1.  Attendance:  We had four guests present today, including Shannon West from the San Marcos Daily Record.  She took several pictures of our program presenter and plans to include it in an article for the newspaper, as she helps to promote our club.

 

2.  Shannon West worked with Penny Slavik to get an article in the newspaper, highlighting the Kiwanis Club.  This article appeared in the San Marcos Daily Record on Mar. 15, 2026.  Excellent article!  Penny will have several copies available, at our next meeting, if you missed getting your own copy.  

 

 

1.  Jennifer reviewed the highlights from Wednesday's board meeting.

      a.  The board voted to approve $300 to be given to Eben Smith to assist              in his Eagle Scout project.

      b.  Rick proposed raising the amount paid to the Boy Scouts and the 4-H             Club that put out flags on flag days, by $1.00 per flag.  The board                       approved this proposition.

      c.  Alex Edwards was voted in as our newest Kiwanis member.  He will be

           inducted this upcoming Thursday, during our meeting.

      d.  Our Club will be applying for a Kiwanis micro-grant.  Our goal is to 

            get funding to purchase sturdy, square metal-based tables, with built

            in benches, for the McBride Wilson Camp.

      e.  Different options were discussed regarding Speaker thank-you gifts, 

            as we are almost out of the notepads.  The cost to replace these                          notepads has gotten expensive.  Penny suggested bookmarks with our

            logo and information printed on club specifics.  She will have                              examples to show at our next club meeting.  It was also suggested to 

            present the speaker with a stylus.  *Kelli Whigham suggested                             "Challenge Coins" during our lunch meeting.

 

2.  The Chamber of Commerce Cornhole Tournament, held last Friday, was lots of fun, and had a lot of Kiwanis support.  Thank you Valerie Delgado, Rick Pickering, Willie Garza, Felicia Hardeman, Rona Walton, Jesse Ramos, Erica Simmons, and Cheryl Petre for giving your time to help make this a successful event!

 

3.  Board of Directors:  We are taking nominations for Kiwanis President for next year.  This is a very important position that needs to be filled, but you have many excellent board members that will be there to help!  Please consider serving in this capacity!  The club will also need 3 people to serve as board members, as several of our previous members will be finishing up their term at the end of this year.  Penny Slavik plans to continue as Secretary, Willie Garza will continue as Treasurer, and Jennifer will serve as past-president.

 

4.  Upcoming District Convention- The District Convention will be held in Texarkana this year from July 23-25.  Now is the time to get your tickets, as they are being offered at an early bird discount of $55.

 

 

 

Linda Coker, Chair for the Hays County Historical Commission and Advocacy Chair for the Heritage Association, gave a very interesting program on the "History of San Marcos".  She began by explaining that she loves the drama of history and likes to start her "storytelling" with "Legend has it...."

 

She began by explaining that San Marcos is a very unique place because it is one of the oldest inhabited areas in North America, spanning back tens of thousands of years ago.  The earliest non-indigenous people showed up, though in 1808.  These people were sent by the mayor of Mexico to clear the land and plant crops.  This group consisted of 81 people, and they tried to settle near the San Marcos River.  Unfortunately, this settlement was a failed attempt due to a shortage of farming tools, seeds, flooding, and Indian attacks.  Years later another group of people showed up to claim land given to them as Defenders of the Texas Revolution.  Linda then went on to explain that John Pitts, charter member of the First United Methodist Church, purchased land from one of the Defenders of the Texas Revolution.  This land was located where the entrance of Kissing Tree is now set up, and he was one of the residents of a town called Stringtown which ran from where Wonder World and Hunter Road meet to Posey Road.   Linda shared many other things about how Stringtown became a ghost town when people moved into downtown San Marcos, to how the Civil War caused many population changes, and even shared the location of the only exhisting building still standing.

 

If you missed this past week's program, you missed a lot of very interesting history.  Fortunately, we are blessed to have Linda come back again on April 23, 2026, and May 21, 2026, to present parts 2 and 3 of the San Marcos history!  You definitely don't want to miss these 2 future programs!

 

 

Mar. 26, 2026:  Marketing and Outreach with Christi Murillo (Marketing and Research Coordinator for Parks and Recreation

 

• Why don’t Texans ever get lost? Because all roads lead to BBQ.