Home Page | Rotary Club of Kerrville

Rotary Club of Kerrville, Texas Chartered February 26, 1926 District 5840

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Kerrville!

Service Above Self

We meet In Person

Wednesdays at 12:00 PM

The Kerrville Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center

201 Holdsworth Drive
Kerrville, TX 78028
United States of America

District Site

Bulletins

Venue Map

Satellite Club Meeting--SECOND THURSDAY of every month

5:15 p. m. Meet and Greet, 5:30 p. m. Meeting

Security State Bank & Trust Community Room

1130 Junction Highway, Kerrville

4H Stock Show Standouts

Our club welcomed local 4H youth, who got a chance to tell us what they were involved with in the 4H Program.

The 4H Program has a wide variety of activities these youth can participate in, including wool and mohair judging, food and nutrition, fashion and interior design, shooting sports, veterinary science, leadership, robotics and photography. In addition to learning valuable skills, they can earn scholarships for their hard work.

Emma Thompson, below, and in the middle of the photo above, won a $10,000 scholarship this year in the wool judging event at the San Antonio Livestock Show.

Lizzy Scales is a junior this year, and is involved in several activities including wool and mohair judging.

Peter Lockwood is an officer in Tivy FFA.

Ben Watkins is involved in shooting sports and natural resources.

Prayer and Pledge

Gena Daniels led us in the Prayer and Pledge.

George's Song

George led us in singing a version of Home on the Range, in honor of our 4H guests.

Josh the Otter

Thank you for all the volunteers that have helped with the Josh the Otter water Safety program. There are just a few more dates that helpers are still needed, so if you can help, please contact Dave Rittenhouse. dorittenhouse@gmail.com

George Eychner explained to us that Josh the Otter was started by a family whose son (Josh) drowned, and they felt compelled to do something so that the chance of other children drowning is reduced. Our Rotary Club has adopted the program and educates hundreds of school age children each year.

Some fun otter facts: A group of otters floating together is called a raft. It is common for otters to hold hands when sleeping so they don't drift apart. There are 13 species of otters in the world, ranging in size from about 3' to 6' long. They do not instantly know how to swim when born, but are taught early on by their mothers.

Wine is Fine

Mike Wilson was wearing his Rotary pin when his name was called, so he won a bottle of wine.

Families in Rotary

Member Lois Schlieter had a house fire, so please keep her in your prayers.

Congrats to all graduating seniors in the Hill Country!

Rotary News you Can Use

The recent First Responders Golf Tournament raised $13,000.00 for training and continuing education for local First Responders.

Tree waterers are still needed to help water the Rotary Grove on the Schreiner University campus. The trees are in honor of deceased Rotarians from our club, and they border the River Trail near the Trailhead Beer Garden. Volunteers are needed Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week, and it can be done any time of the day. It takes about thirty minutes to fill the bags on the eight trees. Please contact Janelle Peralt (jperalt@icloud.com) (830-739-3755) if you are able to volunteer for a particular day or more of any upcoming week.

The Rotary District Conference is in Kerrville this fall, and volunteers are needed. Tammy Prout will be sending an email so please sign up if you are able to help.

The Zoom portion of our meetings will be discontinued starting in June, so please note this and come in person.

Zoom Replay 5-11-22 Guatemala Project

Click on the link below to access the zoom replay of the May 11th Rotary Meeting featuring Jane Ragsdale who spoke about the Guatemala Service Project that the Rotary Club of Kerrville supported with a gift to build a Habitat House for the village teacher(s).

Prayer and Pledge

Trey Atkission led us in the Prayer and Pledge.

Guatemala Trip

Kristy Vandenberg and Jane Ragsdale described their mission trip earlier this year to the village of Guayabales in Guatemala. Jane now runs the Heart of the Hills camp near Hunt, but in her early years after college, she was a news reporter in Guatemala, so she has an affinity for the people and their culture. The First Presbyterian Church in Kerrville has been sponsoring the trip for a number of years.

Kristy Vandenberg

Jane Ragsdale

With a several volunteers from our area, the goal was to build a Habitat type house for local school teachers to stay in while they taught at the village.

Here is the building pad they started with.

Foundation tranches were dug by hand.

The conditions were spartan, with no running water or sewer systems and no electricity.

These are the existing restrooms.

The volunteers and local villagers built the structure out a few imported materials including concrete block for the walls and a metal panel roof, but hand mixed the concrete for the foundation, which was dug by hand. A rain water catchment system was built, and a septic system was installed to serve the new bathroom. Solar panels were installed to power the water purification system.

Future goals include building a community oven and grille, and eventually a vocational high school.

May Birthdays

George led us in singing Happy Birthday to the Rotarians whose birthday is in May.

Families in Rotary

Please keep Mark Dizdar in your prayers as he having health issues.

Josh the Otter program

At 2:30 PM Wednesday May 18th, after the Rotary meeting, we are scheduled to do our Josh the Baby Otter Water Safety Program at Comfort Elementary. Judy and George Eychner are leading the session.

We will have up to 185 children in a single group. To do this well, we need as many Rotarian volunteers as possible. We should show up around 2 PM to prepare.

If you can be available after Rotary to help at Comfort, please let George and Judy know.

Help is also needed for the remaining Josh the Otter programs. Please contact Ashley Phillips (ashleyb.perry@gmail.com) or Dave Rittenhouse (dorittenhouse@gmail.com) if you can volunteer.

Thank you for your support.

Rotary Theme of the Month

May is Youth Services Month when Rotary Clubs of the world give special emphasis to programs which serve children and young people. It's time to sponsor programs for Interact/Rotaract Clubs and awareness campaigns about the problems and needs for survival of future generations.

INTERACT

Interact is a Rotary-sponsored service club comprised of 14-18 year olds. Interact gives young people the opportunity to take part in fun, meaningful service projects. Along the way, Interactors develop their leadership skills and initiative while meeting new friends. Members exchange ideas, opinions and plans with other talented, energetic people, in an atmosphere free from negative pressures and distraction. Interact strives to promote student leadership, local volunteer service, and to make members aware of the many global and world issues that effect people everyday.

Ultimately, students can:

•   Become acquainted with a premiere service organization (Rotary International) and proven leaders from communities throughout Rotary;
•   Learn how to manage and head community service projects;
•   Learn about other Rotary club programs including Rotaract (service club for young adults), Earlyact (a service club for primary school students), youth exchange (a chance to live and study abroad ) and RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards).

The word Interact stands for “international action” and today there are more than 10,700 clubs in 109 countries.

Everything you need to organize, certify, and manage your club is in the Interact Guide for Rotary Club Sponsors and Advisers (PDF)

ROTARACT

Rotaract is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young people ages 18-30. Rotaract clubs are usually community or university-based and are sponsored by a local Rotary club, making them true “partners in service” and key members of the Rotary family.

Young adults augment their knowledge and skill and also address the physical and social needs of their communities while promoting international understanding and peace through a framework of friendship and service. Rotaractors also often spearhead the formation of Interact clubs and participate in RYLA.

Rotaract is one of the fastest-growing programs of Rotary service with more than 9,500 Rotaract Clubs with 291,000 members in 177 countries.

Rotaractors follow the motto “fellowship through service”.

Everything you need to organize, certify, and manage your club is in the Rotaract Handbook (PDF)

ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE

Rotary Youth Exchange is an excellent and inexpensive way for high school age students to travel and study in a foreign country.

Youth exchange gives the participant the opportunity to improve their language skills and school and family experiences will teach them the culture of their host country. They also act as ambassadors for their home country. Each year the Rotary Districts that are part of CSRYE send approximately 300 young people to other countries and accept 300 young people from other countries in return.

Accepting a youth exchange student into your club, community and household can be a very rewarding experience. It’s an opportunity for you, your family and your fellow Rotarians to learn about a different culture and also help a young person understand your culture. The goal of Rotary Youth Exchange is to promote the advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace at the person to person level.

Learn more >

RYLA

Each year thousands of young people take part in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) programs worldwide. Young people are chosen for their leadership potential to attend a seminar, camp or workshop to discuss leadership skills and to learn those skills through practice. RYLA aims to:

•   Demonstrate Rotary’s respect and concern for youth;
•   Provide an effective training experience for selected youth and potential leaders;
•   Encourage leadership of youth by youth; and
•   Recognize publicly young people who are rendering service to their communities.

Started in Queensland, Australia in 1959 and officially adopted by Rotary International in 1971, the RYLA program enables young people to debate issues of professional responsibility and human relations, improve leadership and communication skills, learn about businesses or institutions and meet Rotarians, while having fun and making friends. For participants, RYLA provides the opportunity to refine skills and explore pertinent topics with peers and elders; for Rotarians, RYLA offers the chance to help develop leaders, share valuable expertise and bridge the gap between generations. RYLA can help lead to the strengthening and formation of Interact and Rotaract clubs and can be used as a recruiting tool for youth exchange

2022 Rotary Picinc

getting set up

The Rotary Picnic was held May 4th at 5:30 at the River Star Theater. The meal was fajita tacos with all the fixings. Beer and Wine were provided. There were cakes for dessert provide by Leslie Rambin. Justin cooked the fajitas and Kenneth early provided background music. This was a TEAM effort buy the Fellowship Committee. A good time was had by all that attended.

First Responder Awards

Our Rotary Club sponsored the annual First Responders luncheon last Wednesday, where local law enforcement, fire fighters and EMS personnel received awards for their service during the past year.

The recipients included (top row, left to right) Kerrville Fire Department Officer of the Year - Battalion Chief Mark Logue, Ingram Police Officer of the Year - Mike Baker, EMS Person of the Year- Travis Huser, Criminal Investigations Unit Citation - Captain Carl Arredondo, Special Operations Division Unit Citation- Sheriff's Office Captain Jason Waldrip, Special Achievement award- Precinct 4 Constable Brad Rider.

Bottom row, left to right: Retired Trooper Jim Behrens, Game Warden of the Year- Brent Biggs, Corrections Officer of the Year- Venesa Schmidt, Civilian Employee of the Year- Elizabeth Adame, Kerrville Police Officer of the Year- Detective Ben Ledesma, and Kerr County First Responder of the Year- Divide Volunteer Fire Department Chief Jimmy Dreiss.

George's song

George Eychner used his patriotic trumpet to start the meeting.

Prayer and Pledge

Ashley Phillips led us in the prayer and pledge.

Rotary News you can Use

The Rotary Grove near the Trailhead Beer Garden at Schreiner University needs volunteers to help water the new trees that were planted in honor of deceased Rotarians. Janelle Peralt is coordinating volunteers. Please contact her to help out. jperalt@icloud.com

Zoom Replay 4/20/2022 Kerrville Proposition A

Click on the link below for the Zoom Replay of the 4-20-2022 meeting featuring information about Kerrville Proposition A funding for a new Public Safety complex.