Events

Women in Rotary gathering

The SAV Committee will present checks to the USO and George W. Bush Institute. 

Baking, Packing, Distributing cookies for our Dallas Police Officers at various shift times! Contact Rachael Jones or Colleen Brainerd for details. Use the link below to sign up! 

https://form.jotform.com/212025529203141 

Baking, Packing, Distributing cookies for our Dallas Police Officers at various shift times! Contact Rachael Jones or Colleen Brainerd for details. Use the link below to sign up! 

https://form.jotform.com/212025529203141 

Baking, Packing, Distributing cookies for our Dallas Police Officers at various shift times! Contact Rachael Jones or Colleen Brainerd for details. Use the link below to sign up! 

https://form.jotform.com/212025529203141 

Awards will be presented to teachers of each grade level that have exhibited service about self in the classrooms. 

Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum Tour, Lunch and Parking $35

Every 3rd Thursday the Dallas Rotary members meet at various locations around Dallas for fellowship and Happy Hour. This is a great opportunity for networking, and getting to know your fellow members of the club in a casual environment. It is also a wonderful time to invite a guest. 

Todd Bensman is the author of the new book America’s Covert Border War: The Untold Story of the Nation’s Battle to Prevent Jihadist Infiltration (Posthill Press/Bombardier Books, February 23, 2021). He currently serves as the Texas-based Senior National Security Fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a Washington, D.C. policy institute for which he writes, speaks, and grants media interviews about the nexus between immigration and national security. He frequently reports from the southern border, in Mexico and in Latin America. He has testified before Congress as an expert witness and regularly appears on radio and television outlets to discuss illegal immigration and border security matters. Separately, he has written about homeland security and terrorism subjects for Homeland Security Today, Townhall, The Federalist, the Investigative Project on Terrorism, SpyTalk, The Daily Wire, The National Pulse, The National Interest, and other publications. He serves as a Writing Fellow for the Middle East Forum and also teaches terrorism, intelligence analysis, and journalism as a university adjunct lecturer. (Sign up for his newsletter to receive alerts when new columns and reports publish.)

For nearly a decade prior to joining CIS in August 2018, Bensman led counterterrorism intelligence for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division and its multi-agency fusion center. Before his homeland security service, Bensman was a journalist for 23 years, covering national security after 9/11 as a staff writer for major newspapers.

Intelligence Career

In 2009, Bensman left journalism to join the Texas Department of Public Safety as a senior counterterrorism programs specialist, analyst, and manager of an analytical unit. He designed and directed collection operations that fed the Intelligence Community, prompted or advanced FBI counterterrorism investigations, and produced confidential human sources. 

He routinely briefed DPS leadership, elected leaders and members of Congress about domestic and international threats. Holding a DHS security clearance, Bensman worked frequently with FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces, ICE and its Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, the National Targeting Center, DHS Intelligence & Analysis Division, and the National Counterterrorism Center.

Journalism Career

Prior to his government service, Bensman worked on staff for The Dallas Morning News, CBS, and Hearst Newspapers, covering the FBI, federal law enforcement and serving on investigative teams. He reported extensively on national security issues after 9/11 and worked in 25 countries. As an investigative projects reporter, he authored long-form stories with emphases on homeland security and counterterrorism efforts. His reporting on migration from Islamic countries and cross-border gun smuggling to cartels earned two National Press Club awards (2008 and 2009), an Inter-American Press Association award, and two Texas Institute of Letters awards. His reporting on corruption spurred numerous federal investigations, indictments and convictions. 

During the early 1990s, he reported on the Gulf War, to include scud missile attacks and refugee issues, from Israel, Egypt and Jordan. He went on to cover Eastern Europe from Prague, to include armed conflict in Moldova, and spent a year covering warfare in Bosnia, where he provided frequent dispatches from the siege of Sarajevo at the height of hostilities. 

Education

Bensman holds an M.A. in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security (2015, Outstanding Thesis designee). He also holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism (2009). He holds an undergraduate degree in journalism (with honors) from Northern Arizona University. In 2017, he completed a 350-hour State of Texas Command College leadership program sponsored by the Texas Department of Public Safety. 

Robert Riggs is a Peabody Award-winning investigative reporter and content entrepreneur. He has received three coveted Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Journalism Awards for Investigative Reporting. The Peabody and duPont are respectively considered the broadcast TV equivalent of the Oscar and the Pulitzer.

Texas A&M University named Robert an Outstanding Alumnus from the College of Architecture in recognition of his journalistic accomplishments. It is a distinction received by fewer than 1% of the College’s graduates. 
Riggs is the co-host and creator of the True Crime Reporter™ Podcast, and the SWAT Brothers Podcast.

Riggs’ stories impacted millions of people during thousands of hours of reporting on television and in online media.  During some assignments, his reporting literally occurred under fire while he was embedded with the U.S. Army during the invasion of Iraq.

Among the three Alfred I. duPont Columbia Journalism Awards for Investigative Reporting, judges described his Gulf War report about the censorship of religious services for U.S. soldiers, “as the story every other news organization missed.”

Riggs journalistic ethos is to illuminate important public issues, right wrongs, speak truth to power, change flawed public policy, and in some cases save people from harm by violent criminals. Serial killers were caught and terrorist networks exposed. Corrupt public officials did time in federal prison behind his reporting.

Riggs is a member of the FBI’s North Texas Chapter of InfraGard which was formed in response to the 9/11 terror attacks. He is a longtime member of the Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE). It is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving investigative reporting around the world.

Shelby Abeyta as a moderator (as Sr Dir of Comms/Engagement from Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute) featuring RCD Members, Courtney Underwood and Matt Gerber as guest panelists.

Courtney, as a survivor of a loved one who committed suicide, and Matt as an individual who survived two dark moments of suicidal ideation--and how Rotary and service quite literally saved his life. 

Join us for this 'fireside chat' which will also highlight the startling rise of adolescent, first responder and veterans suicide.

Honor and Remember our Nation's Heroes

The Rotary Club of Dallas will join Carry The Load on Friday, September 10 for a National Day of Service and Remembrance volunteering to beautify sacred grounds at the DFW National Cemetery. If you would like to participate, please register using the link provided. In your registration be sure to select DFW National Cemetery and include in the notes you are part The Rotary Club of Dallas.

Those who would like, we will meet for breakfast at Norma's by NorthPark at 8:00AM. Welcome to carpool to the cemetery! 

Service and Fellowship - A great day to be a Rotarian! 

DG Max Duplant will share plans for the year and induct our newest members! Don't miss this meeting! Board Members will meet with DG Max prior to the meeting, 11:15AM. 

Every 3rd Thursday the Dallas Rotary members meet at various locations around Dallas for fellowship and Happy Hour. This is a great opportunity for networking, and getting to know your fellow members of the club in a casual environment. It is also a wonderful time to invite a guest. 

We will be celebrating the induction of our newest members as well! 

Because we have spent so much time apart the Dallas Rotary Club is inviting ALL Rotarians ( and potential Rotarians) in District 5810 to come and enjoy a Fencing demonstration at our Luncheon on September 22, 2021.  The event will occur at the Park City Club. (near Tollway and NW Highway)

The Victorian Fencing Society began in 2011 to promote the research, training and demonstration of historical swordplay from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century. The VFS has performed exhibitions at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Public Library, Shakespeare in the Park, Dallas Farmers Branch Historical Park, Dickens on the Strand in Galveston, Texas Scottish Festival in Decatur, and many other events.  The Fencing Institute of Texas is one of the largest fencing facilities and clubs in North Texas. 

Learn more about the Victorian Fencing Society at https://www.victorianfencingsociety.com/ and the Fencing Institute of Texas at https://fenceintexas.org/

Jonathan Carr is from Farmers Branch, TX and is the president and main instructor for the Victorian Fencing Society. He has been fencing for 37 years.

Kim Schaefer is from Bedford, TX. She has been studying 19^th century fencing since 2017 and has prior training in karate and escrima.

Curtis and Ashley Rochelle are from Graham, TX. In addition to modern and 19th century styles, they also practice Renaissance era fencing.

Kyle West is from Dallas and is a US Navy veteran and the Victorian Fencing Society's naval swords and swordsmanship specialist."

Guest Speaker - Dallas Police Department Assistant Chief Jesse Reyes 

$20 Admission includes food, drinks, cigar and fellowship! 

Experience Dallas will be held in the Rosine Hall at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. We will begin with our club meeting and lunch, Vice President of Gardens, Dave Forehand will be our program speaker. The tour will begin at 1PM. 

Lunch, Tour and Parking are including for $35. You must register here by SEPTEMBER 20th. 

We always welcome guests, this is a wonderfu

l opportunity to bring your family, friends, or pprospective members to a meeting! 

Jim Parobek - President - Texas Health Dallas | Texas Health Resources 

Jim Parobek, President, has been at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas (THD) since June 2020. He has primary responsibilities for the day-to-day activities of the 875-bed flagship for Texas Health Resources and to expand the integration with UT Southwestern Medical Center. 

Prior to this he served as the operations leader to the Southeast Zone for Texas Health Resources (2019), executive vice president, physician enterprise for Texas Health Resources and chief operating officer of Southwestern Health Resources Physician Network (2016-2019) and senior vice president of operations for Texas Heath Physicians Group and Texas Health Organization of Physicians (2014-2016). 

Parobek has worked in health care administration for 25 years. He joined Texas Health Resources from Kentucky, where he led three of the state’s largest multi-specialty employed physician groups. He held leadership positions for both KentuckyOne and Norton Healthcare. He was also the president and CEO of Saints Mary & Elizabeth Hospital, as well as Gateway Rehabilitation Hospital, in Louisville, Kentucky. 

After earning bachelor’s degrees in physical therapy and chemistry from Ohio University and Miami University of Ohio, respectively, Parobek began his career as a licensed physical therapist. He subsequently earned an MBA from Webster University. 

Outside of the workplace, Parobek is an active community volunteer and enjoys traveling and outdoor adventures, as well as playing golf. He and his wife are the proud parents of two sons.

We're gathering for breakfast to hear from a sex trafficking survivor, learning how prevalent trafficking is right here in North Texas, and how it really happens (it's much different than Hollywod portrays). Afterwards we'll visit local businesses with awareness materials and victim resources to create lifesaving opportunities for victims. 

Please come and join me to represent The Rotary Club of Dallas! I would like to know if you plan to come to please email me (cyndi@dallasrotary.org) to i can be on the look out for you and know how many will be representing our club. Don't forget to register for the event with the link - https://unboundntx.kindful.com/e/nimc so they will plan for breakfast! 

Amber Zuckerman joined the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation team as the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Community Relations in January 2020. Amber oversees community partnerships and events, manages strategic projects, and supports marketing and co-branding initiatives. Amber most recently served as the Vice President of Development and Community Relations for the North Texas Commission (NTC) where she was responsible for membership development and corporate partnerships, community engagement, and board management. Prior to joining the NTC, Amber served as the Director of Development for the Friends of the Levitt Pavilion in Arlington where she focused on increasing funding and mission-centric community engagement. A Maverick at heart, she spent more than 12 years at The University of Texas at Arlington in positions with University Communications, Institutional Compliance, and Student Health Services. A self-proclaimed “professional dot connector,” Amber is passionate about building community and leveraging relationships to positively affect change. She resides in Mansfield with her husband and two sons.

We will also induct new members!

Every 3rd Thursday the Dallas Rotary members meet at various locations around Dallas for fellowship and Happy Hour. This is a great opportunity for networking, and getting to know your fellow members of the club in a casual environment. It is also a wonderful time to invite a guest. 

We will also celebrate the induction of our newest members!  

Piggyback Service Project - The Rotary Club of Dallas is piggybacking on Dallas Park & with the City of Dallas to help plant tress! Please register here - http://dallasparks.org/FormCenter/Registration-Forms-9/Branching-Out-Fall-2021-202 

Volunteers are need to help plant trees! Come join City Council Member Paula Blackmon, District 9, and Park Board Representative Maria Hasbany, along with Park and Recreation staff as we "Branch Out" to reforest this neighborhood park!

 https://form.jotform.com/93026341704147

THE ROTARY CLUB OF DALLAS & 

Ray Willets Washburne is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a self-sustaining U.S. Government agency that helps American businesses expand into developing markets by providing businesses with tools to manage risks associated with foreign direct investment. Nominated for the OPIC presidency by President Donald J. Trump on June 5, 2017, Mr. Washburne was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 27, 2017 and by the full U. S. Senate on August 3, 2017. Mr. Washburne served until February 28, 2019. He served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board from May 2019 until January 2021. 

Mr. Washburne has a long history working in business and has held several executive positions. He co-founded and co-owned M Crowd Restaurant Group, which owns and operates Mi Cocina, and The Mercury restaurants, with various locations around the U.S. He has a passion for the restaurant business and enjoys investing in new concepts across the country. Additionally, he serves as the President and Managing Director of Highland Park Village, an upscale shopping plaza in Dallas. He currently serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Charter Holdings, a private real estate investment company based in Dallas, Texas.

He currently sits on the board of Energy Transfer.  

A graduate with BA from Southern Methodist University, he served as an Adjunct Professor at the University’s Cox School of Business.

Share the Warmth this winter by donating your gently used or new blankets! Drop off at the November 17th Rotary Meeting or Contact Hillary@dallasrotary.org to make arrangements to drop off at the office. Blankets will be donated to The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center and distributed to those in need.

Join us for our 2nd Cookies for Cops! We will meet at WRBC at noon to package the cookies. Delivery times at Friday night through Saturday evening. Sign up using this link - https://form.jotform.com/212025529203141 

Sandwiches will be provided during the packaging process. 

Our Friends Place Get Acquainted Meeting

Join us for a virtual happy hour to Get Acquainted with Our Friends Place! We welcome you to this Zoom meeting to learn about the work Our Friends Place is doing to help homeless and at-risk young women in North Texas, see our Transitional Living Centers (virtually), and talk about ways to make a difference.

Time: Nov 4, 2021 05:00 PM in Central Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsf-2hqzgiE9R6SoCiS49UAf2vTrbR1oex

Join us for our 2nd Cookies for Cops! We will delivery cookies to the Dallas Police Department, NorthCentral and NorthWest substations during their detail times on Friday night through Saturday evening. Sign up using this link - https://form.jotform.com/212025529203141 

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2021 SAV Sponsorship Package - DOWNLOAD Here 

Colin P. Cahoon is a writer of historical nonfiction and historically based fiction, a patent attorney, and former Army helicopter pilot. He grew up in the Mesilla Valley of New Mexico and earned his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering at New Mexico State University, which he attended on an Army ROTC scholarship. Colin received his Regular Army commission in 1983 and graduated with honors from the aero scout track of flight school at Fort Rucker, Alabama in 1984. He served with distinction as an Aero Scout Platoon Leader in the 307^th Attack Helicopter Battalion of the 7^thInfantry Division, where he accumulated over 1000 hours of flight time in UH-1 and OH-58 helicopters. Captain Cahoon resigned his commission in 1988 to pursue a legal career, whereupon he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army’s second highest peacetime award for service. He subsequently earned his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Southern Methodist University School of Law, where he met his wife, Susan. Colin has served the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Dallas as a Lay Eucharistic Minister, Stephen Minister, and Chancellor. Colin and Susan have three grown children and live in Dallas, Texas and Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where they both enjoy skiing, hiking, and fishing “the Boat.” 

Join us for a 4-course dinner with pairing wines we will discover wines and discovery Rotary together! Prospective Members! New Members! Current Members! A gathering for everyone! 

Join us for a casual women in rotary brunch, rsvp for seating arrangements. 

Join us for a wonderful evening at Dallas Symphony Christmas Pops Concert

Dinner in Opus Restaurant at 6:00 pm - Reservations required.

Concert at 7:30pm. 

Orchestra Floor Seats $35 

To make your reservations for dinner and/or concert, please contact Ed Moerbe at ed@edsapple.com or Hillary at hillary@dallasrotary.org

Jacques Marquis will speak, and then introduce Alex, who was a 2013 Cliburn Competition competitor!

Jacques Marquis joined the Cliburn as president and CEO in March 2013 with outstanding expertise and a wealth of international music competition experience. Since then, he and his team have majorly expanded the Cliburn’s offerings and brand. New local concert series include the Cliburn Festival, the club series Cliburn Sessions, and the free Cliburn in the Community concerts. He also launched a third quadrennial international competition: the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival, for 13- to 17-year-olds. The CLIBURN LIVE webcast initiative now produces live online broadcasts of more than 250 performances over a 4-year cycle, amassing over 8 million views in 170 countries. In education, the past eight years have seen the doubling of the Cliburn in the Classroom in-school education programs to 300 per year, as well as the creation of "Van Cliburn: an American Hero,” which tells the story of Van Cliburn to 12,000 4th graders each year in partnership with Performing Arts Fort Worth.

In 2020, the Cliburn quickly transitioned to primarily digital programming, creating several online series designed to inspire people of all ages with classical music. With initiatives such as Cliburn Kids (music education videos and lesson plans for elementary students) and Cliburn Masterpiece (deep dives into the greatest piano works), Cliburn videos amassed more than 1.2 million views in that extraordinary year, with more than 100,000 hours of music being watched across 100 countries. In addition to continuing to grow those programs, the Cliburn is currently deep in planning for all three of its international competitions—two of which were postponed due to the pandemic—which will now all take place over a 13-month time period: the sixteenth edition of the flagship Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (June 2022); the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition (October 2022); and the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival (June 2023). 

A bilingual executive with degrees in business administration and music, he previously served as executive and artistic director of Jeunesses Musicales Canada, where he was instrumental in establishing the Montreal International Musical Competition and oversaw 11 editions of that competition.

Alex McDonald will be the featured Cliburn pianist.

Alex McDonald bio:

Since his orchestral debut at age 11, pianist Alex McDonald has soloed with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Mexico, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and the Utah Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has performed across the United States as well as in Israel, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and South Korea; additionally, he has been a featured performer on PBS, WRR (Dallas/Fort Worth), NPR, and WQXR (New York City). Awards include second prizes at the 2007 New Orleans International Piano Competition and 2001 Gina Bachauer International Young Artist Piano Competition, and 2008 Harvey Fellowship by the Mustard Seed Foundation. In 2013, he was a participant in the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Dr. McDonald is currently the festival director for Basically Beethoven, a thriving summer concert series in downtown Dallas’ Arts District. He has taught at Texas Woman’s University, Richland College, and The Juilliard School, where he also was a Teaching Fellow for both the Literature and Materials and Piano Minor departments. 

Mr. McDonald received his pre-college training under Lois Nielson, his bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory with Academic Honors and Distinction in Performance under Russell Sherman, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Juilliard under Yoheved Kaplinsky and Julian Martin.

JINGLE & MINGLE! Join us for our annual holiday party! This midyear celebration will be hosted at Dana DeVance's new showroom in Carrollton. We invite you to bring your spouse or significant other. If you would like to participate in White Elephant game bring a $25 wrapped gift!

Looking forward to Mingling with everyone!

Need 30 volunteers to help with the Jingle All The Way 5k/10k. The run benefits 29 Acres, a nonprofit organization that supports adults with autism and other neuro-diversities by providing a supported living community, social opportunities, employment training and more to ensure these individuals live a happy and fulfilled life.

Shifts are available from 6:30am - 10:30am on December 18, 2021 and can be found here: https://www.dallasholiday5k.com/Race/Volunteer/TX/Dallas/DallasJingleAllThe5k10k1k Volunteers can choose a shift or sign up to help anywhere we need from 6:30-10:30am. See more race details here https://runsignup.com/Race/DallasJingleAllThe5k10k1k/Page-23.

Event is happening at Trinity Groves (Continental Bridge Gateway Plaza West near Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge).

Thank you for your time and help! Katelynn Andregg, Outreach Coordinator

Brad Walcher is the Director of Development & Communications at Unbound North Texas, a local anti-trafficking agency that exists to support survivors and resource the community to fight human trafficking and ignite hope. He envisions our community free from human trafficking.

Please review the details below: 

You must not have any symptoms of COVID-19 as stated on the CDC website.
You are expected to check in at the volunteer table.  

Description: Help unload, set up and distribute food directly to clients in a fast-paced, outside environment. Volunteers must have good verbal skills and be physically able to stand for long periods of time, bend, stoop and lift at least 25 pounds repeatedly throughout their shift. Courtesy and helpfulness are expected!  

Directions:

-Enter Richland East Drive.
-Go all the way to the end
-Park in Section Z (marked with signs) and the distribution will be in the circle "drop off" in front of the gym.

Attire: Closed-toe shoes are required (no sandals or flip flops).  We recommend sunscreen, sunglasses and hats.  

Commitment: Please arrive on time and stay to complete the full shift.  

Please bring your own drinks (water, sports drinks) and snacks. 

Feel free to bring: bug spray, hats, sunscreen and hand sanitizer.