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Newsletter
OF THE
SAN ANTONIO FOUNDER LIONS CLUB The Oldest Lions Club in the World
Volume 91, No. 4 San Antonio, Texas September 22, 2014
October 1, 2014
District 2‐A2 Governor Sam Pantusa
“Your District 2‐A2”
A na ve of San Antonio, Sam E. Pantusa holds a B.S. De-gree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Aus n and is a Registered Professional Engi-neer. Since 1971, he has worked in the construc on industry. In 1989, he co-founded Olmos Environmental Services, the first full-service environmental contrac ng company in Central and South Texas. He con nues to own and manage his own general construc on compa-ny and has other business interests. Married to Vicky for 43 years, they are blessed with two sons and five grandchildren. Lion Sam was invited to become a mem-ber of the Northside Lions Club in 1975. Since that me he has served as chairman or commi eeman for every major service or fundraising ac vity that his Club has held. He has held every office to include the presiden-cy. He has served his Lions District 2-A2 as Zone Chair-man two terms, Region Chairman two terms and as Vice President and Trustee of the District 2-A2 Lions Sight Research Founda on for six years. He serves as a Group Coordinator for the Texas Lions Camp Endow-ment Campaign. In 2011, he was named as Global Membership Team Coordinator for his District. He cur-rently serves as Lions Liaison to his District and the Mul-ple Districts of Texas for Personal Energy Transporta-on of Texas, also known as the PET Project.
Chairman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arthur Browne, Jr. Chaplain of the Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tammy Swann Pledge of Allegiance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bobby Seiferman Introduc on of Guest Speaker . . . . IPDG Rod Chisholm Introduc on of Guests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Wheeler Greeter at the Front Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan Wolf
LIONS LUNCHEON MEETING - First and Third Wednesdays Petroleum Club—8620 N. New Braunfels—Suite 700 - 11:45 a.m.
October 15, 2014
Ralph Winningham
“Old Boots and Bacon Grease”
Ralph Winingham is a Midwest na ve who came to Texas in 1971 as a 17-year-old high school graduate entering the U.S. Air Force. He served as one of the youngest military newspaper editors in the Air Force and was editor of the award-winning North Texas Daily before gradua ng in 1977 with a bachelor's of arts degree in journalism at North Texas State Uni-versity. During the past 30 years as a writer and pho-tographer in South Texas, Winingham has won nu-merous awards from the Texas Outdoor Writers As-socia on for his stories and photographs. He is a past president and former board chairman of TOWA. In addi on, Winingham has been an avid outdoorsman - winning local, state, and na onal tles as a com-pe ve shooter with shotguns, rifles, and pistols while fishing and hun ng across Texas and in his na-ve Midwest. Cer fied as a Na onal Spor ng Clays
Associa on Level II instructor, in addi on to his cur-rent ranking as a Master Class shooter, he has spent hundreds of hours of teaching youngsters, women, and veteran shooters Winingham's Winning Ways of Bus ng Clays. Winingham is also a world-class out-door chef and award-winning author of both The Campfire Chef: Old Boots and Bacon Grease, and Re-venge of Old Boots and Bacon Grease.
Chairman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arthur Browne, Jr. Chaplain of the Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tammy Swann Pledge of Allegiance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nancy Richter Introduc on of Guest Speaker . . . . . . George Harvey Introduc on of Guests . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Stephanie Greeter at the Front Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan Wolf
Mee ng Minutes of September 3, 2014
Lion President Arthur Browne Jr. interrupted a perfectly good audience chit-chat session to call the mee ng to order with a loud and vociferous clanging of the brass bell, to which the assem-bled Lions and guests stood to sing God Bless America and The Eyes of Texas. As usual, Lion Pa y Browne led us on the piano, and Lion Past President Ron Hall tried vainly to keep up with his trusty baton. Lion Marty Ross led the Pledge of Allegiance, a er which Lion Marie (Nurse Jane) Senter provided the invoca on. Reluctant to leave the microphone, Lion Marie then introduced today’s guests: Pa y Browne, spouse of President Arthur, JoAnn Wolf, daughter of Lion Jan; and Lilly Hernandez, guest of Lion Rick Newburg. Recapturing the mike a er a brief scuffle, Lion President Art announced that two Lions, PDG Rod Chisholm and next year-to-be President David Splitek both share birthdays on September 9th… tho two years apart. You make the choice as to which is the older (but personally, I’d bet on the bigger guy, not the skinny one in the running shorts). Lion Prez Art announced that the Westside Lions Club is having a raffle to be held on October 21st, with prizes ranging from a diamond pendant to dinner at some Roadhouse. The sparkly one could be yours for five bucks; so could the dinner for four. Take your choice. It was announced that there would be a golf commi ee mee ng immediately a er today’s luncheon, and an appeal was made for a sponsor to fund a four-person team of golfers from among our wounded warriors at Joint Base Fort Sam Houston. The Prez (like that name? Sounds be er than “His Honor”, doesn’t it?) announced that it’s me to begin thinking about the sale of poinse as, and drew a en on to each member having re-ceived details and order forms already. Lion Prez Art also spoke to other volunteer opportuni es with sign-up sheets on the bulle n board, including the need for volunteers to package food for the Feed the Starving Children campaign on Friday, September 26th, as well as the Mobile Eye Screening Unit on loca on on Saturday, November 22nd. Having suddenly realized that he’d missed an important item on his script, Lion Prez Art sheep-ishly recognized PDG Chisholm for “Today In History”. Seems that on this par cular day back in 1861 (a day that only George Harvey is old enough to remember), President Abraham Lincoln, frustrated by the inac on of one of his generals, sent him a message: “If you are not going to use my army, do you mind if I borrow it?” Frustrated, Lincoln briefly thought about offering the job of commanding general to none other than Italy’s Giuseppe Garibaldi, the guy who victori-ously led a rebel army in one of those third-world countries in South America a decade earlier. Fortunately, nego a ons (like those of our own fire and police unions) fell apart and the nod
went to some guy named U.S. Grant, thus sparing us from the old saw: “Who’s buried in Gari-baldi’s tomb?” My apologies. Just got carried away with Rod’s story. Sorry. Just in the nick of me, Lion Mary Jane Chisholm (wife of the soon-to-be birthday boy) introduced our speaker for the day, Ms. Mary Ullmann Japhet, Senior VP of the San Antonio Sports Founda on, speaking on . . . you guessed it . . . the San Antonio Sports Founda on. As a 25-year veteran of television news, ad-ver sing, PR and video produc on, Ms. Japhet is a graduate of Trinity University, mother of two teenagers, and married to a real estate lawyer.
She narrated a brief video about the founda on and its great work, especial-ly with children, stressing “kids’ health, places to play, and events” especially for them. Of course, the Sports Foun-da on also is known for its a en on to adult sports, such as hos ng the Na on-al Basketball Associa on’s Final Four, the high school All-Star game, various Olympic events, the Rock ‘N Roll Mara-thon (restrain yourself, Lion Splitek) and numerous special events just for young people. What’s on the horizon? Expan-sion of the Conven on Center and the
Alamodome; the Bexar County Games for youth; adult swimming programs such as the U.S. Masters; golf and shoo ng compe ons; and The Corporate Cup, sports compe on within and between local companies (thankfully, not the Founder Lions Club. That picture just makes me shudder). Following presenta on of the Texas limestone paperweight to Ms. Japhet for her talk, Lion Pres-ident Art noted that the speaker for the next mee ng, on September 17th, would be the Honor-able Sandee Bryan Marion, Jus ce of the Fourth Court of Appeals. Lion Past President Ken Crowder somehow held the winning cket number, but could manage to draw only the Four of Diamonds from the card-deck, and missed out on the big jackpot. I have lots more notes to transcribe, but if you had to sit here and decipher two more hours of ‘hen-scratch’, you’d be too red to go further, as well. I quit. - Respec ully, your Assistant Scribe, Lion Dick
The Founder Club was deeply saddened at the recent passing of Lion Henry Simms. Our prayers and
sympathy to the family and friends of this fine gentleman.
Mee ng Minutes of September 17, 2014 Lion President Arthur Browne, Jr. welcomed everyone to the mee ng at 11:50 a.m. Lion Ron Hall led the group in song, at first for “God Bless America” and then “The Eyes of Texas “with guest Pa y Browne at the piano. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Lion Myra Fischer. Lion Chaplain Tammy Swann offered the Prayer of the Day with a Moment of Silence to honor Lion Henry Simms who passed away on Sunday evening. Our guest of the day was announced by Lion May Nell Neugent: Pa y Browne, wife of Lion President Arthur Browne. BIRTHDAYS Our September Birthday Lions are Dick Porter and Nancy Richter. The group sang “Happy Birthday” to them to celebrate their special day. ANNOUNCEMENTS ‘This Day in History’ – Past District Governor Lion Rod Chisholm provided informa on about our U.S. Cons tu on being approved in 1787 at Independence Hall. Thirty eight Delegates voted for its approval and signed the final document. Ben Franklin, age 81, was there to sign and was very emo onal about the Cons tu on being approved and signed. The Westside Lions is selling raffle ckets for a number of interes ng items. Price is $5 each or five for $20. The Drawing will be on October 21st. Lion President Arthur has the ckets. Golf Commi ee Mee ng Lion Jackie Wynn will hold this mee ng a er today’s luncheon. INTRODUCTION OF GUEST SPEAKER Lion Mary Thomas introduced our speaker for the day: Jus ce Sandee Bryan Marion of the Fourth Court of Appeals of the State of Texas. She spoke about the work of the “Fourth Court of Appeals”. Jus ce Marion has served on the Fourth Court of Appeals since January, 2002. Prior to that, she served as Judge of Bexar County Probate Court No. 2, beginning in November, 1992. Jus-ce Marion graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Aus n in 1977 and from St.
Mary’s University School of Law in 1980. Prior to her elec on to the Probate Court bench, she was a partner with the San Antonio law firm of Goode, Casseb, and Jones. From 1980 to 1986, she prac ced law with Hollon and Marion in Boerne, Texas. Jus ce Marion is married to Homero R. Garza, M.D. and they reside in San Antonio. Jus ce Marion began her presenta on with a descrip on of the Texas Court System. It is different from the federal system and the results can also differ in the two systems. If a case decision is appealed to a higher state or federal court, it is possible for the original decision to be overruled. The Fourth Court of Appeals currently has all women Jus ces, and it covers 32 coun es. There are addi onal a orneys assis ng the Jus ces in compiling research on the cases they will be considering.
She spent the last part of her me talk-ing about several of the different types of cases that her court has seen. These are cases that have some issues which relate to Cons tu onal ma ers such as unreasonable search and public use of an individual’s property. Cases like this can eventually bring about changes in some of our laws. Lion President Arthur thanked Jus ce Marion for her me and presenta on and gave her a Texas Limestone paper-weight. Tail Twister Lion Ron Hall con-ducted the Tail Twister Drawing. There was no winner today.
Adjournment The group joined hands and we sang our closing song “Til We Meet Again”. Note: This will be our last mee ng in the Fiesta Room of Luby’s Cafeteria. The next mee ng will be at The Petroleum Club at 8620 N. New Braunfels in Suite 700. The lunch line opens at 11:30 a. m. - Respec ully submi ed by Lion Maeve Reddin
SAVE THE DATE . . . FOUNDER LIONS HOLIDAY GALA
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2014 PETROLEUM CLUB
Happy Birthday Founder Lions
Rod Chisholm ‐ September 9 David Splitek ‐ September 9 Dick Porter ‐ September 18
Nancy Richter ‐ September 29 Fred Ackerman ‐ October 7
Dr. Stephanie Schmiedecke Barbieri ‐ October 19 Ron Hall ‐ October 23
Summer of 2014 at
the
Texas Lions Camp
The Founder Lions present-ed a $1,000 scholarship to two counselors that devoted their summer to the campers at the Texas Lions Camp. The following correspondence is from the grateful recipients of this past summer.
Lions of the San Antonio Founder Lions Club, Thank you so much for giving me a scholarship to con nue my major in educa on at the Uni-versity of Houston-Downtown. This is my second year at Texas Lions Camp and words cannot explain how wonderful it is there. I hope I can inspire and change a child’s life when I become a teacher. Thanks again!. - Elizabeth Ann Gauthier Dear San Antonio Founder Lions, I am honored to be one of your recipients for this scholarship! Words cannot define the gra -tude I have for everything the Lions have done, making this summer amazing for us counselors and most importantly for children at The Texas Lions Camp. I am a San Antonio na ve and first genera on American/college student. I will be entering my Senior year of college at Sam Houston State University, and am excited to get my bachelors degree in psychology with a minor in special educa on. A er I graduate, I plan on pursuing a masters degree in special educa on or enrolling in an all-level teacher cer fica on special ed-uca on post-baccalaureate program. I hope to teach special educa on at the high school level and teach my students self-confidence as well as the skills needed to become a successful adult. - Alfredo Loera
Upper - President Arthur Browne with Lion Nancy Richter, her sponsor, Lion Jan Wolf, and Pre-siding Officer over the Induc on Ceremony, Immediate Past District Governor Lion Rod Chisholm.
Lower - Lion Bobby Seiferman is now an Associate Member of the Founder Lions Club. Lion Bobby is working in San Antonio for the Express-News and will remain a member of his Home Club, the Taylor, Texas, Lions Club.
Congratula ons Lions Nancy and Bobby We are honored to have you with us.
August 6, 2014
Guest Speaker Bart Sherwood
Execu ve Director of
Train A Dog—Save A Warrior
shown with Colonel
and Lion Robby Parman.
Following Mr. Sherwood’s presenta on,
the Founder Club donated $1,000 to the
Train a Dog - Save A Warrior Program
Henry Simms (1/12/1918---9/14/2014)
My name is George Harvey, and Henry Simms was a friend of mine in the San Antonio Lions Club. A couple of years ago, Henry asked me to write his Lions Club obituary following his death. I told him that if I out-lived him, I would be honored to document his life in this world and his contribu ons to our Club. I will fulfill that promise. I believe Henry would want me to share with you his in-volvement in Lionism; its beginning and his role in its his-tory. You o en hear people say that they don’t know where to begin when telling a story, par cularly about a wonder-ful person. A good start is always at the beginning. For
Lions Interna onal that would be their founding mee ng In Dallas, Texas, at the Adolfus Hotel in 1917. San Antonio was in a endance at that mee ng, and since our local Club was already using the name, “Lions Club” and, since its beginning can be traced back to 1915, we thus rightly can lay claim to being the first and oldest Lions Club in the world. Lions Interna onal now has over 1.4 million members and 43,000 clubs throughout the world, making it the largest charity organi-za on in the world. The history of our Club, and of Lionism in general, was a life-long passion of Henry’s. He docu-mented and was proud to point out our local history, which includes: Founding of Lions Field on Broadway, and the first public playground, Brackenridge, West of the Mississippi. The mar-ble Lion that stands guard over the field just off Broadway was sculptured by Founder Lion Lou-is Rodriguez. We also started the Lighthouse for the Blind that is today one of the largest man-ufacturing businesses in San Antonio and employs hundreds of vision impaired individuals. The San Antonio club also sponsored the first Lions Club outside of the United States when we hosted a club in Mexico City. (You never would have found Henry to be that brief about our Club’s history). Henry was a gentleman, but could become rather passionate in defending our right to be known as the first Lions Club in the world. He updated our history every year since 1970 in a booklet en tled You Wrote the Script.
Our hearts are heavy with sadness as we recognize the life and death of Henry Simms. He will no longer answer the roll call of those whom we love and admired. He was honored many mes and in many ways during his life me for his service to our organiza on. He was our
Club’s oldest living past president, having served in 1965; was a recipient of the Roll of Mer-it, and in 2012 was elected the Clubs’ first, and only, President Emeritus. More recently, he was named to our districts’ Hall Of Fame.
We had a special day of recogni on when he celebrated his 90th birthday in 2008. We summa-rized his achievements and contribu ons, and talked about him being an extraordinary gentle-man. He had a rather so and low-volume voice, but once he had your a en on, his opinions were worth listening to. He was kidded when we pointed out that Henry and brevity did not go together, especially when discussing our history. He established a birthday tradi on of giving to a Lions charity one dollar for every year on this earth. For Henry, and some others (me in-cluded), this has go en to be a rather substan al sum. Every year he would come up with some unique way to make his birthday presenta on. One year, he scotch-taped together well over 80 one dollar bills, and had them stretched out several feet across the membership. (I suspect Dayton had a hand in some of his gimmicks). Henry was an irreplaceable asset to our Club and considered a na onal treasure in Lionism. His ac ve service of over 55 years will remain a milestone that is not likely to ever to be duplicat-ed. He seldom missed any Lions Club func on, especially our noon luncheons. In the 40 years that I have been a member, I never saw him without his coat and e. He had an unwavering re-spect for the Lions. We concluded his 90th birthday celebra on with this proclama on: “We recognize Lion Henry Simms for his remarkable service, his dedica on to the principles of helping others throughout his long life, his unmatched stature as a gentleman, and his genuine love of his fellowman and the Founder Lions Club.” I think it appropriate to conclude by borrowing a biblical quote from 2nd Timothy that seems to sum up how we feel about Henry. “-------The me of my departure is at hand. I have compet-ed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on, the crown of righteous-ness awaits me-------. Note: This eulogy was presented at Henry Simms’ memorial service, held Friday, September 19, 2014, at Christ Lutheran Church, San Antonio, Texas. - Lion Past President George Harvey
San Antonio Founder Lions Club P. O. Box 593008 San Antonio, Texas 78259
SAN ANTONIO FOUNDER LIONS CLUB
OFFICERS
Arthur Browne, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . President May Nell Neugent . . . . Immediate Past President David Splitek . . . . . . . . . . . . . First Vice President George Harvey . . . . . . . . . Second Vice President Gary Morrison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Secretary Mary Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Treasurer Bill Becker . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bingo Chair Dick Porter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Parliamentarian Marty Ross . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . Membership Chair Gladys Vidal . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lion Tamer Ron Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tail Twister Tammy Swann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chaplain
PRESIDENT EMERITUS Henry Simms
DIRECTORS
Andy Barbieri Paula Blacklock Rick Newburg Robbie Parman Marty Ross Tammy Swann
ADVISORY DIRECTOR
Gary Morrison
Club Meetings: Petroleum Club 8620 N. New Braunfels Suite 700 of the Energy Plaza Bldg San Antonio, Texas 78217 Club Office: P. O. Box 593008 San Antonio, Texas 78259 Phone: 210 225-1164 Office Hours: 9:00 - 4:30 Mon—Thurs
Judy Hall – Executive Director
Board Meeting: October 20 at 11:30 a.m. The Egg and I 281 North and Thousand Oaks Newsletter Editor - Maeve Reddin Assistant Editors
Myra Fischer Dick Porter e-mail address: saflc@saflc.org
Founder Lions Club website: www.saflc.org
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