Today, we had a surprise visit from our newest Lt. Governor of Key Club.  Jon-Lucas Barron has been a member of Key Club for several years, and shared what key club does, what his responsibilities, as Lt. Governor are, and what his future plans are for the Key Clubs in his charge.  Jon- Lucas explained that Key Club runs basically like a Kiwanis Club runs, instilling the same ideals, leadership qualities, and volunteer goals, so that the members then go on to joining a Circle K Club, and then Kiwanis.  Jon-Lucas is in charge of 7 High School Clubs, in the area to include Kyle, Lochart, and Austin.  His job is to work with the presidents of each club to help them reach their goals, plan projects, etc... Mr. Barron explained that there are three levels of school projects that the clubs focus on.  These are school projects, district projects, and governor projects.   His personal goal, this year is to help focus on bringing in new members from lower income families.  

 

     1.  Kiwanis Camp property tax exemption form:  Willie Garza finished and submitted the property tax exemption form.  This is now a recurring process, each year, to keep our tax exemption status, we will be keeping a copy of this form for future submittal.  This form was very time consuming, and we want to thank Willie and Kelli Whigham, who gave assistance, for all the work they did.

 

     2.  Kiwanis Bank Accounts:  Willie has completed the renaming and consolidation of the club's bank accounts; so that the club's account is located at Frost Bank and the foundation account is at Sunflower Bank.  Thank you, Willie, for all the time you give to the club!

 

     3.  By-laws:  An addition will need to be placed in our club by-laws.  For future grant requests, our by-laws will need to have a policy stating that we operate in a non-profit manner.  

 

     4.  Certified Auditor Needed:  Unfortunately, it has been brought to our attention that we can no longer use an in-club auditor and will need to hire a certified auditor for future audits.  This will allow us better chances to grant funding.

 

     5.  New Fundraising opportunity:  Kristi Dame has proposed a new fundraising opportunity for our club to participate in.  This event will involve different non-profit groups to set up their own table somewhere in San Marcos, supplied with classic car trivia questions for community participants to guess and earn tickets or ink stamps that are then put on pre-purchased "Passports".  After completion at each table, the participants gather at a final location where winners are announced.  Proceeds from the passport income will then be divided evenly between the non-profit groups.  Currently, H.O.M.E. Center, Redline Charlie, FluTD Fighters, and San Marcos Kiwanis are signed up to have a table.  This fundraiser will be on Saturday, Set. 26, 2026

 

     6.  5K Race:  Currently, this committee is needing a chairman.  Is there anyone that would be interested in taking on this leadership position?  LaCima has approved having us hold the race in their neighborhood again this year, but without a chairman, it will be difficult to coordinate.  This has been one of our major fundraisers, so alternate ways to bring in that money will need to be discussed, if we don't proceed with the race.

 

     7.  Murdoch's fundraiser results:  Cheryl Petre, Kristi Dame, Holly Dame, Jennifer Richmond, and Chase Dame (Mr. Grill Master the 2nd) led the fundraiser in the parking lot of Murdoch's.  It was a great success, and lots of fun.  With an almost steady stream of hotdog and hamburger customers, during a 2-hour sale, each donating the amount they wanted to pay (minimum was $.25), a total of $214.15 was brought in.  Cheryl was fabulous in greeting each customer and promoting Kiwanis (and donations).  Kristi was able to promote the upcoming Good Citizen Camp.  A possible program may immerge from one of the customers, as well.  Murdochs' was very pleased with our participation and promises to have us back again.

     

     8.  Teacher Reuse:  Teacher Reuse is gearing up for providing back to school supplies.  They are welcoming teams from different organizations to help in the various stages of the process.  Volunteers are needed for Back-to-School Teacher Shopping Event starting on July 1, 2026, at the Tanger Outlet Mall.  Starting now until the end of June, they are sorting and organizing donated supplies, stocking shelves, and filling teacher orders.  If you would like to volunteer to help anytime during June or July 1, you can sign up on Teacher-reuse.org and click on the 3 lines on the right.  click on volunteer and that will take you to the sign-up page. You can also sign up here Summer 2026 Volunteer Calendar (May 16 - August 1)

 

Long, long ago or as scientists might say; billions and billions of years ago, there was a lot of oxygen.  This resulted in larger-than-life animals, trees, bugs, etc.  The earth was covered with lots of water.  The animals and plants that lived in this water, eventually died off and sunk to the bottom.  Decomposition was slow because the oxygen was lower on the bottom, and the ocean bottoms covered up the plants and animals with sand and debris.  More died and repeated the process, and trough levels of heat and pressure, they turned into liquid hydrocarbons.  In layman's terms, this is how oil is created.  Basically, oil is a fossil fuel that is non-renewable in our lifetime.

 

Grady Early quoted the song from the "Beverley Hillbillies" to help us understand the value that we have in oil.  It's the thing that can make you rich, if you are lucky to find it on your property, and people have been doing just that for 12,000-15,000 years, in the US.  

 

Over time, the Legislative Government started getting involved when a man named Lynn Barret struck oil, in Spring, TX, after the Civil War, and rules were set regarding ownership of the oil, accurate forms of measurement, and how to price it in universal barrel size.  The French Pearce Barrel came into existence.  This barrel held 42 gallons of oil.

 

History lesson over, the excitement began in San Marcos, Tx in Oct. 1922.  Many residents, over the years had moved further and further away from the water, so it was necessary to dig wells, on their property, for their water.  On this day, a David Compton was drawing water from a well he had dug 50 years prior and suddenly found that his reliable water supply had blobs of oil floating to the top.  Up the road, Luling had had much success with finding oil, but this was a first for San Marcos.  This event continued for David until he was getting 5 barrels of oil a day, by draining the water from the bucket, through a hole near the bottom, and then pouring the oil into his barrel.  Back in those days, one barrel brought in enough to comfortably pay his field hands.  This continued until it stopped in January 1923, possibly due to the holes dug in Luling or maybe the underground pressure equalized again.

 

 

 Thank you, Grady, for a very interesting and informational program today!

 

 

 

June 25, 2026:  Fentanyl and Drug Trends with Diane Wagoner

What do you call an oil spill in Antarctica?

A slippery situation.