At our September 30 Meeting, Bill Smith honored former club member John Montgomery (image on left) and launched the 2024 John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Sale. Mike Armstrong presented on Climate Change and Cultivating Climate Solutions at this meeting. Dave Joens, Chairman of the Illinois Flag Commission, provided a lively history of the Illinois State Flag at our October 7 meeting. Scott Dahl, Director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, will be our featured speaker for our October 14 club meeting. The stories below and Upcoming Programs and Events provide for more information on all of these topics.
September 30 Club Meeting Highlighted the John Montgomery Citrus Sale and a Speaker on Climate Change
Our Citrus Warehouse Czar, Bill Smith, launched our 2024 John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Campaign and honored former club member John Montgomery, for whom the campaign is named (lead images). Bill Smith's articles below honor John Montgomery and provide more details for the citrus campaign launch. At the same meeting, Mike Armstrong, Central Illinois Citizens' Climate Lobby, spoke about the causes and impacts of climate warming and the Climate Lobby's grassroot efforts to cultivate climate solutions and get congress to enact climate laws that will slow current detrimental trends in climate. I was honored to present Mike with a Rotary mug (image below). John Webb's story below provides more information on Armstrong's presentation.
October 7 Club Meeting Featured a Presentation on the History of the Illinois State Flag
At our October 7 club meeting, Dave Joens, Chairman of the Illinois State Flag Commission and Director of the Illinois State Archives, discussed the History of the Illinois State Flag and the ongoing design competition that may result in a new design for this flag. I offer special thanks to our President Elect John Webb for presiding over this meeting while I was ill and for presenting Dave Joens with his Rotary mug (image below).
October 7 Club Member Book Drive for Little Libraries
Our October 7 Book Drive for Club Members was a success! Club members brought in gently used and new books for elementary school children, teens, young adults, and adults to be stocked in the five Little Libraries we built, plus an additional little library at the Outlet. We thank the numerous members who donated books. Club members brought in the books shown in the image on left, plus Sheila Mack contributed two more boxes of books that were still in her car trunk! We also thank John Webb, Sheila Mack (image below), and Bonnie Styles for transporting the books to John's car. John has been helping Allie Montney stock the Little Libraries. The image below shows Sheila and John with two of the books that were donated. The newsletter article below by Allie and John gives more information on our Little Libraries.
Rotary District Conference and Foundation Dinner on October 12
The Rotary District 6460 Conference will be held at UIS Student Union on Saturday, October 12 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It will be followed by the Rotary Foundation Dinner from 5:00 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. The theme of this years District Conference is The Magic of Friendship. I hope your are not missing this opportunity to hear some great speakers, learn about excellent projects and programs, celebrate the successes of Interact, Rotaract, and Rotary Clubs, and make some great new friends. The registration deadline for the Foundation dinner was September 29. See District Governor Dan O'Brien's article below for more information.
October 14 Club Meeting Features Scott Dahl
Join us on October 14 in Maldaners Upstairs to hear Scott Dahl (image below), Director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. He will discuss Springfield tourism. See Upcoming Programs and Events for more information.
Club Holiday Party will be held on December 17!
It official! Our annual Holiday Party has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 17. We will hold our event at the Christ the King Parrish Hall in Springfield. A delicious meal will again be provided by Chef Randy Williams. The Williamsville Madrigals will provide our musical entertainment. Mark your calendar now, and don't miss this wonderful chance to celebrate the holidays. Stay tuned for more details.
When we meet at Maldaner's, please submit your reservations for dinner! Click on the link embedded below and enter the date, your name, dine in/carry out and number of meals being consumed in the restaurant and/or carried out prior to each meeting. Preferably, everyone will fill out the form by noon on the Friday before the upcoming meeting. We have given Jesse at Maldaner's access to the view, so it will help him with planning. As always, we will direct him to have a few additional servings available for members who forget or last minute guests.
The same link will work for the entire Rotary year and will be shared within each Newsletter, so do not delete the Newsletter until you have submitted your dinner information. Please remember that the three most recent Newsletters can also be accessed from the Website Home Page (www.spirotary.org) so you can also access the link for reservations from the Website Home Page (www.spirotary.org).
At or September 30 club meeting, we launched our annual Citrus Drive: The John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Drive. Let me explain why we honor John Montgomery (image above) in this manner. We began honoring him after we started our fishing tournament in 2010. We were looking for a name for the tournament. It became the John Montgomery Memorial Fishing Tournament. The fishing tournament was interrupted in 2020 by the pandemic and has since been halted. We decided to continue honoring John by naming our annual citrus drive after him.
So, who was John Montgomery? Born in Mason City, he overcame a difficult life to become a leading citizen of Springfield. He was a WWII Army veteran. Following his military service, John began work as a postal carrier in Mason City. He then went to work at the Springfield Clinic. He eventually became the administrator, today he would be called the CEO. He held this position for thirty-five years. When he joined the clinic in 1955 there were only 30 doctors; when he retired, there were over 100 doctors. He laid the foundation for what today is the outreach of the Springfield Clinic.
John was active with church, medical and civic groups. He joined our club in 1956. He was a Paul Harris Fellow and a past president of our club. He had 53 years of perfect attendance as a Rotarian. He was president of our club for the 1965-1966 fiscal year. Under his leadership, the club made four decisions that even today impact the way we operate, he did so by:
Sponsoring the Rotary Club of Springfield South as the second Rotary Club
Holding the club’s first community fundraiser, which was an auction
Organizing donations to local charities
Establishing the Springfield Rotary Foundation
John Montgomery was born on December 10, 1923; he died on September 13, 2009 at the age of 85. Last December was the 100-year anniversary of his birth. From humble beginnings, to community leader, that was John Montgomery!
We are proud to remember John Montgomery as a wonderful citizen and Rotarian. We keep his memory alive through the John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Drive.
The annual John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Drive is underway. Packets with information about this year’s campaign were passed out at our September 30th meeting. This year we are going to have California oranges and Florida grapefruit. We are using California oranges because of their quality versus the high maintenance aspect of Florida oranges. And as you know, we couldn’t get Florida oranges last year and already this year Florida oranges will not be available.
The cost for a large carton of California oranges is $8.00 to $10.00 higher than what we paid for a large carton of Florida oranges. Consequently, this year we have raised the price for all large citrus cartons to $60.00 except for grapefruit which will be $55.00 for a large carton. Accordingly, the price for all small citrus cartons will be $35.00 except for grapefruit small cartons which will remain at $30.00.
In selling citrus; the question remains: How do you convince a potential customer to buy a large quantity of citrus? First of all, the citrus will keep for an extended period of time, so it doesn’t have to be used in a short period. The oranges can last for five to six weeks; the grapefruit can last for ten to twelve weeks. If there is still resistance to buying the citrus, you can always present the idea of buying citrus for the foodbank. This choice provides citrus for food pantries, and the profit from the sale will be used to help other local charities.
This year’s Citrus Drive lasts for six weeks and concludes on Monday, November 11th. Don’t wait to the last minute to get started. Good luck in your efforts to sell citrus!
Our Rotary 2024-2025 Inbound Exchange student Kyosuke Kawasaki from Osaka, Japan attended our October 7 club meeting. He was accompanied by club member William Kempiners, who is serving as Kyo's Youth Exchange Counselor. Kyo is attending school at Springfield High School and is living with host parents in Leland Grove. Our club and the Springfield South Club are co-sponsoring Kyo. Club members enjoyed getting a chance to meet and speak with him and look forward to getting to know him better.
Two visiting Rotarians from Rotary Clubs in the state of Baja California, Mexico attended our October 7 club meeting and briefly spoke to our club. Joaquin Jimenez (image on left), from the Rotary Club of Bajamar, is working with Baja Bridges (a volunteer organization founded by Rotarian Katharine Turner to provide emergency equipment to Baja, Mexico) to make arrangements to get a fire engine that Raymond, Illinois is donating. After some maintenance work, it needs to be transported to Baja, Mexico at an estimated cost of $30,000. Joaquin is trying to get support from Rotary Clubs for this endeavor. Vianey Castellanos (image below) of the Rotary Club of Tijuana also spoke briefly about her club.
Katharine Turner announced it was Joaquin's birthday so we all sang the Happy Birthday song (image below).
Following their presentations, President Elect John Webb presented them with our club's Rotary Flag (image below).
This invitation was emailed to members in District 6460 on September 11. It included working registration links for the invitation you received to the Rotary District 6460 Fall Conference on September 10.
I was excited to invite you to the Rotary District 6460 Fall Conference, and hope you registered and are attending. The conference is being held at the Student Union at the University of Illinois, Springfield on Saturday, October 12th. The conference begins at 9:30 and ends at 4:00. This year’s Rotary theme is “The Magic of Rotary.” The theme was chosen by our president, Stephanie Urchick, to highlight Rotary’s power to save lives. We will celebrate the Magic of Rotary with award-winning entertainer, motivational speaker and sleight of hand artist Mitch Williams who will amaze, amuse and inspire you! This Canton Rotarian is an accomplished artist and authority on peak performance and human potential.
I hope you are joining us as we highlight the achievements of and learn from our younger members in Interact, Rotaract and Rotary clubs around the district. You won’t want to miss Cambridge Rotarian John Taylor as he discusses the friendships he made during his service in Iraq. Aunt Dot will share her moving polio journey.
The conference is a great opportunity to learn what the other 1800 members in our district are doing and how they are connecting in their community and with clubs around the world.
Please sign up for the District Conference today at the Rotary District 6460 Website. Click here to register for the Conference. The cost of the ticket is $55.00 and includes parking and lunch. There is also an option to participate online for $25.
Yours in service,
Dan O’Brien
District Governor 2024-25 Rotary District 6460 (217)-313-0425
P.S. Our Rotary Foundation Dinner begins at 5:00 pm in the same room. The cost for the dinner ticket is $80. There is also an option to participate online for $25. The foundation dinner will celebrate club achievements over the past year. The deadline for signing up for the Foundation Dinner was September 29.
Under the leadership of Club President, Megan Reynolds, our club partnered with two other Springfield Rotary Clubs on October 4, and we participated in the United Way of Central Illinois Day of Action (image above).
We worked for the Safe Families for Children Springfield/Decatur. They serve families in need in the Greater Springfield area. The image below shows Megan with their Director, Kasey Miller.
We assisted in refurbishing the inner appearance of their new office by giving the walls a fresh coat of paint (image on left and below).
We also organized the children’s toys (image on left) and clothing (image below) to make them easier to access and use in the future. Megan's mom and sister helped us sort clothes.
We really enjoyed helping out the Springfield Chapter of Safe Families for Children in its efforts to transform the spaces where they meet with families, as well as donors and their board, into a warm and inviting environment.
Our Club certainly had fun with flags at our Monday night meeting at Maldaners Upstairs.
Dave Joens (image below), Illinois State Archives Director and Chairman of the Illinois Flag Commission, enhanced our knowledge about the Illinois State Flag. He presented to us the history of the state seal and the state flag and current efforts that are under way to possibly redesign the state flag. He also added in a brief look at the City of Chicago flag.
Regarding the state seal and the state flag, accompanied by pictures of the seals and flags, Dave highlighted the following:
Illinois has had three state seals since becoming a state. The current seal (image below) is on the Illinois State Flag.
• The first seal used in what is now Illinois was that of the Northwest Territory in 1788.
• The design of the second seal after Illinois gained statehood was a duplicate of the Great Seal of the United States and was used until 1839.
• Secretary of State Sharon Tyndale created the third seal, which remains in use today. Tyndale proposed reversing the words “State Sovereignty, National Union” in light of the Civil War. While the original wording remained, Tyndale did change the banner’s placement on the seal with “Sovereignty” reading upside down, decreasing its legibility.
The current state seal depicts an eagle with a banner in its beak with the State Motto, “State Sovereignty, National Union.” The words “Seal of the State of Illinois” and Aug. 26th 1818 (the date the first Illinois Constitution was signed) encircle the design.
Illinois has had two official state flags.
• Ella Park Lawrence, the State Regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), advocated for the creation of the first state flag, which included a contest among Illinois DAR chapters to design it. Lucy Derwent of the Rockford DAR chapter won the contest and the flag was adopted in July of 1915.
• In 1969 the state flag was modified to include the state's name so it would be more easily identifiable. This change was made at the request Bruce McDaniel of Waverly, who was serving in Vietnam. He was vexed by the identity of the Illinois state flag in his mess hall often being questioned because the flag didn’t carry the state name.
• At the request of Governor Ogilvie, to ensure uniformity of design and color of the state flag, Sanford Hutchinson of Greenfield designed a new flag adopted as the official Illinois State Flag in July of 1970. The design features a white field with the word “Illinois” and an exact replica of the state seal (images below).
A redesign of the Illinois State Flag is currently being considered by the Illinois Flag Commission. As chairman of the Illinois Flag Commission, Dave expressed the following about the Commission and the redesign process:
The 22 member Illinois Flag Commission was created in 2023 after legislation sponsored by State Senator Doris Turner and State Representative Kam Buckner was signed into law.
The Flag Commission will select 10 designs based on how they reflect the identity of Illinois. To date, the Flag Commission has received approximately 1,600 submissions.
13 flag designs will be submitted to the public for an online vote to determine a favorite.
The 13 designs are the 10 Flag Commission selected designs, the current state flag, the centennial flag from 1918, and the sesquicentennial flag from 1968. Voting will begin on January 1, 2025.
Finally, after the vote, the Flag Commission will report its findings to the Illinois General Assembly, whose members will vote on whether to adopt a new state flag or retain the current state flag design.
Our Club appreciates Dave cultivating our knowledge about our state seal and state flag. We also wish him and the Illinois Flag Commission success in navigating the flag design selection process and completing an insightful report about whether or not a new state flag should be adopted or the current state flag should remain in place.
The Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a nonprofit, nonpartisan grassroots advocacy organization that seeks to educate the public about climate change and build the political will to implement national policies that address climate change.
At our September 30th meeting, Michael Armstrong (image on left) of the Central Illinois Chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby spoke to our Club about climate change and the need to adopt policies that will solve climate change problems and ensure a healthy climate.
Michael made the following observations/statements after providing us with an overview of greenhouse gas emissions and where they come from:
1. Climate change and pollution are real.
Scientific observations conclude that since the mid-20th century, human activity, particularly fossil fuel burning, are driving increases in heat trapping greenhouse gas levels in the Earth’s atmosphere that raise the Earth’s average surface temperature, and result in various forms of detrimental environmental consequences, including, but not limited to, catastrophic storms, rising sea levels and severe droughts.
He noted that global temperatures have recently broken records for 14 consecutive months.
2. Swift and significant reductions in greenhouse emissions are needed in the upcoming decades.
Without these reductions, our world will not be able to stay within a 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) temperature increase by 2050 above industrial temperature needed to mitigate the most severe impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events.
This measure refers to the goal of limiting global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the year 2050, as outlined in the Paris Agreement and emphasized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
As of 2024, the increase is at 1.3 Celsius (2.34 Fahrenheit)
3. To achieve 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, global greenhouse gas emissions need to reach net-zero by that date, meaning any emissions produced must be offset by carbon removal technologies.
These technologies encompass wind, solar, waste efficiency, nuclear, hydro, and hydrogen capabilities.
4. The implementation of an economy-wide carbon fee will help the United States meet its carbon reduction benchmarks through 2050.
A price is put on carbon emissions. The fee is paid by the entity emitting carbon dioxide, typically businesses or industries that produce greenhouse gases. The government collects this money, which can then be used for green initiatives, providing tax rebates to citizens or reducing other taxes. The fee also incentivizes the emitting businesses or consumers to convert to clean energy.
5. Any individual or group can get involved to effectuate effective solutions to climate change.
This can be done by (1) educating themselves about climate change, (2) expressing the need for climate change solutions to your congressman, (3) voting for candidates that support climate change mitigation policies and (4) incorporating clean energy technologies into their lifestyles.
Our Club appreciates Michael and the Central Illinois Chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby efforts to raise public awareness about climate change and collaboratively promote solutions to address and mitigate its consequences.
Please remember that we are including some social night meetings at locations other than Maldaners. Please pay attention to the meeting schedule listed the Newsletter, on our website home page (www.spirotary.org), and on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram pages for the dates and locations of the meetings. I am in the process of scheduling speakers now and will provide more details as soon as they are available.
October 14, 2024 Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Scott Dahl, Director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau: Springfield Tourism
Scott (image on right) has served as Director of the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau since August 2018. Prior to leading the SCVB, he was Regional Director of Membership for the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association for sixteen years. Scott started his tourism career operating hotels for Equity Hotel Corporation in Illinois and Missouri. He has been active with the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Springfield Inc., Medals4Mettle, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and St. John’s Children’s Hospital.
Scott has lived in Springfield for 28 years with his wife, Brandi. They have two children, Nathan (20) and Kaitlyn (16). Scott enjoys time with family & friends, running and golf.
October 21, 2024 Off-Site Social Night, Social Night 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Location to be announced.
October 28, 2024 Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs
Club Assembly on Membership
Membership Director Harry Mitchell (image on left) will lead club members in a dialog about what members can do to help our membership grow. This is the first part of a two part series. The second part will be scheduled later and consider how to keep members engaged.
November 4, 2024 Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
November 11, 2024 Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
November 18, 2024 Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
November 25, 2024 Off-Site Rotary Club Social Night, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Location to be determined.
December 2, 2024 Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
December 9, 2024 Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
December 16, 2024 No Rotary Club Meeting
December 17, 2024 Rotary Club Annual Holiday Party
Volunteer to help with a Bed Build on Saturday, October 12!
This is another opportunity to build beds for children in the Springfield area. The requests for beds has been phenomenal. However, to get more beds to children, we need to build them and that takes volunteers. If you have a few hours this Saturday to donate, the rewards will be more children having a good night’s sleep.
The Rutledge Youth Foundation's Trunk or Treat is approaching! We will be at 3 Twigs & Company bakery (2661 Chatham Road, Springfield, IL 62704) on October 18 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. 3 Twigs has graciously donated the use of this space so we can have an enjoyable event rain or shine! We will have a few trunks, food, crafts, and games. We could use some assistance from you with helping the children play the games, administering prizes, and in the pumpkin decorating area. Staff have volunteered to help in these areas but there are still spots open for community involvement. This event is so much fun every year. The kids and families that attend really enjoy it! Please let me know if you may be able to contribute some of your time. We would really appreciate it. Feel free to contact Marcia Knowlton at Rutledge Youth Foundation (217-525-7757) with any questions or interest in volunteering.
Bill Sturm needs a few volunteers to help repair flags with bent poles or torn flags. Please consider volunteering to assist with this important project. Contact Bill Sturm via email at SturmDMD@hotmail.com. Please help us keep the flags in good shape like the one Roger Randolph is holding in the image above.
Springfield Public Schools need Real Men Read Volunteers!
You can make a big impact for less than an hour a month!! Join the Springfield Public Schools' expanding Real Men Read program! Volunteer to read to 1st or 3rd graders and inspire young minds. It’s easy—books and discussion ideas are provided, and your schedule is flexible!
The Springfield Public Schools offered an optional informational meeting on Thursday, September 12th at the District Office (3063 Fiat Ave, Springfield, IL). Regardless of whether or not you attended this meeting, you may still volunteer by signing up using the link. Let me know if you have any trouble signing up.
Little Libraries are free book exchanges that aim to expand book access within our communities. The prevailing concept of “take a book, share a book” reigns.
Our Club supports this literacy initiative and has helped build up the Little Library system in our community with support from a District Grant. We continue to help Little Libraries at five locations remain stocked with books. The locations are as follows:
1. St. John’s Breadline, 430 North 5th Street;
2. Springfield Firehouse No. 5/“The First Black Firehouse,” 1310 East Adams Street (shown in the image above);
3. Ridgely Elementary School, 2040 North 8th Street;
4. Enos Elementary School, 524 West Elliott Avenue; and
5. The Outlet, 3306 South 6th Street.
We have been visiting these Little Libraries and adding additional books to their existing stock. If you are interested in helping stock books, please contact Allie Montney at onedirtymartini@gmail.com. To keep the supply of books up-to-date, the club has announced a book drive to solicit book donations from club members on October 7 (see President's Comments and article below for details) and a book drive for community members will be scheduled later.
Here's your chance to be a pantry superhero! Join John Webb and I in stocking the Ridgely Elementary School micro pantry for two weeks. Your commitment will ensure that families and children have access to essential items when they need them most. Whether it's a can of soup, a box of cereal, or toiletries, your contribution will brighten someone's day. Reach out to Allie Montney at onedirtymartini@gmail.com or call 217-494-6901 to become a beacon of hope for those in need. Every item you place on those shelves is a small gesture that collectively makes a huge impact!
At our September 9 club meeting, a Food Pantry Volunteer Form was passed around. I’m glad to report we have 7 slots filled as well as some volunteers for April 2025. If you would like to pick up a shift, see the open slots below & e-mail onedirtymartini@gmail.com.
September 15 - September 30: Thank you, Ross Hodel
October 1 - 14: OPEN
October 15 - 28: Ken Gilmore
October 29 - November 11: Bill Sturm
November 12 - 25: OPEN
November 26 - December 9: OPEN
December 10 - 23: Bonnie Styles
December 24 - January 6: Vicki Megginson
January 7 - 20: OPEN
January 21 - February 3: OPEN
February 4 - February 17: Rod Buffington
February 18 - March 3: Bill Kempiners
April Dates: TBD Sheila Mack, Judith Pensoneau-Feurer, and potentially Connie Locher-Bussard
Thank you for signing up for a micro pantry volunteer shift. Your time and effort are greatly appreciated by the community we serve.
Below are the details including the location of the pantry, and suggestions on items to collect and distribute. If you are unable to complete your shift, please reach out and we'll work on a better period of time to meet your needs. If you have suggestions for future volunteers, please let me know and we'll adapt the program along the way.
Ridgely Elementary School
2040 North 8th Street
Springfield, IL 62702
Main entrance to the school (look for the yellow and purple pantry by the front doors).
The image below shows the location of the pantry at the entrance to the school.
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.
The image below shows a fully stocked pantry.
The image below shows me stocking an empty micropantry on June 4. Let me know if you are interested in taking a shift!
Micro Pantry Coordinator: Allie Montney with assistance from John Webb
Phone 217-494-6901 (for the quickest response, please text)
Things I've noticed that may be helpful: Stocking the pantry on a weekend or after 4:00PM during the weekdays means less people and easier to get a parking spot. Ask friends and family to donate unused household items for the pantry that you can collect. If purchasing bags of fresh fruit or veggies, stock them individually so that more in need can take what they need. It's going to be freezing outside soon, so consider if the items will no longer be good if frozen. ALDI grocery stores have prices that cannot be beat.
We thank all the volunteers who gave and are giving generously of their time on service projects this Rotary Year. Work on our ongoing service projects continues, and we thank all who have stepped up to help coordinate these activities and especially Ken Gilmore, our Community Services Director for the 2024-2025 Rotary Year.
Volunteer to Build a Bed in Chatham on October 12
See Story above by Ken Gilmore.
Volunteer to help at the Rutledge Youth Foundations Trunk or Treat on October 18.
See Story above by Marty Michelson.
Volunteer Opportunity for Real Men Read! Program
We are encouraging members of our club to volunteer for the Springfield Public Schools' Real Men Read! Program. See article by Ken Gilmore in this Newsletter.
Successful Bed Building for Sleep in Heavenly Peace
The bed-building event on September 14, sponsored by Sleep in Heavenly Peace, was successful!
October 7 Book Drive for Club Members
Thanks to all the members who brought in books for our Little Libraries. See President's Comments in this Newsletter.
October 4 United Way Fall Day of Action
We thank all the members of our club who helped with this event, including Megan Reynolds. See article in this Newsletter by John Webb.
Stocking our Little Libraries
Allison Montney (onedirtymartini@gmail.com) and John Webb (jwebb.dr@gmail.com) are coordinating the stocking of our Little Libraries. We previously built a series of Little Libraries with a support from a District Club Grant and secured a large number of books that were donated by a group in St. Louis. The books are stored in the Computer Banc warehouse. To keep the books up-to-date, they have requested that club members bring in books to supplement the donated books stored in the Computer Banc warehouse. Contact them if you would like to donate books and/or stock Little Libraries.
The image of the Little Library at Ridgely School (to the left) clearly shows that this little library needs to be regularly stocked. Thanks to Allison and John for coordinating this project and ensuring that it is well stocked. Let them know if you would like to help.
See the article in this Newsletter by Allison and John for more information on stocking the little libraries.
Stocking of the Ridgely School Micropantry
We previously installed a Micropantry at Ridgely Elementary School (our adopted school) with support from a District Grant. At our October 23, 2023 meeting, Allison Montney volunteered to coordinate the stocking of this micropantry with food, cleaning, and toiletry items. She maintains a schedule of volunteers to stock the pantry for a two week period, and John Webb has also volunteered to help with this project. If you would like to volunteer to stock this important and regularly used pantry, please let Allison know (onedirtymartini@gmail.com) and check out her article on micropantry volunteers for more information on this service project.
Flag Service Work Continues after the last Deployment
We have completed removing of flags following the commemoration of Patriots Day. The flags are now being stored in the warehouse.
The work on the flag project continues after the last deployment for the year. Bill Sturm needs at least two volunteers to assist with repairs for flags with bent poles and torn flags. Please contact him at SturmDMD@hotmaill.com to volunteer. John Loftus also has a small project that requires a few volunteers. Please contact John Loftus (jlloftus@aol.com) if you would like to help with this project or any aspect of our Flag Service project. It's rewarding work and raises lots of money for our community grants program!
John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Campaign
As noted by our Warehouse Czar Bill Smith, the 2023 campaign in memory of long-time Rotarian John Montgomery was successful and raised significant monies for our community grants program. We thank all the Rotarians who ordered and sold citrus, and all those who worked on the planning of the campaign and in the warehouse in 2023. We launched the 2024 John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Drive at our September 30 club meeting. At this meeting Bill Smith launched the campaign and provided background on the outstanding Rotarian that the campaign is dedicated to (see Bill's articles in this Newsletter). The citrus committee is already holding planning meetings. If you would like to volunteer for this committee, let Marty know. All members should be ready to sell healthful oranges and grapefruit and raise monies for our community grants program!
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 Applicationin 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 hmitchell11@comcast.net. We look forward to hearing from you!
Please remember to report your service hours and related contributions. Travis Magoulias has added the 2023-2024 Rotary Year to the form. You will be able to enter your hours now and correctly assign them to the correct Rotary Calendar year. Just follow this link:
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 hours for any volunteering that you do on behalf of Rotary.
The image shows club members returning flags to the warehouse in September during the 2024 Rotary Flag Service Project.
These images show Rodd Hodel and his granddaughter Audra Hodel on the final 2024 flag pickup in September, 2024 (image on left) and clothing sorting for Safe Families for Children for the United Way Fall Day of Action on October 4, 2024 (image below).