The Wagner Rotary Club was out of sync with its usual day of a meeting. The members met on Tuesday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. at The Lighthouse to greet the members of the Becker Foundation who were arriving by bus.

A meet and greet session was held as soon as they arrived with Rotarians and members of the Foundation introducing themselves to each other and exchanging facts about each other. It was a noticeably young energetic group considering they had been traveling on a bus from Kearney, Nebraska for hours.

A generous donor gave a meal, and everyone got in line for some delicious chicken, potato salad, and Rotary desserts. Everyone continued to exchange information as they ate and the table this recorder was sitting at was pleased to meet one of the presenters whose last name was Daum. You might remember the Daums, the family who all lived and worked in the Wagner area several years ago. This Daum was from Platte, his father was Dan Daum, and his mother was Phyllis. This young man joined the Becker Foundation after he graduated from Platte High School and just happened to graduate with one of my granddaughters so we had something in common to talk about.

Each one of the presenters gave his name, a little about his background, and how many years he or she had been a member of the traveling group. In case you haven’t already read about this group, they are from the Becker Foundation which was created by Keith Becker. Keith’s younger brother was killed in an alcohol related accident when he was in high school. This event was life-changing for Keith, and he has dedicated his life to bringing a message to high school students. Keith and the participants have been presenting the program since 2005 and have reached over 10,000 students. The program is aimed at making young people think about their choices in life and steering them in the right direction at this early age. Sometimes college is too late for some after making the wrong choices.

Three of the couples opening their homes for the students to sleep for the two nights were present and they were able to make their connections before they all left to go unload the bus and the big truck that was carrying their stage props and musical instruments.

We hope that some of you readers were able to go to the performance and/or your children and grandchildren. Several of the area churches and their youth groups helped to organize the event and planned on attending. Thank you to everyone who helped bring these faith filled people to our community and are working so hard all through the year.