On April 7, 2020, Rotarian Glenn Buckley gave the club membership (via Zoom) information about his life and background. Pictured above is Glenn Buckley.
Glenn told the membership of the Magnolia Rotary Club that his mother was a coal miner's daughter and that his father was a farmer. As a result, he grew up loving the land and nature. After getting out of high school he attended the University of Michigan but never got interested in any of the courses he took. He later went to the University of Illinois and by chance took a course in Geology and fell in love with the subject. As a result, he changed his degree to Geology and became a Geologist. Now that he has retired, he has been the driving force behind the Lake Creek Greenway Partnership and is currently the president of that organization. Glenn pointed out that now with the current restrictions on social interactions giving some residents cabin fever, now would be a good time to visit the Lake Creek Preserve (located off the Fish Creek Throughfare north of FM1488 on the east side of the road after crossing the Fish Creek Bridge and immediately before the large Woodforest sign on the right). Because the trails have been recently completed, things are now mostly in maintenance mode. However, is working to find a way to add an additional 53 acres that may one day support a sports complex and a public building for visitors to learn about the preserve, ask questions, etc. For more information about the Lakecreek Greenway Preserve, go to http://lakecreektx.org.
Additionally, President Elect Hope Moye told everyone that her board has been pretty much confirmed and that Kelly McDonald (after a club vote) will be her President Elect after she becomes President on July 1, 2020. The Treasurer and Secretary will remain the same as they currently are. Hope is also working to finalize other functions to cover the Rotary Foundation, Interact Clubs, Membership and finding speakers. Hope also told everyone that she would like to have everyone on her new board attend the online District Training meeting when it occurs (watch the district website for info on this).
A discussion was also had about what to do with our annual Paul Harris dinner and Paul Harris recipients. The general consensus was that it most likely will have to be moved to another date or cancelled for this year. As a result it was decided to wait until June of this year to make a further determination since the Corona Virus has everything up in the air.
Real Provencher then provided and update on the Sierra Leone Project after telling everyone that they had to cut their Bahamas boat trip short and return home due to the Corona Virus. Real pointed out that the Sierra Leone Project ended up with 61 participants between 23 and 30 years old. These 61 participants were divided up into eleven peer groups for training. This training has now been completed and each group was asked to come up with a worthwhile project in their own community. One of the groups decided to do an information campaign on the Corona Virus. They managed to raise $200 and they went around their community with a 5 gallon pail of water and some soap and using a bull horn to keep their distance, taught people how to wash their hands. This was needed because very few people have access to computers or news in general and this was the first time they were shown what they need to do to combat the Corona Virus. The Rotary Foundation was so impressed with the project that they are currently looking into expanding the project in other parts of Sierra Leone and hope to have approval and funding by Good Friday. Real will keep our club up to date.
Denise Meyers was then asked to provide an update on what the MISD and school board is doing about the Corona Virus. Denise told everyone that she and everyone at MISD are extremely busy and thanked all the parents for taking on the added task of trying to supplement their kids education during this difficult time. Denise spoke about some of the major efforts MISD is working on:
- Denise said that they just finished cleaning about 4200 Chromebooks to give out to family's at home who don't own a computer. Currently there are only a few online courses available from MISD but they are working hard to add electives above and beyond the bare basics. Zoom is the online app they are using. However, no grades are being taken at this time.
- Updating websites to provide student learning resources as well as providing communication updates and information.
- To date, the school food services has given out over 23,000 meals including breakfast and lunch since the schools have been closed.
- The schools maintenance department just donated 5,000 N95 Masks to the Magnolia Fire Department for use by the fire department personnel.
- They have sent out surveys to local parents in an effort to better understand what will help parents the most.
- All campus main phone numbers have been transferred directly to the person who normally answers that phone so they can answer the phones from home.
- Some people are still working at the offices (while following social distancing guidelines) to handle normal business like contracts and hiring.
- Teachers have tried to contact their students to keep in touch so students don't feel isolation so much.
Billy Riley also provided an update on his health condition. He told everyone he has already had too procedures this year and now has the use of his body about the waist including both arms and hands, However, he still has problems with his hips and legs but still has two more procedures to complete this year but the Corona Virus may delay them. However, he is in good spirits and has set a goal of attending Rotary meeting again by January 2021.
The photo below is of the actual zoom meeting:
