Stories

Buy tickets for July 13 Rotary Family Day at the Ball Park

Mark your calendar now! July 13, 2024 is Rotary Family Day at the Ball Park. The Cardinals will be playing the Cubs at 1:15 p.m. Rotary Clubs in our district have 2000 tickets to sell. You can buy tickets from members of the Rotary Club of Springfield or download the order form (link provided below) and mail it in with your check. The tickets are greatly discounted at $60 each. Rod Buffington (Mr. Baseball) is arranging for two buses to go from Springfield to Busch Stadium in St. Louis so you may be able to catch a ride if seats are available. You don't have to be a Rotarian to buy tickets! Buy them for your friends and family. Proceeds from the ticket sales support District Literacy Grants. The form to buy tickets for this game is available on our Club's Website Home Page (click on form here to download it).

Hope Humphrey Walker Recognized as Community Paul Harris Fellow

Bill Smith had the great honor of presenting our club’s 2024 Community Paul Harris Fellow award to Hope Humphrey Walker at our March 11 meeting (image above). She was accompanied by her husband, Greg Walker.

Our club has had a long history with Hope and her family. For nearly 50 years we have been selling Florida oranges and grapefruit as a fundraiser to support local charities. When we started this fundraiser, we dealt directly with the Florida citrus groves. In the late 1990s we entered into a partnership with Humphrey’s Market to improve the quality of the citrus product. We selected Humphrey’s Market because they had a long history of purchasing quality fruits and vegetables. This history started with Hope’s grandparents, who for many years purchased and sold fruits and vegetables. In 1967, Hope’s parents, Henry and Iona Humphrey, took over the business. Humphrey’s Market continued to grow and became a corner grocery store.

In 2008, Bill Smith began his involvement with Humphrey’s Market when he began managing our annual citrus campaign. This is when he met Henry Humphrey and got to know his understanding of citrus. His involvement with Hope began ten years ago when Henry died. He quickly realized that this was a seamless transition.

Hope is a life-long resident of Springfield. She attended schools in Springfield and she has a business administration degree from the University of Illinois in Springfield. Her only employment has been with the family business.

With her grandparent’s knowledge of fruits and vegetables, followed by her parents’ knowledge of fruits and vegetables, followed by Hope’s knowledge of fruits and vegetables, this looks like a pattern in the family tree. Bill is not a scientist, but it made him wonder if this knowledge is part of their DNA.

Our club has loved selling Florida oranges, except when we didn’t love selling Florida oranges. Let us explain, six years ago when the quality of Florida oranges had become an issue, we asked Hope to find an alternate grove to improve the quality of the oranges. Back then, another Rotary Club in Springfield was conducting their own citrus campaign and reported to us that they were getting quality oranges from their grove. Hope followed up on this lead and the new grove agreed to provide us with citrus. The next step was to determine the price of the citrus. Since the other Rotary Club dealt directly with the grove, the presumption was that their cost would be less than what we would have to pay. It didn’t work out that way, our cost was $1.00 less for each large carton of oranges and grapefruit than the cost for the other Rotary Club.

This change to a different grove seemed to solve the Florida orange problem until last fall. We were notified in early November that we would not get Florida oranges for our citrus fundraiser. The citrus grove reported a complete failure of the orange crop due to an extended dry spell in Florida. Naturally, we had to have oranges to complete the sales from the citrus campaign, otherwise, we would be forced to cancel all sales. This unsatisfactory result would involve returning money to customers who have already paid, and could also tarnish the reputation of the Rotary clubs who were part of the campaign.

The timing of the notification from Florida, left us with less than four weeks to find replacement oranges. Humprey’s Market, that is Hope Humphrey Walker, came up with a solution to our problem. Texas oranges were considered, but they were having similar drought issues as Florida. She was able to secure a premium California orange for us, which saved the day. We have received rave reviews from many of our customers about these oranges.

By the way, while Hope was solving our orange problem, she was already very busy with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays that were coming up.

We have had a wonderful partnership with Hope and the Humphrey family. It was said that Hope’s father, Henry Humphrey, had a passion for customer service and instilled that in his family and those who worked with him. Hope, has followed in that tradition and provides a wonderful service to our club and to the Springfield community.

We congratulate Hope for this prestigious recognition (images below).

Record Your Service Hours and Contributions

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:

Report Service

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.

Be sure to record the service you conducted over the holidays. The images below show Rotarians from our Club volunteering on holiday projects.

Encourage Membership in Rotary

Posted by Harry Mitchell

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 hmitchell11@comcast.net. We look forward to hearing from you!

Regards,

Downtown 2023-2024 Rotary Membership Chair

Harry Mitchell

Community Service During the Pandemic

We follow the Rotary Mantra of Service Above Self!

Covid 19 has changed the way we interact with each other and our community, but it has not changed the Rotary Club of Springfield’s commitment to improving literacy and eradicating hunger in our community. We have had a full year of service in 2021 and we are not done yet. A few highlights for our service over the past two years are provided below.

In 2021, we have been busy stocking the Micro-pantry we established at our adopted school, Ridgely Elementary (image above). We built four little libraries with support from a Rotary District 6460 Literacy Grant (image below).

We acquired a large donation of books to stock the Little Libraries we provided to Ridgely and Enos Schools and the St. John's Breadline. The images below show the sorting of the donated books for our Little Libraries and the fully stocked Little Library near the Micro-Pantry at Ridgely School.

In 2021, we also helped clean up Downtown Springfield twice (image on left below). We continued our popular Flag Service Project, which installs flags throughout our community through a subscription. The proceeds support grants to nonprofits that serve community needs (image on right below).

We are wrapping up our John Montgomery Memorial citrus sale (see article above), which provides monies for literacy grants for nonprofits. We are working on creating "Bags of Hope" and providing a meal to Homeless individuals in our community with three other Rotary Clubs, Rotary Youth Leadership Award High School Students, and the Salvation Army with support from a 2021 Rotary District Club Grant. We are preparing to participate in a Blood Drive with all five Rotary Clubs. Before the end of the year, we will provide Angel Tree Gifts for the Rutledge Youth Foundation, work with Home Alone to provide holiday cards and gifts cards for seniors, and ring the bells for the Salvation Army.

Here are just a few highlights for 2020 service projects during the pandemic. We continued to work on many of these projects in 2021.

In the Summer of 2020, Club Member Neal Miller built and helped install a Little Library for ImagicNation (image to left), and club members continue to provide it with books for children to enjoy.

In 2020, white boards were distributed to four elementary schools in Springfield that helped children learn from home or school through a District 6460 Club grant we wrote jointly with the other local Rotary Clubs.

To help reduce hunger, our club joined with United Way Days of Action to stock micro-pantries throughout Springfield, and we provided cans, cartons and cases of food items on September 26, 2020. Our Club provided a dinner meal through the Meal Train on October 29, 2020 for 55 homeless men and women staying at the Cooling & Warming Center on 1015 E. Madison Street. We provided the meals, desserts, beverage and disposable service items. For many, it was the only hot meal they had on that day.

In November 2020, Vicki and Norm Megginson filled and delivered 50 bags of essential supplies to the Springfield Police Department for distribution to homeless individuals in our community. Club members donated new hats, gloves, handwarmers, warm socks, hand sanitizer, masks, kleenex packs, lip balm, toothbrushes, tooth paste, shampoo, soap, hand lotion, and healthful treats for the bags.

In November 2020, Vicki Megginson arranged for the installation of the micro-pantry at Ridgely School, and Club members are stocking the pantry with nutritious food.

We also made the 2020 holiday season a bit brighter by partnering with Home Instead to provide gift cards and cheery cards to isolated seniors. We continued to provide holiday cheer for youth as well through our long-term partnership with Rutledge Youth Foundation. Club members purchased angel tree gifts for Rutledge youth, and we joyously rang the Salvation Army bells at Schnuck’s on Chatham Road.

Don’t forget to log your service hours. Just click on this link: https://airtable.com/shr4cB7BpJjpwXDEr

If you need to record your hours at another time, you can go to the “Download Documents” on the left side of the Home Page Website (www.spirotary.org), click on the “Record Your Rotary Volunteer Hours” file, and then click on the link. The form is easy to fill out!

Our club has a long-term volunteer relationship with the Central Illinois Foodbank. The image to the left shows rotary volunteers in 2021. Through our annual citrus sale, Rotary Clubs in Springfield and our customers also donate cartons of oranges to the Foodbank for distribution to food pantries throughout their region.

2021 Rotary Foundation Grants

2021 Grants Awarded to 12 Non-profits and Supported Scholarships, International Projects, and Honor Flights

In May 2021, the Springfield Rotary Foundation awarded grants to local nonprofits for projects that combat hunger and promote literacy in our communities. We reaffirmed these needs as high priorities for our communities during our club’s most recent visioning process and in ensuing years. Our Club’s fundraising efforts through the Flag Service Program, John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Sales, and Club meeting fundraisers totaled $35,800. These funds allowed us to provide grants in support of 12 projects (described below), and to also set aside annual support for:

Scholarships for LLCC and UIS students (supplemented by $2,200 from brag-a-bucks & 50/50),
International service projects, and
Land of Lincoln Honor Flights

The majority of our funds support local organizations that work every day to help people in our community in a variety a ways. Our grants are especially important this year given the hardships associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, we are inviting some of the larger grant recipients to be our guests for dinner at a club meeting so we can thank these organizations for their work in the community and celebrate their grant projects. At our June 7 club meeting, we presented grant checks to Catholic Charities for St. John's Breadline (image above) and to Compass for Kids for food for their Backpack Feeding Program for at-risk children (image below).

Click Read More below to see the descriptions of the projects funded in 2021.

President Barry's Message

Posted by Barry Tobias

History of the Paul Harris Fellow

On March 21, we will meet at the Inn at 835 to celebrate International Foundation Night. During that evening we will recognize the 2022 Paul Harris Fellows of which two are community awards.

So how did the Paul Harris Fellow award get started. Rotary established the recognition in 1957 to encourage and show appreciation for substantial contributions to what was then the Foundation’s only program, Rotary Foundation Fellowships for Advanced Study, the precursor to Ambassadorial Scholarships.

The first Paul Harris Fellows included past RI Director Allison G. Brush, who served during the 1937-38 Rotary year, and longtime RI Treasurer Rufus F. Chapin, both for donations made in 1946. Mrs. Adan Vargas was the first woman to receive the recognition, for a gift made in 1953. Mrs. Harry L. Jones was the second, and one of only five people recognized for contributions actually made in that inaugural year.

Early Paul Harris Fellows received a certificate of recognition. In 1969, the Foundation unveiled the first Paul Harris Fellow medallion at the Rotary Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Japanese metal artist Fiju Tsuda created the piece under the direction of former Foundation Trustee Kyozo Yuasa. Today, Paul Harris Fellows receive a certificate and pin (lead image). They are also eligible to buy a Paul Harris Fellow medallion.

Rotarians have a tradition of supporting the Foundation by honoring others. Ida LeTulle Taylor became a Paul Harris Fellow in 1978 when her husband, Vann Taylor, who was serving as a district governor, made a donation in her name in honor of their 34th wedding anniversary. The gift also made her the 25,000th Paul Harris Fellow.

At the International Assembly in 1979, incoming RI President James Bomar challenged each Rotary club to make one non-Rotarian a Paul Harris Fellow. The Rotary Club of Pikesville, Maryland, USA, responded by making a donation in the name of Mother Teresa in 1980. The entertainer Pearl Bailey also became a Paul Harris Fellow through a joint effort of the Rotary clubs in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Many other notable figures have been named Paul Harris Fellows, including U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. astronaut James Lovell, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, and polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk.

The number of Paul Harris Fellows reached the 1 million mark in 2006.

Citrus Sale Update

Posted by Bill Smith

John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Drive!

This year we again named our Annual Citrus Drive in memory of long-term Rotarian John Montgomery. He was an important Past President of our Club who had perfect attendance for club meetings during his entire tenure in Rotary (over 50 years)! The Rotary Annual Citrus Sale has raised over $1.4 million for grants to local charities!

Each year, we obtain fresh-picked seedless Navel Oranges and Ruby Red Grapefruit from the Indian River Groves in central Florida and bring them to you for the Holiday Season. These Grade A oranges and Grapefruit are a favorite for gifts to family, friends, employees, and business associates.

Many Rotarians and customers again designated gifts of oranges to the Central Illinois Foodbank or a Food Pantry of their choice through this program. Our club provides Ridgely School with an orange for each of their 300 students. We thank the following Rotarians for purchasing cartons of oranges for the Ridgely students this year: Randy Erford, Bill Kempiners, Loretta Meeks, Roger Randolph, Bill Sturm, and Barry Tobias.

Citrus Pick Up and Delivery Dates this year were December 10-11, 2021, just before the holiday season.

Thanks for helping us sell healthful, fresh citrus, and remember that our proceeds support grants to non-profits.

October 11, 2021 Meeting Link

Posted by Barry Tobias

When it's time, join your Webex meeting here.

More ways to join:

Join from the meeting link

https://acecloud.webex.com/acecloud/j.php?MTID=mbfd5429590324b90ebd9304956399a52

Join by meeting number

Meeting number (access code): 2576 006 3195

Meeting password: MrdEi7WmC45

Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only)
+1-408-525-6800,,25760063195## Call-in toll number (US/Canada)

Join by phone
+1-408-525-6800 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Global call-in numbers

Join by video system, application or Skype for business
Dial 25760063195@webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.
From the Cisco internal network, dial *777* and the 9-digit meeting number. If you are the host, enter your PIN when prompted.

If you are a host, click here to view host information.

Need help? Go to https://help.webex.com

July 19, 2021 Meal Reservation

Thanks for Attending Rotary Day at the Ballpark!

Posted by Rod Buffington

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our traditional Rotary Day at the Ballpark on Saturday, May 22. All 300 tickets for the game were sold and the bus was full. A good time was had by all, and proceeds from ticket sales support our District Literacy Grant Program.

If you could not join us this time, don't worry. Another Rotary trip to the Ballpark is being scheduled.

Service Contributions and Opportunities

Ridgely School Micro-Pantry

We thank club and other volunteers for monitoring and stocking the Ridgely micro-pantry (image on left) this spring and summer. Other volunteers are also providing food, and health, paper and cleaning items, and our task is to make sure it continues to be well stocked. Nutritious food items such as fresh produce and protein-rich foods, as well as toilet paper and other toiletries are always in demand. We are looking for volunteers who will monitor for a two week periods this summer. Contact Vicki Megginson at megginson.vicki@gmail.com to sign up for a shift or learn more.

Stocking Books in Little Libraries

If you want to volunteer to stock books in the four Little Libraries that we built with support from our District Literacy Grant, contact Dave Kromphardt at dkromphardt@yahoo.com or 815-488-2787.

Volunteers for Chamber of Commerce Golf Outing

Rotarians are needed to staff an information table to promote Rotary at the Chamber of Commerce Golf Outings on the afternoon of July 22 and 23. Rotarians who did this last year said it was an enjoyable experience and it could attract new members. If you are interested in helping with this event, please let Dave Kromphardt or Vicki Megginson know.

Making our Community Red, White, and Blue

Posted by John Loftus

The Rotary Flag Service Project has been making our community red, white, and blue since 2016. We will begin deploying flags for the 2021 season to have them in place before Memorial Day (May 31). We leave the flags out from Memorial Day until after July 4. Then our volunteer teams retrieve the flags and return them to our warehouse. On Monday Aug. 30, a week before Labor Day, we deploy the flags again, retrieving them after September 11.

Rotary’s motto is Service Above Self and the Rotary Club of Springfield will be continuing the deployment of flags to honor those who have served in the military and all the people working very hard to care for our health and well-being from nurses, doctors and everyone that supports the medical profession including first responders to stock personnel, cashiers and all the others that work in stores that supply our basic needs to truck drivers, people operating truck and fuel stops and mechanics that keep the trucks operating to people working in restaurants so we have a choice of what we eat during the Covid-19 pandemic. All these people are heroes and are living Rotary’s motto every day putting their service first.

If you don't already subscribe to this service, we hope that you will consider doing so. For those of you who subscribe to this service and have already paid the $60 annual fee for 2021, we thank you. For those of you that have not yet paid, we would appreciate your contribution as soon as you are able so we can provide grants to community organizations that help people in need. Payments for subscriptions should be sent to The Springfield Rotary Foundation, PO BOX 615, Springfield, IL 62705.

Should you need to reach us, please email flag@rotaryflagservice.com or leave a message at 217-566-4326.

Thank you for your support and stay safe!!

John Loftus
Rotary Flag Services

March Madness Fundraiser for PolioPlus

Posted by Bill Smith

This year we were able continue the men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament fundraiser. This fundraiser has been used for many years to support Rotary’s international effort to eliminate polio. This year $896.00 was raised for Rotary’s PolioPlus program. Normally, we would raise $800.00, but this year several members donated a combined total of $96.00 of their winnings.

The first round of the tournament consisted of 68 teams. Members who participated were assigned a team that was drawn out of a hat on their behalf. The first-place prize of $75.00 went to Naomi Lynn who had Baylor. Because there were so many teams in the first round, a second-place prize of $40.00 went to Loretta Meeks who had Gonzaga.

The second round consisted of 16 teams. In order to get a broader participation, the pool for the second round consisted of doubling the 16 teams for a total of 32 possibilities. The two first-place prizes of $50.00 each went to Jim Applegate and David Fowler.

The third round consisted of four teams. Four club members each formed a team of club members to raise the $100.00 entry fee for this round. The entry fees totaled $400.00 and were split 50/50. Vicki Megginson’s team won this round.

One final note. The $896.00 that will be donated to PolioPlus will be matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on a two for one basis, resulting in $2,688.00 being used to help eradicate polio!
Thanks to all who helped make this fundraiser a success!

April 26 Program Features Randy Erford

Randy Erford is our featured speaker for our April 26 program. Please join us in person or online for what is bound to be an entertaining evening. Our former "Sergeant Major at Arms" is known for his acute sense of humor and treasure trove of facts and stories about topics ranging from history to sports. The rumor is that we will have some sort of interactive experience.

Guests are welcome to join us, but must sign up ahead of time if they want to purchase a $15 meal for dinner at Maldaners Upstairs or for curbside takeout. Forward this Newsletter to prospective guests so they will have information on the meeting and reservations and access to the meeting link if they want to participate online.

Welcome to Two New Members!

At our March 15 meeting, we were pleased to formally welcome two new members into our Club. The pandemic clearly did not deter their enthusiasm for Rotary. Membership Chair Travis Magoulias led the induction ceremony with assistance from Dave Kromphardt, Bill Keminpers, and Loretta Meeks.

Christine Banks (image on left) is a transfer to our Club. She previously was a member of the Rotary Clubs of Jacksonville and Mason City and served three terms as President of the Rotary Club of Mason City. She was also the Interact-Rotaract District Chair for almost three years. She is an administrator for the management group of the Mason City Area Nursing Home. She recently relocated to Springfield. Christine’s favorite Disney movie is Cinderella. Loretta Meeks virtually presented her with her blue member badge and will serve as her Club mentor. We are happy to have this experienced and active Rotarian in our Club.

Sai Kanu (image on right) is a native of Springfield and graduated from UIS. She is an auditor for the federal Department of Defense. She is a first-time member of Rotary, but her father was a Rotarian in Sierra Leone, Africa. Her favorite Disney movie is The Lion King. Bill Kempiners presented her with her red new member badge and will serve as her Club mentor. Sai told us that she has less travel in her work now, which gives her more time for public service, and we are happy that she chose to join us in serving the community.

Please join us in welcoming these two new members to our Club.

An Inspirational Quotation on Peace and Tolerance

Posted by William Sturm

During my part of the presentation on the Peace Builders Initiative at our February 15, meeting I noted that I had been inspired by a statement made by Holger Knaack (image to left), 2020-2021 Rotary International President, at the RI International Assembly in January of 2020. I thought you would enjoy reading the direct quotation of President Knaack's comment:

In Rotary, we stand for values of equality, tolerance, and peace. Tolerance is a relevant concern in so many parts of the world now. Rotary is not political and it must stay that way. But when things obviously go wrong, we cannot look away. Rotarians must not be speechless. We must stand by our values and our Four-Way Test. We are measured not only by our results, but also by our attitude.

Still Time to Donate Books for Valentines Day

Remember to donate books to the IMagicNation Little Libraries for Valentines Day. You can deliver books directly to their Little Libraries at 16th and Spruce Streets (show in the image with Dave's message) or at Adams between 13th and 14th Streets. You can also drop off books at Maldaners Upstairs before our Club meeting on February 8, and we will deliver them for you in time to make Valentines Day special for a child. Help us stimulate the lifelong gift of a love of reading.

Foodbank Volunteers Help Eradicate Hunger

The Rotary Club of Springfield helped those worried about food for their families during this difficult time. A group of 8 volunteers (lead image for Newsletter) helped pack boxes of food at the Illinois Central Food Bank on January 19 from 10 am until noon. Kathryn Harris, one of the volunteers, noted on her Facebook page that "We packed boxes for distribution and literally made boxes. It was good to work together as there is HUNGER in our community, and the Food Bank addresses that need not only in Springfield, but throughout Sangamon County and beyond."

Don't forget to report your service hours and expenses. The link to the form is provided at the end of this Newsletter

Thank you, Rotarians for continuing to help eradicate hunger.

Donate to Frontiers International

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

Our Club has supported the work of Frontiers International for many years, including purchasing multiple tables worth of seats to the annual Martin Luther King Breakfast. The Breakfast was held virtually this year, and club members have asked how they can make donations in lieu of in person tickets. The link below connects to their donation page:

http://www.springfieldfrontiers.org/donate.html

The virtual program was very well done. The speaker, Dr. Rev. Melvin Charles Smith, was a minister in Memphis who marched with Dr. King in 1968 in support of the striking sanitation workers, and heard him preach the night before he was assassinated. His message was very powerful and relevant in our world today.

The Club Board will also discuss a donation as well. In the past the Club has purchased an ad in their breakfast booklet as a way of supporting their programs.

Dave

President Dave's Message

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

Some folks take a break after the holidays and wait until warm weather returns to begin anew. Not us! Last Monday’s meeting was well attended and enthusiastic. We will do our best not to disappoint.

Micro-Pantry at Ridgely

Vicki Megginson brought us up to date on two areas of service. The first is about taking care of our new micro-pantry at Ridgely School. It is getting consistently more use and provides food to the Ridgely School area citizens. She asked for Club members to assist in keeping it stocked, a subject covered separately in this newsletter.

Peace Builders Committee

The second was a progress report on the new Peace Builders committee. Meetings with multiple possible partners have been held, and the committee will meet today to evaluate these meetings. Serious attention is being given in our community to the subjects of reconciliation and healing, and our Club Secretary Loretta Meeks has agreed to serve on a United Way Committee that will administer grants to organizations that will work in that direction. Committee Co-chairs Bob Moore and Vicki Megginson will provide more specific information at a Club Meeting in February.

Literacy Grant Application

I provided general information about our Literacy Grant Application for the District. Using the model of Neal Miller’s little library and our new micro-pantry, the proposal is to construct multiple little libraries and install them near micro-pantries, and keeping them stocked with books for children K-12 and focusing on books for new readers as well. We will hear at the District Conference on January 22-23 if we are awarded a grant. Service opportunities will exist for design, construction, installation, and stocking ─ and perhaps negotiating book purchases and donations. Stay tuned!

Pandemic Financial Processes

This quarter’s meal tickets and invoices are going out in the next few days. COVID-19 has complicated the Club cash flow process, and we thank Sheila Mack and Bill Smith for their creativity and diligence during this time. Please address these items promptly, and ask questions if you have them. Bill Smith receives the monies for the Brag-a-bucks and 50/50 as they go to the Foundation for Scholarships. Sheila receives dues and meal monies. Thank you, everyone, for your generous support of our Club.

Potential to Return to Hybrid Meetings

One last note. As pandemic measurement levels give rise to the possibility of returning to our hybrid in person and video meetings, Maldaners must comply with directives from the Governor above any city or county regulations. Feedback given to me by Club members includes much interest in returning to the hybrid format when allowed, provided it is safe and Club members are not placed at risk in doing so. Some recommended considering vaccine availability in decision making. Thank you all for your feedback. I will keep the Club posted on how this progresses.

Dave Kromphardt

New Member Orientation

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

Did you know that the RI Foundation is one of the top-rated Foundations in the world? Most have met some of our Inbound and Outbound Exchange students. Would you like to know how this amazing program works? And what is RYLA and who participates in it? What about Rotaract and Interact? How do they fit into Rotary? New members in 2019 and 2020 are encouraged to attend the Gold Session of the New Member Orientation Program of the joint clubs of Springfield. This session provides valuable information on two gems of Rotary, the Rotary International Foundation and the wonderful Youth Programs Rotary offers.

This Orientation program was designed to help newer Rotarians learn about these important things. The more you learn about Rotary, the more impressive it is! January 14 at 7 pm via video! Save the Date!

January 4, 2021 Club Meeting Link

Posted by Barry Tobias

When it's time, join your Webex meeting here.

More ways to join:

Join from the meeting link

https://acecloud.webex.com/acecloud/j.php?MTID=m1f77de97b9b4d9228fb1ef3286fde7aa

Join by meeting number

Meeting number (access code): 162 470 0703

Meeting password: PfjdKHJb533

Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only)
+1-408-525-6800,,1624700703## Call-in toll number (US/Canada)

Join by phone
+1-408-525-6800 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Global call-in numbers

2020-2021 President Dave's Message

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

What a challenging time! But this Club has a talent for flexibility, creativity, patience, and humor and service. During my tenure as President, we went from videoconferencing to a hybrid meeting and back to videoconferencing. Maldaners continued to provide great meals in person and added curbside pickups. We learn each month about Rotary's (now) Seven Areas of Focus. We served our community and world in so many ways. We welcomed new members, and sadly said goodbye to dear friends. And we look forward to our New Normal in 2021. Thank you, Rotarians, for your service. We shall continue to serve together!

Please join us for our first club meeting of the New Year on January 4. It will be virtual and engaging. The link for the meeting is provided below.

2020 Club Highlights

We have tried to capture our club's energy in 2020 through a collection of images. To see the highlights, click the image on the left or "Read more."

New Member Orientation Program

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

This Orientation program was designed to help newer Rotarians learn about these important things. The more you learn about Rotary, the more impressive it is! January 14 at 7:00 p.m. via video! Save the Date!

President's Message

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Holiday Party, whether through meals, or the video Party, or both. It was good to have former members Gay Davidson (2nd row second from left) in Florida and Whitney Stoolman (4th row, left) in Idaho join us. This is the upside of our video meetings ─ guests from far away are able to join us! Thank you to Rod Buffington, Sheila Mack, and Loretta Meeks for coordinating the Party festivities. A special thanks goes to pianist Ed Clark (first row, third from left), who entertained us with a selection of holiday songs. We hope this is the one and only video Holiday Party. It will definitely be memorable as we move forward.

President Elect Barry Tobias presented his Board for next year, and the Club unanimously accepted his slate. While many serving are repeating their positions, some are new. Current position holders are encouraged to take the next six months to share their knowledge and wisdom to help those learning the ropes. One position remains open ─ the President Nominee to become President Elect. If you haven’t served yet as Club President, please give it consideration and speak to Barry. Speaking personally, this is one of the most rewarding and joyful experiences of my life. I completely recommend it!

We are sad to share that Rotarian Bob Lynn passed away on Saturday morning, December 12. We grieve with Naomi and their family at the passing of this wonderful man. He was a friend and long-time leader in our club and served as president in the 2000-2001 Rotary Year. On August 24, we recognized him as an Honorary Member of our club. We featured his extraordinary career and contributions in our August 31, 2020 Newsletter. The image to the right shows Naomi and Bob at a previous holiday party when we were able to come together for fellowship.

There will be no club meetings held the next two weeks, December 21 or December 28. Harry Mitchell made a great suggestion to support our friends at Maldaners and enjoy a treat at the same time. They are still open for business during this time, Wednesdays through Sundays, with regular menu items plus what they call their TV Dinners. I took a peek and they look quite tempting. And they have a relationship with a delivery company if that will add to the temptation!

There will be no newsletter next week, but we will have a special issue on New Year’s Eve in two weeks. Our next club meeting will be on January 4, 2021. More information on this meeting will be shared in the New Year’s Eve newsletter.

In the meantime, please take time to reflect on all the good done by the Rotary Club of Springfield this past year. This has been an unprecedented time in our country and world, and we have stepped up and provided for those in need. In our local community, we directly provided food, clothes, and personal items for physical needs, books and student whiteboard kits for intellectual needs, and greetings and gifts for emotional needs to those who are alone. We provided tools and education to improve food supplies in Zambia, school computers in Jamaica, and are working on providing clean and accessible water in Nepal and computers in Mexican schools. This is a wonderful group of people and I am thankful for each one of you. Together we make a powerful and lasting impact.

Dave Kromphardt

Club President

Angel Tree Gifts for Rutledge Youth

Posted by Marty Michelson

I thought you might like to see an image of the plethora of gifts we've received this year, many of them from Rotarians. We had such a positive response from folks that gifts have been provided for all our Angels, including those for youth that are coming into the program this week! It's wonderful that we've had such an outpouring of support, especially considering that Toys for Tots & The Tree of Wishes were unavailable to us this year because of Covid issues.

The Board and Staff of Rutledge have extended their thanks to our Rotary Club members for their generosity. Our Club members provided 40 angel tree gifts. The image shows Rutledge staff members Joe and Michelle organizing the gifts donated by Rotary and others.

Thanks for helping brighten the holidays for the less fortunate.

Marty

Holiday Party Contest Winners

We thank all the Rotarians and guests who participated in our contests for the best background, best ugly holiday sweaters, and the drawing for door prizes. All prizes were provided by Rod Buffington, and he served as master of ceremonies for this part of the party.

The competition for the ugliest sweaters was fierce because there were so many hideous sweaters to choose from. A secret judge selected Barry Tobias as first place for the men’s ugly sweater category for a truly tasteless sweater adorned with a cow and blinking lights. The sweater, proudly worn by Kathryn Harris, which proclaimed in large letters that it was “ugly” was a shoe in for first place in the women’s category. The ugliness of these sweaters could not be captured by the camera in our virtual setting, but if you have really good eyesight, you can see Barry and Kathryn's pride and happiness in the bottom row of the above image of Rod. Barry is pictured with a herd of cows and Kathryn is wearing a red hat.

David Kromphardt, the judge for the best background competition, first selected Rod Buffington for his creative and tasteful holiday tableau (left image above). As Chair for the event, Rod graciously declined the award, and then David selected Harry Mitchell as the winner for his oddly colored, but festive background (right image). Harry's shock at receiving this recognition is readily apparent.

For the “door prizes,” Rod drew names of the four winners from all the participants at the event: David Fowler, Bonnie Styles, David Kromphardt, and John Loftus. Each won a beautiful poinsettia from Buckley’s Prairie Landscaping.

December 14, 2020 Holiday Party Program

Posted by Sheila Mack

The Rotary Club of Springfield

Holiday Party

December 14, 2020

Welcome -- President David Kromphardt

Pledge of Allegiance

Invocation

Election of 2020 Officers and

Board of Directors

Entertainment

Music of the Season

Presented by Ed Clark

Holiday Time with Rod Buffington

2021-2022 Slate of Officers

President Barry Tobias

Vice President TBA

Secretary Loretta Meeks

Treasurer Sheila Mack

Past-President David Kromphardt

Slate of Club Directors

Club Service Stacy Kelly

Community Service Vicki Megginson

International Service Robert Stuart

Membership Travis Magoulias

Youth Service David Fowler

Directors at Large Bill Kempiners

Tony Williams

Marty Michelson

Chatham Director Timothy Welch

Sergeant at Arms Nate Clemmer

President's Message and Upcoming Meeting

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

Thank you to District Governor Maura Donnelly (third row from top, second image from left) for joining us on Monday night. We had a great time. Her message of information and encouragement was one of many bright spots at our meeting. That she was our randomly picked 50/50 Loser was a special treat. Her words of Rotary Wisdom from Paul Harris that described our club were especially meaningful: Personality has power to uplift, power to depress, power to curse, and power to bless.

Bright spots! Our Citrus sales grew this year during the John Montgomery Citrus sale, a great accomplishment in the middle of this socially limited year. Donating over 20,000 oranges to the Food Bank, thanks to generous gifts from customers, emphasized the Rotary spirit of generosity. Warehouse manager Bill Smith (image on right) once again ran a smooth operation and thanked his helpers for their hard work and dedication.

Service Chairperson Vicki Megginson celebrated a successful Santa for Seniors first year, giving gift cards hidden in greeting cards to At Home Seniors. This was followed by a successful day of bell ringing for Salvation Army at Schnuck’s. She also reminded us of our ongoing mini-pantry at Ridgely School, the Angel Tree for children with Rutledge Youth Foundation, and the little library built and donated by Neal Miller this Fall.

Also included (by me) were a need for Coats for Kids for Ridgely School, being collected at Green Automotive by Texas Road House. There are still needs for coats for girls and boys in sizes 8-10 and 10-12. Be sure to say that the coats you are donating are for Ridgely School.

This is definitely a Club of Service! Vicki reminded us that Rotary likes to keep track of gifts of time and money. As we approach the end of 2020, please provide her this information about your volunteer service and donations. To report, you can use the link to the form at the bottom of the Newsletter or send an email to Vicki Megginson. Yes, this is a reminder to me. Yes, it matters.

Finally, we have an opportunity to serve some of our club members this coming week for our Holiday Party. Maldaner’s have provided us fantastic food week after week. Our remote holiday party includes curbside meals for all who register. Please give thought to delivering a Maldaner’s meal to some club members who would appreciate one. Stacy Kelly volunteered to coordinate this effort even before our meeting was over! Contact Stacy is you would like to deliver a meal or two next Monday before our virtual meeting.

Please plan to attend our (hopefully) once in a lifetime virtual Holiday Party on Monday the 14^th. The link is in this newsletter. Chairman Rod Buffington and his committee of Loretta Meeks and Sheila Mack have a fun time in store. Have your festive background ready, your ugliest sweater on, and your biggest smile as we celebrate with each other. Officers for next year will be voted on, and Ed Clark will provide beautiful music for our enjoyment. See you there!

Dave Kromphardt

December 14, 2020 Meeting Link

Posted by Barry Tobias

When it's time, join your Webex meeting here.

Meeting number (access code): 162 436 7871

Meeting password: kWnemjmD535

Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only)
+1-408-525-6800,,1624367871## Call-in toll number (US/Canada)

Join by phone
+1-408-525-6800 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Global call-in numbers

Join by video system, application or Skype for business
Dial 1624367871@webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.
From the Cisco internal network, dial *777* and the 9-digit meeting number. If you are the host, enter your PIN when prompted.

December 14 Ugly Sweater Contest

Posted by Rod Buffington

There will be prizes for the Rotarians or quests who wear the ugliest of the ugly sweaters to our Holiday Party on December 14. There will be a secret judge watching the party and deciding who wins the ugly sweater contest prizes. I thought that I didn’t have an "ugly" sweater, however I looked into my closet and found a sweater that would work! So check out your own closet or those boxes in the basement. You might be surprised by what you find. Looking forward to your participation!

Rod, Holiday Program Chair

20,000 Oranges Donated to the Foodbank

On December 2, we donated 150 cartons of fresh Florida oranges to the Central Illinois Foodbank as part of our annual Citrus Drive. Springfield Sunrise and Springfield Midtown joined with our Club to donate these oranges. Bill Smith, the Citrus Warehouse Manager (image to left), relayed that we added the option for our members and customers to also buy oranges for direct donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank in 2013. This option has grown in popularity, and this year resulted in the donation of 20,000 oranges. Warehouse Czar Bill Smith oversaw the transfer, and Kevin Johnson from Underfanger Mayflower Moving and Storage loaded the three pallets of oranges onto the Foodbank truck with a forklift. The Foodbank will distribute these nutritious oranges to food pantries, soup kitchens, and other venues throughout 21 counties during the holiday season. The proceeds from the purchase of the oranges and grapefruit by our members and customers, including those donated to the Foodbank, will support Rotary community grants that help combat hunger, promote literacy, and meet other needs in our local and global community.

Kathryn Selected as SJ-R First Citizen!

On Sunday November 29, the State Journal-Register announced that Kathryn Harris was selected as the 2020 First Citizen for Springfield. We are honored to have Kathryn in the Rotary Club of Springfield and extend her our warm congratulations.

Kathryn is clearly a person of action in our Club, in the community, and beyond. The image to the right shows Kathryn helping feed the homeless in the Tent City in Springfield on October 29 for a Meal Train Dinner provided by our Club.

To read the full story on the award, click on the link below.

SJ-R Article Link

November 30, 2020 Meeting Menu and Reservation

The menu for curbside pickup for the November 30 meeting is:

Roast Pork Loin

Vegetable Lasagna

Chef Choice of Salad and Dessert

Please use the following link by Friday at 2:00 p.m. to make your reservations for the meal for curbside pickup: https://airtable.com/shrqKNwjEJx7xVQQw. This link has worked very well. Contact Dave Kromphardt at dkromphardt@yahoo.com only if you have a late change.

For curbside users, please place your meal tickets or cash in an envelope with your name on the outside of the envelope and give it to the Maldaners staff member that gives you your food. They will get the envelopes to Sheila Mack. Curbside pickup is between 4:45 and 5:15 p.m. To pick up food, turn into the alley behind the building and pick up the food at the back door.

President's Message and November 30, 2020 Meeting

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

We had a wonderful meeting on Monday night (November 23). Randy Erford brought a lot of smiles and laughs with his observations of life from The Crown to Archie, the cat who selected him. Thank you, Randy!

We also received many reports about all the service our Club provides to our community. This is the time of year for Santa for Seniors, Bell Ringing, the micro-pantry at Ridgely (image to right), and books for the little library at iMagicNation (Vicki Megginson), gifts for Rutledge Youth (Marty Michelson), supporting Literacy grants by purchasing baseball souvenir tickets (Rod Buffington), and Citrus sales and distribution (Bill Smith). Our Club serves in many ways!

We welcomed Jon Garland-Sutter into our Club. Travis Magoulias performed the induction ceremony. Sheila Mack is serving as Jon's mentor. Jon commented that he hails from California and has lived in Springfield since 1997. He joined Rotary because he wants to serve the community. He revealed that his favorite movie is The Prestige.

Thank you also to those who provided Thanksgiving themed backgrounds. While I enjoyed watching Vicki walk through her pumpkin pie, others of you enjoyed seeing my head on top of Harry Mitchell’s turkey (top row, right corner). My personal favorite was Ross Hodel’s turkey suggesting ham for Thanksgiving (fourth row, center). Thank you, Barry Tobias, for setting this up and offering lessons.

Tim Granzeau also sent a note to me this week about coats for Ridgely School children. More information will be coming next week.

Bill Smith asked that everyone get their John Montgomery Citrus Sale monies in to him as soon as possible. They can be dropped off at his home or through the drive-up at Peoples Bank & Trust. The year has been surprisingly successful given the pandemic, and we anticipate another delicious crop.

To wrap up the month, our November 30 speaker will be Mindy Melton (image to right), Business Development Coordinator for the Gateway Foundation. She will share information about the drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs they provide. We also will be doing Brag-a-Bucks, some committee reports, a Polio Update, and perhaps even a toast!

Our December 7 meeting will be a Club Fun Night. We invite everyone to set a festive background (contact Barry if you want a private lesson). We will also have a 50/50 drawing to benefit our Scholarship program, and perhaps will play a few games.

On December 14, we will have our annual holiday party, and Rod Buffington and committee will be sharing more details about this virtual event in the coming week. He already announced that Ed Clark will be the featured entertainment for the evening. This will be a unique gathering, and we invite all members to join the meeting.

Finally, I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. For many it will be very different from what we are accustomed to, but we still have much to be thankful for. Included on my list are all of you. This group has been a blessing as we moved here a couple years ago, and I thank you for your welcome and warmth.

Dave Kromphardt

Neal Miller Nomination for District Governor

Posted by District Governor Maura Donnelly

I am pleased to announce that Neal Miller, of the Rotary Club of Springfield, has been nominated as the District Governor Nominee Designate-Nominee (who will serve as District Governor for Rotary year 2023-2024) by the District Nominating Committee. This year's committee consisted of Past District Governors Doug Huff and Ron Riggins, Assistant Governor Harry Mitchell, Assistant Governor Jack Freiburg, and Past Assistant Governor Kevin Dewaele. In accordance with our bylaws, Neal's nomination will be voted on at our next substantive gathering of current Club Presidents, which will take place at District Conference virtually on 1/23/2021.

A brief bio: Neal was a commercial banker in Missouri and Illinois, starting as a management trainee and expanded with financial and leadership responsibilities to regional bank president. As a commercial banker, Neal assisted the bank employers achieve financial business objectives. Neal was in the banking field from 1981-1992. Neal had a second career as a serial entrepreneur where he founded or co-founded five companies. Four of the five entities leveraged information technology tools to meet services requested by customers. One unit was sold to a fellow Rotarian, one failed with a small loss to the shareholders, one discontinued operation when servers were no longer needed, and the final two were sold in 2017 and 2018. For all the five developed businesses, Neal’s responsibilities included the finance, accounting, sales, marketing and management. Neal retired in 2018. Neal enjoys golfing, woodworking, and backpacking. Also, Neal has been very fortunate in his Rotary career to have leadership experiences at the club, district, and zone levels as well as at Midwest PETS.

Please join me in congratulating Neal.

Best,

DG Maura

District Governor Maura Donnelly posted this announcement on the Rotary District 6460 Facebook page on Thursday, November 19. We are pleased to share this news with all the members of our Club. Neal has been a major leader in our Club, and we are proud of his accomplishments.

Purchase Souvenir Baseball Tickets to Support Literacy

Posted by Loretta Meeks

As we count our blessings one by one this November, let's not forget those in our communities that benefit from our District Literacy Grants. As we all know, we were unable to host our customary baseball game this year. However, we have 2,000 unsold tickets that we would like to sell as bookmarks or mementos of the event. The tickets are being sold for $20 with a notation on the back that reads “COVID CANCELLED.” We really want to encourage members to purchase these tickets because even though the event had to be cancelled, the need for funding is ever more pressing. COVID-19 has had a major impact on so many aspects of our lives and especially our schools and not-for-profit agencies that serve our children and adults who benefit from Literacy Programs. Please take a minute to view the video below that expresses this need.

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Avq586TFhfXtgsVzxHtysdkz4fL97A?e=VC9COR

Remember, November is a month of giving thanks and opening our hearts. Please consider making a purchase for this very important cause. We have ten days left in November. If our district sells 2000 tickets, we will meet our goal of $40,000, which would equal the proceeds that we would have received if the game had been played. We can make this happen if all of the District Clubs work together. Please click “Read More” below for a note from Rod Buffington on how to participate in this fundraising drive. We encourage you to place your order and to do your part in promoting a worthwhile cause.

November 30, 2020 Meeting Link

Posted by Barry Tobias

When it's time, join your Webex meeting here.

Meeting number (access code): 162 783 1845

Meeting password: U3jGKH476Nh

Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only)
+1-408-525-6800,,1627831845## Call-in toll number (US/Canada)

Join by phone
+1-408-525-6800 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Global call-in numbers

Join by video system, application or Skype for business
Dial 1627831845@webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.
From the Cisco internal network, dial *777* and the 9-digit meeting number. If you are the host, enter your PIN when prompted.

Redesigned Sustain Springfield Green Map

Last year, Wynne Coplea and Sheila Stocks-Smith of the Urban Action Network in Springfield spoke to our Club about the online Sustain Springfield Green Map that they created to guide visitors to environmentally friendly services, parks, community gardens, and other sites and amenities in Springfield. After their presentation, we helped promote the online website and map. They have completely redesigned the map to make it easier for visitors to find resources such as recycling locations, community gardens, car charging stations, and they have recently added little libraries and micro-pantries. Our Club is proud to be listed as a promotional partner for this project, which helps support Rotary's new Environmental Area of Focus. For more information on this wonderful project and a link to the website and Green Map, click on "Read More" below to see their Press Release.

Citrus Campaign Update

Posted by Bill Smith

Last year’s excellent citrus was hoped to be the impetus to increase sales this year; then the Pandemic came. This year sales started slow but increased to the point that they were comparable to last year. With slightly lower cost for citrus and increased cash donations, this year’s campaign should result in a profit in excess of $10,000.

This year for the first time, the other four Springfield Rotary clubs participated in our Citrus Campaign. Sunrise has been a partner for many years. Midtown used to be a full participant and when they discontinued participation, a few members continued to sell citrus. One of those members switched to Westside and continues to sell citrus. South has for many years had their own independent citrus sales. This year, because of the pandemic, they decided not to sell citrus. Some of their members continued to sell by participating with Sunrise and Midtown.

Our Citrus Campaign’s donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank continues to be a success. This year, Sunrise, Midtown and our club donated 150 large cartons of oranges. This is an increase from last year’s donation of 108 cartons. These cartons have smaller oranges than we sell in order to provide a broader distribution of the oranges. This year’s donation of 150 cartons provides over 16,000 oranges for the foodbank to distribute.

The citrus is scheduled to arrive at our warehouse next Monday. On Tuesday, at 2:00PM, we will have a small crew of five volunteers to create the cartons of half orange/half grapefruit for the mixed cartons we sold. On Wednesday afternoon, the foodbank is tentatively scheduled to pickup the 150 cartons of oranges donated to them. Friday from 8:00AM to 5:00PM and Saturday from 8:00AM to 1:00PM, the warehouse will be open to the public.

Anyone working or visiting the warehouse will be required to wear a mask and maintain social distancing. The warehouse is an open space which should provide a safe place to distribute the citrus. Work crews will be reduced in size to increase social distancing.

Report Your Service Hours and Contributions

Please remember to report your service hours and related contributions. Just follow this link:

Report Service

November 23, 2020 Meal Reservation and Menu

The menu for curbside pickup for the November 23 meeting is:

Catfish

Brisket

Chef Choice of Salad and Dessert

Presidents Message and November 23 Meeting

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

My note this week is a short one. We have a club meeting with home grown talent at the center. Randy Erford (pictured to left) is going to surprise us with his unique brand of entertainment. We will have the 50/50 in hopes of breaking our string of losers, and lots of information from committees. PLUS, everyone is invited to create a unique Thanksgiving background for everyone else to see. Not sure how to do it (like me)? Contact Barry Tobias at btobias@cisco.com and beg him for help!

Our speaker last Monday was Katina Kooi from Youth Service Bureau (pictured in the top, row center in the image below). Her presentation on helping kids get back on track, or managing a tough home situation, was enlightening. One important point came out of the Breakout Room discussion afterward; most of these young people have the same needs as many of the homeless people our club helped. Those items, clothes, coats, shoes ─ all are needed. Many kids only have what is on their back. Katina said they accept donations of these items and keep them on hand.

We heard about a lot of ways our club is helping people in our community, from helping children in need and the elderly all alone, to promoting literacy, to providing oranges to those needing food, to ringing bells. We are an active club with a focus on service! Every member is encouraged during this period of Thanksgiving to determine where they can serve others in need. Every Rotarian participating would be a wonderful thing this season!

The Thanksgiving Holiday gives us an opportunity to reflect on the blessings in our lives. This year has provided a definite challenge for all of us, from social isolation to fear of infection to loss of friends and other loved ones. When looking for blessings, I thought of a mixed one, a shift of the ordinary. I have gotten to know so many in this Club a lot more through our video adventures (see image from November 16 meeting to right) than if we had our ordinary meetings all year. This Club is a collection of amazing people with incredible talents, knowledge, and experiences. I am blessed and thankful for relationships with all of you!

Our next newsletter will feature the big news that we received today. District 6460 Governor Maura Donnelly informed us that Club member Neal Miller's nomination has been approved, and he will serve as the 2023-2024 District 6460 Governor. Please join me in congratulating Neal.

Rotary Quote of the Week:

Rotary is not just a club that you join; it is an invitation to endless opportunities. We believe in creating opportunities for others and for ourselves. We believe that our acts of service, large and small, generate opportunities for people who need our help, and that Rotary opens opportunities for us to live a richer, more meaningful life, with friends around the world, based on our core values.

-- Holger Knaack, Rotary International President (pictured in the image to the left with President Dave at the PETS meeting)

Help Spread the Cheer!

Posted by Vicki Megginson

Members of our Club will be ringing the bells for the Salvation Army at Schnucks at Montvale Plaza (2801 Chatham Road) on December 5 from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. There are four two-hour shifts, and three Rotarians may sign up for a shift. Check this sign up link to see which shifts are still open. The image to left shows Norm and me enjoying ourselves in 2019. If you are participating this year, you will need to wear a mask. Please join us in raising money for the the Salvation Army.

We are also spreading a little cheer to seniors in our community. So many seniors are able to stay at home with assistance, but can feel isolated and alone, especially during Covid 19 restrictions and the holidays. In partnership with Home Instead, the Rotary Club of Springfield hopes to brighten the holidays for 20 elderly individuals with notes of cheer and an accompanying gift card, which are safer for distribution than wrapped gifts.

Please let me know at megginson.vicki@gmail.com if you will gift one or more individuals. I will then assign names in order of replies received and send you an email with your assign name(s) and wished for gift card. Typically, gift card values are between $25 or $30.

Gift cards, along with a holiday card/note, must be received by Home Instead no later than December 4th. You can mail your holiday card and gift card to Tina Prather, Home Instead 2040 West Isles Avenue, Suite A, Springfield Il 62704. Please let her know the name of your senior and that you are with the Rotary Club of Springfield. You can also drop off your card to Vicki Megginson, 2308 Ironoak Circle, Springfield, who will deliver the cards to Home Instead.

Thank you so much for your generosity,

November 23, 2020 Club Meeting Link

Posted by Barry Tobias

When it's time, join your Webex meeting here.

Meeting number (access code): 162 486 8071

Meeting password: G3PiWPVM9r4

Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only)
+1-408-525-6800,,1624868071## Call-in toll number (US/Canada)

Join by phone
+1-408-525-6800 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Global call-in numbers

Join by video system, application or Skype for business
Dial 1624868071@webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.
From the Cisco internal network, dial *777* and the 9-digit meeting number. If you are the host, enter your PIN when prompted.

If you are a host, click here to view host information.

Rutledge Youth Angel Tree Gifts

Posted by Marty Michelson

We will again be filling 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. There are 35 angels available for male and female youth, ages infant – 20, with the child’s name and gift suggestions printed. A gift of $25-50 is suggested.

If you are interested in participating please contact me via email to select an Angel(s): exdirector@rutledgeyouthfoundation.com. We can make arrangements to pick up your gift or schedule a time

for you to drop it off, wrapped or unwrapped, at our office at Rutledge, 151 N Bruns Lane.

Thanks for your support.

Marty Michelson, Executive Director

Supplies for Homeless Delivered!

Thanks to Vicki Megginson and Norm Megginson for filling 50 ziplock bags with essential supplies and delivering them to the Springfield Police Department for distribution to homeless individuals in our community. Club members donated new hats, gloves, handwarmers, warm socks, hand sanitizer, masks, kleenex packs, lip balm, toothbrushes, tooth paste, shampoo, soap, hand lotion, and healthful treats.

President Dave's Message

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

Thank you all for attending our video meetings this month! We are fortunate that we had our system running through July and could resume video only meetings when COVID began rising again. And we held our first successful 50/50 by video link as well. Thank you to our Video Vanna Vicki for making it work.

Thank you also to everyone who bragged a lot this week. Our Scholarship Fund is benefitting from everyone who steps forward and participates in “Bragging Bucks.” This is especially fitting in this month of Thanksgiving. Even in this challenging time, we have much for which to be thankful.

We have been challenged by Rod Buffington this week on two Foundation programs. The opportunity to watch the Cubs to beat the Cardinals again in person did not happen, and the District 6460 Foundation is seeking to replace the missed funds for Literacy. They came up with the great idea to make the unused tickets Collectors’ Items and sell them for $20 each to raise monies to promote Literacy. A drawing for a box seat ticket for our next in-person game will be held for those who buy or sell to others $100 in tickets, which is a great motivator. Please contact Rod at rotaryrod@comcast.net to get your tickets.

Rod also challenged the club to fill two slots in the Circles for Paul Harris fellows. Two members of our club who were members of the Chancellor’s Circle passed away suddenly this year, and these two spots are open. The contributions for this program support the Rotary International Foundation. Each Circle gets to name a Paul Harris Fellow for a $1000 donation, and the Paul Harris Fellows are honored at our Foundation Night in February. Again, please talk to Rod about this program. New members, we will coordinate a special informational gathering to explain how our club supports our Foundation, the District Foundation, and the RI Foundation, one of the top-rated Foundations in the world.

Thank you all for your involvement in Rotary during these challenging times. Our Club helps a lot of people, locally, regionally and internationally. This is a wonderful group of people!

Dave Kromphardt

November 16, 2020 Meeting Speaker

Katina Kooi, Executive Director of the Youth Service Bureau, will talk about the 2020 grant project funded by the Springfield Rotary Foundation and how the pandemic has impacted their programs. The Youth Service Bureau is a licensed Child Welfare Agency that has been serving at-risk youth and their families for over 40 years. The agency provides services to young people between 11 and 24 years of age that are abused, neglected, runaways, or otherwise homeless. Their service area includes the counties of Sangamon, Menard, Mason, Logan, and Christian. Many of the client families do not qualify for food assistance programs but are below the poverty level. Hardships and needs are particularly acute because of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated unemployment. The grant was awarded to purchase food for some of the families who are in crisis and the older homeless youth population, and to help stock the recently established community food pantry on their property with nonperishable foods for those in need.

November 16, 2020 Meal Reservation and Menu

The menu for curbside pickup for the November 16 Club meeting is:

Roast Sirloin of Beef

Vegetarian Pasta

Chef Choice of Salad and Dessert

November 16, 2020 Meeting Link

Posted by Barry Tobias

When it's time, join your Webex meeting here.

Meeting number (access code): 162 380 1771

Meeting password: 3pmQ7MjqrD5

Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only)
+1-408-525-6800,,1623801771## Call-in toll number (US/Canada)

Join by phone
+1-408-525-6800 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Global call-in numbers

Join by video system, application or Skype for business
Dial 1623801771@webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.
From the Cisco internal network, dial *777* and the 9-digit meeting number. If you are the host, enter your PIN when prompted.

Ridgely School Partnership Expanded with Micro-Pantry

Posted by Vicki Megginson

There is not a week that goes by without news about hunger and the growing need for food throughout our community. Covid 19 has impacted employment and families are struggling, with, many worried for the first time about feeding their loved ones.

With encouragement from the Food Bank, a group of concerned citizens began a grass roots effort, forming a volunteer group on Facebook. They set about building micro-pantry structures, strategically placed around Springfield and nearby communities, and stocking them, along with groups and individuals who wants to add items. Communicating daily through Facebook, this group checks each pantry one or more times each day and puts the call out when items are needed.

Several of our Rotary members provided food for micro-pantries during United Ways Days of Service and conversations began about placing a Rotary micro-pantry at Ridgely School. With enthusiastic approval from Principal Ken Gilmore, a micro-pantry has now been installed at the front door of the school (first image). The body and shelves are painted a bright purple, and the door is gold (second image). Principal Gilmore is planning to decorate it with more decals, and Naomi and Bob Lynn have provided enough canned goods and other items to stock its shelves for a good start (third image). Rotary emblems and a plaque saying The Rotary Club of Springfield Supports Education & Eradicating Hunger decorates the inside of the door..

Please stop by Ridgely School regularly and help stock its shelves with food (e.g., canned goods, pasta, rice, bread, cereal), paper goods (e.g., toilet paper, paper towels), cleaning supplies, and hygiene items. You can pull right up to the front door walkway. Our pantry is on the left side of the front door alcove. The address is 2040 N 8^th Street.

November 9, 2020 Meal Reservation and Menu

The menu for curbside pickup for the November 9 Club meeting is:

Fried Chicken

Beef Lasagne

Chef Choice of Salad and Dessert

For curbside users, please place your meal tickets or cash in an envelope with your name on the outside of the envelope and give it to the Maldaners staff member that gives you your food. They will get them to Sheila Mack. Curbside pickup is between 4:45 and 5:15 p.m. To pick up food, turn into the alley behind the building and pick up the food at the back door.

President Dave's Message & November 9, 2020 Meeting

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

During this time of an increase in COVID-19 cases, our club will be meeting in the video format only. “Err on the side of caution” was the phrase that came up repeatedly as the Executive Board unanimously decided this was the most prudent course of action.

The survey of club members had a consistent message: we should continue to support Maldaners as best we can. Many club members plan to buy curbside meals. Others want to make a donation of half up to all of what they would have paid for meals. While others expressed that taking care of the restaurant was important and that they hope to meet together soon. Mike Higgins has indicated that we will be billed only for the meals we actually order curbside, so it would be good to make it worth their while to prepare the meals. I had my first curbside meal on Monday night, and it was delicious. Pickup took a minute. I heartily support giving this meal a chance.

With the restrictions on groups, the Park District contacted me about our December 12 “Walk the Extra Mile” event. Consequently, we will reschedule it again. It is tentatively set for warmer weather, and the timer/coordinator is looking at several dates in May. This time frame may actually work better as more becomes known about combatting the COVID-19 virus.

We welcome Jon Garland-Sutter, CEO and President of Illinois Income and Estate Planners LLC, (image to left) as our newest Rotarian! He will be inducted either November 9^th or the 16^th.

Our November 2 speaker, Adam Booher, provided an amazing story of innovation and cooperation to provide prosthetic arms to over 130 people. Of special note is that his team intentionally did not patent the model so it could continue to be used to help people. An estimated 2 million people need prosthetics so the need is great. He provided the link to the video he showed in his presentation and that link is provided in the story below.

A new event was added to our last meeting ─ a discussion group after we adjourned. It provided a chance to ask more detailed questions of our speaker and to share thoughts among club members. This went very well thanks to Stacy Kelly and Barry Tobias, and we look forward to future discussions.

Our November 9 club meeting will provide lots of updates, opportunities to brag and participate in the 50/50 drawing, and perhaps a few surprises! Keep selling that citrus and turn in those envelopes!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Dave

Video of Prosthetic Arm Recipient

Adam Booher, Senior Engineer at Bunn and our speaker for our November 2 Club meeting, provided us with the link to the "The OpenSocket by Bump" YouTube video that he showed during his presentation. It features Carlos from El Salvador, one of the recipients of the prosthetic arm that Adam helped design when he was as a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rotarians from Champaign helped Adam and his partners distribute the prosthetic arm. We encourage you to watch this video.

https://youtu.be/-FbDuwlYVbg

Adam also noted that it was nice to meet and talk with us at our meeting.

Providing Essential Supplies for the Homeless

All members received two ClubRunner messages from Vicki Megginson letting you know that we are repeating our project with the Springfield Police Department to provide bags of supplies for the Homeless. The image of Norm with a filled bag is from our previous project. They have asked for 50 Ziplock bags of supplies that officers can distribute as needed. They would like to receive the filled bags before November 30. The bags have already been acquired for the current project. Items for each bag include: hats, gloves, handwarmers, warm socks, chapsticks (50 have already been donated), new toothbrushes and small toothpastes, hand sanitizers, masks, small Kleenex packs (50 have already been donated), and small treats.

If you would like to donate items, please let Vicki know. You can also send a gift check to Springfield Rotary Foundation at PO Box 615, Springfield Il. 62705 for purchase of items.

Helping Feed the Homeless

At our November 2, Club meeting, Kathryn Harris reported that the October 29 dinner our Club provided to the Homeless adults at the Tent City in Springfield was a great success. Boyd’s New Generation and Catering prepared and delivered 55 individually packaged chicken and rice casserole dinners with green beans, buns, and cake to the Homeless adults. It was a cold night and recipients were happy to get a warm and delicious meal. Thanks to Kathryn Harris for arranging for our Club to participate in the City’s Meal Train to help provide food for these Homeless individuals who are waiting for more shelter and warming center space to become available. We thank Rod Buffington for graciously covering the catering costs from the proceeds from his sales of Rotary theme prints. Thanks also to Kathryn for contributing individual bottles of water and to Vicki and Norm Megginson for contributing and delivering fresh mandarin oranges and cookies.

Link for November 9, 2020 Club Meeting

Posted by Barry Tobias

When it's time, join your Webex meeting, click the link below.

Meeting number (access code): 162 958 7693

Meeting password: XPneYxi8e83 (97639948 from phones)

Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only)

+1-408-525-6800,,1629587693#97639948# Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Some mobile devices may ask attendees to enter a numeric meeting password.

Join by phone
+1-408-525-6800 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Global call-in numbers

Join by video system, application or Skype for business
Dial 1629587693@webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.

November 2, 2020 Meal Reservation and Menu

The menu for this week is:

Ham

Macaroni and Cheese

Chef Choice of Salad and Dessert

Please use the following link by Friday at 2:00 p.m. to make your reservations for the meal and indicate whether you are eating at Maldnaers or using the curbside pickup: https://airtable.com/shrqKNwjEJx7xVQQw. This link has worked very well. Contact me at dkromphardt@yahoo.com only if you have a late change.

For curbside users, please place your meal tickets or cash in an envelope with your name on the outside of the envelope and give it to the Maldaners staff member that gives you your food. They bring them to Sheila inside. Curbside pickup is between 4:45 and 5:15 p.m..

Club Helps Feed the Homeless Tonight!

Tonight (Thursday, October 29) between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. our Club is scheduled to contribute 55 individually packaged dinners to homeless adults at a “tent city” as a part of the City of Springfield’s Meal Train Plus Program. Club member Kathryn Harris (image to right) arranged for Boyd’s New Generation Restaurant and Catering to prepare and deliver chicken and rice casserole dinners with green beans, and bread complete with the dishes and utensils to the homeless. Kathryn is contributing individual bottles of water for each person, and Vicki and Norm Megginson purchased and contributed mandarin oranges and cookies to round off the meal. When Kathryn asked for members to contribute to cover the cost of the Boyd’s catering and delivery ($385) at our October 25 meeting, Rod Buffington graciously offered to cover the $385 from the monies raised from the sale of his Rotary Theme Prints. We all thank Kathryn, Vicki, and Rod for their generosity.

Since late September, the City of Springfield has been coordinating the delivery of meals to the homeless who have assembled at the tent city at 11^th and East Madison Street because they are unable to access overnight shelters because of policies for the Covid-19 pandemic. Groups and individuals may sign up on an online calendar to participate in the Meal Train and provide meals for homeless people through November 30 when more warming/shelter space will hopefully be available. Scheduling the meal deliveries means that food does not go to waste. Meals must be delivered to the locality, but no meal service is required. According to the City’s website "The goal is simple: to provide a meal for adults who are unable to find shelter at another agency. It is requested that each meal also comes with disposable plates, utensils, napkins along with single serving drinks (e.g., water, lemonade).” If there is food leftover after an event, it is collected and taken to another locality where it is needed. This effort is a collaboration of the City, Heartland Continuum of Care, and the group Helping the Homeless in Springfield, IL. We are happy to participate in this thoughtful and needed program.

President Dave's Message and November 2, 2020 Meeting

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

Thank you to Kathryn Harris for coordinating the service project for the Tent City homeless area (see article this Newsletter) as part of the meal train program. 55 meals are being provided tonight. Thank you also to Rod Buffington for funding this project, and to Vicki and Norm Megginson for supplementing the meal with mandarin oranges and cookies.

All downtown club members will be receiving an important survey in the next few days. Restrictions due to COVID may be increased shortly due to a rise in infections. Anticipating this, we would return to all videoconference meetings but may be able to continue with curbside meal pickup. Several questions are asked concerning this. PLEASE GIVE SERIOUS THOUGHT TO THIS AND RESPOND IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS.

Our speaker this week is a classic example of Rotarians working in their community to improve life all over the world. Please join us to hear from Adam Booher (image to left), now a senior engineer at Bunn, but as a student at University of Illinois he and a partner developed a prosthetic arm. Rotarians in Champaign and other clubs joined to distribute this device in the world.

Our theme in November is the Rotary Focus on Woman and Child Health and Safety. We look forward to hearing from some of our Grant Recipients that work to help families in need. More information will be provided as details are finalized.

We recognized Neal Miller for his 27 years of service to our club on Monday. Many club members spoke fondly and with humor on their time with Neal. Better-half Julie joined Neal as we honored him. Good luck in Galesburg, Mr. and Mrs. Miller!

Link for November 2, 2020 Club Meeting

Posted by Barry Tobias

When it's time, join your Webex meeting here.

Meeting number (access code): 162 431 5422

Meeting password: KuUEvRT7J24 (58838787 from phones)

Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only)
+1-408-525-6800,,1624315422#58838787# Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Some mobile devices may ask attendees to enter a numeric meeting password.

Join by phone
+1-408-525-6800 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Global call-in numbers

Join by video system, application or Skype for business
Dial 1624315422@webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.

October 26, 2020 Meeting Menu and Reservation

The menu for the October 26 club meeting is:

Roast Turkey

Winter Squash Soup

Chef Choice of Salad and Dessert

Please use the following link by Friday at 2:00 p.m.too make your reservations: https://airtable.com/shrqKNwjEJx7xVQQw. This link has worked very well. Contact me at dkromphardt@yahoo.com only if you have a late change.

For curbside users, please place your meal tickets or cash in an envelope with your name on the outside of the envelope and give it to the Maldaners staff member that gives you your food. They bring them to Sheila inside. Curbside pickup is between 4:45 and 5:15.

Club Meeting Link for October 19, 2020

When it's time, join your Webex meeting here.

Meeting number (access code): 162 800 3627

Meeting password: YvWPaBGa353 (98972242 from phones)

Click Join Meeting when you are ready.

Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only)
+1-408-525-6800,,1628003627#98972242# Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
Some mobile devices may ask attendees to enter a numeric meeting password.

Join by phone
+1-408-525-6800 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)

Springfield Rotary Clubs Launch Joint Literacy Project

Springfield Rotary Clubs provided over $10,000 for white board kits to Springfield District 186 for all the students at four elementary schools as part of a joint literacy project funded through District 6460 Grants. The presidents and other representatives of the five Rotary Clubs of Springfield presented the checks to Springfield District 186 at a virtual press conference on October 14.

Four Springfield District 186 elementary schools (Iles, Lindsay, Marsh and Sandburg) will be receiving brand new white boards, dry erase markers and erasers for each of their students, thanks to generous support from the joint project of the five Rotary Clubs. Rotary volunteers will be packaging the items in individual bags for ease of distribution to each student.

The white board kits will aid in both remote, hybrid and classroom learning through the Rotary project. Students will be able to use the boards to practice math and writing, and other skills at home or in the classroom and hold the boards up for the teachers to see the results. Students will be able to erase the boards and reuse them for a variety of exercises each school day and throughout the school year.

The project was spearheaded by our own Vicki Megginson working with representatives from each club and Debbie Thomas from District 186. The Rotary Clubs submitted grant proposals for this joint literacy project to Rotary District 6460, and District Grants to support the project were awarded to each club in September.

Vicki served as the master of ceremonies for the virtual press conference, and Debbie Thomas described the project. District 6460 Governor Maura Donnelly and District Foundation Chair and Past District Governor Brian Barstead spoke briefly about Rotary and the District Grant Program. Rotary Club Presidents presented the checks and spoke about the project. Springfield District 186 Superintendent Jennifer Gill and Principals from the four schools spoke about the importance of the project for the students and thanked Rotary for their support during tough times.

October 19, 2020 Club Meeting and News

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

This is a very short note this week but has a couple of important items. The first is that beginning next week, instead of a separate note from me on Thursday regarding the meals and other items, an email from Barry over the weekend with the link to the Monday meeting, and a note in the Newsletter on Monday morning, these messages will be delivered in the Club Newsletter on Thursdays. Thanks to Neal for suggesting it, and Bonnie and Barry on the implementation. You will get more information on the Newsletter at our October 19 meeting. The Board approved the membership application of Jon Sutter on Monday, October 12. The two week comment period for his membership was announced at the October 12 Club meeting and started on that date. If you have any comments on Jon, please email them to me at dkromphardt@yahoo.com.

At our meeting on October 12, Carly Malany Hinkle gave an amazing and powerful presentation on the challenges of working in a Chicago ICU as the COVID-19 pandemic was in its early stages. This presentation was recorded and will be available on the club website.

At our October 19 club meeting, we will have committee reports, the Board report, the 50/50 drawing, and the COSTUME EVENT. Whether in person or at home, bring your best. There might even be judging and awards!

To join the meeting online, click on the link in the next Newsletter story.

And keep selling those oranges and grapefruits!

John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Drive

The Rotary Annual Citrus Sale is underway. This year we are naming the drive for long-time Rotarian John Montgomery to honor him as an important Past President and a Rotarian who maintained perfect attendance during his entire tenure in Rotary (over 50 years)! Since it's initiation in 1976, the annual citrus sale has raised over $1.3 million for grants to local charities! Check out the story on our website home page on our 2020 grant awards to see the benefits of this program.

We obtain fresh-picked seedless Navel Oranges and Ruby Red Grapefruit from the Indian River Groves in central Florida and bring them to you for the Holiday Season. These Grade A oranges and Grapefruit are a favorite for gifts to family, friends, employees, and business associates.

Donors can designate a gift of oranges to the Central Illinois Foodbank or a Food Pantry of your choice through this program.

Fruit can be ordered through our members, or by phone or Internet:

Phone orders: 217-566-4326

Internet Orders: www.rotarycitrus.com

The ordering deadline is November 9. Citrus Pick Up and Delivery Dates are December 4-6.

40 lb. cases of Oranges, Grapefruits or Mixed Fruit are $45 per case. 20 lb. cases are $30 per case. Gifts of oranges to the Central Illinois Foodbank or another Food Pantry of your choice may be made for either size.

Order your healthful, fresh citrus today for your own family and friends! Please sell as much as you can so we can keep our Foundation Grants Program strong!

Harry Mitchell Wins the Challenge

Posted by Dr. Bonnie Styles

In our last Newsletter, we challenged members to identify the mysterious Rotarian who spoke at our August 31 meeting. Harry Mitchell provided the best, if not only, response to this challenge! His award-winning answer is provided below.

At first I thought it was Howard Stern who had come to do a remote broadcast from Maldaners. Then I thought it might be Ross Hodel doing an ad for the Men’s Hair Club. But then I remembered it was Barry, and he spoke to us about membership. --- Harry Mitchell, September 28, 2020

UIS Creates Fund to Honor Clarice Ford

We are sharing a note that we received from UIS about a new fund they established in memory of Clarice Ford, a former member and Community Services Director of our Rotary Club. The purpose of the fund is to provide support for students dealing with financial hardships or emergency needs.

Dr. Clarice Ford was a leader dedicated to cultivating inclusive communities and ensuring that every student had an opportunity to succeed.

She was an essential member of the leadership team at the University of Illinois Springfield since 2008, spending the last six years of her service as vice chancellor for Student Affairs. You may know her by her motto, which was “Whatever it takes.” Whatever aspiration that person was shooting for, she helped them achieve it.

Dr. Ford’s legacy will live on in the many students, faculty and staff she guided, inspired and influenced. And her beautiful spirit can positively impact even more people through gifts to the Dr. Clarice Ford “Whatever It Takes” Fund that has been established at UIS in her honor. Make your donation today by visiting www.uis.edu/studentaffairs/about/our-staff/dr-clarice-ford-memorial-page/.

Rotary Humor

Our club has long been known for its snappy dressers. Bill Sturm submitted this image of a member who showed up at our at our August 31 meeting. Can you identify this mysterious member? Send your guess for who it is and what his message to our club was to Bonnie Styles. Click her name to initiate the email. The best responses will be included in a future newsletter.

Preston Jackson Presentation

As noted by President Dave Kromphardt, famed Illinois sculptor and painter Preston Jackson will make the final livestreamed presentation for the Rotary Club of Springfield’s “The New Normal” program series at 5:30 p.m. at our September 21 club meeting. Preston will envision the post pandemic world from the perspective of impacts on art. Please join us in person or from the comfort of your own home to contemplate the future of art. The Covid 19 pandemic has dramatically impacted presentations of art of all types in all types of venues from live performances in theaters and clubs to presentations of figurative art in galleries, studios, and outdoor parks. Preston will discuss how the pandemic has affected the arts and what the future for art presentations will be. To learn more about Preston Jackson's contributions as an Illinois Artist, click “Read more” below.

Club Honors Jack Meadors

On August 31, it was our Club’s honor to recognize Jack Meadors as an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Springfield. Jack was inducted into membership in the Rotary Club of Springfield in 1980 and has participated in meetings for about four decades. The image to the left shows him enjoying a club meeting in 2019. William Sturm presented the citation for his appointment as an Honorary Member.

Jack was born in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana in 1930 to Eunice and Dewey Meadors. His family owned a lot of land, part of which was worked under the share crop system.

He attended St. Louis Public Schools and graduated from the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff with a B.S. in Business Administration with a minor in Economics and Accounting. He also attended St. Louis University and Sangamon State University (before it became UIS).

He served in the Air Force from 1952 to 1956. After working for the Air Force, Army, Post Office, Housing and Urban Development, and the Small Business Administration for a combined total of 44 years, he retired.

He has lived in Cleveland, Ohio, Washington D.C., and Chicago, Illinois. He met and married Jeweldine Allen in Chicago, and moved to Springfield in 1970 with one daughter. Currently, after 54 years of marriage, Jack and Jeweldine have two daughters, two son-in-laws, and five grandchildren.

We are honored to have Jack as a member of our Club and now recognize him as an Honorary Member.

September 14 Hybrid Club Meeting

Please join us for our Monday, September 14 Club meeting from 5:30-6:30 p.m.—in person at Maldaners Upstairs or via Webex by following the instructions provided below. Our September theme is Education and Literacy and the ways we can promote it in our community. Our guest speaker is Donna Brown, the founder of iMagicNation. This organization is dedicated to inspiring children through the magic of reading. Last year, they received a Springfield Rotary Foundation grant from us for a literacy project with Black Hawk School in Springfield. Donna is shown here stocking the Little Library that our own Neal Miller built and helped install on the iMagicNation property on the corner of 16^th and Spruce Streets in Springfield. Rotarians are invited to bring books to the meeting for children grades K-12, but the biggest needs are for children first learning to read.

We will also receive committee reports and hear wonderful things from club members during Brag-a-Bucks time.

To join the club meeting via webex from a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone, click on the link below.

Meeting Number (Access Code): 162 169 2151

Meeting Password: gR35ff3RMiJ (47353337 from a telephone)

Join Meeting

To join the meeting by telephone dial:

1-866-432-9903 (toll-free number for US and Canada)

Our Board meeting will be held at 4:00 p.m. via Webex. All club members are invited and will receive a Webex invitation separate from the Webex Club meeting.

No Club Meeting on September 7

Posted by Dave Kromphardt

In observance of Labor Day, the downtown club will not be meeting on Monday, September 7.

Our next Hybrid Club meeting will be Monday, September 14 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. September is Education and Literacy Month for the downtown club. This theme is one of Rotary's Core Areas of Focus. Our speaker will be Donna Brown, founder of iMagicNation in Springfield. This organization is dedicated to inspiring children through the magic of reading, and our Club has enjoyed working with them over the past several years. More information will be available in our September 14 Newsletter. The Club Board meeting will also be held on Monday, September 14 at 4:00 p.m. via Webex. All Club members are invited.

Thank you to the Rotarians who placed the flags out in our community for the Labor Day and Patriots Day commemorations, and special thanks to the committee leadership who organized it.

Have a fun and safe Labor Day!

Club Honors Carolyn Oxtoby

On August 24, it was our Club’s honor to recognize Carolyn Oxtoby as an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Springfield. Carolyn is a long-time member of our Club. In the image to the right, she was assisting with a service project at a 2018 club meeting. The image on the left captures her speaking with Mayor Langfelder (likely about the merits of historic preservation) after a presentation he made to our Club. Bob Stuart presented the citation for Carolyn’s outstanding contributions to our Rotary Club, Springfield, and historic preservation.

Carolyn Oxtoby was inducted into membership in the Rotary Club of Springfield in October 1987 only 5 months after the first woman in Rotary District 6460 had been inducted into the Springfield Sunrise Club. Not only was Carolyn among the first women members of Rotary, our club elected her as Club President in 1992, making her the first woman president in our Rotary District.

She has been a member and leader in our Club for over three decades and is also a leader in the Springfield community. In 1998, she was selected for the State Journal-Register’s First Citizen Award. The award recognized her efforts for

Two New Members Inducted during Membership Month

At our August 31, Club meeting, Stacy Kelly and Travis Magoulias helped induct two new members to our Club. The induction provided a wonderful conclusion for our Membership Month.

Dr. James Applegate's (image to left) career in higher education and philanthropy focuses on developing policies and practices to increase college success especially for underserved groups. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University and the Editor of Grapevine, one of the longest-lived and influential data sources for trends in higher education finance. He is also a senior partner of ForwardHigherEd, an organization that helps clients improve equity, student success, and advocacy with stakeholders. He served as the Executive Director for the Illinois Board of Higher Education from 2014-2017. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. as a University Fellow from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Bill Sturm is serving as his Rotary mentor.

Mark Pierce (image to right) is a Wealth Advisor for Thrivent Financial. A Certified Financial Planner, he has in depth experience as a wealth advisor, including over 25 years experience with Thrivent. He previously worked at Marine Bank. He has a B.A. in Accounting from University of Illinois Springfield, and an M.B.A. from Texas Christian University (Forth Worth, TX). He is a graduate of Lanphier High School and considers himself to be a "Northender." He used to buy grapefruit from Jim Theis, and now Jim is serving as his Rotary mentor.

August 31 Hybrid Club Meeting

Please join us for our August 31 hybrid club meeting from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m in person at Maldaners Upstairs or Online following the instructions provided below. President Dave Kromphardt will lead us through an exiting evening. We will induct two new members to our Club -- Mark Pierce and Jim Applegate. We will recognize a third Honorary Member for our Club. Bill Sturm will present the citation for the Honorary Member and will receive a new Paul Harris Fellow Pin in recognition of his long-term donations to the Rotary Foundation. Travis Magoulias will provide more thoughts on how to attract new members to our Club and will have a surprise. Both online and in person meeting attendees will have another try to win the 50-50 Drawing. More information on our Hybrid meetings is provided on our website www.spirotary.org. Encourage your friends and colleagues to check out the information on our meetings and activities on our website, and share the meeting link with them.

To join the Webex meeting from a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone, click the link below:

Join Meeting

Meeting Number (Access Code): 162 273 9601

Meeting Password: dB3RMWaJB22 (32376925 from a phone)

To join by telephone, dial:

1-866-432-9903 (Toll Free Number (US/Canada)

Remember that there will be no Club meeting on Labor Day, Monday September 7.

My Book Review for August

Posted by Bill Kempiners

Book Review:

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline, 2020

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely. Great men are always bad men....

-Lord John Dahlberg-Acton (1834 – 1869)

A novel whose genesis for the author was a Fellowship in Australia provided by a Virginia Rotary Club when she was a graduate student. It follows the lives of three women convicts who are transported to Australia and an eight-year-old aboriginal girl who is taken from her tribe by a haughty English Lady.

Evangeline is a vicar’s daughter whom he has educated. When he dies, she becomes a governess in an upper-class family. Wooed and seduced by the oldest son, she becomes pregnant. When she tells him, he gives her a ruby ring that belonged to his grandmother. He the goes on a trip to Venice. While he’s gone, his mother discovers the ring and notifies the police of the “theft.” Evangeline is sentenced to 14 years in prison. After eight months in prison, she’s shipped as a convict to Australia. On the way, she gives birth to a daughter.

Copy of August 31 Hybrid Meeting

To join the Webex meeting from a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone, click the link below:

Join Meeting

Meeting Number (Access Code): 162 273 9601

Meeting Password: dB3RMWaJB22 (32376925 from a phone)

To join by telephone, dial:

1-866-432-9903 (Toll Free Number (US/Canada)

There will be no Club meeting on Labor Day, Monday September 7.

August 31 Hybrid Meeting

To join the Webex meeting from a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone, click the link below:

Join Meeting

Meeting Number (Access Code): 162 273 9601

Meeting Password: dB3RMWaJB22 (32376925 from a phone)

To join by telephone, dial:

1-866-432-9903 (Toll Free Number (US/Canada)

There will be no Club meeting on Labor Day, Monday September 7.

Club Honors Bob Lynn

Posted by Vicki Megginson

On August 24, it was our club’s honor to present Bob Lynn with another Paul Harris Pin, reflecting his continuous generosity to The Rotary Foundation, and to recognize him as an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Springfield. The image of Bob and Naomi Lynn to the left was taken at one of our recent holiday parties. Bob and Naomi participated in the August 24 meeting online.

Dr. Robert Lynn, a veteran of the Korean War, first joined Rotary in 1969 while residing in Manhattan, Kansas where he served as dean of the College of Business at Kansas State University. Masterfully juggling his time between home with four lively daughters, university, academic research and authoring a 5-edition textbook that became a national standard for teaching basic economic principles for years, Bob also found time to embrace Rotary. After retiring from KU to support Naomi, as her career in higher education advanced, the couple moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he was asked to step in as Interim dean of Clark Atlanta University- he did so well that his interim position lasted for four years!

August 3 Hybrid Club Meeting

Posted by David Kromphardt

The plans are complete for restarting in-person meetings at Maldaners with livestreaming for online participants beginning August 3. Here are the major items to know:

Social distancing is the key. Attendees should come wearing masks. Round tables capable of holding 10 people will seat 4. Participants must stay in their seats unless using the restroom or leaving the building. There will be no “community bowl” popcorn or chips. The bar will be open but no gathering or socializing will occur there. Maldaners staff will come to your table to take your beverage order. Steve and John will be dishing out food and will be the only ones handling serving utensils.

All people who plan to eat, whether in person or via curbside, will register via email in advance by each Friday before the Monday meeting. Preregistration will ensure proper seating space and the correct number of prepackaged meals. You should have already emailed dkromphardt@yahoo.com last Friday if you are attending the August 3 meeting in person or picking up a meal to take home. Curbside pickup will be at Maldaners back door with access from the alley off of Monroe and will be available from 4:45 to 5:15 p.m. on Monday. When you arrive at the back door, call 217-522-4313, and they will bring the meal(s) out to you. Serving for inside meals will begin at 5:15 p.m. The meeting will begin at 5:45 p.m.

During this time of hybrid in-person and online meeting participation, the wifi signal in Maldaners Upstairs has been boosted, and John has been refinishing chairs. The ventilation system already moves air well. All will be ready for Opening Day on August 3.

THE KEY TO REMEMBER IS TO MAKE A RESERVATION BY 2:00 P.M. FRIDAY EACH WEEK WHETHER ATTENDING IN PERSON OR ORDERING FOOD. We plan to refine the process for making reservations and curbside food orders, and will let you know when that happens.

We appreciate the great response on the survey, we hope the tweaks will be minor, and we appreciate your patience as we work this all out.

To participate in the August 3 club meeting online via a computer or smartphone, click on the link below:

JOIN

To participate via telephone, dial:

1-866-432-9903

After you dial the number, you will be prompted to enter the meeting number (Access Code) followed by the password.

Meeting Number (Access Code): 162 032 1110

Meeting Password: hmTHTgJy238 (46848459 from phones)

District Scholarships

Posted by Dr. Bonnie Styles

Kenna Armstrong from Oquawka, Haley Nieuwkoop from Manito, Sophia Roth from New Berlin, and Lauren Stidham from Jacksonville won $3000 scholarships for the 2020-2021 academic year from Rotary District 6460. As a member of the District Scholarship Committee, I helped review applications from college students from west-central Illinois or attending college in the area and select finalists for interviews. On July 11, we interviewed the finalists in Jacksonville and selected the four scholarship recipients based on the overall strength of the application packet and interview.

Kenna Armstrong of Oquawka, graduated from West Central High School in Biggsville in 2018 and is a student at Culver Stockton College in Canton, Missouri. Her major is history education. She is interested in teaching history and pursuing a master’s degree in global studies in education. She ultimately would like to teach internationally.

Haley Nieuwkoop is the daughter of Jack and Julie Nieuwkoop. She graduated from Midwest Central High School in Manito in 2019 and is a student at Illinois College in Jacksonville. Her major is elementary education with a specialty in reading. She enjoys integrating agriculture in her teaching and plans to return to the Manito area to teach at the elementary level.

Sophia Roth of New Berlin, graduated from Springfield High School in 2018 and is the daughter of Stephan and Melissa Roth. She is a student at Illinois College in Jacksonville. She is working on a bachelor’s degree in biology with a concentration in physiology. She plans to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy and become a physical therapist.

Lauren Stidham of Jacksonville, graduated from Jacksonville High School in 2019 and is a student at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Her major is business systems analytics and economics. She hopes to use her bachelor’s degree in business administration to work for a nonprofit that helps others.

I enjoy serving on the District Scholarship Committee and helping these young college students support their education and career goals. It is important to recognize that the monies Rotarians in our District donate to the Rotary International Annual Fund come back to us three years later and help us support District scholarships and grants. Each year, Rotary International invests the donations from our District and other districts for three years, and at the end of that three year period, they split the monies between the World Fund and District Designated Fund. I hope that we will be able to award more scholarships in the future, but to do that we all need to contribute to the Annual Fund.

July 27 Virtual Meeting

Please join us for our July 27 virtual club meeting at 5:30 p.m. It's easy to participate, just click on "Join Meeting" below. Club President Dave will update us on activities and plans for future club meetings. We had a lot of fun with Brag-a-Bucks last Monday! Find out what fellow members have to boast about; and tell us something that you are proud of; or recognize someone else for $1 or more. Remember that the proceeds help us fund our LLCC and UIS scholarships! You don't need cash, because your contributions will be recorded and invoiced as part of your bill. You will also have the opportunity to contribute to block Dave's "Dad Jokes." Our program will feature another speaker in "The New Normal" series. Joe Cella, Regional Vice President for American Funds, will discuss "Investing in a Post-Pandemic Environment." We hope you will be able to join us.

If you need to join by phone, dial 866-432-9903. After dialing, you will be prompted for the Meeting Number/Access Code 162 532 1649 and the Password cGmcnkm6C57.

Check Out the Website Photo Albums

Whether you attended our June 29, 2020 Club meeting in Tony and Jan Williams backyard or not, you can experience the evening by viewing the images in the Photo Albums section of our website Home Page. The first album features the barbecue and induction of new member Denysha Crawford. The second album covers president Vicki's recognition of 2019-2020 accomplishments and service above self. She recognized Bill Kempiners for embodying the spirit of Rotary (image to left). The third album presents the installation of new President Dave and the 2020-2021 leadership team and recognition of Vicki for her outstanding service. The images capture the energy of 2019-2020 Rotary Year and the promise of the 2020-2021 year.

Service Above Self in Action!

More Community Service During the Pandemic

Our Club members embrace Service Above Self - the motto of Rotary International. During the 2019-2020 Rotary Year, our club members contributed over 1,100 hours of community service for 40 projects. Six of those projects occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In April, we launched Rotary’s Ultimate Food Fight, virtual games modeled after March Madness with teams named for foods. We donated the proceeds from the games to the Land of Lincoln Community Foundation-United Way COVID-19 Disaster Relief Fund and to Titan Fuel to purchase food for food packing projects for hungry elementary students. Members also donated nonperishable items featured as the Food Fight teams to the Central Illinois Food Bank and Titan Fuel when we were able to gather outdoors at the end of June.
In April and May, our Club partnered with District 186 and Neuhoff Media on 96.7 BobFM (WCVS) to provide Storytime. The radio station recorded club members reading stories (first image above left) for presentation to pre-school through grade 2 learners and grade 3-5 students.
In May, Club members donated and packed personal protective equipment (second image above right) for the Springfield Police Department to provide to the homeless.
Club members installed flags for our Flag Service Project earlier in May to honor soldiers and also to recognize all the frontline health care and other essential workers who are working during the pandemic.
In May, Chatham Satellite Club members helped Clean the Village of Chatham (third image above centered).
In June, the Chatham Satellite Club partnered with Bickford of Springfield and participated in their Chalk the Walk for Father’s Day

We launched our first project for the 2020-2021 Rotary on July 15, Club members (image below) and other volunteers cleaned up brush and litter at the IMagicNation property in Springfield and donated books for the Little Library (constructed and donated by Club member Neal Miller) that was installed there.

If you like doing community service, please consider joining our club.

Installation of 2020-2021 Officers and Directors

We held our June 29 club meeting in the spacious backyard of Tony and Jan Williams where we could safely social distance and enjoy a delicious dinner prepared by Maldaners. This outdoor venue allowed us to have our first in-person club meeting since March. The jam-packed evening included the induction of new member Denysha Crawford and recognition of our 2019-2020 accomplishments and leadership by Vicki Megginson. Four Past District Governors (including one past Rotary International Director) and our current Assistant Governor installed our 2020-2021 leadership team including President David Kromphart, President-Elect Barry Tobias, Secretary Loretta Meeks, Treasurer Sheila Mack, and the Directors. President Dave recognized Past President Vicki's accomplishments and service and reviewed some of his goals and objectives. For more images of this wonderful event, click here to see the photos of the officer and director installation and click here for Denysha's induction and other barbecue pictures.

Painting for New Rotary International Theme

Posted by Rod Buffington

As many of you know, I have been doing paintings of the Rotary International Theme and making prints for gifts and sales, with the proceeds donated to the Rotary International Foundation. I wanted to share my underlying thoughts as an artist about how to approach my painting for the theme for the 2020–2021 Rotary Year “Rotary Opens Opportunities.” I looked at the three doors with the thought – what am I going to do with that – then my imagination told me to do a multi-door painting with doors upon doors, using the three theme colors of cranberry, yellow and blue in an old time quilt pattern nine-patch. The three patches of each of the main center doors have the cornflower on them, the native flower of Germany. I then decided to design a flat map of the world over the doors to symbolize Rotary throughout the world. The blue cornflower row was formed to separate the large doors from the small doors. The unpainted door within the row of small doors is symbolic relating how new Rotary members can enter opening opportunities to a whole new world of service. The image below shows my painting for the theme.

July 6 Virtual Club Meeting

Please join us for our July 6 virtual club meeting via Webex from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Our new President, David Kromphardt, will share his goals and objectives for the new Rotary year. He will discuss his plans to emphasize membership, service, and relationship building. He will also share some of the things he will be doing a bit differently including incorporation of the Rotary International monthly themes, education, and fun (of course!). Dave will also address the issues we face with interactive video offering our safest meeting alternative at this point. He and his leadership team have some ideas that will help keep our meetings fresh and informative and will keep us posted on when we will be able to return to in-person meetings.

When it's time, join the Webex meeting here.

Meeting number (access code): 162 317 4681

Meeting password: tcCySimW882

Join meeting

Recognition of 2019 Community Paul Harris Fellows

Jane Hay and Randy Witter Named as 2019 Community Paul Harris Fellows

The Rotary Club of Springfield and its Chatham Satellite Rotary Club selected Jane Hay and Randy Witter as 2019 Community Paul Harris Fellows. The recognition is named for the founder of Rotary, Paul Harris, a Chicago lawyer who started Rotary International in 1905. The Rotary Club of Springfield has a tradition of awarding Paul Harris Fellow Recognition each year to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the community. The Clubs recognized Jane Hay because of her outstanding contributions to the Chatham community for her ongoing service to the Boards of the Chatham Area Chamber of Commerce, Chatham Area Public Library Foundation, Ball-Chatham Education Foundation, and the Village of Chatham Planning Commission, and the Chatham Jaycees. She is the Vice Chair of the Chatham Titan Fuel Board, which provides food assistance to elementary students, and the President-Elect of the Capital Area Realtors Association. Randy Witter was honored for his outstanding contributions to the Springfield community, including direction of the Cook Witter Internship Program for UIS students, chairmanship of the UIS Alumni Advisory Board, and service as a scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America, as well as active participation in the Optimists International Service Club and Springfield YMCA. Randy is the President of Cook-Witter, Inc. The Rotary selection committee noted that Jane and Randy’s dedication to community service demonstrates a shared purpose with Rotary.

Springfield Rotary Clubs Party -- September 22, 2019

Family Fun at Southwind Park

PARTY

ROTARY CLUBS OF SPRINGFIELD

FAMILY FUN AT

SOUTHWIND PARK

Games

Face Painting

Food Truck

Laughter and a Real Good Time

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

4:00 PM TO 6:00

Hope Pavilion

RSVP megginson.vicki@comcast.net

with number of adults and children

Rotary Social Night -- June 3, 2019

Learn about Foundation grants and have some fun!

Join us for one of our regular monthly Rotary Social Nights at Maldaners Upstairs at 5:30 p.m. As suggested by the image (above), Rotary Social Nights are fun! The agenda will include the sharing of information about the 2019 grants from the Springfield Rotary Foundation as well as our 50/50 drawing and Brag-a-Bucks. Please remember that your contribution for bragging rights supports our scholarship fund. This is a great chance to visit with your fellow Rotarians and get to them a little better on a personal level. Visitors are welcome to join us and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00.

Nineteen New Members!

Membership in our Club is Growing

Membership Chair Dave Krumphardt welcomed nine new members on March 11 (top image), four on April 1 (middle image), and four on May 6 (penultimate image), and two (bottom image ) on May 14 to the Rotary Club of Springfield and our new Chatham Satellite Club. The Satellite Club is an important new part of our Rotary Club. They are members of our Club but meet at noon on the second and fourth Tuesdays each month at The Creek Pub & Grill in Chatham. The induction ceremonies for the 19 new members were energizing and joyous occasions, and we are not done yet. We will be adding more members over the coming months. We are making great progress on our strategic goal to increase membership in Rotary!

Rotary Family Day at the Ballpark -- June 22 and September 28, 2019

Take me out to the ballgame and help fundraise for literacy!

Buy and sell tickets to two games to help fundraise for Rotary District 6460 grants for literacy projects. You may sell tickets to non-Rotarians. Please invite your friends and join us at Busch Stadium in St. Louis for one or both games. Tickets are available for the Saturday, June 22 1:15 p.m. game (Cardinals versus Angels) and for the Saturday, September 28 6:15 p.m. game (Cardinals versus Cubs). The greatly discounted tickets are $50 each and are for prime seating in the left field loge (268-272). The order form is available in the downloadable documents section on this homepage. Checks should be made out to Rotary District 6460. We are also seeking support for tickets for youth, so please consider ordering a ticket for that purpose. For more information contact our own Past District Governor Rod Buffington (pictured above) via email at rotaryrod@comcast.net. We hope to see you at these ballgames. Have fun and help support literacy!

All-City Rotary Luncheon at the Inn at 835 -- April 25, 2019

Special Guest Speaker: Major General Mark Pillar

Major General Mark Pillar, United States Airforce (retired), will address the five Rotary Clubs of Springfield at the annual All-City on Luncheon from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 on Thursday, April 25 at the Inn at 835 in Springfield. Local Rotarians will celebrate Rotary in Springfield, and Major General Pillar, who is also a distinguished Rotarian, will share his story. On September 11, 2001, Mark Pillar, then an Airforce Brigadier General, was participating in a homeland security exercise at Offutt Airforce Base, near Omaha, Nebraska. He was unexpectedly summoned to watch the 9-11 events in New York City and Washington D.C. unfold on a large-screen television. After the second plane flew into the World Trade Center, the military leaders at Offutt recognized that the country was under attack. President George W. Bush arrived at Offutt Airforce Base later that day. Pillar found himself helping field questions in conference calls with leaders such as Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Mark will share his story of the events of that day and provide us with an inside view of how our leaders handled the crisis our nation faced.

Pre-registration through a sign up with your Rotary Club is required for this meeting. Rotarians may bring guests, but must sign them up ahead of time. Payment for the meal will be handled through your Rotary Club. We hope to see you there.

Rotary Social Night -- March 4, 2019

Enjoy the company of People of Action in our Club!

Please join us in Maldaners Upstairs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. for our monthly Rotary Social Night. It's a great time to get to know your fellow members better and to bring a guest. Visitors are always welcome and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.00. We will have our popular Brag-a-Bucks and other activities.

Rotary Social Night -- January 14, 2019

A Night to Visit with Rotarians and Friends

Club members react to challenges from Randy Erford

Join us for our monthly social night. Visitors are welcome to join us at 5:30 at Maldaners Upstairs, and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.00. The evening gives us a chance to get to know each other a little better and to greet and welcome any guests who might attend. In the image above, Club members react to challenges presented by Sergeant at Arms Randy Eford at one of our recent Social Nights.

Remember to bring some cash because Randy Erford will be holding our regular 50/50 drawing and passing the bucket for Brag A Bucks, both of which help fund fund our local college scholarship program. Lindsey Kavish, pictured below on the left at the UIS Scholarship Luncheon with Club Member Bonnie Styles, received our 2018 Francis W. Wenzel Scholarship for a UIS student. Lindsey is a senior at UIS majoring in psychology and minoring in criminology. She plans to continue her education after graduation and earn a doctorate in counseling with a goal of becoming a counselor at a correctional facility. Lindsay relayed her gratitude for the scholarship in a letter to our Club: "Thank you again for the scholarship, it means a lot to me. It is a huge help to me and my family."

Happy Reading -- From your friends at the Rotary Club of Springfield

Posted by Tim Granzeau on Dec 29, 2018

Literacy Project at Ridgely School Funded by District Literacy Grant

This was a very exciting experience for Lib and me as we passed out fun fiction books to a class of third grade students at Ridgely School. We were greeted with a group hug from the whole class and celebrated on Pajama Day, the last school day this year.

We talked about our Rotary Club's thirty year involvement with Ridgely Elementary School. (I also mentioned that my first time tutoring was 50 years ago at Cabrini Greens in Chicago.) The program at Ridgely was made possible because of the encouragement of Ridgely teacher Asima Rahman, assistance from School District 186 staff, and the hard work of John Delich of Barnes and Noble. But without the 2018 Literacy Grant from our Rotary District and encouragement from Vicki Megginson and David Fowler in our Rotary Club, it would not have been achieved.

The books were specifically selected to match the reading levels of each of the 20 students, and we will enjoy discussing them after the students return from break. In January, we will begin focusing on their special interests with a series of books beginning with their current reading level and advancing two more steps. The goal is to increase their reading proficiency, spark their interest and increase their love of reading.

Kate Schott, SJR Editorial Page Editor -- Jaunary 7, 2019

Publishing Editorials and Opinion Columns in Today's News Environment

Please join us for a lively presentation by Kate Schott, the editor of the State Journal-Register Editorial Page, on January 7 in Maldaners Upstairs at 5:30 p.m. A native of Oak Park, Kate is a 2002 graduate of the Public Affairs Reporting master’s degree program at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

She has held reporting and editing positions at newspapers in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. She has experience as a news editor and investigative reporting and projects editor. As a reporter, Schott covered K-12 and higher education, courts, state and local government, and politics.

Immediately prior to returning to Springfield in October 2016, she had served for about three years as editor of The Herald-News in Joliet and its sister publication the Morris Herald-News in Grundy County. She has been a board member of the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors since 2014. She enjoys cheering on the Chicago Blackhawks, looking for deals at flea markets and being the best aunt possible to her nephews and nieces.

Visitors are welcome to join us and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.00.

Rotary Night -- December 3, 2018

Our Monthly Celebration of all Things Rotary

Please join us in Maldaners Upstairs at 5:30 p.m. to celebrate all the great things we are doing in Rotary. Tonight we will begin the meeting with a toast by Mike Plog to a Rotary Club in the country of his choice. That will be followed by our club International Committee Chair Neal Miller updating us regarding projects we are and may be supporting. Harry Mitchell, current President of the Rotary Foundation of Springfield will then give an overview and update on the why, what, and how of the operation of our club foundation. And we will of course have our traditional session of BragABucks and our 50/50 drawing, both in support of our local scholarship programs.

Rotary Night -- November 19, 2018

Learn About People of Action in Our Club and Rotary International

Join us at Maldeners Upstairs at 5:30 p.m. for a Rotary Night. It's a great time to learn more about what's going on in our Club and Rotary International. People of Action in our Club sold premium citrus throughout the community and are preparing for delivery of the fruit to the warehouse where we will make the mixed boxes of oranges and grapefruit. We will stockpile the fruit purchased for donation to the Central Illinois Food Bank and for delivery to our generous customers. Proceeds from the citrus sales support grants to organizations for projects to combat hunger, increase literacy, and meet other needs in our community and beyond. Visitors are always welcome to join us and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00.

Rotary Social Night -- November 5, 2018

Monthly Social Night

Please join us for our monthly social night at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs. Guests are always welcome to attend and may enjoy a fine buffet meal with us for only $12.00 It's a great night to meet our members and for members to get to know each other better. Be sure to bring your stories because we will have brag-a-bucks. We will also have our 50-50 drawing. The pot is getting bigger each time we fail to draw the winning card. Who knows what else our Sergeant Major at Arms Randy Erford will have in store for us tonight?

Mike Zimmers -- October 22, 2018

The School Board District 186

Mike Zimmers is a current member of the Springfield School Board. He will discuss a number of topics related to the operation of District 186 including the plan for capital improvements to a number of school facilities and the upcoming referendum regarding an increase in the local sales tax. Mike will be joined by Randy Hawkins, President of the Rochester School Board who will comment on their position regarding the referendum.

During his 37 year career in education, Mike was a teacher, principal and served in the central office supervising principals. He has been a member of the Springfield School Board for the last 6 years, including 3 years as President of the Board.

Mike has been an active member of the Springfield community. He has been a member of the United Way Education Vision Council for the past 3 years, is a member of the Race Unity Council and is President Elect of the Mac Murray College Alumni Board. Mike is a member of the Rotary Club of Springfield Sunrise and is their President Elect.

Randy is a graduate of EIU, a retired teacher and retired from the State of Illinois. He has been on the Rochester Board of Education for 21 years and haas served as President the last 10 years.

District Governor Brian Barstead -- October 15, 2018

The Rotary Club of Springfield and District 6460

Join us at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs for a special presentation by our Rotary District Governor Brian Barstead. Visitors are always welcome and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00. It is a longstanding Rotary tradition that the sitting District Governor visit every club in the district. Brian will provide a perspective on happenings in District 6460 and Rotary International. He will also describe the upcoming District Conference Beach Party, which will be held in Springfield on November 2-3.

Brian joined Rotary in 1990 and is a member of Rotary Club of Springfield Sunrise and has served in various club roles including Club President. He also has served on several District conference planning committees, as Editor for the "Four Way Today" District Newsletter, three years as District Treasurer and three years as Assistant Governor. Brian is a recipient of the District 6460 John Giavaras Community Service Award. He is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow and a Paul Harris Society Member.

A central Illinois native, Brian graduated from Springfield High and Illinois State University. He and his wife Nancy live in Rochester. Brian is a franchise owner with Ameriprise Financial. He helps clients with financial planning, investments, retirement planning and estate planning and is a Certified Financial Planner.

Willis Logan: Growing Up Black in Springfield -- October 8, 2018

Special Presentation by Willis (Bill) Logan

Please join us at 5:30 p.m. on October 8 in Maldaners Upstairs to hear this special presentation by Willis (Bill) Logan. Bill Logan is a life long resident of Springfield. During his career in public service he has worked in the administration of Mayors Nelson Howarth, William Telford, Mike Houston, Karen Hasara, and Tim Davlin. He has also worked at the Federal and State levels. Bill is a forty year member of Frontiers International. Bill's presentation will focus on his personal experiences as an African American male coming of age in our capital city. Visitors are always welcome to join us and may enjoy a special buffet dinner for only $12.

Rotary Social Night -- October 1, 2018

Get to Know Fellow Club Members Better!

Join us for our Social Night club meeting in Maldaners Upstairs at 5:30 p.m. Social Nights are a great night to share stories with your fellow club members. We are known as a lively group of individuals with great senses of humor. Visitors are always welcome, and for $12 may enjoy a fine buffet dinner. You will undoubtedly learn something interesting at the meeting and have a chance to speak with people who share your desire to do good in the community and the world. You will also have the opportunity to participate in brag-a-bucks and our 50/50 drawing. Who knows, you might be lucky!

Baseball Dinner in the UIS Student Union -- September 24, 2018

Meet UIS Head Baseball Coach Chris Ramirez in the New UIS Student Union!

Please join us at 6:00 p.m. in the new Student Union at the University of Illinois Springfield for a special meeting of the Rotary Club of Springfield. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required for this special event. Rod Buffington and Tom Turpin arranged a "Baseball" dinner in the new facility and the opportunity to meet and hear from Chad Ramirez (pictured above), Head Coach of the UIS Baseball Team. Superb coaching and great players have resulted in record numbers of wins. If you did not pre-pay, please bring cash or a check ($22.00) with you to cover the costs of your meal.

Rotary Night -- September 17, 2018

Learn what People of Action are doing in our Club and Rotary International!

Join us for Rotary Night in Maldaner's Upstairs at 5:30 p.m. Guests are always welcome and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00. Our Club's Rotary Nights are a chance for members to become better informed about all things Rotary. For guests and prospective members, it is a wonderful opportunity learn about how Rotarians are People of Action in our community and across the World. There is much going on in our Club. The annual Robert Montgomery Memorial Catfish Tournament for Literacy is on September 23 at Lake Springfield. We will be launching our annual Citrus Campaign soon, and the proceeds from these two fundraisers support grants to nonprofits and other organizations for projects that promote literacy, combat hunger, and more. We are also tutoring at Ridgely Elementary School and volunteering at the Central Illinois Food Bank. We are gearing up for a membership campaign so there will be more of us to help the community and the world. Rotary Night meetings include our popular brag-a-bucks and the 50/50 drawing organized by Sergeant at Arms Randy Erford. Please come to this meeting and bring a friend to share in the fun and action.

Gates of the Arctic National Park: Twelve Years of Wilderness Exploration -- September 10, 2018

Joe Wilkins -- Author

Please join us in Maldaners Upstairs at 5:30 p.m. to hear author JOE WILKINS describe his explorations of Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska. Joe is a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Springfield. He grew up in what is now the Shawnee National Forest of southern Illinois. He has a life-time of wilderness experience and has hiked, climbed, and backpacked in national parks and other wilderness areas throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Beginning in 1966 with his training in arctic-wilderness-survival as a young military officer, Wilkins focused his arctic wilderness explorations in and around the mountains of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska prior to the creation of Gates of the Arctic National Park in 1980. In this place, the forces of nature are unrestrained and the arctic ecosystem is unaltered. It is a spectacular area. It is rugged, free, wild, and remote. His book, “Gates of the Arctic National Park: Twelve Years of Wilderness Exploration,” reports Joe’s explorations of the area in and around North America’s premier wilderness between 2005 and 2017. Visitors are welcome to join us to hear this exciting presentation and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.00.

Hanson -- A Local Firm with a Worldwide Presence -- August 27, 2018

Serge "Satch" Pecori Discusses Hanson Professional Services Inc.

Please join us 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs to hear a special presentation by Sergio “Satch” Pecori, P.E., the chairman and CEO of Springfield, Illinois-based Hanson Professional Services Inc. Hanson Professional Services Inc. is a national, employee-owned consulting firm providing engineering, planning and allied services. Established in 1954, Hanson provides services to public- and private-sector clients throughout the U.S. and abroad from seven markets: aviation; government; infrastructure; power; industry and railway. For decades, Hanson has appeared as a Top 500 design firm in Engineering News-Record’s listing of premier U.S. design firms and has received numerous workplace and project-related awards. As the fourth chairman and CEO in Hanson’s 64-year history, with more than 40 years of experience in the engineering industry, Mr. Pecori has a wealth of knowledge designing and managing complex projects across the U.S. He also is highly regarded in the technical field, serving as an ambassador for the engineering profession in numerous leadership roles. Visitors are always welcome at our meetings and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00.

Rotary Social Night - August 20, 2018

Visit with Fellow Rotarians and Meet a New Inbound Exchange Student

Join us at 5:30 p.m. at Maldaners Upstairs. Social nights are times to visit and share with your fellow Rotarians. Our traditional 50-50 drawing and brag-a-bucks will be part of the program, but most of the evening is set aside for fellowship and getting to know each other a little better. We are a lively group and sometimes toast a Rotary Club from another country with an appropriate beverage. We toasted the Rotary Club of Limerick Ireland at our August 6 Club meeting (image above).

Manu Santos, the inbound exchange student from Spain, who we are co-sponsoring with the Rotary Club of Midtown Springfield, will join us for our meeting. He recently arrived in Springfield and is pictured below with Beth Bellatti Allen, the Youth Exchange Officer for the Midtown Club.

Guests are always welcome and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00. You are bound to meet some interesting people of action.

Remember to bring school supplies for our adopted school, Ridgely Elementary!

Help the students get off to a good start!

Have You Heard of the Chiara Center? - August 13, 2018

Discover the Chiara Center with Program Director Dan Frachey

Please join us on Monday night at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs to learn about the Chiara Center in Springfield from Program Director Don Frachey. Visitors are welcome to attend and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00. The Chiara Center is a Franciscan place of spirituality that welcomes people of all faiths for individual reflection, group retreats, and conferencing on the beautiful wooded grounds of the Hospital Sisters of Saint Francis Motherhouse. The Center is enlivened by the diversity of all spiritual seekers who present themselves for a myriad of reasons: embracing periods of silence, walking amidst the natural beauty, journeying with a spiritual companion or director, or simply to rest and regroup. Dan did his graduate work in Pastoral Studies and obtained his Certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis. An active member of our community, Dan served in the past in parish ministries at the Church of St. Jude in Rochester, as Executive Director at Habitat for Humanity of Sangamon County, and as supervisor of the St. John’s Breadline.

Rotary Night - August 6, 2018

Meet Outbound Rotary Exchange Students Hosted by our Club!

Join us for Rotary Night on August 6 at 5:30 p.m. at Maldaners Upstairs and learn about our Rotary Club in action. We will have two special visitors. Mandy Lynn and Maia Ojugbele (pictured above with her mom, Vel) are Rotary Youth Exchange students from our district. They both attend Springfield High School and have been working for a full year on their applications to go abroad for one year. Mandy will spend a year with a host family in Japan, and Maia will spend her year in Taiwan. Each of them must give an introductory talk to the host Rotary Club in the area, and they will make that presentation to us. Please come hear these two wonderful young women. Let’s send them off on this adventure with the full support of the Rotary Club of Springfield. Visitors are welcome to attend, and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00.

No Club Meeting - July 30, 2018

Visit Another Springfield Rotary Club During the Week! - July 31- August 2, 2018

We will not hold our weekly meeting at Maldaners Upstairs on July 30 because Maldaners is closed for the week. We encourage you to visit one of the other Springfield Rotary Clubs on Tuesday (July 31), Wednesday (August 1), or Thursday (August 2). It's a great chance to meet fellow Rotarians in Springfield and see how they run their meetings. Please pay a visit to the Club of your choice and share your observations with our Club.

Springfield Midtown Rotary meets Tuesday at noon at the Inn at 835.

Springfield Rotary Sunrise meets Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. at the Hoogland Center for the Arts

Springfield West Side Rotary meets Wednesday at noon at The Brickhouse.

Springfield Rotary South meets Thursday at noon at Engrained.

The Illinois Bicentennial and Springfield - July 23, 2018

On July 23, Pam VanAlstine, Illinois Bicentennial Committee of Sangamon County, will describe how our local community will help celebrate Illinois' two hundredth anniversary. Please join us at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs for this special program. Don't miss this chance to learn about the events and activities leading up to the celebration later this year. Visitors are welcome to join us for this timely presentation, meet the members of the Rotary Club of Springfield, and may also enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00.

Social Night - July 16, 2018

Come share an evening of fellowship with your fellow Rotarians for our July 16 Social Night from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs. We will of course have our traditional 50/50 raffle to benefit our scholarship program, and we will all have a chance to participate in "Brag-a-Bucks." Bring a guest and introduce them to your fellow members ... introduce them to the "People of Action" who are the Rotary Club of Springfield. Visitors are always welcome and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00. It a great night to attend.

Potential Impact of Commercialization of Marijuana Use - July 9, 2018

Please join us on July 9, 2018, in Maldaners Upstairs at 5:30 p.m. to hear this special presentation. Ray Bertino, a retired physician from Peoria, will present his concerns about the impacts of commercialization of marijuana use. His heavy involvement with issues related to the epidemic of heroin and opioid use stimulated his interest in the effects that marijuana use can have on the cognitive abilities of developing adolescents and young adults. While remaining neutral on the issue of the legalization of marijuana possession and use, he is concerned about public health policies regarding the impact of marijuana use. Dr. Bertino will share and explain his specific concerns. Visitors are welcome to attend and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00.

Club Officer Installation - July 2, 2018

On Monday, July 2 we will celebrate the installation of our club officers for the Rotary Year 2018 - 2019 at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs. The evening will feature our traditional comments from outgoing President Marty Michelson (top image) and our new President, Dave Fowler (bottom image). Dave and his leadership team will be sworn in as they take their positions for the coming year. We hope that many of you will include your spouse or significant other as we celebrate with Marty and Dave. There is a rumor that Past President and Past District Governor David Parsons might make an appearance that evening. Be sure to mark July 2 on your calendar. Visitors are welcome to attend and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00.

Grand Army of the Republic Museum - June 25, 2018

Posted on Jun 20, 2018

On June 25 at 5:30 p.m., Chuck Hill, the newly appointed curator of the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Museum in Springfield, will describe the museum, its collections, and exciting new plans to secure grants, work more closely with the history and education community, and offer internships and volunteer opportunities. Don't miss your chance to learn firsthand how this museum fulfills its mission to preserve the memory of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and the founders of the Woman's Relief Corps (WRC). The GAR organization was formed by Union veterans after the Civil War, and the WRC was formed in 1883 as an auxiliary to the GAR. The WRC still exists today and owns and operates the museum. Chuck brings 25 years of professional experiences to this job as an archivist, researcher, educator, and curator. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Illinois Springfield and has served as the Archivist at Eastern Kentucky University, Curator of Photographs for the San Diego Historical Society, head of the Missouri Historical Archives, and project archivist for a number of federal grants. He has taught history and multi-cultural studies in a variety of settings. Please join us in Maldaners Upstairs for this exciting program. Visitors are welcome and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00.

Presentation of 2018 Club Grants - June 18, 2018

On Monday, June 18, David Stake, our club's foundation chair, will present our 2018 grants to representatives of numerous community organizations. Following the enjoyable format of our 2017 ceremony (pictured above), David will describe the projects selected for grants and present checks to the recipients. Three of our major fundraisers (the annual citrus sale, John Montgomery Memorial Fishing Tournament, and our new and growing Flag Service Project) make these grant awards possible. As people of action, we are happy to be able to provide an incredible array of services to the citizens of our community. Please join us to learn about funded projects and meet guest representatives from community organizations and members of our club. Visitors are welcome to attend and may enjoy a wonderful buffet dinner for $12.00. We hope to see you on Monday night.

Featured Program for June 11, 2018

Posted on Jun 09, 2018

Tom Lamont Presents "My Years in the Pentagon"

Please join us on June 11 at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs for a special presentation at our Rotary Club meeting. Tom Lamont will share his experiences as the the Assistant Secretary of the Army from 2009-2013. During this period, he was responsible for the supervision of all active duty soldiers and Army civilian personnel, as well as Reserve component affairs. As part of the Army's leadership, he served as the point person on policy and performance related to human resources, force structure, and for recruiting and retention, mobilization, programs for soldiers and their families, military health affairs, soldier transitions to veteran status, and other critical matters. Visitors are always welcome to attend and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00. We hope to see members, friends, relatives, and visitors at this meeting.

Special Outing on June 4, 2018

Posted on May 29, 2018

Club Outing to Ace Sign Company Sign Museum

Our June 4, 2018, Social Night club meeting is being held off-site at Ace Sign Company on south First Street. The meeting will start at 6:00 p.m. If you have not already signed up for you and your guests, please email or call Rod Buffington today (Tuesday, May 30) so he can include you in the final tally for the dinner. Please join us for this special evening. Our host will be Todd Bringuet, a member of Midtown Rotary and member of the family that owns Ace Sign Company. Following a catered dinner in the Ace Sign Company Museum, Todd will provide an overview of the Museum and he and other family members will tour us through their processing areas. Todd will also show us an image of the new interpretive panel that our Club supported, and they are producing for the Rotary Sundial at Southwind Park.

Featured Program for May 21, 2018

Posted on May 17, 2018

Cotton, Violins & Shots in the Night

Join us on Monday, May 21 at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs to meet the authors of Cotton, Violins & Shots in the Night and learn some amazing things about Rochester, Illinois. Authors Ray and Pam Bruzan will take us on a 200 year journey through the history of Rochester Township. Hear stories about gun fights, a bank robbery, an Unidentified Flying Object, a downtown trolley, major fires, a cotton baron, connections to nine U.S. Presidents, murders, a world-renowned violinist, and a mountain in Alaska. Their book will be available for purchase ($28) and signing at the conclusion of their program. Visitors are always welcome and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00. We hope to see you on Monday evening.

Featured Program for May 7, 2018

Allen Oertel Discusses Water and Sanitation Projects in Guatemala

Please join us on May 7 at 5:30 p.m. in Madaners Upstairs to hear Professional Engineer Allen Oertel speak about his experiences working with water and sanitation projects in in the Ixcan area of Guatemala near the Mexican border. He is doing this work in conjunction with the Mustard Seed Peace Project. In 2014, Allen founded the Engineering Advisory Committee within Mustard Seed and has been working them on water and sanitation projects with three small communities. Visitors are always welcome. Enjoy chatting with members of our club, learn more about Allen's charitable work, and enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00. We hope to see you on Monday night.

Featured Program for April 23, 2018

Posted on Apr 18, 2018

Rotary and Recovery in Nepal

Robert A. Stuart Jr.

Join us for a very special program on April 23 at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaner's Upstairs. Bob Stuart, a member of the Rotary Club of Springfield, has been heavily involved with the efforts of Rotarians around the world to assist in Nepal's recovery from the devastating earthquake of April 2015. He has made several visits to Nepal. He has met with local Nepalese Rotarians, visited project sites, and met with officials of the government and relief organizations. Using his personal stories, experiences and photographs, Bob will tell the story of the challenges faced by the people of Nepal and the progress that has been made over the past three years.

Bob is a past member of the Board of Directors of Rotary International, past District Governor of Rotary District 6460, and past President of this Rotary Club. He has served on numerous committees of Rotary International and most recently chaired the 2017 Peace Conference that was held in Atlanta just prior to the 2017 Rotary International Convention. He has been a Rotarian for over 40 years. Bob is a partner in the Springfield IL law firm of Brown, Hay and Stephens.

Visitors are always welcome and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.00. We hope to see you at this special presentation.

Rotary Tree Planting Service Project - April 20, 2018

Posted on Apr 16, 2018

Help Plant Trees!

Centennial Park

Friday, April 20, 2018, 10:00 a.m.

Centennial Park

All Rotarians and their helpers are invited to join us to help plant trees at Centennial Park with 350 students from Enos Elementary School. We will be mulching, watering, and filling holes so dress appropriately. Wear old clothes and work shoes or boots and bring work gloves.

This project is part of the five Rotary Clubs of Springfield’s District Grant project and helps answer Rotary International President Ian Riseley’s challenge for each of the 1.2 million Rotarians across the word to plant a tree. Springfield Rotarians have already planted trees at Lincoln Memorial Gardens and Rotary Park (pictured above) for this project.

What a great way to commemorate Earth Day!

Featured Program for April 2

Posted on Apr 01, 2018

The World Affairs Council of Central Illinois

Join us on Monday, April 2 in Maldaners Upstairs at 5:30 p.m. to learn more about The World Affairs Council of Central Illinois. Our speaker, Rochelle Arjmand, Vice-President-Publicity of the World Affairs Council of Central Illinois, will provide an overview of the activities of this civic organization. The World Affairs Council is dedicated to educating the public in our region about U.S. foreign policy and environmental issues, and international politics through in-depth presentations and discussions. Visitors to our Rotary Club meetings are always welcome. Come and meet the members of our Rotary Club, learn something new from a great speaker, and enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.00. We look forward to seeing you.

Featured Program for March 26

Posted on Mar 25, 2018

The Economic Development Corporation: a Public-Private Partnership

Join us on March 26 at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs to learn more about the Economic Development Corporation. Todd Smith, a member of the Sangamon County Board, will describe this public-private partnership focused on economic development in Sangamon County. Visitors are always welcome at our meetings and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00. We hope to see you on Monday night.

Featured Program for March 19, 2018

Posted on Mar 17, 2018

The Mission of the Department of Community Relations

Join us on March 19 at 5:30 p.m. at Maldaners Upstairs to hear about the mission of the Department of Community Relations of the City of Springfield from the Director, Juan Huerta (image from the State Journal-Register, May 31, 2015). The Department of Community Relations often operates behind-the-scenes. Director Huerta will share with us the various programs that impact our community and us as citizens. Come to chat with the members of the Rotary Club of Springfield, learn about an important department in city government, and enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.00. Visitors are always welcome.

Featured Program for March 12

Posted on Mar 11, 2018

Rotary Social Night

Join us on March 15 at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs. Share an evening of fellowship with Rotarians as we gather for our monthly social meeting. Enjoy a relaxing hour or so as we get to know each other a little better and have a some fun with our 50/50 drawing and Brag-a-Bucks. Bring a guest! Visitors are always welcome. You may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.00.

Featured Program for March 5

Posted on Mar 03, 2018

Celebrate the Rotary International Foundation

Join on March 5 at 5:30 p.m at Maldanders Upstairs for our annual tribute to the Rotary International Foundation. During the past 100 years, the Foundation has spent $3 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects. The 35,000 clubs that make up Rotary International carry out sustainable service projects that support our six causes. With donations like those from our members, we’ve wiped out 99.9 percent of all polio cases. Our donations also train future peacemakers, support clean water projects, and strengthen local economies. The Rotary Club of Springfield has a long tradition of supporting the RI Foundation and is always one of the top clubs in our district in providing financial support. On March 5, we will honor several members of our Club and update everyone on the achievements of one of the top-rated foundations in the world.

Each of our Paul Harris Fellow Circles will present Paul Harris Fellow recognition to one individual in our Club or community who exhibits the spirit of Rotary generosity and service above self. The recognition includes a medallion (pictured above), a pin, and a certificate. Each Circle donated $1,000 to Rotary International for the recognition of each of these individuals. Please join us for this special evening. Guests are welcome and may enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.00.

Featured Program for February 26

Cathy Schwartz will Describe the King's Daughters Organization

On February 26, Cathy Schwartz, a former President of the King's Daughters Organization in Springfield, will describe the mission and history of this organization. The Carrie Post King's Daughters Home for Women was established in Springfield in 1893. The home fulfilled its mission to provide for the housing and care of elderly women for over 110 years. Cathy will tell us how the organization adapted to the closing of the home and continues to fulfill its mission to care for senior women. Cathy joined the King's Daughters Organization in 2002 and is currently the circle leader for the Mary H. Blackstock Circle. Please join us at 5:30 p.m. at Maldaners Upstairs to learn more about this long-time service organization in Springfield. Guests are always welcome. Meet our members, learn about Springfield history from a community activist, and enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.00. We hope to see you on February 26.

Featured Program for February 19

February 19 is Rotary Night!

Join us on February 19 for our monthly Rotary Night meeting and learn about all things Rotary. Our club president Mary Michelson will introduce speakers and topics that will provide a better appreciation for the important things Rotary does in our community and in the world. Guests are always welcome. We meet at 5:30 p.m. at Maldaners upstairs. Chat with members of our club, learn about the good deeds of Rotarians, and enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.00. We hope to see you on Monday night!

Featured Program for February 12

Posted on Feb 10, 2018

Join us for a Rotary Social Night!

Please consider joining us for a Rotary Social Night at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs. Get to know your fellow club members better and bring a guest. Social nights are relaxing and informative for members and guests. Chat, laugh, enjoy wonderful hors d'oeuvres, brag a little, and take a chance on the 50-50 drawing. The pot is getting big! We hope to see you on Monday, February 12 at 5:30!

Featured Program for February 5

Posted on Feb 04, 2018

Be SMART: a conversation about kids and guns

Martha Plog will be our featured speaker on February 5 at 5:30 p.m. at Maldaners Upstairs and will address the important issue of children and guns. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America launched the Be SMART campaign to take action to prevent child access to guns. The campaign focuses on the importance of conversation, responsible gun storage, and community awareness. It encourages parents and all adults to "Be SMART" and take simple steps to help prevent shootings. This presentation is non-political and focuses on common sense steps we can all take to reduce gun injuries and deaths among children.

Please join us for this important conversation with Martha Plog. Guests are welcome. Come at 5:30 p.m. for a chance to meet and chat with members of our Rotary Club, and enjoy a fine buffet dinner for only $12.

Featured Program for January 22

Katie Davison Presents Innovate Springfield's Social Innovation Programs

For innovators addressing social issues, the need is great, the work is hard, and the stakes are high. That's why Innovate Springfield's Social Innovation Program is here to help them do what works and better serve our community. Innovate Springfield follows the tenet that healthy communities support innovation and growth and that enacting their vision for a more innovative region requires us all to think critically and creatively about how we can support our neighbors in need. Their Social Innovation Program focuses on the needs of the community by supporting evidence-based, impact-driven programs that improve the lives of Springfield-area residents. Find out more about this new and exciting organization and program from Executive Director Katie Davison.

Join us at Maldaner's Upstairs on January 22 at 5:30 p.m. Meet our Rotary Club Members, enjoy a fine buffet dinner for $12.00, and learn about social innovation in Springfield from Katie Davison. Who could ask for more?

2017 Citrus Sale a Success

Our citrus sale supports charities!

Thanks to all Springfield Rotarians who sold and all the customers who purchased citrus. The citrus is good for us and our customers, and the proceeds from the citrus sale support good causes. This year customers and members donated about 10,000 oranges to the Central Illinois Food Bank, which helped the Food Bank reach their goal to provide more fresh produce to their clients. Our Rotary Warehouse Manger (Bill Smith) was interviewed by Channel 20 News about the donation of the oranges to the Food Bank.

Rotarian Yosh Golden orchestrated the purchase and donation of eight 40 lb. boxes of oranges to Ridgely Elementary School so that each student could enjoy a fresh, juicy orange. Thanks to Yosh and the Rotarians who helped her purchase the fruit.

Special thanks to our warehouse manager and all the Rotarians who helped in the warehouse. All of the proceeds from the sales of grapefruit and oranges support grants to charities for worthwhile projects that combat hunger, promote literacy, and support other community needs.

Special Off-site Program for January 15

Posted on Dec 30, 2017

Our January 15 Meeting will be the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast

Instead of holding our January 15 evening meeting, we will attend the Frontiers International Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. on January 15 at the Wyndham City Center (7th St. and Adams, Springfield, IL). W. J. Michael Coady is the featured speaker. He served as the pro bono attorney for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He is a former U.S. Attorney and the former Attorney General for Tennessee. He is a mediator and arbitrator in Memphis, Tennessee.

Our club has reserved four tables of 10 for this event. Reservations will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Feel free to invite guests and family members. Club members will be responsible for payment of $25 for each reservation made. To get information on how to reserve and pay for tickets, click on "read more" below. Don't miss this special event with Frontiers International (our long-time partners). Mark your calendar today, and make your reservations now.

January 8 Club Program

Posted on Dec 30, 2017

Join us for our monthly social night on January 8!

Please remember that we are not meeting on January 1 because of the holiday. Come and mingle with your fellow members and guests for our monthly social evening on January 8. You never now who you might run into. Enjoy great conversation and delicious hors d'oevres. It's a perfect night to bring a friend and introduce them to our members. Guests are always welcome. Social night hors d'oevres and the buffet dinner served on other meeting nights only cost $12.

Club Members Recognized at Holiday Party

Posted on Dec 30, 2017

Rotary International Recognizes Club Members

Robert Stuart presented special recognition to members of our Club for their generous contributions to the Rotary International Foundation. He presented Dan Milligan (first image) and Rod and Rosemary Buffington (second image) with Major Donor recognition. Dan and Rod and Rosemary received crystal recognition pieces and Major Donor lapel pins. They are role models for us all.

Special Recognition Presented to Community Leaders

Posted on Dec 29, 2017

Paul Harris Fellow Recognition Presented at Holiday Party

Our Club presented Community Paul Harris Fellow Recognition to Rachael Thomson and Richard Bowen (first and second images). One of our Club's Paul Harris Fellow Circles presented Paul Harris Fellow Recognition to Delinda Chapman (third image). Our Club recognized these individuals for their extraordinary service to the community and their continual demonstrations of service above self. We donated $1,000 in the name of each individual to Rotary International and presented each with a Paul Harris Fellow medallion, pin, and certificate.

Our Club traditionally recognizes one to two Community Paul Harris Fellows each year. This designation recognizes citizens of the year. Bonnie Styles presented the citation for Rachael Thomson and Robert Moore presented the citation for Richard Bowen. Our Paul Harris Fellow Circles each select an individual to be gifted Paul Harris Fellow Recognition. Naomi Lynn selected and prepared the citation for Delinda Chapman on behalf of her circle. Presentations for the other Circles will occur at our February Foundation Night.

2017 Holiday Party Provides a Festive Evening for Members and Guests

Posted on Dec 29, 2017

Holiday Party Festivities

The 2017 Holiday Party at the Hoogland Center for the Arts provided 75 members and guests with a festive evening filled with friendship, an excellent meal, and beautiful music.

The Glenwood High School Concert and Jazz Fusion Choirs, directed by Jeff Gemar, entertained the crowd with a series of beautiful songs.

President Marty introduced the slate of 2018-2019 Officers and Board of Directors, and they were unanimously elected. Rod served as the Master of Ceremonies for the special recognition of community and Club members (see story above). Sergeant at Arms Randy presented special Erfordian Awards to members. As the smiles clearly indicate, a good time was had by all.

Please check out the Holiday Party Album by clicking on the link in the left menu bar.

Featured Program for December 11

Posted on Dec 09, 2017

Population Science, Public Policy, and Health

Heather Westrick, MBA, will present a special program on population science, public policy, and health. Heather is the Administrative Director of the Office of Popular Science and Policy at Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine. If you have never heard of the Office of Popular Science and Policy, this is your chance to learn what they do and how research at our local medical school is helping this area. This Office is a research and policy unit dedicated to improving health outcomes of residents of central and southern Illinois. The Office seeks to understand the region that the SIU School of Medicine serves and find optimal approaches to the prevention and treatment of disease. Population science seeks to understand why certain individuals are healthier than others. Current research by the Office of children's development, asthma, and cancer disparities is providing information and improving health for the people of central and southern Illinois. Heather Westrick will discuss this research and how public policy can impact health outcomes.

Don't miss this presentation about a topic of concern to us all. Guests are always welcome. We meet at 5:30 p.m. at Maldaners Upstairs in Springfield. Join us for conversations with members of our Club, a fine meal, and this special presentation.

Featured Program for December 4

Posted on Dec 01, 2017

Fifth Street Renaissance Helps Our Community

Join the members of the Rotary Club of Springfield for a special program on December 4 at 5:30 p.m. in Maldaners Upstairs. Penny Harris, Executive Director of Fifth Street Renaissance, will describe how their programs help the homeless, the hungry, individuals living with HIV and AIDS, youth in transition, and others in need of a helping hand.

Established in 1979, Fifth Street Renaissance offers transitional housing for the homeless, a food pantry for the hungry, various programs for individuals living with HIV and AIDS, a program for youth in transition, and other programs for those in need. The 2006 merger with the Springfield Aids Resource Association (SARA) allowed more extensive HIV education and outreach, and on-site support services for those living with HIV and their families.

Join us to learn more about these programs, meet people dedicated to serving the community and the world, and enjoy a fine meal. Guests are always welcome.

Rotary Citrus Supports Charities

Posted on Nov 27, 2017

Thank you for your orders of Rotary Citrus! Fresh Rotary oranges and grapefruit from Florida are good for you, and all proceeds support charities. Pick up dates for those of you picking up your Rotary Citrus at the Underfanger Warehouse are Friday, December 8 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Saturday, December 9 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

We hope you ordered some for yourself, family, friends, or the Central Illinois Food Bank. For more information, check our online site at www.rotarycitrus.com.

Rotary Club of Springfield Citrus Sale

ROTARYCITRUS.COM

November 20 Club Program

Posted on Nov 26, 2017

Presentation by UIS Chancellor on November 20

On Monday, November 20 University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) Chancellor Susan Koch and international student Christina Shao presented a special program at our Rotary Club meeting. Chancellor Cook provided an update on developments at UIS and spoke about the large number of international students who attend the university. She emphasized the opportunities UIS provides for international and all students. She introduced Christina Shao, an international student from China who is graduating soon with a B.A. in accounting. Christina provided a special treat for members by playing two traditional songs on the Gzheng. Christina participated in a special program at UIS that encourages attendance by international students with musical interests and talents. Chancellor Cook and Christina answered numerous questions about UIS programs and the experiences of the international students. We had a delightful evening.

Our Club meetings vary throughout the month and feature special programs, Rotary nights, social nights, and community service projects. Check the calendar to see what's coming up.

Featured Program for November 20

Posted on Nov 20, 2017

UIS Chancellor Susan Koch Presents November 20 Program

Join us on Monday, November 20 at 5:30 p.m. at Maldaners Upstairs for a special program. University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) Chancellor Susan Koch and an international student will speak about UIS and the special opportunities it provides for students.

Guests and prospective members are always welcome to attend our Club meetings. We meet in Maldaners Upstairs on Monday nights at 5:30 p.m. Please join us and enjoy networking and conversations with people who give back to the community and our world.

Our Club members are dedicated to being people of action. We engage in a variety of service projects from the local level to across the world. We annually award grants to nonprofit organization. We also participate in and contribute to Rotary International Projects across the world, including the eradication of polio.

Our Club meetings vary throughout the month and feature special programs, Rotary nights, social nights, and community service projects. Check the calendar to see what's coming up.

Visit on November 20 and hear the latest news about about the University of Illinois Springfield from Chancellor Susan Koch and an international student.

Subscribe to Rotary Flag Service Today

Displaying our Country’s flag is affordable, easy and automatic when a person enrolls their home, business or neighborhood association in the Rotary Flag Service program. The Rotary Club of Springfield initiated this rewarding project in 2016. All proceeds allow us to support many important local, national and international projects. The Springfield Rotary Club will come to your designated location and place a pole holder in the ground, properly positioned on your property. All installations are coordinated with JULIE (Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators). An American Flag, along with a solar light, will be placed prior to each scheduled holiday. Subscribe today, and please encourage your friends, neighbors, and local businesses to subscribe as well. A subscription to the Rotary Flag Program makes a great gift. The annual subscription includes the following:

The flag and light will be installed before the Flag Holidays and retrieved afterwards.
The flags are stored and refurbished when necessary.
Flags will be installed for the following holidays and remembrance days in 2018:
- Memorial Day - May 28
- Flag Day - June 14
- Fourth of July - July 4
- Labor Day - September 3
- September 11 Remembrance - September 11.

All of this service comes for an annual fee of only $50.00. Proceeds from this program are used to support our wide range of projects and grants with an emphasis on those that deal with hunger and literacy. The easiest way to subscribe is to click on this link: www.rotaryflagservice.com. Then click on the menu item Order Form and fill out your information. This link also provides information regarding some of the many projects Rotary has helped fund in the past.

School Supplies for Ridgely

Posted on Aug 03, 2017

Please Donate School Supplies for Ridgely School!

A new school year will soon be starting so it is time for Springfield Rotarians to start thinking of our annual drive to provide school supplies for needy students at Ridgely. We do this through our "back-to-school-sales drive."

The procedure is simple. The next time you are out shopping and see school supplies on sale, such as erasers, pencils, crayons, pens, and children’s scissors, books, etc., we ask that you consider buying some for the kids at Ridgely. For those of us, out of touch with current student needs, we have attached a PDF from the Ridgely web site in the downloadable documents section of our website. This document lists what each student is expected to bring. You might want to print it out and leave it in your car for your next shopping trip, or just glance over it to get some ideas. You can also download a copy of the list directly from the Ridgley web site by clicking or entering the link listed below in your browser: www.sps186.org/downloads/basic/94903/Supply%20List%202017-2018.pdf.

We will have a box at our upcoming meetings to collect the school supplies. The final pick up will be the meeting after Labor Day, when we will deliver the accumulated supplies to Ridgely. Just throw any purchases in your car, and remember to bring them to one of our Club meetings.

Thanks for your support.

Dan Milligan, Adopt-a-School Coordinator

Rotary International Award for Downtown Rotary

Downtown Rotary Receives Presidential Citation

Past District Governor Steve Hopper presents the 2015-16 Rotary International Presidential Award to Bonnie Styles in recognition of club completion of specific goals in all Avenues of Service and membership development. This award was only two clubs in District 6460 received this prestigious award.

While, this award recognizes clubs within District 6460, the accomplishment is really recognition for President Bonnie's success in providing a full array of "Service Above Self" during her term in office. We should all congratulate Bonnie on her achievement.

Bonnie Styles was also honored with Rotary International's Club Builder Award for 2016-16 in recognition of her member recruitment, Rotary training, vocational service and participation in district meetings. We are proud of our Bonnie!

2016-2017 Rotary Leaders

Posted on Aug 31, 2016

Welcome New Rotary Leaders

On July 11, the Rotary Club of Springfield welcomed Karen Schainker as the 2016-2017 Club President. She introduced the new Board of Directors and Committee Chairs (see list to left on our Website Home Page). On August 8, Tony Williams the new District Governor for District 6460, met with our Board of Directors and addressed the Club. President Karen and the Leadership Team reviewed our Club’s accomplishments over the last year and our goals for the coming year with District Governor Tony and the Club. The goals established through our productive visioning process will continue to drive our actions. Karen challenged all members to “Get involved” with our rich suite of service projects and other activities.

Rotary International Foundation Celebration

Posted on Feb 26, 2016

On February 22, the club celebrated the accomplishments of the Rotary International Foundation. Eight Past District Governors and the current leadership team from District 6460 joined our Master of Ceremonies Rod Buffington and past Rotary International Director Bob Stuart in this annual event. Special guest, Rotary International Director Elect Greg Yank, spoke to the club and reminded everyone of the impact that the Foundation, our foundation, has on our local communities and the world.

It was announced that the Rotary Club of Springfield has once again achieved the distinction of having 100% of its' members recognized as Paul Harris Fellows and donors to the Rotary International Foundation. A number of members were recognized for their efforts on behalf of the foundation.