 30-31 came up with a plan for re-awakening, Rotary Reclaims 2020! Details are found here.
Rotary Reclaims 2020! describes a program of 20 acts of service in 20 days. I commend it to you.
And of course, with the recent devastation from Hurricane Laura, we have lots of acts of service needed.
Stay safe, be of service!
Yours in Rotary,
Jack Welge District Governor 2020-21 Rotary International District 5830 P. O. Box 3624 Longview, Texas 75606-3624 Cell 512.773.5163 welgelaw@sbcglobal.net
John Oakley Childs of Tyler went to be with his savior on August 18, 2020 in the comfort of his home surrounded by his family. A memorial service was held Thursday, August 20, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. in the Green Acres Baptist Church Chapel, with Dr. David Dykes, Rev. Warren Culwell, and Rev. Woody Woodward officiating. A private burial took place prior to the service at Rose Hill Cemetery.
Dukie was born and raised in Jacksonville, Texas. He was affectionately known to family as little brother, Dad, Pops and Ruff Ruff. Fish Childs entered Texas A & M in the Fall of 1949. His class, the Class of 1953. was the last class to live at the Annex. He graduated from Texas A & M College in Aug 1953 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and has a Master’s Degree in Personnel Administration from The George Washington University.
During his years at Texas A & M, Childs was a member of the corps of cadets, a terrific P Head, company commander of an all Fish Infantry Company and a senior yell leader. He was a charter member of the Memorial Student Center Student Committee.
One of his favorite stories went, as follows: “Not many people know of the time I “met” L.G. Dupree, Baylor’s tough running back on the Baylor campus the night before the Aggie football game, and the reason is that it was a stupid and naive thing to do and I praise God I was able to get out of Waco with my life and boots.”
Upon graduation A & M, Dukie was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry in the Regular Army. Childs served over 21 years in the U.S. Army, primarily as an Infantry unit commander. He had two tours of duty in Viet Nam and commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Airborne Infantry, 101st Airborne Division in combat. (This is the Battalion that was home to the “Band of Brothers” rifle company.) He was a qualified paratrooper, a Ranger and received several combat decorations including the Bronze Star for Valor and the Distinguished Flying Cross. John’s military career culminated at West Texas State University in Canyon, Texas where he served as the Professor of Military Science. He retired as an Infantry Lieutenant Colonel in 1974.
In Canyon, John served as marketing officer for the First National Bank for four years. He was an active member of several civic organizations including serving as President of the Canyon Chamber of Commerce. In 1978, John and his family moved to Tyler, Texas where he was Senior Vice President for marketing at Heritage National Bank. In 1986, John began a new career as instructor in the School of Business and Director of Continuing Education at the University of Texas in Tyler. He retired as Business Officer of Jacksonville College in Jacksonville, Texas in 1994.
Civic organizations have been a top priority of service. He was a Rotarian for over forty years and served in two separate clubs, the Rotary Clubs of Canyon and Tyler. John served in various capacities at the club and district level and was District Governor of District 5830 in 1994-95. During that year, he initiated the first RYLA program for the District.
He gained his nickname “One O’clock John” during his year as District Governor for the brevity of his speeches and desire that Rotary meetings be kept short and to the point. “One O’clock” John was a top-notch instructor from 1996 to 2008 at the Lone Star Presidents Elect Training Seminar which was responsible for training Rotary Club Presidents for the state of Texas. He served as the Operating Chair for the Lone Star Presidents Elect Training Seminar in 2002. John also served as president of the Smith County American Cancer Society and served on the following boards: Goodwill Industries of East Texas, Tyler-Smith County A & M Club, East Texas Deaf and Hearing Council and the Tyler Independent School District. John was also on the Board of Trustees of East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, past board member of San Marcos Baptist Academy, and the Paraguay Baptist Hospital Foundation.
Dukie was an active member of Green Acres Baptist Church where he served as a deacon and taught a large adult Sunday school class for over forty years.
Family was a priority to John, He married Thelma Ruth Stephens of Leesville, Louisiana, The Love Of His Life. They have three sons, John Oakley Childs Jr., a special needs boy who is cared for by the state of Louisiana, Stephen (Brenda) of Tyler, and Charlie (Lisa) of Kingwood. There are six grandchildren, Allison, Brian (Allie), Hannah, Catherine of Houston, Clint (Brittany) of Tyler, Chris (Jessica) of Alexandria Va.; and two great-grandsons, Oakley Childs of Alexandria Va. and Sam Childs of Houston. John (little brother) loved his sisters, Peggy Ann Morrison of Fort Worth and Nancy Loper of Tyler; as well as four nephews and 3 nieces.
John Oakley liked to make memories. Like taking his grandsons to every game of the last season southwest conference, no matter what the weather. Cooking sausages on the ashes of the Aggie Bonfire early in the morning cannot be forgotten. Christmas was a magical time as family gathered for the annual John Childs scavenger hunt. This came complete with clues created by Pops and placed goodness knows where. Our responsibility was to solve the clues and find the treasure. You can imagine the chaos!
John, Johnny, Dukie, Dad, Uncle John, Pops, One’Oclock John, no matter how you knew him he was never boring!! Heaven got a good one. In lieu of flowers the family would greatly appreciate any memorial to The Hospice of East Texas Foundation, 4111 University Blvd., Tyler, Texas 75707 or Green Acres Baptist Church Foundation, 1607 Troup Hwy, Tyler, Texas 75701. Gig Em!
Congratulations to Karen Maines, Past President of the Longview-Greggton Rotary Club who has been selected by the District 5830 Nominating Committee as District Governor Nominee Designate. She has been selected to serve during the 2023-24 Rotary Year.
Karen is the 2020-21 Rotary Alumni Chair of District 5830 and serves on the RYLA Board of Directors. Karen also serves on the Arts! Longview Executive Committee and is Secretary of the Board of Directors. She is a member of the Longview Executive Committee of 100 Women Who Care, and on the City of Longview Walk of Honor Committee, as well as the City of Longview Police Training Advisory Committee.
Karen also serves on the Board of the East Texas Symphonic Band, the Pine Tree ISD Education Foundation, and the Band Kids Forever Jack B. England Scholarship Selection Committee.
She and her husband, Randy, have been married since 1996, have an adult daughter, Alicia, and attend Pine Tree Church of Christ.
District 5830 sincerely thanks the Nominating Committee for their service. This year’s committee was composed of IPDG Jim Finstrom, PDG Judie Guthrie, PDG Ted Huffhines, PDG Lee Montgomery, PDG Tom DeWitt, PP Kay Green - Pittsburg Rotary, PP Ralph Waits - Texarkana Sunrise Rotary, and PP Barbara Turner - Cedar Creek Lake Rotary.
Pursuant to the District’s Bylaws, specifically Article II – District 5830 Committees, the Nomination of Karen Maines will be held until September 30th to permit any challenges or re-nominations and will thereafter become final at midnight on September 30, 2020.
Please " Save the Date" of Saturday, October 31, 2020 and sign up when you receive an email letting you know that the zoom registration is opened.
You will be asked to pre-register and select two breakout sessions you will attend. There will be no fee to attend, but I do request that you make a donation to the Foundation and/or Polio Plus of at least $25.00 or more. Please let Shirley know how much you contributed so we can publish the total donation made. Bring a snack to enjoy as you participate in the conference. You will have plenty of time after the conference for Halloween.
And I will look forward to your input for future virtual meetings. IPDG and District Conference Chair Jim Finstrom.
DGE Mike Groom participated in a planning meeting with other Lone Star PETS District Governors Elect and the PETS Planning Committee on Saturday, August 22. Key takeaways from the meeting are: 1) Lone Star PETS 2021 will be virtual; and 2) registration fees for participants will be $50 (spousal program will be free) with District 5830 reimbursing clubs this cost.
Speakers have been selected and will include Rick King, Mouzon Biggs, Stephanie Urchick, Rea Drummond, Red Stegall and others. PETS is the acronym for President Elects Training Seminar and is open to President-Elects and President-Nominees. Mike Groom has requested that current Presidents be allowed to participate, too. Please have your elects and nominees selected by December 1, 2020. Because of the low cost, there should be no reason why we should not reach our goal of 100% participation by President-Elects this Rotary year. Stay safe, be well and enjoy yourselves!
Although Membership Growth is a year round part of Rotary, I hope each club also took time during August Membership Month to celebrate the current members. It's never too late, so think about having members offer Vocational Talks to give new members new insights, celebrate Rotary anniversaries, member birthdays, plan a club social, take a club survey to learn what existing members would like the club to do.
Each club is encouraged to have a membership committee of at least five members. I am available to meet virtually with your club committees to offer guidance in fulfilling their responsibilities in attracting and engaging new members as well as working on member retention.
Clubs are encouraged to move to online meetings and events. This allows clubs to reach a broader audience and gives them the opportunity to engage with their communities and with current, former, and prospective members in unique ways.
Attached is the Membership Resource Guide with helpful new resources and publications noted in red.CLICK HERE
This inspirational series is for all to learn and grow as Rotarians in support of the Difference we can make when working together. Each of these sessions will leave you inspired and challenged as we hear from these incredible leaders and hear the impact they are making to empower us all.
Thanks to you, Rotary members have been making a difference at a time when communities need our help more than ever. We know that donors like you are people of action, and your support is changing lives where it’s needed most.
Rotary International District 5830. which encompasses Northeast Texas and Southeast Oklahoma, awarded a $17,000 disaster grant on August 12, 2020 to the East Texas Food Bank and $3,500.00 to Harvest Regional Food Bank on August 19, 2020. In addition to the donation, area Rotarians from the District volunteered to package meal kits for use in After School Snack Programs. Thank you to all the Rotarians who joined the fight against hunger!
Carthage Rotary Club Members donated and distributed school supplies for the Mission Carthage Back to School Bash.
The Rotary Club of Winnsboro sponsored t-shirts for the teachers and staff of Winnsboro Elementary School (Pre K –2nd). All staff, including teachers, secretaries, custodians, and cafeteria workers wore their shirts on the first day of school (August 13). Tuesdays will be “Jeans and Rotary T-shirt Day” this year. We hope the kids catch these smiles at school.
DG Jack installed Idabel Club President, Corey Green and Club President Elect Brad Morse. They made the news in the Southeast Times and McCurtain Gazette.
Judge Doan sorting and boxing electronic thermometers being donated to Quitman ISD from Quitman Rotary Club.
Texarkana Sunrise Rotary Club honor Nash Teacher of the Month and First Responders.
August has been a Momentum filled month! Perfect for a Rotary, People of Action news release.
John Oakley Childs of Tyler went to be with his savior on August 18, 2020 in the comfort of his home surrounded by his family. A memorial service was held Thursday, August 20, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. in the Green Acres Baptist Church Chapel, with Dr. David Dykes, Rev. Warren Culwell, and Rev. Woody Woodward officiating. A private burial took place prior to the service at Rose Hill Cemetery.
Congratulations to Karen Maines, Past President of the Longview-Greggton Rotary Club who has been selected by the District 5830 Nominating Committee as District Governor Nominee Designate. She has been selected to serve during the 2023-24 Rotary Year.
Please " Save the Date" of Saturday, October 31, 2020 and sign up when you receive an email letting you know that the zoom registration is opened.
DGE Mike Groom participated in a planning meeting with other Lone Star PETS District Governors Elect and the PETS Planning Committee on Saturday, August 22. Key takeaways from the meeting are: 1) Lone Star PETS 2021 will be virtual; and 2) registration fees for participants will be $50 (spousal program will be free) with District 5830 reimbursing clubs this cost.
Although Membership Growth is a year round part of Rotary, I hope each club also took time during August Membership Month to celebrate the current members. It's never too late, so think about having members offer Vocational Talks to give new members new insights, celebrate Rotary anniversaries, member birthdays, plan a club social, take a club survey to learn what existing members would like the club to do. 
