The Lake Ray Roberts Rotary Club invited members and guest alike to the PointBank Community Center on Saturday to celebrate 20 years of service in the area.
The club was founded 20 years ago when its parent organization, Rotary International, turned 100.
“That year it was the anniversary of Rotary International turning 100 years old,” charter member Jerry Alford said. “That year they were trying to grow membership and grow clubs.”
The club has since outlived the Gainesville chapter, who helped get it started, though District Governor and County Judge Andy Eads said Rotary will be returning to that area shortly.
“For Cooke County to be that big and not have a Rotary Club, they’ve got to have it,” Eads said. “If you know anyone over there, just like they helped you get started 20 years ago, let’s try to return the favor.”
Eads spoke broadly about the organization both as its current district governor and as a county administrator.
“We have over a dozen Rotary Clubs all across Denton County, and I can’t imagine the civic life of our county without Rotary Club,” Eads said. “The volunteer spirit, mentoring of children, literacy and civic pride that y’all have helps make Denton County what it is. As a county official, I just want to say thank you.”
Alford, who is the last Lake Ray Roberts charter member who still holds membership, spoke further on the importance a service organization like Rotary holds in a community.
“All communities should have a service club to help give back to the community,” Alford said. “Over the years, we’ve gathered about $170,000 and most of that has gone right back into the community.”
Both he and Eads spoke about the encompassing nature of the club’s name.
“We’re called the Lake Ray Roberts Club because we knew at the time Pilot Point wasn’t large enough to support a club, so we thought about the 377 corridor with Tioga, Pilot Point and Aubrey,” Alford said. “It’s a way to give back to the community. It’s also worldwide— the largest service club in the world.”
Current club President Whitney Delcourt shared a bit about how Rotary impacts the communities it’s in, starting with the flag program which is the Lake Ray Roberts club’s sole fundraiser.
“Here our only fundraiser is the flags, which we’re trying to take to another level this year,” Delcourt said.
She listed a number of projects the club uses to impact the community with that funding and general volunteerism from scholarships for seniors of Pilot Point and Aubrey to the dictionaries for third grade students, donations to local food shelters, an adopted section of the highway they keep clean and shelter boxes for survivors of natural disasters.
“It is once a week,” Delcourt said. “It used to be where you had to attend, but since COVID that’s changed. Now it’s more about coming when you can. If someone is interested, they can come check it out, see if it’s right for them, and right now for this club it’s $40 a quarter in dues, which isn’t bad.”
The event itself, Delcourt explained, was as much for members as it was for guests.
“We just wanted to give thanks to the community,” Delcourt said. “One of the questions that was asked is, ‘are we still relevant’ and I think in seeing this turnout, the answer is yes. On behalf of Lake Ray Roberts Rotary Club, I want to thank everyone for attending.”
