Eric Hanson of KCCI News-8 was the guest speaker at the annual Rotary Club Youth Leadership Event. In normal years, the event is a banquet. This year, the club gathered virtually to honor 31 Hamilton County senior students.

The Webster City Rotary Club honored 31 Hamilton County high school seniors on Sunday afternoon as part of the annual Youth Leadership Recognition event.

Held virtually this year via the Zoom platform, students, parents and Rotarians took part in the event. The group was welcomed by Webster City Rotary Club President Kyle Heffernan and Rotary After Hours Chair Tiffany Larson.

The guest speaker for the event was Eric Hanson of KCCI News-8. Hanson, who himself grew up in southern Hamilton County, shared videos from stories he has produced that demonstrated a variety of leadership qualities from people of different ages.

“We are blessed to live in this state and especially this part of the state,” Hanson told the students.

“This is the time to write your next chapter. You will have opportunities to help others,” he said. “You’re going to have choices to make and it’s up to you to make good choices and make good decisions.”

Lindsay Gelder of South Hamilton High School introduced the 11 seniors recognized from that school and Dan Johnson, WCHS principal, introduced the 20 seniors from Webster City. Each student shared a favorite leadership quote or which activities had offered them leadership opportunities.