The Pilot & Anchor Clubs of La Grange Celebrate Milestones With Special Fundraiser
2025 is truly a milestone year for The Pilot Club of La Grange, Inc. and its student organization, the Anchor Club, as they observe and celebrate the Pilot Club’s 40th anniversary and the Anchor Club’s 25th anniversary.
These two community service groups are based on the principles of “Friendship and Service” and have underwritten and sponsored events and ongoing projects that have enhanced the community lifestyle in La Grange and throughout the county for many years. Both Pilot and Anchor are part of an International Non-Profit Organization, Pilot and Anchor International, and the La Grange Clubs hold their own 501(c)3 Designation.
Best known for projects improving the quality of life for the elderly, enhancing the reading skills of the young, supporting and interacting with those who suffer from physical and intellectual disabilities, both Pilot and Anchor Clubs have embraced providing social gatherings for these underserved populations in our community through their project known as “Time Well Spent with Special Friends”, and since 1998 have given consistent monetary support and hands on participation at the Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI) Camps organized and managed each year by Pilot and Anchor Clubs in Texas.
Pilot members are especially proud to support the Anchors, who not only have a giving heart and helping hand for those in need, but who for 25 years, have shown their talent for successful fundraising! Anchors left their mark in the fundraising campaigns for the Fayette Heritage Museum and Library Renovation and Expansion and the building of St. Mark’s Medical Center.
Anchors also brought attention to the importance of preserving our historic City of La Grange Cemetery as treasure chests of the history of our city and county with the Ghosts and Gravestones Cemetery Tours. These tours were amazing history lessons and quite entertaining . . . folks buried in the cemetery seemed to come alive as Anchors shared amazing stories and facts about their lives to the delight of tour attendees.
The biggest blessing of Pilot’s relationship with their Anchor members is the energy the teens bring to projects, activities and just the building of trust between adults and teens who share common goals! Great ideas, skills (especially tech and communication), and Anchors’ desire to make a difference in our community with kind hearts continue to motivate Pilots.
Although COVID disrupted membership and activities of youth service clubs at La Grange High School as well as our Pilot Club membership, we continue to build back with unique and even fun activities and fundraising.
The two milestone anniversaries of the Pilot and Anchor Clubs of La Grange are the perfect opportunity to raise funds that will benefit the Texas Pilot Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Camp held annually at Camp for All in Burton, Tx. and the Anchor Club of La Grange High School scholarship fund.
“A Ride Back in Time” is planned to do just that. It is a celebration of La Grange’s vibrant history in the ‘50s and ‘60s and a chance to experience a nostalgic journey back in time, when lively businesses, sleek new autos, and an active social culture formed the foundation of this thriving small town. The fun event is planned for Saturday, June 14, 2025, 6 p.m., in the historic La Grange Motor Company, 140 South Washington Street (just off the square) in downtown La Grange. The evening begins with drinks and dinner – MIK’S OF SCHULENBURG is providing a wonderful dinner service and We Tend Bar of La Grange will provide expert beverage service. Attendees will be entertained by live music (including tunes of the times) and will certainly enjoy the opportunity to stroll among the exquisitely restored autos, mostly Fords and Lincolns housed in the historic venue as hosts share details of the vehicles and even a few tidbits about their owners.
The La Grange Motor Company building, in the early 1900’s, originally housed the first La Grange Ford dealership which was owned and operated by Russell Joseph’s grandfather and great uncle, Leo H. Frede and Herbert A. Frede. Later in the 1960’s it became a Ford-Mercury dealership. Mr. Joseph is also an heir to the Stolz family who established and built the L. W. Stolz Memorial and Monument business in La Grange; he and his wife, Elise, reside in the stately Stolz Home, a block south of the La Grange Motor Company Building. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph have generously offered this most inviting venue for the Pilot and Anchor Club fundraising event, Event tickets for “A Ride Back in Time” are offered as a “Couple’s Ticket” at $150.00 per couple and an “Individual” Ticket at $85.00. Online Ticketing for this event and additional details of the evening are available at www. eventbrite.com, with search A Ride Back in Time. Fees for ticketing or donations online are being covered by the event organizer, the Pilot Club of La Grange, Inc.
You can stay up with news about this event through the Fayette County Record offerings and on Facebook and Instagram posts for The Pilot Club of La Grange and La Grange Anchor Club. Additional information is available through Pilot Club Charter Members: Donella Dopslauf-Cernosek, Le Petite Gourmet Shoppe, in La Grange (979) 968-4000 or Brenda Rainosek, Anchor Club Advisor, rainosek49@gmail.com, (979) 249-6487 (text/cell); Sondra Cooper, Club Officer, (979) 250-5026 or Ginger Friemel, Club Officer, (979) 966-3201.