Rotary Club Annual Fish Fry coming in November

Kilgore Rotary Club participated in a joint meeting with Lions, Kiwanis and Chamber this week to hear Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, speak on the financial crisis Congress has been dealing with for the past couple of weeks.

But that did not stop Rotarians from continuing work on their annual fish fry which is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 8, from 5 until 8 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of First Baptist Church of Kilgore.

Tickets for the fish fry are on sale from any Rotarian and cost $8 for adults and $5 for children under 13. Tickets will also be available at the door the night of the fish fry. Food can be eaten at the fellowship hall or taken out.

The menu includes fried fish, hushpuppies, french fries, tomato relish, pickles, cole slaw and a drink. Proceeds from the event go to fund Rotary scholarships that are given out each year to KC students, as well as charitable projects in town and around the world.

John Lockman is once again chairing the fish fry, and Kilgoreites are urged to attend the event to support the club in its efforts to educate young people and meet needs around the world.

Rotarians are also attempting next spring to raise $5,000 through a two-day golf tournament in April to fund a donation to Polio Plus, a Rotary International program to wipe polio off the face of the Earth in the next couple of years.

Bill and Melinda Gates have said they would donate $100 million to the effort if Rotary International would match their donation. Each club has to donate $1,000 a year for three years, but Sammy D. York, Kilgore Rotary Club president this year, said the local club can do more.

So, the club is going to have a two-day golf tournament the last weekend of April 2009 to raise $5,000 for the donation to Polio Plus. The tournament will be held at Meadowbrook Country Club and involve a potpourri format of six holes of best ball, six holes of scramble and six holes of modified alternate shot for 36 holes over two days. Players will be treated to a dinner on Saturday night and different games and prizes during the event.

The Rotary Golf Tournament has been one of the most popular in the Kilgore area for several years, but with the need for donations the club is expanding the tournament to two days for at least the next three years and beyond if it is successful. This way, after the Rotary donation to Polio Plus has been made in three years, the club can use the revenues to do a host of charitable projects in the Kilgore and East Texas area.