While the Fayette Rotary Club is part of a worldwide service organization actively working for health, education, peace, and economic well-being worldwide, it is also dedicated to serving Fayette and Howard County. Under the leadership of Club President Glenn Ludtke, the club is about to complete a very successful year of service.

As in other years, the club applied for and was granted a District Simplified Grant (DSG) from its Rotary District. The club used this matching grant to purchase much-needed grills and lighting for Paige Liberty Park. According to “Fayette Together” member Tim Jackman, the club’s efforts sparked the interest of other groups to continue with the renovation of this park. In the past, DSG funds have been used for such diverse projects as the Daly Elementary Outdoor Preschool classroom, bleachers for the county fairgrounds, and equipment for the Parents as Teachers organizations. Next year the club will work with the Main Street Organization to purchase benches for the courthouse square.

The Fayette Rotary Club has a close relationship with the Fayette Public Schools which includes sponsoring an Interact Club, Rotary’s service organization for high school students. Interact club members make international connections by helping Central Methodist University international students. They develop leadership skills and have fun in the process. The club also sent an FHS student to RYLA, the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy, in Warrensburg, and helped support students going to both Girls’ and Boys’ State

One of the club’s favorite projects is the Third Grade Dictionary project. Every year, the club purchases and distributes dictionaries to each third-grade student at Daly Elementary. After being unable to distribute the books in person due to COVID-19 restrictions, club members were excited to be able to watch the children as they opened their books, discovered their names on the inside covers, and scanned the brightly illustrated pages.

Each month during the school year, four high school students are invited to attend a club meeting where they are honored as FHS Students of the Month. During the pandemic, students attended the meetings via Zoom and had their lunches brought to them at school. Club members enjoyed interacting with the students one-on-one this year once the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.

The club also provides a $500 scholarship to an FHS graduating senior who is planning to attend Central Methodist University. This year’s recipient was Makayla Barnette.

As in past years, the club supported the Howard County fair by inviting the Howard County Queen and Howard County Teen candidates to a meeting. The members enjoyed meeting the candidates, who had the opportunity to prepare for their contest interviews by introducing themselves, answering questions, and interacting with members of the club.

The club supports 12 local organizations/entities through its “Happy Can” project. Each week, members are invited to talk about something that makes them happy and then to place money in the club’s “Happy Can.” This year the club donated $1,260 through this project. Entities receiving funds were the Fayette Festival of the Arts, Howard County Scouts, Fayette Fireworks, Fayette Pool Pass Project, World Wide Mobility, the Fayette Athletic Boosters, the Fayette Music Boosters, Fayette Ministerial Alliance, Holiday House, Howard County Wellness, Quilts of Valor, and FHS Interact.   

January is the club’s month to help at the Fayette Ministerial Alliance’s Food Pantry. Club members helped fill the bags and later helped distribute them.

To support its many projects, the club held two major fund-raising projects: Trivia Night and a Cornhole Tournament. The Cornhole Tournament was held in conjunction with a Columbia Rotary Club. Proceeds from this tournament were sent to Rotary International to support RI’s PolioPlus campaign to eradicate polio worldwide. The club also had a special free-will offering to support PolioPlus during World Immunization week in April.

On July 6, President Ludtke will turn over the gavel to the club’s president for the 2022-2023 Rotary Year. Erik Martinez will serve as the Club’s President next year.