Republican women honor service members
Robert Real demonstrates his skill on the bagpipes in hour of the BCRW theme of honoring veterans during the month of November. BULLETIN PHOTO/Tracy Thayer
The Bandera County Republican Women honored veterans and active-duty soldiers during their monthly meeting on Thursday, November 4.
The group heard from ROTC Commander and science teacher Mike Gard about the new Navy ROTC program at Bandera High School.
Gard, who has a small crew of 36 ROTC students in two classes at Bandera High School, emphasized the fact that not all ROTC graduates go into the military; about 50 percent of program participants go to college after high school.
The Navy ROTC has 90,000 cadets nationwide in 600 school programs. Bandera’s program is a National Naval Defense Cadet Corp unit funded almost entirely by the school district.
Gard described the course as a leadership program that builds a sense of belonging and accomplishment. He stated that the program focuses on citizenship and helps develop a sense of personal responsibility. The classes have a weekly schedule of three academic workdays and two days of physical training. One day a week, the cadets wear their uniform.
The Republican Women were treated to a musical interlude by bagpiper Robert Real. Real came in authentic Scottish attire and played the hymn “Amazing Grace” for the group. Real’s pipes were handmade in Scotland.
A bake sale is planned for December 4 and February 12 in Bandera outside of Boyle’s Hardware. Proceeds from the sale will go toward the Millie Radar Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Susan Junker and Alma Baker will present the results of an internal audit before the officer installation in December.
The club will host a potluck supper after the December meeting as a holiday get together. Dede Skoglund spoke about the Christmas Party at Triple H Equitherapy for the county’s foster children.
At the end of the meeting, the group chose “angels” from the Angel Tree provided by CPS workers. Members were reminded to bring their wrapped presents for their “angels” to the next meeting.
The next meeting of the Bandera County Republican Women will be on Thursday, December 2 at the Silver Sage Community Center at 6 PM. At that meeting, County Judge Richard Evans will install the club’s new officers.