Our Club’s annual Mentoring Christmas Party was held today, and all the kids, their mentors, and even Santa joined in the celebration! Thank you, Victoria Mendoza, for all the hard work you put into the CFB ISD mentoring program, and thank you to all of our Club members and others who mentor these kids! Merry Christmas, everyone!

 

 

Tracy Eubanks of Metrocrest Social Services has notified our Club of a pressing need for food, money, and supplies due to victims of Hurricane Harvey.  Many victims of the Hurricane are now in our area and in need of various supplies.  While Metrocrest Social Services primary focus is providing food, they also need clothes vouchers at their Retail store and other services based upon need.  You can help by donating any of the items listed below.  Donations can be delivered to our Carrollton/Farmers Rotary Club at our Thursday meetings at noon at Brookhaven Country Club, or to their office at 13801 Hutton Drive, Suite 150, in Carrollton.  If you prefer to donate money, you can do so by going to their website at www.metrocrestservices.org and choose "Pantry" as the designation.  A list of items they need is as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

Four wonderfully talented students from the Carrollton/Farmers Branch ISD competed in the Rotary 4-Way Speech Contest.  The 4-way test for Rotarians is a set of principles that we recite every week as a reminder of our duty to ourselves and our communities.  They are:  1.  Is it the Truth?, 2.  Is it fair to all concerned?, 3.  Does it build good will and better friendships?, and finally 4.  Is it beneficial to all concerned?   The students write and present a timed speech based on these principles of Rotary to the club.  What an awesome experience to hear these future leaders to engage a room!  This years winners were:  1st Place going to RL. Turner student Dillion Odle. 2nd Place going Ranchview student Prasana Kuxmohan and 3rd and 4th place being shared by Roxanne Hill of Creekview and Analyn Moran of Newman Smith.  Congratulations to all of you! 

The Carrollton/Farmers Branch Rotary Club celebrated the Christmas Season with our very special guests from the Carrollton/Farmers Branch Independent School District.  These students, along with their Rotary Club Mentors, enjoyed good food, games, and the reading of the The Grinch who stole Christmas from our very own Dr. Bobby Burns!  The afternoon was topped off with a visit from Santa who gave out gifts to all the kids. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! 

The Carrollton/Farmers Branch Rotary Club is honored to receive the Rotary District 5810 Community Service Award.  Every member should be proud of this award!  The all inclusive Rotary playground at Gussie Field Watterworth Park was one of the significant projects that helped the Club garner this award.  Well done everyone!

 

 

 

Nekima Horton did a fantastic job of presenting all the benefits available to our Military Veterans through the Veterans Coalition of North Texas.  If you want more information or wish to donate click on the following link http://www.vcnct.org

 

 

 

 

Club President Steve Patrick presents a Rotary Presidential Citation to the Newman Smith High School Interact Club.  Accepting the award is New Generations Director Victoria Mendoza.  Congratulations!

 

Roger Sanderson, Director of Horticulture for Texas Discovery Gardens, was our guest speaker and program on May 25th.  He brought several snakes that were displayed and part of the many features at the Garden.  He explained, in great detail, the differences in venomous and non-venomous snakes, as well as how safe it is to be in the outdoors and not be fearful of snakes.  Roger also explained how to identify the different species of snakes that are most common in Texas and our immediate area.

 

Texas Discovery Gardens is a great place to visit.  They have a Butterfly House where butterflies are brought in from all over the world each day.  They hatch, and are then placed in the Butterfly House for all to see and enjoy.