BILL CHERRY

SCHOLARSHIP LICENSE PLATES

$30 EXTRA

In recent years, the costs to attend Texas colleges and universities have increased demonstratively. Most educators say that's because the state stopped mandating the cost of tuition and began allowing the schools to set them.

Prior to that, at least taxpayers in Texas thought it was important to keep costs low, so that any resident with the educational prerequisites could somehow manage to finance his higher education.

Here's an example, although not in recent history. When I transferred from Tulane University in New Orleans to University of North Texas in Denton, my annual tuition dropped from $1,600 to $144. My room and board dropped from about $3,000 a year to $1,400 a year.

That's no longer the case because state schools, at least in Texas, are no longer inexpensive.

Consequently Texas schools are having to become more and more dependent on the availability of private donations to scholarship funds for them to be able to attract and keep students.

One interesting but rarely used way of making a scholarship donation is to buy one of the Texas vanity vehicle license plates. They cost an extra $30, but $22.00 of that goes toward the scholarship fund at the college whose license plate you pick. And further, that $22.00 part of the cost is tax deductible.

You can order the special plates at anytime, It does not have to coincide with your regular plate renewal So if you'll click below while it's on your mind, you can help someone go to college.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER SCHOLARSHIP LICENSE PLATES

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - HIGHLAND PARK

214 503-8563

WEB

Photo by Kevin M. Cox, Galveston County Daily News

Residents of Texas City and the close nearby communities who didn't see the flames of the devil's hell rising into the sky Thursday night, woke up this morning to read that fire had all but destroyed their St. John's United Methodist Church.

In the 1960s, as well as today, St. Barnabus Episcopal Church in Denton is a small congregation in a town of a zillion Baptists, even a number of holy roller churches du jour.

And St. Barnabus' membership has always been comprised of primarily poor college students, professors and the like, so no big money.

Like the Methodist church did last night in Texas City, in the late '60s St. Barnabus caught fire and it was burned here and scorched there, and all knew it was unlikely the parish had enough insurance to make everything right again. So the membership decided they'd rebuild the church with their own hands and with as much donated materials as they could get their hands on. Paid professionals were contracted only when the congregation couldn't figure out how to do a particular thing itself.

When the church was completed, the membership numbers had grown substantially, the little church was beautiful again, and all who had participated had a new understanding and appreciation of what "God's work" means.

I pray for a similar building experience at St. John's in Texas City.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - HIGHLAND PARK

214 503-8563

On the Web

For years I have giving this talk before church groups, Rotary Clubs, book signings and the like. The title is "What's Important Is Who Plays the Part of Arthur Fonzarelli." And the story is even one that's featured in my book Bill Cherry's Galveston Memories.

It's an important lesson that I learned by observing the character and actions of my friend of more than fifty years, Victor J. Damiani.

More often than not, the talk brings a standing ovation, not because I do a particularly good job of telling it, but because the story of Victor and what we learned from him is so poignant.

Today is Victor's birthday. It's number 71. And he's still teaching us by his own example how God expects us to live our lives.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS-HIGHLAND PARK

214 503-8563

WEB

PROCEED TO LEWISVILLE ON IH-35, EXIT AT MAIN STREET (1171). GO EAST ON MAIN STREET UNTIL YOU PASS MILL STREET BY ONE BLOCK, TIERNY'S CAFÉ IS ON THE RIGHT CORNER.

"YOU ASKED FOR IT - ONLY THE BEST"

"OFFICIAL TEXAS JAZZ ORCHESTRA"

TIERNYS' CAFÉ AND TAVERN

208 E. MAIN STREET, LEWISVILLE, TEXAS SUNDAY, SEPEMBER 27, 2009

6:30 - 9:00 PM (NOTE DIFFERENT TIME)

FOR RESERVATIONS: 972 353 2109 greg@millstcafe.com

ADULT COVER: $7.00, STUDENTS $5.00

Saxophones

JIM RIGGS +

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CHRIS MCGUIRE+

MARIO CRUZ+

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TRUMPETS

JAY SAUNDERS+

JASON LEVI+

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RHYTHM

STEFAN KARLSSON - PI ANO +

GERALD STOCKTON - BASS+

ED SOPH - DRUMSET+

Not unlike many of you, as a volunteer, I've raised huge amounts of money for my church, fine arts groups, the United Way, the Salvation Army, but never for a school or university.

My parents were always involved in church and civic work like this, and my daddy being an especially good and likable marketeer, often times chaired fund raising events. He loved setting next to impossible goals, then with his team of workers, not only reaching the goals but exceeding them.

Texas' public colleges and universities that are not under the flags of Texas A&M and University of Texas, are finding their scholarship funds and requests for capital improvement money from the state, diminishing. In previous years, the boards of regents and the college administrations were encouraged to raise money from alumni, foundations and private donors, but in reality, their feet weren't held to the fire to achieve a specific goal each year.

But things are rapidly changing. And what we are learning is that with all of their resources -- marketing professors, art and graphics professors, communications specialists, and all of the compliment of students under their leadership -- they can't seem to set up and run a successful fund raising campaign for the college. Maybe it is that they just don't want to be bothered. But what if it's that they don't know how?

If it's that they don't know how, then what makes them credible teachers in those fields? Is it possible that the professor teaching insurance majors how to sell insurance, can't sell a policy himself? If so, what purpose does he serve?

There are two basic elements that must be present for a donation campaign to be successful, and there are only two:

• You have to show the prospective donor what's in it for him
• You have to appeal to a reason that is personally important to him