New Rotary members installed

New members were installed at the June 8 meeting of the Steele Rotary Club. Pictured are Steve Wheatley and Lena Samford, Steele’s first female Rotarian. Not pictured is Don Jones.

The Steele Rotary Club met Thursday, June 8 at the Steele Family Restaurant to install new members. New members were Don Jones, Steve Wheatley and Lena Samford.

Don Jones is originally from Senath. He graduated from Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo. He worked as a scouting executive. He’s the newest case manager for Maco Management. He’s married to Pam, a teacher at Gosnell Schools. He has four children and several grandchildren.

Steve Wheatley is a lifelong resident of Steele. He is an HVAC technician at Hill Electric in Caruthersville. He is married to Julia Wheatley, the new president at the Bank of Missouri, and they have two children and four grandchildren.

Lena Samford is the first female Rotarian in Steele. She is a lifelong resident of Steele and a graduate of South Pemiscot High School. She graduated from Mizzou with a business administration degree. She has her real estate license and is employed at Bob Turnage and Auction in Hayti, Mo. She is also the owner of The Main Event located on West Main Street in Steele.

On being the first female Rotarian in Steele, Lena said, “There are some people in this club that remember when I would help serve pancakes whenever I was little, and I always wanted to be in Rotary. Just seeing how they contribute to the community is great. I didn’t realize they were such a worldly group. I’m learning a lot about it, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Jack Brooks provided some information on the history of the Rotary Club and how it benefits the local community and other nations. “This club used to be called the Business Men’s Club. The Caruthersville Rotary Club came down here many years ago and talked the Business Men’s Club into becoming the Rotary Club. So this Rotary Club has been here probably 60 years. The club has been very active all during this time. It’s a good organization that is worldwide. They do community things. They do things in underdeveloped countries. One project they had was to rid the world of polio. They have it all done now except for two nations. They go into underdeveloped countries sometimes and put in water systems for them. Locally, at Christmas, we do the food pantry. We distribute hams. At Thanksgiving, we distribute turkeys.”