Events

International Leadership School of Texas stresses the importance of leadership and cultural awareness for future graduates.  Since its establishment in 2013 in Dallas, International Leadership School of Texas has become one of the fastest growing K-12 charter school districts in Texas.  Come hear its founder and Superintendent Eddie Conger talk about establishing this elite school.

The idea that suicides occur more frequently during the holiday season is a long-perpetuated myth. Suicide remains a major public health problem, one that occurs throughout the year. It is the 10th leading cause of death for all Americans.  Ms. Crider brings an interesting program to us, all about her role with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

New to Texas, Holly Hollenbeck was hired and moved here by our nation’s largest construction company, Turner Construction in January 2020 in the role of Insurance and Risk Manager for the Central Region. She is an attorney, 25+ year member of the Nebraska Bar Association, and for the last 10 years was the Director at WorkFit, an occupational medicine and medical-legal consulting practice in Omaha, NE.

Besides her two adult daughters, Holly’s biggest passion is her community service work through Rotary. She has been the chair of every committee at least once and volunteered for every service project especially for those in the greatest need – the disabled and the homeless. She was honored as 2017-2018 Suburban Rotarian of the Year for her community service contributions to the homeless in Omaha.

Come hear her talk about building our membership.

This is a virtual event. The invite has been sent out, in case you don' thave it let me know.

With only 53 days until our first ever virtual gala, Wendy and her team firm up the duties and will show us how this will be a success event!  This is a mandatory meeting for ALL members.

After more than 20 years in corporate sales, Stu Schlackman formed his sales training firm to focus on helping his clients achieve Superior Sales Results. Leveraging his competitive nature and winning results, Schlackman’s firm focuses on training and coaching sales and service teams to turn them into top performers.

Want to know where the money we raise goes?  Want to hear what our members do for a living?  This is the time we give to our scholarship recipients to see how they are doing in college and to a few of our members to learn what they do.

Come help us honor both groups by listening and supporting them.  You never know what treasures we have created by giving a student a chance at higher education or to what they can become.

The summer of 1952 was hot, 25 days above 100F, the “cool” days not much cooler. But across the state, swimming pools were shut. Cinemas, too, and bars and bowling alleys. Church services were suspended. Cities doused their streets with DDT insecticide; by now, health officials knew that mosquitoes didn’t spread the disease, but they had to be seen to be doing something. Nothing seemed to work. As the summer wore on, the numbers of polio cases grew.

When he was six, Paul Alexander contracted polio and was paralyzed for life. Today he is 74, and one of the last people in the world still using an iron lung. But after surviving one deadly outbreak, he did not expect to find himself threatened by another.

This should be on your list as a no-miss presentation.

Ten…Nine…Eight… We’re counting down to the last days before Gala!  Wendy Seale will firm up the schedule of duties and start to put a big, beautiful bow on this event.  It going to be fantastic! 

President Mary is asking for ALL members to attend!!!

Tom Brooks spent 12 years with United Press International as a reporter, editor, bureau chief, sales representative, and sales manager. He covered stories on state and local government, college and professional sports, rodeos, auto racing, hurricanes, tornadoes, and his favorite, interesting and quirky people. He received his bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and his master’s from the Kiplinger Program of Public Affairs Reporting at Ohio State University. Richardson area residents might know him better as the owner/operator of Alphagraphics for 29 years, and also as a member of the Richardson East Rotary Club, also for 29 years (not the same 29). Tom is a past president of RERC and a graduate of Leadership Richardson Class XXVII. Tom considers good, aggressive news coverage to be a critical part of the fabric of our republic. Fake news drives him crazy.

Ana Marlene Forte Machado, better known as Marlene Forte, is a Cuban-American actress and producer. She is perhaps best known for her role as Carmen Ramos on the television soap opera Dallas.  Come meet her and hear "My Road to Bobby Ewing's Kitchen!"

For over twenty years, Marta Gómez Frey has been helping business owners start and grow their businesses.  From her beginnings in a family business based in Richardson, TX, to working with entrepreneurs for the Collin Small Business Development Center at Collin College, Marta has counseled hundreds of men and women in the areas of marketing, management, financing, growth strategies, government contracting and family business issues. 

If anyone in our club knows the importance of organ donation, it is Ron Wilson.  Through the efforts of our club, many of his church members and new-found friends, Ron received a lifesaving kidney on May 23, 2017.

Tune in and hear just how important and easy it is to become an organ donor.  Marissa Walker is the Senior Program Manager for Southwest Transplant Alliance’s Marketing, Communications and Foundation Relations department. She oversees the organization’s strategic and research-based approaches to community outreach, media relations and digital communications. Marissa is a 12-year veteran of the nonprofit organization world and holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Texas Christian University and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Texas at Dallas.

March 31 - this will be our Community Service Day at the Sensory Garden.  We'll meet there at 5:30 PM - please bring your clippers and a hand shovel.  Karen Wilson tells me that we will be trimming away the dead stuff, mulching and planting a few new plants.  We'll be giving the garden some LOVE!!!  

Bill is Rotary District 5810's International Service Chair and a Past District Governor.  Bill is a "ball of fire" and will share his thoughts on Rotary and how it will impact your life.  DON'T MISS  this dynamic presentation!  

It was 1932 and America was in the middle of the Great Depression.  Rotarian Herbert Taylor was asked to take charge of the Club Aluminum Company of Chicago in an effort to save it from bankruptcy.  He believed himself to be the only person in the company with 250 employees who had hope. His recovery plan started with changing the ethical climate of the company.  After praying for guidance, he grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down twenty-four words that came to him.

It wasn’t until 1940 when Taylor became the President of Rotary International that he offered it to Rotary and it was adopted as the Four Way Test.

Traditionally, Richardson East Rotary Club has allowed the contestants of the Four Way Test Speech Contest to come and share their creations.  The contestants are high school students who must offer material that is original and be about applying the Rotary Four Way Test to an important issue in our everyday relationships with other people.  Come and share this fun day with us!

NBC 5 Chief Meteorologist Rick Mitchell has been responsible for providing weather coverage of some of the most intense storms, including several tornado outbreaks, flooding, blizzards and wildfires.  He joined NBC 5 in August 2012 and will join us to share stories of his exciting career and teach us a bit about weather. 

Rick earned a bachelor of science degree in meteorology from the University of Nebraska, and has also received the CBM seal from the American Meteorological Society.