Angela Ewton with Midlothian Plumbing made a presentation on March 3. She talked about “Plumbing Tips and Tricks,” giving us some background on common plumbing problems and consumer mistakes, and enlightening us on that business. Shown above with the honorarium children's book and President John Piper.

 

Leslie Deen, Executive Director of the Ellis County Children’s Advocacy Center, updated us on the work of the Advocacy Center on February 17th. Leslie started off by mentioning that her son had attended Camp RYLA a few years ago, and how much he had enjoyed that experience. She talked about case load,  events and programs and how the Advocacy Center works these things.

 

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 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.