HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2008-2009 YEAR

RI Theme: Make Dreams Real

The Rotary Club of Galveston had hoped to make many dreams real this year; the year, however, became very challenging and difficult instead. On Saturday, September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike hit Galveston fully and left a terrible devastation. The storm itself was not that strong but the water surge that came with it (in downtown Galveston between 8 and 10 feet) was ferocious and flooded most of our beautiful island. Who better than Bets Anderson, a nurse by training, could have handled the wounds that the hurricane caused to our Rotary dreams and to the personal lives of so many of our club members. The meeting on September 10 already had to be cancelled to allow everyone to prepare fighting the impending storm, secure their belongings, and then evacuate. The damage to the island was so severe that Galvestonians were not allowed to return before Wednesday, September 24. As was almost every place downtown, our meeting place at Fisherman's Wharf was heavily damaged as well. In fact, for several weeks there was nowhere a place to meet. Finally, on October 13, Fish Tales on Seawall Boulevard was ready to accommodate our first post-Ike meeting. We enjoyed perfect treatment there through January 28 and then moved back to Fisherman's Wharf on February 4. The hurricane surge washed away dreams and many belongings of those who lived in Galveston but the surge could not wash away the spirit of our club and the 96th year of our existence still became a very successful year of Rotary "Service above Self".

Contributing to that success was the over $33,000.00 that our Club directly received in generous recovery donations from Rotary Clubs in Orlando (Florida), Babylon (New York), Wilson (North Carolina), Dallas (Texas), and our own District 5910 Relief Fund. The Board decided to give most of that money to the following non-profit groups in Galveston, who serve the Galveston community in one or the other way and with whom members of the Club are affiliated: Gleanings from the Harvest; The Jesse Tree; The Ball High School Fine Arts Department; The Children's Center; The Family Service Center; The Galveston Art League; The Galveston Historical Foundation; The Galveston Symphony Orchestra; The Grand 1894 Opera House; The Resource & Crisis Center; The Ronald McDonald House; The Rosenberg Library; The Salvation Army; The Seaman's Center; and The Strand Street Theater.

During her year as president, Bets Anderson was assisted by Ulli Budelmann, who served as Assistant Governor (not only for the Galveston Rotary Club but also for the Galveston Island, Friendswood, and Mainland [formerly La Marque] Rotary Clubs). More importantly, however, she was assisted by six Officers, 10 Directors, and 40 Club Committees. Bets successful leadership as president earned her the club's 15th consecutive "Rotary International Presidential Citation Award for Balanced Club Achievement".

As of July 1, 2009, our club had 135 members, 12 members less than at the beginning of the year (July 1, 2008). The club welcomed seven new members: Peggy Baldwin (re-instated), Mary Beth Bassett, Robyn Bushong, Vikki Carpenter, Keith Gray, Barrett Ingram, and Kelli Kennington. On the other hand, for a variety of reasons, 14 members are no longer with us: Bert Bagley, Nelda Engstrom Knapp, William Kyle Gillespie, Jonathan Hale, Sid Holliday, Jr., Dwayne Jones, Muppathi (M.K.) Joseph, Donnie Lera, Barbara Lober McGuffey, John Moon, Beth Shriner, Lesley Sommer, Richard Sutton, and John Swartwout Jr.. To avoid a confusion for future historians, two of our current members (for sure merrily) changed their names: Ruth Finkelstein is now Ruth Suhler and Elise Ott is now Elise Worthen. It is with greatest sadness to note that five of our members died during this past year: Jack Bushong, Edward Futch III, Adrian Levy, Jr., Jack Miller, and Lee Weber. Together they served Rotary for 258 years: Jack Bushong was a member of the club for 44 years, Ed Futch for 54 years, Adrian Levy for 58 years, Jack Miller for 46 years, and Lee Weber for 56 years. Edward Johnson, a former long-time member, also passed away. More...click here