NTMCA Newsletter - March 2016

News and Tidbits

March 2016

President's Message:

Greetings!

A big thank you to Theresa Scott, City Secretary, Town of Flower Mound, for hosting our February meeting at the Flower Mound Town Hall. We had SO much fun! It is always a pleasure having Marcel Brunel speak to our group. He is engaging, fun, and we always learn something new.

Mr. Jimmy Stathatos, Flower Mound Town Manager, welcomed the attendees and thanked everyone for coming. He stated he appreciates the work city secretaries do, especially since he has had to do that job!

Mr. Jimmy Stathatos, Flower Mound Town Manager

Marcel spoke to the group about emotional triggers. He discussed how your IQ will get you the job, but your EQ will help you keep the job. He explained how each of us have three personae - our underlying (home), our every day (work), and our overextended (stressed).

Marcel Brunel

In summary, he provided three calls to action: (1) be mindful of your triggers; (2) behave your way into collaborative relationships; and (3) be soft on the people, hard on the problem.

A few of my favorite Marcel "one-liners": (1) most people are hired on competencies and fired on behaviors, (2) you can be honest without being brutal, (3) you can't "boss" love, passion, and "want to", and (4) you can't talk your way out of what you behaved your way into.

Left to right: Mary Supino (Arlington),Shannon Montgomery (Trophy Club), and Diane Cockrell (Decatur)

At this meeting, the membership approved the following business items:

January 13, 2016 meeting minutes; and
Treasurer report for January 2016;

Important dates for 2016:

NTMCA Business luncheon in Watauga, March 9th (see block below)
NTMCA Professional Seminar in Grapevine on April 6th
NTMCA Awards Luncheon in Carrollton on June 8th
NTMCA Monthly meeting in Argyle on July 21st
NTMCA Monthly meeting in University Park on August 17th
NTMCA Monthly meeting in Southlake on September 14th

Membership reminder:

We still have quite a few folks who have not renewed their annual NTMCA memberships. Please renew as soon as possible. You will need to fill out the 2015-2016 application, and send it to Board Treasurer, Sheila Morales. You will also need to submit your dues via PayPal or check.

***Moving forward, if your membership has not been renewed, you will be required to pay the non-member fee for our monthly business luncheons. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation!

Please don't forget Art has his membership drive going and has numerous incentives in place. If you are attend a meeting, BRING A NEW CLERK! you will receive extra points, and will have a better chance of winning prizes that will be awarded at our August meeting!

We hope to see you all in Watauga!

2016 February Meeting Attendees
Flower Mound

Mary Supino, President

Next Meeting - March 9, 2016

Our next chapter meeting will be held in Watauga at the Foster Village Recreation Building at Foster Village Park located at 6600 Starnes Road, Watauga, 76148.

Guest speakers include Theresa Scott (Flower Mound), Art Camacho (Haltom City), Mary Kayser (Fort Worth),and Jesica McEachern (Bridgeport). They will be sharing their favorite topics with us.

Registration for this event will remain open until Friday, March 4, 2016 until 5:00 p.m.

We hope to see you there!

NEED VOLUNTEERS!!

I still need one volunteer to Chair the 2016 Holiday Committee. If you are willing to serve on this committee, please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated!! We all look forward to getting together at the holidays to celebrate, have fun visiting with our colleagues, and giving back to our community. We need your help to put together an amazing event for all of us to enjoy!

Mary Supino, President

Membership Drive

Greetings!

If you paid your dues before December 31, 2015, your name will be placed in a drawing to have your 2017 membership dues paid. The drawing will take place at the February NTMCA Chapter meeting held in Flower Mound.

In addition, I am personally offering the following for the 2016 Membership Drive:

1. For each meeting attended from December 2015 through August 2016, each attendee, who has already paid their 2016 membership dues, will have their name put in a drawing for a pair of Dallas Cowboy tickets for the 2016 fall football season, to be drawn at the end of the August 2016 NTMCA Chapter meeting. If the Chapter member brings a new clerk with them to the Chapter meeting, that same Chapter member will receive an additional 5 drawing chances for their invitation, and their invitee will receive 1 drawing chance. If the newly-invited clerk joins the NTMCA Chapter, they - and the Chapter member who invited them - will each receive an additional 5 drawing chances at the next Chapter meeting.

2. In addition to the Cowboy tickets, a $300 gift prize will be awarded to the ticket winner in the form of gift cards for golf, sporting events, dining, and merchandise.

So, a prize package of nearly $500 will be awarded to someone at the end of the August 2016 meeting!

The current 2016 Membership Drawing gift basket items and values include:

Dallas Cowboy 2016 game tickets - $160
Subway gift card - $15
Darden restaurants gift card - $15
Hobby Lobby gift card - $50
State seal - $45
Yeti 30 oz. Rambler - $45
Texas Rangers v. Houston Astros - 9/3/16 game tickets - $30
Golf for (2) at Iron Horse Golf Course with golf cart - $60
(1) dozen Noodle golf balls - $15
Target gift card - $15
Home Goods gift card - $15
NTMCA 2017 Dues - $20

A current value of $445, and still growing!

It will feel like you have won the lottery!!!!

Please take the time to complete the membership application and submit your dues today. If you pay your membership dues by PayPal , please notate that on your membership application. You must print out your PayPal receipt and attach it to your application. Mail both to the Chapter Treasurer, Sheila Morales, Town of Copper Canyon, 400 Woodland Drive, Copper Canyon, TX 75077.

Membership Special!!

Each attendee at the June 8th meeting in Carrollton (NTMCA Awards Luncheon), will have their current points automatically doubled!

Feel free to contact me with any questions, 817-222-7749, or email at [email protected] .

Sincerely,

Membership Committee Chair

Art Camacho

Historical Tid-Bits - The Great Watauga Train Wreck

In 1877, the first Texas and Pacific Railroad Line came through the settlement known as Watauga, which served as a service stop for trains before they reached Fort Worth. The settlers were eager to have the depot built here, so they attempted to change the town's name to Edwards, in honor of a railroad foreman, hoping that this would persuade him to build the depot here. The train depot was built here, but the town was officially called Watauga by the railroad.

The railroad depot was built parallel to Denton Highway on the east side of the track behind the small shopping center. Besides the depot, there was a well and water tower on the west side of the track to service the steam engine.

The depot represented growth and prosperity for the community. Now Watauga was connected to Fort Worth and the rest of the country by railroad. The fare to ride the train into Fort Worth was about 25 cents, and the trip took about one hour, if the weather was good.

In 1909, the train depot burned to the ground. It was 1911 before the depot was rebuilt, and it was enlarged with cattle pens. There was a row of section houses for the train crew along the tracks. Union Pacific records indicate that the depot was a one-story frame passenger and freight depot with a metal roof.

Marie Cade was the depot's telegraph operator. She started her job at the age of 15 and knew Morse code. Her father, Andrew Cade, was the depot agent in Watauga for many years until the depot was closed. The train dispatchers would often say, "There's nobody like Marie Cade."

The "Great Watauga Train Wreck" occurred in 1917. According to Marie Cade Wathall, who was working as the telegraph operator that night, a Katy freight train had stopped on the tracks near Big Fossil Creek Bridge. Dispatchers at the Cotton Belt Crossing sent a warning down the line that there was a train standing near Big Fossil Creek and for all trains to wait. A Katy passenger train did not heed the warning, and the two trains hit head on. A fireman was killed when he jumped from the train down a steep embankment in an effort to avoid the collision. Both trains were knocked off the tracks. All of Watauga, young and old, came to help in any way possible. They searched for injured, called for assistance, and brought buckets of water to put out the grass fires started by the wreck. Several authentic photos still exists of the train wreck cleanup showing cranes lifting damaged engines from the embankment. You can see the towns folk, in their early 20th century clothes, watching the progress in the pastures.

In 1929, the railroad depot was retired from service, according to Union Pacific records. The depot was moved to Hodge causing growth to come to a standstill in Watauga. Hodge was a town in Fort Worth, north of the Stockyards. The depot was placed on Premier Street in Hodge until the mid-1960s when it was destroyed.

The train depot brought life to Watauga and then took it away after the depot closed. Watauga dwindled to a small town of 300-400 people, mostly farmers, from the Depression and through World War II. There are hopes that Watauga can recreate the depot and regain a piece of its history.

Submitted by Laura Bell, Historian

In This Issue

TMCCP Scholarships Available

Professional Seminar

Calendar Wheels

Future Meetings

April 6	Professional Seminar - Grapevine
May - No meeting	Elections
June 8	Carrollton
July 21	Argyle
August 17	University Park
September 14	Southlake

TMCCP Scholarships

As you plan your seminar schedule for next year, take a look at these TMCCP Scholarship opportunities: TMCCP Seminar Registration Fee Scholarships or TMCCP Seminar Travel Stipends

If you meet the eligibility requirements, apply and let TMCA pay for your TMCCP seminar or your travel/lodging expenses for a TMCCP seminar this up coming year!

Please apply no later than 10 business days prior to the desired seminar.

Submitted by

Mary Supino,

NTMCA President

Meeting Reservations

Members we need your help!

In order to be able to provide food for all that attend our monthly meetings, we need to know who will be attending, so please let us know your intentions by the RSVP date. Deadlines are included in the invitation, and on the meeting webpage.

The best way to take care of this is to plan to attend all of the meetings and RSVP when you receive the invite!

Thank you for your cooperation!
Mary Supino, President

NTMCA Clerk of the Year Nominations

We get one shot a year to honor City Secretaries/Clerks in our chapter for their relentless efforts, and that way is to nominate them for the NTMCA Clerk of the Year.

Municipal clerks are always up for any challenge and it is through our recognition programs that our professional profiles continue to grow.

This is the perfect opportunity to show a fellow clerk that their hard work and dedication to their city, and our chapter is truly appreciated.

This year's submission deadline is May 13, 2016, and the nomination form, and a list of nominee qualifications are available HERE.

For any questions, please contact committee member Ron Gonzales @ 817-392-6164, or Jean Dwinnell at 972-304-3664.

2016 Professional Seminar

We look forward to seeing you all in Grapevine at our Professional Seminar on Wednesday, April 6, 2016, at the Grapevine Convention and Visitor's Bureau Headquarters.

Our Professional Seminar Committee (Tara Brooks, Chair; Christine Green, ad Jeannie Kenyon) have done a fabulous job planning the seminar, and have lined up some amazing speakers!

We have two dynamic speakers, Stephen Booher, City of Arlington, and Julie Davis-Colan, with the L-Group.

Registration and breakfast will take place from 7:30-8:30 a.m., and the program will begin at 8:30 a.m.

A SAVE-THE-DATE went out earlier this week!

Please join us for this fun and engaging event!

Silent Auction Items Needed for the Professional Seminar

We are excited to announce that we will be having a Silent Auction at the Professional Seminar on April 6th. The funds raised will support the Alyce Deering Scholarship fund.

For this fundraiser, we are looking for lottery scratch-off tickets, gift cards, passes to golf courses, water parks, and sporting events. We are also seeking hand crafted items and gift baskets.

If you have a local vendor or friend with a small business to promote, ask them to contribute. This is a great way to show your support for the Alyce Deering Scholarship Fund, and your donations make this possible.

If you have any questions, please contact a committee member.

If you were in attendance at the meeting in Flower Mound, you were asked to donate bottles of wine; however, we are withdrawing that request, as the committee is going in a different direction.

Remember to bring cash and checks to be able to win items separate from the silent auction.

Thank you for being a part of NTMCA!

Alyce Deering Scholarship Committee:

Diane Cockrell, City Secretary, Decatur,Chair

Kristi Gilbert, Town Secretary, Argyle

Traci Henderson, Deputy City Secretary, Southlake

Mary Supino, City Secretary, Arlington, Board Liaison

Seeking Alyce Deering Scholarship Applications

The North Texas Municipal Clerks Association encourages professionalism and the continuing education of Texas Municipal Clerks by administering a scholarship program that pays up to $500 for travel and registration costs incurred while attending a seminar sponsored by the Texas Municipal Clerks Association, Inc., and/or Texas Municipal Clerks Certification Program.

We are currently seeking applications for the 2016 Alyce Deering Scholarship. The full summary of the program is available HERE. To apply, you must complete the application and provide a copy of your TMCCP transcript and a letter of commitment. The application deadline is May 1st.

Calendar Wheels

These wheels are an excellent tool for counting deadlines with ease and precision. They are great for calendaring events/tasks associated with elections, requests for public information, budget, public hearings, legal notices, etc.

The calendar wheels will be available at the monthly meetings for $5.00 each. Monies raised from the sale of the calendar wheels will benefit the Alyce Deering Scholarship Fund. The calendar wheels come in two colors-purple and green.

If you are not at a monthly meeting, and would like to purchase a calendar wheel, please contact Monica Solko at 817.427.6062 or via e-mail [email protected].

Future Newsletters

If there is a topic of interest or subject that you would like to see addressed in an upcoming newsletter, please let any of the Board members know.