At our June 9 club Meeting, we presented community grants to local nonprofits and made a donation to Land of Lincoln Honor Flights (lead image). At our June 16 Club Assembly Meeting, President-Elect John Webb presented his plans for his tenure as Club President during the new Rotary Year. We will not hold a club meeting on June 23, but join us for our Indoor Installation Picnic at the Stone Creek Club House on June 30. Details on all events are provided in this Newsletter.
Distribution of Community Grants at June 9 Club Meeting
I hope you joined us on June 9 for one of our favorite meetings. Our Springfield Rotary Foundation presented community grants to local nonprofits. See John Webb's story in this Newsletter.
June 16 Club Assembly on Plans for Next Rotary Year
President-Elect John Webb presented plans for the upcoming Rotary Year when he will serve as our Club President. We toasted John and the bright future that lies ahead. See the Story in this Newsletter for more details.
Peace Quilt Premieres at the Illinois Museum
The quilt with squares designed and created by Springfield youth is featured in the Juneteenth Noir V: Resilience exhibition at the Illinois State Museum from June 13 through September 2. Our Club's Peace Committee supported the creation of this quilt with support from a Healing Racism in Illinois grant through a partnership with The Outlet and the Social Justice Sewing Academy. Twenty youth and their family members participated in this project, which was held at The Outlet. The Peace Committee and The Outlet are planning a special reception at the Illinois State Museum for Rotarians and other community leaders to see the quilt and learn more about it. See story below for more information.
No Club Meeting on June 23
We will not have a club meeting on June 23.
June 25 Rotary Night at the Lucky Horseshoes Game
Please join the other Springfield Rotary Clubs for Rotary Night for the Lucky Horseshoes Game at Robin Roberts Stadium, near Lanphier High School, in Springfield. Sunrise Rotary has 50 free tickets for the event. Each club will have 12 free tickets. Additional tickets are $8 each. Please let John Webb know by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, June 20 if you plan to attend. See John Webb's story in this Newsletter for more information.
June 30 Installation Picnic for New Club Officers
Please join us at the Stone Creek Club House (2113 Brookstone, Springfield, IL 62711) for our catered indoor installation picnic. We will recognize the contributions of outgoing officers and install our new officers for the upcoming 2025-2026 Rotary Year.
Liaison Needed for Community Interact Club
As announced at our June 16 club meeting, we need a liaison from our club to serve as an advisor for the new community Interact Club in Springfield. The club plans to meet on Sunday evenings. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested in serving in this capacity.
District Literacy Grant Application
Our Club's District Literacy Grant application is due in August. If you have a suggestion for a project to propose, please let me know as soon as possible. One suggestion that has been raised thus far by Ken Gilmore is to plant trees at Ridgely School. Please also let me now if you have an interest in the application focusing and this topic and would be willing to work on the application.
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 staff at Maldaner's access to the view, so it will help them 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).
Thanks to the success of our fundraisers this Rotary year, primarily our Flag Service Project and annual Citrus Sale, we’re proud to share that over $43,000 was raised and given back to our community through projects, scholarships, and grants!
This past Monday evening at Maldaner’s Upstairs, our Club gathered to celebrate giving back by awarding community grants to 13 incredible local nonprofits and charitable organizations. These grants were allocated by our Springfield Rotary Foundation Board of Directors. The Foundation Board also allocated our annual donation to Lincoln Land Honor Flights.
Foundation Board Treasurer Bill Smith had the honor of presenting the grant checks to the 13 nonprofit representatives in attendance. The image below shows Bill presenting the grant check for Titan Fuel to Merideth Ferguson.
Each awardee briefly described their organization and their grant project. We recognizing the following grant recipients and their projects at this event:
• Animal Protective League for purchase of food for the Pet Food Bank
• Beerlahai Roi Women’s Ministries for meals for pregnant mothers experiencing homelessness
• Compass for Kids for food for educational programs for K-5 students
• Contact Ministries for food for new store and meals
• Helping Hands of Springfield to provide warm breakfasts for shelter residents
• Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries for supporting enrichment trips for youth
• MERCY Communities to supplement the client Food Bank with produce and milk
• Mini O’ Beirne Crisis Nursery to provide nutritious foods for children in the nursery
• Ridgely Elementary School for food for weekend food bags for 30-40 students in need and their families
• Sleep in Heavenly Peace for materials for building beds for children with no beds
• St. Patrick Catholic School for purchase of Science of Reading Curriculum Kits for third graders
• Titan Fuel for food for backpacks for 350 K-8 students and 69 high school students
• Wooden It Be Lovely for purchase of food and toiletries for women in recovery
Several grant recipients were not present for Grants Night. Peace Lutheran Church received a grant for food and literacy enrichment for students at Black Hawk Elementary School, and Frontiers International received a grant to help support a youth scholarship. Although they were not able to attend Grants Night, Land of Lincoln Honor Flights will receive our Club's annual donation of part of the proceeds from our Flag Service Project.
Our Club is inspired by each of these organizations and the difference they make in the lives of so many within our community.
Key for Individuals in in image at top:
Front row (right to left): Chriss Wilson, Mini O’Beirne Crisis Nursery; Kris Cavanagh, St. Patrick Catholic School; Jennifer Butcher, Ridgely Elementary School; Megan Murray, Wooden It Be Lovely; Dawn Peck, Titan Fuel; Merideth Ferguson, Titan Fuel; Chris Terry, Compass For Kids; John Webb, Rotary Club of Springfield, Illinois President-Elect
Back row (right to left): Tim Holliday, Sleep In Heavenly Peace; Robert Gillespie, Helping Hands; Cindy Drum, Contact Ministries; Alexis Haven, Animal Protective League; Lynn Ducey, MERCY Communities; Laura VanProyen, Beerlahai Roi Women’s Ministries; Ikenna Martin, Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries
At our June 16 Club Assembly, President Elect John Webb gave an exciting preview of some of his plans for his tenure as our Club President. During his introduction, he described himself as happily married, especially attached to his dog Archie, still selectively involved in his career in state government, an avid tennis player and advocate for the game, and a member of a local Whiskey Club. He indicated that we can expect him to be highly organized, able to take on a heavy workload, interactive, determined and not easily deterred, an energetic and enthusiastic person who leads by example, and an approachable person who is always willing to assist. The image above is from a previous meeting, but the fact that he has Rotary socks clearly shows his passion and enthusiasm for Rotary. The shirt shows his perhaps misdirected passion for the White Sox.
Introduction of Team
He spoke briefly about the great team that will work together during the coming year.
Ken Gilmore: President Elect and Community Services Directors
Jim Theis: Treasurer
Marty Michelson: Secretary
Randy Erford: Club Services Director
Harry Mitchell: Membership Services Director
Travis Magoulias Youth Services Director and Past President (again)
Bob Stuart: International Services Director
Directors At Large: Bonnie Styles, Allison Montney, Barry Toabias, and Loretta Meeks
Pathway for our Club He discussed which pathway our club should take. Although our member survey indicates some desires to take a caretaker approach and not change too much, members do like the new social nights and all agree that we need to add new members. He highlighted some of our club's strengths. Even will our reduced number of members, we remain a fund-raising powerhouse, have an international presence that many clubs don't have, give out numerous grants,offer scholarships, actively participate at the District level, and are trying new things. As examples, he spoke about Allison Montney's open house fundraiser that will provide funds for stocking the Ridgely Micropantry and Vicki Megginson's work on a New Member Orientation initiative. He indicated that he does not want to be a caretaker. He wants us to seize opportunities and expand our appeal through experimentation. He commented that everything is on the table, and nothing is settled.
Calendar and Club Meetings
He noted that there are about 42 Rotary Days a year. These include club meetings, club assemblies, social nights, and special nights (e.g., Holiday party, Martin Luther King Breakfast). We also have service opportunities. We will have 33 club meetings in the coming Rotary Year, and he proposed that we have 25 meetings at Maldaners and try other meeting experiences for 8 meetings (2 each quarter). He proposed that we try different times, different locations, and different days. He suggested that we modify our meetings for different formats, e.g., have the speaker talk while we eat; have Board meetings via Webex on a different day from the club meeting, and have some service events during meetings.
Social Nights and Community Events
He proposed we have 7 Social Nights and the Holiday Party. He has targeted a July Social Night at the Golden Corral in recognition of all the flags they rent and to present them with a plaque. He suggested an August Social Night at Aunt Lou's Soul Food, which is right across the street from Maldaners. He recommend that we target the social nights events and be aware of community events we could tie into such as Juneteenth.
Rotary International Themes
He plans to take advantage of the Rotary International Themes for each month and encourages bringing in some speakers and providing some volunteer opportunities tied to those themes. He read off some of the themes. For example July is Maternal and Child Health and August is Membership and New Club Development. It would be easy to tie speakers and volunteer events into these topics.
Volunteer/Service Opportunities
He proposed that we have a volunteer opportunity each month and no less than 8 service events during the year.
Interaction with Other Clubs
He would like to see more interaction with other Rotary Clubs where appropriate such as our June 25 participation in the Lucky Horseshoes Rotary Night Game in Springfield.
Media and Social Media
He would like to see more liking, following, and sharing of our Facebook page and posts, more use of social media, and more press releases and news stories on our Club's activities. He congratulated Jim Applegate on the recent Illinois Times article on the Peace Builder Committee's partnership with the Outlet and the Social Justice Sewing Academy.
Join the Springfield Chamber of Commerce
He wants the club to join the Chamber of Commerce. It is important for raising awareness of Rotary.
Grant Proposal Submissions
He wants our club to actively apply for District Club and Literacy Grants and come up with ideas for applications.
Reduce Member Costs
He wants to cut costs for members. He mentioned the new opportunity to get some reimbursement for costs for stocking the Micropantry. He suggested that we have some free games during club meetings and try to keep the cost of dues down. He noted that our dues will be lower in the next Rotary Year.
Promoting Membership
He argued we should never pass up on an opportunity to ask someone to join. He also noted, that we need to get a follow-up report for our Corporate Sponsorship Launch Team, and we need to explore incentive programs for membership.
Sports Etiquette and Homage to Travis' Bad Dad Jokes
He pledged to support the Cubs-Cards Game despite the fact that we all know he is a White Sox fan, and he indicated the he will pay homage to Dad Jokes out of respect for Travis.
Champagne Toast
He toasted us with champagne and encouraged us to have fun, create new choices, explore unique and unexpected approaches, routinely have toasts to congratulate accomplishments, be open minded, get attention, acknowledge our club's rich history and bright future, and take opportunities to better our club. He concluded that the challenge will be for us to follow through.
Background on Peace Builder Club recognition and Committee: Jim Applegate, Chair of our Club's Peace Builder Committee (second from right in image below), spoke about our Peace Builders Committee and the Social Justice Sewing Academy at our July 8 Club Meeting. At that meeting, District Governor Dan O'Brien (second from left) and past District Governor, Bill Durall (far right), presented then President Megan Reynolds and Jim Applegate with a Rotary International Certificate recognizing our Club as a Rotary International Peace Builder Club (image below). We are very proud to be recognized for our peace-building efforts.
Our Club's Peace Builders Committee secured grants from the Healing Racism in Illinois Program (https://fieldfoundation.org/healingillinois) and the Rotary Literacy Grant program to create a partnership with the Social Justice Sewing Academy (SJSA) (www.sjsacademy.org) and The Outlet (www.theoutletillinois.org) supporting a Social Justice Sewing Academy (SJSA) for young men and boys (as well as some of their parents, grandparents, and young girls) served by The Outlet. The Outlet largely serves youth in families without present fathers.
For three nights about 20-25 participants (a) talked about what it means to be a young male in Springfield and America (b) worked with SJSA staff and experienced quilters to translate the ideas and emotions sparked by those discussions into visual images imprinted onto quilt squares and (c) created artist statements expressing what their squares meant to them (images above and on left provided by The Outlet). Each of the young men were given a copy of the book “Stitching Stolen Lives” authored by one of our SJSA partners (image below provided by The Outlet) and a picture of themselves with their square.
The insights and high level of engagement of participants was amazing to hear and see. One retired veteran teacher/quilter called it “one of the most meaningful things I have ever done.” Everyone involved from SJSA organizers to Outlet staff, to Rotary and quilter volunteers came away in awe of the young men’s work as well as energized and motivated to make sure their message was heard far and wide to spark change.
These squares have been transformed into a beautiful full-sized quilt by SJSA. With support from a second Club Grant from Rotary District 6460, the Peace Builders Committee is organizing community events where the quilt will be displayed, and recordings of the young men talking about their work will be presented to leaders and citizens across Springfield. The goal of these events is to spark community conversations about what Springfield needs to do to address the issues raised by these young men and their quilt and build greater peace in our community.
The quilt is on display in the Juneteenth Noir V: Resilience exhibition at the Illinois State Museum from June 13-Septembers 2. The Peace Committee was thrilled that the two young curators for the Noir V: Resilience exhibition, Austin Wells and Elijah Miller (image below), requested to include the quilt in their exhibition (second image below). Jim Applegate, Bonnie Styles, and Rod and Rosemary Buffington were honored to attend the Noir V: Resilience opening reception at the Illinois State Museum on June 13. The exhibition is open to the public during regular Illinois State Museum hours, and we encourage all our members to check it out and see the quilt. An article by Karen Witter on this project and the exhibition of the quilt was published in the June 12, 2025 issue of the Illinois Times.
The beautiful quilt created through this partnernship will also be loaned for displays at national quilting expositions and museums along with the estimated 45 other community quilts created to date by SJSA to give voice to those who are often not heard by their communities and country.
In follow-up to the announcement at our our June 16 Club meeting, Wednesday, the June 25th Springfield Lucky Horseshoes baseball game at Robin Roberts Stadium will feature Rotary Night. This theme night was secured by the Springfield Sunrise Rotary Club. It is an all club event. The Rotary Wheel will be present also along with a promotional table.
Sunrise has 50 free tickets for the event on the 25th, which enables each club to get 12 free tickets (with two extra). Additional tickets will be $8 each, which is a group rate (once a number is in place an invoice will be produced).
With this in mind, Sunrise has asked each Club how many will attend.
If you would like to attend the game, PLEASE LET ME KNOW BY 5 PM FRIDAY JUNE 20. I will give the Sunrise Club our number of attendees afterwards.
Finally, Clubs will likely be asked to provide someone to work the Rotary promotional table prior to game time and after the game ends. PLEASE LET ME KNOW ALSO if you would like to help out in this capacity.
This event sounds like a good opportunity to have fun with our fellow Rotarians, support the local baseball team, and promote Rotary & possibly garner new members.
We are thrilled to announce that tickets for the highly-anticipated annual Rotary Family Day at the Ballpark XXII are now on sale! This exciting event will take place on August 9 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, where the Cubs will face off against the Cardinals. Not only will you enjoy an unforgettable evening of baseball and camaraderie, but also the profits from ticket sales support our District 6460 Rotary Club Literacy Grants. By attending this event, you'll be contributing to a meaningful cause that benefits our local communities. Nearly every club in District 6460 has received a literacy grant over the years, and, our only requirement is that your club or its members has to sell at least one ticket or make a donation directly to our District Literacy Fund to apply for a literacy grant. We think that is beneficial to all concerned.
To purchase tickets, please visit our baseball game article on our website at rd6460.org. You can either click the link to purchase online or the link to download and print a PDF or Word ticket order form to mail in a check. For your convenience, I also attached the pdf order form to this email. You can easily sell tickets by copying and sending a link to our website to your friends and associates in an email and they can buy tickets themselves. We use paper tickets, and I will personally send them via First Class Mail.
We have Left Field Loge Reserved Tickets (Sections 269-271) available for this game. Tickets are limited and sell fast. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! Tickets are $60 per seat -- currently very competitive to similar seats available on MLB ticket websites. We can also accommodate people with disabilities, and we have a supply of ADA-compliant tickets (Busch Stadium has elevators and handicapped accessible seats near the sections where our group will be seated).
I would appreciate it if each club president would send me the name of a Rotarian in your group who will be your Team captain and will help me promote the ticket sales. I'm happy to come to your club and speak about the game promotion at one of your meetings. I will also send periodic updates of our ticket sale progress.
We encourage you to join us for a fun-filled evening in St. Louis. Your participation will help us sell out the event and have a significant impact through our literacy grants. Over $580,000 has been raised since PDG Rod Buffington started and supported this project since 2004. Thank you Rod all for your continued support! We look forward to seeing you at the ballpark!
If you don't want to sell tickets, but you still want to support the District Literacy Fund by making a monetary donation to our Rotary District 6460 Foundation, or if you have any questions and need some help - Contact me at bribaraxp@yahoo.com or phone 217-652-4371!
PS This year, I will personally donate $100 to the club that sells the most tickets and $100 to the club that sells the most tickets per capita. If we sell out and the Cubs win this year, I will also buy and wear a Cub cap next year. (I hope that my late mother forgives me). Now, TURN UP THE VOLUME ON YOUR PHONE/TABLET OR COMPUTER AND enjoy some music --Harry Sing along
Brian Barstead District 6460 Literacy Committee Chair Past District Governor (2018-19) Assistant Area Rotary International Foundation Coordinator -Zone 31 (2024-2027) member Rotary Club of Springfield Sunrise since 1990
The Rotary Club of Springfield has agreed to host a Foreign Exchange Student for the school year 2025-2026. We are looking for one more host family to serve one semester of the school year, preferably with Springfield or Southeast High School boundaries.
We now know that the student will be a female from Taiwan. Preferably the host family will have a high-school aged student, but that is not a requirement. Single family hosts are allowed pending approval by both the student and the student's parents. Because the student is a female, I cannot serve as her Youth Exchange Counselor so we are also looking for a female Rotarian to serve in that capacity. Let me know if you are interested.
Please think of family and friends you think may be interested in hosting a Foreign Exchange student, preferable three if you can think of that many. You or they may contact me for additional information. My email is bkemp1100@hotmail.com, or phone 217-494-7467.
Finding host families has become difficult, so I would appreciate any assistance you can provide. I am attaching a list of host family requirements. Please note that COVID inoculations are no longer required.
I sincerely appreciate any assistance you can provide.
Please remember that we are including some social night meetings at locations other than Maldaners. Please pay attention to the meeting schedule listed in 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.
June 23, 2025 No Rotary Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs
June 30 Installation Picnic for New Club Officers
Stone Creek Club House, 2113 Brookstone, Springfield, IL 62711
Please join us at the Stone Creek Club House in Springfield from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. for our catered, indoor installation Picnic. We will recognize our outgoing officers and install our new officers for upcoming 2025-2026 Rotary Year.
April 15-28 Sheila Mack, Judith Pensoneau-Feurer (Thanks, Sheila and Judith!)
April 29-May 12 Jim Applegate (Thanks, Jim!)
May 13-26 Harry Mitchell (Thanks, Harry!)
May 27- June 9 (Thanks, Allie!)
June 10-23 Ross Hodel
June 24-July 7 John Webb
July 8-July 21 OPEN
July 22- August 4 OPEN
August 5- August 18 Bill Kempiners
August 19-September 1 OPEN
September 2-September 15 OPEN
September 16-September 29 OPEN
September 30-October 12 OPEN
October 13-October 26 OPEN
October 27-November 9 OPEN
November 10-November 23 OPEN
November 24-December 7 OPEN
December 8- December 21 OPEN
I appreciate your help!
Thank you for signing up for a micro pantry volunteer shift. Your time and effort are greatly appreciated by the community we serve.
Members who have supported this program realize the price of food and other products stocked in the pantry have become more expensive. Under a new program, a member may be reimbursed up to $100 when a purchase is made for the food pantry. Funding for this reimbursement was made possible by donations in the amount $1,739, which were received at the Rotary Open House last December that I hosted at my home
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.
May 17 Bed Building Volunteer Opportunity
Thanks to Judith Pensoneau-Feuer, Vicki Megginson, John Webb for volunteering to build beds on May 17.
Stocking our Little Libraries
Allison Montney (onedirtymartini@gmail.com) is coordinating the stocking of Little Libraries. We previously built five Little Libraries and installed them at localities in Springfield with a support from a District Club Grant.
We routinely stock books at three of these locations:
Ridgely Elementary School (image on left, 2040 North 8th Street),
Springfield Firehouse No. 5 "The first Black Fire House" (image below, 1310 East Adams Street), and
St. John's Breadline (430 North 5th Street).
Through Dave Fowler's efforts we previously 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, we have requested that club members bring in books to supplement the donated books stored in the Computer Banc warehouse. Contact Allison if you would like to donate books and/or stock Little Libraries.
Thanks to Allison coordinating this project and ensuring that these little libraries are well stocked. Let her know if you would like to help.
Stocking of the Ridgely School Micropantry
Please sign up for a shift to stock the Micropantry at Ridgely Elementary School (our adopted school). Allison Montney is coordinating 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. If you would like to volunteer to stock this important and regularly used pantry, please let Allison know (onedirtymartini@gmail.com). Check out her article on micropantry volunteers for more information on this service project.
Flags are Deployed for 2025!
The flag service committee announced that in 2025, we will only have one deployment of the flags before Memorial Day and one retrieval after the Commemoration of September 11. Flag Service deployment for Memorial Day was completed in time to celebrate Memorial Day on May 23! Contact John Loftus for information on how to volunteer for this important service project and fundraiser. Project activities, such as buying supplies and repairing flags, take place throughout the year. The proceeds from this project helped support the community grant awards announced in this Newsletter. Contact John Loftus (jlloftus@aol.com) if you would like to volunteer.
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. Thanks to all members for participating in the 2024 campaign! The proceeds from the Citrus Sale supported the community grants described in this Newsletter. We will launch our 2025 campaign this fall! If you would like to volunteer for the citrus committee, let Marty Michelson know (exdirector@rutledgeyouthfoundation.com).
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 two images below show club members participating in the United Way's Spring Day of Action on April 25, 2025 by washing windows for the Illinois Presbyterian Home
The image on the left shows Bonnie Styles and her daughter Megan still smiling after installing flags for five hours on May 19, 2025. They were delighted that Judith Pensoneau-Feuer jointed the team for several hours. The first installation of flags for the Flag Service Project started on May 17, 2025 and will be done before sundown on May 30. Please volunteer for this project. We need your help, and the proceeds help support our community grants program and honor flights.
The quilt with squares designed and created by Springfield youth is featured in the Juneteenth Noir V: Resilience exhibition at the Illinois State Museum from June 13 through September 2. Our Club's Peace Committee supported the creation of this quilt with support from a Healing Racism in Illinois grant through a partnership with The Outlet and the Social Justice Sewing Academy. Twenty youth and their family members participated in this project, which was held at The Outlet. The Peace Committee and The Outlet are planning a special reception at the Illinois State Museum for Rotarians and other community leaders to see the quilt and learn more about it. See story below for more information.
For three nights about 20-25 participants (a) talked about what it means to be a young male in Springfield and America (b) worked with SJSA staff and experienced quilters to translate the ideas and emotions sparked by those discussions into visual images imprinted onto quilt squares and (c) created artist statements expressing what their squares meant to them (images above and on left provided by The Outlet). Each of the young men were given a copy of the book “Stitching Stolen Lives” authored by one of our SJSA partners (image below provided by The Outlet) and a picture of themselves with their square.
Allison Montney (
The image on the left shows Bonnie Styles and her daughter Megan still smiling after installing flags for five hours on May 19, 2025. They were delighted that Judith Pensoneau-Feuer jointed the team for several hours. The first installation of flags for the Flag Service Project started on May 17, 2025 and will be done before sundown on May 30. Please volunteer for this project. We need your help, and the proceeds help support our community grants program and honor flights..png)
