Rotarians from across District 5810 came together on Aug. 21 for the 2025–2026 Emerald City Awards Gala, an evening of fellowship, celebration, and recognition. With the theme “There’s No Place Like Home,” the event was a fitting tribute to the people and clubs that make Rotary such a special part of communities throughout North Texas.
Among those honored was Mike Schell of the Melissa Rotary Club, who received a Star Award for his outstanding work leading the club’s Flag Lease Program.
Dana Conklin recognized Mike's dedication to the Flag Lease Program, noting, "Mike Schell is a Star for taking over the role of chair of our Flag Lease Program in 2025, leading significant work in adjusting our processes and always reflecting the Four Way Test throughout the program. While flag lease sales in a growing community should be increasing, the Melissa Rotary Club program has stagnated. Identifying processes and contract groups involved as some of the factors, Mike has worked the past 1 1/2 years to reduce the friction in those elements. While ending 2025 with approximately 950 flags leased, Mike set a goal for the club to have this number already leased by the end of our Memorial Day installations, leaving room for growth over the Flag Day and Independence Day holidays along with the national observance of the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country. This required improving methods of database translations from one software to another, easing the manual load and correcting typographical errors causing issues with street names for distribution."
Congratulations, Mike Schell, on this well-deserved honor!.