Join us for a Social Night on November 14. A special celebrity speaker will increase our understanding of Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. See President's Comments and Upcoming Programs and Events for more information on this program.
This past Monday, November7, we had an informal Social Night. No speaker was scheduled. After a series of jokes (image on screen above) delivered by me, our Community Services Director, Megan Reynolds (image above), reminded everyone that numerous service opportunities are scheduled during the impending holiday season, including a volunteer opportunity at the Central Illinois Foodbank, bell-ringing in on December 2 and 3 for the Salvation Army, and numerous other opportunities to volunteer and help those in need during the December holiday season (see Volunteer Opportunities and Thanks below).
Editors Note: A highlight of the meeting, was when Bruce Strom (image below) led us in two rounds of Happy Birthday to President Randy Erford -- one the traditional version and one the "Mr. President" version made famous by Marilyn Monroe.
November 14 Club Program
Next week, on Monday, November 14, we will have a mystery guest speaker from Philadelphia (lead image for Newsletter). All members are encouraged to attend (see Upcoming Programs and Events for more information).
November 25 Club Program
In two weeks, on November 21, Kent Redfield, Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) will address the Club about the results of the recent state and national election (see upcoming Programs and Events for more information). Don't miss this presentation and consider inviting some friends.
Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee
Take note that the Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee (RRPFC) has contacted all Rotary Clubs nationwide expressing gratitude to those who have made donations to the Float for this new Rotary year. These donations have continued the organization’s 42-year effort of Promoting Rotary to the World Since 1980. Members should look for this year’s Rose Parade Rotary Float “Serving with Imagination and Hope” on January 2, 2023. If you are interested in donating or wish more information about RRPFC, contact:
Rotary also will be hosting an International Summit in Pasadena, California of the four service club presidents from Kiwanis, Lions, Optimists, and Rotary before the Rose Parade to discuss common goals and projects.
Our November 14 club meeting will be hybrid with the opportunity to dine in person at Maldaners Upstairs or dine at home by ordering a meal to pick up behind Maldaners. In either case, make a reservation!
All meals include the main course, sides, salad, and dessert. Take out meals are well packaged, and are hand delivered by Maldaner's staff, sometimes by Chef Michael Higgins!
Please make reservations for dining in or take out so we can estimate our food needs and so Maldaners knows you are coming. The deadline for reserving dinner for the November 14 meeting is Monday, November 14 at noon. Meals are $15 each. Please use the following link to make your reservations for the meal for dining in or pickup by clicking:
For curbside takeout, please place your meal tickets or cash in an envelope with your name and “for Sheila Mack” on the outside of the envelope and give it to the Maldaners staff member that gives you your food. They will get the envelopes to Sheila Mack. Curbside pickup is between 4:45 and 5:15 p.m. To pick up food, turn into the alley behind the building and pick up the food at the back door. It's easy to pick up your food an the food is delicious!
A special celebrity guest from Philadelphia will present an original program on the Life, Language, and Culture in the City of Brotherly Love. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about Philadelphia from a true Philly fanatic or should we say a "Philly Phanatic" (image below).
November 21 -- Dr. Kent Redfield: A Postmortem on the 2022 General Election in Illinois
Dr. Kent Redfield is a professor emeritus of Political Science at UIS and is affiliated with the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA) and the Center for State Policy and Leadership at UIS.
He has a BA in political science from the University of Utah and an MA and PhD in political science from the University of Washington. He has been engaged in research on the financing of political campaigns in Illinois and political ethics since 1991.
He has made hundreds of presentations on Illinois politics, money and politics, the legislative process, and lobbying. He provides political analysis and commentary for Illinois and national newspapers, radio stations, television stations, and on-line publications on a regular basis.
Dr. Redfield has authored a number of books, and articles on campaign finance, Illinois politics and political corruption. He is currently working with two co-authors on a revision of Illinois Politics: A Citizen’s Guide, published in 2010.
November 28 -- Anne Moseley: Lincoln's Legacy and the Lincoln Studies Center at UIS
Anne Moseley leads the University of Illinois Springfield’s new Sangamon Experience historic exhibition and its Center for Lincoln Studies.
She previously worked as director and curator of the Lincoln Heritage Museum at Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois. She has also worked as a project administrator at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and at the Illinois Regional Archives Depository.
Sangamon Experience is a new exhibition telling the history of the Sangamon Region of central Illinois. It opened in January, 2020 in the lower level of the Public Affairs Center at UIS.
The Center for Lincoln Studies will provide new opportunities for learning about Lincoln and the impact of his contributions. Moseley plans to engage historians in studying the legacy of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Studies Center.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and a master’s degree in public history from the University of Illinois Springfield.
December 5 -- Trevor Orthmann and Jacobsen Woollen: Events, Programs, Plans, and Business Operations of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra
Jacobsen Woollen (image on right) is a conductor, cellist, and tenor from Springfield and serves as Assistant Conductor of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Director of the Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestra, Director of the Springfield Choral Society, and Director of the UIS Orchestra.
An Indiana native, Jacobsen spent six years in Vienna, Austria, where he completed Post-Graduate work in orchestral conducting. Jacobsen completed a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan under the guidance of former IL Symphony Conductor Kenneth Kiesler. He also holds a Bacholer’ss degree from the University of Michigan.
As a member of the Grammy-winning Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Jacobsen has participated in opera productions at Theater an der Wien, as well as concerts in Europe’s most renowned venues, including Vienna’s Musikverein and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.
Trevor Orthmann (image on left) is the Executive Director of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. Trevor has over 26 years of experience in the business end of symphony orchestras. He has held the position of Executive Director with the Illinois Symphony since 2009. Prior to coming to Springfield, he was the president of the Symphony in C in Camden, New Jersey.
Trevor helped the symphony navigate through the tough years of the covid pandemic.
He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and Southern Methodist University.
December 13 -- Rotary Holiday Party
Mark Your Calendar for the Holiday Party. The holiday party has been scheduled at Christ the King on Tuesday, December 13. The time and entertainment will be announced later. Dinner will again be catered by Chef Randy.
The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) notified our club they have selected James Biggers (image above) as the recipient of our annual Francis Wenzel scholarship. Our club supports annual scholarships to UIS and Lincoln Land Community College. This year's scholarships are for $1500 each. Our club funds these scholarships primarily through club contributions to brag-a-bucks and the 50-50 drawings. Our club’s support for the UIS scholarship was acknowledged at the November 2 UIS Scholarship Luncheon at the Student Union. Vicki Megginson represented us at that event, but James was unable to attend because he is doing his semester-long student observations in Florida.
James is working towards his bachelor’s degree in Middle Grades Education, with a minor in secondary education and a concentration in the math content area. After he graduates from UIS in 2023, he plans to teach math at the high school level, but will be qualified to teach grades from 5-12. He has already used his coursework at UIS to substitute teach in local schools, including Lanphier High School. He plans to use his degree to teach in an area stricken by poverty and suffering from a shortage of educational resources.
In his thank you letter, he noted that “As a motivated student and educator, I plan to put your scholarship to exemplary use. I am so incredibly appreciative of your donation. It is valued more than words can express.”
Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) has selected Jake Johnson (image above) as the recipient for our Club’s annual John Giavaras Scholarship. Our Club’s Springfield Rotary Foundation will be recognized for supporting this $1500 scholarship at the 2022 Scholarship Donor Appreciation Reception on November 15 at the Student Union at Lincoln Land Community College. Bonnie Styles will represent our club at that event and hopes to meet Jake.
We thought you would enjoy seeing the thank you letter Jake sent when LLCC notified him that he was receiving the 2022-2023 Rotary scholarship:
Thank you for choosing me for this scholarship. This will be greatly appreciated because it makes me one step closer to getting ready for my first year at LLCC!
I am a graduate of Nokomis High School and am pursuing Engineering (Civil, possibly). I would describe myself as being hardworking, determined and self-disciplined. My favorite subjects in school are definitely math and science. This scholarship will help so much this semester especially as my plan is to get through college with as little debt as possible and your contribution will help with that. I plan on working as hard as I can to ensure that I am the best person for this scholarship.
After LLCC, I plan to transfer to SIU-Edwardsville to continue my engineering coursework there.
This coming Monday, November 14, is the deadline for reporting citrus sales. If you will not be at this meeting, you can bring your sales information to my house at 800 Wythe Road in Springfield. Call me at 217-303-9896 to coordinate the timing of the delivery. If this is not convenient, you can reply to me by email (smithveld@gmail.com) to report your sales and submit money for the citrus at a later date.
It is important to report your current sales by the November 14 deadline so there will be sufficient time to process the sales. If there are a few additional sales after this deadline, they can still be accepted if reported by Monday, November 21. If I don’t hear from you by next Monday, I may call you to make sure I get your sales. If you don’t have any sales to report this year, you can respond by email to let me know.
Thank you for your support of the Citrus Campaign! This program provides grants to many valuable nonprofit organizations in our community.
We need your help, as a Rotary leader, to raise funds and awareness for The Rotary Foundation this Giving Tuesday, 29 November. This global day of generosity is an opportunity for all Rotary members to make a big impact with a gift of any size to our Annual Fund-SHARE. Last year, we raised more than ever before — over US$1 million! We’re asking you to help us surpass that this year, so that we can do even more good together.
The Foundation will again recognize the top three clubs in fundraising, donor participation, and online giving. Find out which clubs made the list last year and set a giving goal for your club this year. Just make sure that the gifts are made on 29 November.
Thank you for your leadership and support. We know that with your help, Giving Tuesday will be a bigger success than ever.
Our Ridgely micro pantry (image above) and little library (image on left) have officially made their way back outside the building for the community to use once again! Thanks to Vicki Megginson for the image above of the well-stocked micro pantry after she added nutritious food during her August shift. Please feel free to drop off any food/toiletries/cleaning supplies as you see fit. With school back in session, families need these things now more than ever! We thank the Rotarians who signed up for a slot in August and September- August A- Bill Sturm, August B- Vicki Megginson, September A- Christine Banks, September B- Harry Mitchell. I encourage everyone to look at this list of Community Gardens and fill the pantry with local fresh fruits and vegetables whenever you're able- https://www.growspringfield.org/gardendirectory. You can see from the image on left, also provided by Vicki Megginson, the Little Library needs more books.
Rotary Service Volunteer Corp
We would like to start an email list that will get sent to members of the community who may not have the time or monetary capability to become Rotarians but would like to help those who need it most, and we need your help collecting names and organizations who may be interested in receiving those emails! We will utilize Sign Up Genius to fill slots, and we encourage all ages to join this unique volunteer opportunity. I am working on getting a flyer together, but in the mean time, please send over any leads you have to Megan at mnorman@familiadental.com.
Ringing the Bells for Salvation Army
We will be ringing the bells for Salvation Army on Friday and Saturday, December 2 and 3 at Schnuck's at Montvale Plaza. We need two volunteers for each shift. We are scheduling one hour shifts on December 2 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on December 3 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. A sign up sheet was passed around at our October 24 and November 7 meetings. Let me know if you would like to sign up. The image on the right is from last year!
One Stop Shopping Event
There will be opportunities to donate wrapping paper for the Salvation Army, Toys for Tots, and Crisis Nursery holiday event. This One Stop Shopping event will be held Friday, December 16 all day at White Oaks Mall. If you want to volunteer you can sign up for a 2 hour and 15 minute shift. Some volunteers will wrap presents, and some will serve as personal shoppers.
Rutledge Foundation Youth Angel Tree
We will again be providing Angel Tree gifts for Rutledge Foundation Youth. More information for this volunteer opportunity will be provided soon.
We are repeating a list of suggestions of foods and other items to stock in the Ridgely Food Pantry. These suggestions came from people who use food pantries to help feed their families.
1. Everyone donates Kraft Mac and Cheese in the box. They can rarely use it because it needs milk and butter, which is difficult to get from regular food banks. 2. Boxed milk is a treasure, as kids need it for cereal, which they also get a lot of. 3. Everyone donates pasta sauce and spaghetti noodles. 4. They cannot eat all the awesome canned veggies and soup unless you put a can opener in too or buy pop tops.* 5. Oil is a luxury and needed for Rice a-Roni, which they also get a lot of. 6. Spices or salt and pepper would be a real Holiday gift. 7. Tea bags and coffee make them feel like you care. 8. Sugar and flour are treats. 9. They fawn over fresh produce donated by farmers and grocery stores. 10. Seeds are cool in Spring and Summer because growing can be easy for some. 11. They rarely get fresh meat. 12. Tuna and crackers make a good lunch. 13. Hamburger Helper goes nowhere without ground beef. 14. They get lots of peanut butter and jelly but usually not sandwich bread. 15. Butter or margarine is nice too. 16. Eggs are a real commodity. 17. Cake mix and frosting makes it possible to make a child’s birthday cake. 18. Dishwashing detergent is very expensive and is always appreciated. 19. Feminine hygiene products are a luxury and women will cry over that. 20. Everyone loves Stove Top Stuffing.
* At our November 29 club meeting, Ross Hodel reported that he followed this advice and stocked numerous can openers in the Ridgely Pantry. He noted that they were quickly snapped up.
Do you know or are you someone who has a passion to give back to your community? The Rotarians in this image are helping pack essential items for the Illinois Police Department to give to homeless individuals in our community. As a Rotarian, you adhere to the principles of the 4-way Test., which are:
Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Good Will and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?
If you find value in these ideals and want to be part of a great organization, right click on the attached link to open our online Membership Application in a new window. You can also click on this link to download an electronic copy of the Membership Application from our Club's website Home Page (www.spirotary.org) in the Download Files section. You can send the completed application to the Membership Committee at illinoisdelta@hotmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
Please email images of service activities to Bonnie Styles at bonstyles@yahoo.com. It's easy to take pictures if you have a smartphone, but even an old style camera works just fine. Send me an email (bonstyles@yahoo.com) to let me know when you will be volunteering for a service project, and I will come out and take some images.
Be sure to turn in your Flag Service Project hours, Central IL Foodbank hours, chicken fundraiser hours (image below), and any other volunteer hours that you have not reported. We thank Alec Tobias for frequently joining his dad Barry on our service projects.
For curbside takeout, please place your meal tickets or cash in an envelope with your name and “for Sheila Mack” on the outside of the envelope and give it to the Maldaners staff member that gives you your food. They will get the envelopes to Sheila Mack. Curbside pickup is between 4:45 and 5:15 p.m. To pick up food, turn into the alley behind the building and pick up the food at the back door. It's easy to pick up your food an the food is delicious!
Dr. Kent Redfield is a professor emeritus of Political Science at UIS and is affiliated with the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA) and the Center for State Policy and Leadership at UIS. 
Anne Moseley leads the University of Illinois Springfield’s new 
Jacobsen Woollen (image on right) is a conductor, cellist, and tenor from Springfield and serves as Assistant Conductor of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Director of the Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestra, Director of the Springfield Choral Society, and Director of the UIS Orchestra.
Trevor Orthmann (image on left) is the Executive Director of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. Trevor has over 26 years of experience in the business end of symphony orchestras. He has held the position of Executive Director with the Illinois Symphony since 2009. Prior to coming to Springfield, he was the president of the Symphony in C in Camden, New Jersey.
Our Ridgely micro pantry (image above) and little library (image on left) have officially made their way back outside the building for the community to use once again! Thanks to Vicki Megginson for the image above of the well-stocked micro pantry after she added nutritious food during her August shift. Please feel free to drop off any food/toiletries/cleaning supplies as you see fit. With school back in session, families need these things now more than ever! We thank the Rotarians who signed up for a slot in August and September- August A- Bill Sturm, August B- Vicki Megginson, September A- Christine Banks, September B- Harry Mitchell. I encourage everyone to look at this list of Community Gardens and fill the pantry with local fresh fruits and vegetables whenever you're able- 
We will be ringing the bells for Salvation Army on Friday and Saturday, December 2 and 3 at Schnuck's at Montvale Plaza. We need two volunteers for each shift. We are scheduling one hour shifts on December 2 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on December 3 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. A sign up sheet was passed around at our October 24 and November 7 meetings. Let me know if you would like to sign up. The image on the right is from last year!
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