Happy New Year!
I hope your holidays were enjoyable, peaceful, restful, and filled with family and friends.
We’re beginning 2025, which is about a quarter of the way through this century. That’s hard to believe. We’re also now more than half way through this Rotary year — not that I’m counting down ...

It’s been a fun year so far! That was especially true in December. We had service opportunities with the final East Texas Food Bank distribution at Maude Cobb and then Salvation Army bell-ringing with a group of Interact students!
We also had plenty of opportunities for fellowship with the more relaxed club meeting featuring the Pine Tree Varsity Girls Choir bringing us the sounds of the season and an excellent Christmas party at the lovely Hugmans’ home. What fun!

As we step our toes into 2025, think about what that means for you as a Rotarian. Will you get more involved and pursue a leadership position or attend a district event? Will you get to know a new club member — maybe even become a mentor? Will you try a different job at the rodeo, or maybe even offer to spearhead a new local service project? There are plenty of ways to involve yourself in the community through our club. The possibilities are endless.
More specifically this month, we have the Texas Rangers Caravan coming next week, which is sure to be a great meeting. We’ll hear from Rodeo Chair Ray Bostic about the fast-approaching event. We have an opportunity for service Thursday, Jan. 23, during the city’s Homeless Resource Day at Maude Cobb. This is the recipient of our club project grant for the year.
In District 5830, the District Foundation Dinner is coming Feb. 1 at Hollytree Country Club in Tyler. The Four-Way Speech Contest is in April. The District Training Assembly is in May in Mineola. The RI Convention is June 21-25 in Calgary, Canada.
There’s a lot to do near and far. What’s your path?
In service,
Scott
Service Above Self
Longview, TX 75605
United States of America