June 2006 F.O.R. San Bernard Activity Update

F.O.R. San Bernard Activity Report - June 2006

It was a busy and productive month for us all

Events and Presentations :

· Brazoria No-Name Festival.

F.O.R. San Bernard was well represented with a booth displaying flags, t-shirts, photo handbags, caps and other items. Roy and Jan Edwards had a special presentation area set up using photos and articles that displayed the mouth of the San Bernard and the need for the re-opening of our river. Nelson and Vanessa Taylor displayed information and photos of our beautiful annual Christmas and Memorial Day boat parades. David Pope joined us by sharing his information on the annual river clean up efforts. The booth was manned by the Organizing Committee members and volunteers. A good time was had by all who attended the festival.

· Channel 11 News

Doug Miller of Channel 11 news, along with his camera man, Frank McBride, enjoyed a trip to the mouth of the river, escorted by Pat Webb (Mooch), Mark Hazelrigg, Artie Burnett, Roy and Jan Edwards. Afterwards, the group met at 2J's restaurant to further discuss the segment that will be shown on the 10 o’clock news broadcast on Wednesday July 12^th. Remember to set your VCR/DVD on Channel 11.Please monitor www.sanbernardriver.com for any possible changes to this date.

· Brazoria County Economic Development Alliance:

A presentation on the San Bernard River mouth issue was made to the Economic Development board of directors by Jan and Roy Edwards. This resulted in the Alliance pledging their support for the opening of the mouth by writing and sending a Resolution form to all of its members. As a result of this action, the opening of the mouth of the San Bernard will continue to be on the agendas of various local governments. Chief Robert Pruett (Chief of Police for Galena Park) contacted Jan Lawler, CEO of the Houston Port Alliance, and was told that after talking with David Stedman of the Brazoria County Economic Development Alliance, a draft was being written, by them, in support of the mouth opening. Through the work of Chief Pruett, Congressman Gene Green will also be contacting Ron Paul to discuss the mouth issue. State Senator Mario Gallegos also signed the resolution, complete with a State Seal.

Meetings attended:

· The Perfect Storm: Meeting attended by Roy and Jan Edwards. This meeting resulted in a positive mention in Rich Tillman's Brazosport Fact's column.

· Texas Parks and Wildlife: Public Reefing Project held in Dickinson, Texas. Attended by Jan and Roy Edwards.

· Brazoria County Shoreline Restoration Task Force: Attended by Jan and Roy Edwards. The county's grant application was prepared for submission.

· State Senator Kyle Janek's Town Hall Meeting: Attended by Fred and Nancy Kanter and Jan and Roy Edwards. Senator Janek requested more information on the river mouth closure.

· Strategic Oil Reserve public meeting: Attended by Roy and Jan Edwards.

At this meeting Roy and Jan met with Michael Wright, Communications Specialist for Senator Janek and presented him with a package of information on the river mouth and the effects of its closing. Since then, Mr. Wright has informed us that he will be contacting the GLO to discuss the mouth of the river issue.

San Bernard In The News

· During the month of June, seven articles about the San Bernard River and F.O.R. activities were published in: The Bay City Tribune, The Fact's and the The Brazoria County News.(not counting mentions in What's Going On? in the Community News sections of the Fact's)

F.O.R meetings

· O.C. Meeting held on June 2. Attorney Lynn Klement attended the meeting and presented the corporation’s official record book. Lynn also provided advice on how to structure the new organization, gave the O.C. instructions that the O.C. is actually functioning as a Board of Directors and should meet and approve all O.C.’s decisions to date. First official Board meeting will be in July. Many thanks to him for his pro-bono service.

· Three public meetings were held at 2J's restaurant in the month of June. The purpose of these meeting was to organize F.O.R.'s 1st Annual Fourth of July boat parade. We had great public response with many in attendance and much support and sponsors and volunteers for the parade event. Jana Plocheck volunteered to become Parade Organizer for the parade, under direction of F.O.R. Parade Chairman Vanessa Taylor. Mark Manly volunteered to be in charge of food items and clean up.2J's volunteered to be the location for the parade Awards dinner.

Organizing Activities:

· Solicited officer/board candidates via the webpage. There is still time to put in your recommendations. Please submit your form on the home page of the web.

· Attorney Lynn Klement is drafting the Bylaws for the new corporation and these will be distributed in the very near future.

· IRS form 1023 requesting non-profit status recognition under section 501(c)3 is still in process. Major hold up is the by-laws and narratives of F.O.R. activities .

· Identified three major committees: Opening the Mouth, River Parades and River Clean Team. All current directors of these activities have agreed to be incorporated under the F.O.R. umbrella. This is a win-win for all involved. If you would like to volunteer on one of these committees, please contact chairmen Roy & Jan Edwards for Opening of the Mouth, Vanessa and Nelson Taylor for the River Parades and David Pope for the Annual River clean up.

· Agreed that the parades are specifically funded by donations. Consequently, those monies will be separately identified in the FOR account and earmarked for parade purposes only. The Mouth and Clean Team will be funded from F.O.R.’s general fund. Committee chairs will submit their budgets to the board.

· Accepted the OC committee resignation of Eileen and Buddy Kenneda.

· Accepted the resignation of Eileen Kenneda as webmaster.

· Welcomed new webmaster J. Darrell Powell.

· Web server moved to Friends of the River San Bernard account.

Friends of the River Donations :

· Monetary donations: Charlie and Mary Brand, Tom Valliere, Vanessa and Nelson Taylor, and Rick Gardner

· Through the efforts of Ken and Linda Wright, along with Commissioner Larry Stanley and Brazoria County Parks Director Mark Hanson, two new trash barrels have been placed at the F.M. 2611 and F.M. 521 boat ramps. They will be maintained by the county.

Accounting:

· June recap: $2,062.00 deposited in Lone Star bank and $4,147.71 in withdrawals which leaves a balance of $5,061.02

Website & Members:

· Web Statistics for June 2006 sanbernardriver.com
A total of 10,569 distinct visits were made to the site

19,389 distinct web pages were viewed a total of 20,099 times

Downloadable files were requested 465 times

Membership database now has over 350 names

F.O.R.SanBernard Forum

Our users have posted a total of 1018 articles
We have 79 registered users

IN THE NEWS :