By NANCY MARTIN

Plans for the Swing for Rotary Golf Classic, slated for June 21 at White Horse Golf Club, are coming along smoothly.

Rotarians are busy contacting sponsors for the event, which is the club’s single-largest fundraiser. Kingston Rotary has committed to many local programs, which benefit from proceeds from the golf tournament.

Programs that benefit from Rotary funds are food banks and food drives (ShareNet and Kingston Food Bank), Kingston High School student scholarships, Coffee Oasis in Poulsbo, Village Green Community Center, and the Kingston blood drives.

Kingston Rotary also works in partnership with Kingston Kiwanis and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Early Childhood Education Department to fund the Food for Kids program.

You can support the Swing for Rotary Golf Classic by playing in the tournament, sponsoring an event, or attending the dinner and auction. Attending the dinner and auction. which begin at 6 p.m., will offer you the opportunity to see the newly opened White Horse Golf Club clubhouse.

The White Horse culinary team will prepare and serve a sumptuous dinner. Tickets for the event are $25 and are available at the Kingston Chamber of Commerce office or from any Rotarian.

To sign up for the tournament, go to www.knkrotarygolf.com and register online or print out a registration form and mail it to Kingston Rotary, P.O. Box 832 Kingston, WA 98346.

For questions about the tournament or tickets to the dinner and auction, email breanemartinez@hotmail.com.

n      n      n

Rotary offers many opportunities to work on worthwhile community programs, and also extends this opportunity to the youth of our community. Rotary’s Youth Leadership Program (RYLA) and the Interact Club, which meets weekly at Kingston High School, are two valuable youth programs.

Kingston Rotary recently announced that Jack Larson and Garrett Rouser are the recipients of this year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Award. RYLA is Rotary’s leadership training program for young people. RYLA recipients attend a four-day intensive training program. RYLA emphasizes leadership, citizenship and personal growth, and aims to:

— Demonstrate Rotary’s respect and concern for youth.
— Provide an effective training experience for selected youth and potential leaders.
— Encourage leadership of youth by youth.
— Publicly recognize young people who are rendering service to their communities.

This year’s recipients, Jack and Garrett, are sophomores at Kingston High School. This is their second year as members of Interact and they are eager to serve our community.

Jack and Garrett are similar in many ways. They both are on the Honor Roll with a GPA of 3.8 and above. They both lettered in football and are on the track team.

Jack has been involved in ASB since he was in seventh grade. He and Garrett have aspirations to be co-presidents of Interact next year and are extremely honored and excited about attending the RYLA four-day seminar.

Join the Kingston Rotary Club for lunch on Wednesday at noon, to learn more about Rotary and its many opportunities for service. Rotarians gather at 11:45 a.m. at the North Kitsap Fire and Rescue Station 81 (Paul T. Nichol headquarters station), 26642 Miller Bay Road in Kingston.

For directions or more information, contact Clint Boxman, membership chairman, at (360) 297-3046.

— Contact Rotary News columnist Nancy Martin at nanjmartin@mac.com.