April 2013 T H E C O M M U N I C AT O R MONTGOMERY COUNTY EMPLOYEES’ COMMITTEE 2013 Employee Committee Board Members Dianne Killingsworth Chairman Melissa Baker Vice Chairman Terri Strozier Recording Secretary Patti Werner Treasurer Tina Solomon Secret Pal Coordinator Lera Barker Social Secretary M o t h e r’ s a n d fa t h e r’ s day e xtr avaganza online auction The 2nd Annual Mother’s and Father’s Day Extravaganza online auction will take place Wednesday, May 1 through Wednesday, May 8, 2013. We will be gathering donations from businesses in and around Montgomery County. Auction items may include flower bouquets, restaurant and shopping gift cards, spa and salon gift certificates, and entertainment tickets. We will also be requesting donations of decorated cakes from some of our employees that bake. In addition to placing bids for the auction items, Montgomery County employees can also participate by donating items. If you would like to donate an item to the silent auction, please contact Lera Barker from Environmental Health Services at ext. 8096. Donations are being accepted through Monday, April 22nd. I N S I D E TH I S I S S U E : Special Announcements 2 Texas A&M AgriLife 4 Spring Creek Greenway 5 Convention Center 6 Employee of the Month 8 Family Law Clinic 8 County Court at Law 3 8 Library 9 United Way Campaign 10 Sheriff’s Office Communications 11 Bulletin Board 12 Secret Pal 12 The auction raises funds for scholarships, the Christmas Luncheon, and employee recognition. Thanks to a huge level of participation from Montgomery County employees, last year’s auction was a major success. We hope this year’s auction will be even more fun. The auction will take place via the Montgomery County Employees’ Committee website at http:// www.mctx.org/employee_committee. Happy bidding! SCHOL ARSHIP APPLICATIONS Montgomery County Employees’ Committee Scholarship applications will be available soon! Any Montgomery County employee or dependent of a Montgomery County employee is encouraged to apply. When applications are available, an email notification will be sent. Your participation in the Committee’s fundraising efforts help to make these scholarships possible. Thank you for your continued support! P a g e 2 P a g e 2 T H E C O M M U N I C A TO R SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS Pictured to the left is Sandy Bernard's oldest son, Cameron. Cameron pitched a perfect game for the Conroe Tigers in their match against the Channelview Falcons on Thursday, March 7, 2013. The County Clerk’s office staff is SO PROUD of Cameron! Keep up the good work! COUNTY CLERK’S OFFICE SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS Grandbaby #5 for Donna Walters: Photo By: Jason Fochtman Someone special, Someone dear Someone new to love is here! Announcing the arrival of Autumn Hope Born 02.22.13 8 lbs., 5oz. and 20 3/4” long (Right) A gift from Heaven! Our little Cupcake has finally arrived. Dianne and Rusty Killingsworth are proud to introduce their first Grandbaby, Bae Leann Wood Born 03.07.13 7 lbs., 2 oz. The proud parents are Kaci Killingsworth and Cody Wood. (Left) If you would like to see your office birthdays, birth announcements, accomplishments, retirements, etc in The Communicator, please submit them to employee.committee@mctx.org. P a g e 3 T H E C O M M U N I C A TO R SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS Congratulations to Melody Wilson. She recently received a letter from Lone Star College-Kingwood congratulating her on her outstanding academic performance for Fall 2012. She has also been placed on the President’s Honor List. Melody is the daughter of Wanda Wilson, Deputy County Clerk. LIBRARY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS Congratulations to Terry Melton on her retirement! Terry was the Circulation Coordinator at Central Library branch in Conroe for 24 years. She retired on January 31, 2013. Congratulations to yet another library employee, Doris Ramon. Doris retired on February 28th after working as a Circulation Assistant at the Central Library branch in Conroe for over 20 years. Thank you for years of service! Mat Wilson, the Assistant Branch Manager at the Stewart Branch Library in Montgomery has welcomed a new baby boy. Leo Patrick Wilson was born on December 28, 2012 at 4:36 am. He weighed in at 6 lbs., 4 oz. and was 18.75” long. Welcome, Leo! Laci Martinez with the Library also welcomed a baby boy. Augustus “Augie” Gray Martinez was born at 1:30 pm on November 20, 2013. He was 9 lbs., 9 oz. and 21” long. Congratulations on your new baby, Laci! Congratulations to Dax Nichols, Computer/Training Tech of the Library. Penelope Jane Nichols was born at 2:57 pm on February 27, 2013. Penelope was 4 lbs., 4 oz. and 17” long. Meetings of the Montgomery County Employees’ Committee are held the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1:30pm in the Commissioners’ Courtroom. We encourage each department to send one representative to each meeting. P a g e 4 T H E C O M M U N I C A TO R 4-H NEWS & UPDATES Montgomery County 4-H’ers have been busy the past few months! Some have competed in livestock shows and judging contests, while others are gearing up for District and State 4-H Roundup. Currently, 4-H’ers are collecting bicycles for the District community service project “100 Bikes for 100 Kids.” This project supports Operation: Military Kids, which helps children who have a parent serving in the military. Would you like to join 4-H in honoring military families? It’s as simple as the color you wear! April 15th is “Purple Up! For Military Kids.” Everybody is encouraged to wear purple, which is the combination of the colors that symbolize the different branches of the military. This is a simple way to show support for military youth for their strength and sacrifices. If your department participates in “Purple Up! For Military Kids” please email pictures to April Fagan at amfagan@ag.tamu.edu. 4-H PLEDGE I Pledge My HEAD to clearer thinking My HEART to greater loyalty My HANDS to larger service, and My HEALTH to be er living, for my club, my community, my country and my world. 4-H is for youth ages 8 and in the 3rd grade or 9 years old through 18. For more information on 4-H, call 936-539-7823. EXTENSION OFFICE WELCOMES N E W FA M I LY & CON S U M E R SCIENCES AGENT! Texas A&M AgriLife Extension - Montgomery County would like to welcome Amy Ressler, County Extension Agent-Family and Consumer Sciences. Amy has worked for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service since 1993, serving in Hale, Stephens, and Bowie Counties, before working in a special nutrition program, then to Burleson County, and recently transferred to Montgomery County. Amy earned her Bachelors degree from Texas Tech University in Human Development/Family Studies, and a Masters degree from Texas A & M - Texarkana in Interdisciplinary Studies. Amy thoroughly enjoys working for Extension and is known for creative and innovative programming approaches. Welcome aboard, Amy! P a g e 5 T H E C O M M U N I C A TO R Walk Across Texas is a FREE online fitness tracking program offered through Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. You can sign up in teams of 8 (you don’t have to walk each time with your team, you can get miles solo and add them to your team’s total), or track your progress as an individual. You can also earn miles for other activities like gardening, riding a bike, jogging, swimming, and many more. There is a handy activity calculator to convert different activities to miles. Visit our website http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu to sign up and register and get ready to Walk Across Texas! Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mondays ‐ Saturdays Closed Sundays and County holidays Gates are open for trails, parking and pavilion: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Mondays ‐ Sundays 1300 Riley Fuzzel Road Spring, Texas 77386 (281) 364‐4225 The Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center is the first of its kind in Montgomery County. It is located in south county (Precinct 3.) Residents can visit the center to learn more about nature through a variety of events. A listing of scheduled programs is available by visiting the Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/springcreekgreenwaynaturecenter and clicking on the “Events” tab. P a g e 6 T H E C O M M U N I C A TO R Upcoming Events at the Convention Center APRIL DATE 4/4/2013 4/5/2013 4/5-6/2013 4/5-6/2013 (These events are subject to change. You can also access the Public Events at www.thelonestar.org) EVENT-OCCUPANT PTO Today's Parent Group Expo CONTACT FACILITY INFORMATION 800/644-3561 x 204 www.ptotoday.com/ events/index.html Convention Center Remarkable Communication Convention Skills 936/760-6914 Center Dispute Resolution Mighty Marriages Enrichment Weekend Convention The Center for Mighty Marriages www.mightymarriages.org Center & Families Rodeo 936/760-FAIR Expo/ Mont. Co. Fair Assoc. www.mcfa.org Fairgrounds GENERAL INFORMATION (K - 8th Grade PTO/PTA Leaders only) Registration: 8:30 am Expo: 9 am - 2 pm 10 am - 3 pm Fri: 6:30 pm - 9 pm Sat: 8 am - 4:30 pm 6:30 pm 4/5-14/2013 Fair & Rodeo Mont. Co. Fair Assoc. 936/760-FAIR www.mcfa.org Expo/ Fairgrounds 4/7/2013 Ranch Rodeo Mont. Co. Fair Assoc. 936/760-FAIR www.mcfa.org Expo/ Fairgrounds 1:30 pm 4/8/2013 Board Meeting Lone Star Executive Airport 936/788-8311 Convention Center 4:30 pm 4/9/2013 Senior Citizens Day Mont. Co. Fair Assoc. 936/760-FAIR www.mcfa.org Convention Center 9 am - 3 pm 4/12-13/2013 BBQ Cook-Off Mont. Co. Fair Assoc. 936/760-FAIR www.mcfa.org Fairgrounds Fri: 2 pm - 12 am Sat: 8 am - 1 am 4/14/2013 El Dia de la Familia Hispana Mont. Co. Fair Assoc. 936/760-FAIR www.mcfa.org Fairgrounds 12 pm - 12 am 4/20/2013 Horse Gymkhana TX AgriLife Extension 936/539-7822 Expo 9 am - 3 pm 4/23-25/2013 MCCD Public Hearing 936/538-8060 or 936/442-7752 Convention Center 6 pm 4/24/2013 Open Ride Night TX AgriLife Extension 936/539-7822 Expo 5 pm - 7 pm 4/25/2013 Community Health Screening Life Line Screening 4/25/2013 Banquet & Auction San Jacinto Friends of NRA www.friendsofnra.org Convention Center 6 pm - 10 pm 4/27-28/2013 High Caliber Gun Show HC Gun & Knife Shows, Inc. www.texasgunshows.com Convention Center Sat: 9 am - 5 pm Sun: 10 am - 4 pm 800/897-9177 x 1286 Convention www.lifelinescreening.com Center (Must Pre-Register) 9 am - 4 pm P a g e 7 T H E C O M M U N I C A TO R Upcoming Events at the Convention Center MAY (These events are subject to change. You can also access the Public Events at www.thelonestar.org) CONTACT FACILITY INFORMATION GENERAL INFORMATION DATE EVENT-OCCUPANT 5/3-4/2013 BBQ Cook-Off Mont. Co., City of Conroe, & CISD Scholarship Assoc. 936/520-1006 Expo Fri: 4 pm - 12 am Sat: 10 am - 3 pm 5/5/2013 Tradin' Days 936/597-6860 Fairgrounds 8 am - 5 pm 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm 5/7/2013 5/9/2013 5/11/2013 5/13/2013 5/13/2013 5/14/2013 5/18-19/2013 Horsemanship Trail Clinic TX AgriLife Extension Tastefest GCLCA Chamber of Commerce 936/539-7822 Expo 936/756-6644 www.conroe.org Box 44 - Joint Election 936/539-7843 Convention Center Convention Center Convention Center Convention Center Indoctrination Screening Crown & Covenant Church Board Meeting Lone Star Executive Airport Horsemanship Trail Clinic TX AgriLife Extension Spring Retreat Gulf Coast Woodturners 877/712-6348 936/788-8311 5 pm - 8 pm 7 am - 7 pm 7 pm - 10 pm 4:30 pm 936/539-7822 Expo 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm www.gulfcoastwood turners.org Fairgrounds (Guided tours of Exhibits ONLY) 9 am - 4 pm 936/539-7822 Eq. Ctr. 5 pm - 7 pm Branding Clinic TX AgriLife Extension Scholastic Book Fairs Remote Sale Open Ride Night TX AgriLife Extension 800/792-2002 x 314 936/539-7822 Expo 5 pm - 7 pm 6/8-9/2013 High Caliber Gun Show HC Gun & Knife Shows, Inc. www.texasgunshows.com Convention Center Sat: 9 am - 5 pm Sun: 10 am - 4 pm 6/8-9/2013 Swap Meet Hot Rods of Texas Fairgrounds 7:30 am - 5:30 pm 6/10/2013 Board Meeting Lone Star Executive Airport 936/788-8311 6/15/2013 Danzco Dance Academy Recital 936/582-1722 5/21/2013 5/21-23/2013 5/29/2013 Convention Tue & Wed: 10 am - 8 pm Center Thu: 10 am - 6 pm JUNE 6/24/2013 6/26/2013 State Steer, Swine, Sheep & Goat Validation TX AgriLife Extension Open Ride Night TX AgriLife Extension 337/249-7667 www.hotrodsoftexas.com Convention Center Convention Center 4:30 pm 5 pm 936/539-7822 Expo (4-H/FFA Members only) 4 pm - 7 pm 936/539-7822 Expo 5 pm - 7 pm P a g e 8 T H E C O M M U N I C A TO R EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH Congratulations to each of these Employees of the Month. Each monthly winner is eligible to be named Employee of the Year at the Christmas Luncheon. Thanks for your hard work! JANUARY Detective Vince Hatfield Sheriff’s Department FEBRUARY Remi Rose Lopez Dispatch If you would like to nominate someone for Employee of the Month, please send a nomination letter to Tina Solomon at tina.solomon@mctx.org. Tina can also be reached at Ext. 7419. FAMILY LAW CLINIC The Montgomery County Law Library wishes to announce the “Family Law Clinic.” It is presented by Lone Star Legal Aid, Montgomery County Women’s Center, Equal Justice Works and the United Way. This clinic will provide FREE legal information on Texas Family Law. Everybody is welcome and encouraged to attend. When: Thursday, April 25 at 2:00 pm Flyer: http://www.mctx.org/departments_d-k/departments_l-p/law_library/Flyer_for_Pro_Se_Clinic___revised_form.pdf New location (and staff!) for County Court at Law 3 County Court at Law Three is now located in the main courthouse on the first floor. We are now an all family law court. CCL 3 welcomed three new employees (doubling our staff) to handle our case load: Associate Judge Amy Atkinson Assistant Court Coordinator, Debbie Womack Court Reporter for Ancillary Courtroom, Kimberly Holzwarth Come by and say hello! P a g e 9 T H E C O M M U N I C A TO R NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY Tullis Adult Book Club - Wednesday, April 10th from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. Join us for coffee and conversation as we discuss “Behind The Beautiful Forevers” by Katherine Boo. South Montgomery County Friends of Conroe Spring Book Sale - April 11-13. Get heavily discounted books, movies, music and games at the Spring Book Sale! The sale will take place at the Community Center next to the library. For times and details, visit http://www.smcfriendsofthelibrary.org/ smcfriendsofthelibrary/Book_Sales.html South Branch - Tween’s Learn How to Basket Weave - Wednesday, April 17th at 4:30 p.m. Tweens will learn the fine art of basket weaving and create their own small baskets to be finished at home. This is open to all tweens, ages 9-12. To sign up call or visit the Children's Desk 936-442-7727 ext.6363. For more information contact Natasha Benway at 936-442-7277 ext. 6370. Stewart Branch Spring Book Sale - Thursday, May 16, starting at 9:00 a.m. Friends of Charles B. Stewart Library will be hosting their annual book sale. Don’t miss out! Tullis - Estates, Probate, Wills, and Family Law - Thursday, May 16 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm. Kingwood Attorney Steven Byers will be discussing Estates, Probate, Wills, and Family Law. If you have questions about different types of Wills, Power of Attorney, divorce, alimony, etc., this is a program you will want to attend! For details and to sign up, call 936-442-7705. Tullis - Raising Backyard Chickens - Saturday, June 15 from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Mike Heimer, with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension - Montgomery County, teaches you everything you need to know to about raising chickens as a hobby. Learn how to properly care and house your backyard chickens, and join the trend of getting back to basics. Central - Texas Snakes and More - Monday, June 24 beginning at 2:00 p.m. Educational Snake and Reptile Show, sponsored by Adult Summer Reading For more library SiteID=7689 events, visit: Interactive http://www.engagedpatrons.org/EventsCalendar.cfm? Visit www.facebook.com/mcmlsTX and "like" MCMLS today! The Library also publishes a monthly email newsletter called E-News, which you can sign up for on the Library homepage at www.countylibrary.org. Now you can stay connected and up-to-date on all the new, exciting services that the Library has to offer!” P a g e 1 0 T H E C O M M U N I C A TO R 2012 MONTGOMERY COUNTY EMPLOYEES UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN United Way tells us there are over 900 homeless kids under the age of 18 in Montgomery County. They are couch surfing, living out of cars, in the woods, and in shelters around the county. They are still attending school as best they can but do not have the permanency of a place to live or even know where they will be next. This campaign allowed all of us to make a difference. This year with your contributions, we were able to present United Way a commitment of $59,089 from Montgomery County employees. Thank you to the members of the County Employee Campaign Committee that volunteered to work on the campaign and contact all our county departments: Jeri Williams and Melissa Baker - Montgomery County Library Darin Bailey –County Clerk’s Office Wayne Mack – Custodial Juanita Stanley – Dept. of Infrastructure Marie Moore-Hermansen – County Engineers Dept. Cathy Cain – Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4 Ranae Saur – IT Department Jeanie Stewart – Sheriff’s Department Deborah Arrazate – Commissioner, Precinct 3 Office Sylvia Olszowy and Lori Stafford – Judge Sadler’s Office Congratulations to the $$ winners! Many thanks to longtime residents Jim and Nelda Blair for sponsoring the cash drawing for the employee’s that participated in donating to United Way. Winners of the money drawings were: Darin Bailey – County Clerk’s office Frank Barnett – District Attorney’s office Amanda Winborn – Custodial Department Donna Dunn – South Regional Library Branch in the Woodlands Susan Brasseaux – Tullis Library Branch in New Caney The United Way 2012 Traveling Trophy County Departments winners are: County Court at Law #3 Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 Constable Precinct 3 Custodial Con nued on next page P a g e 1 1 T H E C O M M U N I C A TO R Con nued from previous page Ms. Debbie Glenn, co-owner of the Red Brick Tavern located here in Conroe on Simonton Street donated a gift certificate for 6 guests to dine at her restaurant. Commissioner Craig Doyal also donated a gift certificate for 6 guests to the Red Brick Tavern. All county employees that donated to United Way were given a chance to be entered in a drawing to win the restaurant gift certificates or for some real fun, throwing a pie in the face of a member of Commissioners Court. Names drawn for the restaurant gift certificates were Sharon Watson of Infrastructure and anonymous from Building Maintenance. Pie in the Face – what more can we say? As Wayne Mack put it “It was nice working with you Jamie!” Thank you Judge Sadler for being a good sport about this and thank you Jamie Nash (JP, Pct. 4) for choosing him! Many thanks again to all for participating with the United Way program. We are lending a helping hand to the citizens of our great County. MEETING AND EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Communications Division is proud to announce completion of the remodel of their Communications Center. An open house will be scheduled soon. The hard-working men and women in the Communications Center, under the leadership of Captain Peggy Frankhouser, answered over 395,000 calls for service in 2012, more than 1000 calls per day. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) sets standards within which calls for service should be answered within a set number of seconds. This NENA standard has been met or exceeded for 165 consecutive days, a testament to the dedication and effort of the Sheriff’s Office Communication Center employees. P a g e 1 2 T H E C O M M U N I C A TO R MONTGOMERY COUNTY EMPLOYEE BULLETIN BOARD Looking for some great deals? Visit the Montgomery County Employee Bulletin Board. The Bulletin Board contains special discounts on entertainment tickets and other activities or products. To access the Bulletin Board, visit the Montgomery County Employees Intranet, Click on Bulletin Board, and Employee Specials. http://intranet.mctx.org/ Secret pal The Secret Pal program is a way to get to know more about the employees that work for Montgomery County. Anybody can become a Secret Pal. To get signed up, all you have to do is send in an information sheet that can be found by going to the Montgomery County website and clicking on Employee Committee (on the right hand side.) The form and informational letter are on the left side of the page. Complete the form and send it to Tina Solomon at tina.solomon@mctx.org. Each month, you can send a card or small token gift to let your secret pal know that you are thinking about them. Secret Pals are encouraged to recognize birthdays, anniversaries, and special holidays. Gifts should be delivered to the mail room with your Secret Pal’s name, department and extension number on the package. (Do not put your name on the package.) At the Employee Christmas Luncheon in December, you can finally reveal yourself to the employee that you have been sending gifts to all year long. MISSION STATEMENT The Montgomery County Employees’ Committee exists to bring the dedicated employees that serve Montgomery County together as a team. Collectively, we strive to provide fellowship and unity among all departments throughout the county. We encourage each County department to have a representative sit on the Committee.