Three girls sports coaches from Trenton High School presented the program at the Thursday, August 17 meeting of the Trenton Rotary Club, held at the BTC Bank community room. Brian Upton presided at the meeting, Dan Wilford gave the prayer and Steve Taylor was the sergeant at arms.
Tennis Coach Tammy Ockenfels, Volleyball Coach Brad Ewald, and Softball Coach Madi Trump Stillwell discussed their respective upcoming seasons with members. Mrs. Ockenfels has 11 girls out for tennis, including three seniors. The team’s season starts on Aug. 31, with the first home match on Sept. 1. The team has finished second in the district tournament the last two years and Mrs. Ockenfels said this year’s goal is to win the district title. There are four returning starters from last year.
Ewald has 25 girls out for the team, including three seniors. The first meet will be on Aug. 30 at Cameron, with the first home meet on Sept. 9 against Cameron. As the team has never won a district title, Ewald said he would like to see the Bulldogs “put a banner on the wall” this season. He said the team has shown a lot of improvement from last year when the team placed second at the district tournament. He also mentioned the team plans to have camps for youth in younger grades who have an interest in volleyball.
Mrs. Stillwell has 23 girls out for this year’s team, which opens play in the Cameron Tournament on Aug. 27-28 before playing their first home game on Monday, August 30. Trenton will also be hosting the pre-season jamboree on Aug. 21. There are six senior members on the team, with five being available to play as the sixth player, a pitcher, injured her ACL and will not be able to compete this year. The team will have three pitchers, one senior and two freshmen.
During the business meeting, Troy Smith was presented with a Paul Harris Fellow, making him a two-time recipient. He has been a member of the local club since 1985.
It was announced the annual Rotary Fish Fry will be held on Saturday, Sept. 18 at the FFA cookshack on the NCM Fairgrounds. It will be a drive-through event with additional information to be announced later.
The program at the Aug 26 meeting will be presented by Ron Dougan, who will talk about the Dream Factory and the upcoming fundraiser, featuring a concert by Rhonda Vincent in the Trenton Performance Arts Center.
