Rotary District Governor praises Kilgore club for excellence

By GREG A. COLLINSfor the News Herald

Gregg Murphy greets Bill Hedges, Rotary District Governor. Hedges will be visiting 45 clubs during the year in district 5830.

Bill Hedges, Rotary District 5830 District Governor, and his wife, Beth, were the guests of the Kilgore Rotary Club on Wednesday at the club's regular meeting.

Hedges, as district governor, will visit all 45 clubs in the district during the year, and he said he was especially honored to have Kilgore in the first two or three since the club has a reputation for excellence.

Hedges met with President Greg Murphy and the board for an hour before the meeting began. At that session, the officers gave reports to the district governor on plans for the year and got feedback from him on those plans.

During the meeting, the club sang a special song, “Welcome Governor,” to honor Hedges' visit. He thanked club members for that honor at the beginning of his speech.

“I really enjoyed the singing,” he said. “This is my fourth club and, by far, this is the best singing I have heard thus far.”

He also complimented the Kilgore club for its attendance and for the fun atmosphere which is felt at the meetings.

“Rotary is work, but Rotary should be enjoyable and fun,” he said. “This club knows how to work, and this club knows how to have fun. I feel Kilgore is one of the best clubs in our district.”

Hedges was fairly brief in his comments, but he used a quote from Will Rogers, the Oklahoma-born humorist, to sum up his speech.

“If you want to be happy in life, you have to know what you are doing, love what you are doing and believe in what you are doing,” he said. “This can apply to life as well as Rotary.”

Hedges challenged Rotarians from Kilgore to visit each of the other 45 clubs during the year and get a banner to bring back home.

“Someone can go a couple of places, and others can take a couple and, by next May, you will have 45 new banners on this wall,” he said. “Rotary does not stop at the county line, or the state line, or the national line. Rotary is international, and it never hurts to see how other clubs do the job. We all follow Rotary International guidelines, but when it comes right down to it, each Rotary Club does things its own way.”

And, with that in mind, Hedges said each Rotarian needs to know about Rotary and continue to learn about the organization, no matter how long they have been in the service club.

“We have people who are new to Rotary who need to learn things, and we have people who have been in Rotary many years who need to continue to learn things,” he said. “There is no saturation point for Rotary knowledge, and we should always strive to learn more about the organization in which we are members.”

Hedges said a Rotarian can go anywhere in the world and find family.

“Without a thought of race, or creed, or color, or gender or nationality, Rotary is a family around the world,” he said. “And, it is comforting that we can go anywhere in the world and never be far from someone who might be able to help us.”

Hedges said Rotarians need to be specialists and need to be passionate about the organization.

“There is something for everyone in Rotary,” he said. “We need to know and understand our work. Then, we need to be passionate in accomplishing goals which serve other people.”

Hedges said Rotarians are in the people business, and it is never too late to ask someone to be part of the organization.

Hedges also said Rotarians need to love what they do.

“We need to work for the joy and benefits of Rotary,” he said. “Work hard,but have a good time.”

He also said for Rotarians, from time to time, to stop and smell the roses.

“There are a lot of beautiful things that come from being in Rotary,” he said. “Sometimes, we need to sit back and appreciate them.”

Finally, he said to believe in Rotary and make a difference.

“Be enthusiastic about this Rotary year, and make it the best — for Kilgore, for the president, for the club and for yourself,” he said.

In other Rotary news, Rotarians picked up trash along US 259 this past weekend and collected 47 bags of trash and a few tires in the two miles.

Gordon Reed was chairman of this effort and said 13 volunteers showed up to do the project.

Kay Castles was honored for six year of perfect attendance, and Bill Mishkind was feted for 10 years of perfect attendance.

Honored for birthdays and anniversaries were Melvin Jordan, Dan Ballenger, Martha Rorschach, Bob Schleier and Mike and Gina Joseph.

Next week, Tom Ansley, master woodcarver, will be at Rotary to present a program.

The Kilgore Rotary Club meets each Wednesday in The Depot Restaurant.