It's pretty clear that Don Carthel has turned the West Texas A&M University football program around. Consider that the head coach has won 55 games in his first five seasons, compared to seven wins in the four seasons prior to his arrival at WT. So, there you have it. And the even better news is that the 2010 team Coach Carthel is fielding figures to be the best he's had so far. We can hardly wait for the kickoff, coach. The key to his success is a simple word: Commitment. He posts a message about commitment on players' lockers every season. The school is undergoing significant improvements across the board to its athletic program, including construction of new softball and baseball fields and improved practice facilities. WT hopes to boost enrollment to 9,000 students by 2011 and Coach Carthel believes the school on its way toward achieving that goal. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm, Coach.

We're going to hand out some money at our next meeting. President Hicks plans to present checks from our annual Garden Party to the YMCA, to Rotaract and to Life Challenge. Be sure to be on hand to watch this important ceremony.

Photo directories will be available at our next meeting as well. Whoever doesn't have a picture accompanying their information in the directory will have pictures of Roy Rogers or Dale Evans. Happy trails to y'all. Be sure to pick up your new photo directory.

Our next book distribution will occur Friday, April 16, at Wolflin Elementary School, 2026 S. Hughes St, says Julie Ontiveros. This is yet another fine project that we've adopted as part of our club's literacy initiative. The personalized books to youngsters are a huge hit. The smiles we get from the children make us all proud.

Many thanks go to: Paige Carruth, for his wonderful invocation; Brent McClure, for introducing our guests and visiting Rotarians; to Bill Summerhill, for selling Rotary Foundation drawing tickets; and to Dale Bippus and Jeff Neely for greeting us with a kind smile and hearty handshake. And thanks, as always, to Jess Ghormley for leading us in song and to Renee Wilson for her piano accompaniment.

Speaking of thanks, be sure to offer them to Cal Harriman for the great work he did in preparing the itinerary for our Group Study Exchange team from Thailand that is touring District 5730. The GSE team had a great time while touring Amarillo/Canyon. They'll be here until May 2, when the Tejas Multi-District Conference concludes in San Antonio.

Paul Anderson of Borger is the new District Governor nominee, having been selected by the District Nominating Committee to serve in 2012-13. He will serve immediately after our own David Norris' term as district governor. Congratulations, Paul.