BRITISH ENDOCRINOLOGIST DISCUSSES WEIGHT LOSS DRUGS AT ROTARY ON JULY 8
Dr. Mark Vanderpump is a London-based endocrinologist and former President of the British Thyroid Association. He will speak to the Rotary Club of San Marcos on Wednesday, July 8 at noon about obesity and modern advances in weight loss, including GLP-1 antagonists such as Ozempic. He says he hopes to demystify the “weight loss jabs” and explain how breakthrough medications are reshaping understanding of weight management.

“For decades, obesity was viewed through a simplistic lens of lifestyle choices, leaving people trapped in a cycle of failed diets and frustration,” Dr. Vanderpump says.

“A quiet revolution was brewing in the history of metabolic research. It began unexpectedly in the 1990s with the study of venomous Gila monster lizards, which led to the discovery of gut hormones that regulate blood sugar and appetite,” he said. That research led to GLP-1 medications like Ozempic.

“Rather than being a magic bullet,” he says, “GLP-1 agonists mimic signals to the brain that reduce appetite and increase satiety as well as optimizing insulin action. This has shifted the conversation from willpower to biology and led to significant public health benefits not just in obesity management but also treatment of type 2 diabetes.”

Rotary meets at the VFW Hall, 1701 Hunter Road. Visitors are always welcome at Rotary meetings. Rotary is a nonprofit, nonpolitical and nonreligious service organization. The San Marcos club is 105 years old.

Rotary Club of San Marcos TX USA Texas State Rotaract Club Rotary District 5840 - South Central Texas #smtxrotary #smtx #GLP1 #glp1weightloss

Former Rotary District 5840 Governor Kristin Salazar came to San Marcos on June 13 to install Frank King as president of Rotary San Marcos,

and install other officers and board members for the year ahead. The event was held at La Cima's community center.

#rotary5840 #smtxrotary #smtx #kristinsalazar #lacima #frankking #servetochangelives #peopleofaction

There was some rain but mostly it was a beautiful day for golf at Kissing Tree for the annual Rotary Club of San Marcos TX USA Scramble 4 Scholarships, which raises money for scholarships for San Marcos area high school seniors. Thanks to Title Sponsor La Cima and other sponsors, as well as golfers, volunteers, and the Kissing Tree Golf Course.

ROTARY DONATES CASH AND USED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS TO MISTICK KREWE OF OKEANOS IN SAN MARCOS

The Rotary Club of San Marcos donated $500 and some used musical instruments to the Mistick Krewe of Okeanos,  a 501(c)(3) non-profit all volunteer organization that organizes a Carnival Parade in San Marcos each year on the Saturday before Mardi Gras. The parade features music and floats and winds through the Historic District of San Marcos and Downtown.

Mistick Krewe’s official name is the Texas Council for Music and the Arts, Inc., and they engage in a variety of other projects during the year to support the arts in San Marcos. For a number of years, the organization has solicited used musical instruments that can be shared with school children who would like to learn to play an instrument but cannot afford to buy or rent one. Mistick Krewe also repairs instruments to make them usable for children in need. Anyone wishing to donate instruments or cash for this project can contact the group at kreweofokeanosinformation@gmail.com

Getting its’ name from Okeanos, the Greek god of the ocean-stream, The Mistick Krewe celebrates the San Marcos River as the heart and soul of San Marcos. The annual Saturday parade honors the Okeanos tradition by appointing a King of the Carnival to ride on his own float. 

Pictured (from left) are Rotary president Kevin Katz, and Rodney Van Oudekerke, Greg Wurzbach, Scott Bentley, and Shannon James from Okeanos. The check was presented on June 10 during Rotary’s weekly meeting.

Rotary Presents $5,000 Gift  to San Marcos Senior Citizens Center

The Rotary Club of San Marcos, in partnership with the Burdine Johnson Foundation, presented a $5,000 check to the San Marcos Senior Citizens Center on June 10 to help the Senior Center fund services targeting seniors. The Center is located at 810 Arizona Street.

 The Center is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Its services include hot meals, Food Bank distribution, information and referrals, translation services, help with filing government forms, arranging transportation, health screenings, and various activities to promote fellowship, exercise, and recreation. (communityaction.com/sanmarcosseniorcitizenscenter)

Funding for the Center comes from the City of San Marcos, Hays County, and the Capital Area Planning Council of Government Area Agency on Aging.  April Huggard, Center Director, said that there was a decrease in funding for the Center for the coming year and the gift from Rotary will help sustain services for seniors in San Marcos.

Pictured, from left, are Rotarian Kevin Katz, April Huggard, Center Executive Director Doug Mudd, Community Services Director Francesca Ramirez, and Rotarian Sammy Falletta. 

ROTARY PROGRAM ON JUNE 17  EXPLORES TXST RESEARCH THAT SENDS BACTERIA INTO SPACE

 Dr. Bob McLean, recently retired professor of biology at Texas State, will present a program to the Rotary Club of San Marcos on June 17 titled, “Tiny Astronauts – Sending Bacteria to Space.”  Rotary meets at noon at the VFW Hall, 1701 Hunter Road, and visitors are always welcome at meetings.

McLean says slimy layers of bacteria (biofilms) can grow readily on surfaces where they can cause fouling and damage to key life support systems in spacecraft. This presentation will show how joint efforts of microbiologists from Arizona State, Texas State, and NASA are testing methods to control fouling in the Water Recovery System on the Space Station.

“Tiny microorganisms can play a major role in the success (or failure) of extended spaceflight beyond Earth orbit to the moon and possibly Mars,” McLean said.

McLean is originally from Canada. He grew up in southern Ontario and after getting his undergraduate and graduate degrees in microbiology and began his academic career at Queen's University from 1988-93. He says he then got to Texas as quickly as possible and joined the biology faculty at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in 1993. He rose through the academic ranks and at retirement in August 2025, held the rank of Regents’ Professor. Over the years he supervised or co-supervised 46 graduate theses and helped many undergraduate students and several pre-college students. He and his students have over 100 publications and he has participated in five spaceflight experiments, three of which he was the principal investigator.

 McLean and his wife, Martha, celebrated their 38th anniversary in May, and they have two sons, Malcolm (who lives in Colorado), and Alistair (who lives in Michigan).

Rotary is nonprofit, nonpolitical and nonreligious. The San Marcos club is 105 years old.

Photo:  Bob McLean at Kennedy Space Center, picking up bacteria that flew on Space X21 in 2021. He also sent bacteria into space in 2023 and 2024 on later Space X flights.