Prayer, Pledge and Visitors President Rick Tarbell opened the meeting with the ringing of the bell. Past President Fred Timmons provided the prayer and led the pledges. Vice President John Legris introduced our guests and visiting Rotarians. Our speaker today is Ben Youngblood. Visiting Rotarian is Jerry Hardy, past District Governor and District Foundation Chair. Walter Koch is a guest of Destiny Mujica. He is a cycling advocate and is spreading the word to "Give 3 Feet" campaign allowing room for cyclists on public right of ways. Learn more by clicking HERE! President Rick provided the club announcements: - Dec 13th Coffee Friday at Alamo Biscuit Company 8:00 a.m. Click HERE to find out more!
- Dec 18th Samantha Ruiz is scheduled to speak on the timely topic of local spirits and wine! You don't want to miss this one if you wish to be host/hostess with the mostess!
- Dec 19th Thursday - Happy Hour at Luce Ristorante e Enoteca. Click HERE to learn more about their drink specials and happy hour menu!
- Dec 25th there will be no regular meeting. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
**Disclaimer: Happy Hours are usually the third Thursday of the month and Coffee Fridays are usually the second Friday of the month. Editor says she claims no responsibility for posting the wrong day/date at any given time because, well, just because.** Rick and Sally Rhodes generously offered their home for our annual Holiday Party on December 7. We had a good turnout, enjoyed great fellowship, had a lot of fun, good fo .jpg) od and of course our famous white elephant gift exchange. Thank you Rick & Sally for your generous hospitality!
 Past President Fred Timmons shared his weekly wit with us. Past President Fred also shared that within his CPA organization, 20 volunteered last week for Elf Louise. They wrapped presents for 5,500 families. Since this is such a popular volunteer opportunity he recommends signing up by summer time. President Rick "Passed the Hat" and informed the Club that proceeds for this month will go to Elf Louise President Rick challenged us with "Who have you invited to Rotary?" President Rick announced the National Days and This Day in History.  Vice President John Legris introduced our speaker: Ben Youngblood, Board Member of the Edwards Aquifer Authority for the Northwest Quadrant of Bexar County. He explained how the water flows through the aquifer and the steps that are taken to ensure that our water stays safe. Interestingly, our drinking water comes from Medina and Uvalde. The EAA takes water protection seriously. Private wells are monitored by EAA. EAA educates first responders about keeping the aquifer safe. The Karst aquifer is the largest freshwater aquifer in the world. Thank you Ben for speaking to our club today! We hope you'll come back and join us again for lunch! As is our custom, a book will be donated in Ben's honor to the Locke Hill Elementary School Library. Thank you Destiny Mujica for your book donation. Next week our speaker will be Samantha Ruiz from the wine and spirits industry. Jerry Hardy, District Foundation Chair, reminded us that the District is selling raffle tickets for the chance to win a cruise. Tickets are only $10 each and we have them available at our club meetings. For more info click HERE. Ken Ruiz owns the umbrella this month and his winning bid goes toward his Paul Harris Foundation. Unfortunately Ken was absent so we did not have umbrella time today. Fines and Confessions Former President Fred bragged that he was involved with Blue Santa - 4,069 toys were presented! Destiny Mujica bragged that she and her fiance John closed on their new home November 27! Show Low Dra wing Our fabulous sommelier Vice President John Legris, who is fast gaining recognition throughout the Rotary world, by the way, provided information on the wine selections for the day. The "Show-Low" pot this week was $1,125. Destiny Mujica won the right to select the two of clubs. Unfortunately she drew the ace of hearts - she took home a bottle of one of the wines. Fred owned the second ticket drawn and took home the other bottle of wine. Since there have been no winners so far the pot increases by $25 and will be $1,150 next time! Also there are only four cards left in the deck! We recommend that everyone come to the meeting next week and buy all the tickets you possibly can! Thank you Bruce Richter for contributing wine for the month of December. President Rick encouraged members to bring a guest to Rotary. He then closed the meeting with the recital of the "Four Way Test" by the Club members. |
