Events

Terry Ziegler is a native Houstonian and a Texas Tech University graduate with an Honors Studies degree in microbiology.  Terry and his wife, Sarka, have two daughters and Terry is the owner of Big Z Lumber Company, a business operating in Houston since 1938.  A Rotarian since 1982, Terry served as president of the West U (Houston) Rotary Club in 2004-05 and as the Astrodome Rotary Club’s president in 1988-89. The West U Club was awarded the “Best Large Club” in District 5890 during his year as president. In addition, Terry attended a baseball game for physically & mentally challenged youth on the White House lawn with President George W. Bush in 2006 as a result of the West U Rotary Club’s Centennial Project.  Terry produces a Polio Eradication Update newsletter which is emailed weekly to Rotarians around the world In 2010 he received the Rotary Regional Service Award for a Polio-Free World. In 2022 Terry received The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service. Terry served as the Endowment & Major Gift Adviser for Rotary Regions 36 (central North America from Texas to Ontario) for the 2019-2022 Rotary Years and as a Volunteer Coordinator for Rotary Books for the World.

Or the short version – Terry Ziegler was asked to join Rotary in 1982, fell in love with it, and has been having trouble saying no since then.

Chloe Dannenfelser is the Texas Coastal Outreach coordinator for the American Bird Conservancy and their Stopping Plastics And Litter Along Shorelines (SPLASh) program!  We would love to give some presentations to groups in the Houston-Galveston area and especially any that are located around Sims and Brays Bayous as we are about to start focusing a lot of our cleanup/education efforts over there.  

CDannenfelser@abcbirds.org

(281) 832-4255

Dr. Tanyss Munro has spent her life, with her husband, best-selling author Gem Munro, creating a world worthy of children and youth around the world through education. They spent a couple of decades working with some of the most impoverished, troubled Indigenous communities in Canada’s far north – and by helping youth to become powerful catalysts of change, communities were transformed. Their focus now is on the one-third of children worldwide denied an education. From there she became a senior advisor to Reginal Tribal governments, to Federal Ministers and to governments around the world through the Commonwealth of Learning. In 2006 they developed a unique approach many said would never work to provide the most marginalized children quality education. For their work, they were recipients of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Grace:  amaroksociety.org@gmail.com

250-398-0335

Ken Wise is a popular American judge, podcst host, and Golfer. As of now, Ken works as the justice on the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston since October 2013. He works also as the creator and host of the award-winning Texas history podcast Wise About Texas. Before, Ken worked as a judge of both the 334th and 152nd District Courts in Harris County. Ken is a member of the Texas judicial Council and a director of the judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas. Ken is also an adjunct profession at Houston Baptist University and a retired adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center.

Invited by Jack Wallace

Harriet Wasserstrum is Chair of Ranked Choice Voting for Texas, an organization she co-founded in 2019 to advocate for the adoption of this nonpartisan change in voting logistics.

Harriet spent 27 years in banking holding a variety of analytical, relationship management, and operations roles, and ending as Vice Chair, Texas Region, JPMorgan Chase Bank. After retiring from banking, Harriet spent 11 years as President of the Houston/Gulf Coast Chapter of the American Leadership Forum (ALF), a national network dedicated to building stronger communities by joining and strengthening diverse leaders.

Since retiring in 2014, Harriet’s major pro bono activities include starting an ALF Criminal Justice Fellows Program in collaboration with Leadership Memphis in that city and serving as Chair of ALF-National. Harriet has a B.A. in sociology from Barnard College, Columbia University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Inivted by David Redford

harriet.wasserstrum@rcvfortexas.org

832.524.6714

Kate's Presentation:  The Story Behind the Story: How a neighborhood fire forged a bond between West University and Southside Place 

Kate McCormick has been a resident of Southside Place for 26 years. She is the author of two books on the city: a pictorial history entitled Images of America: Southside Place co-authored with Kris Holt and published by Arcadia Publishing; and a children's picture book, Happy: The True Story of a Stray Dog Who Became a Hero published by TCU Press and named a finalist for the 2019 Joan Lowery Nixon Award. 

Most recently, Kate researched and wrote a successful Texas Historical Marker nomination for Southside's Fire Truck Park which is anticipated to be dedicated in 2023.

Kate is a Board Certified labor and employment lawyer in private practice and has been a Municipal Court Judge for the City of Southside Place for over 20 years. She has been on the board of Preservation Houston since 2011, and is its immediate past president.

Kate is the curator of StoryWalk Houston, a page-by-page presentation of a children's picture book along an outdoor path that promotes early literacy,  physical activity and family time together outside. Pop-up StoryWalks have been installed in various parks in West U and in the Southside Place Community Garden as a community service. 

Invited by Kathy Kokas

mccormick.kt@att.net