Rotary Diamond Raffle 2026
This year’s diamond raffle prize is one pair of ladies 14 kt white gold four-prong solitaire earrings set with genuine, naturally mined, round brilliant cut diamonds for a total diamond weight of 2.02 carats. Color: H;  Clarity VS2. 
Appraised Value: $14,950.
 

Only 150 raffle tickets will be sold at  $100 each. 

All the net proceeds fund Rotary service 
projects in 2026. 
 

ROTARY CASINO NIGHT FUNDRAISER COMBINES MARDI GRAS FUN AND AIR FORCE HISTORY AT THE COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE MUSEUM

The Rotary Club of San Marcos is hosting a Mardi Gras theme Casino Night fundraiser on Friday, February 13 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. It is the night before Valentine’s Day. La Cima will serve as the Presenting Sponsor for the event.

The venue for the Casino will be the Centex Wing of the Commemorative Air Force Museum, 2249 Airport Road, San Marcos. There will be casino games, Cajun food, beer and wine, prizes and a $15,000 diamond raffle. Attendees are encouraged to wear beads, masks, and other Mardi Gras accessories. The Museum hanger will be festively decorated for the Sweethearts’ Mardi Gras theme.

The Central Texas Wing Museum houses seven aircraft for which the Wing has maintenance and restoration responsibility: a very-rare flying Bell P-39Q Airacobra Miss Connie, the NAA B-25J Yellow Rose, a Vultee BT-13 Valiant, and a Cessna U-3A Administrator, Beech C-45 Expeditor Lone Star Lady, the NAA AT-6 Texan, and the Douglas Sktrain C-47 named That's All Brother. The museum is open on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday each week from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. The organization is nonprofit and volunteers do all the work.

The Commemorative Air Force (CAF), formerly known as the Confederate Air Force, is an American non-profit organization based in Dallas that preserves and exhibits historical aircraft at airshows and museums, primarily in the U.S. and Canada. The CAF began in 1953, and today has about 13,000 members, more than 70 chapters, and more than 170 aircraft, including the world's largest collection of airworthy military aircraft.

Sponsorships and reserved tables for eight are available in advance by emailing SMTXrotary@gmail.com. General admission $50 tickets will be limited. The link to purchase a single admission ticket is https://buy.stripe.com/fZu00c0bK6CE5h68agfMA02 To purchase tickets for a couple use the link https://buy.stripe.com/7sY8wI4s02mo8ti9ekfMA03

Rotary is nonprofit, nonpolitical and nonreligious. Proceeds support a variety of Rotary club service projects, including funding for the new “Dick Burdick / Rotary International Scholarship” at Texas State University. The Rotary Club of San Marcos is 104 years old. SMTXrotary.com SMTXrotary@gmail.com

ROTARY PROGRAM FOCUSES ON THE  D-DAY INVASION OF 1944

On January 7, the  Rotary Club of San Marcos hosts Dwayne Lee for a historical program about the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944. D-Day was the largest military amphibious invasion in history. Rotary meets at noon at the VFW Hall at 1701 Hunter Road and always welcomes visitors to its meetings.

Lee titled his presentation “All Gave Some…Some Gave All.”  The presentation includes  a logistical overview of the military operation, as well as a  visual tour of the American Cemetery in Normandy, France burial site for 9,388 U.S. military service personnel. He says his audiences tell him that one of the most moving parts of his presentation is a video of the daily flag ceremony conducted at the American Cemetery.

In addition to giving almost 300 historical presentations about D-Day to service clubs, church groups and senior citizens, Lee takes small groups each summer to Normandy to tour the site. He traces his passion for this part of American history to his father, who joined the Army Air Force in 1942 and became a C-47 pilot during the war. His father also trained many of the glider pilots who landed in Normandy on D-Day. What motivates him, he says, is the desire to keep the memory alive of the great sacrifices made by the men and women of the Allied military on D-Day.