Today is Memorial Day which is a day to remember the myriad of sacrifices that armed forces members have made to preserve our freedoms. They gave their “tomorrows” so we can have our “todays!”
Rotary Clubs honor these fallen heroes who are no longer with us. The Veterans Memorial Park in Conroe will host a “remembrance event” beginning at 9 am on Memorial Day. The Rotary Club of Conroe is grateful to have contributed financially in establishing this public plaza of gratitudes to our veterans.
Rotarian Jeff Early of the Rotary Club of The Woodlands was instrumental in establishing areas in the Township to commemorate and honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in serving our Country. It is this gratitude that exemplifies the knowledge that we have so much to be thankful for.
Rotary is helping the next generation. The five Rotary Clubs in Montgomery County are handing out tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to worthy graduating high school students to continue their education to the next level, whether it be at the college or trade school level. In addition to these scholarships, the Rotary Clubs sponsor Interact Clubs in the various high schools. These Interact Clubs are Rotary Clubs on a high school basis with school administration, counselors, and teachers in conjunction with members from various local Rotary Clubs guiding and supervising these young adults in service to our communities and the world. These Interact Clubs raise money just like Rotary Clubs and have special community service projects to invest that money.
Many of these Interact Club members become prime candidates for Rotary scholarships.
This past week was a sad week for many Rotarians who were mentoring students in elementary schools since it would be the last time this school year they would be with the students they were mentoring. These students are selected on academic need and on personal need with some students not having both parents. For the past five years, Rotarian Natalie Goertz has chaired the mentoring program for the Rotary Club of The Woodlands in the various schools. She and her fellow Rotarian/husband, Roger, have mentored at least one student and sometimes more, over the years impacting in a positive way these young student’s lives.
The Rotary Club of Conroe is in its final week of going to the First Grade Classroom to distribute “I Like Me” books to first graders in those elementary schools which “feed into” Conroe High School. Sponsors like Gullo Automotive Group provide donations to help defray the printing costs of these books (about $12 per hardback book) and look forward to visiting with each first grader at the school they sponsor to provide them their special book. These books are written around each student receiving a “I Like Me” book based on the parent’s answer to a questionnaire provided a few weeks earlier. This is a large undertaking with Rotarian Steve Muir coordinating with Conroe Independent School District and Rotarian Rebecca McDonald coordinating volunteers in handing out each individual book to these first graders.
If you are interested in learning more about Rotary, please contact Ron Saikowski at rsaikowski@comcast.net.
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