Local organizations changing with the times

An evening meeting, like this one at the Citta Deli, is now an option for Rotary Club members.

Courtesy photo

In February, the McCook Rotary Club celebrated its 100th anniversary. Over the past century, the club has evolved out of necessity and to remain relevant and perhaps most importantly, to be welcoming.

The dress code changed from suits and ties to whatever its members were wearing that day with an occasional Rotary shirt thrown into the mix. Fines for missing a meeting or having your name appear on the front page of the paper went away.

Eventually, women were allowed to become members after the club acknowledged how antiquated that rule was and that the club likely wouldn’t exist any longer without their participation. In fact, a woman just took over as the Rotary International president for the first time earlier this month and McCook’s district governor, Deb McCaslin, is leading the western half of Nebraska.

And just earlier the week, the McCook Rotary Club embarked on a change to its meeting schedule, adding a night meeting.

For as long as anyone can remember, the club has met every Tuesday over the noon hour. This is fine if you have a flexible schedule and you can slip away every week at the same time. This was fine back in the day when members worked 9-5 and the lunch was set in stone at noon.

But for anyone who didn’t have that flexibility in their schedule such as a cashier at the grocery store, Rotary was inaccessible. For anyone who had lunch hour later in the days such as high school teachers, Rotary was off the table. For anyone whose only free time was at night, Rotary wasn’t going to happen.

So the group decided to make a change to its meeting times. On the second Tuesday of the month, Rotary meetings will now be held in the evening, hopefully opening up access to more potential members who haven’t been able to attend a lunch meeting.

And the current members are very open about the situation. If more people don’t join, the club could go away. Just because the organization has been around for so long doesn’t mean it can’t come to an end.

They also acknowledged that they needed to change with the times and they needed to adapt to members' needs. They knew the status quo was not good enough. Pro-active changes needed to take place and they are taking those steps.

Will it pay off? Only time will tell but at least there is an effort to not only maintain but grow an important and involved group in the community.

On the flip side, sometimes things have just run their course and it is time to come to an end, even if it is bittersweet.

After more than four decades, the McCook Toy Box will cease to exist later this year for several reasons. Its volunteers are getting older with no younger people stepping in to fill their shoes. Or more precisely, there is no one volunteering to repair the bikes and dive into the dumpsters to get the donated toys.

That’s understandable. The Toy Box was a passion for those who started the program more than 40 years ago. And younger people are busy with their families and their personal projects which get them excited.

Additionally, the toys and presents kids are wanting are expensive. Puzzles and stuffed animals are not the prized presents any longer. Electronics and video games are coveted gifts. And you could say that they shouldn’t be picky, that they should take what they get and not throw a fit, and that they should be happy to get anything.

But should you begrudge a child who all his friends are playing a video game together or communicating over an electronic or doing homework on a tablet? It simply is the time we live in and it is hard to keep up financially with the presents which are desired.

And maybe someone reading this or who hears about the Toy Box not taking place this Christmas season will step up and establish a new program. But in the meantime, there are other programs in the community including Adopt-A-Family to help those less fortunate during the holidays to church and community programs to help throughout the year.

Whether it is an organization or for the entire community, sometimes a moment of reflection is what is needed. What is the best decision moving forward? What changes are needed? What does the community need today? What does the community need 40 years from now?

The Toy Box organizers have made the tough decision to come to an end and they will be missed. It made McCook a great place to call home in the past.

The McCook Rotary Club has made the decision to make changes and hopefully become stronger. It is working to make McCook a great place to call home in the future.