U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore stopped Thursday in Lawrence for a campaign singing gig and to salute the city’s Boys and Girls Club students.

“Will all of you sing a song if I will?” the Kansas Democrat asked.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore sings This

“Yes!” replied many of the 250 children who participated in the club’s summer program.

Moore, who strummed an acoustic guitar to good effect in previous campaigns, led kids in “This Land is Your Land.”

He then made clear the students’ place in history.

“You are the future of our country,” he said.

The tune added to the festive vibe of the Boys and Girls Club’s end-of-summer gathering. Programs were operated this summer at Cordley, New York and Langston Hughes schools as well as the club’s headquarters at 15th Street and Haskell Avenue.

Staff, students and volunteers rounded out the event by sharing a dinner of hot dogs, chips and soft drinks.

Looking back on the past couple months, Kirsten McKay and Jason Graham, both 7, pondered highlights of the program.

“I loved going to the swimming pool and going down the slide,” McKay said.

Graham’s favorite activity was academic.

“The best part of being at Cordley was going to the computer lab,” he said.

The Boys and Girls Club collaborated this summer with Lawrence/Douglas County Promise, part of America’s Promise: The Alliance for Youth, to work with the children on common themes.

The groups aim to provide a safe, healthy place for kids among caring adults, to offer children an opportunity to serve and develop marketable skills through education.

While in Lawrence, Moore also visited three businesses in the East Hills Business Park. He took tours of Sauer-Danfoss, Kinedyne and NCS Pearson.