President-Elect John Webb's Plans for New Rotary Year

At our June 16 Club Assembly, President Elect John Webb gave an exciting preview of some of his plans for his tenure as our Club President. During his introduction, he described himself as happily married, especially attached to his dog Archie, still selectively involved in his career in state government, an avid tennis player and advocate for the game, and a member of a local Whiskey Club. He indicated that we can expect him to be highly organized, able to take on a heavy workload, interactive, determined and not easily deterred, an energetic and enthusiastic person who leads by example, and an approachable person who is always willing to assist. The image above is from a previous meeting, but the fact that he has Rotary socks clearly shows his passion and enthusiasm for Rotary. The shirt shows his perhaps misdirected passion for the White Sox.   

 

He spoke briefly about the great team that will work together during the coming year. 

Ken Gilmore: President Elect and Community Services Directors

Jim Theis: Treasurer

Marty Michelson: Secretary

Randy Erford: Club Services Director

Harry Mitchell: Membership Services Director

Travis Magoulias Youth Services Director and Past President (again)

Bob Stuart: International Services Director

Directors At Large: Bonnie Styles, Allison Montney, Barry Toabias, and Loretta Meeks 

Pathway for our Club
He discussed which pathway our club should take. Although our member survey indicates some desires to take a caretaker approach and not change too much, members do like the new social nights and all agree that we need to add new members. He highlighted some of our club's strengths. Even will our reduced number of members, we remain a fund-raising powerhouse, have an international presence that many clubs don't have, give out numerous grants,offer scholarships, actively participate at the District level, and are trying new things. As examples, he spoke about Allison Montney's open house fundraiser that will provide funds for stocking the Ridgely Micropantry and Vicki Megginson's work on a New Member Orientation initiative. He indicated that he does not want to be a caretaker. He wants us to seize opportunities and expand our appeal through experimentation. He commented that everything is on the table, and nothing is settled.

 

He noted that there are about 42 Rotary Days a year. These include club meetings, club assemblies, social nights, and special nights (e.g., Holiday party, Martin Luther King Breakfast). We also have service opportunities. We will have 33 club meetings in the coming Rotary Year, and he proposed that we have 25 meetings at Maldaners and try other meeting experiences for 8 meetings (2 each quarter). He proposed that we try different times, different locations, and different days. He suggested that we modify our meetings for different formats, e.g., have the speaker talk while we eat; have Board meetings via Webex on a different day from the club meeting, and have some service events during meetings.

 

He proposed we have 7 Social Nights and the Holiday Party. He has targeted a July Social Night at the Golden Corral in recognition of all the flags they rent and to present them with a plaque. He suggested an August Social Night at Aunt Lou's Soul Food, which is right across the street from Maldaners. He recommend that we target the social nights events and be aware of community events we could tie into such as Juneteenth. 

 

He plans to take advantage of the Rotary International Themes for each month and encourages bringing in some speakers and providing some volunteer opportunities tied to those themes. He read off some of the themes. For example July is Maternal and Child Health and August is Membership and New Club Development. It would be easy to tie speakers and volunteer events into these topics.

 

He proposed that we have a volunteer opportunity each month and no less than 8 service events during the year.

 

He would like to see more interaction with other Rotary Clubs where appropriate such as our June 25 participation in the Lucky Horseshoes Rotary Night Game in Springfield.

 

He would like to see more liking, following, and sharing of our Facebook page and posts, more use of social media, and more press releases and news stories on our Club's activities. He congratulated Jim Applegate on the recent Illinois Times article on the Peace Builder Committee's partnership with the Outlet and the Social Justice Sewing Academy.

 

He wants the club to join the Chamber of Commerce. It is important for raising awareness of Rotary.

 

He wants our club to actively apply for District Club and Literacy Grants and come up with ideas for applications. 

 

He wants to cut costs for members. He mentioned the new opportunity to get some reimbursement for costs for stocking the Micropantry. He suggested that we have some free games during club meetings and try to keep the cost of dues down. He noted that our dues will be lower in the next Rotary Year.

 

He argued we should never pass up on an opportunity to ask someone to join. He also noted, that we need to get a follow-up report for our Corporate Sponsorship Launch Team, and we need to explore incentive programs for membership.

 

He pledged to support the Cubs-Cards Game despite the fact that we all know he is a White Sox fan, and he indicated the he will pay homage to Dad Jokes out of respect for Travis.

 

He toasted us with champagne and encouraged us to have fun, create new choices, explore unique and unexpected approaches, routinely have toasts to congratulate accomplishments, be open minded, get attention, acknowledge our club's rich history and bright future, and take opportunities to better our club. He concluded that the challenge will be for us to follow through.

 

 

 

 

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