On June 20, our club named another Community Paul Harris Fellow! We recognized Ken Gilmore for his extraordinary contributions during his long tenure as Principal of Ridgely School (see story below).
On June 27 our club meeting will be held at the home of Tony and Jan Williams to celebrate our outgoing officers and accomplishments and install our new leadership team for the 2022-2023 Rotary Year. Information on how to participate in the meeting is provided in Upcoming Events and Programs. There will be no meeting at Maldaners on that night and no online connection.
As we come to the end of another Rotary Year, we see more than ever that this is the time to take a bigger, better, bolder approach through both club and district projects that can impact more people. We saw Rotary Open New Doors and Opportunities as we worked through the pandemic over the past two years. This year our focus was to Serve to Change lives, and all of you stepped up and delivered across the board. We led the way across our district on how to survive in a hybrid environment and what that means to our day to day lives and how we give back.
This coming year we need to reevaluate where we are with our goals. Create strategies that can sustain change over years, not just months. Everyone locally and across the globe deserves a long, healthy life. When you Serve to Change Lives, your actions today can help extend the lives of others.
The image below shows Barry with one of his hallmark culminating cartons at our June 20 meeting. The final series of cartoons commemorated difficulties with travel during this pandemic.
We will all miss his "tasteful" cartoons, which always drew laughter.
June 27 -- Rotary Year-end Celebration and Installation of New Leadership Team
On Monday, June 27, at 5:30 pm, our Club will be celebrating at the home of Anthony and Jan Williams located at 1027 Hoechester Drive to mark the transition of our current president, Barry Tobias and the installation of Randy Erford as our new president. The event will be outside in their backyard, so dress appropriately. Please bring chairs for you and your guest. You may bring your own adult beverage for toasts if so desired. As noted in Barry's Comments, there will be food catered by Maldaners and Tony, as well as great conversation with fellow Rotarians and a fun evening. Please respond to Loretta Meeks (lmeek@gmail.com) to let us know if you will be attending and if you will be bringing a guest. We also hope to formally induct Jacqualine Jarju as a new member of our club at this event.
We look forward to hearing from you. The image below shows last summer's year-end celebration at Tony and Jan's home. Please join us!
Our annual Rotary Family Day at the Ball Park is June 26 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Our game time is 1:10 p.m. and will feature another exciting match up of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. I started with 1500 tickets for Rotarians in District 6460 to sell, and at our June 20 club meeting, I reported that there are only about 38 left to sell. On May 1, ticket prices increased, but tickets are still a bargain at $55 each. Buy your tickets today, if you have not already done so. To purchase tickets now, click on Ticket Order Form or download this form from the download files section on our website homepage (www.spirotary.org). Remember that there are only about 38 tickets left to buy so please contact me right away (rotaryrod@comcast.net) if you need tickets. The roundtrip bus I arranged for is full so if you did not already reserve your bus seat, you will have to find your own way to the game. For those who did reserve bus seats, the article below provides information on the departure time and location.
Thanks to all the Rotarians who have sold tickets to friends, neighbors, relatives, colleagues, or anyone who would enjoy a great baseball game and the opportunity to support literacy projects. Proceeds from ticket sales support District 6460's Literacy Grant Program that funds projects proposed by clubs in our district. Our annual game has raised over one-half million dollars over the past 19 years for helping children and adults gain literacy skills within our Rotary Communities.
The Rotary Club of Springfield Downtown is sponsoring a bus to the annual "Rotary Family Day at the Ball Park" on June 26 for the 1:10 p.m. game in St. Louis between the Cardinals and the Cubs.
The bus is full. Only Rotarians and friends who paid $30 to the Rotary Club of Springfield to reserve their seats may ride on the bus! Thanks to everyone who reserved a seat.
The bus will leave from the parking lot behind Macy's upper level (on the north side of Macy's) at White Oaks Mall in Springfield.
The bus will arrive at the White Oaks parking lot at 10:00 a.m. (Sunday, June 26)
No food or drinks (other than water) may brought onto the bus.
The bus will depart from Springfield for our trip to St. Louis at 10:30 a.m.
The bus will drop us off at Busch Stadium around noon.
The bus driver will tell us where we will be picked up after the game.
The bus will depart from the designated pick up spot one hour after game ends. For example, if the game ends at 5:00 p.m., then the bus would leave at 6:00 p.m. The actual bus departure time after the game is tentative. However, the decision was made to depart one hour after game the game ends to give fans time to return to the bus without rushing.
The bus captain from the Rotary Club of Springfield will pass an envelope to collect contributions for a gratuity for the bus driver on the trip back.
We hope to see you on the bus and at the game! Thanks for supporting our literacy grant program.
At our June 20 meeting, our Club recognized Ken Gilmore as a Community Paul Harris Fellow. Harry Mitchell explained the process from naming a Paul Harris Fellow (image to left), which includes donating $1000 in the person's name to the Rotary International Foundation, and what a great honor it is to be recognized. Barry Tobias and Senior Member Tim Granzeau assisted in the presentation. Tim and Dan Milligan (who was not able to attend) were long-time tutors for Ridgely students and Tim and Dan coordinated many of our projects with the school. Tim presented Ken with him Paul Harris Fellow Pin and Medallion (image below) and Harry presented the certificate.
Ken (images above and below) is an Honorary Member of our club and has been a key partner for our work with our adopted school. He is the recently retired Principal of Ridgely Elementary School, our adopted school. He served in that capacity for 25 years. He is well loved by the teachers, students, and the community and is respected as an outstanding and passionate leader. He helped us coordinate and launch many Rotary projects that included tutoring in reading and math, provision of school supplies, gifting of dictionaries for every 5th grade student, renovation of the library, provision of books for students, special grant-funded educational programs, provision of clothing for students in need, provision of an orange for every student during our citrus sale, and launching and stocking the micropantry and the little library at the school.
June 20 was one of the most enjoyable and well attended meetings of the year (image above). Dave Fowler, representing current Springfield Rotary Foundation Board President Mary Michelson (participating online) and Bill Smith, Springfield Rotary Foundation Treasurer, distributed our annual community grants. These grants are supported by our fundraising activities. This year there were 14 applicants, and all 14 were funded. Our fundraising projects, as well as brag-a-bucks and the 50-50, also support scholarships for Lincoln Land Community College and University of Illinois Springfield, and we also make an annual contribution to the Land of Lincoln Honor Flights from our Flag Service Project. We invited the recipients of community grants to join us for dinner and briefly tell us about their organization and grant project. It is always a rewarding experience for our members to see how their efforts are supporting our community.
Patricia Milnes (image to left), Board President for Beerlahai Roi Women's Ministries, accepted the grant check for their organization, which provides a haven for homeless pregnant women and homeless moms and babies for two years after their birth. The grant funds will support the purchase of nutritious food these pregnant women and moms and their babies.
Brandy Stabler (image on right), Director of Development for Compass for Kids, accepted the check for this organization, which provides after-school and summer camps for children that need academic and emotional support. The grant will pay for books and healthful snacks for children participating in Club Compass, the after-School Program.
Cindy Drum (image below), Executive Director of Contract Ministries, accepted their grant award, which will provide snacks and food for women and children living in their long-term transitional shelter.
Pam Kovacevich (image to left), CEO for Girls Scouts of Central Illinois, accepted the check for their grant project. They are using the funds to purchase new books for their literacy program for girls from 5-17 years old.
Annie Lantgen (image on right), Interim Executive Director of Helping Hands, accepted the check and described their grant project to provide breakfast for homeless men and men with children living in their shelter. The grant funds will be used to purchase milk and breakfast foods.
Amy Voils (image below), Executive Director of MERCY Communities, noted that their organization provides support and housing for homeless families and homeless women with children. Their grant will support the purchase of food for bags of food for the individuals that they are serving to supplement their supplies of food.
Ken Gilmore (image to left), recently retired Principal for Ridgely School, accepted the check for the school's project. to combat food insecurity. They will use the funds to purchase healthful food for 35 food bags that will be distributed every Friday.
Wayne Strayer (image on right), a Salvation Army Lieutenant, accepted the check for their grant project. The funds will be used to purchase foods for their food pantry, which allows individuals they serve to come to the pantry once a month and fill a shopping cart with food. The pantry is open five days a week.
Michael Carlson (image below), Principal for St. Patrick Catholic School, described their grant project to buy new books for their library. They serve low income students, and this literacy project will help underserved students.
Merideth Ferguson (image to left), Chair of the Board for Titan Fuel, described their all volunteer organization that provides food bags to 205 elementary and middle school and 50 high school students a week in the Ball-Chatham School District. Each bag includes food for 3 dinners, 3 breakfasts, and at least 6 snacks to provide food for when students are not at school. The Rotary grant will support purchase of food for the food bags.
Margaret Jessup (image on right), Executive Director of Wooden It Be Lovely, accepted the grant check for her organization. They provide free housing for women in recovery from substance abuse and after rehabilitation offers them work refurnishing wood furniture. The monies will be used to purchase food to help fill the gap as they come out of rehabilitation.
Dan Way (image below), Executive Board Member for Land of Lincoln Honor Flights, accepted the annual donation from Flag Service Project proceeds. The funds are used to support expenses for the Veterans participating in the Honor Flights.
Grants were also awarded to Catholic Charities (St. John's Breadline), Central Illinois Foodbank, and the Youth Service Bureau, but representatives were unable to attend the meeting. The grant recipients who participated thanked our Rotary Club for all that we do for the community. It was a wonderful evening.
Sharon and I attended the Rotary International Convention in Houston Texas (June 5-8). After two years of connecting virtually because of COVID-19, 11,000 Rotary members and guests attended in person. The conventions we have attended in the past have generally had 20,000 or more in attendance. Apparently, Covid-19 was a major factor in this lower attendance.
Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta presented the theme of the convention and urged members to Empower girls; End polio; and Embrace new challenges including the environment.
On Sunday, during the opening ceremonies, there was a parade of flags. A flag was presented for each country that has a Rotary Club. The introduction of the Ukraine flag was followed by an extended standing ovation.
On Wednesday, during the closing ceremonies, Jennifer Jones from Windsor Canada, gave her speech as the first woman president in the 117-year history of Rotary. Her term begins on July 1, and her theme is Imagine Rotary. This history-making speech was followed by an extended standing ovation.
This year’s presentations also included:
Dr. Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication for the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean region, leads the efforts in an area that includes Afghanistan and Pakistan, the only two countries where wild polio remains endemic. This year 8 cases have been reported.
Anbita Nadine Siregar is a founder of Generation Girl, an Indonesian-based organization that introduces young women to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and empowers them to become leaders.
General Charles Duke (USAF Ret.) was the Lunar Module pilot on the fifth moon landing during the Apollo 16 mission. He is one of only 12 humans to ever land on the lunar surface.
Orion Jean is an 11-year-old sixth grader from Texas, who wants to make the world a kinder place. He was named TIME magazine’s Kid of the Year for 2021 for using $500 that he won in the National Kindness Speech Contest to create Race to Kindness. Through that organization, Orion has donated toys and meals for families. He is now collecting books for children.
Kailash Satyarthi is a Nobel Peace Laureate who gave up a career as an electrical engineer to start the “Save the Child Movement.” He has rescued over 100,000 children from slavery and trafficking. He has
Flag Service Project We installed 550 flags for our Flag Service Project. Thank you to the volunteers who installed flags and lights. All flags were in place before the Memorial Day (May 30) weekend and will remain in place through Flag Day (June 14) and the Fourth of July holiday. Then our crews will collect and store flags until our next deployment in September for Labor Day (September 5) and Patriots Day (September 11). Then we will collect and store flags until the process begins again in May 2023!
Many hands make light work! We are recruiting for more folks to help with conduit installations (for new customers) and to take or team up with a spouse/friend/child/fellow Rotarian for a distribution route. This is an excellent service opportunity for just a few hours work. Please consider helping out with this.
Contact John Loftus (jlloftus@aol.com) or Marty Michelson (exdirector@rutledgeyouthfoundation.com) if you have any questions and about what you could do to volunteer and sign up for this worthwhile projects. Proceeds from flag program help support our community grants program.
Ridgely School Micropantry
Volunteers are needed to monitor and stock the pantry for two shifts each month (Shift A during the first half of the month and shift B during the second half of the month). The image on the left shows the micropantry at Ridgely School.
Thanks to the Rotarians who helped stock the pantry during May and are helping in June!
We are looking for additional volunteers to carry us through the summer shifts. Please consider signing up for a two week shift, provide food to the individuals stocking the pantry, or drop off items anytime you are in the vicinity of Ridgely School. Use of this pantry has been very heavy during the cold weather. The following article provides good guidelines for the types of items that are needed. Thanks to Vicki Megginson for coordinating schedules over the past Rotary year. In July, Megan Norman, as our new Community Services Director, will become the contact for stocking the Ridgely School Micropantry.
Little Libraries
There will also be opportunities to assist with our Little Libraries by sorting and stocking books. The image below shows the Little Library at Ridgely Elementary School. Feel free to add books to the Ridgely School Little Library at anytime. Information on our other Little Libraries will follow soon.
Special thanks are due to Vicki Megginson, who will complete her tenure as Community Services Director at the end of June. In July, Megan Norman (mnorman@familiadental.com) will become our Community Services Director. Let her know if you have suggestions for service projects or would like to volunteer for any of the projects listed above.
We are repeating a list of suggestions of foods and other items to stock in the Ridgely Food Pantry. 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.
* At our November 29 club meeting, Ross Hodel reported that he followed this advice and stocked numerous can openers in the Ridgely Pantry. He noted that they were quickly snapped up.
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.
Be sure to turn in your Flag Service Project hours and any other volunteer hours that you have not reported.
The Rotary Club of Springfield Downtown is sponsoring a bus to the annual "Rotary Family Day at the Ball Park" on June 26 for the 1:10 p.m. game in St. Louis between the Cardinals and the Cubs.
At our June 20 meeting, our Club recognized Ken Gilmore as a Community Paul Harris Fellow. Harry Mitchell explained the process from naming a Paul Harris Fellow (image to left), which includes donating $1000 in the person's name to the Rotary International Foundation, and what a great honor it is to be recognized. Barry Tobias and Senior Member Tim Granzeau assisted in the presentation. Tim and Dan Milligan (who was not able to attend) were long-time tutors for Ridgely students and Tim and Dan coordinated many of our projects with the school. Tim presented Ken with him Paul Harris Fellow Pin and Medallion (image below) and Harry presented the certificate.
Patricia Milnes (image to left), Board President for Beerlahai Roi Women's Ministries, accepted the grant check for their organization, which provides a haven for homeless pregnant women and homeless moms and babies for two years after their birth. The grant funds will support the purchase of nutritious food these pregnant women and moms and their babies.
Brandy Stabler (image on right), Director of Development for Compass for Kids, accepted the check for this organization, which provides after-school and summer camps for children that need academic and emotional support. The grant will pay for books and healthful snacks for children participating in Club Compass, the after-School Program.
Pam Kovacevich (image to left), CEO for Girls Scouts of Central Illinois, accepted the check for their grant project. They are using the funds to purchase new books for their literacy program for girls from 5-17 years old.
Annie Lantgen (image on right), Interim Executive Director of Helping Hands, accepted the check and described their grant project to provide breakfast for homeless men and men with children living in their shelter. The grant funds will be used to purchase milk and breakfast foods.
Ken Gilmore (image to left), recently retired Principal for Ridgely School, accepted the check for the school's project. to combat food insecurity. They will use the funds to purchase healthful food for 35 food bags that will be distributed every Friday. 
Wayne Strayer (image on right), a Salvation Army Lieutenant, accepted the check for their grant project. The funds will be used to purchase foods for their food pantry, which allows individuals they serve to come to the pantry once a month and fill a shopping cart with food. The pantry is open five days a week.
Merideth Ferguson (image to left), Chair of the Board for Titan Fuel, described their all volunteer organization that provides food bags to 205 elementary and middle school and 50 high school students a week in the Ball-Chatham School District. Each bag includes food for 3 dinners, 3 breakfasts, and at least 6 snacks to provide food for when students are not at school. The Rotary grant will support purchase of food for the food bags. 
Margaret Jessup (image on right), Executive Director of Wooden It Be Lovely, accepted the grant check for her organization. They provide free housing for women in recovery from substance abuse and after rehabilitation offers them work refurnishing wood furniture. The monies will be used to purchase food to help fill the gap as they come out of rehabilitation. 
We installed 550 flags for our Flag Service Project. Thank you to the volunteers who installed flags and lights. All flags were in place before the Memorial Day (May 30) weekend and will remain in place through Flag Day (June 14) and the Fourth of July holiday. Then our crews will collect and store flags until our next deployment in September for Labor Day (September 5) and Patriots Day (September 11). Then we will collect and store flags until the process begins again in May 2023!
Volunteers are needed to monitor and stock the pantry for two shifts each month (Shift A during the first half of the month and shift B during the second half of the month). The image on the left shows the micropantry at Ridgely School.
