The Grove Ridgerunners claimed victory over the Miami Wardogs with a 36–13 win on Thursday, Oct. 16. The annual Rotary Bowl matchup between Grove and Miami began in 2015 as a friendly rivalry — and a chance for bragging rights — between the Grove Rotary Club and the Miami Rotary Club. This year, the trophy is coming home to Grove!
Picture are Rotarians Cindy Hefner, Michelle Pracht and Grove Rotary President Syrina Nelson and surrounded the Rotary Bowl Champions!
Trish Norton and I (Judy McHenry) are still recovering — and yes, still in bed! This year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards brought together 150 high school juniors from across the four-state area for an unforgettable 4-day camp at the Salvation Army’s Heart of the Hills Camp in Welling, OK. The five Grove campers were all changed by this camp. Thank you to the club for believing in these students and allowing them to go.
It’s a high-energy, little-sleep kind of week — but the impact on these students is absolutely life-changing. Along with the campers, there were 20 high school seniors and college students serving as peer leaders, and 20–25 Rotariansvolunteering as staff and chaperones.
Campers are divided into small groups of about 20 and stay with those same teammates throughout the week. Together they learn to communicate, lead, and collaborate, discovering their strengths and weaknesses, stepping outside their comfort zones, and of course — having a blast while building invaluable leadership skills.
If you have an interest in attending RYLA next year as a chaperone, reach out to Judy or Trish. It will be life-changing for you also!
A big Rotary welcome to our newest members: Jeff McSweeney, Sandy Love, Donna Clark, Amanda Ogden, Emily Case, and Pam Chaney! We’re excited to see the impact you’ll make in our club and our community!
The weather has put a delay on the workday, it has been rescheduled to Saturday, Nov. 1. Rotarians, friends and other community organizations will gather for the Lendonwood Fall Workday – and we could really use some help. You don’t have to have a green thumb, just a willingness to pitch in to help get the garden ready for winter. This is important because a cleaned-up winter garden makes the springtime cleanup much easier. Also, on nice days during the winter, we continue to have visitors touring the garden. On Fall Workday, we gather at 8:30 a.m. at the barn in the back (coffee and donuts provided) to divide up into work teams. Tasks range from picking up sticks to mulching to fence repair to bench staining and more. Lunch will be provided. The workday usually concludes about 2 p.m., although some teams choose to continue for a couple of hours. Any amount of time is much appreciated.
Rotarians Trish Norton, Karen Walters, and Joe Van Auken volunteered at Grove Elementary School’s Book Fair — where they saw firsthand how excited kids were to pick out books of their own.
Some students didn’t have enough money to buy one, so today at our meeting, Grove Rotarians stepped up and donated $700 to help make sure every child gets to take home a book!
That’s the Rotary spirit in action — supporting literacy and brightening young readers’ days!
Grove Rotary is ready for one of our favorite projects of the year — delivering dictionaries to every 3rd grader in Delaware County! Volunteers are needed to help with the delivery to Kenwood, Oaks Mission, Colcord, Mosley, Kansas, Leach, Turkey Ford, Jay and Grove. Dates that are as follows:
Nov. 3, 9:30-10, Kenwood
Nov. 3, 11-11:30, Oaks Mission
Nov. 4, 8:30-9, Colcord
Nov. 4, 9:45-10:15, Mosley
Nov. 4, 11-11:30, Kansas
Nov. 4, 1-1:30, Leach
Nov. 5, 9-10, Jay
Nov. 5, 1:45-2:15, Turkey Ford
Nov. 6, 8:45-9:45, Grove
Watching the kids’ faces light up when they realize the book is theirs to keep is priceless!
Want to join the fun? Text or call Susan Bass at 918-841-1040.
.jpg)
It’s time to take down all the American flags that Grove Rotary has proudly displayed along HWY 59 and Main Street this year.
We could really use your help! Pickup trucks are needed, along with some strong, able-bodied volunteers. If you’re tall — bonus points for you!
Come lend a hand and help us wrap up another great flag season.
Meet at 9am at the Old Grove Fire Department by Buzzard Cemetery (just north of Three Rivers Presbyterian Church on HWY 59).
More than 1300 children under five years old have been registered so far in Delaware County to receive a free book each month through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program in partnership with the Grove Rotary Club. The free books are offered to all children under five in the county, regardless of family income.Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was launched in 1995 by The Dollywood Foundation, providing free books to children in Parton’s home area of Sevier County, Tennessee. The goal of the program is to inspire a love of books and reading among children.
Cindy Hefner, Grove Rotary Imagination Library Chair added that this program is “a great fit for us and fills a clear need in our community. We can’t wait to get these books in the hands of children throughout Delaware County.”
Children must be registered by a parent or guardian in order to receive the books. There is no charge to register or receive the books. Age-appropriate books are mailed directly to the homes of registered children each month.
Parents or guardians may register their children online by filling out a brief form at www.imaginationlibrary.com. They also may register by completing a printed registration form available at various public locations, such as public libraries. Completed paper registration forms may be mailed to Grove Rotary Club, P.O. Box 452286, Grove, OK. 74345.
Registered children will begin receiving books at their home addresses about eight to 10 weeks after their forms are received. The first book distributed is always the children’s classic “The Little Engine That Could.”
The Imagination Library mails more than two million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to enrolled children from birth to age five. Parton envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to “Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.”