Rotary installs new president

– The Rotary Club of Woodville installed new officers for the 2024-25 year at a banquet held at outgoing president Lee Mann’s home on Tuesday, June 11 at 6 p.m.

Mann began the program by highlighting the club’s various service projects from the past year. He said, “ we applied for and received district grant money (Rotary District 5910) in the amount of $3,000, and the money was donated to Hennigan Park for the Rotary scoreboard, which has a life of approximately 15 years, no longer, so I think it has made a big impact on our community, as I have had several people comment on it, on how nice it is”.

Mann also mentioned the club’s fundraisers. The annual gumbo dinner sold 569 tickets, and 109 meals per hour were delivered. Total ticket sales amounted to $ 7,285, for a club profit of $3,822.00 after expenses. The Breakfast with Santa was also profitable, with 166 tickets sold (88 adults, 78 children ), for a total of $928 in sales, and a profit of $600 for the club. The club also worked the concession stand at the Thursday night home games and sold $1,071 in food.

The Rotary Club donated to the Woodville Fire Department, Caring is Sharing, presented scholarships to local high school seniors, put out more than 400 flags at Magnolia Cemetery for veterans on Memorial Day, and, after a few years absence, participated in the Salvation Army bell ringing in front of Walmart at Christmas. The donates a purse every year to the “Holiday Tea and Purse Auction” help at Our Lady of the Pines Catholic Church, and also donated to the “Angel Tree” program.

Mann gave a shout out to some of the notable speakers that the club has hosted during the year and mentioned that the two he was most impressed by were Andre Coetzee, the owner of Wilderness Animal Control, and a native of South Africa. Mann reached out to Coetzee when he had a bat problem in one of his buildings in Woodville; Coetzee and his son removed over 100 bats from the building. Mann was also impressed by Major General James K. (Red) Brown’s visit. Brown is the brother of Sharon Brown, the headmistress of Tyler County Christian Academy (formerly St. Paul’s).

After Mann was through going over all the club’s highlights for the year, it was time to present awards and install new officers.

Four of the club’s members were awarded Paul Harris Fellow awards for their willingness to serve the club for a second term as president over the years.

Fred Sullivan was honored for serving twice, in 1978-79, and 1993-94. Sullivan has been a Rotarian for 54 years and is a member of the District 5910 Roll of Fame, is a past assistant District Governor, as well as a multiple Paul Harris Fellow recipient. Lee Mann was president of the club twice, in 1996-27, and 2023-24, has attended district and international Rotary conferences, and was awarded the J. Wood Fain award in 2023. Joyce Wilson was presented a Paul Harris Fellow, as well as a Service award from the club. Wilson has been a member since 1994, and has served as president twice, in 1998-99, and 200405. Wilson was instrumental in getting the Breakfast with Santa started. Wilson’s son, John Was the fourth recipient of a Paul Harris Fellow. He has been president twice, in 2010-11, and 2022-23, and has been the chairman of the annual gumbo dinner for years. John Wilson was not present to accept his award.

Rotarian Roschelle Springfield had the honor of installing the new officers for 2024-25. Lisa Meysembourg was installed as President; Connie Gibson is President Elect; Joyce Wilson is Secretary, Jo Thomas is Treasurer, and John Gazzaway, Jaques Blanchette, Kimberly Murders- Johnston and Donna Blackerby were all installed as Directors At Large.

New President Lisa Meysembourg spoke in her first official role as club president. She said, “I plan on following what John (Wilson) and Lee (Mann) have put in place the past two years, bringing back some of the traditions. We will continue to meet, we will continue to have meetings, and we will continue to have good service in our community. We have a lot of great things planned moving forward. We need to follow the change but hang on to the traditions and the values that make Woodville unique”.