Happy New Year! We helped make the holidays brighter for our community! Vicki Megginson's generous stocking of the Ridgely Micropantry (image above) provides just one example of our community service during the holiday season. We also made the holidays brighter through our Citrus sale donation of 22,000 oranges to the Central Illinois Foodbank, purchase of an orange for each student at Ridgely Elementary School by several club members, provision of of angel tree gifts for Rutledge Youth, ringing of the bells for the Salvation Army, and participation in the Rotary Blood Drive for ImpactLife. The stories below and Upcoming Programs and Events provide for more information on these topics. Our next club meeting will be on January 6 and will feature a presentation by Jim Watts, Impact Life Regional Manager, on the outcome of the Rotary-Sponsored Blood Drive and Usage of the Blood Supply.
We thank all members who participated in our annual citrus fundraiser by selling fruit, working in the warehouse, helping distribute fruit to customers, as well as purchasing oranges for donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank and students at Ridgely Elementary School. The articles below provide more information. We especially thank Bill Smith (image below) for managing the whole project and serving as the warehouse czar.
Montney Holiday Open House on December 7
Special thanks are due to club member Allison Montney and her husband Mike (on right in image below) for hosting a holiday open house at their home on Saturday, December 7. They hosted this event as a fundraiser to benefit our Rotary Club. I also thank the Rotarians who were able to join them and especially John Webb (on left in image below) for providing an overview of Rotary and our club's service to the community. For more information, check out the article by John Webb in this Newsletter.
Club Assembly on Retaining Members on December 9
Membership Chair Harry Mitchell facilitated a rich discussion on how to engage and retain members at our December 9 club meeting (image below). This club assembly was a follow-up to our October 28 session on how to get new members. Harry's article below provides more information on the sessions and results. We will continue to devote club assemblies to membership issues during the remainder of my term as president.
Club Holiday Party on December 17
We had a great time at our annual Holiday Party on Tuesday, December 17 at the Christ the King Parrish Hall in Springfield. A delicious meal was provided by Chef Randy Williams and members brought bottles of wine to share. The Williamsville High School Madrigals delighted us with their beautiful costumes and holiday songs (image below). Our celebration was a great start for the holiday season. We hope you enjoy the images and the story in this Newsletter.
Rotary-Sponsored Blood Drive
Thanks to all who participated in the Rotary Blood Drive for Impact Life. John Webb's story below provides more details on this event.
Bell-Ringing for Salvation Army
We also thank all who signed up and rang the bells for Salvation Army. I will let you know how we did in our friendly competition with the Kiwanis Club.
January 6 Club Meeting Features Jim Watts
We hope you had a wonderful holiday season. We will resume having club meetings on Monday, January 6. Please join us at Maldaners Upstairs to hear Jim Watts (image on left), Impact Life Regional Manager, discuss the results of the recent Rotary-sponsored blood drive and blood supply usage.
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).
It has become a tradition for our club to attend the annual Martin Luther King Breakfast held every year by the local Frontiers International Club. We chose to do this to both support the Frontiers Club and to honor Dr. King. I have been in touch with Tony Williams who is one of the coordinators for the event. I have told Tony will have at least one table and perhaps more. He encouraged me to provide a count as soon as possible, because the last several years the breakfast has almost sold out.
If you wish to attend, the details are below. Please note the following:
Please let me know that you will attend and do so no later than Monday, December 23. Contact me as soon as possible if you missed this deadline
Make your check payable to Frontiers International Springfield IL. The cost is $40.
Please give me your check no later than our meeting of January 6. You can mail the check to my home address: 3957 Cornerstone Circle Springfield 62711
As usual, we will not meet the evening of the breakfast.
The breakfast will be held Monday January 20 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 3000 S. Dirksen Parkway, Springfield, IL. The event begins at 8:30 a.m. The guest speaker will be Justice Lisa Holder White of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Springfield’s Rotary clubs hosted a community blood drive at the Springfield ImpactLife Donor Center the week of December 22 through December 28.
At our December 2 club meeting, Krista Jiroutek (far right in image below) from ImpactLife, expressed to us that the Rotary Clubs of Springfield hosting this community blood drive in cooperation with Brickhouse Grill & Pub & Spavia Day Spa - Springfield is important because there is always a need for blood and this need is especially great during the holidays.
She noted that ImpactLife shuts down on Christmas, however, patients still require blood products. Donating over the holidays helps to recoup from shutting down for one day.
Krista encouraged our Club members to participate in the blood drive and make our friends aware of this event.
She highlighted that as a thank you for donating, blood donors receive their choice of a $40 gift card, points that can be used in the ImpactLife store or donation to a local food bank. All donors will also be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card to Brick House restaurant. Five winners will be selected in the drawing.
Our Club is thankful for the opportunity to partner with ImpactLife to help sustain the blood supply necessary to save lives in our community.
I hope you supported our Rotary clubs’ blood drive.
I donated blood (image to left) and enjoyed the cookies provided afterward (image below), as well as the satisfaction of knowing that I was helping our community.
Mark Denzler, one of my Facebook friend, posted the following on Facebook after seeing my posts on the Rotary-sponsored blood drive:
Thank you John Webb and the Springfield Rotary for hosting the Rotary Blood Drive at ImpactLife Donor Center. Your post motivated me to donate today!
Blood donations are at near record lows and it’s worse in winter months. Blood donations are needed more than ever because:
Every 2 seconds, someone needs a blood transfusion in the United States.
A single blood donation can save the lives of up to three people.
Blood cannot be manufactured or stockpiled.
Patients counting on lifesaving blood include those undergoing surgeries, accidents, and treatment of conditions such as sickle cell disease and cancer.
On December 20, WICS/Channel 20 Marketplace featured an interview promoting the Rotary-sponsored Blood Drive for ImpactLife. The Markeplace hosts interviewed Mark Hilliard, Springfield Westside club and Assistant Governor for our area (image below). The interview spread the word about the drive and the great need for blood especially over the holidays. A video of the interview is available through January 19.
The Red Kettle Kick-off challenge between the Rotary Club of Springfield and the Kiwanis Club is over. The official launch was on November 16 at Scheels in Springfield, IL. President Megan Reynolds made the challenge, and the Kiwanis Club took it up. We will soon know which club was able to log in the most red kettle, bell-ringing service hours and raise the most monies for the Salvation Army. For the lead event we staffed the craft table at Scheels and some members helped with bell ringing. We had a great time!
Members registered for bell-ringing shifts on the Salvation Army's online and tracked their hours of service.
Our long awaited Battle of the Bells is over!
Megan proclaimed numerous times that We Would Win the contest and will let us know soon how we did.
Thanks to all who were able to sign up for this volunteer opportunity.
The Downtown Rotary Peace Builder Committee secured a Healing Racism in Illinois Grant to work with young African American boys and men at The Outlet and the CA based Social Justice Sewing Academy (SJSA) to create a community quilt. Each square represents one of the young artist’s visualization of important experiences and issues they face growing up in Springfield.
The SJSA has almost finished creating the full quilt from their work (see below). Once the quilt is done, Rotary will sponsor events with the quilt, the young men, and community leaders to discuss the issues raised by the quilt and each artist’s “statement” about their quilt square to stimulate community-wide conversations about how we can combat the effects of systemic racism in Springfield, better support these young men, and create a fairer and more peaceful community.
We are moving forward on the Nepali water project – the proposal is complete but we will submit it to the Water and Sanitation Rotary Action Group for review prior to submission to TRF for complete approval and funding. Submitting the project to WASHRAG should bring an additional $2000 US for the project. The drinking water problem in Nepal is a multi-faceted issue that affects millions of people throughout the country. After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the problem of drinking water became more severe as many old tanks got damaged and were not suitable for use. In many cases, the was source has dried up, which not only created havoc in society but also forced many people to migrate.
The Rotary International Grant Proposal for this project was prepared by the Rotary Club of Dhulikhel in Nepal. We will be working as a U.S. partner with them on the Dhakalthok Drinking Water Project. This village is in Mandandeupur Municipaklty of , Kavre, Nepal. After the 2015 earthquake, the water system was damaged. The people in the area have been transporting drinking water from a distance of 1.5 km. Women spend around 40-60 minutes to fetch the water. The goals of the project are to provide sustainable access to clean drinking water for underserved communities in Nepal, build and rehabilitate the water supply system that ensures the availability of safe drinking water, promote community involvement and education on water management and hygiene practices, and reduce the prevalence of waterborne diseases through improved water quality. The project will include infrastructure development including construction of 50 water tanks (each holding 1000 liters) to provide drinking water as per World Health Organization standards and pipeline and tap construction to bring water to 50 households with 326 members. It will also provide community education and training, monitoring, evaluation, and formation of of a Water User Group and Mandandeupur Muncipality commitments to ensure sustainability.
Heartfelt camaraderie, good food and drink, and the Williamsville High School Madrigals’ amazing voices and beautiful songs made for a splendid evening at our Club’s 2024 Holiday Party at Christ The King Parish Hall.
Rod Buffington (image on left) served as Master of Ceremonies and President Megan Reynolds (image below) led us in meeting formalities. We all missed the presence of Sheila Mack, who prepared the beautiful program for the meeting. She was with us in spirit.
We had a delightful meal prepared by Chef Randy Williams and members brought bottles of wine to share. We gave Chef Randy a round of applause for the feast.
The following images capture the joy and comradery of the evening. We hope you enjoy them
The Williamsville High School Madrigals and their director (second image below) delighted us with their amazing grand finale!
It's already that time of the year again. As immediate past President, I was tasked with leading the committee to select our club's Community Paul Harris award winner for this year. The committee this year is comprised of the following members:
We asked for nominations from you for any individuals that you felt would be worthy of this award. We also asked that you include their name and a short paragraph about why they deserve to be a Paul Harris Fellow and what impact they have made in our community over the years.
Nominations were due to the committee by December 8 so that the committee could convene the following week to make our selection.
At our holiday party (image below), I announced the individual that the committee selected to receive the Community Paul Harris Fellow Award is Mark Forinash with Cafe Moxo. We will share more information on Mark and his community contributions in a future!
I delivered the oranges that members of our club purchased so we could provide each student at Ridgely Elementary School with an orange. The Principal of Ridgely School sent me a thank you note to share will all of you. She also sent these wonderful images of the students enjoying the oranges that we donated.
Thank You Note from Ridgely School
On behalf of Ridgely School, thank you to the Rotary for your generous donation of oranges for each of our students. Your kindness brought a healthy treat to our students and brightened their day during this season. We are grateful for your continued support of our school community!
Jennifer Butcher, Principal, Ridgely Elementary School
Since 2013, Springfield Rotarians and their customers have purchased oranges for donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank as part of the annual Rotary Citrus Sale Fundraiser. Our club takes the lead in the fundraiser, and Bill Smith manages the citrus warehouse in the Underfanger Moving and Warehouse in Springfield. In 2024, the Rotary South and Rotary Sunrise Clubs again participated in the Citrus Sale and the donation of oranges to the Foodbank. This year, these three Rotary Clubs donated 162 40 lb. cartons containing about 22,000 oranges to the Foodbank.
The Central Illinois Foodbank picked up the three full palettes of oranges from our Citrus Warehouse on December 4 (lead image). Bill Smith, Bonnie Styles, and Kevin Johnson met the Foodbank staff and vehicles at the Warehouse. Because the palettes of oranges were too heavy to all be loaded into the Foodbank Truck, Kevin Johnson loaded two pallets into the truck (image above) and one into the van (lead image and images below). Special thanks are due to Karleen Wagoner, Food Acquisition Manager, and Wes Ridgeway, Program Manager, for the Foodbank for picking up the oranges the day after they arrived in Springfield and for figuring out how to fit them all into their vehicles! The abundance of oranges was a good problem to have.
The Foodbank will deliver the oranges to foodbanks who distribute them to those in need. Bill Smith has described the benefits of the program for the Rotary Clubs, the Foodbank, and those in need of food as a win-win situation. Rotarians and their customers buy the nutritious citrus to eat, gift, and donate to the Foodbank during the holiday season. The Foodbank delivers the oranges to other foodbanks, who distribute them to those in need. The gift keeps giving because the proceeds from the sale of citrus by Rotarians, including the oranges purchased for direct donation to the Foodbank, support Rotary Community Grans that help combat hunger, promote literacy, build peace, and meet other community needs.
On December 7, one of our Club members (Allison Montney) and her husband (Mike) (image above) hosted a Holiday Open House at their home to benefit our Club. I had the opportunity to speak about Rotary and our Club's community service.
The evening was a fantastic celebration of fellowship and giving!
Over Hors d’oeuvres, drinks and lively conversation, our Club was the beneficiary of nearly $1,700 in donations to support our Club’s efforts to make positive, lasting change in our community.
We also look forward to hosting those individuals who expressed an interest in Rotary at one of our future Club meetings.
THANK YOU to Allison and Mike Montney for hosting the Holiday Open House to benefit our Club. We appreciate your hospitality and support.
A heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who joined us and to those who made a donation to our Club. We are grateful for your support and generosity.
For the last 20+ years Rutledge Youth Foundation has coordinated an Angel Tree for the youth we serve. At first, it was more focused on the boys living in our group home but as the foster care and intact programs grew, so did the scope of our angel tree. The Rotary Club of Springfield has partnered with Rutledge for the Angel Tree for 10+ years. So, first we want to give you all our gratitude for partnering with us in this way.
Meeting the needs and wants of an angel provides the youth with a sense of normalcy this time of year. They feel cared for in the midst of their uncertain lives. Being involved in the child welfare system is not easy, as you can imagine. The holiday season adds an extra layer of discomfort. The generous act of providing presents at Christmas time can help these youth feel seen and known when they receive the presents they specifically wanted. Meeting these needs and wants also gives the parents and caregivers a sense of dignity and pride. Many of our parents and caregivers would not be able to provide these gifts without community support. Thank you on behalf of these families.
Thank you for partnering with us again this year! We have close to 175 Angels in total this year, and all were taken. The greater Springfield community has been active in stepping up to cover much of this needbut we can't meet them all without you.
Thank you again for your generosity in the past and your continued support. We simply could not provide for these wants and needs without you.
On Monday December 9 we held our second Club Assembly to discuss our membership challenges (image below). The topic for the night was Engaging and retaining new members. Nineteen members attended and participated in the lively discussions. They broke into three discussion groups to develop ideas that can serve to direct the club’s efforts in the coming months. An updated document may be downloaded here and was sent to all members through ClubRunner email. It includes the ideas generated in the first Assembly on October 28 and the ideas from the recent meeting, both ranked according to the number of votes received.
The steering committee, consisting of President Megan, President Elect John, Immediate Past President Travis and Past President and District Membership Chair Barr, will be meeting tonight to begin organizing and prioritizing these ideas. This planning process may take some time. We will do our best to keep everyone informed. Communication will be important since everyone in the club must help as we tackle these plans.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the discussions. This is a great beginning. To paraphrase one of Winston Churchill’s most famous quotes: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But completing these two meetings is the end of a beginning.” It is important that we maintain the energy that was displayed during the two Assemblies. If we work together, our club will be much stronger in the coming years.
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 in the final phase. As noted in our meetings, we have California oranges again this year. 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 Florida oranges were not available again this year. The source of the grapefruit could not be Florida this year because of storm damage to the groves. Working with Humphrey's Market, we found a quality source for the grapefruit in Texas. The cost for a large carton 3601 Mayflower Boulevard in Springfield. California oranges is $8.00 to $10.00 higher than what we paid for a large carton of Florida oranges. Consequently, this year we raised the price for all large citrus cartons to $60.00 except for grapefruit which is $55.00 for a large carton. Accordingly, the price for all small citrus cartons is 35.00 except for grapefruit small cartons which will remain at $30.00. We extend our thanks to all the members who bought and sold fruit.
The citrus was delivered to the Underfanger Warehouse, 3601 Mayflower Boulevard in Springfield, on December 2. We made our major donation of oranges to the Foodbank on December 4 (see article in this Newsletter). Volunteers, including Karl Affrunti (Springfield South), Bill Sturm, Randy Erford, Kevin Johnson, and me helped make the half and half boxes and small boxes for customers. We will commence with the major distribution of fruit from the warehouse to customers on Friday, December 6 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with volunteer assistance from Larry Golden, Harry Mitchell, Barry Tobias, Bill Sturm, and me. On Saturday, December 7, we will distribute fruit from the warehouse to customers from 8:00 to 1:00 p.m. with volunteer assistance from Bonnie Styles, Roger Randolph, and me. Customers must bring their Customer Copy of the receipt for fruit pick-up.
Our customers continue to recognize that nutritious citrus makes a great holiday treat or gift. In addition, the citrus we acquired 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. Many of our customers also bought citrus for the Central Illinois Foodbank. This choice provides citrus for regional foodbanks and pantries. The profit from the citrus sale will be used to help other local charities through community grants and support. See the separate article in this newsletter on the donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank.
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.
January 6, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs at 5:30 p.m.
Featured Speaker: Jim Watts, ImpactLife Regional Manager (image below): ImpactLife Blood Drive Outcome and Blood Supply Usage
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.
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!
September 15 - September 30: Thank you, Ross Hodel
October 1 - 14: OPEN
October 15 - 28: Thank you, Ken Gilmore
October 29 - November 11: Thank you, Bill Sturm
November 12 - 25: OPEN
November 26 - December 9: Thank you, Harry Mitchell
December 10 - 23: Thank you, Bonnie Styles
December 24 - January 6: Vicki Megginson. See the lead image for Vicki's generous stocking of the food pantry over the holidays.
January 7 - 20: Steve Rudd
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.
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.
October 4 United Way Fall Day of Action
Thanks to all who participated in this service project. We received a thank you note from the United Way (image below).
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.
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, Honor Flights, and other community projects!
John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Campaign
The 2024 John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Drive is over! Bill Smith launched the campaign in September and provided background on the outstanding Rotarian that the campaign is dedicated to (see Bill's articles in this Newsletter). If you would like to volunteer for the citrus committee, let Marty Michelson know. Thanks to all members for participating in the 2024 campaign. The proceeds from the Citrus Sale support 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).
We hope you had a wonderful holiday season. We will resume having club meetings on Monday, January 6. Please join us at Maldaners Upstairs to hear Jim Watts (image on left), Impact Life Regional Manager, discuss the results of the recent Rotary-sponsored blood drive and blood supply usage. 
I donated blood (image to left) and enjoyed the cookies provided afterward (image below), as well as the satisfaction of knowing that I was helping our community.
The Red Kettle Kick-off challenge between the Rotary Club of Springfield and the Kiwanis Club is over. The official launch was on November 16 at Scheels in Springfield, IL. President Megan Reynolds made the challenge, and the Kiwanis Club took it up. We will soon know which club was able to log in the most red kettle, bell-ringing service hours and raise the most monies for the Salvation Army. For the lead event we staffed the craft table at Scheels and some members helped with bell ringing. We had a great time!
Heartfelt camaraderie, good food and drink, and the Williamsville High School Madrigals’ amazing voices and beautiful songs made for a splendid evening at our Club’s 2024 Holiday Party at Christ The King Parish Hall.
Thank You Note from Ridgely School
On December 7, one of our Club members (Allison Montney) and her husband (Mike) (image above) hosted a Holiday Open House at their home to benefit our Club. I had the opportunity to speak about Rotary and our Club's community service. 
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).
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