Sertoma helps hearing health while lighting up the sky

Serving health for 45 years

Butch Johnson goes up for two points for the Dallas Cowboys affiliated "Hoopsters" in the game against the Georgetown Sertoma Club. Johnson contributed only 4 points, but he gave his share in crowd-pleasing entertainment. Photo taken on March 27, 1982.

Georgetown Sertoma — a loose acronym for “Service to Mankind” — has been serving the local community for 45 years.

The group is a part of the international Sertoma Inc. a large nonprofit organization of charity clubs that was chartered in 1912. The service organization brings people together to im- prove the lives of others, with a special focus on hearing health support.

Jim Wilson is Georgetown Sertoma’s current president and the director of SHARP, the Sertoma Hearing Aid Recycle Program. Before joining the group in 1979, he said he was looking to “make an impact in Georgetown,” and chose Sertoma specifically be- cause his youngest son experienced a hearing issue.

“I saw how it affected him,” Mr. Wilson said. “So I thought, ‘You know what? I bet there’s a lot of kids that have that same problem.’ That attracted me to [Sertoma].”

He said giving back to the community is incredibly fulfilling. The club also allows for networking opportunities between members of the Georgetown business and nonprofit community. In his role, Mr. Wilson said he has been able to connect people in the club, as well as those looking for help in the community.

“It’s kind of like the feeling you get at Christmas when you’re giving gifts away to people," Mr. Wilson said.

Community service

As part of the club’s core mission, Georgetown Sertoma has seven hearing aid donation collection centers. Once donated, hearing aids are recalibrated and cleaned before being distributed to people that need them.

The group recently identified two students in the Georgetown public school system in need of hearing aids and are in the pro- cess getting their needs fulfilled, Mr. Wilson said.

Sertoma also helped install a few Hearing Counter Loop machines on the countertops at the city service center, the county appraisal office and the tax office. These devices allow people with hearing devices to clearly hear who is speaking behind the desk.

Beyond hearing support, Sertoma also helps organize the annual Red Poppy Bike Ride and the Fourth of July Family Festival and Fireworks in San Gabriel Park. The group has also helped display flags at businesses on national holidays.

Georgetown Sertoma also raises money for the Georgetown Advocacy Center, supports Georgetown Free Bikes and sponsors two Ser-teen clubs at Georgetown high schools. The group also provides scholarships for high school seniors.

Early roots

Mr. Wilson was one of the founding members of the group in 1979. He said for the past 45 years, Sertoma has connected the Georgetown community in “amazing ways.”

An early connection had the Dallas Cowboys’ football team play a charity basketball game against Georgetown Sertoma members to raise money for the group’s causes. Participants included football legend Ed ‘Too Tall’ Jones. Tim Kennedy, Georgetown’s mayor at the time and a Sertoma member, used his connections to contact the Dallas Cowboys’ manager to challenge them to a game during the off-season, Mr. Wilson remembered.

“Sure enough, they called back a week later and said. ‘Sure we would love to play Georgetown Sertoma.’ We got the town so ex- cited,” Mr. Wilson said. “It gives me goosebumps talking about it.”

He said one of the Sertoma members was a car dealer and gathered a few vehicles that were Cowboys colors to pick the team up.

“We picked up the cowboys at the airport in Austin in the cars and drove them to the basketball gym at southwestern,” Mr. Wil- son said. “Then we auctioned off the cars. They made a killing. It was cool.”

During the game, Mr. Wilson said that the Dallas Cowboys were performing like the Harlem GlobeTrotters, showing their skills in an entertaining way. The Georgetown community loved it, and the Southwestern gym was packed.

“We had people hanging out of the [bleachers]. I mean they were everywhere.” Mr. Wilson said.

The next year, the group contacted the Dallas Cowboys again— challenging them to another game. Mr. Wilson said that surprisingly, they agreed to come again. However, this time Georgetown Sertoma recruited a few Southwestern basketball players to play. Sertoma claimed they had “lowered their membership age,” which was not true at the time. Georgetown Sertoma lost the game again, but they had a ton of fun and raised money while doing it, Mr. Wilson said.

Into the future

As for the group’s current endeavors, Sertoma has been working to get more young professionals to join. The club historically has been filled with older adults, but as members move away, get older or pass away, membership dwindles.

Sertoma is currently experiencing a rebound in membership. Mr. Wilson said the group realizes younger people are busy building their careers, but he hopes Sertoma can attract people by offering a great way to make both personal and professional connections. Anyone who is above the age of 18 can join.

For more information about the organization, visit gtxsertoma.org or call Mike Cook, the vice president, at 512- 930-9705, to learn more about membership.

Hearing aid donation locations

Georgetown Sertoma has seven hearing aid donation collection centers:

Georgetown Public Library, 402 West Eighth Street, Georgetown Advanced Hearing Solutions, 5353 Williams Drive, Ste. 112, Georgetown
Hill Country Audiology, 100 River Hills Drive, Georgetown