TI/TIHAA BBQ Event - November 13, 2014

by Lawson Cook


Stafford Centre was the venue for the 25th annual TI sponsored event.

The 25th annual TI/TIHAA BBQ Event was held this year on November 13th, in the Stafford Convention Centre, in Stafford, TX. It was the second year for us to use the Stafford Centre for this event.


The Centre was the perfect venue for the 255 TI retirees and spouses/guests present on a cold November night to enjoy renewing old workplace acquaintances and eating a full BBQ meal with all the trimmings.

This event is funded each year in the late-Summer or Fall by Texas Instruments and is supported by the TIHAA. TI Sugar Land HR administrator, Donna Manderscheid was the TI facilitator and she was ably assisted by Lucy Salas and her team of volunteers in arranging all the details and making an event that was enjoyed by all in attendance.

This year's event, originally planned for September, was delayed by the move of most Tl employees at the Stafford site to the new TI Sugar Land building on University Blvd. Regardless of the time of the year, it is always a popular event, and this year it was a fitting way to kick off the Holiday Season and to celebrate the TIHAA being 25 years old.


Folks began gathering at the Centre early at about 5:30 PM, and were greeted at the sign-in table by Jeannette and Thomas Johnson. Once signed in, they were presented with a souvenir, a key-chain and a writing pin (that doubled as a computer wand) by Marian Gruber as they entered the banquet room.

At the back of the room, Mary Brown exhibited brochures and a signup sheet for the upcoming Day Trips. And to get everyone in the Christmas spirit, Della DuHart, with her dancing Santa Claus doll lured folks over to sign up for the TIHAA Christmas Party.

Jean Houston was available at the Membership table to allow new members to sign up and old members to renew for 2015.

We are happy to welcome the following eight new memberships to our TIHAA:

Kenny & Amy Sopchak, Kaye Rios,Paul & Linda Treanor, Tu & Gi Dang, Robert & Cathy Reko, Gene & Jennifer Lacy, Michael Beasley, Elfeiede Rodriguez.





Mervin Galloway (TI-HR Retired), Donna Mandersheid (TI-HR) and Gary Luckett reminisce.
As people picked out their tables and began conversations, the hum of conversations increased, indicating that everyone was having a good time. As everyone was socializing, background music was playing and a slideshow provided by Mary Brown & Lucy Salas was in progress on the front screen, with many photos collected over the years. They brought back many fond memories at TI.



Burt Bassham addresses audience.

After the majority of the folks arrived, TIHAA President Gary Luckett began the formal program. He announced how the food would be served and how the raffle would be conducted. Gary then introduced Lucy Salas, the Club's event organizer, who spoke a few words to the audience. Next, Israel Morales made a presentation on the origin of the Retiree Club 25 years ago.



Matt Muse, G.M. of the C2000 Program at TI speaks about TI outlook.
Israel said that our club made a special effort to honor the surviving members and spouses of the "Original First Forty" who signed up and got the club moving 25 years ago. These retirees are still members in good standing today. The club has over 180 members plus their spouses as of today - almost five times the first roster count in 1990. The Honorees were seated in a reserved table at the front of the Hall and were recognized by Israel for their club service. Special attention was given them by Israel throughout his prepared talk of the history of the club. Israel's main topic was telling how and when the club was formed and the role Burt Bassham played in the club's founding.



Gary Luckett and Ralph Garcia conduct the raffle.
After giving the membership a brief overview of the club's beginnings, Burt was asked to stand and be recognized. He did better. He volunteered to address the membership. Burt said that he was proud to see the club succeeding after 25 years and wished it to have continued success.



Lucy Salas speaks to audience.
Gary introduced our guest speaker for the evening, Matt Muse, General Manager of the C2000 Program at Texas Instruments Sugar Land. Matt gave us a brief overview of how TI is doing currently in their various business areas. He said that the majority of the company's revenue growth is in the Analog & Embedded Processing areas, as well as the DLP area. The company is continuing its growth at an annual 9% rate over the 2009 to 2013 period. Matt expressed his sincere appreciation to all the retirees present, for all their hard work over the past years that allowed the current success of the company.



Israel Morales speaks of club's founding.
After Matt completed his comments, Thomas Johnson prayed and ask for God's blessings on our gathering. Gary then invited our founding members to go get their food and then for everyone to form two lines at the buffet tables. As the folks gathered in the two lines, the conversations continued. The BBQ, consisting of roast beef, chicken and sausage, and the customary side items, including delicious desserts was soon distributed and the noise level dropped as everyone ate.

At random intervals throughout the evening, a drawing was conducted by Gary and Ralph Garcia and gift cards awarded to the lucky individuals. The list of winners and their prizes are:

Jennifer Lacy - $25 Olive Garden

JoAnn Carpenter< - $25 Olive Garden

Mary Brown - $25 Walmart

Max Almendarez - $25 Walmart

Martha Kiger - $25 Lopez Restaurant

Gladys Price - $25 Lopez Restaurant

Lucy Salas - $50 Outback Steakhouse

Tom Sutter - $50 Outback Steakhouse

At the conclusion of our evening activities, we took a group photo of the five original members of the Retiree Club that were present this night.



(L to R) Allen Brown, Lydia Barker, Connie Abdalla, Nita Davis, Burt Bassham.

The eight surviving members and spouses of the "Original Forty" are:

Connie Abdalla, Lydia Barker, Burt Bassham, Allen and Mavis Brown, Nita Davis, Mike and Ruth Nordmeyer, Russell Timm, Helen Veasaw.

Present at this 25th Anniversary BBQ were six of the seven living past club presidents. Past President Daryl Moss was unable to make the BBQ because of a previous engagement.



(l to r) Burt Bassham, Charles Sumrall, Israel Morales, Ralph Garcia, Lucy Salas and Gary Luckett.




Copyright TI Houston Alumni Association 2014, All Rights Reserved.

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