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Welcome to our Rotary E-Club of Houston!
e-Club of Houston

Service Above Self

We meet In Person & Online
Tuesdays at 12:00 PM
3rd tuesday of month on your computer
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Anywhere Worldwide, TX
United States of America
Monthly newsletter; Board of Director meetings monthly - Second Tuesday @ Noon; Speaker Series monthly - Third Tuesday @ Noon Service Above Self - Service projects - ANYTIME
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D5890 Leadership Training April 11th

Apr. 11, 2026 8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time (UTC-05:00)

Beckendorf Center - Lone Star College

30555 Tomball Pkwy Tomball, TX 77375

Get ready for an exciting start to the new Rotary year! Club Leadership Training is your opportunity to connect, learn, and build the skills that will help your club thrive. Whether you're taking on a leadership role or simply want to deepen your Rotary knowledge, this orientation will empower you to create meaningful engagement for your members. All Rotaractors and Rotarians are welcome. Training tracks include: President-Elects, President Nominees, Assistant Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, Foundation Chair, Membership Chair, Sergeant at Arms, and Public Image Chair. We will also offer Rotary 101 for both new Rotarians and those that want a refresher. Together, we’ll strengthen our leadership, elevate our clubs, and create lasting impact in our communities and beyond. Registration begins at 8:00 am and the general session begins promptly at 9:00 am. Light refreshments will be provided.

Who will join President-Elect ML and Robin Charlesworth for this training?  Even if you have been to training before the information shared on April 11 is relevant to current themes and changes expected in 2026-27.  All members are welcome, not just officers.  It is enlightening for new members, too.  

Community Service
Spring is a time of renewal, warmer weather and for refocusing our efforts for doing good!
 
The Houston E-Club community service theme for April & May is Beautification – Concentrating service efforts to improve the indoor and outdoor surroundings in our communities. It can be as simple as taking an arrangement from your flower garden to a nearby care facility or as complex as participating in a habitat for humanity housing project or local church initiative to improve an elderly or disabled neighbors’ home. This is an opportunity for our E-club to increase visibility in our communities while focusing on some KEY Rotary Areas of global service. Please spread the word and participate locally, individually in the name of rotary, and join our club in targeted events to demonstrate ACTIVE volunteerism making the world and our local communities a better place.
 
Additional focus should also be given to the global perspective provided through Rotary International. The RI focus for the months of April and May are:
  • April – Environment Month
  • May – Youth Service Month
Be proactive and represent Rotary wherever you are and please do so often!
 
Robert Stein
Lithuanian Friendship Exchange
On March 14, 2026 we had 15 Lithuanians arrive in Houston for a Rotary Friendship Exchange.  This was organized by Irene Hickey-Kroll and Lindsay Kroll.  Our club hosted two, Rotarian Vilma Mazeiklene and her son, Edvinas Mazeikis.  They stayed with the Charlesworth's from their arrival until Wednesday when the group was transferred to College Station/Bryan area.  Also, Lisa Fredericks hosted them for one night, including a beach trip to Galveston, prior to their departure for their home country.  On Sunday, March 15th, the group toured the San Jacinto Monument and battlegrounds with a seafood lunch at Monument Inn.  Returning to the Houston area a tour was arranged of The Rotary House operated by Marriott at the Medical Center (a home away from home for cancer patients).  Then the Charlesworth's drove around the medical center with them prior to attending a Welcome Reception at PDG Sunny and Rashmi Sharma's home.  Rotary flags were exchanged and gifts, too.  The Sharma's grandchildren assisted with delivery of the gift bags which was a special touch to witness future Rotarians sharing in the Texas-sized welcome.  On Monday, the visitors toured NASA and then our club hosted a Social/Meeting for more of our club members to meet Vilma and Edvinas.  Our program included Vilma's talk about Lithuania and Rotary projects, Interactors, Rotary Exchange (both our Brazilian exchange student and a message given by Edvinas who is ROTEX having exchanged as a youth to Great Britain).  We inducted several new members, Silveria Guel, Fabiola Giannone, and Sir Billy Dorsey, Jr. Rotary Foundation recognitions were also shared by President Nick Giannone.  We also had an excellent update from Protus Onyango who recently returned from Kenya.  We had two members attend on zoom.  Special guests also included DG Tom Kelchner, Klein Forest Interact officers and their sponsor Laila Nafrees, and several spouses.  It was a pot luck dinner and no one left hungry!  
Program:  Civilization on the Moon — and what it means for life on Earth
We could realistically see people starting to live and work on the Moon in the next decade — and how we do it matters, says space policy researcher Jessy Kate Schingler. In this fascinating talk, she discusses the critical issues that arise when we consider civilization in outer space — such as governance, property rights and resource management — and shows how the Moon can be a template for solving our biggest challenges here on Earth.
 
The Artemis II mission successfully launched on April 1, 2026, at 6:35 p.m. EDT. The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the first crewed flight of the Artemis program to orbit the Moon.  A variety of prelaunch, launch, and mission events for NASA’s Artemis II mission around the Moon will stream online. 

Artemis II is NASA’s first crewed mission under the Artemis program and will launch from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on an approximately 10-day journey around the Moon. Among objectives, the agency will test the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems for the first time with people and lay the groundwork for future crewed Artemis missions.  Briefings, events, and 24/7 mission coverage will stream on the agency’s YouTube channel, and events will each have their own stream closer to their start time. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.

Although this Ted Talk was recorded in May, 2020, it will, hopefully, be of interest to all now. 

Why you should listen

Jessy Kate Schingler leads policy and governance at the Open Lunar Foundation, which works on policy and institution design in support of sustainable lunar settlements driven by open values. Open Lunar seeks to create a peaceful, cooperative future on the Moon for all life.

Schingler is also affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, looking at the application of new institutional designs to pressing global challenges and a founder and board member at District Commons, a nonprofit experimenting with self-governance and new forms of commoning. She has a bachelors in astrophysics, a masters in computer science and two years towards a PhD in distribut

 

 
 
 
District Conference in Galveston 

 

Discover your perfect getaway at Moody Gardens Hotel, Spa, & Convention Center.  This will be a great Family of Rotary event!

 

 

MOODY GARDENS HOTEL, SPA & CONVENTION CENTER

APRIL 30 - MAY 3, 2026

(See links below to reserve your Moody Gardens Hotel Room & Register to Attend!)
 
Don't miss out on these conference opportunities!  See the sections below about ordering your very own district conference shirt, joining our Golf Tournament, and signing up for the Half-Day Fishing Excursion on Galveston Bay!
 
DISTRICT CONFERENCE COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS:
Ken Wimbley -  kwimbley@kncsllc.com   C:  832-435-1348
 
Read more...
Upcoming Meetings
There are two upcoming events that I hope you will be interested in attending.  
 
The first is our speaker for 04/21/26, at Noon.  Soar into the world of birds with Wild Bird Adventures with MaryAnn Morris.  Mary Ann served as the Education Director at Houston Audubon for 24 years and has been teaching about birds for over 35 years. She travels with “feathered” teaching ambassadors who are the “spokesbirds” for the avian world. She graduated with honors from Virginia Tech with a degree in Forestry and Wildlife Biology and a minor in Geography. She was a full-time educator and rehabilitator for the world renowned Raptor Trust in New Jersey where she cared for over 3,000 injured and/or orphaned birds each year and taught thousands of school children.
 
I believe she will share some of her avian rescues with us.
 
The second event is  Mental Health Days sponsored by Rotary District 5890.  Three of our members are involved in this program.  Evelyn Traylor is the organizer.  She works in suicide intervention.  Also, Ed & Robin Charlesworth will be speakers at the event. Ed will speak about stress management, and Robin will talk about therapy with children, adolescents, families, and couples.
 
You can attend the event in person, or via Zoom,  The program is free. It will recorded, and sent to every club president in the District.image
 

 

 

Register your Community Service
On our ClubRunner website you may now register your volunteer hours and donations to community organizations.  Click on the Member area and select Volunteers in the top blue bar.  Next, select Member Hours Report.  Here you may enter your activity of volunteering.  Our Community Service Char, Robert Stein, will capture this information to report to the board each month.  Please give it a try and if you need some help reach. our to either Robert Stein or to Robin Charlesworth.  We know our club members have  much to share and now this is an easy way to report back to our club just what you are doing.  Our Rotary motto of "Service Above Self" is adopted by all of us and we are interested in learning about. your good deeds.
Fundraiser - KROGER'S or City Market
We all buy groceries and now our dollars spent at Kroger's will return a portion to our Rotary club.  We have become a part of the NPO (Non-Profit Organization) Kroger Community Rewards Program.  If you are already part. of this program, it is possible to change your designated charity.  How?
Visit http://www.kroger.com. Once logged into their Kroger account, search for ROTARY E-CLUB OF HOUSTON, TEXAS USA either by name or BG564 and then click Enroll. New users will need to create an account which requires some basic information, a valid email address and a rewards card.  If you previously participated in this reward program, you may now change your choice to Rotary e-Club of Houston.
 
We have received a check for about $31.00 for the second quarter of the calendar year.  We need to get more members registered for our club to earn more money.

*Customers must have a registered Kroger rewards card account to link to your organization.
*If a member does not yet have a Kroger rewards card, please inquire at the customer service desk at any Kroger

NOTE:  REMEMBER, purchases will not count for our organization until after our members  register their rewardscard.
Participants must swipe their registered Kroger rewards card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Kroger rewards card when shopping for each purchase to count.
 
The monies earned here will be deposited into our club foundation account to be used solely for service projects.
 
Since our club hopes to support worthy service projects, yet we don't have a strong track record with fundraising, we ask that you support our Roary club with. your purchases while grocery shopping.
Designing Your Rotary Experience
GET INVOLVED IN WAYS THAT MATTER TO YOU 
Rotary offers benefits for people of all ages and backgrounds. From learning more about the world to learning more about yourself, you can grow by engaging with Rotary’s global network and the array of activities, programs, and interest groups that Rotary offers.

When you get involved in Rotary you expand your perspective by honing your skills, learning from professionals, making new connections, and making a difference in your community and around the world.

We know that each member has a unique combination of interests, skills, and talents, and so each member will be attracted to different activities. This guide describes the options you can choose from to personalize your Rotary experience and get involved in ways that matter to you.

Following is a blueprint of how to participate in Rotary and engage as a Rotarian:

ATTEND CLUB MEETINGS AND EVENTS.

Introduce yourself to members in your club to get
to know them better. Being genuinely interested in others shows people you value them, and these small interactions can lead to lasting friendships.  Our e-club offers a Speaker Series monthly on the third Tuesday at noon.  See the website calendar for information on the program.  On the calendar we will also post district events such as fundraisers, all district activities, special events, Rotary training programs. social activities, etc.

CREATE A MY ROTARY ACCOUNT.

When you register for a My Rotary account and create a profile, you can access Rotary’s online tools and locate and connect with members near and far using the Find a Member tool.  If you need assistance, do not hesitate to ask one of our board members.  This is very important to give you easy access to donating to the Rotary Foundation, finding a list of active global grants needing partners, Rotary training, Rotary interest stories, and more.

ATTEND DISTRICT MEETINGS AND EVENTS.

Clubs are grouped into more than 500 districts worldwide. By connecting with other clubs and leaders in your district, you can learn how to get involved in Rotary beyond your club and make a greater impact.

GET INVOLVED WITH CLUB INITIATIVES.

Volunteering to take part in a project, attend a meeting, or serve in a club role, such as being on a committee, will let you work with others in meaningful ways and contribute to your club’s impact. You can also suggest speakers from service and project partners or from other organizations that share Rotary’s values. Ask your club how you can help.  We encourage you to share YOUR ideas and find a "job" within our club.

VISIT ANOTHER CLUB.

You can locate Rotary and Rotaract club meetings to attend using the Find a Club tool. You might think of ways to collaborate on club activities or hear of an idea you want to try with your club. Visiting other clubs fosters new connections and inspiration.  You will always be welcome in any club around the world, and while traveling may make new friends, hear interesting speakers and learn how Rotary participates in their community.

JOIN A ROTARY FELLOWSHIP.

Meet others with similar interests by joining a Rotary Fellowship, an international group of people with a common hobby, identity, culture, or vocation. This is a fun way to make friends and explore a pastime or profession.  We have several club members who have joined the Rotary Wine Fellowship.  

JOIN A ROTARY ACTION GROUP.

These include people around the world who have expertise and passion in a particular area, such as economic development, education, the environment, or safe water. Join a Rotary Action Group to share your knowledge, develop your skills, and make professional and personal connections.  One of our members, Isis Meijas, initiated WASH-RAG (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Rotary Action Group).  Additionally, there are three groups dedicated to promoting peace - Peace, Refugees, Slavery Prevention.  Other groups focus on fighting disease - Addiction Prevention, Alzheimer's Dementia, Blindness Prevention, Blood and Organ Donation, Diabetes, Mental Health Initiatives, etc.

PARTICIPATE IN A ROTARY FRIENDSHIP EXCHANGE.
Experience different cultures and build international understanding and friendships. This program for Rotary members and friends prioritizes cultural immersion, international service, or vocational exchanges. Friendship Exchange participants take turns hosting one another in their homes and clubs.  The Charlesworth's. have enjoyed several memorable trips as part of Rotary Friendship Exchanges with South Africa, Estonia, New Zealand, and Germany.

SUPPORT YOUR CLUB.

You can help your club thrive by offering your expertise and skills through serving as a club officer, as a committee member, or in another role.

PARTICIPATE IN LOCAL SERVICE ACTIVITIES.

Find out what projects your club, neighboring clubs, and your district are working on and volunteer for one or more. Work with partners or conduct a community assessment to identify projects that would benefit your local area.  Robert Stein, Community Service Chair, suggests areas of focus for project themes each month.  In addition, we occasionally share projects of other Rotary clubs and they always appreciate more helping hands.  In our e-club we mostly have individual efforts rather than club planned projects due to our wide distribution of members across state lines and even other countries.  Robert would like to capture the time spent by our members in donating time and talent or money donated to community projects.

PARTICIPATE IN INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS.

Many clubs partner with clubs in other parts of the world to address a need in one of their communities. Together, they have more time and funding, as well as the expertise of members, partners, and Rotary program alumni to bring about sustainable, positive change. Find a project and get involved.  We have club members who are engaged with international projects in Guatemala, Ghana, Ukraine, Venezuela, and more.

JOIN THE EFFORT TO ERADICATE POLIO.

Raise awareness about Rotary’s work to end polio, donate to the PolioPlus Fund, or volunteer for a National Immunization Day. Post about polio on social media or include a link to endpolio.org in your email signature. Write to us to learn about upcoming trips for NIDs.  We ask each member to donate $50 or more to eradicate ate polio each year in addition to a donation to the Rotary Foundation,  

 
Read more...
Upcoming Events & Speakers
Past Speakers
Brittany Johnson
Feb 17, 2026
Introduction to CANVA
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Custom Pages
Rotary International News
Progress report: Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia

Rotary and partners deploy health workers to confront malaria and more through the five-year-old Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia program.

Service Above Self
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays:
  • Bob Haeuser
    April 10
  • Bessye Adams
    April 24
Spouse/Partner Birthdays:
  • Husein Allgayer
    April 5
Join Date:
  • Robin Charlesworth
    April 1, 1989
    37 years
  • Brandon Johnson
    April 9, 2024
    2 years
  • Bessye Adams
    April 16, 2023
    3 years
Meeting Responsibilities
Jan Vocational. Talks
Speaker
Miller, Adriane
 
Speaker
Stein, Jake
 
Speaker
Powers, Ruby