Text Box: And the skeptics said it would never last. Well sports fans, the Second Annual Meeting is in the books, and not only did we “last”, we made some great strides. First off, Buzz takes charge of the annual meeting, it’s his baby, and it was really great deal. He got some first class help from Charlotte Pate with the fancy cookies, orange M&M’s, and punch! Thanks to both of them for an excellent job. During the meeting, Charlotte, Denise Beck, Diane Dawson, and Nancy Beck handled the auction, registration, and gift giveaways. Diane also strong-armed a bunch of t-shirt and hat sales. Thanks to all of you for pitching in!! There was some decent discussion about the boring business stuff, with Don Gatts providing some entertainment with his trivia questions to lighten the mood. Buzz himself provided a whole table of door prizes, and nearly 3/4th’s of the crowd left with one door prize or another. I won the car wash token guess, but only because Paul Lewis stayed home. You see, it was the same jar as last year, and I tried to remember Paul’s winning guess, and got pretty close!! There was some discussion about next years meeting, but no decision. If anyone has input, contact any officer right away, so we can get the ball rolling. Speaking of officers, since there were no volunteers to participate, last years officers are stuck with the work again this year. Great. The auction was a total success. With only 32 out of 135 members participating, we still managed to raise over $1500 for the Society. Gee, wonder how we would have done if HALF of the members had participated??? Special thanks to all who donated items, and to those who bid on them. A very special thanks to those who bid “donation” amounts, that is, they bid much much more than the realistic value of the item, just to make a donation. Thanks again. Some items that were discussed that probably need to be relayed to the rest of the members, include an explanation of the importance of these fund raising events. See, it actually costs us more to send out these newsletters than the dues brings in. We need these fundraisers just to break even with the newsletters, let alone the rest of the operating expenses. I was told not to yell at the members who showed up for the meeting, since they were there doing their part, so now I’m YELLING at the rest of you!!! Ok, enough of that!! We went over the marker proceedings, and played the video of the ceremony. The next event on the schedule is the Spindletop anniversary in Beaumont. This MUST be an event to remember. Hey, this started it all. No Spindletop, NO GULF!! It’s Gulf’s 100th birthday! We’re making a cake and having a party!! There is NO excuse for the Texas members not getting something going on this. Paul and Donna Lewis have volunteered to help, but they can’t do it alone. I’ll tell you what, we’re going to judge the strength of our organization by this event. Buzz and I can come to the event, but we can’t be there to organize it. If the 30 or so members in that area can’t put together a program, then we have a serious problem, and will have to address it. We need someone there with a little bit of leadership to take charge of this thing, and put it together. We all ready have a couple folks willing to help, let’s hear from some more. Give me a call, I will give you some guidelines and ideas to get the ball rolling, and you can take it from there. Bottom line on the meeting . . . . Lots of fun. A good time was had by all. See everyone next year!!!