Architect Terry Trautman will discuss the famous Architecture of Columbus, Indiana and its History at our May 8 club meeting. He will be joined by former Club member, President, and resident of Columbus, David Kromphardt. See Upcoming Programs and Events below to learn why the architecture of Columbus is famous and plan to attend this meeting!
This past Monday, May 1, we heard from both Sara Wojcicki Jimenez (image on left) and Brad Miller (image below)about the The New Transportation Hub in Downtown Springfield. Ms. Jimenez, is a former TV journalist, Springfield Park Board Member, and State Representative. In her capacity as owner of KIND Consulting, she is working with Hanson Professional Services/Engineering on the new transportation hub under construction in downtown Springfield. Mr. Miller is a member of the Sangamon Country Board, which has responsibility for management of the transportation hub.
The project will consolidate rail and bus traffic in one location near the county building. This is clearly an extensive and innovative project that promises to transform transportation services in Sangamon County and have a significant positive impact upon economic development in Springfield.
May 8 Presentation on Famous Architecture in Columbus, IN
Next week, on May 8, our speaker will be Terry Trautman (lead image above), life-long resident of Columbus, Indiana. He will discuss the unique history and significant architecture of that small city, home of Cummins Engineering. For more information, see Upcoming Programs and Events below.
May 15 Social Night
In two weeks, on May 15, we will hold a Social Night, including a 50-50 drawing as well as an opportunity for members to participate in Brag-a-Bucks for the benefit of our Club's scholarships to University of Illinois Springfield and Lincoln Land Community College. Please join us for a relaxing Social Night.
Springfield Club members visited Black Hawk Elementary School on Wednesday, May 3 to assist in the third distribution of books purchased by our Club's Rotary Literacy Grant. The grant provided funding for books for students in grades Kindergarten through Second participating in the Reading is Fundamental (RIF) Program (image above). The visit on Wednesday allowed Rotarians to assist in the distribution of the books (image on left) as well as an opportunity for them to interact with both students and staff. Students were able to explore various books and to select one suitable for their reading level and interest. The excitement of the students assured that the Program was a tremendous success. Participating Rotarians included Kathryn Harris, Ken Gilmore, and Loretta Meeks. The Coordinator for the Program was Sarah Trimpe, Literacy Coach for Black Hawk Elementary School. The image below shows Loretta, Kathryn, Sarah, and Ken. Thanks to Black Hawk, Loretta, and Ken for providing images for this story.
At our May 1 meeting, President Randy Erford presented John Webb, with his red new member badge. John has been regularly attending club meetings and volunteering for our service projects. As a new member of our Public Relations Committee, he has also been actively promoting our club on Facebook and plans to assist with the weekly newsletter. If you have not officially welcomed him to our Club, please do so! We are delighted to have him as a member.
Bonnie teased him that he received his red badge of courage for choosing to work on the Public Relations Committee.
On April 28, 8 club members and Barry's son Alec (image above) volunteered as part of the United Way's Day of Service. Thanks to Community Services Chair Megan Reynolds for setting up this volunteer opportunity. Our club was lucky to be assigned to work at Lincoln Memorial Gardens, one of the most beautiful spots in Springfield (image on left).
We were charged with transplanting flowers (primarily Virginia Bluebells) from an area of the garden that will be developed for a new children's area to another area that will support a new flower garden. Another group of volunteers dug out the flowers and were careful to keep the root balls intact. Our group excavated trenches and transplanted clumps of flowers in the trenches (first image below and image in Record your Volunteer Hours section). The hope is that the roots will survive, and next spring, the plants will bloom in the new garden. We worked hard and had a great time (second image below). Thanks to Lincoln Memorial Gardens, Megan Reynolds, John Webb, Ken Gilmore, and Bonnie Styles for providing images.
Terry Trautman: The World Famous Architecture of Columbus, Indiana
Terry Trautman (image on left) will present on the architecture of Columbus, Indiana. All public buildings in Columbus have their architectural firms cost funded by Cummins Diesel Engine Co. Cummins, who is headquartered in Columbus, does a world-wide competition for architects for Columbus’ new buildings and employs architectural firms of significant stature.
Terry Trautman is a native of Columbus, IN. He graduated from Valparaiso University with a BA in Business Administration. He received his MBA from the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University in 1971.
For the first ten years of his working career, he was employed by Irwin Management Co. From there he then joined Cummins Engine Co. and was employed in various financial and control positions for over 30 years. After retirement from Cummins he spent six years as Vice-President of Corporate Payment Systems for U. S. Bancorp.
He has written two books (My Columbus Was Different From Yours and Clippings from a Cluttered Mind) and co-authored a third. For five years he wrote a column for a creative writer’s magazine called "Pen It!”
He will bring a few copies of his current book in case anyone might be interested in buying one.
May 15 ─ Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs
Social Night
Please join us for a Social Night. We will have Brag-a-Bucks and the 50-50 drawing. Proceeds from these activities support our club's annual scholarships for students at UIS and Lincoln Land Community College. Please remember that the goal is to actually win the 50-50 drawing instead of joining the growing ranks of losers.
Thanks so much to the volunteers from our club who sacrificed their time and their backs to transplant flowers at Lincoln Memorial Gardens last week! Its amazing to see the impact we can have when we come together. See the story above for details on this project.
Please join me at these two upcoming service opportunities!
Tuesday, May 16th, 1-3pm- Volunteering at the Central IL Foodbank
Need 10 participants for this project, our specific job will be determined a little closer to this date
Saturday, May 20th, morning hours (time varies based on role)- Girls on the Run 5k
There are many different opportunities for service hours at this event, with roles ranging from set up, to photography, check in, or even applying temporary tattoos on the runners!
Let me know if you register so I can keep track of our hours and let the coordinator know!
This does require you to pass a background check, so please register sooner rather than later.
Let me know if you have any questions about these opportunities
-Megan
Ridgely School Micropantry and Little Library!
Work stocking our Our Ridgely micropantry and little library continues and is important at all times. As you can see from the image on left, the Little Library needs more books. Please feel free to drop off books for the little library and any food/toiletries/cleaning supplies for the micropantry as you see fit. The families that frequent these resources are very thankful for your generous donations!
Vicki Megginson sent the images of the empty pantry she encountered at Ridgely School and the exciting image of the full pantry after she stocked it on March 12, 2023 (images below). We thank the Rotarians who have signed up for shifts stocking the micropantry during the New Year. If you want to sign up, let me know via email (mreynolds@uwcil.org). We need your help!
Flag Service
The Flag Service Committee is already meeting and volunteers are already at work. Please consider volunteering for this project. There is much work to be done! The first deployment of flags for Memorial Day (May 29, 2023) will be May 22-26. We are looking for volunteers to help with this effort and with the installation of conduit to hold flags for new customers. Let Marty Michelson (exdirector@rutledgeyouthfoundation.com) and John Loftus (jlloftus@aol.com) know if you would like to help.
District Club Grant Financial Literacy Project
Please contact Bill Kempiners (bkempiners1100hotmail.com) if you are interested in volunteering for this project.
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 online Membership Application in 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 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 hours for any volunteering that you do on behalf of Rotary.
Did you know that volunteer work was already underway for our 2023 Flag Service Project in January? In the image below Barry Tobias is training his son Alec how to use the drill press to drill a hole in a flag pole in his home workshop. After drilling, the holes have to be filed down. Much thanks to Barry for providing this image.
The image below shows John Webb transplanting Virginia Blue Bells at Lincoln Memorial Gardens for our Club's participation in the United Way Day of Service on April 28, 2023.
This past Monday, May 1, we heard from both Sara Wojcicki Jimenez (image on left) and Brad Miller (image below) about the The New Transportation Hub in Downtown Springfield. Ms. Jimenez, is a former TV journalist, Springfield Park Board Member, and State Representative. In her capacity as owner of KIND Consulting, she is working with Hanson Professional Services/Engineering on the new transportation hub under construction in downtown Springfield. Mr. Miller is a member of the Sangamon Country Board, which has responsibility for management of the transportation hub. 
Springfield Club members visited Black Hawk Elementary School on Wednesday, May 3 to assist in the third distribution of books purchased by our Club's Rotary Literacy Grant. The grant provided funding for books for students in grades Kindergarten through Second participating in the Reading is Fundamental (RIF) Program (image above). The visit on Wednesday allowed Rotarians to assist in the distribution of the books (image on left) as well as an opportunity for them to interact with both students and staff. Students were able to explore various books and to select one suitable for their reading level and interest. The excitement of the students assured that the Program was a tremendous success. Participating Rotarians included Kathryn Harris, Ken Gilmore, and Loretta Meeks. The Coordinator for the Program was Sarah Trimpe, Literacy Coach for Black Hawk Elementary School. The image below shows Loretta, Kathryn, Sarah, and Ken. Thanks to Black Hawk, Loretta, and Ken for providing images for this story.
At our May 1 meeting, President Randy Erford presented John Webb, with his red new member badge. John has been regularly attending club meetings and volunteering for our service projects. As a new member of our Public Relations Committee, he has also been actively promoting our club on Facebook and plans to assist with the weekly newsletter. If you have not officially welcomed him to our Club, please do so! We are delighted to have him as a member.
On April 28, 8 club members and Barry's son Alec (image above) volunteered as part of the United Way's Day of Service. Thanks to Community Services Chair Megan Reynolds for setting up this volunteer opportunity. Our club was lucky to be assigned to work at Lincoln Memorial Gardens, one of the most beautiful spots in Springfield (image on left).
Work stocking our Our Ridgely micropantry and little library continues and is important at all times. As you can see from the image on left, the Little Library needs more books. Please feel free to drop off books for the little library and any food/toiletries/cleaning supplies for the micropantry as you see fit. The families that frequent these resources are very thankful for your generous donations!
.png)
