People, Places & Events

NFL referee recalls career
events at Rotary meeting
By Barbara Gartman
Monitor Staff Writer
GUN BARREL CITY–Being an NFL referee is just one of the hats worn by Jim Evans.
Evans was the keynote speaker at Friday’s weekly Rotary Club of Cedar Creek Lake luncheon.
Evans listed his vocation as a lawyer, being a referee his avocation, farming as a hobby and is a Rotarian from Park Cities.
Also, since he was 19, he has sold insurance, he added.
Hobby farming includes fruit trees and blueberries, grown mostly for the pleasure of his grandchildren.
“It takes a gallon of water per day, per plant when blueberries are growing,” Evans said.
With the addition of fertilizers and other care, the fruit is not cheap, he added.
“I figure each blueberry costs about 50 cents apiece to grow,” Evans humorously explained.
Another hat he can add to his list is that of public speaker.
“This is my 590th time to speak to a Rotary Club in 20 years,” Evans explained.
Evans held up a little referee doll from a coach who claimed he cut his career short. A letter from the coach was included, describing what he was to do with the doll.
“Do not feel guilty about the way you feel about referees,” he said, laughing as he read the directions for dismembering the doll.
The doll’s appendages were fastened on with Velcro, and he removed the arms and legs as he carefully followed the letter’s instruction, ending with removing the head and adding it to the doll’s backside.
“Officiating at games is just a hobby,” he explained. “Every referee has a separate job.”
His interest in refereeing started in high school.
“The referee at our football game got in the way of a (lateral) pass and the ball hit the referee, costing my school the game,” Evans said.
There are a lot of rule changes and most fans question the reason behind each change.
“Number one is player safety, and the dollar plays into it,” he said. Sometimes rules are made to shorten the length of time the game takes to play, he added.
Some rule changes are made after coaches come up with unusual plays to get around the existing rules.
One rule change involved the final times of play. When there was only a minute left to play, the kick-off started the clock.
But, the new rule says the clock doesn’t start until the receiving team touches the ball.
Also, once the ball is kicked, if it hits the ground, it’s dead, he explained.
As a video review official for the last few years, Evans recalled some replay situations in which things were not always as they seemed at first.
“I have about 15,000 more stories to tell – and some of them are true,” he said as time was running out.
In other business, Rotarians:
• heard a letter from Barbara Turner’s son in Iraq read, which thanked the club for its gift of coffee and a coffee pot.
• accepted a check by Dr. Jeanne Caillet for $54, Rotary’s portion of $270 in funds earned at the Christmas Salvation Army bell-ringing project.
Rotary signed its share back to the Salvation Army.
• heard from Tina Wage, president of the Cedar Creek Lake Civic League.
She reminded the audience of the League’s upcoming fund-raiser, an appraisal fair set for 9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 21, at First United Methodist Church in Mabank.
• were reminded 14 Japanese exchange students and their sponsors are due to arrive Friday, March 13.
That Friday’s Rotary meeting will be delayed one hour, until 1 p.m., to give them time to get from D/FW Airport to the lake area.

CASA seeks volunteers
to help abused children
Special to The Monitor
AUSTIN–Court Appointed Special Advocates TM CASA called on Texas lawmakers for money needed to recruit and train volunteers who will serve an additional 4,000 Texas foster children.
CASA leaders said in tough economic times, more children are abused and neglected and will enter the foster care system, increasing the need for CASA volunteers to help them.
Currently, there are almost 300 children in foster care in Henderson, Anderson and Cherokee counties.
CASA of Trinity Valley and other programs around Texas strive to provide a CASA volunteer for every foster child.
CASA volunteers provide vital help by interviewing everyone involved in a foster child’s life including doctors, lawyers, parents, teachers and others – then make recommendations to the judges about the best way to help the child.
Volunteers, most of whom have no experience working with the Texas Legislature, told lawmakers how they have helped children they get through the foster care system to a safe, permanent home.
Karen Murphy, CASA volunteer, told lawmakers, “Because of CASA involvement, ‘Briana,’ a baby born addicted to drugs and placed in foster care, now has a chance for a bright, productive future.
She was adopted at 18 months old by relatives, who will raise and nurture her in a safe and loving home, she said.
“CASA volunteers make such a huge difference in the lives of foster children. That’s why it’s so sad we don’t have enough volunteers in the state to help every child,” executive director of CASA of Trinity Valley Lee Ann Millender said.
“I hope lawmakers understand that finding money to recruit and train more volunteers isn’t just a nice thing to do, it’s a necessary thing to do,” she said.
CASA volunteers play an essential role helping abused children find permanency in an overburdened court system.
In 2008, there were 44,928 children in state custody due to abuse and neglect allegations.
More than 25,000 children did not have a CASA to help guide them to a safe, permanent home.
CASA Day at the Capitol included a training session for volunteers before they spoke to lawmakers, and visits with senators and representatives from all over the state.
Sen. Jane Nelson and Rep. Patrick Rose introduced resolutions honoring CASA.
Volunteers wrapped up their time at the Capitol posing for a photo with Attorney General Greg Abbott.
Anyone who is interested in helping CASA advocate for children can go to www.BecomeACASA.org for more information.

Severe storm program set
March 24 in Athens
Special to The Monitor
ATHENS–The 2008 storm season in North Texas was one of the more violent in recent history.
Thirty-four tornadoes were reported across the area, and destructive windstorms, large hail and deadly flooding all made appearances in the area.
The toll on life and property was significant, with many casualties and damage in the tens of millions of dollars.
With the typical high point of the severe weather season fast approaching, are you ready for whatever this year has in store?
Do you have a severe weather plan at your home and your workplace?
Can you recognize the clues that suggest large hail, flash flooding or a tornado is possible?
Do you want to become part of the severe weather warning system in your county?
As part of its area-wide weather preparedness campaign, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth will answer these and many other questions at the Skywarn severe weather program from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, March 24.
The program will be held at the Senior Citizens Center, 3356 E. State Highway 31, Athens, in partnership with Henderson County Emergency Management. The program is free and open to the public.
This year’s program will discuss thunderstorm formation, severe weather production and features associated with severe storms.
Attendees also will review tornado formation and behavior, non-threatening clues which may be mistaken for significant features and safety when thunderstorms threaten.
The program will discuss spotter operations and recommended reporting procedures.
The two-hour presentation will be in multimedia format, featuring numerous pictures of storms and nearly 25 minutes of storm video clips.
“We have some new material in the 2009 spotter training program,” warning coordination meteorologist at the Fort Worth NWS office Gary Woodall said.
“We will present the information in the form of a checklist for the attendees to utilize. Most of the storm photos and video clips are different this year,” Woodall added. “We have reworked many of our graphics. We’ll have more identification cases, and we’ll discuss the operational aspects of storm spotters in detail.”
The fundamental purpose of the spotter training – and of the storm spotter network as a whole – remains unchanged.
“We could not do our job as well as we do without storm spotters,” Woodall said. “Radar is a great tool, but it only tells us part of a storm’s story.
“Spotter observations complement the electronic data we use to analyze storms,” he added. “The combination of spotter reports and radar data gives us the best possible picture of the storms and what’s going on inside them.”
“By coming to this program, you will learn a lot about thunderstorms,” Woodall said. “Even if you don’t become an active storm spotter, you will learn about how storms work and the visual clues you can identify when storms are in your area.
“We will discuss severe weather safety tips. This will better prepare yourself and your family for the threats that storms pose,” he added.
The Henderson County severe weather program is one of more than 40 programs the Fort Worth NWS Office will conduct between January and early April.
The National Weather Service in Fort Worth provides forecasts, warnings and weather services for 46 counties in north and north-central Texas.
For more information on severe weather and the National Weather Service, visit the Fort Worth Forecast Office’s website at http://www.weather.gov/fortworth.