Reported by Phil Thoden
President Sara Pantin called the meeting to order. Ken King led the pledges and Jack Mayo gave our
invocation of the day. Lenny Krasnow led us in saying The Four Way Test. Richard Payton greeted
each member and guest as they arrived and Russell Gallahan introduced the guests and visitors.
Henri Haber, sponsored by Mike O’Krent, came forward to be introduced as a new member. Welcome
Henri! Then several members came forward to be recognized as Paul Harris Fellows: Girish Altekar
(PHF), Vlad Bahrencu (PHF), Margaret Curtis (PHF+4) and James Gavin (PHF). Congratulations all!
Mavi Chapa reminded us about the Wine Tasting coming up at her home on Friday, November 17 at
6:30 pm. Margaret Curtis called for volunteers to help with the Books For Me project coming up on
December 11-15 at Pecan Springs Elementary School.
Then, President Sara reminded us:
- To check in via Facebook and Meetup
- Thursday morning is MasterMind Group Meeting at Mimi’s Café
- Early Act First Knight ceremony is November 17 at Pecan Springs Elementary
- The RCA Holiday Party will take place on December 12
After a lengthy period of fellowship, President Elect Julie Benkoski came up to introduce our speaker,
Stefanie Herdman from the Epilepsy Foundation of Central and South Texas, who shared her personal
story about living with epilepsy.
Stefanie suffered from this neurological disease for many years before undergoing brain surgery as an adult to remove scar tissue –the cause of her seizures –stemming from a childhood illness/fever. While some people suffer from an occasional seizure, those with epilepsy typically have repeated episodes over an extended period of time. In fact, 1 in 26 people are diagnosed with this health condition that is caused by brief disturbances in the electrical function of the brain.
While Stefanie relied on medication for years to control her seizures, she ultimately opted for surgery after one unexpected episode resulted in a car accident. After a successful procedure she no longer suffers seizures and has no notable after effects. She now enjoys volunteering for the Epilepsy Foundation, an organization that leads the fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy and to accelerate therapies to stop seizures, find cures, and save lives.
President Sara then highlighted RCA advertisers in the Rotary Reminder, Corey Wilson with Kidd Roofing and David Doran with Texas Systems Group. Thank you! She ended the meeting with a weekly Pearl of Wisdom.