We hope to see you at the November 22 club meeting, and we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! There will be no Newsletter on November 25 because the editors will be observing Thanksgiving with their families. The Webex link for the November 29 meeting will be sent out via a ClubRunner email.
As many of us sit down to enjoy a turkey dinner this coming week with friends and family, we as Rotarians should take a few moments to reflect. Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to celebrate with friends and family over a meal, while there are lonely people without a roof over their head and a hot meal on their table.
Rotarians are thankful for the opportunity to serve and represent our professions. We know of many causes, many opportunities to volunteer, and we know that members in our Rotary Club have made a huge impact in our local and international communities.
We are thankful for our dedicated and committed Rotary members helping create positive change around the world. Take a moment during Thanksgiving to enjoy the contributions that Rotarians like you make in the world. Happy Thanksgiving!
Join by video system, application or Skype for business Dial 25731778660@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.
Now that we are back to full capacity, we will no longer announce the menu for dining at Maldaners Upstairs or for curbside pickup. The meal will be Chef's Choice as it was prior to the pandemic.
Please make reservations for in-person meals so we can estimate our seating and food needs and for curbside meals so Maldaners knows you are coming. The deadline for reserving dinner for the November 22 meeting is Sunday, November 21 at noon. Meals are $15 each. 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 an the food is delicious!
Mark your calendar now to be certain you hear our special speaker for our November 22 club meeting. Bring a friend or colleague along with you!
Reverend Margaret Ann Jessup, Pastor at the Douglas Avenue Methodist Church in Springfield, will speak about the Wooden it Be Lovely nonprofit social enterprise founded by Reverend Jessup and members of the Church congregation. This program assists women in transition from lives of poverty or in recovery. It provides employment, develops job skills and recovery tools, and also provides mentoring and love. The women refurbish used wood furniture and sell it to the public.
All five Rotary Clubs in Springfield have been working together on a blood drive (an Adopt a Week blood drive at the ImpactLife Donor Center). We have one set for all 5 clubs during the week of December 13 through 18. Participation is strictly voluntary and each individual will have to register to give blood. The holiday season is is a great time to give blood! All of the presidents and Assistant District Governor Tate Hartman are giving blood on December 13 at 11:45 a.m. to help promote this event. We will have a picture taken of the event when we are there.
Use the following link to make an appointment to give blood:
The Rotary Club of Springfield will again be filling an Angel Tree for the youth of Rutledge. These are abused/neglected children who are living in foster care, intact families, or independent placements monitored by Rutledge. There are 40 angels available for male and female youth, ages infant – 20, with the child’s name and gift suggestions printed on them. A gift of $25-50 is suggested.
If you are interested in participating please select an Angel(s) at the registration desk or let us know and we will email them to you. You can return gifts to our Monday evening meetings or drop them off at Rutledge,151 N Bruns Lane by December 13, 2020. There will be 4 different drop off events. Please bring your unwrapped presents to Rutledge (151 N Bruns Lane) during one of the following days/times.
Drop Off Times are: November 30 between 9-3, December 7 between 9-2, December 9 between 9-3, and December 13 between 2-6.
If none of these times can work with your schedule, please contact Marcia Knowlton (217-638-4487) either by text or call to arrange a different drop off time. Please leave all gifts unwrapped. If you would like to include wrapping paper, that would be appreciated. Thank you so much for your support!
The event has been postponed, but planning will continue. We hope to expand our partners and make this an even better event. Let Dave Kromphardt know if you would like to help with planning for this event (dkromphardt@yahoo.com). The planning committee commonly meets at 4:30 p.m. prior to club meetings, but check with Dave to be certain a meeting is scheduled.
Ridgely School Micro-Pantry
Volunteers are needed to monitor and stock the micro-pantry. Contact Vicki at the email address below if you are interested in taking a shift. Thanks to Harry Mitchell for sending us the image to the left of the stocked Ridgely micro-pantry and the image below of our Ridgely School micro-pantry and Little Library.
Thanks to the Volunteers for Sorting Books for Our Little Libraries
The Little Libraries we built are being heavily used! Nicole Kinkelaar arranged for volunteers to help sort books at the Computer Banc warehouse on November 14. They selected books to stock the Little Libraries at Ridgely and Enos Schools and St. Johns Breadline. They also applied Rotary stickers to the books. Thanks to Vicki Megginson for providing the image of our volunteers at this event!
District Club Grant Project for the Homeless
At our November 15 meeting, Vicki and Barry reported that we will be working with RYLA students, the Salvation Army, and three other Rotary Clubs in Springfield on gathering supplies and assembling them at a club meeting prior to December 14 and providing and serving a dinner on December 19 to help Homeless people in our community. More information will be available soon. Let Vicki Megginson and Dave Kromphardt know if you would like to volunteer for this rewarding project.
Boys and Girls Club Baskets
We have been asked to assist with care baskets being prepared by the Boys and Girls Club, but are awaiting details.
Home Instead
If you would like to participate in a project for Home Instead to provide holiday and gift cards for seniors, please let Vicki Megginson know.
Have an idea for a community service project or want to help in other ways, contact megginson.vicki@gmail.com
This year we again named our Annual Citrus Drive in memory of long-term Rotarian John Montgomery. He was an important Past President of our Club who had perfect attendance for club meetings during his entire tenure in Rotary (over 50 years)! The Rotary Annual Citrus Sale has raised over $1.4 million for grants to local charities!
We obtain fresh-picked seedless Navel Oranges and Ruby Red Grapefruit from the Indian River Groves in central Florida and bring them to you for the Holiday Season. These Grade A oranges and Grapefruit are a favorite for gifts to family, friends, employees, and business associates.
Many Rotarians and customers have again designated gifts of oranges to the Central Illinois Foodbank or a Food Pantry of their choice through this program. Our club provides Ridgely School with an orange for each of their 300 students. We thank the following Rotarians for purchasing cartons of oranges for the Ridgely students this year: Randy Erford, Bill Kempiners, Loretta Meeks, Roger Randolph, Bill Sturm, and Barry Tobias.
Citrus Pick Up and Delivery Dates are December 10-11.
Thanks for helping us sell healthful, fresh citrus, and remember that our proceeds support grants to non-profits.
Monday, November 15, was the deadline for reporting citrus sales. If you were not 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 email me (smithveld@gmail.com) to report your sales and submit money for the citrus at a later date.
If there are a few additional sales after the November 15 deadline, they can still be accepted if reported by Monday, November 22. If I don’t hear from you on November 22, 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 to this email to let me know.
Thank you for your support of the Citrus Sale! This program provides Grant Money to many valuable organizations in our community.
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!
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. The image on the right shows Rotarians helping make mixed boxes of oranges and grapefruits for a previous citrus drive.
As many of us sit down to enjoy a turkey dinner this coming week with friends and family, we as Rotarians should take a few moments to reflect. Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to celebrate with friends and family over a meal, while there are lonely people without a roof over their head and a hot meal on their table.
Now that we are back to full capacity, we will no longer announce the menu for dining at Maldaners Upstairs or for curbside pickup. The meal will be Chef's Choice as it was prior to the pandemic.
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 an the food is delicious!
The Rotary Club of Springfield will again be filling an Angel Tree for the youth of Rutledge. These are abused/neglected children who are living in foster care, intact families, or independent placements monitored by Rutledge. There are 40 angels available for male and female youth, ages infant – 20, with the child’s name and gift suggestions printed on them. A gift of $25-50 is suggested.
Volunteers are needed to monitor and stock the micro-pantry. Contact Vicki at the email address below if you are interested in taking a shift. Thanks to Harry Mitchell for sending us the image to the left of the stocked Ridgely micro-pantry and the image below of our Ridgely School micro-pantry and Little Library. 
Please remember to report your service hours and related contributions. Just follow this link:
