Rotary Reflections 2024
No “trashy” money to report this week! And I’m still perplexed why we barely finish the job and there’s a plastic gal jug just sitting there, right where I was not 15 minutes before! I swear it was not there after I walked that stretch. Hmmm… We do want to make you aware of an opportunity to have some fun with us. We are sponsoring a 5K Run on April 6 at 7 a.m. We are calling it the “eclipse run” because it’s CLOSE to eclipse time. We even will give our runners a pair of glasses so they can enjoy the eclipse on Monday. We will have a 1K for kids at 8 a.m. and you’ll never believe what will happen at 8:30…an egg race! Yup, we’ll give you a spoon and a raw egg and see who can cross the finish line first with a whole egg in their spoon (no, this race isn’t long!). $25 for 5K, $10 for the other two races. Come run, walk, or watch with us. Then the Maker’s Market will be in full swing, so make a “day in Atlanta” a memorable one. Four High School students enjoyed a special weekend near Athens, TX. They were selected by their schools for this honor. Vincent Wong and Linley Butler from Queen City HS and Logan Grandmaison and Kyleigh Abernathy from Linden-Kildare HS were our RYLA students this year. RYLA is Rotary Youth Leadership Award that changes the lives of those who get to go and propels them to do great things in their futures. In the past, both parents and students have noted how beneficial this opportunity is for them.
Another opportunity that awaits our high school seniors is a scholarship from Atlanta Area Rotary Club. We have given over $240,000 since 2004 and that’s a lot of dough! It’s been so much fun keeping up with these students and watching them move into their chosen fields. We present the $5000 Van Bergh scholarship to a student at Atlanta High. Peter Van Bergh was an active Rotarian who was a great mentor to students at AHS and his sons honored him with this scholarship in 2010. Another to be awarded to a QCHS student is the Jackie Icenhower Interact scholarship. QCHS is the only school with an Interact Club (and they help pick up trash 5 times a year….THANKS!) There are also other scholarships that will be awarded. In order to do that, we appreciate our many sponsors who support our activities throughout the year.
We have enjoyed the challenge of finding the “holes” for our flags this past year. I’m sure you’ve seen them waving happily along W. Main, thanks to those businesses who have supported this effort.
If you’d like to be a part of this program, call me. Our new year starts with Independence Day and we’ll be posting those colors 6 times a year.
If you can keep up with us, we’d love to have you join our Rotary team. We meet at Luigi’s the first and third Thursdays each month at 6 pm. I’d love to talk with you. (903) 6919717