In their meeting this week, Rotarians were privileged to have the district governor, Steve Long, and his wife, Sandy, visit from Plainview last week.

Steve focused on key goals of this year’s Rotary theme, “Rotary Connects the World.”

Several of those goals are already hit by the activities our club does on an annual basis, but we are always looking for new opportunities and fresh ideas.

Rotary is the world’s oldest serviceclub organization, so it is no surprise that most of our events are geared toward serving, both locally and worldwide.

Locally, our club connects with youth in the area through our annual donation of dictionaries to the third-graders in Canadian, Miami, Follett, Darrouzett, and Higgins.

We also sponsor and help facilitate Rotary’s foreign youth exchange program; Rotary’s camp RYLA; and by hosting the “Punt, Pass, and Kick” competition.

We always look forward to putting on the campus-wide teacher-appreciation luncheon, the career day at the high school, and helping with the end-of-school track meets.

To serve the community, we offer a flag service for just $60 per year for individuals and businesses who would like a crisp, clean flag to fly on Memorial Day, Flag Day, the 4th of July, Labor Day, during the Fall Foliage festival, and Veterans Day.

We have also adopted the Lake Marvin highway and have clean-up days to pick up trash alongside the road. Donating to local nonprofits is something we also strive to do, if able.

On a worldwide scale, Rotary launched its PolioPlus campaign in 1985 to support polio eradication. This is something members are able to contribute to and has proven to be worthwhile, as we’ve helped to immunize more than 2.5 billion children across 122 countries.

As a tribute to Gov. Long’s visit to our Club, we donated $50 in his name to Polio-Plus, which will increase three-fold to $150 thanks to the 2-to-1 matching provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

If the above activities struck a chord with you, our club is always looking for promising professionals who appreciate and uphold the same ideals.

If you’ve ever wondered about how to become a Rotarian, please feel free to reach out to any of our members for more information.

Many hands make light work, and we would love to have you on board to connect and give back to our own community and across the world.

In Club Business:

Mike Gardiner and Pat Popham led the group in song, pledge, and prayer.

Alexander’s served delightful brisket, salad, mashed potatoes, and cookies.

Nathan Lewis has been absent for so long he forgot that, in order to win a free lunch, you must be pinned.

Jon Dumbauld did not win the jackpot.