The Tejas Tattler

October 1998

Apologies First …

As noted in the minutes, and stated at the last meeting, I goofed up BIG TIME in the last Tattler… I neglected to mention, in the wrap-up of the Karing Klown Workshop, the great job that Colette "Sadie" Kuykendal did on the Clown Prayer we gave out at the workshop. So, Sadie, I offer you my thanks for that now, and my apologies for the oversight…

Convention, part 1

Are you heading to Wichita Falls? Well, we need your help! We’re hosting the Hospitality Room Friday night, and we want it WELL STOCKED! If you can help, please call Lollipop or Spatz…
Just a reminder: to attend the TCA Convention, you must be a TCA Member. And yes, there is a registration form in this newsletter, for both TCA and Convention.

Convention, part 2

Are you heading to Wichita Falls? Want one of our t-shirts? Call Lollipop! We won’t be able to actually sell them (or even take orders) until Sunday morning, but nothing has been said about us not wearing them. So… well, I think you get the idea!

Convention, part 3

Are you getting tired of that heading yet?
Anyway, we are now working on our Convention – we even have committees established! And Ron "Rocco" Martin, Trish "Lollipop" Craft, and Mike "Spatz" Stephens were able to take a tour of the construction site of the convention center and hotel (hard-hats, even!). Folks, we have a lot to be excited about! At the same time we have a lot of work to do. Which is why we are changing the Club meeting times from 7:30 to 7pm, and dedicating those 30 minutes to JUST talking about convention.
Please look over the list of Committees, and see which one(s) you’ll be interested in helping with… The chairs of each are also listed.
 
Registration Michelle B. 
Publicity/mailing lists  Mike S.
Competition/Video tape arrangements  Mike S. 
Decoration  Trish C. 
Convention Program Book  Sadie 
Entertainment
    Thursday Night (Trail Dust/Rodeo?) 
Ron M. 
    Friday Night (convention center?)  Grenda W. 
    Saturday Night (convention center?)  Iwana 
Finances  Rodney / Trish
Transportation 
    Hospitals
    Nursing Homes
    Trail Dust / Convention Center / Rodeo		 Ron M. 
 
 
Door prizes / Howdy Bags / Auction goods Jeanne W. 
Hospitality Mike & Delores B. 
Workshops Grenda W. 
Dealers  Grenda W. 
Hotel & Banquet arrangements  Ron M. 

Message from the Prez...

"Next stop…Wichita Falls!"
Fall is finally here. And with it comes the TCA convention. This year it’s in Wichita Falls and being hosted by The Clown Arounds. I encourage each of you to attend the convention. It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet clowns from all across the state. Many friendships have started and developed at the annual conventions. It is also a time of learning and sharing ideas to become the best clowns that we can be. The competitions provide opportunities for us to try out things we have learned. We will also be promoting the 1999 TCA convention that we will be hosting right here in Mesquite, Texas. We’re going to have a "groovy & great" time in Wichita Falls. And we have an exciting year ahead of us as we prepare for the "last roundup of the century".
Hope to see you in Wichita Falls!
Ron "Rocco" Martin

Tell Us About You

This month’s bio is Grenda "Poppins" Walton, our Secretary, and a charter member...
Clown Name: Poppins. AKA: Bobbysocks, Mrs. Claus, Aunt Sally, & Grindle the Elf
Real name: Grenda Walton
Age: Recycled teenager
Type of Clown: Auguste (originally White Face)
Live in: A town house in Richardson.
Years Clowning: 13 years.
Occupation: Professional Clown/Entertainer
Perform at: Everywhere
Performs using: Face Painting, Balloons, Magic, Juggling, Marionettes. Puppets
Reason for becoming a clown: To give children self esteem.
Goals as a clown: Keep clowning till the good Lord calls me.
Anything else we need to know? I received the Ambassador Award 1990 from the Texas Clown Association for the work I do with children. Life time Member of T.C.A. No: 245. I joined in 1985.
Next Month: ??????

Meetin’ Minutes

TEJAS KLOWN CLUB NO. SEPTEMBER 1st, 1998
The meeting was called to order at 7.30pm by Mike Stephens. Present: Trish Craft, Grenda Walton, Jeanie Williams, Mike Stephens, Iwana Virgil, Rodney Farr, and Mike and Delores Blanten and their little grand baby. A visitor Michelle Buckner aka "Sweetheart".
The minutes posted in the newsletter were accepted with one change to an error in the treasurer report of $1.00 typo error sorry the correct amount was $363.08 not $362.08 as stated.
TREASURER REPORT
Balance 8/15/98 $573.08
OLD BUSINESS
Mike Stephens apologized for not mentioning in the news letter the wonderful Clown Prayer that Sadie had created for our workshop. A BIG THANK YOU.
NEW BUSINESS
Jeanie Williams gave location for the Garland Labor Day Parade. A disclaimer was passed around for those entering the parade as they would be riding on an old fire truck.
As suggested by the board Mike Stephens would create a business card for each of us to hand out to business at the State Fair for free things, bags etc.
HOSPITALITY ADVERTS
We will be hosting the convention Friday night hospitality room a motion was made by Grenda Walton to spend $25.00 on snacks this was seconded by Mike Blanten. Membership in favor. We would also have posters around the room promoting our convention and a video shown in the hospitality room which will have adverts on 1999 last round - up.
EVENTS
September 25th, 98 . We have been offered a booth at the fair in McKinney, we can charge for balloons and face painting, also we would have a raffle to create more revenue for our convention and possibly more members.
Trich Craft made a motion to spend $50.00 on gifts that could be raffled at McKinney and W. Falls convention, this was seconded by Delores Blanten. Membership in favor.
It was agreed to sell t-shirts at W. Falls if permission was given by their Alley. Mike would call them and check for permission. Iwana Virgil presented us with the logo her daughter had created for our T-shirts, everyone loved it. Mike Stephens added our Alley name. She also went to great length to find out prices on T- shirts and printing. A Big Thanks. Dolores Blanten made a motion to buy 36 T-shirts, have them printed for $200.00. This was seconded by Jeannie Williams. Membership in favor.
Iwana also informed us that she has a machine that binds books and also an etching machine. These will come in useful for our convention.
A motion was made by Mike Stephens to begin our meetings at 7 pm for the next four months at which time we can review this idea. The first half hour would be devoted to Convention news only. The regular schedule will follow. Membership was in favor.
The meeting came to an end at 8.30 pm and thank you once again to Jeannie for the wonderful spread of food. We had a small workshop on Improv.
A note: George Burke arrived at the end of the meeting and said he could get the t-shirts, printing and a box of crayons for each shirt for the same amount maybe cheaper. He will let Iwana and Trich know about this as soon as possible.
Respectfully submitted.
Grenda "Poppins" Walton.

Treasurer’s Report
Income and Expenditures for through September 24, 1998:
Income
Date Item (Expense) Balance
8/15/98 BEGINNING BALANCE $573.08
reim. T. Craft (bandanna material) (60.36)
reim. M. Stephens (magic supplies) (13.72)
reim. G. Walton (noses) (19.49)
designer checks (9.70)
reim. T. Craft (convention decorations) (25.00)
reim. T. Craft (prize gifts) (50.00)
Shadow Children Workshop  100.00
9/24/98 Ending Balance $494.81

Birthdays!

We have the following clowns having birthdays in October and November:
Michelle "Huggles" Bodnarchuk – October 27th
Mike "Miko" Blanton – October 29th
Ron "Rocco" Martin – November 9th

Next Meetin’

The next meeting of the Tejas Klown Club will be on Tuesday, October 6th, 7:00pm at Galloway Avenue Baptist Church. Attendance is important as we’ll be discussing our convention in light of what was seen at the Wichita Falls Convention.
Program will be pocket magic. So please bring a homemade bit of pocket magic (or two, or three!) to share!

What We’ve Done

Followup thanks: Spatz received a letter from Channel 8’s Family First on behalf of Tejas Klown Club thanking us again for our participation in the Summer Fun Day in Grapevine.
On August 29th, Roberta "Rosie" Burke, George "Sir Loin" Burke, Trish "Lollipop" Craft, Michelle "Huggles" Bodnarchuk, Jeanne "CeCe" Williams, and Mike "Spatz" Stephens taught face painting and balloons to the members of the Lions’ Club Shadow Children.
On Labor Day, we had a large group show up to help with Garland Labor Day Parade: Lollipop (plus a couple of Lollipop's friends), Huggles (and her family – hubby Greg, and sons Matt and Andy), Don "White Owl" Brown and his mom Mabel, CeCe and her daughter Jennifer, Delores "DoeDoe" Blanton, Shadow Child David Tyndall, and Spatz. Special thanks to Dale for driving his fire truck for us in the parade. Colette "Sadie" Kuykendal was also in the parade with her church group.
If you have any community service type activities which you have participated in, please let us know so you can be recognized! Contact Mike Stephens.

In the Next Tattler...

In the October Tattler, we’ll profile another Tejas member (who? Care to guess?) We’ll also discuss the direction of our convention in light of Wichita Falls.

Tattler Deadline

The deadline for submissions for the November 1998 Tejas Tattler is October 20th. For information, contact Mike Stephens at 972-288-2065.

The Tejas Klown Club meets the first Tuesday night of the month at Galloway Avenue Baptist Church, 2020 North Galloway Avenue (south of Highway 80 on Galloway), starting at 7:00pm. Please come to the covered entrance at the back of the church.

Tattler Calendar – October
1 - 3   TCA Convention, Wichita Falls, Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites, 401 Broad. See included registration form.
6       Tejas Klown Club meeting, 7:00pm, Galloway Avenue Baptist Church, in Mesquite

November
3       Tejas Klown Club meeting, 7:00pm, Galloway Avenue Baptist Church, in Mesquite

December
1        Tejas Klown Club meeting, 7:00pm, Galloway Avenue Baptist Church, in Mesquite
5       Rockwall Christmas Parade. Detail later…
5       Carrollton Christmas Parade, starts at 4:30pm in Carrollton. More details later.

January 1998
5       Tejas Klown Club meeting, 7:00pm, Galloway Avenue Baptist Church, in Mesquite
22,23 Joey to the World 5 in Houston

February 1998
        6th Annual International Clown Convention, thru February 6th. Aboard Carnival Cruise’s Imagination. For information, pick up a flyer at the meeting, or call 1-800-843-3093.

March 1998
23      "Under the Big Top – A Taste of Trade", by the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce. Details later.

September 30 - October 3, 1999
TCA Convention in Mesquite!!! "The Last RoundUp of the Century!"