Stories

On October 24, a group of Pilot Knob Rotary Club members gathered at the Wildhorse Grill to participate in “10,000 for the Troops”.  The “10,000 for the Troops” initiative, led by New Country 96.3’s morning show hosts Hawkeye and Michelle, is designed to express gratitude and support for those serving in the armed forces, especially during the holiday season.  The collected cards are included in care packages sent to troops just in time for Christmas.  Pilot Knob Rotary completed 152 Christmas cards, and the overall campaign exceeded the 10,000 goal with a total of 52,869 cards collected.  The campaign runs each year between October and November and is a great way to recognize those serving in the armed forces.

Pilot Knob Rotary Club is a group of experienced professional leaders committed to service and fellowship leading to a positive impact on our community and the world. We meet each Friday at Noon in the Boardroom of the Wildhorse Grill. 

The members and guests of Pilot Knob Rotary Club celebrated the 5^th Anniversary of the club’s charter on October 24 in the Wildhorse Grill.  As with any birthday party, they invited friends and even some new prospective members who are now excited about joining the club.

For birthday presents, $421 in gift cards and cash were collected on a money tree.  These items were donated to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Denton County and will be used to purchase gifts for local foster kids during the holidays.  Dolores Kearney, Charter Member, shared Cross Timbers Rotary Club chartered Pilot Knob Rotary Club five years ago and the club continues to grow with most  of the members residing in Robson Ranch.

Pilot Knob Rotary Club is a group of experienced professional leaders committed to service and fellowship leading to a positive impact on our community and the world. We meet each Friday at Noon in the Boardroom of the Wildhorse Grill. 

Each year October 24 is recognized by Rotary International as World Polio Day when we are reminded of the devastating impact that this disease can have on children.  Polio was officially eradicated in the US in 1994 with vaccination efforts playing a crucial role in achieving this milestone.

Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years and our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever.  Through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 percent since 1979.

Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it’s crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio-free. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.

Pilot Knob Rotary Club donates $10 to the End Polio Now fund to honor each individual speaker at our weekly Friday meetings.  Other local clubs raise funds with activities throughout the year.

Pilot Knob Rotary Club is a group of experienced professional leaders committed to service and fellowship leading to a positive impact on our community and the world.  We meet each Friday at Noon in the Boardroom of the Wildhorse Grill.

Pilot Knob Rotary Club is celebrating the results of our fourth blood drive this year. Sixty units of blood were collected, bringing our YTD total to 194 units.  This has been our third drive using two Carter BloodCare buses and we will adopt using two buses as our new standard, allowing for ample opportunity to accommodate all those who wish to donate.

To have accomplished these results, we TRULY THANK  all our DONORS, the Carter BloodCare staff, Shelbi Berg, Linda Caron and others with the Robson Ranch HOA. Efraín Frias, Consultant with Carter BloodCare shared this note: “Thank you everyone for the work you do to host these blood drives. I’m currently in a meeting at one of our local hospitals and they told us how much blood they use, and I regularly see our current blood supply in Bedford. You have no idea just how much of an impact you and your group are having in our local communities. We appreciate all our donors, but I want you to know that your work hosting these blood drives plays a huge part in our mission.”

Every Whole Blood donation has the potential to save three lives (red blood cells, platelets, plasma) and every Double Red donation can save two lives.
America has the safest and most abundant blood supply in the world.  That’s because of Americans who know every privilege has a corresponding responsibility, and every right has a corresponding duty.  The practice of giving also aligns with altruistic behaviors that have been linked to better health outcomes and increased longevity. Rotarians understand completely. 

Pilot Knob Rotary Club continues to grow our membership and one of our newest members, Landon Taylor, shared his journey to Rotary with the club. Landon shares the Rotary mission of Service above Self.

Landon graduated from Texas Tech University in 2004 and spent time as a financial advisor and thirteen years as a Lewisville ISD public school teacher.  Landon currently owns and operates Denton PANE Management (940-229-4787), a window cleaning service.  He shared “Window cleaning is a perfect fit for my personality. I love serving others and feel like I'm doing a form of yoga with a squeegee all day.” 

In 2015 Landon founded Denton Songwriters Guild, a group of musicians and poets that meet monthly in Denton and encourage songwriting and performance.  During a recent meeting Landon performed a couple of his original songs.

Landon lives in Denton with his wife and their son, Sagan and daughter, Evren.

Pilot Knob Rotary Club meets each Friday at Noon in the Boardroom of the Wildhorse Grill.  You can also find more information at the Pilot Knob Rotary Club website: https://www.pilotknobrotary.com.

The lounge at the Wildhorse Grill was the site of the first Peanut Butter Challenge between the Champions Club in Justin and the Pilot Knob Club at Robson Ranch.  A scheduled friendly happy hour on August 29 took a step up with a challenge of which club could bring the most jars of peanut butter to the event.  After some good conversation and refreshments, a team of retired bean counters declared the winner as the Denton Community Food Center.  Due to the combined efforts of the two clubs a total of 130 pounds of peanut butter was collected and delivered to the Food Center.  Food scarcity continues to impact many families in the Denton area and Rotarians routinely collect items to address this issue at their social events.

Thanks to Cheryl Hugley, President of Champions Club and Mike Weaver of Pilot Knob Rotary for coordinating the event. The Champions Club meets on Wednesday mornings at 8:00 am at the Mule Barn in Justin and Pilot Knob Rotary Club meets on Fridays at Noon at the Wildhorse Grill.

On July 25 the members of Pilot Knob Rotary Club purchased and filled backpacks with school supplies for Communities in Schools of North Texas.  The service project, led by Dolores Kearney, provided 25 students in Denton area schools with the required school supplies for the upcoming semester.  Employing an assembly line process, the backpacks were filled with pencils, paper, glue sticks, colored markers, and other needed supplies. The completed backpacks were delivered to Communities in Schools of North Texas at a celebration breakfast on July 31, attended by Dolores Kearney, Wesley Shipley, Kathy Ogburn and Pat Henderson.  Communities in Schools of North Texas mission is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve success in life.

Pilot Knob Rotary Club meets each Friday at Noon in the Boardroom of the Wildhorse Grill.  You can also find more information at the Pilot Knob Rotary Club website: https://www.pilotknobrotary.com.

On November 10 the Pilot Knob Rotary Club welcomed Victoria Myers as their guest speaker.  Ms. Myers is a rising senior at the Townview School for the Talented and Gifted in Dallas, and a member of the Girl Scouts of America. She is engaged in completing a Gold Award, an individual Girl Scout approved project on any topic that is sustainable and will make the world a better place. She chose a project to clean and beautify the African American/Slave cemetery, Champions-Macadonia in Lewisville TX. Many of the graves, dating back to the 1800s, are unmarked or designated with a grouping of rocks. Victoria shared her vision with the membership to clean up the cemetery, obtain funding to add benches, light posts, fencing and an entry archway and informational markers. We were immediately on board to assist with her project. Her specific ask was the donation of white wooden crosses to mark as many of the graves as possible. Under the direction of David Ford and Web Bliss we assembled in Web’s garage to cut, sand and paint one hundred crosses to place in the cemetery. 

The crosses were placed on January 6 during a general cleanup of the cemetery with the reveal of the first phase of the cemetery’s beautification on January 20. Nathan Danforth, completing an Eagle Scout project, joined Victoria’s efforts  and in addition to the crosses, the cemetery was cleaned up, a new fence with an entrance gate installed, signage was added to IH35 service road, and a flagpole installed. Nathan also researched the veterans buried there and added informational markers to those graves.

On January 23 the Denton County Commissioner’s Court honored Victoria, Nathan and their sponsor, Jackie Shaw, with proclamations for their efforts to beautify the Champions-Macadonia Cemetery.  The Pilot Knob Rotary Club was honored to participate in this project and commend Victoria and Nathan for their leadership and dedication to improving the community.

Pilot Knob Rotary Club is a group of experienced professional leaders committed to service and fellowship leading to a positive impact on our community and the world. We meet each Friday at Noon in the Wildhorse Grill.