The SPIRIT The voice of The Highland Lakes A&M Club/Foundation No. 87 - February 2020 The Highland Lakes A&M Club is chartered by the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University Howdy Ags! 2019 was another wonderful year for the Highland Lakes A&M Club! We once again made good on our promise to honor those Aggies who’ve gone before us and to spread the Aggie Spirit amongst our neighbors and the next generation. Take a look below at how your Club is Fostering Aggie Spirit in the Hill Country. Enjoy the newsletter and thank you for another successful year! Aggie Muster - April 25, 2019 Scholarship Presentation at Aggie Muster 2019 Quail Point - Horseshoe Bay (pictured from left to right) Ross Bingham ‘13, Zach (left to right) Ashlyn Grace Wilson, Courtney Ray Burrows, Vercher ‘11, Bailey Vercher ‘12, & John Taylor ‘09 Taylor Marie Wright, Kyra Madison Starnes, Jon Rex Vanwagenen Congratulations 2019 Scholarship Winners! Ashlyn Grace Wilson - Faith Academy Kyra Madison Starnes - Marble Falls HS Courtney Rae Burrows - Faith Academy Kinley Rae Beyer - Burnet HS Taylor Marie Wright - Marble Falls HS Jon Rex Vanwagenen - Burnet HS 2019 Aggie Social at Save the World Brewing - February 28, 2019 (left to right) Heather Metzger ‘95, Kay Stripling ‘82 & (left to right) Mike Hodge ‘87 & Dani Hodge ‘88 Amber Weems ‘97 *** View the 2020 Newsletter in COLOR at www.highlandlakesaggies.com. Click PDF on bottom right of homepage.*** Aggie Socials, Game Watch Party & Holiday Party Left to right - Kim Linam, Les Fenter ‘67, Carol Left to right Terry Lee Stracke ‘79 and Barron, Bruce Barron ‘70 and Mike Linam ‘95 at Kim Shotts ‘76 @ Bear King Aggie Social Bear King Aggie Social on June 27th. on June 27th. Jay Hilsher ‘76 and Mike Varner ‘88 at Bear King Jerry Gray ‘62 and Stennis Shotts ‘77 Aggie Social on June 27th May 23rd Aggie Social @ Whitewater 360 Left to right - Mark Stracke ‘75 awarded one of Left to right - Sam Morrison ‘76, Ross Bjork - the top prizes for sports trivia by Cash Linam at A&M Athletic Director & Mike Linam ‘95 at the the Clemson Gamewatch Party on Sept. 7, 2019. 2019 Holiday Party. Page 2 President’s Box Howdy! My name is Mike Linam, and it’s my honor to again serve as President of the Highland Lakes A&M Club for 2020. Over the past year, our local Aggies have gathered together for Aggie Muster, several Aggie Social Happy Hours, the Clemson Tailgate Party and the Holiday Party! Our Muster Speaker for 2019 was Barry Hendler ‘71. Barry is the President and CEO of American Lumber Inc. and was a recipient of the 2006 AGGIE 100 Award. Muster gave us an opportunity to reconnect to our Aggie roots and each other as we honored our Aggie brethren who’ve passed on before us. We also awarded five scholarships of $5,000 each to another impressive group of future Aggies. In addition, a rare Sixth Scholarship of $5,000 was also awarded this year in honor of R.M. Burnam, Sr. Class of ‘23. This scholarship was sponsored by Mr. Burnam’s children: Bobby Burnam, Alice Johnson and Sam Burnam ’65. Of note, we increased the scholarship amount from $3,000 up to $5,000 per student in 2019. That’s a significant increase! You can help us ensure we’re able to continue helping these aspiring Aggies by becoming an Aggie Spirit Sponsor. See Page 6 to learn more about it and check out a Tax Smart Gifting Strategy some of you might employ for Qualified Charitable Distributions on Page 7 to get a little more mileage out of your gifting dollars. Something new we added this year were monthly Aggie Socials! These happy hours have been a great way for Aggies to meet each other outside the typical Club events and get to know each other better. Take a look at our 2020 Social Calendar on Page 4 to see which events you may want to add to your calendar. Speaking of events, the 2020 Aggie Classic Golf Tournament is just around the corner! Take a look at Page 9 for details and registration. It’s time to form your teams and begin thinking about how you can hit a Hole-in One! Why? Because Johnson Sewell - Lincoln will be sending the winner home with a Brand New Lincoln Aviator! Yes, a brand new car! Good luck players. We as a Board thank you for your participation and support and hope you will help the Club by renewing your Annual $30 membership and consider becoming a Spirit Sponsor and/or Corporate/Golf Tournament Sponsor - See Page 8. Your generosity goes a long way in spreading Aggie Spirit in the Hill Country. Finally, I want to thank Zach Vercher ‘11 & Bailey Vercher ‘12 for their Board Service last year and Whitney Clement ‘96 for her many years of dedicated service on the board as well. We also want to welcome Bailey Pippenger ‘18 to the board for 2020. She’s already making a big impact! I’m looking forward to another great year! We have Muster and the Aggie Classic Golf Tournament just around the corner in April! Hope to see you there! Gig’em, -Mike Linam ‘95, Club President Highland Lakes A&M Club Officers for 2020 ● Mike Linam ‘95 - President ● Bailey Pippenger ‘18 - VP Membership ● Susan Herr - VP Finance ● Ross Bingham ‘13 - VP Records ● Stennis Shotts ‘77 - VP High School Relations ● Sam Morrison ‘76 - Club Advisor Page 3 Join us for Aggie Social Happy Hours Hors d’oeuvres provided by Club A&M Club 2020 Event Calendar Day Date Event Location Time Thursday March 5th Aggie Social - Happy Hour R-Bar, Marble Falls 5:30 PM Saturday March 21st Golf Tournament Delaware Springs Golf Club, Burnet 9:00 AM Tuesday April 21st Aggie Muster Quail Point Lodge, HSB 6:00 PM Home of Susan & Joey Herr ‘72 Hors d’oeuvres provided/BYOB 2815 RR 2831 Thursday May 7th Aggie Social - Happy Hour 5:30 PM Horseshoe Bay, TX 78657 RSVP: [email protected] 210-843-8817 Thursday June 18th Aggie Social - Happy Hour Boat Town Burger Bar, Kingsland 5:30 PM Thursday July 30th Aggie Social - Happy Hour Bear King, Marble Falls 5:30 PM Thursday August 20th Aggie Social - Happy Hour Fiesta Winery, Marble Falls 5:30 PM Home of Tony Pippenger Festive Food Provided/BYOB 124 Riverbend Lane Game Watching Party - Saturday October 3rd Kingsland, TX 78639 TBD Mississippi State RSVP: Bailey Pippenger ‘18 [email protected] or (512) 694-0701 Thursday November 19th Holiday Party Quail Point Lodge, HSB 6:00 PM Page 4 The Highland Lakes A&M Club is chartered by the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University Please Join Us For Tuesday, April 21, 2020 Quail Point Lodge, HSB, Texas Featuring Guest Speaker - Cliff Dugosh ‘86 We are thankful to have Cliff Dugosh ‘86 as our Muster speaker this year. Cliff graduated Texas A&M University with a Bachelors of Health Education in 1987 and a Masters in Adult Extension Education in 1989. Cliff is a motivational speaker and author of “Lessons from the Rams” published in 2017. He’s a master story teller who draws on 29 years of working, and walking, with thousands of high school/college students. Approaching 1000 speeches with audiences at West Point, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, Stanford, A&M, UT and numerous corporate events. He’s also spoken at 32 Muster ceremonies, 70 A&M Clubs and Aggie Mother's Clubs and at over 20 Fish Camps. Cliff is also a recipient of the Buck Weirus Spirit Award. We are sure you will enjoy Cliff’s talk and hope you can join us. In addition to hearing from Cliff, our program will include the awarding of the 2020 Highland Lakes A&M Foundation Scholarships to local Burnet County High School Students. Finally, we will conclude with the the solemn Muster Ceremony in which we acknowledge and honor those Aggies who have passed away over the last year. We have a great program and meal planned for you this year. Attire is casual. Please let us know you’re coming! Return RSVP form on back page by April 7th or buy your tickets online at www.highlandlakesaggies.com. Questions? Contact: Bailey Pippenger ‘18 - Muster Chair [email protected] or (512) 694-0701 WHEN: Tuesday, April 21, 2020 SOCIAL TIME: 6:00 PM DINNER & PROGRAM: 6:45 PM Catered by Choccolatte’s WHERE: QUAIL POINT LODGE 107 Twilight (off Red Sail) Horseshoe Bay, Texas 78657 Directions: Go to the main entrance of the Resort (Horseshoe Bay Blvd). Continue around the traffic circle and turn right on Hi Circle North (will take you past the Marriott). Go about 3 blocks to Red Sail; turn right on Red Sail; go about 2 blocks; turn left on Twilight. Quail Point is the white stucco building. Page 5 SPIRIT SPONSOR SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Each year, the Highland Lakes A&M Foundation awards up to five scholarships to deserving young men and women who have been accepted to Texas A&M. With the ever increasing costs of higher education, scholarship programs such as this one truly make an impact on the lives of these young people. To ensure this great tradition of awarding scholarships continues each year, we’ve established our Spirit Sponsor Program. Our Spirit Sponsors donate annually to the Foundation Scholarship Fund. Please consider making an annual contribution to this program. 12TH MAN LEVEL (FULL SPIRIT LEVEL TRADITIONS LEVEL GIG’EM LEVEL REVEILLE LEVEL SCHOLARSHIP) $100 $500 $1000 $2500 $5000 Please help “Foster the Spirit” by enclosing your Tax Deductible 2020 Spirit Sponsorship using the form on the back of this newsletter or pay online at www.highlandlakesaggies.com.