February was a time of celebration. On February 23, our club Giving Circles named Paul Harris Fellows, and our club recognized Sonthana Thongsithavong as our Community Paul Harris Fellow (lead image). On February 9, we had a presentation on the Springfield Symphony Orchestra by the Music Director and the Executive Director. On Feb. 16, we will had our first lunch meeting. Larry Golden spoke about the Illinois Innocence project. On March 2, our own Bob Stuart will speak about the Power of Rotary and of our Club (see Upcoming Programs and Events for details).
February was an energizing and milestone month for our Club.
First Lunch Meeting
On February 16th, we held our first-ever lunch meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, drawing a full room of members and guests. Larry Golden (image below) delivered a compelling presentation on the Illinois Innocence Project at UIS, which he founded in 2001. He highlighted the Project’s 33 exonerations and its innovative Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance Program that trains police cadets statewide. The program was both sobering and inspiring, and the success of this inaugural lunch meeting marks an exciting expansion in how and when we gather and appeal to prospective members.
Foundation Night
One week later, we celebrated Foundation Night — one of the most meaningful evenings of our Rotary year. Moderated by our Club’s Rotary International Foundation Chair, Harry Mitchell, and assisted in presenting by District Foundation Chair Tom Stites, the evening honored the impact of The Rotary Foundation and the generosity of our members.
We were proud to name Sonthana Thongsithavong as our 2026 Community Paul Harris Fellow (lead image and image on left). As USTA Community Development Coordinator and Founder of the Central Illinois Tennis Association (CITA), Sonthana has used tennis as a platform for youth development and life success — truly exemplifying Service Above Self.
We also recognized Rotarians for their Paul Harris Fellow giving milestones based upon increments of $1,000 donations:
Plus 2 pin: Chris Atchison (first image above)
Plus 3 pin: Dave Fowler (second image above)
Plus 4 pin: Shelia Mack (first image below); Bill Kempiners (not pictured)
Plus 6 pin: Harry Mitchell (second image below)
Through our Giving Circles, we honored this year’s Paul Harris Fellows:
Allison Montney – President’s Circle (first image below)
Brandy Zanger – Friendship Circle (second image below)
Donald J. Hanrahan – Fellowship Circle (third image below)
Kristin M. Powell – Director’s Circle (not pictured)
Teresa Szabo – Chancellor’s Circle (fourth image below)
Miranda Smith – Foundation points recognition (fifth image below)
Ashley Dillingham: New Member and President-Elect for 2027-2028
Foundation Night also marked an important moment for our Club’s future as we welcomed Ashley Dillingham (image below) as our newest member. Incoming President Ken Gilmore announced that Ashley will serve as President-Elect for 2027–2028. A longtime Rotarian transferring from the Effingham “Noon” Rotary Club, Ashley brings experience, leadership, and Rotary passion to Springfield, and we are grateful for her willingness to serve.
info@spirotary.org changed the Webex meeting information for Rotary Year 2025-2026.
When it's time, join the Webex meeting here.
Club meetings scheduled for Maldaners Upstairs generally occur on Mondays from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM, (UTC-05:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
5:30 PM | (UTC-05:00) Central Time (US & Canada) | and last for 1 hr. 30 mins. These meetings are accessible online by using the link provide below. We will be scheduling some noon meetings at Maldaners and some off-site, evening social hours during 2026. Check the website Home Page (spirotary.org) , Facebook, and Upcoming Programs and Events in the Monthly Newsletter for locations and times of club meetings.
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).
On Monday, February 9, our Club was thrilled to welcome Illinois Symphony Orchestra (ISO) Music Director Taichi Fukumura (on right in above image) and Executive Director Trevor Orthmann (second from left in above image) to our Rotary meeting for a lively, insightful look at the ISO. Thank you to both speakers for sharing their time, expertise, and passion for music with us.
Taichi Fukumura — who also serves as Associate Conductor of the renowned Cleveland Orchestra — shared his passion for expanding the ISO’s repertoire and championing living composers. He likened the role of a conductor to that of a movie director, shaping how each musical story is told — noting the same orchestral piece can be told differently by different conductors, even with the exact same musicians.
Trevor Orthmann, who leads the ISO’s operations and growth, spoke about the organization’s strong momentum, including a youth orchestra now serving nearly 300 students and the ISO’s vital role in music education across our community. We also learned how the orchestra has smoothly transitioned its performances to a venue with exceptional acoustics — First United Methodist Church in Springfield — for the 2025–2026 season due to renovations at the UIS Performing Arts Center.
Larry Golden's presentation on the renowned Illinois Innocence Project provided the perfect launch for our Club's first lunch meeting at Maldaners Upstairs on February 16. We extended a warm welcome to longtime-friends Larry and Yosh Golden. Yosh was a long-time member of our Rotary Club, and Larry often accompanied her at our meetings. They generously continue to participate in our Rotary Citrus Fundraiser. This special lunch meeting attracted a full house of club members and guests and was open to visitors.
Larry founded the Illinois Innocence Project at UIS in 2001 with a goal to exonerate innocent people convicted of crimes and remarked that he was inspired by a 1998 meeting at Northwestern University that featured 40 prisoners who had been on Death Row, but were exonerated using new DNA evidence. Larry exclaimed that 10% of the people serving prison sentences are innocent.
Unlike other universities, he provided undergraduates at UIS the unique opportunity to do research on the cases, and later expanded the project to include students from Southern Illinois. By the end of 2025, the Illinois Innocence Project had exonerated 33 individuals, some of whom had served prison sentences as long as 35 years. The UIS Illinois Innocence Project program has also trained about 6,000 police cadets through their innovative Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance Program.
Larry indicated that there are about 70 Innocence Projects across the country, but the most renowned project is the Illinois Innocence Project at UIS. We can all take great pride in this program. The Illinois Innocence Project will celebrate its 25th Anniversary with the "Defenders of the Innocent Gala: Celebrating 25 Years of Freedom and Reform" on Novenber 7, 2026 at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield. They are currently looking for sponsors for the event.
Larry joked that he was happy to pose for his mug shot!
On February 23, Bob Stuart, our club’s International Services Director and former RI Director, gave us an update on the International Project that is in the works in Nepal. The country of Nepal is between China and India. It is one of the poorest countries in world with a GDP per capita of $470. Nepal is dominated by the Himalaya Mountains. Many communities struggle with getting potable water. This problem was aggravated by the 7.8 Earthquake in 2015, which killed over 9,000 individuals, destroyed thousands of homes and schools, and devastated infrastructure.
For our ongoing International Project, we are working with a village in Nepal. The village includes 350 individuals and 50 houses and is located on a mountain. Their source of potable water is a river at the bottom of the mountain, 1.5 miles from the village. For our international project, the project team is building a 500 liter storage tank at the source and an underground gravity flow system to the collection tank for distribution to every household in the village. The water system is being buried to prevent mudslides and to withstand forest fire damage. The team is building a 50,000 liter storage tank in the village to provide a continuous flow of water from the source. The water system in the village doesn’t need a filter. It meets WHO standards because the system will filter sand and other waste at the source.
The Distribution Network will provide potable water to every house. Tap making in the homes is underway. The water system will have regulating valves and meters for safe and affordable water.
The project will also provide community-based water and sanitation training over next 3 months, and will generate a report to The Rotary Foundation and donors
Please remember that we are including some noon meetings at Maldaners and 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.
March 2, 2026 Rotary Club Meeting, Maldaners Upstairs, Dinner, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Robert Stuart, Rotarian: Lasting Change & the Power of Rotary and the Rotary Club of Springfield
Bob Stuart (image below), our Club's International Director and former RI Director, will highlight the lasting impacts of RI programs and projects and those of our Club.
March 9, 2026 Rotary Club Meeting, Maldaners Upstairs, Dinner, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Club Assembly
March 6-7, 2026. District Spring Learning Event, UIS Student Union (see article in January Newsletter for details)
March 14, 2026 . Springfield St. Patrick's Day Parade Featuring the Springfield All Rotary Clubs Float, Downtown Springfield, Noon.
March 16, 2026 Rotary Club Meeting, Maldaners Upstairs, Lunch, 11:50 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Speaker, to be announced.
March 23, 2026 Rotary Club Meeting, Maldaners Upstairs, Dinner, 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.
Speaker to be announced.
March 30, 2026 Rotary Off-site Social Night, Dinner
Now you can sign up to volunteer to fill the Ridgely Micropantry by using the Signup Genius App. Just download the app and sign up for a one week or two week timeframe that works best for you or you and a friend. What a great way to make a difference. Thank you!
Ridgely Micro-Pantry: Winter and Spring Dates Added to SignUp Genius
Please consider signing up for a two-week commitment to stock the pantry or partner with a friend. The link provided takes you to the sign-up sheet located online using the SignUp Genius program. The Signup Genius link is listed below to sign up and allows you to reserve those dates and to also shows which timeframes are unfilled. The app will also send you a reminder closer to your volunteer date.
New! One Week Shifts
There are several shifts that will only be one week in length instead of two making an appearance on this list during high traffic times, such as we did around the holidays for the weeks of December 22, December 29 and will do for March 30. We are testing this concept. Rotarians might have trouble committing to a two-week period around holidays due to their own schedule but perhaps they could commit to a one-week timeframe. Also, typically the demand is higher around holidays so keeping the pantry stocked during that timeframe for one week is a big enough task-and greatly appreciated!
School Address:
Ridgely Elementary School
2040 North 8th Street
Springfield, IL 62702
Micro Pantry Location
The Rotary Micro pantry is located on the east side of the building by the main entrance. It is a purple and yellow cabinet.
Sign-up Genius: Volunteer Link (download the app):
You can sign up to stock the Ridgely Micropantry using the new Sign-Up Genius online system featured in the above article by Ken Gilmore. We are now signing up one to two individuals for each slot.
Please sign up. There are numerous empty slots.
I appreciate your help!
Thank you for signing up for a micropantry 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 in December 2024 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 the empty micropantry before I stocked it in January 2026. This is why you need to sign up! The pantry is almost always empty when we show up to stock it. The need for nutritious food is great in the community surrounding our micropantry. .
Feel free to contact me.
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.
At our January Club Assembly, Youth Services Director Travis Magoulias (image above) spoke about the need for more help with the Rotary Exchange Student Program. Our Club has traditionally agreed to sponsor Inbound and Outbound Foreign Exchange students. These are high school-age students who live with a host family and attend high school in the community where they reside. Most of you know that we are currently sponsoring Eve, an inbound exchange student from Taiwan. Over the past few years we have had an increasing difficult time finding host families for these students. For example, we were unable to find host families for Eve for the 2025-2026 academic year. Fortunately Rotarians Barb and Lee Malany agreed to host her for both semesters. We also need Rotarians who are willing to counsel and spend time with these students. We thank the club members who have spent time with Eve, agreed to give her rides when needed, spoken with her when she comes to our club meetings, and gone to some of her performances in the Springfield Youth Symphony, but we need more help.
If we are going to continue sponsoring inbound exchange students, then we need members who are willing to serve as host families or help recruit host families, and to spend time with these students. Please contact Travis if you are interested in helping with exchange students, think you might want to serve as our Youth Exchange Counselor, want to get more involved in Youth Services, or have thoughts on the future of these programs.
Registration for Rotary Spring Learning has officially closed. This annual event held at the Student Union at the University of Illinois Springfield, is designed to equip and inspire current and future Rotary leaders. The session on Friday, March 6 is for President Elects only and offers excellent preparation for that position.
The session on March 7 is for all Rotarians and is free to those who want to attend. Sessions begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude around 3:00 p.m. There will be 20 breakout sessions with topics to cover everyone's interests. Spring Learning provides opportunities to learn, develop relationships with Rotarians beyond our club, and have fun.
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. You will be able to enter your hours 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.
We offer special thanks to Allison Montney for coordinating and routinely stocking our Little Libraries. The images below show the Little Library at St. John's Breadline before and after Allison stocked it with books in February, 2026.
We were proud to name Sonthana Thongsithavong as our 2026 Community Paul Harris Fellow (lead image and image on left). As USTA Community Development Coordinator and Founder of the Central Illinois Tennis Association (CITA), Sonthana has used tennis as a platform for youth development and life success — truly exemplifying Service Above Self.
On February 23, Bob Stuart, our club’s International Services Director and former RI Director, gave us an update on the International Project that is in the works in Nepal. The country of Nepal is between China and India. It is one of the poorest countries in world with a GDP per capita of $470. Nepal is dominated by the Himalaya Mountains. Many communities struggle with getting potable water. This problem was aggravated by the 7.8 Earthquake in 2015, which killed over 9,000 individuals, destroyed thousands of homes and schools, and devastated infrastructure.
