Poteau Rotary Club turning 100, but with a couple concerns
Poteau has a centenarianI that is as far as a local civic organization is concerned.
The moteau ootary Club is celebrating its 1MMth birthday this yearI being organized in 1922. “ft is a milestone to be in existence for that long a periodI” said moteau ooJ tary Club mresident Dr. Don pjobergI who is also the suJ perintendent of moteau mubJ lic pchools. “f think the inJ coming presidentI oon HallI has got some plans for what we can do to celebrate come fall. We have good people who are maintaining their membership with us. We are active.” HoweverI this month was to have been the local civic organization’s big fundraisJ ing event — its annual Wine and Arts cestival. ft had to be canceled for the second straight yearI namely due to issues stemming from the ClsfD pandemic. “We were disappointedI” pjoberg said. “ft’s related to the pandemic. The pandemic really affected a lot of busiJ nesses like wineriesI and even our food vendors. As a resultI when we started to try to have them make commitJ mentsI some (of the winerJ ies and food vendorsF were no longer in business. That was the main issue we had to deal with. cood vendors and the wineries were not able to commit.”
Despite not getting to raise the usual funds from the Wine and Arts cestivalI the ootary Club was still able to do one of its yearly projJ ects — distribute dictionarJ ies to thirdJgraders in the 17 ieclore County school disJ tricts.
“We were still able to do thatI” pjoberg said. “We’ll probably have to reJdefine some goals and projects for next year so we can get back into the routine of raising funds to continue to do these projects.”
(pee olTAovI mage 2F