Exchange Club of
Sugar Land Newsletter
June 15th, 2022
The Exchange Club of Sugar Land
4800 Sugar Grove Blvd. Suite 100
Stafford, TX 77477
www.ecsl.org
Weekly Meetings
Wednesdays, 7:00 a.m.
Meeting at:
Sugar Creek Country Club
420 Sugar Creek Blvd.
Sugar Land, Texas 77478
Officers 2021-2022
President:
Rick Bell
President Elect:
Lori Bisewski
Secretary:
Vida Goodell
Treasurer:
Jeff Dodson
Immediate Past President:
Paul Barnett
Board of Directors
Camille Edwards
Leslie Woods
Thad Olive
Juli Fournier
Cookie Joe
Colleen Migl
Suzanne Whatley
Bruce Smith
Spaghetti Chair 2022
Lori Bisewski
Webmaster:
Paul Barnett
www.ecsl.org
Newsletter Editor:
newsletter@ecsl.org
Hotline
Hotline
Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast District Exchange Clubs
Convention June 2022 BEGINS!
Here are some really “good lookin” Exchange Members! Lunch with
Jack and May, always fun, have been members of Exchange for 32
years and counting! (L-R, Paul Barnett, Carlos Perez, Irina Chrisco, Nick Landoski,
Mae and Jack Williams, David Lanagan, and Nora Sim. One of our newer member sitting
among veteran members! (Irina). Great picture!)
Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast District Exchange Clubs
Convention June 2022
NIGHT BEFORE “PARTAY”!
You ever get that feeling you
should have been there? I did!
One member said it was
“wonderful” and “learned” so
much about Exchange. She
drove with someone!
Anyone want to go next Year?
Wondering? $400 or so! Do it!
Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast District Exchange Clubs
Convention June 2022
Russ Finney Alexandra Clark
Youth of the Year,
Gregory Zachariah standing with
Marc Schwartz and Juli Fournier
ACE Award Youth of the Year,
Hanna Acosta standing with
Marc Schwartz and Dorothy Nall.
Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast District Exchange Clubs
Convention June 2022
Susan Schwartz
William “Bill” Pramik (After Hours), John Elias
(ECSL), James Steenberger (Lone Star Exchange
Doug Earle
Paul Barnett, Dorothy Nall, Rick Bell
RIP
Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast District Exchange Clubs
Convention June 2022
The speakers of Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast District
Exchange Clubs District Convention morning session
(above) - District President Doug Earle, District Director
Alexandra Clark, Past District President Kevin Barker,
National Exchange Foundation Trustee Carlos A Perez,
& Immediate Past National President Russ Finney
Doug Earle (left) chairs his final
District meeting closing the Convention.
Doug Earle, Alexandra Clark, Kevin Barker Carlos Perez and Russ Finney
“In Flanders fields the poppies blow…” These are the words of Col. John McCrae’s immortal po-
em dedicated to the memory of the men and women who served, fought and died in France during
World War I, the poppies of which he wrote have become the true symbol of all those who have giv-
en their lives in our nation’s wars.
The poppy has become recognized as the memorial flower in countries throughout the world. It is
distributed by veterans organizations in Europe, North America, and in most of the countries of the
British Commonwealth.
Since 1922, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the united states has conducted and annual distribu-
tion of the “Buddy” Poppy to raise funds for its charitable programs on behalf of the needy and disa-
bled veterans, and the surviving family members of deceased Veterans.
Today, the Buddy Poppy is distributed by Posts and Auxiliaries of the VFW in every state of the un-
ion and dozens of other countries. Some 10 million are distributed annually; most of them during the
period preceding Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
In Flanders Field
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Col. John McCrae
At our breakfast meeting on June 1st Exchange member Cindy McCauley talked to us about
her recent work at the VFW and her work on the Buddy Poppy Projects! Here is the
story of the VFW “Buddy” poppy!
Check Presentation / Hope For Three
Our check presentation at the June 1st breakfast meeting
went to Hope for Three and was accepted by Exchange
member Darla Farmer, Chief Executive Officer and Founder
of Hope For Three. Check amount for $2500!
A Fort Bend County resident since 1993, Darla has been a long-
time volunteer and supporter of many children’s charities. Self-
employed for over 30 years, Darla has extensive business administration, operations, marketing,
and customer relations. Her visionary leadership is illustrated through her passion for Hope For
Three’s mission.
Hope For Three was inspired by the plight of an amazing mother and
father in Fort Bend County who experienced the triple pleasure and
heartbreak of having identical triplets, all diagnosed with Autism Spec-
trum Disorder (ASD or autism).
Helplessly watching this family navigate the frustrating waters of maxed-out social ser-
vices, excessive bureaucracy, denials by insurance companies, and indifference by soci-
ety, close friends pondered their options. As a result, Hope For Three was born in April
2011.
Inspired by the Montgomery triplets, Hope For Three, a local nonprofit and autism organi-
zation, was established to raise community awareness and provide resources and sup-
port, in the form of financial aid, to families with children diagnosed with ASD.
Top Picture; David Lanagan, Darla Farmer, Cookie Joe,
Kevin Barker and Rick Bell.
www.hopeforthree.org
Thanks for all you do for Exchange Darla!
Speaker Series
8
Our featured speaker on June 1st was Farida Abjiani. Farida is
the CEO and Co-Founder of Shining Nightingale, Inc., a home
health agency that has a license to work all over the State of
Texas. Farida is also involved with several charities.
The one cause that is particularly close to her heart is taking
care of the emotional needs of the chronically and terminally ill
patients and their caregivers – thanks to her background in nurs-
ing (she graduated from AKUSON with a Diploma in Nursing in
1997). Farida was also honored as Houston's 50 most influential
women by Houston's women magazine 2017.
Farida Abjani shared with us a moving story about her father and the impact his years of service had
on the members of his community. After her father's passing, Farida decided to carry on his legacy
of service by creating her home health agency, Shining Nightingale.
“Our Mission is to provide the most influential experience for our patients. We want to continue to
raise the bar for excellence in Health Services. With our dedicated team and extensive experience,
we are certain of our abilities to provide top notch services”.
Shining Nightingale provides the following services; Occupational Therapy,
Medical Social Services, Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, Wound
Care, Specialty Nursing, IV Therapy.
www.shiningnightingale.com
Our speaker June 8th at the morning breakfast was Nikki
Eliason, Volunteer Manager with Make-A-Wish Texas Gulf
Coast. https://wish.org/texgulf/our-chapter
This chapter serves 47 counties in the Texas
Gulf Coast and all 64 parishes in Louisiana.
Make-A-Wish Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana
has granted more than 9,000 wishes since its
inception in 1984. With Paul Barnett.
"We seek to bring every eligible child's wish to life because a
wish is an integral part of a child's treatment journey”. Research
shows children who have wishes granted can build the physical
and emotional strength they need to fight their illness.
Nikki talked about how Make-A-Wish started back in 1980 in Phoenix and has grown into a
worldwide organization, what the qualifications are to become a Wish Kid, and talked about
some of the wishes that have been granted.
3 For every wish we grant, there are three more children with critical illnesses whose wishes
need your financial support
99% of medical providers say a wish helps relieve a family from traumatic stress and im-
proves a child's emotional well-being.
87% of wish alumni say their wish was a positive turning point in their treatment and gave
them strength to fight their illness.
“Manly” Men at Work!
Pete Olson reporting! The Exchange Club of Sugar Land has spent the past two months at 2
historic African American cemeteries in Bates Allen County Park in #Kendleton clearing deep
brush, washing some stones clean with water and marking the locations of over 30 gravesites with
GPS coordinates so they will never be lost again. Nick Landoski and Doug Earle were cutting de-
bris at sunrise today. I arrived a bit later. We cleared a pile of debris taller than my pickup truck!
And I was able to repair the tombstone of former slave Nancy Spencer!
We will be back on Saturday June 11th to have one more clearing before Kendleton’s Juneteenth
Freedom Celebration 2022 in the park on Saturday, June 18th. We are inviting many elected
officials, houses of faith, interest groups and TV and local press to a free tour of Newman Chapel
Cemetery and Oak Hill Cemetery. Most of the people buried there were former slaves. 10am -
12pm. “Thank you for helping restore this important part of our history! (from Cookie Joe).
You ever wonder who the real men are in Exchange?
The ones that use a little “muscle”, get their hands “dirty”, move
“mountains”? ha-ha. Well here’s the list; Pete Olson, Nick Landosky,
Doug Earle and Rick Bell ! “Manly” men looking to do “Manly” labor to
support Exchange Club projects! (But, I heard Farha Ahmed a “very special
Lady” was working as hard as the men at the cemetery!).
New Orleans with David & Angela Lanagan! Let’s see; Beautiful Artwork to see, Strolling in
the slightly wet pavement with your lover; sip of wine maybe, nice restaurant possibly quaint
and out of the way with the very best in food and service? It’s a dream of memories to keep!
Thank you David and Angela for this beautiful picture! Just imagine!
Birthdays, Anniversaries, Events
Happy Exchange Birthdays!
Nick Landoski (6/3); Doc Lee Ivey (6/5)
Exchange Anniversaries!
Surendran Pattel 6/7/19 (3 yrs.); Ed Gojara 6/7/19 (3 yrs.); John Robson 6/1/08 (14 yrs.); Car-
los Perez 6/4/03 (19 yrs.).
Save the Date and get ready for a night of laughs, celebrations, good food, and great fellowship. On
June 29, we will be having our installation dinner at the Sugar Creek Country Club. It will be an
event you do not want to miss. This event tends to be “dressier” Exchangites!
Save the date. The Book of Golden Deeds presentation will be Wednesday, 06/22/2022.
New Officer training will be held Saturday, June 25, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. for incoming Presidents,
Presidents-Elect, Treasurers, Secretaries, and anyone interested in learning more. We'll have more
details soon.
Carey Snyder let us know that the BSA girls troop 1731 trailer was stolen this past weekend. They
are planning a fundraiser to help replace the trailer and camping equipment and will have more de-
tails soon.
