Our flags will be flying for Memorial Day (May 31), but there will be no club meeting that night! There will be no Newsletter on May 27. The next Newsletter will be issued on June 4 to highlight our June 7 club meeting.
If you’ve seen one Rotary Club, you’ve seen one Rotary Club!
A mixed blessing of living in several communities has been the opportunity to be a part of different Rotary clubs. Each has its own traditions, priorities, eccentricities, and ways of doing things. Here is The Truth: I have attempted to steal the best ideas I’ve seen. Here is The Reality: My opinion of the best does not necessarily agree with other opinions. And I thank many of you for the gentle feedback you’ve given during this past year.
This week I am in Chandler, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, and attended the weekly meeting of the Horizon Sunrise Rotary Club of Chandler and exchanged flags with President Marty (image on left). While many elements are the same, there are differences. The best similarity in all the clubs has been the welcoming spirit. An unfamiliar face in many organizations requires that person to earn their place. I have never seen anything but broad smiles and a genuine welcome in Rotary. This morning was no different.
They too are using a hybrid format for their meetings. This practice started because of COVID, and their meetings were only virtual for eight months. Several members were attending from several states and all were engaged during the meeting, including participation in their “fines”- our Brag-a-Bucks. Their proceeds go into their club treasury for disbursal on projects or causes as they go along. Their 50/50 pot was for today only in contrast to our progressive style, and the drawing winner (I’m not sure how they chose a winner) received half of today’s contributions. And they were saying goodbye to one of their “snowbirds” - their phrase - as he headed to Colorado for five months to enjoy cooler weather. He said he would see them next week via video.
They are also a singing club with their annually updated songbook. It’s a Grand Old Flag was part of their opening, but Old MacDonald and It’s a Small World were selected from the songbook. They were satisfying part of the Fifth Rule - Is It Fun? It is for them, and that’s what matters.
Why am I sharing this? There are 35,000 worldwide Rotary clubs, and they are diverse but share similar priorities. They were very pleased to hear about our Nepal and our Mexico projects, and wanted to know more after the meeting. I suspect their focus has mostly been local but this discussion may have given them some food for thought. But we all share a passion for service and making the world a better place to live. And that is another reason I am proud to be a Rotarian!
Comfort Levels as Social Restrictions Ease
At our May 17 club meeting, I asked members to share their thoughts on how to manage our meetings as social limits are relaxed. The following commentary came from Travis Magoulias: Maldaners has been wonderful in working together with us to comply with the letter of the law and also its spirit. Social distancing, limiting congregating areas and meeting size, and reducing contact with serving spoons - all have been accomplished with the goal of keeping people safe. And many people have chosen to gradually attend meetings in person as vaccinations became available. To go back to the Chandler Club, in my inquiry about attending they said everyone who attends meetings in person is 100% vaccinated, even without my asking.
The good news is that our room is filling up - pretty close to the back of the room (image on left). We want to make sure we have room for everyone and those who attend are comfortable with all aspects of what we do.
Here is my request: Please let me know your thoughts about sitting a bit closer together, about having Maldaners’ staff continue to serve us or to go back to self-serve, about having everyone in attendance be fully vaccinated, about continuing to wear masks throughout, and anything else that comes to mind. I suspect we will not have full accord on every subject, but these decisions should have as broad an input as possible. Please share your thoughts with Barry or me in person or by email at dkromphardt@yahoo.com if you wish. I appreciate hearing from all of you.
Join by video system, application or Skype for business Dial 1863864226@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 May 24, 2021 meeting is:
Pork Loin
Meat Lasagna
Chef's Choice of Salad and Dessert
The deadline for signing up for in-person and curbside meals for our dinner is Sunday, May 23 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.
Many of us had the wonderful opportunity to meet and hear from Jasmine Gibson (image on left), a prospective new member, at our May 17 club meeting. She is currently a full time student going to the University of North Dakota online for a B.S. in Public Health Education and Biology, hoping to become an Epidemiologist. Jasmine relayed that she is interested in Rotary because she wants to serve and help her community in impactful ways and to get to know likeminded people. She served in the Army National Guard for 7 years with Minnesota and Washington, DC. She moved to Chatham from Michigan with her spouse, Gregory, and their daughter, Skye. She also has a stepdaughter named Zoey. As a family, they are also involved with and advocate for the Deaf-Blind community.
Jasmine submitted her membership application to our club on May 5. After having the opportunity to meet and speak with Jasmine, the Board of Directors convened a special meeting immediately following our May 17 club meeting and unanimously approved her application for membership. President Dave notified the membership that the two week comment period for her membership began on May 17, and commented that we are pleased with all the new membership applications we are receiving and look forward to continued interest in our club. New members are coming from many sources, a wonderful sign! Please keep inviting people to come and check us out.
We thought you would enjoy seeing this letter that our May 10 speaker from StoveTeam International sent to Stacy Kelly, Club Services Director.
Hi Stacy,
Thank you so much for hosting our video presentation! Did you get any feedback from the club about the presentation?
I put together a few easy ways club members can stay connected:
Anyone who didn't make it can learn more about StoveTeam with this video about our work: stoveteam.org/why-stoves
There are over a dozen ways to get involved, plus inspiring stories from the field at stoveteam.org/next-steps
Anyone who would like to write to us can reach us at: PO Box 14707, Portland, OR
StoveTeam is currently focusing on our Justa stove project in Guatemala. Our goal is to install 5,000 cookstoves into homes in the next 3 years. We are working on gathering club and district support to fund our efforts and would welcome any support from your club or advice on approaching your district.
Thanks to everyone who purchased tickets for our traditional Rotary Day at the Ballpark on Saturday, May 22. All 300 tickets for the game have been sold. Proceeds from ticket sales support our District Literacy Grant Program.
The game is at 6:15 p.m. in Busch Stadium in St. Louis. It will feature the grand rivalry of the Cardinals vs. the Cubs. We will be occupying excellent seats in the right field loge in Sections 228 – 233. Seating is in pods of 4, pods of 3, and pods of 2. A roundtrip bus has been scheduled and filled and will leave from the White Oaks Mall Parking Lot in Springfield from the upper mall parking lot behind Macy's on the same side as CEFCU. The bus will be available for boarding at 2:00 p.m. and will leave promptly at 2:30 p.m. No food and no drinks (other than water) are allowed on the bus, and riders must wear a mask when boarding and departing from the bus.
If you could not join us this time, don't worry. Another Rotary trip to the Ballpark is being scheduled for October 2.
Flag Service Deployment for Memorial Day Begins on May 24
The Flag Service Committee is gearing up for Spring flag distribution. So far, we have scheduled 490 flags for the Memorial Day distribution and have collected $27,500 in revenue with more coming in daily. These flags will stay in place through the July 4 holiday and then will be retrieved and stored in our warehouse. Flags will be reinstalled the week before Labor Day and left in place through September 11. The proceeds from our Flag Service Project support our community grants.
Many Hands Make Light Work!
We are recruiting more folks to help with conduit installation for the new customers. We are also in need of more volunteers to help with deployment of flags. Please consider taking a route or teaming up with a spouse/friend/child/fellow Rotarian to take a route. A route usually takes a few hours, goes much more quickly with 2 people per route, and can be a lot of fun. More volunteers means shorter routes!
If you can spare some time to assist with these needs, 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)
May 24: Hybrid Club Meeting at Maldaners and Online
May 31: No Club Meeting. Celebrate Memorial Day by checking out all the the Rotary flags our club members installed as part of our Flag Service Project.
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 currently monitoring the pantry 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!
This week I am in Chandler, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, and attended the weekly meeting of the Horizon Sunrise Rotary Club of Chandler and exchanged flags with President Marty (image on left). While many elements are the same, there are differences. The best similarity in all the clubs has been the welcoming spirit. An unfamiliar face in many organizations requires that person to earn their place. I have never seen anything but broad smiles and a genuine welcome in Rotary. This morning was no different.
They are also a singing club with their annually updated songbook. It’s a Grand Old Flag was part of their opening, but Old MacDonald and It’s a Small World were selected from the songbook. They were satisfying part of the Fifth Rule - Is It Fun? It is for them, and that’s what matters.
The good news is that our room is filling up - pretty close to the back of the room (image on left). We want to make sure we have room for everyone and those who attend are comfortable with all aspects of what we do.
The deadline for signing up for in-person and curbside meals for our dinner is Sunday, May 23 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.
Many of us had the wonderful opportunity to meet and hear from Jasmine Gibson (image on left), a prospective new member, at our May 17 club meeting. She is currently a full time student going to the University of North Dakota online for a B.S. in Public Health Education and Biology, hoping to become an Epidemiologist. Jasmine relayed that she is interested in Rotary because she wants to serve and help her community in impactful ways and to get to know likeminded people. She served in the Army National Guard for 7 years with Minnesota and Washington, DC. She moved to Chatham from Michigan with her spouse, Gregory, and their daughter, Skye. She also has a stepdaughter named Zoey. As a family, they are also involved with and advocate for the Deaf-Blind community. 
Ridgely School Micro-Pantry
Please remember to report your service hours and related contributions. Just follow this link:
