Use the “Prev” and “Next” links to click forward or backward through the images in this gallery.[portfolio_slideshow]The TCC Texas/Oklahoma Chapter met on April 13 in Austin, on a lovely spring day while the Texas bluebonnets were in bloom. We had almost 30 that joined us from the Austin area, Corpus Christi, Dallas and Houston metros, and San Antonio, including first-time attendees and potential new members. Special thanks to our featured speaker, Kevin Hughes (Diamond, TCC Board Member and TCC Past President), for sharing the history of the TCC and his “around the world” slide show. We all enjoyed his stories and enjoyed beer and wine courtesy of TCC Chairman Klaus Billep.
Following are some highlights from the meeting:
- With Kevin’s experience in 319 of the 321 TCC countries/territories, he was able to share photos and stories from literally all over the world. He started in the Pacific, touched on North Korea, breezed past Pitcairn, showed us the “smoked chief” in Papua New Guinea, the rats in Calcutta, and so many more. Most impressive was the effort he made on short notice to join us using planes, buses, and cars. We were all so grateful to have you in our great state!
- Kevin also sends out helpful news from around the world on a regular basis. If you all are interested, just email Kevin (KHughesTCC@earthlink.net) and he can add you.
- We have three new members: Mitchell Peterson of Houston, Caroline Allison of Houston, and BJ Bjorklund of Frisco. Welcome!
- We did not have any new status celebrations at this meeting, but we hope our newest Gold members in Oklahoma can join us at an upcoming meeting to be recognized – Ed and Gloria Helmuth of Oklahoma. Congrats to both of you!
- Our around-the-room sharing of our member’s “noteworthy findings of most recent trips” included Jordan‘s Jambiyah knife from Yemen, Sylvia and Mark‘s endorsement of Cuban rum/cigars, Geoff‘s Kilimanjaro climb, Jeff and Cynthia‘s Cuban war zone experience but with people that really want us there, Jack’s Venezuelan Angel Falls adventure, Marian‘s flight over Namibia’s sand dunes, Terry‘s west African cruise with broken engines, Gary and Kathy‘s emergency room scare, Philippe‘s spiritual leader knowledge, Odile‘s hitchhiking story from Cuba, Wayne and Darlene‘s riverboat cruise, Kevin‘s komodo dragons, Beverly‘s getting lost in Kosovo, Al‘s finding nice people in Burma, Jim and Sue‘s Bolivian granite and library, George‘s Niagara Falls bucket list, Bill‘s falconry, and Debbie‘s yak tracks from the Antarctic.
Our next meeting will be held in Houston on July 13 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring Dr. Kay Champion who will describe “Why not to have hip surgery in India.” I’ll send out logistics and RSVP requests one month in advance of the meeting.
Other meetings are scheduled for Oct. 5 in Dallas and Jan. 11, 2014, in San Antonio.
Safe travels.
—Kim-Kay Randt, Area Coordinator
