WINNEMUCCA - Rotary Club is one of the most active organizations in Winnemucca, with participation in community service and events going on continually.
One of Rotary's activities this month will be to send two Lowry High School students to Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) camp.
"Each year our club sponsors two youth to attend and meet other young leaders from northern Nevada and northeastern California," Winnemucca Rotary Club President Lee Ann Morrell said, adding, "This experience is like nothing else available to our youth."
Morrell said the club doesn't release the names of students receiving the RYLA scholarships.
Students are chosen to attend RYLA camp through an application process. Applications to attend are provided at Lowry High School in February, and those who complete the application are invited to interview with a Rotary Club selection committee.
After the interview, Morrell said the committee chooses which candidates they believe would best benefit from the experience the camp has to offer.
She emphasized the intent is to find students who possess leadership qualities and need to develop leadership skills.
Morrell explained that the concept is to avoid sending the student body president who is also captain of a sports team and the class valedictorian, and focus on those who are seeking leadership roles in school and the community but have not yet realized their goals.
The full scholarship to the RYLA camp program near Portola, Calif., provides a week-long world-class leadership experience to the youth who've been selected to attend.
Morrell said that Rotary's fundraising makes it possible for the club to serve the community in many ways, just one of which is the RYLA camp scholarship.
The club works all year long to raise funds while serving the community at events like the recent Rotary Golf Tournament, Rotary's upcoming booth at the Fourth of July celebration at Vesco Park and the fair festivities.
Morrell's term as Rotary president will be up in July, but rather than retiring and resting, the outgoing Rotary president immediately becomes the program director for the club, setting up the speakers at each week's Rotary club luncheon.
Morrell became a member of Rotary club shortly after she and her husband moved to Winnemucca.
She said, "When I moved to town I was looking for volunteer opportunities or a service organization to join. I heard about Rotary and was impressed."
Local Rotarian Tom Klein started Rotary Club in Winnemucca when he moved here from Elko. At age 25, Klein had been the charter president of the Elko Club.
"When I moved to Winnemucca, the club in Elko said, 'you need to get a club started in Winnemucca,'"
Klein said, "I like knowing what's going on in a community. I love every Wednesday's lunch when we have a speaker tell us about things going on."
He added, "Rotary is a good catalyst to work on local issues and even world issues; not many clubs can have a positive effect on national and world issues, but Rotary Club does."
Klein explained that some Rotary projects are strictly local, some involve partnering with other clubs, and some are large multi-district projects.
Klein said if someone knows of a project they'd like to see Rotary get involved with, the local club would welcome hearing about it. They'd also be interested in any additional fundraising ideas.
Examples of Rotary's projects - local and otherwise - are on the Winnemucca Rotary website at www.Winnemucca-Rotary.org.
Klein said the local club will continue to support youth projects and activities, and get involved in other service projects, adding that future goals include bringing a boys and girls club to Winnemucca, and helping to develop a Community Performing and Visual Arts Center.
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