Exchange Club
Uniting for a Better America Through Programs of Service

From Clark Walter

A message from the President

When Ray Wathen called me last summer to say that I had been nominated for president of Exchange, I was thrilled and honored to accept. You see since the late 1980's I had known about ECSL because Bob and Susan Hargarther and some of their friends had been fans of the Elliott Walter Band. I remember one night talking with Bob and lamenting the fact that I could never be involved with an organization like Exchange. The job of being an entertainer meant no free time to devote to charitable service.

But in late 1991 my life took a change as my business partner died and I made the choice to change careers. One of my first choices was to join the Exchange Club of Sugar Land. As it turned out that was a great choice as I met Stewart Jacobson and made the decision to work with him at Dearborn & Creggs.

Yes, those were good choices, but I need to say that the best choice I made in my life was to marry Martha, my wife of 38 years. As you can see, I am blessed. Many of you know that my job is to help educators retire well. And educators use many devises to help people learn. One of those devises is a visual aid. So with the help of the head table, I will share my theme for this year.

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 Yes, my theme is "Choices." Quoting J. Ellsworth Kalas from his book Old Testament Stories from the Backside: "What we do with our condition is our own responsibility. We may be part of a fallen race, but our response to this condition can be that of a Francis of Assisi or of an Attila the Hun. We CHOOSE the continuing direction."

 

I believe adhering to the exchange club's covenant of service will always lead to making the correct choices. This year I will be awarding the "Big C" pin to members who participate in our projects of service. I have several goals that I want to accomplish while serving as President.

Promote member retention and involvement by tracking member participation in the many projects of service that we support every year. I am happy to announce that Dan Menendez (a new member) has volunteered to set up an extensive excel spreadsheet to track our volunteering this year. I am hoping that each active member will participate in at least three projects of service plus 100% participation in Santa’s Exchange and Spaghetti Dinner. I will also encourage our inactive members to participate.

Attract more new members by doubling our exposure to the various press outlets in our area. Also, improve the way we thank the guests that attend our meetings with the hope of recruiting them later as members.

I am committed to being the first president to have a Digital Scrapbook. This I will do with the help of Board member Larry Pullen.

Promote participation in three social events this year. Linda Schoonmaker (Social Chairperson) and I are planning to have a Halloween party, a white elephant party and a Road rally. I believe these events help promote the “fun” of this club even though we always have "fun" participating in the projects of service.

For further information, please contact the Exchange Club of Sugar Land, or feel free to contact me direct at president@ecsl.org or 281-277-6400.

Clark Walter, President
Exchange Club of Sugar Land