Community, St. Patrick’s Day, and Why I Like Sertoma

A Community Affair

The Leona Valley Sertoma St. Patrick’s Day Dinner is a long standing tradition and only one of the many good memories from my time as a Leona Valley Sertoman. As with most, if not all, of their events, the St. Patrick’s Day dinner is a fundraiser with funds going to support the community, the most significant of which is their scholarship program. This event, like all their events, brings people together giving them the chance to better know and, hopefully, care for each other. Isn’t that what a community is?

And you thought you were just getting a good meal for a good price.

Why I Like Sertoma

This didn’t just happen, it took planning, prepping, and work on the part of the members of Leona Valley Sertoma. The members volunteer their time and their talents to make this event, and everything they do, as successful as possible. This group of people with varying skills, life experience, and interest all have one interest in common; they love their community. That’s one of the things I liked about being a Sertoman. It gave me the opportunity to become a part of the community, to volunteer, to make new friends, and to contribute to the betterment of my new community. The name Sertoma is an acronym taken from the phrase, “SERvice TO MAnkind”, and through service the members work to “make a difference” in their community. That was another thing I liked about being a Sertoman.

Being a Part of a Community

Growing up I was a boy scout, I’m an Eagle Scout, so team work and community service is something I knew. As an adult, my career took me in a different direction and my ‘making a difference’ became writing a check for this or that charity, or fundraiser. Sertoma let me to go from being on the outside looking in to being a part of the team that made a difference with sweat equity. (I still write checks!) For me, that was a pretty good feeling. The video is from the 2004 St. Patrick’s Day Dinner and if you watch it you will see all the elements I’ve been talking about. People coming together to prepare the food, the community coming out and enjoying themselves and the clean up afterwards. All these things helped me become a part of the community and let me help make a difference. You will also see folks who may have moved away or are no longer with us, as well.

St. Patrick’s Day Dinner 2022

This year’s St. Patrick’s Day Dinner will be hosted a different way. Sertoma has had less physical manpower since the pandemic, so it has required being creative in order to continue their scholarship program. This year’s event will be held at Jack’s Place, the local restaurant on 90th street, in Leona Valley, (see the flyer below) thanks to the generosity of Dave and Bob, the owners of Jack’s Place.

The St. Patrick’s Day Dinner tradition continues bringing with it some much desired normalcy after the disruptions of the last two year. I hope you will be supportive and come out to spend time with your friends and neighbors, while enjoying a traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef and cabbage. you will get a delicious meal and time with friends, but you will be giving so much more.

I hope you enjoy this video as much I did as I watched it again. If Sertoma sounds interesting and you would like to be involved in making a difference through community service, then I urge you to seek out a member to find out more. They meet on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, at 8:00am, at Jack’s Place.

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