Sandra Myers
It was a while after I moved to Cadiz, Kentucky that realized
that the tiny Kentucky town I lived in had just three community
service clubs, Kiwanis, Lions Club and Rotary.
I knew I would join one of them someday, but it wasn’t
until I was asked by Wade Kadel did I know which one it would
be. Wade Kadel was
the secretary of Cadiz Rotary Club.
That was in 2000. I had retired after twenty years from the US
Military in 1994, and moved from the now non-operational Fort
Benjamin Harrison IN, to Cadiz.
I came alone, a widow of five years, with no kids and I
had taken two years off for good behavior, as they say. I didn't go back to work until 1996.
In 1996 I answered
an ad for a reporter in that little hometown newspaper.
By then I knew my hometown pretty good. What I didn't
learn about it in the library,
I learned reading the paper and listening to the local
radio station. I stayed three years at that paper and also got
hired on the radio station as a broadcaster for 12-noon and 5 PM
it was fun - I had to leave the newspaper in 1999 but continued
my work at the radio. Shortly after I resigned from the
newspaper I was asked
to join the Kentucky New Era,
a local daily that was published in the nearest large
town 30 miles away from Cadiz. It was wonderful. I got to
report on all the happenings,
go to the city council meetings,
school board,
fiscal court and what ever else was going on. I kept both jobs
until 2007 along with another editor/publishing job I took for
the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).
It was also a Tabloid type format with around 28-30 pages
a circulation of around 22,000.
I was the first woman editor/publisher they had ever
hired. I always had to be careful I didn’t get to “girly” with
the format or pictures.
When my boss at the Kentucky New Era newspaper died, I
didn't want to learn to work with anyone else and I needed a
rest from the newspaper business.
So I stayed on the radio station until 2010 and then I
retired again.
As mentioned, I’d been a member of the
Cadiz Rotary Club since 2000, and found it a perfect fit. It
reminded me of the military, no really, it was close knit,
everyone seemed to care about each other and I felt at home
immediately. When Wade Kadel had to step down from his position
of secretary in 2003 because his eyes had given out on him - he
recommended me and there I was "secretary" I kept that position
until 2010 when I stepped down to assume the positions of club
administrator and executive secretary, Foundation Chair, Grant
Writer, and Public Relations
Chairman, I served 2004-2008
board of directors, 2000 -present bulletin editor, maintained
perfect attendance 2000-present, -2007 –present, website
manager, 2009 RYLA counselor, 2010 formed Interact Club,
currently serving
as Club Coordinator/Advisor for
Trigg County High School Interact Club, 2007 Rotarian of the
Year, 2011 appointed Interact coordinator for District 6710. I
am a Rotary Foundation Sustaining member, 2005 Paul Harris
Fellow, received the 2011 Presidential Citation for New
Generations, I attended the 2010/2011 Rotary International
Conventions, I am alumni of the
RGHF Chicago Institute,
2011 appointed member of the RGHF "The Handful" group, 2011
elected Vice President for RGHF
Women and Rotary.
I love Rotary- not just, because there is so much to lose
yourself in for the service of others, but because of the
service to the community that this little club generates. They
have an annual fundraiser, a Rotary Radio Auction. It's natural
for me to be involved with it, both from my Rotary positions but
also from the Radio and Newspaper sides. Each year I publish a
small Tabloid of 20+ pages black and color as PR for the Auction
and of course for the Club itself. It is one of the most
fulfilling things I do for my club. It is distributed through
the weekly newspaper as an insert and covers not only local
subscribers but around the world as well,
to whoever subscribes. That was a plus when we started
streaming the auction last year for the first time. Believe it
or not, calls from New York, Ohio, Illinois, and yes from
Australia and this year we even got a bid from Afghanistan
because we have so many soldiers that live in Cadiz. Being just
30 miles from Ft Campbell, KY, Mom’s and kids live off post and
reside right here in Cadiz. So naturally their dad’s and
husbands knew about the auction and they streamed. Talk about
broadcasting around the world, this was the ultimate. We raised
over $180,000 this year.
This year (2011) I have discovered a new opportunity for
service, with Rotary Global History Fellowship. (RGHF) What a
door that has opened, new friends and a new interest. The
history of Women and Rotary.
What RGHF is about,
for me, is
being able to showcase those stories of Woman and Rotary that
other wise would never be told and with that- I have also found
a mission that I can relate to, one I have a burning desire to
accomplish, document and learn from.
I see it as my future in Rotary.
I am totally submerged in RGHF Rotary and all it stands
for. There is nothing that brightens my out look on life
than actually performing service above self. That’s what Rotary
has given me- the life I live today, the friends I love today,
and my mission in
life for as long as I want, what more could I ask……
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the
service of others."
Gandhi
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