August has come way too fast! That means that summer is more than half over and my first month of being President of Brookings Rotary has come and gone. WOW!
July was an extremely busy month for Brookings Rotary with numerous projects! July started with Brookings Rotarians helping to plant the Rotary Garden at McCrory Garden. It is in the shape of our Rotary COG so try to find some time to wander around the gardens and enjoy the flowers!
Service to others continued with Brookings Rotary Club serving the Harvest Table on Monday, July 8. Food insecurity in South Dakota is a real problem! According to Feeding
South Dakota – there are 106,170 people in South Dakota facing hunger, which means 1 in 9 South Dakotans is hungry. Of those facing hunger, 38,780 are children (1 in 6 South Dakota children). The Brookings Harvest Table provides a free meal every Monday evening and it goes along way with helping provide food for hungry people. Thank you to the many Rotarians who helped cook, serve and clean up for this event and to Brad Blaha for organizing the event.
Then a few days later on Thursday, July 11, Rotarians stepped up again and met to pack family dental bags. These bags included 4 toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash
and more to be given out to families in need. This project was completed in collaboration with Brookings Area United Way and was the kick-off for a possible district grant that Brookings Rotary has applied for – more to come on that! After the dental kits were packed, a little social time for Rotarians was held at Craft for Thirsty Thursday.
Rotarians stepped up again on Saturday, July 20 and sponsored a hole at the SDSU Veterans Affairs Golf Tournament at Edgebrook Golf Course. The large inflatable Rotary COG
was on hand to help promote Rotary and putting games were held on the hole with much fun and laughter. Thank you to Steve Sewell for pulling this all together and the Rotarians that gave their time to help raise money and awareness for veterans. Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30am started the day with Rotarians at the Hillcrest Park repainting the Born Learning Trail. This project was sponsored by Brookings Rotary along with the Brookings Area United Way in 2020. I encourage each of you to take a walk this summer on the south side of the tennis courts at Hillcrest and experience the Born Learning Trail. Try to enjoy the brightness and color on the sidewalk. Maybe some of you will be taken back to your childhood and do a little “hopscotch.”
and more to be given out to families in need. This project was completed in collaboration with Brookings Area United Way and was the kick-off for a possible district grant that Brookings Rotary has applied for – more to come on that! After the dental kits were packed, a little social time for Rotarians was held at Craft for Thirsty Thursday.
Rotarians stepped up again on Saturday, July 20 and sponsored a hole at the SDSU Veterans Affairs Golf Tournament at Edgebrook Golf Course. The large inflatable Rotary COG
was on hand to help promote Rotary and putting games were held on the hole with much fun and laughter. Thank you to Steve Sewell for pulling this all together and the Rotarians that gave their time to help raise money and awareness for veterans. Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30am started the day with Rotarians at the Hillcrest Park repainting the Born Learning Trail. This project was sponsored by Brookings Rotary along with the Brookings Area United Way in 2020. I encourage each of you to take a walk this summer on the south side of the tennis courts at Hillcrest and experience the Born Learning Trail. Try to enjoy the brightness and color on the sidewalk. Maybe some of you will be taken back to your childhood and do a little “hopscotch.”
The month of July was wrapped up with Club Assembly for the 5th Tuesday of the month. I am going to be personally honest….I truly did not appreciate a Club Assembly my
first month as President so if anyone knows who I can complain to about the calendar … let me know. But – a fun activity occurred. I will touch on this more in next month’s article because I am never sure when the Amazing Gregg Jongeling will publish the new COG and I don’t want to give away the surprise if he publishes before the meeting on the 30th.
first month as President so if anyone knows who I can complain to about the calendar … let me know. But – a fun activity occurred. I will touch on this more in next month’s article because I am never sure when the Amazing Gregg Jongeling will publish the new COG and I don’t want to give away the surprise if he publishes before the meeting on the 30th.
So….what can we take away from the month of July from the Brookings Rotary Club….Service Above Self is going strong in our club! The Magic of Rotary is all around and
we as Rotarians just have to step up, volunteer, and give back to increase Rotary’s power to save lives. I think…no…I know that we got a great start for the upcoming year!
we as Rotarians just have to step up, volunteer, and give back to increase Rotary’s power to save lives. I think…no…I know that we got a great start for the upcoming year!
Jennifer (Jen) Olson
A Very Proud President of Brookings Rotary
A Very Proud President of Brookings Rotary