Marked Tree Rotarians and their spouses who attended the banquet are, from left: Front -- Mary Stanley, Sharon Linder, Donna Henry and Mary Ann Arnold. Back -- Josh Martin, Bill Stanley, Samantha Martin, Linda Masters and Gary Masters.

Poinsett County Rotarians from the Marked Tree Rotary Club and the Harrisburg Rotary Club traveled to Little Rock Saturday, June 7 for the first Rotary Foundation Tribute Dinner and Alumni Reception. The fundraiser, which was held at the University of Little Rock, is planned to be an annual event.

All funds raised, including those from corporate sponsors like E-Ritter who sponsored the Marked Tree table, will go to the Rotary Foundation.

Featured speakers included Kathleen Koch, a CNN general assignment correspondent based in Washington, D.C., specializing in aviation reporting and serving as back-up correspondent at the Pentagon and the White House. Koch was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to the University of Dijon, France.

She shared about her experiences as a CNN reporter and about her work in her hometown of Bay St. Louis, Miss. after hurricane Katrina. Koch said Rotarians were some of the first to come to the aide of the devastated gulf coast city.

Mary Ann Arnold receives congratulations from Rotarian Bob Scott.

Also speaking was Robert S. Scott. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, Scott received a medical degree with distinction in dermatology and chest diseases from the University of Edinburgh in 1957. After his internship and two years of mandatory military service, he spent six years in general practice in North Wales. In 2004, Bob became a Rotary Foundation Trustee and now serves as chair.

Marked Tree's own Mary Ann Arnold was recognized as being a major donor to the Rotary Foundation. She was awarded a beautiful Rotary pendant.

The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty.

The Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world.