New Batesville Rotary Club president continues longtime record of service
BATESVILLE — Dictionaries may seem outdated next to Google, but for a child who has never had his own book, getting one can be a big deal, Dustin Dayberry said.
Dayberry, who was recently installed as the Batesville Rotary Club president, said he has seen children’s faces light up when they were handed their own dictionary.
Dayberry said Rotary’s big focuses are health care and education. For instance, Rotary clubs commemorate World Polio Day and raise money for polio vaccinations.
“It’s not something we worry about here, but there are places in the world that still have that problem, and Rotary has played a huge role in eradicating [polio] in several countries,” he said.
As for education, Dayberry said, the Batesville Rotary Club awards five scholarships to graduating seniors each year, but it’s the dictionary project that tends to be one of the most memorable for Rotarians, he said, explaining that the club purchases dictionaries to give to all third-graders enrolled in local schools. He said seeing the students’ reactions is priceless.
“That’s one of the big reasons we do it,” Dayberry said. “People say dictionaries are outdated — you can look up anything you want on Google. But a lot of these kids don’t have their own books, and getting their very own book they can take home and use and learn from — they really like it. In an age when technology controls everything, giving kids a book they can keep is something special to them, and that’s one of the biggest reasons we keep doing it.”
Dayberry is a vice president/loan officer at the Bank of Cave City in Batesville. He said he grew up in the Batesville area and attended the Southside School District, where he graduated in 2005.
He attended the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville and earned an associate degree in business administration.
After working in retail through college, Dayberry said, he knew he didn’t want to do that the rest of his life. In 2008, he went to work at a bank.
“Somewhere along the way, a job turned into a career,” he said. “I’ve been really blessed with so many mentors over the years who taught me and encouraged me and helped me get where I am today.
“The banking world is constantly evolving and never gets old, but being able to help people build their dream home or start their own business is just really rewarding.”
Dayberry said his community service and service to others go back to high school, when he was in Key Club and helped with the school’s recycling program.
“Honestly, as long as I can remember, my parents and grandparents have always been the type of people that if someone needed help and you were able to help them, then you just did,” Dayberry said. “It really instilled in me the idea that those who have the ability to help and make a difference have the responsibility to help and make a difference.”
Dayberry said he previously served on the board for the Independence County Relay For Life, as well as the Investment Committee for the Batesville Downtown Foundation, and he is currently serving his third year (second year as vice president) on the board for the United Way of North Central Arkansas.
Three years ago, Dayberry joined the Batesville Rotary Club.
“I have to say I’m more excited about it now than even when I first joined,” he said.” Rotary really attracted me because of its dedication to service and helping people around the world. In Rotary, we are able to do everything from helping to promote literacy in our local schools, to clean water and energy initiatives in Third World countries, all the way up to eradicating polio worldwide. …
“To feel like you have made a difference in even one person’s life is probably the most gratifying feeling
in the world. You just can’t ask for more than that.”
Dayberry said that shortly after he joined Rotary, Donna Cole asked him to serve as a director on the board during her year as president.
“I didn’t hold an office that year, but I was very involved and took my role seriously, so the following year, Aaron Green asked me to serve as his vice president, or president-elect, as the office is officially called in Rotary,” Dayberry said.
Green said he has known Dayberry for 10 years, and they’ve worked together on multiple Rotary projects, such as serving on the committee to award local students with scholarships and working on local events such as National Drug Takeback Day and End Polio Now.
“He is a great guy who is extremely capable and involved in the community,” Green said of Dayberry. “He is a perfect fit for president-elect of Rotary. Dustin is community-minded and wonderful to work on projects with.”
Green said he was heavily involved in Rotary for about four years but took a step back earlier this year after contracting COVID-19, as it took him months to fully recover from the virus. Green said Dayberry continues to face challenges in a pandemic, as the number of positive COVID-19 cases continues to rise.
“The biggest challenge has been balancing serving the community and protecting the health of members,” Green said. “We had to adapt and have meetings virtually instead of in person.”
Dayberry agreed. “With COVID, we weren’t able to do a lot and even stopped meeting for a little while, and then we got set up to have our meetings through Zoom, which had its ups and downs,” Dayberry said. “But at the same time, we were able to get some guest speakers we wouldn’t normally be able to have. We had guest speakers from as far as California who were able to present to us, and that was really neat.”
The club has since resumed meeting in person at noon each Monday at Tavolo Italian Ristorante, 3000 Jennings Lane in Batesville.
“We’re just trying to get back in the flow of things,” Dayberry said, adding that Rotary does offer a Zoom option for members who are not comfortable attending in person.
He said he has been in talks with the city of Batesville about possibly doing some projects.
“We want to contribute something that will last in the community,” Dayberry said. “We may have big dreams, but we want to see if we can’t do something that’s really nice for our city and our community.”
Rotary is making “a big push” for membership, he said. The Batesville club has 39 active members, with about 15 to 20 attending the meetings.
“We’re hoping that goes up — it’s completely understandable. And about 50 percent of our membership is over the age of 60, so they’ve been concerned about [attending meetings in person].”
Dayberry said the club had sponsored a Rotaract Club at Lyon College, but many of those students have graduated, “and with COVID, [the club] had kind of fizzled out.”
He’s talked with representatives at Lyon about reaching out and talking with the new first-year students about Rotary, Dayberry said.
“We’re a service-based club, and Lyon College wants their students to be service-minded and to get service hours. So being part of the Rotaract Club gives them lots of service opportunities, and it helps the future of Rotary by starting those young people early when they can grow into Rotary, wherever they may end up.”
Dayberry has been married to his wife, Tham, for five years, and they have two “very spoiled dogs.”
He also likes to hunt and said he’s even gotten his wife into hunting.
“She never was interested in it before,” Dayberry said, “and I taught her how, and she loves it.”
He said he loves being outdoors and spending time with friends.
“It is just hard to beat a relaxing summer day on the beautiful White River,” he noted.
Something people might be surprised to learn about Dayberry is that he likes to cook; he and a friend built a big smoker on a trailer.
“So we’ve done a lot of different things with that,” including a fundraiser about eight or 10 years ago to help someone in the community, Dayberry said.
“We spent 40 hours cooking 168 pork butts that we sold. It helped them out a lot, and it was neat to be able to do that, but it’s something I don’t think I ever want to do again,” Dayberry said with a laugh. “I’d never been so tired in my life. I was washing dishes, and I had the soap: ‘OK, this is the soap.’ I had to talk myself through the motions because I was so tired.”
So in the meantime, Dayberry, in his role as Batesville Rotary Club president, will likely be handing out dictionaries to third-graders and devising other ways to help people in Batesville and elsewhere.