Team of the Month for January, 1980 was "Solid" San Angelo REACT Ass'n with their efficient mobile communications equipment and their participation in both Area 2 and State Councils. February's Team of the Month was Fannin County REACT for their record of public service.

In the January REACTIONS, President Grady Stevens reminded REACTors that anyone who attends a State Council meeting has a VOICE in the proceedings and can express opinions, ideas or problems and BE HEARD. While only delegates vote, they are influenced by what they hear at the meetings. He noted that the efforts of those who attend Council meetings are appreciated. "The Teams and Councils who sponsor these state meetings go to a great deal of trouble and they deserve to be rewarded by a larger attendance."

Evidently his remarks were heeded, because the meeting room at the Park Motel's Feed Trough in Lampassas was filled to capacity on March 1, 1980. That very productive meeting began with a Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag (Area Councils and Teams who had not used the Pledge to set the tone for their meetings tried it and liked it!). Canson Associates came to ask REACT's help in promoting highway safety. "The Survivors", a video produced by Travis County REACT (and still available for loan), told stories of families who had lost loved ones because of drunk drivers. The Texas State REACT brochure project was approved. There was a motion to amend the Council By-laws to add an Executive Vice-President so that the Vice President could be in charge of Team Training and Organization and that those who fill the top three offices all come from different Area Councils. There was also some discussion about dividing the larger Area Councils.

PUBLIC RELATIONS PROJECT: A letter was sent to each Mayor and City Council in Area V telling them about REACT Teams in their town or the Area. Included were names and telephone numbers to contact if emergency assistance was needed.

NEW TEAMS: Area 8: Cass County REACT, Hughes Springs; Area 7: County Line REACT, Tioga and Arlington REACT, Arlington.

Team of the Month for March, 1980 was Gillespie County REACT for their innovative diamond-shaped, orange, black and white reflective signs on all the highways leading into Fredericksburg saying that Gillespie County REACT monitors Channel 9.

Team of the Month for April was Brazos County REACT for signs on the city limits saying they monitor Ch. 9, their coffee for firemen who are fighting fires, good relations with law enforcement agencies, and boosting their Area Council.

The Texas State REACT Council newsletter was renamed BREAK-9 with Vol. 2, Letter 3, the May-June '80 edition. The lead story told of Titus County REACT of Mt. Pleasant introducing themselves as the "largest Community Service Civic Organization" in their county, working well with all the police agencies and fire departments, and they belonged to the local Chamber of Commerce! All REACT Teams were urged to join and actively participate in Chamber projects.

Team of the Month for May, 1980 was McGregor REACT for their functional disaster plan backed by practical training and practice. For June, it was Laguna REACT on Padre Island for service to the community: searching for a lost child, parade support, arranging outings for MD patients, passing messages to tourists, mending toys for gifts to underprivileged children, and alerting the Coast Guard to emergencies.

As the summer period of heaviest travel approached, the problem of getting permission to use state highway facilities for rest stops and how to accept donations which were "forced on" the workers surfaced again. Display materials were available both from REACT International and Canson Associates. President Stevens advised careful planning and use of lots of donations from local merchants.

A BREAK-9 reprint of a half-page article from the January '80 Area V newsletter invited REACTors to share the REACT experience with their friends and neighbors who may have been waiting for an invitation and wondering why they hadn't been asked to help.

Quoting from a sign at Dallas REACT Central:

"We, the willing led by the unknowing are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much for so long with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing."

We were reminded that at our fall meeting on even numbered years, REACT in Texas elects its Board of Directors, and that no office has "Title Value" only. They are all work, patience, understanding, and, to a degree, require a thick skin.

Those who went to the International Convention in Atlanta, GA reported that Nat Maryn was elected President of the REACT Forum. Only 25% of the Teams voted for Field Directors and Susan Stewart of California and Lance Luedtke of Wisconsin were elected. The official Convention report said that 230 Teams out of 882 eligible Teams mailed in ballots. What was worse, with Texan Bob Hitch of Dallas running for the Board and 50 eligible Team votes, only 17 Texas Teams actually cast their ballots! Nine Texas representatives from five Teams sat together in the front row at all meetings. Reports at the July State meeting by Joe Wilson (Pres. of Area IV), Richard Pratz (Pres. of Area V), Jim Tanner, Keren Pratz, Nell Pessink and State Council VP Ed Pessink covered 150 hours of seminar and task group attendance.

The featured speaker at the July, 1980 meeting in San Antonio was a spokesman for Bexar County Fire and Emergency Services who warned about the use of drugs by children and young people who are 13 - 20 years old. He said that about 130 children die each year in Bexar County because they use drugs.

Post cards and telegrams were solicited from REACTors to support five house bills and one senate bill that would give volunteers tax relief.

Disaster Coordinator Jack Ottaway died and his records had to be recreated. Bobby Jones of Brownwood and Mike Lucky of Dallas were appointed to this monumental task.

Each Area Council was given a copy of the Public Relations Handbook that was published by the Nebraska State REACT Council. Area Councils were to photocopy it for each of their Teams.

July's Team of the Month was Travis County REACT, for the "uncommon accomplishment" of producing the TV special, "The Survivors." In August, Gray County REACT won the award for rest stops, police dept. help with CH 9 monitoring, newspaper publicity, civic activities and uncommon accomplishments.

REACT and Emergency teams from all over Texas met in Brownwood for a second annual EMT "Play-Day" in August for a "preparedness olympics" with competitions in everything from First Aid to "over-the cliff" rescue.

The lead story of the fourth BREAK-9 of 1980 was REACT and Red Cross and their involvement in and after Hurricane Allen. It announced, too, that Team of the Month was Sweetwater REACT who were web-footed from wading around in flood waters, REACTing! Their design and manufacture of the insulated emergency blankets that were orange or red on one side to hide blood when necessary and protected victims from the cold in winter or the hot asphalt in summer cinched September, 1980's award. October's Team of the Month was County Line REACT in Area 7 whose uncommon accomplishments included a base on the water tower that helped them monitor two counties and their assistance to a family that were paralyzed for life in an auto accident.

When the November 1, 1980 meeting was called to order at the Holiday Inn in Brownwood, President Grady Stevens led the Invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. There were no delegates from Areas 1, 3 or 4. The quorum was established with the following delegates: Area 2 - Jerry Jennison and David Kincaid, Area 5 - Bobby Jones and Dick Pratz, Area 6 - Emma Knox and Ivan Knox, Area 7 - Thelma Stevens and Clayton Thompkins, and Area 8 - Martha Wann and Nell Pessink.

The Treasurer, Mike Lucky, reported expenditures of $501.82 and Income of $120.19 leaving a balance in checking of $59 and in savings for the proposed brochure was $625.14. Of the new team applications received, the Council was still reviewing that of Westex in El Paso, but had forwarded to International the one from Mockingbird "REACT" in Lytle. VP Ed Pessink said the idea brought back from Georgia for "SEND HELP" cards really paid off. Susan Bryant of the Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation saw one at the Area V meeting that she spoke at, became enthused with the idea and was able to get funding from the State of Texas to print 50,000. Only REACT would distribute them. Teams could put their information on them before they distributed them. Ed read a letter signed by M. G. Goode, Engineer Director, for Bryan C. Blasche, Chief, Engineer Safety and Maintenance Operations. This letter of commendation for the work that REACT had done included a listing of the Traffic Specialists in Texas and a request for a list of REACT teams in the state. Each Area Council was encouraged to contact the traffic specialists in their area.

REACT International liked our Team of the Month and Year program which was based on civic involvement and Area Council participation.

Bobby Jones reported that the Disaster Committee learned from the work they did with the Red Cross in Corpus Christi after Hurricane Allen. They needed the questionnaires back from teams on what they had available for a disaster. Knowing what a team did not have was just as important as knowing what they had. The San Angelo team took their communications van to San Antonio, Falfurrias, Edinburg and back to Bishop in response to requests from the State.

Less than half of the Teams responded to the Team Tally vote. The by-laws change to provide for an Executive VP passed 13 to 2 with abstentions not counted. The Council voted to let the team in Gonzales participate with Area 5, if Area 4 agreed. The Council also gave the lower 8 Counties of Area 2 to Area 5.

Emma Knox moved and Martha Wann seconded a motion to let the man from Phoenix, AZ who is in charge of the national Team of the Year Committee review the data on our Teams of the Month and make the decision on who would be our Team of the Year. The motion carried.

Mike Lucky auctioned a cake donated by Brownwood REACT which brought in $70 for the Council. Two emergency blankets, donated by Sweetwater REACT, were auctioned and brought in $35. Proud new owners were Curtis Bell of Area 8 and Yvonne Speer of Area 1.

In November 1980, five Area V Teams were shifted into Area II to reduce travel distances. Collin County REACT took their "first in Texas" Junior REACT Team to the November State Council meeting in Brownwood. New officers elected were:

• Pres. Richard Pratz, Belton Area REACT;
• Exec. VP Ed N. Pessink, Lake Palestine REACT;
• VP Jerry Jennison, San Angelo REACT Ass'n;
• Sec'y Doris Lindblad, Ark-La-Tex REACT;
• Treas. Jim Tanner, Guadalupe County REACT;
• Sgt-at-Arms Mike Lucky, Opn Radio Watch of Dallas, and
• Chm of the Board Grady Stevens, Denton County REACT.

With renewed emphasis on teams, the word team has been written with a capital "T" since November, 1980. President elect Pratz sent a letter to all Teams on Nov. 15, 1980 requesting ideas to improve the image of REACT in Texas and requesting participation in Area and State Council meetings. An enclosure gave the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all the newly elected State Council officers. This letter was enclosed with a letter to all Area Councils which requested lists of Disaster Equipment available, fund raising ideas, cooperation and better communication as well as the names and addresses of their officers and those of the Teams in their Area. A month later he wrote to all State Council officers and committee chairmen inviting them to a meeting in Mike Lucky's home on January 18, 1981 to serve as a planning session to consider the budget, ways and means, goals and the BREAK-9 mailing list.