Stafford Convention Centre was the venue for the 26th annual TI/TIHAA BBQ.

Volunteers meet at TI-Sugar Land to stuff envelopes.

The 26th annual TI/TIHAA BBQ Event was held this year on September 18th, in the Stafford Convention Centre, in Stafford, TX. It was the third year for us to use the Stafford Centre for this event.

The Centre was an excellent venue for the 215 TI retirees and spouses/guests present on a nice September night to enjoy renewing old workplace acquaintances and eating a full BBQ meal with all the trimmings.

Mary Brown tells everyone in attendance that they can pick up a free TI-Stafford Cafeteria tray.

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.

Thanks go to Lucy Salas for spearheading the TIHAA participation in this event.

A few weeks prior to the event, a group of TIHAA volunteers met in the Caudel Conference Room at TI in Sugar Land to process over 1000 invitations that were mailed out to eligible TI Retirees and members of the TIHAA.

Folks began to arrive early and were greeted by Dolores Soliz and signed in by Jeannette & Thomas Johnson,Lola and Joe McMann, and Israel & Nora Morales. Once signed in, as they entered the banquet room, Marian & Bob Gruber presented them with a souvenir ballpoint pen with a built in LED light.

In the back of the room, Mary Brown displayed brochures and a signup sheet for the upcoming Day Trip. And to get everyone in the Christmas spirit, Della DuHart was giving everyone the opportunity to sign up for the TIHAA Christmas Party that is scheduled for December 4th. TIHAA Treasurer, Jean Houston was available at the Membership table to allow new members to sign up and old members to renew for 2016.

We are happy to welcome the new members and returning members that joined the TIHAA tonight.

Lots of time to catch up on what friends have been doing for the past year.

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 and TIHAA past events.

Yummy BBQ on a TI-Stafford Cafeteria tray.

After the majority of the folks arrived, TIHAA President Gary Luckett began the formal program. He recognized Donna Manderscheid and Lucy Salas for all the work they did to prepare for this occasion. They were given a round of applause by the appreciative audience. Gary announced how the food would be served and how the raffle would be conducted. He then introduced our guest speaker, Curt Moore, Site Manager of the new TI Sugar Land site. Curt, having just arrived back in town from an all-week business trip, asked to speak before we ate, so that he could go home to be with his family.

TI-Sugar Land Site Manager, Curt Moore, speaks to attendees.

Curt joined Texas Instruments in 1988 as a Product Marketing Engineer in the MOS Memory team. In 1995 he moved to the micro controller business as the Finance and Operations manager and later managed the merged DSP and Microcontroller Finance and Operations team. In 2000 Curt started the Performance Audio business which is responsible for processors used in different audio applications. In 2003 Curt became manager of Digital Radio and Infotainment team. In 2008 Curt was promoted to General Manager of TI's Advanced Embedded Control Automotive Business. This is the team which is responsible for TI's automotive processor business. He also became the site manager of the Stafford site. Today Curt continues in his role as site manager and is also the Product Line manager for TI's application processor (OMAP) product line. Curt is married with 2 children ages 13 and 16. He enjoys friends, good food, and attending the sports events his children participate in.

Thomas Johnson prays.

Curt began his comments by giving us an idea of how popular the ti.com web site is compared to other popular web sites. He said that TI was reaching customers all over the world in applications that they would have never expected 5 year ago. Curt then moved on to the new Sugar Land site. He said that he never thought that he would use the word "Cool space" and TI in the same sentence, especially after spending 27 years in TI Stafford. He said the new site is all about the "we space", not the "me space". They have many open spaces for collaboration, as well as an assortment of sports venues on site. Curt said that the site was excited and that it was a great place to be working. There are about 350 engineers at the site. Curt explained that they were designing chips that were used in most of the industrial and automotive applications around the world. Curt closed his remarks by thanking all those in the room that had contributed to TI's success in the past. He said that today's TI was built on the base that was built in the past by the many generations of TI'ers. The audience gave Curt an appreciative round of applause.

Every attendee received a free TI-Stafford Cafeteria tray.

After Curt's remarks, Gary recognized some of the founding members of the TI Retiree Club that were in attendance, including the first president, Burt Bassham.

TIHAA member, Thomas Johnson, prayed and asked 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. The BBQ was catered by Ben's Chuck Wagon in Wallis, TX.

At random intervals throughout the evening, a drawing was conducted by Gary and Ralph Garcia and $25 in cash was awarded to the lucky individuals.

Joe McMann	Gary with Eugenia Brown	Gary with Michael Dickens
Gwen Butler	Betty Dixon	Frank Breedlove
Brenda Moss	Ken Nesteroff