SpaceCenterRotary Club

SPACECENTERROTARY CLUB

Club #2010

Originally Chartered on

August 6,1964

Member Orientation Manual

SpaceCenterRotary Club

P.O. Box58862

Houston,, Texas77258-8862

Updated—July 1, 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WELCOME LETTER FROM CLUB PRESIDENT

INTRODUCTION TO SPACE CENTER ROTARY CLUB

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF YOU AS A NEW MEMBER

SERVICE

ATTENDANCE

DUES

REQUIRED ACTIVITIES FOR NEW MEMBERS

ROTARY ORGANIZATION

ROTARY FOUNDATION

PAUL HARRIS FELLOWS

HOUSTON DISTRICT 5890 HISTORY

HISTORY OF SPACE CENTER ROTARY CLUB

“2009 LARGE CLUB OF THE YEAR” & “2009 ROTARIAN OF THE YEAR”

SPACE CENTER ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION

OPPORTUNITES FOR SERVICE

RNASA – NATIONAL AWARD FOR SPACE ACHIEVEMENT FOUNDATION

OFFICERS & DIRECTORS 2009-10

PRESIDENTS OF SPACE CENTER ROTARY CLUB

DISTRICT GOVERNORS OF SPACE CENTER ROTARY CLUB

MAKE-UP OPPORTUNITIES

RED BADGE CHECK LIST

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

WELCOME LETTER FROM CLUB PRESIDENT

/ ROTARY INTERNATIONAL /
SpaceCenter Rotary Club
Jon R McKinnie
Club President 2009-10 / LARGE CLUB OF THE YEAR 2009
“SERVICE ABOVE SELF” / P O Box 58862
Houston, TX77258-8862

Congratulations!!

Through hard work and dedication, you have reached a degree of success as a professional person. More importantly, you have reached a point in your career where you realize that giving back to your community and serving others is very important, which made you eligible for an invitation to become a Rotarian. You were invited to become a Rotarian – Rotary is not a club just anyone can join.

Marriage and the birth of children are always important events in the lives of all family members. Another great mile-stone is now taking place in your life of service to others. Today, even as you read this, you are becoming a member of a family of over 1,220,000 dedicated Rotarians who truly believe in putting “Service Above Self” and they are sure that, “He Profits Most Who Serves Best.” These are our very own cherished mottoes.

The reason Rotarians believe in their mottoes so strongly is that by 1950, when the mottoes were officially adopted, it was a proven fact that Rotary was… and still is the greatest of all service organizations; - and “SERVICE ABOVE SELF” is the key to Rotary’s undisputable success. Rotary brings hope wherever it goes and to all who espouse its principles.

You are being accepted into this Rotary Club because its members believe that you have a heart that is willing to put others first – to serve others before self – which is the most humbling experience any person can have.

We welcome you into the Space Center Rotary Club, “Large Club of the Year – 2009”.

Jon R McKinnie

Jon R McKinnie

President 2009-10

SpaceCenter Rotary Club

INTRODUCTION TO SPACECENTERROTARY CLUB

The Space Center Rotary Club was organized in August 1964 and is a member of District # 5890(was District 589 in 1964)of Rotary International, which is the oldest and greatest service organization in the world. On a cold and windy 23rd day of February in 1905, Paul P. Harris, a lawyer,hosted a meeting in Chicago, Illinois. In an effort to bridge a gulf betweenprofessionals and tradesmen, he invited a coal dealer, atailor,and a mining engineerto the firstmeeting. Paul explained his idea of a different kind of businessmen’s club, one in which the various businesses and professionals of the community are represented. Harris wanted to recapture the friendly spirit he hadexperienced amongbusinesspeople in the small town where he had grown up.Rotary was born that day and Paul Harris is recognized as its founder. Having no formal organization at the time and no budget to pay expenses, the four men agreed to “rotate” the meetings from one of their personal offices to another as they continued to meet, and thus they decided to name it the “Rotary Club of Chicago”.

Upon your induction, you will become a member of The Rotary Club of Space Center. This is our official name, but more frequently you will hear membersproudly say, “I am a member of the Space Center Rotary Club”.

As a MEMBER of this Rotary Club, you can attend regularly, enjoy lunch and fellowship with friends, and go on about your business until the next Monday lunch meetingOR you can willingly contribute some of your time and talents to Service Above Self and become a ROTARIAN. You will become a member of this Rotary Club but you will become a ROTARIAN slowly and for sure only as you dedicate your life to the cause of Rotary and invest your time, talent and heart in its noble undertakings.

Whilethe original basis of Rotary was fellowship,servicetoothers soon became its hallmark.It is service to the community, the workplace, and the world. Rotarians build goodwill and peace, provide humanitarian services, and encourage high ethical standards in all vocations. Rotarians strive to create order where there is chaos, beauty where there is ugliness, fellowship where there is loneliness and misunderstanding; and Rotary creates health and happiness where there is poverty and disease. Mankind is our business and we are extremely proud of the fact that Rotary “Builds Bridges of Hope Throughout the World”.

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF YOU AS A NEW MEMBER

SERVICE – The Space Center Rotary Club is a service club, founded on service to others. Membersareexpected to givetime to the Club and its projects. Each club determines itsown serviceactivities, which arechanneled through club service, vocationalservice, community service, and international service.

You areexpected to volunteer for club service projects, support worthy causes, and serve on club committees. Your success as a Rotarian is directly proportional to your involvement in club activities and regular attendance.

ATTENDANCE–The Space Center Rotary Club, and all Rotary Clubs, require regular attendance. You should not miss more than three Rotary Club meetings in a row. Youare expectedtoattend atleast50% ofthemeetings each six-month period. Perfect attendance is recognized and should be a goal for all members. No club can operate efficiently without the full participation of its membership in regularly scheduled meetings. A member who aims at being a good Rotarian generally succeeds in direct proportion to his/her attendance and participation.

Rotary International and the Space Center Rotary Club permit you to make-up for a missed meeting by attending the meeting of any other Rotary Club anywhere in the world. The make-up meeting should be attended fourteen-days prior to or within fourteen-days after missing a club meeting. You are expected to attend no less than30% of your home club’s meetings during a six-month period. The club constitution provides for the termination of membership forfailure to meet attendance requirements.

DUES – The Space Center Rotary Clubdues are $210.00 billed annually plus $125.00 from new membersand are due within 30 days. The club’s constitution provides for termination of membership in the event of unpaid dues after 30 days. The cost of meals is $15.00 per week. The meal fee may be paid at the meeting or you can purchase a 10 meal card. If no meal is purchased, then there is a $5 meeting fee.

REQUIRED ACTIVITIES FOR NEW MEMBERS

(ReferTo Red Badge Check List)

  • Attend a New Member Orientation
  • Pay your Dues
  • Read By-Laws & Constitution
  • Meet with Mentor Assigned to You
  • Serve as Greeter at One Meeting
  • Attend a Club Board Meeting
  • Attend RI Foundation Committee Meeting
  • Attend SpaceCenter Endowment Foundation Board Meeting
  • Attend a Rotary Social
  • Visit Another Rotary Club
  • Visit Three Committee Meetings
  • Join One or Two Committees

You are expected to complete the above check list during a three month period. After you have completed the above check list, you will be awarded a full-member “Blue Badge” during a club meeting.

ROTARY ORGANIZATION

The Rotary Clubis an organization of business andprofessionalleadersof a specific community organized to serve the goals of fellowship and service. Each club has a president and a board of directors who are elected annually. Director’s term is for 3 years with one third elected annually.

A Rotary district is a geographic area in which Rotaryclubsareassociatedfor Rotary International administrative purposes. Each district isheadedby a district governor who is an officer of Rotary International. The district governor’s role isto assist clubs in the district. The district conference is an annual meeting of Rotarians of the district that enhancesfellowship and thediscussion of theaffairs of the clubs and Rotary International. The Space Center Rotary Club is one of57 different Rotary Clubs in District 5890, which includes those in greater Houston metro area, and surroundingcounties.

Rotary International is an association of Rotary clubs throughout the world, with over 1,220,000 members located in 250 countries. It is administered by a Board of Directors consisting of the President and President-elect of Rotary International and 17 other directors nominated by the clubs in zones as specified in the by-laws and elected by the convention. Each director, although nominated by the clubs in certain zones, is elected at the convention by all the clubs, thereby placing on each director responsibility for each club. Directors serve two-year terms and are elected at the Rotary InternationalConvention. The convention is held annually in a major citychosen to expandinternational fellowship andRotary knowledge.

The Council on Legislation is the legislative body of Rotary. It meets every three years in a different part of theworld to review and make changes in the rules and policy. It adopted in 1995 the past service membership for retired persons, and in 1998, allowed Rotarians to receive attendance credit for attending Club Service projects.

The World Headquarters ofRotary International is located in Evanston, Illinois. It has an international staff, headed by the General Secretary. Thereareservicecenters located in Parramatta, Australia;Sao Paulo, Brazil;Delhi, India; Tokyo, Japan; Zurich, Switzerland; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Seoul, Korea; and Manila, Philippines.

ROTARY FOUNDATION

In 1917 Rotary International President Arch Klumph told delegates that “it seems eminently proper that we should accept endowments for the purpose of doing good in the world.” Theresponsewasfavorable;however it was a year later before the first funds were received. At the end of a six-year period, the endowment stood at $700. A decade later, The Rotary Foundation was formally established at the 1928 convention. By1932 it had grown to $50,000.

In 1947, upon thedeath of Paul Harris,anewera opened for the Foundation. Memorial gifts poured in to honor the founder. In 1954 the Foundation received its first $500,000 gift and it received a $1 million gift in 1965. Rotary Foundation receives more than $65 million each yearfrom itsmembers for educationalandhumanitarian work around the world.

100% of contributions received in a given year are allocated to programs in the third succeeding year. The Rotary Foundation supports many wonderful programs, which include:

  • The Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship Program
  • The Rotary Foundation Group Study Exchange Program
  • The Health, Hunger, and Humanity Grants
  • Matching Grants
  • The Carl P. Miller Discovery Grants
  • PolioPlus
  • Disaster Relief Program
  • Rotary Peace Program

PAUL HARRIS FELLOWS

The most important step taken to promote contributions to the Foundation was the establishment in 1957 of the Paul Harris Fellows program. When Rotarians give $1,000 to the Foundation, they are recognized through thePaul Harris Fellow medallion, lapel pin, and certificate.

By 1998 there were more than 625,000PaulHarris Fellowsworldwide. Rotarians, who make multiple $1,000 gifts, receive a pin with a blue stone for each additional $1,000 given. A red stone pin signifies gifts of $7,000to$9,000,and a diamond circle pin is given to donors who contributed $10,000 or more.

The Paul Harris Fellow recognition provides a very important incentive for the continuing support of the Foundation’s programs that build goodwill and understanding in the world.

As of May 2007, the entire Space Center Rotary Club membership has been designated Paul Harris Fellows. You are strongly encouraged to participate and continue this tradition. In May 2007, Space Center Rotary Club become a 100% Paul Harris Fellow Club. Our goal is to maintain that status and you are strongly encouraged to participate and continue this tradition.

HOUSTON DISTRICT 5890 HISTORY

At a time when Rotary International can claim 1.2 million members and nearly 31,000 clubs, it is difficult to think of a time when there were less than 5,000 members and 50 clubs comprising the entire world of Rotary.

Yet, such was the case when the Rotary Club of Houston was founded, on November 1, 1912, and received charter No. 53, of the National Association of Rotary Clubs. Today, the Rotary Club Houston is one of the oldest clubs in Rotary. Any consideration of the history of the present District 5890 of Rotary International, or of any aspect of Rotary in all of South Texas, for that matter, must begin with full appreciation of the enduring leadership of the Rotary Club of Houston.

According to the 2008-09 Roster of District 5890, ten of the sixty clubs of the district list the Rotary Club of Houston as their sponsor, and we may take any one of those ten and develop an interesting kind of genealogy. Pasadena, the second largest club in the district, has sponsored six clubs. Harrisburghas sponsored four; several clubs have sponsored two or three. It may well be that every club in the district is a lineal descendent of the Rotary Club of Houston.

Despite the fact that it has been the principal factor in the growth of Rotary in this area, the Rotary Club of Houston has not assumed a role of dominance. As might be expected, in the first thirty-five years of its existence - from 1916, when Rotary first grouped clubs into district - until the immediate post-war years, the Houston club furnished most of the District Governors. However, since the creation of the present District 589, in 1956, the Houston club has furnished only seven men for that office. Nevertheless, the Rotary Club of Houston, by reason of its age, its size and its prestige, continues to be the bench mark for all Rotary activity in this part of Texas.

What we know today as District 5890 has been variously numbered and variously constituted. In 1950, for example, it included forty-three clubs in the area from Orange to Weimar and from Galveston to Nacogdoches, and was then District 190. Prior to that it had been numbered 12, 18 and 47. In 1955, the number of clubs in the Houston area having increased, the district lines were re-drawn and the district was given the present designation of District 589. The first Governor of the newly constituted district was W. H. "Bill" Avery, a member of the Houston Club.

Incidentally, the only man ever to be District Governor without first having been presidents of his club was Walter Jenkins, long-time International song-leader, and later to become president of the Houston Club.

Of the sixty club presently comprising District 5890, as shown in the 2007-08Information Directory, forty-two have been organized since the end of WorldWar II.

As might be expected, the range of club size is very great. The Houston club has 294 members; Palacios has twenty-seven. The latter club would seem to prove that growth alone is not an adequate index to the viability of a club. Palacios was chartered in 1934. Thirty-five years ago the membership was about thirty-five, but neither gain nor loss seems to alter the determination of the club to make Rotary known in that town.

Pasadena has proved that a community does not need to be a metropolis to sustain two Rotary Clubs of good size. The growth of the city of Pasadena proved to be such that in early 1967, the Rotary Club of Pasadena sponsored the Rotary Club of South Pasadena. In 2007, Pasadena had 161 members; South Pasadena has 43.

Such is the nature of Rotary today that every club is expected to engage in a project in one or more of the Lanes of Service. Since these projects almost certainly require funds, every club must seek for the means of raising those funds.

The Houston club's "Lombardi Award" dinner is not only their primary fund-raiser, but it is a major event in the sports life of the city. Football notables from all over the country attend, and the event generates a great amount of media coverage.

For the most part, fund-raisers in District 5890 clubs take several forms: Food sales (pancakes, shrimp boil, fish fry, barbecue, chili, spaghetti) with or without an auction; Las Vegas or casino night, also with or without auction; raffle, usually involving an expensive car or truck, although one club has its prize a Caribbean cruise. There are golf tournaments and fun runs. Alvin takes part in their community "Frontier Day", and Palacios conducts the "Miss Palacios" contest. At another level the University Area club conducts an annual book fair for the benefit of M.D.AndersonHospital volunteer services. From all this it can be seen that a major part of the energy of every club is directed toward raising funds to support its good works.

The Rotarians of District 5890 involve themselves in International Service in many ways, not all of them within Rotary's organized framework. For example, the Angleton club has, since 1962, worked with the American Field Service student exchange program, and as a result has hosted eighteen students from countries outside the United States.