BY SHERI TRUSTY

B-C-S Treasurer Cajon Keeton was named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International. (Submitted photo)

OAK HARBOR – Benton-Carroll-Salem Local School District Treasurer, Cajon Keeton, was recently named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Keeton, who is a past president and longtime member of the Rotary Club of Oak Harbor, was honored for outstanding community impact and financial generosity to the club.

Keeton was presented with the award at the Jan. 13 Rotary Club of Oak Harbor meeting.

“I was definitely surprised,” he said. “I was very humbled. They did catch me off guard a little bit.”

The Rotary Club of Oak Harbor has been impacting the community since its first meeting 84 years ago on Jan. 26, 1942. Since that time, 47 members have been named Paul Harris Fellows.

“Cajon is in good company,” said Rotary Club of Oak Harbor President, Deb Meek.

Keeton is grateful to be a part of the strongly civic-minded group. He joined the club after becoming the school district’s treasurer 11 years ago.

“I grew up in Ottawa County, but not in Oak Harbor, and the club does a number of great community service projects in Oak Harbor and across Ottawa County,” he said.

The club places a strong focus on funding college scholarships, but Keeton said the small projects are just as important to him.

“If something needs painted at the park or a student needs a bed, we’re always stepping up to help,” he said. “Our motto is ‘Service Above Self.’ We donate to food pantries and help fund area nonprofits. We’re big on keeping the money here in Ottawa County.”

Meek said Keeton is a dedicated Rotarian who emcees the club’s annual Reverse Raffle in February that raises thousands of dollars for college scholarships. He is not only financially generous to the club, but he is an inspiration to others.

“At our Christmas party in December, we had an auction and raised enough money to donate $3,000 to local food pantries,” Meek said. “Cajon helped with that and encouraged others to get involved.”

But it’s not just the opportunity to serve that kept Keeton in Rotary for 11 years.

“It’s mainly the people. We have a great group of Rotarians here in Oak Harbor,” he said. “We all come together to do great things in the community.”

The Rotary Club of Oak Harbor meets every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Oak Harbor branch of Croghan Colonial Bank. The club is looking for more people to join.

“We welcome new people who would like to join us or attend a meeting to learn more about our club and activities,” Meek said.

For more information, visit https://ohrotary.org.