The Equalizer

Sabine District Transportation Club

Member of Traffic Clubs International

 Please keep our troops and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Volume 11 Issue 11, November 2011                                                                                                                                            S.D.T.C., PO Box 20103,   Beaumont, TX  77720  

                                                          Christmas Party – December 13, 2011

Bring your spouses and friends and help us celebrate at the annual Sabine District Transportation Club Christmas Party!  There is lots of fun to be had as the fellowship with members, families and friends.

At this time we would to say a special thank you to those who have volunteered at our various events throughout the year and helped us raise funds for scholarships and charitable contributions.

 This year we have added a few new members and to those we say a special welcome and look forward to getting to know you better – so come and join us as we celebrate!

To those that haven’t been in while-welcome back!  We’ve missed you and hope to see you soon!

What is in store for this year-anything goes! Snowmen or tools anyone?????

Remember to bring a wrapped gift for exchange between $10-$15 value

Reservation Form for Christmas Party December 13, 2011

Please make reservations for _________persons at $17.50/ea.

Check is attached (___) Bill me (___) Will pay at the door (___)

Signed____________________________Date _________________

Firm_____________________________Phone________________

Address_________________________________________________________

                                   Pictures from the October BBQ Dinner Sales:

     The assembly line......                                                 The great food...........                                               The pit & crew......

   Collecting the funds.....                                                 Ready for delivery.....                                               The volunteers (Anne Ochoa).....

   The workers.....                                                            The workers.....                                                        The delivery men.....

Donations were made by:                                                           Our volunteers:

Munro’s Dry Cleaners – use of their kitchen & bbq pit           Mary Ferguson

Cakes Plus – donation of desserts                                              Amy Eckerle

Glenda’s Bake a Cake – donation of desserts                            Anne Ochoa

HEB - $20 gift card

Market Basket - $50 gift card

Calendar of Scheduled Events:

December 13, 2011 – 6:30 pm Christmas Party

   At the Cattle Company

January 10, 2012 – 11:30 am luncheon at

   The Cattle Company-Election of 2012

  Officers – Guest Speaker:

February 14, 2012 – 11:30 am luncheon at

  The Cattle Company – Installation of

 2012 Officers – Charitable Donations

 Awarded

March 8, 2012 – BBQ Dinner Sales

 $8.00 plate – Elk’s Lodge

April 10, 2012 – Shrimp Boil at the

  Elk’s Lodge $25/person-gates open at 5:30 pm.

May 4, 2012- Golf tournament at Bayou Din 

May 8, 2012 – Mayoral Proclamation

 And NTW Poster Contest-Mauriceville

 Middle School

May 13-19, 2012 – National Transportation Week

June 2012 – no meeting – enjoy vacations

July 17, 2012 – Fish Fry

August 1, 2012 – Scholarship application

  deadline

               Board Meeting Announcement:

The next Board meeting is scheduled for January 19, 2012 at 4:30 pm.

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Be sure to visit our sponsors listed both in the Equalizer and on the Web Site…

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Web Site Update:  To reach the web site from the Internet: http://www.txsdtc.org

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It is that time again to start thinking about club officers and Board members for our next year.  If you would like to serve in one of these capacities, please let Al Anselmo (626-0466) or Lane Olsen (673-3603) know.  Ballots will go out in December.

Don’t forget, your vote counts, so be sure to mail the ballots back in to the committee.  These votes go directly to the committee, unopened until the votes are counted.  In case of a tie, there will be a vote at the January meeting to determine the winner, so you need to be there to support your candidate!

Thanksgiving Wishes

Please take a moment to give thanks for the things that are positive in our lives: family, friends, neighbors, and helping hands. 

Most of us are grateful for our health, jobs and the fact that we live in a free democracy where we have a say in our country & it’s leadership. 

Many of us are grateful for the freedom to worship.

If you sit down and make a list of things that you are truly thankful for, you would be surprised at how long that list will become very quickly!

Please take the time this year to say thanks, then look around to see if you can lend a helping hand to those in need around us.  There are many organizations that continually have a need for volunteers which can use our help, even if it is only a monetary donation, or helping to serve a meal, deliver a basket or clothing. 

Many of these charities have lost government funding and are more need of our donations than ever before.

The Salvation Army in Orange is asking businesses to help with their Angel Tree gifts this year.  They are expecting 615 children and seniors in need of assistance this year.

They are struggling with the needs for food and toys for the Christmas Holidays for those in need.

This is but one of the organizations that need help:

Here’s a few more:

Some Other Place

Orange Christian Services 

Southeast Texas Food Bank

Port Arthur Seaman’s Center

Beaumont Seaman’s Center

Local Churches

Every day when we turn on the TV we see stores that are opening now on Thanksgiving day to attract the cherished Black Friday shopping crowd early! Spend time with family first! 

Don’t forget that gift for a child in need when you are checking off your gift list!

                Port Arthur's Seaman Center

Orange Christian Service Center

has lost its government assistance

 & is now relying on our donations.

                 Give !

              Volunteer !

            Give Thanks !

Did you know???                                                                                                                                                                                    Editor:  Sherry Eckerle                         

                             Keep Your Fork

There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things 'in order,' she contacted her Pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.

She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.

Everything was in order and the Pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

'There's one more thing,' she said excitedly..

'What's that?' came the Pastor's reply.

'This is very important,' the young woman continued. 'I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.'

The Pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say.

That surprises you, doesn't it?' the young woman asked.

'Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request,' said the Pastor.

The young woman explained. 'My grandmother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favourite part because I knew that something better was coming...like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance!'

So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: 'Keep your fork ...the best is yet to come.'

The Pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the young woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice her age, with twice as much experience and knowledge. She KNEW that something better was coming.

At the funeral people were walking by the young woman's casket and they saw the cloak she was wearing and the fork placed in her right hand.. Over and over, the Pastor heard the question, 'What's with the fork?' And over and over he smiled.

During his message, the Pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the young woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. He told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either.

He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, ever so gently, that the best is yet to come.    

                                                               Happy Thanksgiving!