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Bill Bilyeu was installed as the next President of McKinney Sunrise Rotary Club at the awards and installation dinner on June 23 at Eldorado Country Club. The new president is the Administrator for the Collin County Commissioner's Court. President Bill was a member of the Plano West Rotary Club before transferring to the McKinney Sunrise Rotary Club. He previously served as President of the McKinney Sunrise Rotary Club, so this is his second time around to provide leadership for a growing club. He was the immediate past year's Sergeant-at-Arms for the club meetings.
McKinney Sunrise Rotary Club is known as "the flag club" and President Bill spends much of his time assisting with the prep work before and after each flag holiday. The club spearheaded a drive three years ago to raise $500,000 from the community to build the All-Abilities Playground at Bonnie Wenk Park in west McKinney. The project is a partnership with the McKinney Parks and Recreation Department, which held their grand opening of Bonnie Wenk Park and the All-Abilities Playground on June 15, 2019.
The McKinney Sunrise Rotary Club has funded numerous local community projects such as college scholarships through the McKinney Education Foundation; financial support for the Samaritan Inn, Meals on Wheels, Challenge Air, Crape Myrtle Trails, Holy Family School and the Heard Museum; funding for youth programs such as Interact Clubs, Rotary Youth Exchange, and Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA); and funding for international projects such as the "End Polio Now" program. The polio immunization program is the largest world-wide project funded by Rotary International to immunize the world's children from the dread disease of polio in a partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization.
Bill is a Paul Harris Fellow and has perfect attendance. He is widely known in McKinney through his duties as the Administrator for the County Commissioners Court at the Collin County Courthouse. He is a graduate of the University of Texas with a degree in business administration. An avid athlete, Bill is a runner who also enjoys spending time at the family's lake house on Lake Cypress Springs with their boat. Bill is married to Jenna, and the couple has two college-age sons who attend the University of Arkansas, and a daughter who is an incoming senior at McKinney High School. Bill's family previously hosted two Rotary Youth Exchange students from Germany and Austria two successive years. Both sons were also Rotary Youth Exchange students to Germany for a school year before entering college. International friendships among Rotary youth and their families are for a lifetime!
Bill's goals for the McKinney Sunrise Rotary Club include an increase in membership attendance and an increase in member participation of the service projects. The club meets weekly on Wednesday mornings at 7:30 AM at the Eldorado Country Club, 2604 Country Club Drive in McKinney. Rotarians from other clubs are welcome to attend McKinney Sunrise Rotary to "makeup" a missed meeting at their club. Potential members are invited to attend as a guest to determine if "service above self" is a good fit for volunteerism.
When you see President Bill, send him best wishes for a successful year in 2019-20 as the President of McKinney Sunrise Rotary Club.