Reported by Dick Brown
President Julie Benkoski called the meeting to order at noon and led in reciting the club’s Vision Statement. Mary Reynolds led the pledges and Past President and Past District Governor Ronney Reynolds gave the invocation. Harold Benkoski led us in reciting the “FOUR WAY TEST.” Mary Reynolds was our Greeter at the top of the stairs and Past President Gaines Bagby introduced our guests and visitors.
Bogdan Bikish then came to the podium and provided the Membership Minute. He told us that his business is designing and providing promotional products. He also told us he’s a member because of the service opportunities we provide and the people he has gotten to know by joining the Club.
Mary Reynolds returned to the podium to ask for volunteers for the Books for Me Project at Pecan Springs Elementary School and for donation of toiletries, etc. in support of the EarlyAct FirstKnight service club project there. Margaret Curtis then asked us all to come to the Wine Tasting party at her home on Friday, November 30th; and Tillery Castillo announced the club’s Holiday Party would be 6:30 to 9:00 on December 11th at Chez Zee.
Past President Lee Yeakel then came to the podium, introduced Rehema Apio, Churchill Okello and Tracy Atoo to the club and took their oaths to become naturalized citizens of the United States, following which the club gave them a long standing ovation.
After President Julie’s Announcements and a few minutes of Fellowship, Program Committee Chair Edis Oliver introduced our speaker, Texas Rangers Chief Chance Collins.
Chief Collins told us that the Texas Rangers were founded in 1823 and absorbed into the Texas Department of Public Safety as a division when it was created in 1935. Today, the Texas Rangers are 158 men and four women drawn from the approximately 10,000 members of the DPS. All Rangers are ranked Sergeant or above. To be eligible to test to fill a vacancy in the Rangers, which is very highly competitive, an applicant must have at least eight years as a public safety officer including at least four with the DPS. The Rangers cover the entire state and have a Public Integrity Unit dealing with elected official misconduct and an EOD (bomb squad) unit.
Chief Collins answered many questions on a range of topics. Regarding the border, he said the Rangers support Homeland Security and that border security requires layered enforcement starting with patrol boats in the Rio Grande and including remote video cameras that sense movement and transmit their information to operations centers where it is used to inform ICE and other agents in the field.
President Julie Benkoski announced next week’s program – Urban Search and Rescue with Jeff Saunders of Texas Task Force 1, thanked our featured newsletter sponsors, Rick Ravel (Karavel Shoes) and Andy Swanson (Centric Commercial), closed with a “Thought for the Day” and adjourned at 1:00 p.m.