ROTARY RECEIVES AWARDS - Immediate Past President Jimmy Fontenot, right, holds two of the banners received by the Rotary Club of Rayne in recognition of the members’ continued 100 percent support of the Rotary Foundation. Secretary Rose Schexnider, left, who also served as secretary during Fontenot’s 2018-19 term, holds the Rotary Citation with Gold Distinction, an honor awarded to only six of the 50-plus clubs in District 6200. To learn more about the Rotary Club of Rayne visit raynerotary.org.
Rayne Rotary Club earns District 6200 honors, awards
RAYNE - The Rotary Club of Rayne was recognized for its support of the Rotary Foundation and more during the Nov. 14 meeting.
Rotarians also heard and entertaining presentation from a recently returned Peace Corps volunteer.
For the seventh consecutive year, the local club was honored as a recipient of the Rotary Citation (previously known as the Presidential Citation) for supporting Rotary’s strategic priorities and helping Rotary be the inspiration in the lives of people all over the world during the 2018-2019 year.
This year the Rayne Rotary was additionally honored as one of only six clubs in District 62000 to achieve the Rotary Citation with Gold Distinction for accomplishing several additional goals of Rotary.
Other clubs receiving this designation included Abbeville, Baker Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge Capital City and Sulphur.
Immediate past president Jimmy Fontenot thanked all the members of the club for their outstanding record of volunteerism and support of Rotary during the past year. “We would not have achieved this honor without all of you,” he said.
The Rotary Club of Rayne was also one of only 3,400 clubs worldwide to attain status as an Every Rotarian, Every Year Club and one of only 4,000 clubs worldwide to become a 100 Percent Foundation Giving Club in support of the members’ support of the Rotary Foundation.
Guest speaker for the meeting was Kaylon Emeary, who had just two weeks earlier returned from nearly two years of volunteerism with the Peace Corps in Domincan Republic.
Emeary explained that she spent the majority of her time in the Province of Samana, a peninsula in the Atlantic Ocean in the northeastern part of the Dominican Republic known for the mountains of which it is almost entirely formed.
In a spirited interactive presentation, Emeary led Rotarians through her adventures and experiences with the Peace Corps, including local dialect and living conditions.
While Emeary was in the Dominican Republic, the Rayne High School Interact Club staged a school supply drive, collecting boxes full of good that the Rotary Club had shipped to her school there.
Emeary’s mother, Tonya Craddock, accompanied her to the Rotary Club meeting and related some of her experiences during a week-long visit there.
Emeary and Craddock live in Lafayette.