A Message from the Club President

“Welcome to Arlington North Rotary…The Friendliest Club in Town!”  That’s what you’ll hear at the beginning of each ANR meeting.  As the home club of District Governor Elect John Miller, we know that all eyes are on us. 

We serve by:  personally handing out more than 1,000 dictionaries this year to elementary school children; donating more than 80 coats to kids at Speer Elementary; giving our blood, sweat and tears (literally) at regular blood drives; sending multiple high-schoolers to RYLA; sponsoring Arlington Lamar’s Interact Club; committing to delivering Meals on Wheels every week; donating more than 50 books to the Ellis Elementary library;  providing six scholarships to Lamar High and Venture High scholars; and making substantial donations to HOPE Tutoring, the Lamar High Library, and Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of America camperships. 

            ANR provides additional youth leadership through our: 4-Way Test Speech Contest at Lamar High; close relationship with Leadership Arlington; financial support to UTA’s Rotaract Club; and sponsorship of pending short-term AND long-term applicants for Youth Exchange.

Another pending project of ANR is an international service project using a matching grant to fund the construction of a lagoon for fish breeding, where the people of the mountain community of Los Higos, Jacagua, Santiago, Dominican Republic can obtain food for 100 families, which is a joint project with the Rotary Club of Los Higos, Santiago Gurabito.

Individually, ANR’s members contribute at an extremely high rate to the Foundation at all levels.  ANR members also expect to donate about 10 wheelchairs this year.

But, ANR is more than service!  To scratch our fellowship itch, we set aside each Fifth Monday to have a special evening social function with our families.

How does ANR do all this?  Constant high-quality new members.  We are proud to have a multi-member net increase this Rotary year to date.  While we’re always sad to see some old favorites go, it’s nonetheless refreshing to be re-invigorated with the ideas and enthusiasm of our new members.

How else?  ANR has one (very, very effective) fundraiser: our flag program, in which our members put out more than 800 flags six times a year to our subscribers.

So, start your week right with a Monday make-up at ANR and see what makes us The Friendliest Club in Town (perhaps you’ll be the co-winner of our Ace of Spades raffle, which has The Wheelchair Foundation as its co-winner)…or visit us online anytime at www.arlingtonnorthrotary.org!

Jim Bass is President of

the Arlington North Rotary

Club from July 2008-June 2009.