May 2003 Page 2

Dear Fellow Sertomans:

Well, Convention has come and gone. Those of you who were not able to make it, missed a great time. Not only was Tapatio Springs beautiful and the golf courses the best, the Seminars were excellent. We also had a great question and answer period with Tommy Brush, Sertoma International President. The Southwest Region did themselves proud. In addition to Tommy, we were able to show our dignitaries which included Sheila Reding, VP, Michael Wyland, Foundation VP and Austin Farley, I.D. Midwest what camaraderie is all about in our Region.

Jack Parker, the owner of Tapatio Springs and our Saturday night speaker told us a story of a young man who died fighting in Iraq. He leaves a wife who is expecting a child any day. Jack explained to us that the citizens of Boerne were going set up a foundation for this new mother so, in the tradition of SERVICE TO MANKIND, the Southwest Region put their hands in their pockets, dug deep and came up with almost $1200 to give to this worthy cause. That’s what we are here for folks, to help others. This donation brought tears to the eyes of Jack Parker and all the Sertomans in attendance.

Many awards were presented throughout the District and the Region. We are most proud of a young lady named Crystal Agnew of the Zoi Ora Filos Serteen Club in Round Rock who not only won the District Serteen of the Year but also the Regional Serteen of the Year and hopefully Crystal will win the International award to be held in Albuquerque, NM in July. Yours truly won the District Sertoman of the Year and the Regional Sertoman of the Year. It is hard to think that I can be speechless but I was. Also at the District Meeting, we elected a new Governor as of September 1, Dennis Graffious of the Round Rock and NW Austin Clubs. At this time, I wish to thank all of you for your support and help during my terms as Governor. I know you will extend that support to our new Governor. I have made some great new friends and renewed old friendships. I will be making my fourth quarter visits in June/July. As you know, we have also voted in a new International Director, Alton Borel of the East Texas District.

Kudos go to Tom Gill for all his hard work planning this Convention. It was a huge success. We had hay rides, salsa lessons, square dances, putt-putt for non-golfers. We also had a DJ Friday and Saturday evenings. The rooms were lovely, the food was great and the Hospitality Room was buzzing every night. It was wonderful to see all the first timers including Wes Carlson, Richard Prete, Fred Adams, Jim Kincl, Daphne Hamilton, Kim Haugen, Juan Campaneria, Jeanne Ashby, Lottie Isaack to name a few. We were happy to see them and they all said they would attend another Convention without hesitation.

Remember folks we have the District Tailgate scheduled for Sunday, June 1 at Dell Diamond. The price for the tickets/meal/drink is $12.00pp, the meal/drinks only is $7.00pp, tickets only $5.00pp. Please send me a list of the people attending and their preference. Clubs please send me one check only. I need this money by May 15th. I only have 160 tickets ordered, so it will be on a first come, first serve basis. The only thing you have to bring is yourselves and a chair. The meal time is 4:30pm – 5:30pm, clean-up shortly thereafter. The area we will be at, is the west side near the grain bins. I look forward to seeing you there.

A reminder that district dues are due June 1 and no later than June 10th. This also includes your reports.

Sertoma International Convention is being held on July 30 – Aug 2 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Albuquerque, NM. We need as many of you to attend as possible in order to vote Bill Hester in as International VP. Bill needs your support and WE NEED BILL on the International Executive Board. I hope to see many of you there.

Yours in Service to Mankind,
Dottie Gill
H.O.T. District Governor