Page 7 - Sanger Herald 12-14-17 e-edition

SANGER HERALD 7A THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2017
Sanger Rotary and its high school counterpart,
the Interact Club, put service above self to host
about 300 senior citizens at a free holiday event
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By Ron Camacho
Sanger Herald Correspondent
This year’s edition of Sanger Rotary’s annual Jim McCaig Memorial Christ- mas Luncheon, Dec. 8 at the community center, may have felt more like spring instead of winter, but attendees still welcomed the holiday season with gifts, musical performances and a Christmas- themed lunch.
Rotary president-elect Greg Tar- ascou said the purpose of the luncheon is to bring the community together.
“We’re doing this to help bridge the community, to bring people together.
I think a lot of folks, especially the seniors in the community, like to come in and have a hot meal and start to celebrate the holidays. They get to do that with our Rotary members and the members of our high school version of a Rotary club, the Sanger High School Interact Club,” said Tarascou.
"Both clubs have the same motto, service above self."
Tarascou said about 300 seniors attended the event, which took three months to plan.
He said more than 40 Sanger Rotary members volunteered for the event and they were joined by about 30 Interact Club members and volunteers from the Fresno County Fire Department and CalFire.
“Getting together with the public and showing them all the things Rotary does in the community is great,” said Tar-
ascou. “A lot of the things we do in the community are kind of in the shadows – no one really knows who does it – so get- ting this great opportunity to let them know what we’re doing is my favorite part of this event.”
Seniors also had the chance to win raffle prizes. Tarascou said prizes ranged from gift cards to holiday- themed blankets to home decor.
“Each Rotarian donated two gifts and a senior home care program, Home Instead, brought gifts. So we had more than 80 gifts to raffle off,” he said.
Ana Maria Gutierrez, 75, who won a Bath & Body Works gift is a regular at the annual Rotary luncheon.
“My favorite part of this is spending time with my friends and celebrating Christmas, and winning raffle prizes,” said Gutierrez, who has attended the luncheon for the past 15 years. “Every year has been nice, it’s become a tradi- tion.”
In addition to the gifts and free holiday lunch, which consisted of dinner rolls, salad, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, seniors were treated to perfor- mances by opera singer Erika Alatorre, who has sung twice at Carnegie Hall, and mariachi singer Juan Martinez
who was a favorite at last year's senior luncheon. He calls himself "El Gallo de Aquascalientes."
“I chose some special opera arias
to sing. I would have liked to prepare some Christmas songs but I didn’t have time,” said Alatorre, who also sang the
national anthem to open the Rotary meeting.
Colors were posted prior to the national anthem by a color guard from AMVETS Post 98.
Matthew Castillo, 17, president of the Interact Club led the pledge of al- legiance.
“I don’t think the younger and the older generations get together that much, so this is really special because we get to interact with and serve the older generation,” said Castillo.
Alatorre was raised in Reedley, but many of her close friends live in Sanger. “I’m glad to be here performing for the people of Sanger. I’m really happy that my grandfather, who is 90 years old, was able to come to the event with my mom and my brother,” she said. “This feels like a family environment. I feel at home.”
Rotary president Gina Cuevas said this year marked the first time in recent memory that Sanger Rotary members hired a catering company instead of preparing the food themselves.
“I think it worked out great, we got compliments about the food. I think the mashed potatoes and gravy were my favorite,” she said.
Cuevas said her favorite part of orga- nizing the event was showing the com- munity the true meaning of Rotary’s “service above self” motto.
“It's all about giving back to our com- munity, giving back to our seniors and serving Sanger,” she said.
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L-R: Gilbert Carrisalez, Rotary community service director; Gina-Lynn Cuevas, Rotary president; Matthew Castillo, Interact presi- dent; and Greg Tarascou, Rotary president elect. The program was presented in English and Spanish.
Rotary members dished out the food and high school Interact members served it to the seated senior citizens.
Juan "El Gallo de Aquascalientes" Martinez and Erika Alatorre entertained. See many more photos on the Sanger Herald Facebook page.
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