The Elk City Rotary Club met Thursday, at noon, Nov. 30th, for their regular weekly meeting. President Lake Carpenter called the meeting to order and made announcements about upcoming Rotary events. Those include manning Christmas in the Park on Dec. 16th, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Meals on Wheels during the month of January.
Carpenter announced the first speaker, which was Rylee Varnell, who is with the Miss Elk City/Miss Queen of the West Pageants. She told the Rotarians that she grew up playing sports and showing animals. When she told her mother, who was the basketball coach in Sayre, that she wanted to compete in pageants, Varnell had to convince both of her parents that it was a good idea. She accomplished this by telling them there was scholarship money available for the winners.
“I went on to compete for four years. I held three titles, so I went to Miss Oklahoma three times, and in this Oklahoma organization, I gained so many friendships. As a sophomore (in high school), if you would have told me that I was going to stand up here and speak to a roomful of people, I would have said, “Absolutely not, I’m not going to speak to anyone.” Now I speak to kids all day long and teach them, but in addition to that, I was able to graduate with a master’s in educational leadership. So this organization has a very special place in my heart because it’s helped transform me into the person that I am today. It has given me a goal to be a leader not only in my school, but also my community,” Varnell said.
Varnell came on the Elk City/ Queen of the West board when there was a new board in the works. The board is community oriented, and they would like to find a way for young people to be involved in the organization; therefore, girls born from 2006 to 2010 are eligible to compete and win scholarships. They will be adding a teen pageant, as well as a younger group of girls. The pageant will take place Dec. 16th, in the Pioneer Center, at 6 p.m. Tickets are on sale now. The next speaker was Larry Hurd from the VFW, District 15. He talked about the local post’s anniversary and the need to recruit new members. He also talked about the new dog tags that are available that provide the 988 mental health number, and press one to talk to a person qualified to understand a veteran. The other things Hurd talked about were the benefits of being a part of the VFW. He brought information and applications for anyone who knows of a veteran that may benefit from becoming a member of the local VFW.
The meeting was adjourned, and Carpenter announced the next meeting would be Thursday, Dec. 7th, at noon, in the Elks Lodge.
