It is fitting that this Rotarian died on Memorial Day. He coordinated a monument to local war dead in his community (image to left), one world famous for its architecture. And other Rotarians got the project started. They wanted to create a small memorial to recognize those who fought and died in the Vietnam War, a conflict they felt fortunate to survive. They asked their friend Nolan, a fellow Rotarian and local architect, to design it and they would gather the donations. The donations came quickly and abundantly with suggestions to make it a memorial to all who died in war. And the size and scope of the monument grew. The small, locally designed memorial became a national competition.
If you travel to Columbus, Indiana you will see a city that is on the top ten lists for significant architecture in the United States. Not for its size, top ten-period, along with New York City, Chicago, and the larger cities. And as you cross the magnificent bridge into the downtown, you will see the memorial in the lawn of the County Courthouse, a striking structure of 25 limestone pillars, with the final letters home of the dead chiseled into them. Breathtaking.
Rotarians have service to their community in their blood. Members of our Club have given much to make Springfield a great place to live, and have frequently done it independent of being Rotarians. These are the people we want to emulate, those with a heart for service who don’t worry about the credit.
Like many in our club, Nolan was generous in giving counsel when I asked. My friends, your wisdom and experience matter, and it is appreciated. Our club has a lot of talented and wise members, and I encourage those who are new to get to know as many as possible, young and old alike. It’s an amazing group.
Springfield Chamber Golf Outing July 22-23
Two years ago our Club joined the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, and made it easy for the other Springfield clubs to join as well. Last summer we sponsored a hole at the annual golf outing and pitched a canopy on Hole 17 at Piper Glen. We talked to the golfers as they crossed the course and told them the Rotary Story. Two beautiful afternoons were spent.
We will be doing it this year as well and are looking for club members to join the fun. The outing is July 22 and 23, Thursday and Friday afternoons. This year we will start at 11:45, change groups between 2:00 and 2:15, and go until the golfers wrap up between 4:00 and 4:30.
If I can figure out how to create an Airtable I will put the sign up link in upcoming newsletters. In the meantime, send me an email at dkromphardt@yahoo.com and let me know what shift you want to do. Part 5 of the 4 Way Test- Is It Fun?
Join by video system, application or Skype for business Dial 1863391428@webex.com You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number. From the Cisco internal network, dial *777* and the 9-digit meeting number. If you are the host, enter your PIN when prompted.
If you are a host, click here to view host information.
The menu for indoor dining at Maldaners Upstairs and curbside pickup for the June 7, 2021 meeting is:
Roast Sirloin of Beef
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Chef's Choice of Salad and Dessert
The deadline for signing up for in-person and curbside meals for our dinner is Sunday, June 6 at 5:00 p.m. Please use the following link to make your reservations for the meal for indoor dining or curbside pickup by clicking:
Contact Dave Kromphardt at dkromphardt@yahoo.com only if you have a late change.
For curbside users, 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 and the meals are delicious.
Last year at this time we were four months into social isolation and the only way we saw each other was when we had our weekly Webex. The solution? A socially distanced picnic at Tony and Jan Williams’ house (image to left). Bringing your own beverages and chairs, food provided by Maldaners and dished out by fellow Rotarians, DJ Travis Magoulias’ great sound system, a transition of club leadership, and a bit of foolishness mixed in. Good fun and friendship!
Guess what? It’s back -- and more! Mark your calendar for June 28, 2021!
Our world has opened up quite a bit, and Tony is cranking up his grill. We will have the food from Maldaners again (and Steve will be joining us as a club guest), and Tony is adding brats and burgers from a special source. And we welcome Barry to lead the club this coming year.
The cost is $15 per person or a meal ticket. RSVP to me at dkromphardt@yahoo.com and please 1) don’t wait until the last minute to RSVP, and 2) don’t stay away because you didn’t RSVP. This is a celebration of a great Rotary Club and the launch of a new Rotary Year!
In May 2021, the Springfield Rotary Foundation awarded grants to local nonprofits for projects that combat hunger and promote literacy in our communities. We reaffirmed these needs as high priorities for our communities during our club’s most recent visioning process and in ensuing years. Our Club’s fundraising efforts through the Flag Service Program, John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Sales, and Club meeting fundraisers totaled $35,800. These funds allowed us to provide grants in support of 12 projects (described below), and to also set aside annual support for:
Scholarships for LLCC and UIS students (supplemented by $2,200 from brag-a-bucks & 50/50),
International service projects, and
Land of Lincoln Honor Flights
The majority of our funds support local organizations that work every day to help people in our community in a variety a ways. Our grants are especially important this year given the hardships associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, we will invite some of the larger grant recipients to be our guests for dinner at a club meeting so we can thank these organizations for their work in the community and celebrate their grant projects. Descriptions of the funded projects are provided below.
Many of us had the wonderful opportunity to meet and hear from Nichole Kinkelaar (image on left), a prospective new member, at our May 24 club meeting. Her name may sound familiar because she is married to new member Garrett Kinkelaar and already volunteered with him for the May 8 Downtown Springfield clean-up event (see image in article on service hours below). She is teaching in the Chatham School District and clearly has the Rotary ethic of Service Above Self. Once she get settled in her new position, she plans to apply for membership in our Club.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for our traditional Rotary Day at the Ballpark on Saturday, May 22. All 300 tickets for the game were sold and the bus was full. A good time was had by all, and proceeds from ticket sales support our District Literacy Grant Program.
If you could not join us this time, don't worry. Another Rotary trip to the Ballpark is being scheduled.
I want to thank all of you who assisted in our first flag deployment of 2021. It was very successful. You all did a good job. There are a lot of wheels turning in this project. They include handling orders and billing, arranging with JULIE, performing installs of conduit and the actual deployment of the flags. Many phone calls had to be answered and directed. Everything came together smoothly. You all did your parts well.
That's the way Rotary works.
Gratefully,
John Loftus
P.S. If you can spare some time to assist with this project, please call or email John Loftus (jlloftus@aol.com) or Marty Michelson (exdirector@rutledgeyouthfoundation.com).
At the last several meetings, Stacy Kelly, Club Services Director, updated us on some upcoming programs. Here are some dates to mark on your calendar. Watch for more details on these meetings and programs in upcoming Newsletters. Links to the most recent three Newsletters are posted on our Website Home Page (www.spirotary.org)
June 7: Hybrid Club Meeting at Maldaners and Online
June 14: Hybrid Club Meeting at Maldaners and Online. Meet some Rotary Youth Leadership Assembly (RYLA) students and learn about their plans for a summer community service project.
June 21: Hybrid Club Meeting at Maldaners and Online. Return speaker from our New Normal Series Karl Barnhart, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Brandt Co., will join us in person to update us on the New Normal for Agriculture
June 28: Installation of New Rotary Officers. Outdoor Barbecue at Tony & Jan Williams Home!
We thank club and other volunteers for monitoring and stocking the Ridgely micro-pantry (image on left) this spring.
We thank Christine Banks for monitoring the pantry in May and for providing these three images. Christine added highly needed nutritious foods and highly desired toiletries and cleaning items (images below). We are looking for more monitors to check the pantry once a week for two week periods and stock items when it is low. Other volunteers are also providing food, and health, paper and cleaning items, and our task is to make sure it continues to be well stocked. Contact Vicki Megginson at megginson.vicki@gmail.com to sign up or learn more.
Stocking Books in Little Libraries
If you want to volunteer to stock books in the four Little Libraries that we built with support from our District Literacy Grant, contact Dave Kromphardt at dkromphardt@yahoo.com or 815-488-2787.
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 Membership Application in a new window. You can also download a 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!
It is fitting that this Rotarian died on Memorial Day. He coordinated a monument to local war dead in his community (image to left), one world famous for its architecture. And other Rotarians got the project started. They wanted to create a small memorial to recognize those who fought and died in the Vietnam War, a conflict they felt fortunate to survive. They asked their friend Nolan, a fellow Rotarian and local architect, to design it and they would gather the donations. The donations came quickly and abundantly with suggestions to make it a memorial to all who died in war. And the size and scope of the monument grew. The small, locally designed memorial became a national competition.
If you travel to Columbus, Indiana you will see a city that is on the top ten lists for significant architecture in the United States. Not for its size, top ten-period, along with New York City, Chicago, and the larger cities. And as you cross the magnificent bridge into the downtown, you will see the memorial in the lawn of the County Courthouse, a striking structure of 25 limestone pillars, with the final letters home of the dead chiseled into them. Breathtaking.
The deadline for signing up for in-person and curbside meals for our dinner is Sunday, June 6 at 5:00 p.m. Please use the following link to make your reservations for the meal for indoor dining or curbside pickup by clicking:
For curbside users, 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 and the meals are delicious.
Last year at this time we were four months into social isolation and the only way we saw each other was when we had our weekly Webex. The solution? A socially distanced picnic at Tony and Jan Williams’ house (image to left). Bringing your own beverages and chairs, food provided by Maldaners and dished out by fellow Rotarians, DJ Travis Magoulias’ great sound system, a transition of club leadership, and a bit of foolishness mixed in. Good fun and friendship!
Many of us had the wonderful opportunity to meet and hear from Nichole Kinkelaar (image on left), a prospective new member, at our May 24 club meeting. Her name may sound familiar because she is married to new member Garrett Kinkelaar and already volunteered with him for the May 8 Downtown Springfield clean-up event (see image in article on service hours below). She is teaching in the Chatham School District and clearly has the Rotary ethic of Service Above Self. Once she get settled in her new position, she plans to apply for membership in our Club.
Ridgely School Micro-Pantry
Please remember to report your service hours and related contributions. Just follow this link:
