We hope that your New Year is off to a good start! Please join us on January 8 at Maldaners Upstairs for our first club meeting and program in 2024! Pamela Frazier and Robert Frazier from Clean Slate Advocates & All in One Laundry Center & Services will speak about their Soap to Hope Challenge. On January 15, Club members will be participating in the Frontiers International Breakfast at the Wyndham Springfield City Centre. We will not hold a club meeting at Maldaners on that Day. See Upcoming Programs and Events for more information.
Holiday Party and Election of 2024-2025 Officers and Directors
We had a wonderful holiday gathering and meal at Christ the King Church Hall on Tuesday, December 12. We thank Rod Buffington for organizing the meal, working with the venue, and for welcoming our group. Chef Randy provided another outstanding meal. We were grateful that Club member Jason Huddleston not only received his blue membership badge at the event, but he also played the piano and was also joined by Sharon Smith (image below). We loved the music and were happy to come together to talk and sing some holiday songs. Thanks to Megan Reynolds and Harry Mitchell for capturing some of the fun in the images that were shared in our December 15 Newsletter. If you missed this Newsletter, you can access it from our Website Home Page.
Slate and Election of 2024-2025 Officers and Club Directors
At the Holiday Party, we presented the slate and elected the Officers and Club Directors for the Upcoming 2024-2025 Rotary Year, which begins on July 1, 2024. The slate is as follows:
Officers:
President: Megan Reynolds
Vice President/President Elect: To be determined
Secretary: Marty Michelson
Treasurer: James Theis
Past-President: Travis Maguolias
Club Directors:
Club Service: John Webb
Community Service: Ken Gilmore
International Service: Bob Stuart
Youth Service: Travis Magoulias
Membership Service: Harry Mitchell
Directors at Large: Loretta Meeks, Ross Hodel, Bonnie Styles, Barry Tobias
Sergeant at Arms: Jason Huddleston
The assembled group elected these individuals to these positions, and we thank them for their willingness to serve.
January 8 Board Meeting and Club Meeting
We will have a Board meeting at Maldaners at 4:00 p.m. prior to our Club meeting.
Our Club meeting will feature a presentation by Pamela Frazier, President and CEO, and Robert Frazier, Executive Director, of Clean Slate Advocates & All In One Laundry Center & Services in Springfield, IL. They will tell us about their From Soap to Hope Challenge. For more information, see Upcoming Programs and Events Below.
2024 Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast
As is our tradition, club members have signed up to attend the Springfield Frontiers International Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast on January 15. The breakfast will be held at 7:30 a.m. at the Wyndham Springfield City Centre. Thanks to Harry Mitchell for coordinating the sign-up and participation in this event. We will not be holding our regular club meeting at Maldaners on this date. More information on this event is provided in Harry's article below and in Upcoming Programs and Events.
Thanks for Volunteering During the Holiday Season!
Thanks to all of you who volunteered for various projects and events during the holiday season. This Newsletter features the many activities that members assisted with to make the holidays brighter for others.
info@spirotary.org changed the Webex meeting information.
Occurs on Mondays effective Monday, July 10, 2023 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) | 1 hr 30 mins
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. I have given Jesse at Maldaner's access to the view, so it will help him with planning. As always, we will direct him to have a few additional servings available for members who forget or last minute guests.
The same link will work for the entire Rotary year and will be shared within each Newsletter, so do not delete the Newsletter until you have submitted your dinner information. Please remember that the three most recent Newsletters can also be accessed from the Website Home Page (www.spirotary.org) so you can also access the link for reservations from the Website Home Page (www.spirotary.org).
It has been our practice for several years to reserve several tables at the annual Martin Luther King Breakfast sponsored by our friends at Springfield Frontiers International. We have done this for two major reasons:
We have partnered with the Frontiers club on several projects including sponsoring several of their youth members as Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA) participants.
To indicate our support for Reverend King's philosophy of a just society open to all.
I served as our club contact this year. I worked with Tony Williams to make our reservations. The breakfast information is as follows:
Monday January 15, 2024
They Wyndham Hotel on Adams Street
Doors open at 7:30 a.m., Breakfast and speaker to follow
Guest Speaker is Wendi Wills El-Amin, M.D.
(See Upcoming Programs and Events for speaker details)
Cost: $35.00
Tony requested that we place our reservation as soon as possible as last year the breakfast was almost a sellout. In order to accomplish this, members did the following:
Contacted me to commit to attending the breakfast.
I gave Tony a count on Monday, December 18. If you are interested in going, but missed this deadline, please let me know ASAP. Sometimes tickets are available at the door.
Checks for $35 a ticket should be made out to Springfield Frontiers International.
Please give your check to Ross Hodel at our January 8 meeting if you have not already given your check to me.
Please join us for what is becoming a club tradition. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. The bio for the this year's speaker is provided in the Upcoming Programs and Events section of this Newsletter.
The Citrus Campaign is over. By now, you probably know that we were forced to buy California oranges because of the failure of the Florida orange crop. One of the unsung heroes in this dilemma was Humphrey’s Market. They were able to a find a quality California substitute for Florida oranges. The feedback on these oranges has been very good. The image above shows me with a pallet of the California oranges.
Buying California oranges was more expensive than buying Florida oranges. We paid $38.00 for a large carton of California oranges compared to $28.00 last year for Florida oranges. I did what we could at the warehouse to save money. For instance, I did not buy small orange cartons which cost $25.00, instead we split large cartons in half to create small cartons at a cost of $19.00.
Higher costs have reduced the profits that will be available for community grants. However, some Rotarians have donated extra money to help offset this short fall. The estimated profit from this fundraiser is $10,400.
Other points of interest concerning the Citrus fundraiser:
Thirty-five members participated by selling citrus.
The Central Illinois Foodbank received 162 large cartons of oranges purchased by customers of the Sunrise, South and Downtown Rotary clubs. Our club provided 95 of the 162 cartons given to the foodbank. See the story below on the donation of oranges to the Foodbank.
Thanks to all who helped with this project. Some of the stories below convey this thanks.
The Rotary Clubs of Springfield again donated oranges to the Central Illinois Foodbank as a part of our annual Citrus Sale Fundraiser. Three Rotary Clubs in Springfield participated in this year’s donation of oranges to the Foodbank—our club (the Rotary Club of Springfield), Springfield Sunrise, and Springfield South. The Rotary Clubs allowed Rotarians and their customers to purchase oranges specifically for donation to the Foodbank. This year, Rotary donated 162 40 lb. cartons of oranges—three full pallets with over 20,000 oranges to the Foodbank (image above and lead image). This is Rotary’s second largest donation of oranges to the Foodbank since the Rotary Clubs added the option to buy oranges for them in 2013.
The Central Illinois Food Bank picked up the donated oranges from the Rotary Clubs at our Citrus Warehouse in the Underfanger Moving and Storage Warehouse in Springfield on December 6. Bill Smith, the Rotary Club of Springfield’s Warehouse Manager for the citrus fundraiser, Bonnie Styles, PR Chair for the Rotary Club of Springfield, and Brooke Dunn, PR Manager for the Central Illinois Foodbank were on site for the transfer of the oranges to the Foodbank. Channel 20 News and WAND Television interviewed both Bill (image to left) and Brooke and got footage of the oranges being loaded on the Foodbank trunk (image below). The interviews were featured that evening on news reports for these two stations.
Bill Smith described the benefits of the program for the Rotary Clubs, the Foodbank, and those in need of food. “It’s a win-win situation all around.” Customers buy nutritious citrus to eat and gift during the holiday season and also purchase oranges for donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank. The Foodbank delivers the oranges to pantries throughout central Illinois that serve those in need. The gift keeps giving because the proceeds from the sale of the citrus by Rotarians, including the oranges purchased for direct donation to the Foodbank, support Rotary community grants that help combat hunger, promote literacy, and meet other community needs.
At one of our previous meetings, Bill Smith called on club members to volunteer to purchase boxes of oranges for all the students at Ridgely Elementary School. We decided to pass the hat around the room to collect the needed funds. We succeeded in the first round, and the oranges were purchased and delivered to the school. Each student received a fresh orange to have with their lunch or save for later.
On December 7, we received an email message from Jennifer Butcher, the Principal of Ridgely. She also included these images showing that the students enjoyed their oranges. We thought you would enjoying seeing these!
Good Morning,
Thank you so much for the citrus donation for Ridgely Elementary students. They were so excited to receive the oranges during their lunch time on December 6th!
We appreciate your continued partnership and care for the students in our community!
In addition to all the Rotarians who sell citrus for our annual Fundraiser, there are numerous people who worked behind-the-scenes in the Citrus Wareshouse.
This year they made the cases that have half oranges and half grapefruit, and they also helped make small cases of oranges or grapefruit by splitting large boxes, which saved a lot of money on boxes. The warehouse workers also loaded citrus into our customer's cars.
We are thankful for the following people who worked on our club's behalf in the Citrus Warehouse:
The Rotary Club of Springfield again filled an Angel Tree for the youth of Rutledge. These are abused/neglected children who are living in foster care, intact families, or independent placements monitored by Rutledge. Club members purchased gifts for all the angels we made available (about 40). Gifts have been distributed for male and female youth, ages infant – 21 and were wrapped by their caregivers--sometimes in holiday paper provided along with the gifts. This program allows parents and care givers to provide their children with gifts to open during the holiday season.
Thank you to the club members who participated in the annual Rotary Blood Drive at the ImpactLife Donor Center in the Wabash Building (1999 Wabash Ave.). The Blood Drive ran from Monday, December 18 through Sunday, December 24. The image below shows club member John Webb after donating blood for the drive.
We thank all the club member who answered the call to help with the One Stop Christmas Shop and ringing the bells for the Salvation Army.
The One Stop Christmas Stop event was on Friday, December 15. Thanks to those of you who signed up and assisted family members shop for their children, including John Webb (image below).
Thanks to the club members who volunteered to ring bells for Salvation Army once again this year! Our reserved time slot was Saturday, December 16th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Schnucks store in Montvale Plaza. As the images suggest, Randy Erford and John Webb (image on left), Ross Hodel and Harry Mitchell (first image below) and Rod Buffington (second image below) enjoyed ringing the bells for a good cause.
Please remember that we are trying our new schedule with some social night meetings at locations other than Maldaners. Please pay attention to the meeting schedule listed the Newsletter, on our website home page (www.spirotary.org), and on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram pages for the dates and locations of the meetings. I am in the process of scheduling speakers now and will provide more details as soon as they are available.
January 8, 2024 Rotary Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, 5:30 p.m.
Pamela Frazier, President and CEO, and Robert Frazier, Executive Director, of Clean Slate Advocates and All in One Laundry Center and Services: From Soap to Hope Challenge
Pamela (image on left) and Robert (image below) will tell us about their From Soap to Hope Challenge and how they help the overlooked struggle for clean clothes and dignity. They will describe their mission and work, which extend beyond providing free laundry services to uplifting lives and communities, one load at a time.
January 15, 2024 Martin Luther King Breakfast, Wyndham Springfield, City Centre, 7:30 a.m.
Wendi Will El-Amin, MD is the Speaker
Wendi Wills El-Amin, M.D. (image to left) is the Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. She is a Professor at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine where she provides care at the Center for Family Medicine in Springfield. Dr. El-Amin is dually appointed to the SIU’s Department of Medical Education where she serves as an academic strategist.
El-Amin served as an Assistant Dean of Medical Education at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville (2007-10). She also served as director of outreach at the Center on Health Disparities and Director of the UVA Cancer Center Health Disparity Initiative (2006-10) and as an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and public health (2005-10), all at the University of Virginia. El-Amin was in private practice at Wills Diagnostic Clinic in Houston, TX. (2001-03).
She completed her residency in family practice and community medicine as chief resident at the University of Texas-Houston (2001). She earned her medical degree at Georgetown Medical School (1998) and a bachelor’s degree in biology at Hampton University in Virginia (1993).
El-Amin is board certified in family medicine and is a member of the National Medical Association, where she chaired the Women’s Health Section (2008 – 2019). She has been a community health advocate and activist. She is the proud mother of three daughters Samira, Arianna, and Yasmin, who she affectionately calls her earth, wind, and fire.
She is presently a board member of the Community Foundation of the Land of Lincoln. Springfield YMCA, and Springfield Memorial Hospital and Foundation. She is the recipient of the 2023 SIUSOM Leonard Tow Humanism award, 2023 Athena Award, the J. Dorsey Teaching Award in 2022, Springfield chapter of N.A.A.C.P. Webster award, and was named one of the 2022 Women of Influence from the Springfield Business Journal.
She has a passion for addressing health disparities and inequities in healthcare
We encouraged our members to reserve tables and attend this annual event sponsored by the Springfield Chapter of Frontiers International (see Harry Mitchell's story above for more information).
January 15, 2024 No Rotary Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, 5:30 p.m.
January 22, 2024 Rotary Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, 5:30 p.m.
Derek Harms, Executive Director of Springfield Park District: Springfield Park District Recreational Opportunities & Rotary Park Update
Here's your chance to be a pantry superhero! Join us in stocking the Ridgely Elementary School micro pantry for two weeks. Your commitment will ensure that families and children have access to essential items when they need them most. Whether it's a can of soup, a box of cereal, or toiletries, your contribution will brighten someone's day. Reach out to Allie Montney at onedirtymartini@gmail.com or call 217-494-6901 to become a beacon of hope for those in need. Every item you place on those shelves is a small gesture that collectively makes a huge impact!
Thank you for signing up for a micro pantry volunteer shift. Your time and effort are greatly appreciated by the community we serve. Below are the details including your two week shift, 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.
Time Commitment: Two consecutive weeks (1-2 restocking visits per week)
Volunteer Schedule for Winter 2023 - Spring 2024
Thanks to Bonnie Styles for stocking the pantry for the December 17-31 shift during the holiday season. Bonnie provided the image on the left that shows the special items she stocked in the pantry for Christmas Eve and Christmas. She reported that all these foods and supplies (including Rotary oranges, bread, coffee, tea bags, hot cocoa mix, holiday cookies, pancake mixes that only required water, syrup, tuna, linguini noodles, and 6 can openers for meat pasta sauces and other cans that didn't have pull tops) were all gone by by December 27. She does not normally include sweets, but it seemed appropriate for the holidays! She restocked the pantry on December 27 and December 30 (image below) to be certain that it was ready for New Years Eve. Each time she checked the pantry, there were only a few canned goods left, including some green beans and chickpeas. This pantry continues to be heavily used during the winter months.
Upcoming Schedule:
January 1 - 14: Bill Sturm
January 15 - 28: Rod & Rosemary Buffington
January 29 - Feb 11: Jim Applegate
February 12 - 25: Harry Mitchell
February 26 - March 10: Sheila Mack
March 11 - March 24: Ross Hodel
March 25 - April 7: Randy Erford
April 8 - April 21: Jason Huddleston
April 22 - May 5: Bill Kempiners
Micro Pantry Coordinator: Allie Montney
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.
As our Club's Community Service Director, Madeline Boner (shown standing in image above) is working with her predecessor in this role, her sister Megan Reynolds (shown seated in the image above), who has become our President-Elect. We are in the process of exploring some new volunteer opportunities, and some are discussed below along with some of our ongoing volunteer projects. We thank all the volunteers who gave and are giving generously of their time on service projects this fall and over the holiday season. If you have ideas for service projects, please contact Madeline at fryemadeline@gmail.com.
HSHS Mission Outreach
As Madeline reported at our October 2 meeting, we are working with HSHS Mission Outreach on some volunteer opportunities. They have requested that potential volunteers participate in a tour of their warehouse facility before becoming volunteers. Stay tuned for more information.
Kumler Outreach Ministries, Helping Hands, Compass for Kids
We are exploring volunteer opportunities with all of these groups. Some of the volunteer opportunities for Helping Hands are described in Jim Applegate's second article on Peace Committee Recommendations in this Newsletter. Madeline will provide more information soon.
Angel Tree Gifts for Rutledge Youth
Thanks to those of you who purchased Angel Tree Gifts for this project. See Marty Michelson's Thank You story above.
Annual Rotary Blood Drive
Thanks to Megan Reynolds for coordinating member participation in this event (see story above).
One Stop Holiday Shop
Megan Reynolds invited club members to participate in this event at Springfield's White Oaks Mall, and thanks all who assisted (see story above).
Ringing the Bells for the Salvation Army
Megan Reynolds scheduled our slot at the Schnucks at Montvale Plaza, and thanks all who assisted (see story above).
Important Update on Stocking our Little Libraries
At our October 2 meeting, Bill Kempiners reported that Jason Huddleston (jahudd212@gmail.com) and Allison Montney (onedirtymartini@gmail.com) have taken on the important task of coordinating the stocking of our Little Libraries. We previously built a series of Little Libraries with a support from a District Club Grant and secured a large number of books that were donated by a group in St. Louis. The books are stored in the Computer Banc warehouse. We thank new members Jason and Allison (far right in image to right) for taking on this important task.
The image of the Little Library at Ridgely School (to the left) clearly shows that this little library needed to be regularly stocked. Thanks to Jason and Allison for coordinating this project and ensuring that it is well stocked. Let them know if you would like to help.
We also need to help keep our newest Little Library at the old Firehouse well stocked with books (image below)! We thank Kathryn Harris for her work and promotion for this Little Library, which is right across the street from her home! If you would like to help stock this little library and any of the others we have installed in Springfield, please contact Jason and Allison.
Important Update on Stocking of the Ridgely School Micropantry
We previously installed a Micropantry at Ridgely Elementary School (our adopted school) with support from a District Grant. At our October 23 meeting, Allison Montney volunteered to coordinate the stocking of this micropantry with food, cleaning, and toiletry items. She has implemented a system for volunteers to sign up 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) as soon as possible. More information is provided in Allie's article in this Newsletter.
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Flag Service
On September 12-15, Flag Service teams completed the last pick up of flags for 2023 following the commemoration of Patriot's Day (September 11). Teams picked up the flags and returned them to the warehouse. The teams consist primarily of Rotarians, but numerous family members assist Rotarians in this effort. Alec Tobias, son of Barry Tobias, often assists Barry. The image above shows Alec picking up flags in this final round for 2023. The image on the left shows Ross Hodel picking up flags, and the image below shows John Webb and Jim Theis returning flags to the warehouse.
At our September 18 meeting, President Travis extended a special thanks to all the individuals who participated in flag installation and pick in 2023. Please consider volunteering for the Flag Service project. There is much work to be done throughout the year. Bill Sturm relayed that there is a current need for volunteers to help replace faded flags with new ones and help transfer good flags from bent poles to new poles. If you are interested in assisting with this task please contract Bill Sturm (sturmdmd@hotmail.com). Please contact John Loftus (jlloftus@aol.com) if you would like to help with any aspect of our Flag Service project. It's rewarding and raises lots of money for our community grants program!
Do you know or are you someone who has a passion to give back to your community? The Rotarians in this image are helping pack essential items for the Illinois Police Department to give to homeless individuals in our community. As a Rotarian, you adhere to the principles of the 4-way Test., which are:
Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Good Will and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?
If you find value in these ideals and want to be part of a great organization, right click on the attached link to open our online Membership Applicationin a new window. You can also click on this link to download an electronic copy of the Membership Application from our Club's website Home Page (www.spirotary.org) in the Download Files section. You can send the completed application to the Membership Committee at hmitchell11@comcast.net. We look forward to hearing from you!
Please remember to report your service hours and related contributions. Travis Magoulias has added the 2023-2024 Rotary Year to the form. You will be able to enter your hours now and correctly assign them to the correct Rotary Calendar year. Just follow this link:
Please email images of service activities to Bonnie Styles at bonstyles@yahoo.com. It's easy to take pictures if you have a smartphone, but even an old style camera works just fine. Send me an email (bonstyles@yahoo.com) to let me know when you will be volunteering for a service project, and I will come out and take some images.
Be sure to turn in your hours for any volunteering that you do on behalf of Rotary.
The image on the left shows Barry and Alec Tobias building a Lock Box to hold the Club's audiovisual equipment when it is stored at Maldaners. Special thanks are due to Barry and Alec for volunteering to build the box (image below).
The Central Illinois Food Bank picked up the donated oranges from the Rotary Clubs at our Citrus Warehouse in the Underfanger Moving and Storage Warehouse in Springfield on December 6. Bill Smith, the Rotary Club of Springfield’s Warehouse Manager for the citrus fundraiser, Bonnie Styles, PR Chair for the Rotary Club of Springfield, and Brooke Dunn, PR Manager for the Central Illinois Foodbank were on site for the transfer of the oranges to the Foodbank. Channel 20 News and WAND Television interviewed both Bill (image to left) and Brooke and got footage of the oranges being loaded on the Foodbank trunk (image below). The interviews were featured that evening on news reports for these two stations. 
Thanks to the club members who volunteered to ring bells for Salvation Army once again this year! Our reserved time slot was Saturday, December 16th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Schnucks store in Montvale Plaza. As the images suggest, Randy Erford and John Webb (image on left), Ross Hodel and Harry Mitchell (first image below) and Rod Buffington (second image below) enjoyed ringing the bells for a good cause.
Pamela (image on left) and Robert (image below) will tell us about their From Soap to Hope Challenge and how they help the overlooked struggle for clean clothes and dignity. They will describe their mission and work, which extend beyond providing free laundry services to uplifting lives and communities, one load at a time. 
Wendi Wills El-Amin, M.D. (image to left) is the Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. She is a Professor at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine where she provides care at the Center for Family Medicine in Springfield. Dr. El-Amin is dually appointed to the SIU’s Department of Medical Education where she serves as an academic strategist.
At our October 2 meeting, Bill Kempiners reported that Jason Huddleston (
On September 12-15, Flag Service teams completed the last pick up of flags for 2023 following the commemoration of Patriot's Day (September 11). Teams picked up the flags and returned them to the warehouse. The teams consist primarily of Rotarians, but numerous family members assist Rotarians in this effort. Alec Tobias, son of Barry Tobias, often assists Barry. The image above shows Alec picking up flags in this final round for 2023. The image on the left shows Ross Hodel picking up flags, and the image below shows John Webb and Jim Theis returning flags to the warehouse.
The image on the left shows Barry and Alec Tobias building a Lock Box to hold the Club's audiovisual equipment when it is stored at Maldaners. Special thanks are due to Barry and Alec for volunteering to build the box (image below). 
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