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Austin Kiwanis Club Speaker Series Mid-May through July, 1999
(After celebrating our 80th Anniversery, with guest speaker Texas-Oklahoma District Governor Lisa Cessna-McCoy, our next meeting featured speakers (arranged by Tony Scessi) were Cherry Bartlett and Donald Zappone, from the Austin Child Guidance Center.). and Carol Pirie, of the Texas Film Commission, and   June's speakers, arranged by Verne Philips, began with Waggoner Carr, former Attorney General of the State of Texas. On June 8, we heard from ANY BABY CAN.  Cathy Sheley, child therapist, spoke to us on June 15, bringing with her an Irish Wolfhound.  On June 22, we were treated to an explanation of the Texas Guard; and on June 29, we were fascinated by Col. John E. Stavast, USAF Retired, who was shot down while piloting an F-4 on a mission in North Viet Nam and who spent the next 5.5 years as a POW. For comments on these presentations, look below!
MAY 11, 1999  AUSTIN CHILD GUIDANCE CENTER
presentation by Cherry Bartlett, former board member, and Executive Director: Donald J. Zappone, Dr.P.H.;

Austin Child Guidance Center
810 West 45th Street
Austin, Texas 78751

512/451/2242 FAX 454-9204

www.austinchildguidance.org

MISSION STATEMENT

 

Austin Child Guidance Center is dedicated to helping children and families become emotionally healthy by providing quality mental health services so that they gain hope, understanding and skills necessary to improve functioning at home, at school, and in the community.
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Cherry has been associated with the Austin Child Guidance Center for the past 8 years, spending 7 of those years on the Board of Directors. Dr. Zappone is the Executive Director of the Center Since 1951, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers at the Austin Child Guidance Center have been counseling children (ages birth to 17 ) who are experiencing emotional and/or psychological problems. Last year, over 3,000 children and their families were served by the Guidance Center. Over 60% of those who apply to the Guidance Center are at poverty level income -$15,000 or less. Counseling is offered on a sliding fee scale; clients pay what they can afford. The Guidance Center is one of the few (if not the only one) non profit agency in Austin that provides counseling for very young children.

Cherry stressed the importance of early intervention with young children.   It is much easier to change the behavior of a 17 year old. She also felt that self esteem is the most important gift we can give our children. Unconditional love, acceptance of the individuality of the child, and setting boundaries go a long way in creating self esteem. As adults, we all know how critical self esteem is - it molds our lives - we all want to feel good about who we are, to be accepted, and to have friends. As a society, we must let young people know that they are valued, that we as adults do care what happens to them; and we must do more than just tell them - we must show them.

Our College Scholarship Awards Luncheon was held  on Tuesday, May 18, 1999. Tony Sessi chairman of the Scholarship Committee, presented the awards.  Ten students received $1000.00 scholarships from our Club (with financial assistance from the Robert Harrington Foundation). Additionally, The Eldreidge and Birdie Moore Scholarship for 1999 was presented to an Austin High student. The students and their invited guests were each introduced. These scholarships are administered by the Austin Community Foundation on behalf of our club.
On May 25, 1999, Carol Pirie, assistant director of the Texas Film Commission spoke to our club about economic benefits to the businesses of Texas cities where films are shot, and gave us insight into how the Commission works with production companies to encourage them to choose Texas as the locale for their productions.  Texas, she explained, has been the location for many films set in other locations from Mars (the planet) to various countries and other locales far from Texas. Carol provided photographs of a home in Texas which has been used in several films, along with a photograph of how its appearance had been changed to reflect 30 years of decay for a particular film. To see these photographs, click here:  https://www.angelfire.com/tx2/kiwanis/filmfotos.html
On June 1, 1999, former Attorney General Waggoner Carr regaled us with anecdotes from his political life, most of which are detailed in his book, TEXAS POLITICS IN MY REAR VIEW MIRROR.  His book contains not only his amusing recollections but some observations and personal recollections of LBJ and JFK. 

As we were reminded, in his capacity as Attorney General, he called a Court of Inquiry for this investigation, preliminary to the formation of the Warren Commission.  He had been scheduled to participate in most of the tour of Texas by JFK, but due to prior plans, left the entourage after a breakfast with the President's entourage in Dallas on November 22 to fly to Dumas.for a speaking engagement.  Many of us purchased his book (with his autograph!) after the luncheon.

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On June 8, 1999, our member, Darleen Martin, and ANY BABY CAN's Karen Hill, spoke to us about the mission of ANY BABY CAN.  As Kiwanis emphasizes benefitting children, Any Baby Can is particularly interesting.   It seeks to provide is to provide support, crisis assistance, and a voice for children with special health care needs.  The children who benefit from ANY BABY CAN's outreach are often severely disabled, sometimes from birth, with medical needs that would overwhelm an average family.  ANY BABY CAN facilitates access by these families to resources they need to care for their special health care needs.  A part of ANY BABY CANs fund raising is achieved by selling "Kidpins" (ceramic broaches)  like the one shown on the right, purchased by our member Michael Elliot. 

 

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ANY BABY CAN of Austin
3423 Guadalupe, #100
AUSTIN, TX 78705

info@abacaus.org

http://www.abcaus.org
Other fund-raising activities include "Adopt-A-Doll" which uses dolls modeled by a child who is also the namesake for the Adopt-A-Doll, golf tournaments, etc.  Volunteers are important, as are donors and in kind sponsors of items needed and used by ANY BABY CAN. 

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 On June 15, 1999, Cathy Sheley spoke to us.  Ms. Sheley brought with her a huge Irish Wolfhound to demonstrate her use of pets including this beast in therapy sessions with children.  Although she independently conceived of the usefulness of pets in connection with child therapy, she learned later that others were doing the same thing.  Children who are resistent to opening up to her or other adults find it easier to talk after the novelty of encountering such a strange and large but docile animal.  Ms. Sheley can be contacted at

jent_sheley@email.msn.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Col. Stavast originally was trained in the later years of WWII, so by the time he was shot down over Viet Nam, he was very experienced and had made the transition from propeller to jet.  The F-4 he flew when shot down was the fastest jet in the squadron, capable of 2.2 mach, faster than the NV migs, but not faster than the surface to air missle.  The day was September 16, 1967, a Sunday, and this was his 61st mssion over Hanoi.  His mission was to photograph the damage done earlier by a massive bombing raid on 42 nautical miles of railway.  To contradict Churchhill, nothing is as exhilerating as being shot at and hit!.  Initially the hydraulics went dead, without which he could not control the plane.  He lost his vision momentarily due to the force of gravity, and a wing panel broke off.  After he ejected, he watched his plane blow up about 400 feet below . . . more than five years of imprisonment and torture were about to begin. After his capture he was allowed to walk the three-hours necessary to get out of the jungle in his boots, and when he and his capturers emerged they bought him a ham sandwich and a glass of wine.   But from then on it was a grim experience at the "Hanoi Hilton," and as he was a senior officer, he was subjected to regular torture which resulted in a broken leg, arm, shoulder, dislocated jaw,  loss of hearing in one ear, and beatings which left him in such pain that he could not sleep on his back for six months.  The North Vietnamese blithely ignored the Geneva Convention rules for treatment of prisoners, although they were signatories to it. The torture was not to elicit military secrets, but to obtain "confessions" and signatures to letters designed to be sent to congressional leaders denouncing our government.  A moment lower than most occurred when prisoners were tortured to force them to meet with Jane Fonda when she visited North Viet Nam, and who lied about their treatment.  A brighter moment came when U.S. airplanes destroyed a SAM unit located just past the prison walls.  Col. Stavast said the prisoners were all happy about the bombing which might kill them, as that would have been preferable to death by torture.  But there eventually came a brighter day when he and the other surviving prisoners were picked up by the U.S. Air Force and flown to freedom at the end of this sad conflict.  Listening to Col. Stavast, we were in awe at the sacrifice forced upon him, but also inspired by his rare combination of humor and dignity.  He now enjoys intensely the most common experiences, as, for example, getting up early and opening the door "just to see the darned thing open" and he looks forward to traveling to Europe where he met his wife.  We hope he will memorialize his experiences so that others can be as inspired as were we.