Trent Howard spoke to us about his venture with 2 buddies in the coffee roasting business, Moravian Coffee Company. He talked about the passion and how things have gone to this day. They distribute to coffee shops and online as well as having their own coffee house operation at the location of the old Lighthouse Coffee. They are just now opening another location inside Bearded Axe Brewery downtown, where they will operate until about 11:00 a.m., then the brewery takes over.

 

After starting in Waxahachie a few years back, Ross O'Brien and his wife moved OBrien's Bookshop to Midlothian last year. Ross gave the story of the founding, challenges and rewards of being an entrepreneur in this genre of business. His talk was illustrated with a few slides.

 

We had short notice and a different venue for Ringing The Bell for The Salvation Army on Saturday, December 13, so only 5 of us were able to commit, but we did get it covered at the north door of Midlothian's Walmart Supercenter. Gayla Johnson, Chester Juroska, John Piper, Tony Watson and Dave Wyrtzen were this year's ringers. 

 

We moved our meeting to our traditional venue of the Midlothian Civic Center on December 2nd to accommodate a demonstration of the MPD's K-9 unit. Officers Jacob Rittimann and Ryan Mills talked about the different bloodlines for the breeds of dogs used in police work. The dogs used here in Midlothian are primarily for sniffing out illicit drugs. After about 20 minutes of talking about the work done in this department, we moved outside to see a demonstration. You can see one of the officers in his "Michelin Man" suit, being attacked on his arm by the dog controlled by the other officer. This is an interesting demonstration.

 

Steve Symonds told about the founding and then the growth of this business, starting with his grandfather's favor to a neighbor.  Some of the flags and poles he produces are profoundly huge. Some of the tallest poles can cost north of a million dollars to produce and install. He warrants his poles to 100 mph winds with a flag attached.

 

Dr. David Belding brought a program updating us on the growth of the Midlothian Independent School District and the essential n needs of the MISD going forward. He gave an overview of the 3 bond packages we will vote on in early November.