Patent Medicine History in Monticello Wednesday, May 30, 2018 By Gay Lynne Adams
Mike Harris presented a program on patent medicine history in Monticello. In the early 1900’s, Monticello was a large producer and distributor of a number of patent medicines. Many of the fine homes on State St. (most notably the Hott House) were the result of patent medicine profits. The most famous, of course, was Dr. Caldwell Syrup Pepsin, which began in the basement of 100 S. Charter St., Monticello. His company later became part of Sterling Drug. They continued to manufacture products, such as Fizrin, CamphoPhenique, Castoria, etc. for many years here in Monticello. Another manufacturer, Viobin Corp, was a principal supplier of cold pressed wheat germ oil, which was used as a food supplement in many products around the world. Patent medications, early in the 20th century, made outrageous claims in the advertisements, that were false and without scientific basis. The profit margins on these products were very generous as well. Later legislation finally regulated the industry so that words like “cure” could not be used on labels. The industry is highly regulated today.
Dr. Mitch Hammel, M.D. - Palouse Mindfullness Wednesday, May 23, 2018 By Gay Lynne Adams
Dr. Hammel spoke to us about Mindfullness and how it can help us cope with stress in our daily lives. Over four million people suffer from anxiety from stress, which is very treatable, but only 36% will seek help. Stress is our response to demands that are placed on our body. There is both good stress and bad stress. Help comes from developing coping skills. One of those skills is resiliency – the capacity to adapt successfully to the presence of risk and adversity. Mindfullness is a way to help us cope. It is a mental state achieved by focusing on the present rather than the past or future. Mindfullness has its roots in Buddist meditation. “Paulouse Mindfullness” is a free on-line course available to anyone. At the very least we each should find a few “in between” minutes in every day to quietly reflect.
Dr. Hammel is with the Department of Family Medicine of Christie Clinic. He diagnoses and treats non-surgical illnesses or disorders from infancy through adulthood and promotes wellness care for patients of all ages.
ShelterBox Wednesday, May 9, 2018 By William P. Blickhan
Champaign Rotarian Tom Hodson, who is a Rotary ShelterBox Embassador, reviewed the work that ShelterBox Disaster Relief has accomplished over the last several years. ShelterBox Disaster Relief is a global disaster relief charity that provides lifesaving aid to survivors of a disaster or humanitarian crisis. Aid is tailored to each disaster and typically includes tented shelter, blankets and ground sheets, solar lights, cooking utensils, water purification equipment, a tool kit, mosquito nets and children’s activity packs. Sometimes specific equipment for essential needs is sent in bulk to maximize donor dollars. Notable ShelterBox responses include 2016 Fiji Typhoon Winston, 2012 – present Syrian Refugee Crisis, 2015 Nepal earthquakes, 2013 Philippines Typhoon Haiyan, 2012 Haiti Superstorm Sandy, 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, and 2010 Haiti earthquake. You can read about ShelterBox’s latest deployments: ShelterBox USA.org/news. ShelterBox USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and does not receive funding from any government entity.
Idianne Wednesday, May 2, 2018 By Gay Lynne Adams
Indianne (Indy) Aarskog, our exchanged student from Norway, gave us an update us on her exchange with us. Indy pointed out that she isn't a fan of public speaking and hasn't been very good about taking pictures, however she had many to show us! She has been playing soccer on the Lady Sages JV and Varsity teams this year and has great friends on the team. She's enjoyed meeting all the different girls. Indy's dad was able to visit for 3 weeks around Spring Break and therefore able to join her, Tim and Shelly on a trip to Chicago. She showed some pictures of her trip where she went to the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, the Field Museum, the Skydeck, Chicago 360, the Architectural Boat Tour, Millennium Park, and the Magnificent Mile. Indy showed off pictures from her first baseball game that both she and her dad got to enjoy with Tim. She announced her Cardinal fan status and hopes to go to more games in St Louis. She thought it was fun to see what it was that we American's were all excited about. The highlight of the game was a fight that broke out! Indy enjoyed Prom and again getting a chance to see what all the fuss is about. She was surprised at all the preparation involved: nails, hair and a fancy dress! She pointed out that others took a lot of pictures, not her. Indy showed off pictures of some of her favorite people. Her best friends here in the US and several pictures from events with the exchange students from both our local Rotary District 6490 and also the rotary district to the south. Last she showed of pictures of her American family the Crawford's and Stock's of which she has become a big part! Indy talked about how great a community and school we have for exchange students because everyone is so welcoming and the teachers are so willing to help the students out! Indy is looking forward to her trip with Rotary to the West Coast and the Mid-States conference that will be held in Michigan later this summer. Indy will be with us until Mid-July.
If you have interest in becoming a host parent reach out to Roger Morgenstern for more information. If you would be interested in talking to a host parent about the experience, reach out to Shelly Crawford-Stock or one of the other members that have hosted a student. This is a program that obviously benefits the students participating, but also our students at Monticello High School. It allows all of the kids (and adults) our student interacts with to meet and get to know a person from another culture they may have never had the chance to meet! Hopefully people become just a little more tolerant of differences through the experience. Please consider hosting a student, without host families there is no program!! The typical hosting commitment is only 3-4 mos in the Rotary program.
Spring Auction Wednesday, March 14, 2018 By Gay Lynne Adams
Shelly Crawford-Stock and Kelly Crawford are co-chairs for this year's auction.
Our fundraiser auction is held every 1.5-2 years and provides income for our fundraising account and new this year, our Foundation.
This year's auction has a carvinal theme and will be held Saturday, April 14th at the Community Building.
Tickets are $25 per person, which pays for a catered meal, music and entry to both the live and silent auctions. A cash bar will be available.
Monticello Club Members should have already received 2 tickets and any additional tickets will be available up until the event (or until sold out, whichever comes first).
Shelly and Kelly are seeking both donated items for the auction and cash donations. (Cash donations will be used to purchase larger raffle items and items to round out baskets.)
They passed around a donation idea list at today's meeting and will bring it back every Wednesday until the auction.
Administrative Professional Day Wednesday, April 25, 2018 By Gay Lynne Adams
Rotarians invited their Administrative Professionals to lunch and we all enjoyed the Monticello High School Jazz Band. Led by Mrs. Allison Allender and student teacher Mason Manint, the Jazz ensemble is 27 students strong and includes a jazz singer! They played favorites such as "Echoes of Harlem" by Duke Ellington, "Skylar" with jazz singer Carly Kallembach and "Jerico", and an African American spiritual, to name a few!
Rotary Writer Awards Wednesday, April 18, 2018 By Gay Lynne Adams
Rotary Writer Awards
April 18, 2018
Congratulations to this year's winners of the Monticello Rotary Writer Contest. We had 30 6th grade entries and 33 7th/8th grade entries. The theme for the contest was "The best day I ever had at school was when..." The judges met and selected "Fun Day!" by Tyler Dyer (6th - Mrs. Brewer) and "Shedd Aquarium" by Cam Allender (7th/8th - Mrs. Stripens) as the winning essays. Each student read their essay and was awarded a $150 prize. Teachers were each awarded $25 in Chamber Bucks. Special thanks to our judges: Steve Hoffman, Sarah Probst-Miller, Kara Olsen, Steve Tenhouse, tara Grabarczyk and Chad Johnson.
Submitted by: Vic Zimmerman
Craig Myers - Interact Update Wednesday, March 14, 2018 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Our Interact club also hosts a Youth Exchange Weekend where area youth exchange students will come to Monticello and spend the day going to Allerton, visiting the Alpaca farm in Bement, and possibly bowling.
Coming soon also will be the RYLA camp at Allerton that our club is involved in, although we are still looking for some adult volunteers. Our committee of Craig, Travis Fox, Paul Spangler, and Kara Tyler interviewed 11 students to take 3 spots from our club to attend the weekend at RYLA. Each member of the committee told the club what a fantastic and talented group of young people they interviewed and it was impossible to narrow them down to 3. Since then, our board has met and decided that we would sponsor all 11 this year, which has never happened before!
Craig also discussed how rewarding it is to work with youth, regardless of whether you still have kids of your own at home. Take the opportunity every chance you get to help out!
Vic Zimmerman - Referendum Wednesday, February 28, 2018 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Vic Zimmeran spoke to the club last week about the Monticello school district upcoming vote where we will cast ballots on a $29.8 million referendum that would fund renovations at the high school/Washington Elementary school campus. The vote will be on the March 20 ballot, which will be the district's third referendum try in five years.
Mike Heiniger Photography - Click Studio Wednesday, February 21, 2018 By Steve E. Hoffman
Mike Heiniger, owner of Mike Heiniger Photography and co-owner Click Studio in Monticello, gave photography tips at the Feb. 14 session of Rotary. Mike started his adult career as a CPA and accountant, transitioned into the ministry including 12 years as pastor at the local Crossroads Church, and in 2015 took his talent for photography full-time. He partners with two other photographers at Click Studio, located above CF&H Insurance. Among Mike's photography tips: – Frame the subjects of the photo tightly, either by moving close or zooming in; – For portrait looks (subject in focus, blurry background), use a low f-stop; – For sports, use a larger f-stop to increase depth of field; – Think of the rule of thirds when framing the key subjects in a photo.
Monticello Schools Referendum 2018 Wednesday, February 14, 2018 By Michael Alan Harris
In March, we have a very important issue to vote on, Monticello Schools Referendum 2018. We will also have a presentation to our Club. Attached (as pdf) is the poster; “ Your Voice, Your Choice”. Please post it, and encourage your family, friends, and co-workers to read-up on this vital issue in our community.
As Rotarians, we have a responsibility to be informed on local issues. An enormous effort has been made to enhance communication and encourage meaningful dialog before voting in March. Please research the issue thoroughly, and most important, VOTE !
Thanks in advance,
Mike
Jon Ebel Wednesday, March 7, 2018 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Jon Ebel visited our club last week, he is a University of Illinois associate professor in the Department of Religion and a former Navy intelligence officer, he is a candidate from Champaign County and running in the primary election on the Democratic ticket for congress.
E - Makeup Wednesday, March 2, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Since Rotary eClub One is an internet based club...they cannot draw on a local community for support of our service projects. As a result, the Make-Up Programs on our website are the primary fundraising means we have to support Rotary initiated service projects across the globe. So, in the spirit of Rotarian service, they ask that you please consider making a donation that would be equal to the price of your Weekly Rotary Meeting.
The Rotary eClub is a real Rotary club made up of real Rotarians. They meet on-line to coordinate service projects and enjoy fellowship with like-minded Rotarians.
Rotary eClub One is a full-service chartered Rotary Club in every aspect of its management and activities, except that they do not meet for a meal, and our meetings operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On any day, visitors can select from many meeting programs (articles) ranging from Rotary information, case studies of successful service projects, news about our club activities, tips and hints for Rotary Clubs, and a personal growth department for Rotarians. There are many additional programs in the archives. s
Their members are actively engaged in Community Service, International Service, Vocational Service and Youth Service projects and have consistently been awarded the Rotary International Presidential Citation for service.
When you go to the site, please use the Makeup Programs button on the top or follow this link MAKEUP PROGRAMS to access our exceptional programs. Detailed information regarding the steps you'll need to follow can be found by using the Makeup Programs pull down menu and accessing How to Make Up or by following this link HOW TO MAKE UP.
Stephanie Bloch from Sundrop Alpace Farm Thursday, February 1, 2018 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Stephanie Bloch from Sundrop Alpace Farm visted our club on Jan 31st. Sundrop Alpaca Farm started in 2014 with the intent of enjoying the alpaca business while teaching responsibility to their children. They’ve started with a solid foundation herd of animals, each high quality with the bonus of delightful and distinct personalities. Purchase their handspun Alpaca Yarn and alpaca hats along with other Alpaca locally made products through their website or at their on-farm store. Don’t miss their Alpaca Farm Days the last weekend in September to meet these personable animals!
Jennifer Moss from Kirby Hosptial Wednesday, January 31, 2018 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Jennifer Moss from Kirby Hosptial spoke to the our club last week. Jennifer spoke about removing polyps during colonoscopy can not only prevent colorectal cancer, but also reduce deaths from the disease for years.
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in both men and women nationwide. In 2012, more than 143,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with cancers of the colon and rectum. Over 52,000 people will die from these cancers.
Screening tests like colonoscopies—in which a doctor examines inside the rectum and colon using a long, lighted tube called a colonoscope—can detect early-stage colorectal cancer before symptoms develop. Early detection is important because treatments are more likely to be successful for early- rather than late-stage cancer.
Colonoscopy also allows doctors to remove any abnormal growths they find, including polyps. Polyps are growths on the inner wall of the colon or rectum that are common in people over age 50. Most polyps are benign, but some (called adenomas) can become cancer. A previous study by researchers in the National Polyp Study found that removing adenomas reduces the risk of developing colorectal cancer. However, the follow-up at that time wasn’t long enough to show whether the reduced risk of cancer would translate into fewer deaths from colorectal cancer.
Sue Grey - President and CEO of Champaign county United Way Wednesday, January 24, 2018 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Sue Grey President & CEO of the champaign county united way visited our club last week.
Sue has most recently been the Vice President of Community Impact at United Way of Champaign County. United Way Board of Directors believe her experience in mobilizing volunteer and financial resources and creating collaborative environments brings invaluable expertise to ensure that the United Way continues to meet the evolving challenges and needs of our community .
Sue joined the United Way in 2006 and is no stranger to United Way operations. She has volunteered in many different capacities for the past 18 years. Sue and her family have deep roots in Champaign County. Her volunteer activities include member of the Champaign Unit 4 School Board since 2006 and President since 2011. Sue also volunteers with Champaign Rotary, Executive Club of Champaign County, Champaign Central High School PTA and Windsor Road Christian Church. In 2005, Sue received the Athena Award from the Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, Sue received the 2012 Woman of Distinction award from the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois.
Sue lives in Champaign along with her husband Tom Grey and has three children and two grandchildren
Circuit Judge Thomas Little Wednesday, January 10, 2018 By Hugh Finson
The speaker last meeting was Macon Co. Circuit Judge Thomas Little, who has presided over Macon County's Drug Court several years. Drug court is intended to help persons with drug and alcohol addictions to become sober and then to maintain sobriety. It does this primarily through positive reinforcement, with one-on-one and group counseling and sessions with probation officers. Judge Little receives and reviews weekly progress reports on each drug court probationer, who is then required to appear in court weekly. Although he said presiding over drug court can be very frustrating, he also said it can be very rewarding.
Kevin Yonce, Past District Governor Wednesday, December 20, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Mike Harris introduced Kevin Yonce, Past District Governor who discussed Rotary Foundation Giving.
PDG Yonce reported on various ways to contribute to Rotary Foundation. He also reported on our Club donation record over the years. Forms for automatic giving were distributed and Kevin answered questions about how funds are collected, invested, and distributed by Rotary International.
Gary Simpkins -Simpkins Military History Museum Wednesday, December 13, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Jerry Dusenberry introduced Gary Simpkins, owner of the Simpkins Military History Museum in Heyworth Illinois. All pieces belong to and are personally owned by Gary. There are no pieces on loan. He has placed every piece on display with his own hands and does all the dusting and cleaning. His wife Carol has done the cataloging and the typing of labels. The oldest item on display is the conquistador stirrup that was found in Arizona. It has been authenticated by the University of Arizona. On display is a 34 star flag that flew during the Civil War. The stars were painted on using gold paint. It is the oldest American flag on display in our county (McLean).
The most unusual and rarest item is the German straw boots. They were probably made of rye or barley straw. The German foot soldiers wore them when they were standing guard duty on the Russian front during the winters in WWII. They have about a 2-3 inch sole and they would slip their combat boots into the straw boots. The straw was an insulation against the frozen ground. The boots came from an American WWII veteran in Bloomington. He brought them home, put them on the top shelf of his closet, and they stayed there until his death. His wife donated them to the museum.
There are displays from the Civil War; the Spanish American War; WWI; WWII which includes displays of German, Japanese, British, and American military items with a few items from other countries; the Korean War; the Viet Nam War; the Cold War; and Desert Storm up to the present.
There is a display of womens’ items/uniforms from WWII.
There is also a POW display. Most of the items were given to the museum by a former POW from Clinton, Illinois. He was a pilot and was held in a German POW camp.
The “uniform room” has over 300 uniforms. There are over 1300 shoulder patches around the top of the walls. There is a large reference library.
Madrigal Visit Wednesday, December 6, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
The MHS Madrigal Singers visited us Last Week.
Tickets for the annual Madrigal Dinners are sold out!!
This is a family friendly show with beautiful singing, instrumentals, acting, and more! Dinners are December 8th and 9th, at 6:30pm, in the MHS Auditorium.
With the evening of music there is a Madrigal feast consisting of: Chicken Cordon Bleu, Green Beans, Red Potatoes, Soup, Salad, Pumpkin Spice Bar, and, of course, Wassail!
Pierce Allen (Sr), Noah Hanselman (Sr), Ben Keating (Fr), Caleb Peterson (Soph), Dylan Roe (Jr), August Hastings (Sr), Jack Knittle (Sr), Draeelin Riden (Soph), Nick Timmons (Soph), Jacob Wilkin (Soph), Nick Wilkin (Jr)
Captain Barney Rubel Wednesday, November 15, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
In honor of Veterans Day, Captain Barney Rubel was our speaker last week. Captain Rubel is retired and living in Monticello, Illinois. From May, 2006 to August 2014 he was D ean of the Center for Naval Warfare Studies at the US Naval War College . Prior to assuming this position, he was Chairman of the Wargaming Department . A thirty - year Navy veteran, he received his commission through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Illinois. He subsequently became a light attack naval aviator, flying the A - 7 Corsair II and later the F/A - 18 Hornet. He commanded Strike Fighter Squadron 131 and also served as the Inspector General at U.S. Southern Command.
In his twenty years of flying, Captain Rubel a massed over 3000 hours of flight time and 880 carrier landings, 300 of which were at night. As a junior officer he was involved in the standoff between the US Sixth Fleet and Soviet Fleet during the 1973 Arab - Israeli War and the 1974 Cyprus Crisis. He became a nuclear and conventional weapons instructor and a landing signal officer. He served in both capacities as an instructor in Attack Squadron 174, the East Coast A - 7 replacement training squadron, then under the command of now Senator John McCain. As a member of the Carrier Air Wing 7 staff he spent eight months in the Indian Ocean as a strike leader during the 1980 Iranian Hostage Crisis. In 1985 he was aboard USS Nimitz in the Mediterranean during the TWA Flight 847 crisis in 1985. As commanding of ficer of Strike Fighter Squadron 131, he deployed aboard USS Eisenhower to the Red Sea in 1990 right after Iraq invaded Kuwait.
Captain Rubel shared with us his slideshow on Aircraft Carriers and discussed the ability for the United States to extend power anywhere in the world with our fleet.
Monticello Fighting Hunger Project Wednesday, November 8, 2017 By Victor E Zimmerman
Rotarians- I am sorry that I missed our meeting yesterday - I heard that Charlie Montgomery did a great job promoting the Monticello Fighting Hunger Project. Our website is up as of today and I wanted to share it with you. Please go to www.monticellofightinghunger.com for more information, to make a donation, and to sign up your group (could be a church group, scout group, neighborhood, bunco group, bridge club, business, travel team, dinner group, or some other group to participate in this day. Also please share this message with your friends.
A fun time was had by all and this year will be even better.
Thanks
Vic
Marc Changnon - Motivational Speaker Wednesday, November 1, 2017 By Michael Alan Harris
Marc Changon was our guest last week. He is a motivational and inspirational speaker whose purpose is to engage and challenge audiences from every interest and background. Marc realized early on his purpose in life was to help others help themselves to a better life, and his passion for helping is evident as soon as you hear him speak or you experience him as a Real Colors® Facilitator.
His purpose has served as his foundation while raising his three children, in developing financial plans for his clients, and in counseling students and adults alike in their search for a fulfilling career. Regardless of his career as a 4-H Youth Advisor, a Financial Planner, a Basketball Coach or the Director of Career Programs within the public schools, he has emphasized his motto for himself and those he has worked with and that is to “Always Do Your Best.”
Walk-For-Polio dates have been extended through Thursday, 26 October. Wednesday, October 25, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Ugly weather yesterday and today ! For this reason, the Walk-For-Polio dates have been extended through Thursday, 26 October. According to weather reports, Wednesday and Thursday will have nice weather. If you have not walked, here is a good time to do it and experience the lovely Kirby Wellness Trail at the Kirby Medical Center campus. Let’s get out there, get some exercise, and help eradicate polio !
Make A Difference This Week !
End Polio Day, is October 24 Wednesday, October 18, 2017 By Michael Alan Harris
Rotary International, End Polio Day, is October 24. To commemorate this day and help rid the world of this dreaded disease, our Club is conducting a Walk For Polio. This first-time event was put together rather hastily and announced only last week at our Club meeting. Several Rotarians have already signed up. Hopefully this event will gain traction to be enlarged and improved for next year ! The donor/sponsor form is attached to this email in WORD and PDF format. Hard copy forms will also be available at Club meeting on October 18.
Please consider taking a time of your own choosing on either October 23, or 24 to participate. Take a walk (distance of your own choosing and comfort level) on the lovely Kirby Wellness Trail, part of the Kirby Medical Center Campus. You many recruit sponsors at $$ per mile that you walk, or you may simply fund your own walk with an individual donation. Most importantly, it is a way to get outdoor exercise, make use of a great community asset, have fun, and raise awareness (and $$) for a great world health effort. This event is NOT about making headlines. It is NOT a fund raising contest. It is about Rotarians being “people of action, making a difference” in our community and the world. Simply fill out the form, and start walking!
For those who are unable to walk or unavailable on those days, donations are accepted on the next two Club meetings (October 18, 25). You may deposit $$ in the cups at your table or with the Foundation Chair, Judy Greene, at the sign-in table. You can give online at www.myrotary.org Of course, all these donations are tax deductible.
As the message from the video shown last week at the Club meeting indicated, “we are very close” to ridding the world of this disease. Additionally, every dollar we collect or donate will be matched 2:1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This is a great time to “triple” our gift. The world has looked to Rotary to lead in this effort, and we will not let them down.
Note from Mike Harris - Hurricane Relief Wednesday, October 11, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
As we are all aware, there is a great need for relief (of all forms) to victims of recent natural disasters here in our own hemisphere. As Rotarians, we are naturally inclined to want to help victims anytime, anywhere on the globe. I have received information on several excellent avenues of giving, which I will share below.
Local Direct Water/Food/Supplies Relief Efforts: Many local churches are drop off points for needed items that will be accumulated and shipped directly to victims. I attach a photo of one such pick up station from my own church. Additionally there is a drop off station and loading container at the Law Enforcement Center, in Bear Industrial Park (see photo). The clear advantage of this method is that there is little or no administrative burden, and the aid is delivered directly to those in need very quickly. Please check with your church or faith based organization. Likely, they are already participants of this or similar efforts. Give generously and quickly. Here is a list of items that are most needed.
Garbage bags
Diapers
Baby formula
Bottled Water (critical importance)
Bleach (Clorox) wipes
Personal Hygiene items
Prepaid gasoline cards
Rotary Sponsored Relief Programs: I have given those to all of you on the weekly bulletin and program at your lunch plate. I will re-list them below. Rotary is very aggressive in this relief effort and I expect the scope of their effort will to continue to expand, going forward. Each relief effort below has a specific account number, allowing you to target your gift as you wish. Rotary has a long, proud history of providing disaster relief around the globe, in a manner that is efficient, targeted, and effective. It is very easy. Simply use the website below, or your personal web portal at www.myrotary.org. Then sign in and start giving!
Rotary Partner Organizations: One such partner organization, Shelter Box USA, is an outstanding organization providing mobile shelter systems. Visit their site www.shelterboxusa.org
The important point to remember is that the scope of these recent disasters is so large, that relief efforts will continue for years. Rotarians will step up—as we always have. I am asking all of you to help in any way possible. We are “people of action, making a difference.” It is in our DNA. Make it happen!
Thank you,
Mike
Emily Cross is the Director of Development at the University YMCA Wednesday, October 11, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Emily Cross is the Director of Development at the University YMCA on the campus of the University of Illinois. She has her degree from the University of Illinois and her Master's in Environmental Studies from the University of Illinois - Springfield.
Emily was involved with the YMCA student programs as a student and has been in the Y in her staff capacity since 2015.Emily spoke to our group about their partnership with Sierra Leone which started in 2013.
They have developed a partnership and help foster global connections and inspire cross-cultural exchange. The areas of focus are water project, job training and mental health.
5 things you might not know about ending polio Wednesday, September 27, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
5 things you might not know about ending polio
The road to eradicating polio has been a long and difficult one, with Rotary leading the fight since 1985. Going from nearly 350,000 cases in 1988 to just 10 so far this year has required time, money, dedication, and innovation from thousands of people who are working to end the disease.
Here are five things you may not know about the fight to end polio:
1. Ice cream factories in Syria are helping by freezing the ice packs that health workers use to keep the polio vaccine cold during immunization campaigns.
2. Celebrities have become ambassadors in our fight to end the disease.
- They include WWE wrestling superstar John Cena, actress Kristen Bell, action-movie star Jackie Chan, golf legend Jack Nicklaus, Grammy Award-winning singers Angelique Kidjo and Ziggy Marley, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, anthropologist Dr. Jane Goodall, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates, and world-renowned violinist and polio survivor Itzhak Perlman.
3. Health workers and Rotary volunteers have climbed mountains, crossed deserts, and sailed to remote islands, risking their lives to vaccinate children against this disease. Rotary has funded more than 1,500 motorbikes and 6,700 other vehicles, as well as 17 boats, to make those journeys. Vaccinators have even traveled on the backs of elephants, donkeys, and camels to immunize children in remote areas.
4. In Pakistan, the polio program emphasizes hiring local female vaccinators and monitors. More than 21,000 vaccinators, 83 percent of whom are women, are achieving the highest immunization coverage rates in the country’s history.
5. Thanks to the efforts of Rotary and its partners, more than 16 million people who otherwise might have been paralyzed are walking today. In all, more than 2.5 billion children have been vaccinated since 1988.
Message from Club President Mike Harris Wednesday, September 6, 2017 By Michael Alan Harris
As I have been reporting regularly at our Club meetings this summer, Rotary International has pledged to plant one tree for every Rotarian on earth. The benefits of this effort are enormous from a local and world-wide perspective. Each Rotarian may plant (or hire professionally planted) a tree anywhere they desire, on your property, your place of business, farm, rental property, vacation property, wherever. We simply need to know: the species, when planted, and the address where planted. The plantings will be recorded with pins on a local map to hopefully show the impact of our effort, going forward. Since planting trees is a service project, a meeting make-up will be recorded for everyone who plants a tree. If you plant the tree yourself (your own labor), please indicate how long it took and that will be recorded as service hours for the Club. Some of you have already planted trees and reported it. Those have been recorded and I expect our Club will easily meet its goal.
There are several good vendors that sell trees in our area. I posted the price list for one local area vendor on our bulletin board, near the sign-in sheet and badge pick-up area. There are many other excellent vendors and arborists in our area. Trees can also be purchased online thru the Arbor Day Society, www.arborday.org and www.musserforests.com. Those trees will be smaller, but nevertheless of high quality. Fall is an excellent time to plant trees in Central Illinois, by the way. Let’s take advantage of this!
I know our Club will do its part in this effort. Please report your plantings to me by email at: [email protected]. I have a spreadsheet started and will give regular weekly progress reports to the Club as this effort moves along. Again, if you have planted a tree since July 1, 2017, let me know and that will count, e.g. some of you are building new homes, updating landscaping, etc.
One Tree for Every Rotarian: let’s get it done. “Rotarians are people of action, making a difference.”
Thank you,
Mike Harris
Club President
Rotary Exchange Student Indianne Aarskog Wednesday, September 13, 2017 By Diana R. Wilkin
Rotary Exchange student Indianne Aarskog was the guest speaker at the Rotary meeting today. She shared images and information about her home country, Norway. She arrived on August 8th and attends school at Monticello High School. She is part of the football cheer team. She thanked the Rotary club for sponsoring her visit here and looks forward to many experiences in America.
Kathy Sokolowski - One Book/ One Community - Sages Read Wednesday, August 30, 2017 By Heidi Apperson
One Book/ One Community - Sages Read
We all know the power of books. The power of story can be amplified when shared in a group. That is why during this school year Monticello Schools want to bring our schools together around the movement Choose Kind. R.J. Palacio’s Wonder and the follow up picture book, We’re All Wonders, both share the mission to choose kindness in our lives . The idea was simple to begin with, we would like the students in each of our school buildings to build a community around these stories and their message of kindness. But then, we began to dream a bit bigger - we wanted the Sage community to come together around these stories too.
Our plan is to have each building read the book we’ve selected for them below. Depending on the age level, that book might be a picture book version, or a novel. The book might be shared in a read aloud at school, taken home to share with parents, or read at home and discussed at school. We also would like to have copies of the book available at local businesses for patrons to take, read & return, or pass on to another community member.
During the month of October, our schools will be reading these books, and hopefully the community will as well. We will share our reactions to the books on a community Facebook page and a hashtag on Twitter. To do this, we need your help.
For the books in the schools, as well as promotional materials, we need to raise funds. We estimate that the funds we need to raise for this program are $8,000. This money will fund:
* ? Copies of Wonder and We're All Wonders and Choose Kind banners for:
* ? Monticello High School
* ? Monticello Middle School
* ? White Heath Elementary
* ? Lincoln School
* ? Allerton Library
* ? Additional copies of the books to place in the community at local businesses and schools.
Kristen Bosch, Eastern Illinois Foodbank Wednesday, August 23, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Mike Atwood hosted Kristin Borsh at last weeks Rotary Meeting. Kristin is Vice President of Development & Community Partnerships for the Eastern Illinois Foodbank and has served in that position for little over two and a half years. Kristin explained that the Eastern Illinois Foodbank is the primary food source for food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and other programs working to feed the hungry. Each year, they distribute millions of pounds of food across our network of more than 200 such programs working to create a hunger-free eastern Illinois.
The Foodbank accepts donated and discounted food from a variety of sources and distributes it to 220 emergency food programs, such as food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. The Foodbank also operates the Healthy Futures Initiative, designed to alleviate hunger among low-income children, and the Foodmobile Program, which aims to increase access to emergency food for residents in rural and under-resourced communities.
Indianne Aarskog - Our Inbound Exchange Student. Wednesday, August 9, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Indianne Aarskog arrived yesterday from Norway. Indianne travelled from her hometown Alesund Norway, to Amersterdam to Chicago where the Wilkin's picked her up.
She had been up for 24 hours straight, but was in great spirits. Indianne will be staying with the Wilkin, Elmore and Stock Families while she is visiting.
Ellie Carpenter - Returning Exchange Student Wednesday, August 9, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Ellie Carpenter was our speaker last week. Ellie has just returned from her year long exchange to France.
We are glad to have her back!!
Steve Tenhouse, CEO at Kirby Tuesday, August 1, 2017 By J. Craig Webb
Craig Webb gave a brief history of his family’s experience with Kirby Medical Center and then introduced Steve Tenhouse, CEO at Kirby, who provided an update on Kirby’s expansion plans. Steve noted the increase in Surgery +48%, Patient Volumes +40%, Lab Tests +60%, Physical Therapy + 41% since new Hospital opened 8 years ago. The expansion will be done in 3 Phases starting Fall 2017. Steve also noted our new Clinic in Cerro Gordo opened Jan 2017, is doing well. After the presentation Craig informed Rotary members that we were challenged by District Governor Howell to plant a tree. The Kirby Foundation has a program “ Tree for the Trail” planting donated tree around the 1 mile walking trail around Kirby. Contact Sara Ross at Kirby Foundation for more information.
District Governor Visit Wednesday, July 26, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
District Governor Larry Howell was our guest last week. Governor Howell reminded us of President Ian Riseley’s year theme of Rotary International is “Rotary: Making a Difference.” and that it is the clubs and their members that are making a difference in their communities both locally and globally.
Larry is currently from Arcola, and last week presented many Rotary topics, activities and ideas that are taking place in our district and throughout the world.
Presenting pins and a banner to the club with this year’s Rotary Theme and graphic: “Making a Difference”.
Larry passed around a “Polio Plus” donation truck noting that the work continues in Rotary’s global project to eliminate polio from the face of the earth.
DG Larry is challenging each club to increase membership by a net gain of 2 members this year and to also adopt a district wide project of planting one tree for each club member. He will meet with our club’s board of directors after this meeting and discuss these and other challenges for Rotary.
He noted that “Rotary begins with you” and is asking each club to keep track of our service hours that we perform this year and send that information to the district. He requested that at anytime for members to email him direct with any questions or concerns. He will meet with our club’s Board of Directors to go into detail on this year’s activities and district Presidential Citation requirements for each club.
Monticello Area Education Foundation Wednesday, July 12, 2017 By Diana R. Wilkin
The club welcomed Brian Fulton, Past President of the Monticello Area Education Foundation. He became a part of MAEF to give back to the school district and the community. Regardless of who is serving as Directors on the Board, the mission always remains the same: to support the students and the educational initiatives. MAEF host a fundraising event each year to raise money to support grants, scholarships, tutoring, and a summor library reading program. For the last three years, the fundraising event has been held at Allerton with a Las Vegas Theme. As a result of the generosity of everyone who attended and the sponsors, the Foudation was able to provide $17,500 in scholarships, $12,000 in grants, and provide 28 tutoring scholarships. The MAEF will be celebrating 20 years in 2018. The next fundraising event will be on 2/10/18 at Allerton with a "Roaring 20's" theme.
Martyna farwell, and Rotary Wednesday, July 12, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Last Week at our Rotary meeting, Shelly Crawford introduced Martyna, who will be returning home later this month. A short video presentation was included and the Club wished her well. Thanks to all host families and friends that made her year unforgettable. Then Mike Harris gave a short photo slide report on the recent Rotary International Convention in Atlanta, highlighting the large number of service projects ongoing around the world every day under Rotary support. Convention events, socialization, and other highlights were discussed. 4 members from our Club attended the convention: Kelly Skinner, Liz Skinner, Jim Ayers, and Mike Harris. The convention attracted over 40,000 Rotarians from over 100 nations. The 2018 Rotary International Convention will be in Toronto. Our Club members may sign up online by going to their My Rotary page (www.myrotary.org<http://www.myrotary.org>) or by filling out the paper applications available from the Club secretary.
New Officer/Director Installation Wednesday, July 5, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
New Directors and Officers for 2017-18 Rotary Year.
Paul Harris Awards 2017 Wednesday, June 28, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
-
Message from President-Elect Mike Harris Wednesday, June 21, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Looking forward to the new Rotary year, beginning July 1, I have emailed you the preliminary “Avenues of Service” assignments (a/k/a committee assignments) for the coming year. As Rotarians, we serve our community and the world thru five “Avenues of Service”: Community Service, Club Service, Vocational Service, International Service, and Youth Services. Our club has served our community since 1924, and our impact has not only been local, but we have impacted many people around the world. This effort works because all of you have always contributed in some meaningful way. That is, after all, what Rotary is all about.
Last year’s assignments were used as a guide. Please, this is NOT the final draft. I want to help all of you have the best possible Rotary experience, and at the same time keep the service trajectory of our Club moving forward. Please review the “Avenues of Service” section. If you want a different path to service, please do not hesitate to reply, and I will make the necessary changes. I want everyone to fit into a service path that suits their talents and availability. Several factors were considered in compiling this service schedule. Everyone needs to feel comfortable with their service commitment. If any of you have difficulty opening the email attachment (it is in both Word and pdf format), please let me know, and I will deliver a paper copy to you.
Keep in mind that the service groups usually involve many other people than those named. We solicit volunteers for nearly every service effort, so those named are not the ONLY ones assigned to the task. Again, I cannot over-emphasize that I want everyone to “fit-in” to a service avenue that is agreeable. Please notify me of any changes you want to make. Some of the Avenues of Service are new or changed and have not been completely assigned yet. Those will be completed as we move forward.
One of the important items mentioned at the Convention last week in Atlanta was that over the next few years, Rotary will be focusing on documenting the service hours we provide to our community. A new “re-branding” effort is being implemented to show Rotarians as “people of action.” The incoming president is very keen to let the world know, in quantitative terms, the value of all the hours we give to our community and projects around the world. Surveys consistently show that most people are not aware of the depth, magnitude, and value of the service Rotary Clubs provide, every day around the world.
I am proud to say, that our Monticello Rotary Club already stands tall with regard to the amount of time we donate to our community. Going forward, we will be recording our service and posting regularly on the “My Rotary” portal so all of you can see how we are progressing through the year towards our service goals. We simply need to keep the momentum going in Monticello and look forward to our 100th year in 2024 !
Let’s all have fun, fellowship, and a great Rotary year together!
Sincerely,
Mike Harris
Secretary/President Elect
ROTARY GLOBAL REWARDS Wednesday, June 14, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
ROTARY GLOBAL REWARDS
Have you used Rotary Global Rewards — our program that includes special offers on travel, hotels, dining, entertainment, and more? Rotary Global Rewards makes your Rotary connection even more rewarding.
To learn more, sign in to My Rotary and go to Rotary Global Rewards. If you don’t have a My Rotary account, you can easily register for one now.
Roger Lipe - FCA Wednesday, June 14, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Roger Lipe, Southern Illinois FCA Representative spoke to our Rotary club last week. Roger has served with Southern Illinois FCA since 1994 when he became the region's first director. Roger operates out of the Carbondale FCA Office. Roger is internationally recognized for his innovation and leadership. Roger overseas all FCA activities in Southern Illinois and is personal responsible for Gallatin, Jackson, Perry, Randolph, Saline and Williamson Counties. The author of several books, Roger also serves as Chaplain for the Southern Illinois University football team.
Chris Rupiper - Precision Ag Wednesday, June 7, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Chris Rupiper, integrated solutions manager and partner at Kelly Sauder Rupiper Equipment in Central Illinois, was our guest speaker last week. Chris has always had a passion for agriculture and worked with his father all through High School and College at Rupiper Equipment. After College, Chris started working at John Deere as an Engineer. In 2012 Chris came back to the dealership to become the integrated solutions manager. Chris's presentation discussed what precision agriculture is in a broader sense than what we all know it to be. Chris explained that Precision agriculture is a farming management concept based on observing, measuring and responding to inter and intra-field variability in crops. He discussed the progress of techniques through the years and touched on where he thinks we will be going in the future, with autonomous vehicles, drones and massive amounts of data.
African Library Project Wednesday, May 24, 2017 By Gay Lynne Adams
Amelia "Mia" Adams, daughter of Rotarian Gay Adams, shared her plans for her upcoming trip to Tanzania, Africa.
Rotary Shield Winners Wednesday, May 24, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Fraya Replinger - sales associate with Allerton Park Wednesday, May 17, 2017 By Emily Zelhart
Fraya Replinger, sales associate with Allerton Park, was our guest speaker last week. She went through a power point of the upcoming programs that will be hosted out at Allerton Park. We learned about the summer concert series that they will have and some of the acts that are already lined up for that. They will be having a few fundraisers for the park, such as a garden tea party, that individuals can purchase tickets to. We also were given a recap of the forest to mansion dinner that was hosted to week before. Around 120 individuals attended the event. They had area chefs fix food using ingredients that were taken from the forest as well as working with local producers to get items for the dinner. It was a huge hit. She suggested that individuals look on their website for upcoming events at Allerton, and feel free to contact her with any questions or to get involved.
Rotary Survey Wednesday, April 26, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Dear Rotarian,
Thank you for your continued and valued involvement in Rotary. Your opinions matter greatly to us.
Rotary is developing a vision for the future so that we can stay relevant and thrive in the years ahead. Our goal is a compelling, inspirational, and aspirational vision that reflects the impact Rotary strives to have on the world.
We're asking for your input on this brief online survey. With your help, we'll better understand what about Rotary excites and inspires you and how we can make the greatest possible impact.
Your participation will be vital to our success. Thank you for your assistance in shaping our future.
Warmest regards,
Rotary International Strategic Planning Committee
Monticello Middle School Jazz Band Friday, April 28, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
For Adminstrative Assistant appreciation day, we were treated to the Musical stylings of Mrs Allen's Monticello Middle School Jazz Band. The Jazz Band has competed in several competitions this year including the Eastern Illinois jazz competition where they recieved a first place. The jazz band consists of 6th, 7th and 8th graders and start working on performances in December.
Rotary Writer Awards Wednesday, March 29, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
The Annual Monticello Rotary Writer Contest was held for the fifth time with first and second place winning entries selected and read at our March 27 meeting. Over 100 entries were submitted for the contest from Monticello Middle School 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. Entries were read by a panel of six Rotary member judges and the top two were selected. The theme for this year’s contest was “Someone who has made a positive impact on my life”. The first place entry was written by Riley Combes, an eighth grader, who’s entry was entitled, The Coolest Grandma in the World and the second place entry was written by KC Kelley, a sixth grader, who’s entry was entitled, My Savior, My Hero, My Mom. Riley’s teacher was Mrs. Benjie Haugen and KC’s teacher was Mrs. Andrea Bailey. First place was awarded $250 and second place was awarded $100. The essays will be printed in the Piatt County Journal Republican.
Picture from Left to Right: Krickett Kelley, KC Kelley, Grandma Nancy Darnall, Riley Combes, teacher Andrea Bailey
Design Group International Wednesday, March 8, 2017 By Bruce C. Wintersteen
Matt Thomas a consultant with Design Group International spoke about what their business is about, Process consultation. They serve businesses and non-profits by helping them deal with management issues. These range widely and include business succession , personnel problems, expansion, downsizing and improving business practices. One example would be religious group that needs to find new members. They bring expertise and an outsiders viewpoint in helping solve business issues with ideas and focus.
Carol Castellon - American flags Wednesday, March 1, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Last week speaker was Carol Castellon, DAR member, from Champaign, Illinois, she spoke to us about US Flags. Carol believes that each of our beautiful flags has a place in history that needs telling.
Chis Cody - Lincoln Collection Wednesday, February 22, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Christopher Cody visted with the club last week about his passion for Abraham Lincoln history. Chis at the age of 3 became an Abraham Lincoln enthusiast and historian. Chris brought with him and explained several items from his ‘Lincoln Room’ which is packed with historical material and memorabilia of his favorite American.Chris serves on several "Lincoln" committees and also went to the 150th rememberance of Lincoln's death at the Ford Museum.
Chris is also a member of the Lincoln Association, and is easy to pick out because he is the only member that isn't a "Look-a-Like"!
Pigskins - Superbowl Wednesday, February 8, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Superbowl Pigskin Squares Winner.
The payouts will be adjusted accordingly: 1st Q = $45, 2nd Q = $45, 3rd Q = $45 and Final = $95.
1st QTR - Atlanta 0, New England 0 --- Chris Schroeder
2nd QTR - Atlanta 21, New England 3 --- Kara Olsen
3rd QTR - Atlanta 28, New England 9 --- Gay Adams
Final Score of the game Patriots 34, Falcons 28.
And with the Falcons snatching defeat from the jaws of Victory, they ensured victory for Phil Norfleet's pick that was donated to the Interact club!!
Rotary Club President address Wednesday, January 18, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Rotary International President-elect Ian H.S. Riseley made the case on Monday (Jan. 17) that protecting the environment and curbing climate change are essential to Rotary’s goal of sustainable service. Riseley, a member of the Rotary Club of Sandringham, Victoria, Australia, unveiled the 2017-18 presidential theme, Rotary: Making a Difference, to incoming district governors at Rotary’s International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA. Environmental degradation and global climate change are serious threats to everyone, Riseley said. “They are having a disproportionate impact on those who are most vulnerable, those to whom Rotary has the greatest responsibility. Yet environmental issues rarely register on the Rotary agenda,” he said.Environmental degradation is one of the major threats listed by the UN’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change. Riseley added, “The time is long past when environmental sustainability can be dismissed as not Rotary’s concern. It is, and must be, everyone’s concern. The president-elect challenged every Rotary club to make a difference by planting a tree for each of its members between the start of the Rotary year on 1 July and Earth Day on 22 April 2018. Trees remove carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the air, which slows global warming. “It is my hope that the result of that effort will be far greater than the environmental benefit that those 1.2 million new trees will bring,” Riseley said. “I believe the greater result will be a Rotary that recognizes our responsibility not only to the people on our planet, but to the planet itself.”
Securing Rotary’s future
In his address to the 2017-18 class of district governors, Riseley also urged clubs to improve their gender balance and lower the average age of their members. Only 22 percent of Rotary’s members are women, up from 13 percent 10 years ago. At that rate, Riseley said, it will take another three decades for Rotary to achieve gender parity. We know that we can do more together than we could ever hope to do alone. “Three decades is far too long to wait to achieve a Rotary that reflects the world in which we live. We need to make it a priority now,” he said. Noting that 103 of the 539 incoming governors are women, Riseley said they are the type of women we need in Rotary, “leaders who will help Rotary connect with, and represent, and better serve, all of the members of all our communities.” Riseley also believes it is imperative that clubs find ways to attract and engage younger members. Today only 5 percent of reported members are under 40, and a majority of members are over 60, Riseley told the audience. “Consider what Rotary stands to look like 10 or 20 years from now if we don’t get very serious, very soon, about bringing in younger members,” Riseley said. Clubs will make a difference this year through their own decisions, said Riseley, but it will take teamwork on a global scale to move Rotary forward and secure its future. “We know that we can do more together than we could ever hope to do alone,” he told incoming governors. “I ask you to keep that spirit of teamwork and cooperation always in your minds and to take it back with you to your districts.”
Story by: Ryan Hyland
Kick Start a Rotarian Wednesday, January 11, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Kick Start A Rotarian
Rotary Leadership Institute is more and more becoming the tool to help with engagement and retention of new member and it is once again coming to District 6490 onSaturday, February 18, 2017 at Richland Community College in Decatur, IL. Registration begins at 8:00 a.m., sessions begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 3:00 p.m. Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) is a series of fast-paced, interactive, one-day courses offered to refine a Rotarian's leadership skills and increase their base of knowledge in Rotary.
Participants have an opportunity to learn about implementing great service projects, growing club membership, running effective meetings, utilizing the foundation, and many more aspects of Rotary.
Courses are fun, topical, interactive, and geared toward busy business and professional persons who want to be more effective leaders in their vocation and club and more knowledgeable Rotarians.
RLI is also a great opportunity to meet fellow Rotarians from throughout the District and other Districts. RLI's facilitators reside not only in our District 6490, but also surrounding Districts, as well.
Participants say they return to their club with renewed enthusiasm, new contacts, fresh ideas, an increased understanding of their potential as Rotarians, and valuable skills impacting their potential leadership in the club. In short, a valuable experience that is very highly rated by RLI's past participants.
We encourage all Rotarians to attend RLI, whether you are a new Rotarian, up and coming club leader, or seasoned Rotarian who just wants to learn more about Rotary and the many opportunities it offers. All three parts will be offered and you can register online at http://www.hoa-rli.org/ by Wednesday, February 15, 2017. If you have not attended before, you will sign up for Part I. If you have completed Part I, then you will sign up for Part II, and if you have completed the first two parts, you are ready for Part III, and will receive your RLI graduate’s pin at the end of the day.
Cost is now $50.00 per session. All materials, breakfast and lunch are included in your registration fee. Don't forget to check with your club about possible reimbursement.
Randy Triplett Wednesday, January 11, 2017 By Beth A. Manuel
Beth Manuel introduced our speaker, Randy Triplett. Randy is a former executive pastor and has, since 2000, been a Children's Ministry Theme Designer. In that time he has traveled throughout the US installing theme murals in churches that are seen by over 20,000 children every week. Randy is a self-taught artist. He studied Disney movies to learn color knowledge and what appeals to various age groups. As his murals increased in size he taught himself air-brush techniques. A mural might take anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks to complete, although one of his early jobs took three months. Churches that have installed his murals have often seen a 24 to 30% increase in church families. He and his team developed a character of their own to depict Jesus in everyday life. They call him "Jesus in Jeans" and he is featured in several murals. Randy's wife Michele has been actively involved in the development of the company drawing upon her 30 years as a children's pastor. His company, Creative For Kids, offers over 1400 products to churches around the world.
Celebrate 100 Years of Doing Good Wednesday, January 4, 2017 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Celebrate 100 Years of Doing Good
Explore The Rotary Foundation's history, watch our progress toward raising $300 million, and find ideas for planning your own centennial event.
2016 MHS Madrigals Tuesday, December 13, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
The 2016 MHS Madrigals sang at our Joint meeting with the Chamber last week. Students try out for madrigal group in the spring for the following school year, and start rehearsing with an intense, four-day camp in August. Once the school year begins, practices are held every other morning at 7:15 a.m. For students busy with other activities, it is quite a commitment, and once again we were blessed in having them give a peek at their final product. The Madrigals gave their preformances last Friday and Saturday to a packed audituriom. The Madrigals this year were directed by Tim Heck, a 79 MHS alumni, substituting for Mrs. Shaw who was on maternity leave.
Carle Auditory Oral School Wednesday, December 7, 2016 By Sonya Marie Lockmiller
Ms. Danielle Chalfant was the speaker last week at Rotary. She is the
director of the Carle Auditory Oral School in Urbana. The school was
established in 1997 to fill a need in downstate Illinois. The program
combines an educational and therapeutic environment for children with
hearing loss. The program works with families and children to find the
best path for the child.
The school is an Illinois State Board of Education approved school and
serves birth though second grade students. The school has teachers,
therapists and works with Carle's ECHO program's pediatric hearing
center.
Ms. Chalfant explained the educational process they use to educate the
families and kids. She also showed via videos how the earlier a child
with hearing difficulties starts working with the school, the faster the
kids progress. They use new technology along with multiple types of
learning stimulus to help children attain the goal of assimilating back
into their local schools.
It was interesting and inspiring to see what the kids can accomplish
with hard work and specialized help.
John Bruns - Diary of Chick Bruns Wednesday, November 16, 2016 By Kathy Keith
Our guest speaker, John Bruns, shared his father (Charles-"Chick"-Bruns) memories of his experiences serving during WWII. Chick was a member of the 7th Army, 3rd Division, 10th combat engineers. John is keeping his fathers memories alive through transcribing and publishing his fathers diary and letters he wrote home to his parents. John has a web site: Diary of Chick Bruns-70 years ago. His letters along with pictures capture his war experience. Chick joined the army in 1941 and in October 1942 was sent to the European front.Though the nature of war is serious, Chick relayed his experiences many times with a sense of humor. Chick saw five different countries while at war. At the end of the war, Chick was even in Hitler's home and drank Hilter's campaign. On August 18, 1945 Chick received his discharge papers and then returned home. Please check out this interesting web site. http://70yearsago.com/
written by Kathy Keith
John Mula & MHS Band Concert TONIGHT - 7pm Wednesday, November 16, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Clarinetist Master Gunnery Sergeant John Mula will be headline a concert tonight at MHS with the High School Band at 7pm, which is open to the public. After graduating in 1981 from Monticello High School, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music education at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 1986. He continued his education at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and earned a master’s degree in music from San Diego State University in 1987. In 2001, he earned a doctorate in music from Florida State University in Tallahassee.
With the Marine Band, Master Gunnery Sgt. Mula has performed numerous solos including Donato Lovreglio’s La Traviata Fantasia, Luigi Bassi’s Rigoletto Variations, and Eric Richard’s Klezmer Tribute, and with the Marine Chamber Orchestra he played Henri Tomasi’s Clarinet Concerto.
Come and enjoy a fantastic concert!!
World Polio Day Wednesday, October 26, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
We are recognizing World Polio Day at Rotary today by donating coins for Polio. Bring your coin jars to the meeting and make a donation. Paper donations also accepted.
Rotary members around the world are among thousands reaching out on World Polio Day to raise awareness, funds and support to end polio – a vaccine preventable disease that still threatens children in parts of the world today.
Since Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative nearly 30 years ago, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9 percent, from about 350,000 cases a year to 26 confirmed as of Sept. 19, 2016. To sustain this progress, and protect all children from polio, experts say $1.5 billion is urgently needed. Without full funding and political commitment, this paralyzing disease could return to previously polio-free countries, putting children everywhere at risk.
You can also go to rotary.org, then click on the “give” button and indicate that you would like you donation to go to Polio Plus.
Thank you for your gift to eradicate Polio.
Jc fultz Wednesday, October 19, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
J.C. Fultz is the Chief Meteorologist at WAND and was our guest last week at our rotary meeting. He's a native of Central Illinois and graduate of Eastern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Electronic Media & Communication Studies and a Minor in Broadcast Meteorology.
J.C. was born in Bethany and attended both Lake Land College and Southern Illinois University in Carbondale while an undergraduate. At all of his colleges, J.C. took part in Radio and Television 'on air' activities. At EIU, he was the Chief Forecaster for Newswatch. At SIU he was Chief Forecaster for the River Region Evening Edition newscasts.
J.C. and his wife Ashley have a daughter Anderson and live in Decatur.
Wear Your Pink Wednesday, October 12, 2016 By Diana R. Wilkin
Paint Rotary Pink
Paint Rotary Pink is a fantastic way for the whole club to come together for Breast Cancer Awareness. Where your Pink today!!
District Governor Kevin Yonce Tuesday, September 27, 2016 By Victor E Zimmerman
District Governor Kevin Yonce was introduced by Assistant District Governor Marilynne Davis. Kevin talked about his time so far as District Governor. He had 17 days of training in three different locations around the country. He has been a member of Champaign West Rotary since 1996 and served a CW Club President last year. Kevin has served in almost every role in Rotary District 6490 over the years including two separate stints as a chaperone for Youth Mission Trips to Honduras. Kevin explained his outfit for the day which included a blue/gray checked blazer over blue jeans and red Chuck Taylor All-stars tennis shoes. The blazer is official to the District Governors in our Rotary Zone 31. The shoes are an idea that came out of one of Kevin's DG training weeks. Every DG purchased a pair of these shoes and had them signed and inscribed with the numbers 30 and 100 on the toes. 30 represents the number of years that Rotary International has been involved with polio eradication and 100 is the number of years that the Rotary Foundation has been in existence. Kevin's goal for District 6490 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary is to create and print a book of Rotary Moments and Examples of Clubs doing great things in the district. The book will be for sale in the second half of the year for $26.50 (the amount of the first donation made to the Rotary Foundation). Kevin also transferred $20,000 from the Rotary 6490 Fund to the Rotary Foundation for use in Polio eradication. The dollars were matched by the World Fund and then doubled matched by the Bill Gates Foundation for a total effort of $90,000. Another goal for the District is to assist clubs in recruiting and retaining members.
John Dywer - EMA director of Champaign County Wednesday, September 21, 2016 By James E Donaldson
Jim Donaldson introduced John Dwyer to the attendees at the Rotary meeting. John is the EMA director of Champaign County. His talk was on our roles in the Emergency services world. He discussed about how a disaster works from start to finish. It starts with the happening of the event, how people are notified about the event whether it be natural or manmade or even a cyber attack. Then it moves to the phase of the emergency operation center is opened and key people are called in to start seeing what damage is done, what recourses are needed and where they need to be sent. Life safety is first and foremost, then infrastructure is protected and if needed local government is moved to a location to keep services going, then property is taken care of. Then while operations are being done damage assessment is done by going to the afflicted area questions are asked and information taken plus pictures. A local declaration is implemented and information sent to the state for a state declaration. Then recovery begins and debris is removed property is repaired and some kind of normalcy is restored.
Martyna - Rotary exchange student Wednesday, September 14, 2016 By Christopher E Crider
Craig Myers introduced our speaker Martyna Glamoska. Martyna is our Rotary exchange student for 2016-2017 from Bydgoszcz, Poland. Martyna was kind enough to share with the group some details about herself and her brief time here. She prepared a slide show with details including her family and school in Poland. Martyna went into detail on how she found out about the Rotary exchange from two friends one being from Washington State and the other being from Mexico at her school in Poland last year. She is very excited to be here in the U.S. and has been trying to adjust. She is living with the Myers family currently and has learned what it is like to have sisters and live in a small town. She finished up with a brief history and facts on Poland as a country. I hope all of us Rotarians in Monticello can give Martyna warm welcome to the community.
Prairie Dragon Paddlers Wednesday, August 31, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Prairie Dragon Paddlers mission is to inspire hope and contribute to health and well being of breast cancer survivors by providing community, promoting wellness through dragon boating, and providing outreach activates related to breast cancer awareness.
In 2013 Kelly Bradham, a local breast cancer survivor, attended the famous Victoria, B.C. Dragon Boat festival. It was here that a deep connection was formed with Pink Phoenix, the first American breast cancer dragon boat team of 18 years. During the next few years Pink Phoenix continued to reach out and share their established infrastructure and hope for a team to form locally in the Champaign-Urbana area. In March 2015 a group of volunteers, led by Linda Collinsworth, brought the award winning documentary “Awaken the Dragon” to Champaign, IL. This effort led to a group of enthusiastic women pursuing the dream of our very own local breast cancer survivor dragon boat team. Thus, Prairie Dragon Paddlers , a 501(3) non-profit organization, was initiated. During the summer of 2015 The Prairie Dragon Paddlers connected with the Indy SurviveOars, Indiana’s only breast cancer dragon boat team. They are a 50 member strong team after 8 years. They generously shared their information and wisdom in the start up of a new team. In addition, with not yet having our own boat, the Indy SurviveOars welcomed us aboard to paddle with them. Everyone is welcome to participate. No athletic background is necessary. The Prairie Dragon Paddlers is a community minded 501(c)3 non-profit organization for breast cancer survivors, supporters and families. We need supporters' (Prairie Partners) help to grow! While only breast cancer survivors can race with the team, all supporters are welcome to join us in the boat for practices! p[email protected]
Sages Football Wednesday, August 24, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Jeff Clodfelter introduced Matt Sinclair to our club last week. Sinclair chatted about his football career where he had played for Illinois and later in the NFL, and then becoming a volunteer coach for four seasons at Wheaton Warrensville South after his pro career ended and, in 2013. Sinclair is excited about this years football team, and explained that they were very young, but have good talent. “Everything is just so in sync with the way the coaching staff works together. It’s about creating better men,” Sinclair said. Matt works at the Stephens Family YMCA in Champaign.
Monticello PTO Wednesday, August 17, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Monticello Elementary PTO for supports, Lincoln, White Heath, and Washington Schools. Through Market Day, Sages Strut, and family memberships PTO has provided our students with field trip opportunities, iPads in elementary classrooms, netbooks for 2nd-5th grade students, LCD projectors in Preschool-5th grade classrooms, document cameras in Preschool-5th grade classrooms, and funded assemblies.
Sage City Triathlon Wednesday, August 10, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
KMC Director of Human Resources Andrew Buffenbarger discussed the upcoming Sage City Triathlon. Triathlon means “three” and “sports” – combine swimming, bicycling and running into one competition. The most famous one is the Iron Man Triathlon, which ends with a marathon run, but the KMC Sage City Triathlon will be more of a novice race, with 300 meters of swimming, a 10 to 15 mile bike ride, and a 5K (3.1 mile) run to wrap it up. The bike route will highlight one of Monticello’s prime attractions; Allerton Park. Riders will enter the park along the recently completed South entrance. The route circles the famous Sunsinger statue at the West edge of the park, and offers beautiful views of many park features. The run is a flat, fast course along a closed jogging path that is heavily shaded. The path travels over Monticello’s new wooden bridge spanning the Sangamon River. The path is paved for about two miles, and hard packed gravel for one mile. The surface variation offers terrific relief for tired feet. The event starts at Monticello Aquatic Center on Saturday, August 13, 2016, starting at 7:30 a.m.
Habitat for Humanity Wednesday, August 3, 2016 By Dena Clifton
Larry McClure and Dale Lattz with Habitat for Humanity were our guest speakers this week. Larry heads up the construction and Dale is the Chairman for the Family Selection Committee. Their first house was built in 1999 on Market Street. Monticello Rotary donated the $5,000 to purchase the first lot. One of the larger funding’s comes from the sale of fire wood. They raise approximately $25,000 a year from the sales. Approximate cost of building the homes now are $85,000.
There are 4 criteria’s to be met for the Selection Committee. First is the need for adequate shelter. Second, examine the ability to repay the cost of lot and material, labor is all donated. Third is their willingness to partner with Habitat to volunteer 500 hours back and lastly they need to be a resident of Piatt County. The group typically gets 3-4 applications.
Julie Glawe, Director of Faith In Action Tuesday, July 26, 2016 By Carey Hardy
Julie Glawe, Director of Faith In Action, spoke to Rotary about the resources that are offered to Piatt County seniors. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation established the Faith In Action Program to help give seniors resources that would result in them being able to live independently and live in their homes longer than they otherwise would be able to. There are over 600 Faith In Action programs throughout the U.S., Piatt county’s program is one of the strongest programs.
Piatt County’s Faith In Action has 198 volunteers that help serve the 386 active seniors who receive some type of service from Faith in Action.
Some of the resources available are:
Respite care through the Piatt County Nursing Home for up to two weeks
Respite care through the Bement Nursing Home
Faith In Action can provide 3 hours of respite care per week
Transportation to appointments or shopping through either volunteers or Piatt Tran
Piatt County Nursing Home will allow one of their nurses to go with Julie to in home assessments
Nails R Us nail care provided through Maple Pointe
CareLink
The 198 volunteers help in various ways, from helping out with transportation to appointments or shopping, building ramps, to helping seniors with the chores around their home.
Faith In Action is solely funded by donations and money raised through their fundraising efforts. Their fundraising consists of:
Annual fruit sales
Basket Bingo
Auctions
Rotary Club News. Wednesday, July 20, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
From the Board meeting last week, it was approved that meetings on Dec 28 or NOV 23 will be cancelled and we will donate meal money to Rotary Annual Giving and Polio Plus to be matched by bucket money.
The board approved donations to the following donations:
The Baby Fold - $500
Piatt County Cares Backpack Program - $1500
Allerton Library Story Walk - $1000
Monticello Music Boosters Gold Sponsor - $600
Monticello PTO Sages Strut Tier I Sponsor - $300
Ashley Adams Uganda Mission Trip - $200
Monticello Cub Scouts Tuesday, July 19, 2016 By Adam Max Howe
The Monticello Cub Scout Pack 122 is chartered by our Rotary Club. The Rotary Club provides oversight & leadership to the Pack throughout the year. Our local Pack is involved in cleaning up Lodge Park after the FreedomFest, a canned/non-perishable food drive, as well as stuffing backpacks for the local schools this upcoming school year. The Cub Scouts serve boys ranging from ages 7-11 by providing them family-oriented activities aimed at teaching them to live out the Scout Oath & Twelve Points of the Scout Law in their daily lives. Our Pack serves boys all across Piatt County & membership is encouraged at any point between the ages of 7-11. Once a boy reaches the age of 11 & attains the Arrow of Light-they cross over to the Boy Scout troop to begin their journey towards the Eagle Rank. A little interesting note to consider---every male student that has ever officially portrayed Chief Illiniwek at the University of Illinois earned their Eagle Rank as a youth. If you are interested in learning more about what Scouting has to offer & would like to volunteer your time with the local Pack-feel free to contact Max for more information.
Passing the Gavel Tuesday, July 12, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Larry took his last meeting to take the opportunity to thank the Monticello Rotary Club for putting "Service before Self" during his year as president. Larry gave speacial thanks to the 2015-2016 Board of Directors for their efforts in keeping us moving forward as a club. Kudos to Gay Adams, immediate past president, for here advice and mentoring during his term. The club accomplished much last year in our service projects and charitable donations. Some highlights are:
1) Charitable contributions of over $8000 to many local and international efforts including God's Littlest Angels (500), Honduran water project (500), Kenyan well project (1000), Piatt Co. Cares Backpack program (1500), MAEF (1000), Local food pantry (800) to name a few.
2) Service projects included Peace Meals delivery, Veterans Cemetary flag project, Food Drive for local food band, Apple and toy projects.
Laryy looks forward to working with Vic during his year as president and hopes that the club will dedicate ourselves to continuing our great Rotary tradition.
Larry then passed the gavel to Vic. Vic spoke about looking forward to serving as President of the Monticello Rotary Club for the 2016-17 year and considers it an honor to do so.
Vic reiterated that Rotary is a service club and there are many ways to be involved. Vic exclaimed that he enjoys lunch and fellowship just as much as all the members do, but he is challenging each individual to personally put “service above self”.
Our Induction Oath of Office says… The honor and privilege of Rotary membership carries with it both duties and obligations. We are expected to attend the Club’s meetings regularly, to perform our share of club service, and to place our knowledge and talents at the disposal of the club in its task of carrying the principle of Rotary into the daily life of the community.
Be a better Rotarian……
Be better than last year……
Here’s How…..
1- Attendance at Meetings - coming to our weekly Rotary meetings and completing make-ups when absent matters for our club. All members will also be assigned as greeters and servers and most will be assigned program dates.
2- Participation in Activities/Committees at least two
3- New Member Recruitment – invite a guest and sponsor a new member
4- Spread the Word on Monticello Rotary
T-Shirts Wednesday, June 29, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Larry has ordered 25 Rotarian at Work t-shirts to be used when doing volunteer activities. If you would like to purchase 1, they will be sold first come, first served. There are 2 small, 3 medium, 5 large, 8 XL, 5 XXL, and 2 XXXL. Cost will be 12.50. This will be billed to your account.
If interested, please email larry at ([email protected]) and he will reserve one for you.
We are still in need of 1 volunteer to collect donations from 6:30 to 8:30 at the north gate at Lodge Park on July 3. Please let Larry know if you can help out ASAP.
Ashley Adams Wednesday, June 15, 2016 By Gay Lynne Adams
Ashley Adams is the daughter of Rotarian Gay Adams. Ashley was our Rotary Shield winner in 2009. She participated in a lot of international service projects during her high school career and has continued with a number of international projects since then. After her graduation from high school in 2009, she assisted a group of UIUC students with a One Laptop Per Child project, implementing 100 laptop computers into a secondary school in São Tomé e Príncipe, West Africa. The following summer, 2010, she received a Critical Language Scholarship from the US Department of State and spent 2 months in Jeonju, South Korea studying Korean intensively. In 2011, she returned to São Tomé and volunteered as a English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. Her academic pursuits led her to Dakar, Senegal during the winter of 2012. There she did archival research at Les Archives Nationaux (National Archives). She worked with primary documents relating to the French Slave Trade during the 18th and 19th centuries. In 2013, she accompanied her father, Paul Adams, and spent 2 months in Tanzania. She was volunteering with Marion Medical Mission and helping to install over 240 shallow wells in rural villages for clean drinking water. This inspired her to focus her studies on health and water. Upon beginning her graduate studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she focused on African studies and languages, but soon found a passion for engineering. For two weeks in January of 2016, she did research in Cerro Verde, Honduras for an engineering project in conjunction with an engineering course that she's taking. Through this experience, she realized the importance of having holistic approaches to international service projects, especially international engineering projects to help ensure sustainability . She also spent time during May 2016 in Puerto Vallarta helping with the Festival Internacional de Altruismo (International Altruism Festival), that is a fundraiser supporting 20 local NGOs, including the Rotary Club of Puerto Vallarta and the Rotary Club of South Puerto Vallarta. This summer, Ashley will continue her love for international service by spending 5 weeks volunteering as a Nursing Assistant at The Surgery, a small hospital/clinic in Kampala, Uganda. Ashley has currently completed her M.A. in African Studies but will be continuing her studies at UIUC to earn her M.S. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Ultimately she wants to be an engineer for an international NGO, working on water projects abroad.
The Baby Fold Wednesday, June 15, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Mark Fred introduced our speaker last week from “The Baby Fold”. Today the Baby Fold is a multi-faceted agency specializing in the care of children and youth with emotional and behavioral disabilities, or at risk for a variety of reasons. They focus on improving the lives of children and families by building safe, loving, healthy environments through foster care, adoption services, special education, residential treatment, and family and community services. They are in the ministry of transforming lives, and we never give up on a child.
International Programs Wednesday, June 1, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Beth Manuel reported on the Kenya Well Project to which our Club contributed. A borehole was drilled in the Kenyan village of Olosho-Oibor where Ronesa Academy and Namayiana Children's Home are located. The well was successfully drilled in March on the second attempt. The village now has clean water for the first time. Fund-raising will continue as there is still the need for a pump, generator, and water storage tank.
Monticello Rotary's contact person for this project is Julie Manuel, the daughter-in-law of Beth Manuel. Julie travels to Kenya on a yearly basis. She and others have been involved for a number of years in support of the building of the school and the orphanage in Olosho-Oibor.
Rotary shield award Wednesday, May 25, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
We annually choose to worthy students from MHS as the Rotary shield award. Tip Reedy introduced this years recipients Kate Smith & Grant Bailey. These students must not only have great grades, but also exemplify the guiding principles of service that Rotary promotes.
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND DEMENTIA IMPACTS BUSINESS Monday, May 16, 2016 By Marilyn E. Benedino
The Piatt County Nursing Home Foundation and Faith in Action sponsored two days of educational events in the community on Alzheimer’s disease. Betsy Broyles Arnold and her daughter Molly Arnold Gay from Fayetteville, Arkansas, spoke to our club on “ How Alzheimer’s Impacts Business.”
Betsy is the daughter of Frank Broyles, the well-known Coach and Athletic Director of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. When his wife Barbara became ill with Alzheimer’s disease, his daughter, Betsy, and his granddaughter, Molly, lived with the Broyles for several years, caring for their mother and grandmother. .
The family experienced firsthand -- what worked and what didn’t. Coach Broyles formed a unique foundation dedicated exclusively to Alzheimer Caregiving. He also wrote a book entitled the “Alzheimer Caregiving Playbook.” The book is written like a coach’s playbook and is one of the best “go to“ books” on the market with prints and reprints now numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
Statistically, billions of dollars are lost each year due to the loss of productivity caused by workers who have to split their mental, emotional and physical energies taking care of persons in the various stages of Alzheimer’s Disease and and maintaining a job. The Broyles strongly encouraged club members, as business managers, to make opportunities for their employees to discuss the difficulties they may be experiencing trying to support a family member at home with this disease and then to be supportive of them. They suggested bringing in a speaker on the subject as an in-service. Employees are often sandwiched between taking care of parents or grandparents, raising children still at home, and working a full time job. In answering questions from club members, Betsy and Molly gave several tips on caregiving. For more information on the Broyles Foundation, go to Go to www.alzheimerplaybook.comwww.alzheimersplaybook.com. Marilyn Benedino will have the Playbooks available at an upcoming Rotary meeting.
Message from President Elect... Wednesday, April 27, 2016 By Victor E Zimmerman
REMINDER --- REMINDER
Please see message below sent on 4/27/2016. I haven't received a response from you as of this writing. I plan to finalize our Committ4ees and Activities for 2016-17 by May 11. Please take the time to let me know your preference by that time. Assignments will be made for all members and slots are filling up quickly.
REMINDER --- REMINDER
I am looking forward to serving as President of the Monticello Rotary Club for the 2016-17 year. I consider it an honor to do so. We are working on filling out our Board of Directors and Committees/Activities for next year and I want to provide the opportunity for all members to be involved in some avenue of service in the 2016-17 Rotary Year. Rotary is a service club and there are many ways to be involved. I challenge each of you to become involved in at least three areas during the 2016-17 Rotary Year. One area for all of us is meeting attendance, coming to our weekly Rotary meetings and completing make-ups when absent matters for our club. This leaves two areas for you to select. Please let me know by May 4 (one week) which two of the following you prefer and I will put your name down on our committee/activity assignments. If I don’t hear from you I will contact you directly and/or include you in the areas I believe that will fit you the best.
I enjoy our lunch and fellowship just as much as you do, I am challenging each individual to personally put “service above self”. Our goal is 100% of our members being involved in at least two additional areas of service outside of meeting attendance.
Pick two from the current list (or add your own):
Peace Meals – need coordinator and delivery (four times per year)
Rotary Park – clean up (once or twice per year)
Halloween – costume contest (one time)
Christmas Parade – “float” and waling in parade promoting our club (one time)
Monticellobration – table promoting our club (one time)
July 3 – standing at entrances collecting donations (one time)
Memorial Day Flags – placing and collecting flags on gravestones (one time)
Neighbor House/Willow Tree – volunteer team (twice per year)
Environmental Clean Up Day - setup and promote (once per year)
Piatt County Animal Shelter – volunteer team (twice per year)
Small Hand Diaper Pantry – volunteer liaison
Membership/Mentoring Committee – looking for new members
Bucket – 50/50 drawing team – need several to cover
Fundraising Team – no auction this year but will have something
RYLA Team – looking for co-coordinator and members to assist (one time)
Habitat for Humanity – volunteer team available for work (several times)
Rotary Writer Judge - need four-five (one time)
Other ___________________________
All members will also be assigned as greeters and servers and most will be assigned program dates.
MHS Jazz Band Tuesday, May 3, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
For our meeting on the 27th of May, we celebrated Adminstrative Assistant Day by enjoying the Monticello High School Jazz Band under the direction of Allison Allender. The band enjoyed a meal with us then played several songs from their portfolio.
Romanian Group Study Exchange Tuesday, April 19, 2016 By Susan M. Lochbaum
The Romanian GSE Team from District 2241, lead by Corbeanu Paul, visited the Monticello Rotary Club on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. As always, the team members represented various occupations including finance, engineering, drama and dance, business, and English buffalo herd propagation and protection. Because of Alexandru’s interest in buffalo, the team began their visit to the Monticello area with a stop at the Lieb Farm on the edge of town. Alexandru was surprised at the size of the Lieb bison herd as most herds in Romania are no larger than 15-20 buffalo. When they learned of the thousands of acres our area farmers plant, the team decided they could drop all of Romania into one farm!
Romania is located in southeastern Central Europe and is home of 102 Rotary Clubs. During their presentation, videos of different aspects of Romanian life and country side were presented. Romania is a country whose territories feature splendid mountains, rolling hills, fertile plains, and numerous lakes and rivers. The most famous of these is the legendary Danube River.
The team will continue to travel around District 6490 ending their visit to the United States shortly after the District Conference at the end of this month.
St. Jude Fundraising Run Wednesday, March 23, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Mary Alexander spoke to our club last week about the upcoming St. Jude Fundraising Run.
Mary Alexander and Tricia Shaw are the coordinators of the St. Jude Monticello to Peoria Run this year.
The run was started 32 years ago and ran from Memphis to Peoria; a trek of 465 miles. It is run relay style on the first weekend in August with everyone ending at Peoria. This is the third year there will be an auxiliary run from Monticello to Peoria.
RUN FACTS
-100% of every dollar donated to a runner goes towards the research, care and treatment of kids
-In this trek runners will run 90 miles relay style 24 hours a day, rain or shine for 2 days
-Must be able to run 3 to 5 miles at a 10-12 minute pace in the heat
-Fundraising goal of a minimum of $1000.00 per person to participate
-To get involved in running or to be a volunteer visit the web site: www.stjuderuns.org or Monticello team website http://stjuderuns.org/satellite/monticello/
Monticello CUSD 25 Superintendent Vic Zimmerman Tuesday, March 15, 2016 By Victor E Zimmerman
Monticello CUSD 25 Superintendent Vic Zimmerman discussed the upcoming school referendum on March 15. The plan includes a NEW High School and moving all PK-5 students to the current MHS-WASH Campus. Lincoln and White Heath Schools would close. The district would have two campuses and would increase building efficiencies with fewer buildings by sharing services. The NEW HS would be built near the current middle school. Parking would be improved in the area and athletic fields would be shared. The City and School District have a Memorandum of Understanding regarding a land swap contingent upon passage of the referendum. The swap would see Lincoln School and the Wilkey Athletic fields go to the City while the district would receive the 30 acres at Appletree and four acres east of the MMS. The school district would plan to sell the 30 acres to offset some of the cost of the purchase of property east of the middle school. The city would work with the district on the demolition of Lincoln School leaving the gym as an indoor recreation space. and the remainder of the area as a city park. The district has a land purchase option agreement in place with the current owner of 36 acres east of the Middle School that is also contingent upon passage of the referendum - this is where the NEW HS would be built. The district has worked to get accurate information out into the public so that voters can make decisions based on this information. Frustration has been expressed regarding false information that continues to be a part of social media. The estimated tax increase for the project is $0.60 per $100 of assessed vlauation. This amounts to $162 for a home valued at $100,000 and $134 for a senior citizen owned home valued at $100,000. Farmland increases for acres in Piatt county would range from $1.73-$3.73 with most acres near the top-end due to the quality of farmland in our school district. It is apparent that most community members agree that school facility upgrades are desired and necessary, but there is disagreement on what is best for the district. The School Board placed on the ballot what they feel to be the best facility and financial plan for the district in the long term and the voters get to decide. Many community meetings were held on the school facility topic at which opportunities were plentiful for anyone wishing to be involved in the process. The Supt stated that the district will be open on March 16 regardless of the outcome of the referendum :) and that the community and school district need to work together in the best interests of the students in the district whether the vote passes or fails. Additional information can be found at www.sages.us.
Mikel Petro, franchisee for McDonalds in central Illinois Tuesday, March 8, 2016 By Victor E Zimmerman
Mikel Petro, franchisee for seven McDonalds in central Illinois, including ours in Monticello, talked about how the McDonalds Corporation works for franchisees. Many franchisees start at employees at McDonalds, working the window, front line, and cook positions, prior to moving up to crew leader and store manager. McDonalds believe that this is the best way to go about the business. There are two ways that one can become a franchise owner - if you have alot of cash you can purchase a franchise from a current owner or you can work through McDonalds Corporation with financing assistance. Many franchises are sold within families. Some stores are owned by McDonals Corportation. McDonalds Corporation watches each of its store very closely and will not hesitate to close stores that are not meeting sales goals. The business of McDonalds is high volume and low margin - its all about the sales. Menu products come and go based on sales with products that don't sell or impact sales in a positive way falling off the menu. McDonalds tries out new menu items and promotional programs in different stores around the country. Why is the McRib not available all year around? - McDonalds has tried the McRib as a year-round menu item and found that they sell the same amount of McRibs in the six week promotional period as they sell if it were on the menu year around - so it remains as a six week promotion. Shamrock shakes (should be mint in flavor not lime) increase total shake sales during the promotional period by about 3%, while Egg Nog shakes were found to take sales away from other shakes, thus creating no sales increase, so they were dropped from the menu. The McDouble has the highest sales at the Monticello McDonalds. The Quarter Pounder with cheese is currently more popular than the Big Mac and recently had it's cooking process modified to improve taste. McDonalds has worked on its nutritional inputs and is moving in the direction of easier to read labels that include ingredients that are easy to pronounce. They have tried the bean/veggie burger in various markets and found that it did not sell. There is a secret McDonalds menu that combines current items, but it is not an official McDonalds menu - it is more of a local store by store and employee by employee social media phenomena.
MEETING CANCELLED Wednesday, February 24, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Meeting Cancelled today due to weather. Stay Safe!!
--------------------------
How to Avoid Ice-Related Injuries from Occurring
Preventing slips, trips and falls in the snow is possible by following these safety tips:
Allow more time for travel, both when walking and driving
If you must walk on the ice, bend your knees slightly and take shorter steps.
If you are falling, do not put all the pressure on your wrists to break your fall. Putting too much pressure on your wrists can result in wrist breaks and fractures.
Use ice grippers, such as spikes.
Try on footwear before purchasing to ensure the shoes have good traction.
Avoid carrying heavy loads when walking on ice.
Ron Nolte -- Tombstone Rubbings Wednesday, February 17, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Ron Nolte was our speaker last week with some interesting Tombstone rubbings. Ron discussed a wide variety this year from the writer of the pledge of allegiance to tragedies around our nuclear program. Your humble coorespondent especially like the story of Pledge of Allegiance which was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). It was originally published in The Youth's Companion on September 8, 1892. Bellamy had hoped that the pledge would be used by citizens in any country.
In its original form it read:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Ron then taught us the flag salute, which was abandoned due to adoption of the same salute by the nazis.
MHS signboards Wednesday, February 3, 2016 By Victor E Zimmerman
As you are aware the Monticello CUSD 25 has a referendum on the March 15 ballot for a new school. The plan creates an MHS-MMS Campus and a PK-5 Campus for the district. We are in the process of working our communications plan in order to get accurate information out to our community members and voters. What matters most is that our voters have all of their questions answered and can see the visuals so they can make informed decisions. The information coming from the school district is informational only - it is not meant to persuade and cannot ask someone to vote YES or NO. I am requesting your assistance in this communications effort as you have many community members that enter your business daily and weekly. You may also have access to email to which you can share information.
We will have a number of signboards available next week and I would like to get these up around town. The size is 24 x 36. Again, the signboard does not ask for a YES/NO vote so I am hopeful that it will work for you.
If you have any questions please contact me directly at [email protected].
Josh Newton/Steve Tenhouse - CrossFit Wednesday, February 10, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Steve Tenhouse introduced Josh Newton from DMH Crossfit last week. Josh is directly responsible for the day to day operations of CrossFit Enhance as well as the Sports Enhancement Programs at DMH and introduced Steve to the program. They went through the benefits for crossfit and how it can help everyone. Steve also went through the plans for Kirby’s “BOX” which will open this summer.
Chris Shoemaker - Asst Dean for Advancement, UIC college of Pharmacy Tuesday, January 19, 2016 By Michael Alan Harris
Chris Shoemaker is currently Assistant Dean for Advancement and Alumni Affairs at the UIC College of Pharmacy. He has spent the last seven years growing the philanthropy program with an emphasis volunteerism and mentoring. Prior to working in pharmacy, Chris held roles in marketing and fundraising for the University of Illinois. In 2009, he co?founded PAX Neuroscience, a seed?stage award? winning biotech company. Chris holds a bachelors of science degree in sociology and a masters of education degree in training and leadership development from the University of Illinois Urbana? Champaign. He also holds MBA with an emphasis in entrepreneurship from UIC and is a Certified Fundraising Executive. Chris enjoys spending time with his 2 year?old son, Owen, and his wife Lindsay, a graduate and former gymnast for the University of Illinois.
Ellen Schmidt - Parkland College Foundation Tuesday, January 19, 2016 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Ellen Schmidt, a Champaign native, Centennial High graduate, and executive director of the Parkland College Foundation spoke to our club last week. Ellen joined the Parkland foundation in September 2014 as a major gift officer, then took over as interim director a few months later. One of her first duties was to prepare Parkland for its 50th anniversary celebration and while doing that working to rebuild enrollment during an uncertain state financial climate. One of Parkland’s plans for its 50th anniversary celebration is to recognize 50 notable alumni to highlight their achievements. About three-quarters of Parkland students stay within the district after they graduate, she said. "We have a lot of students who had a great experience here at Parkland. We want to share their stories with people who come after them," Ellen described herself as a townie, Schmidt is the daughter of legendary Champaign Central High School baseball Coach Charlie Due. Her husband is Peter Schmidt of UpClose Printing.
2015 MHS Madrigals Tuesday, December 15, 2015 By Diana R. Wilkin
The 2015 MHS Madrigals sang at our Joint meeting with the Chamber last week. Students try out for madrigal group in the spring for the following school year, and start rehearsing with an intense, four-day camp in August. Once the school year begins, practices are held every other morning at 7:15 a.m. For students busy with other activities, it is quite a commitment, and we blessed every year in having them give a peek at their final product. The Madrigals gave their preformance last weekend, and will be going on their "Nursing home" tour this friday.
Sue Grey is the President and CEO of United Way of Champaign County Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Our speaker last week was Sue Grey. Sue is the President and CEO of United Way of Champaign County. Education, Income, and Health are the three top priorities for United Way.
Education Goals:
·To help all kids be ready for kindergarten by creating a kindergarten calendar to help parents stay on top of the items necessary to enroll.
·Significant program funding for early education.
Income Goals:
·The major focus on the income goal is to increase financial literacy across the community.
·United Way helps make sure that all adults and children have access to safe and secure housing.
Health Goals:
·Support active and independent living.
·Improve access to mental health services for children and adults.
·Increase access to quality nutrition.
United Way does a variety of different fundraising to diversify revenue streams for the organization. One of the major new programs they have is Farmers Feeding Families. This program raised $21,000.00 last year to help the Eastern Illinois Food Bank supply food for families in need.
MHS LifeSavers Tuesday, December 1, 2015 By Diana R. Wilkin
The Monticello High School LifeSavers organization is made up of 80+ students. Amy Malone is the primary advisor of this group and has been in that role for 11 years. Amy is one of the Guidance counselors at the high school. LifeSavers is a high school organization made up of students who have completed a three-day training on peer counseling and taken an oath to remain drug and alcohol free until they graduate from high school. They are active all year with various fundraising events, drug prevention education, and team building meetings.
Dr. Kevin Obrien - ISTC Director Tuesday, November 17, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Our speaker last week was Dr. Kevin O'Brien. Kevin is the Director of the Illinois Sustainability Technology Center(ISTC) at the University of Illinois. The ISTC just celebrated their 30th anniversary and since 1985 the ISTC has helped organizations and citizens implement sustainable solutions to enviromental and economic challenges. ISTC's mission is to encourge and assist citizens and businesses to prevent pollution and reduce waste to protect human health and the environment in Illinois and beyond. Kevin explained that the vision of ISTC is to be a catalyst for change toward more sustainable technologies, processes, and practices through our integrated program of research, demonstration projects, technical assistance, and communication. For more information you can visit them at their website: http://www.istc.illinois.edu/
Tim Murray from the High Caliber training center Tuesday, November 3, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Harold Vogelzang introduced Tim Murray from the High Caliber training center in Champaign spoke to the club last week. Tim spoke about gun safety and went through several safety tips.
1. Always treat every firearm as if it were loaded. No ifs, ands, or buts. Even if you know the gun is unloaded, still handle it as if it were loaded.
2. Always keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction, a direction where a negligent discharge would cause minimum property damage and zero physical injury. According to Tim, even the most experienced gun handlers break this rule all the time. They’ll take a gun and start pointing it all over the place leaving evidence of their mistakes in the ceilings or separators at his range.
3. Always keep your trigger finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard until you have made a conscious decision to shoot.
4. Always be sure of your target, backstop, and beyond. You want to be aware of what’s in your line of fire. This isn’t usually a concern if you go to a professional gun range. Tim says they make sure that people and property stay out of the path of the guns firing downrange.
Sara Wade registered dietitian at Kirby Hospital Tuesday, October 20, 2015 By Diana R. Wilkin
Sara Wade is a registered dietitian, diabetes educator, and the Director of Food & Nutrition Services at Kirby Medical Center. She presented the membership with a summary of “Mind-Blowing Mechanisms of Metabolism” that described how the body processes sugar and the effect consumption in excess has on insulin production and hinders the body’s ability to control hunger, creating a “H-angry” (Hunger-Angry) feeling that can lead to overeating and obesity. Waiting extended amounts of time between eating can also lead to “H-anger” due to low levels of glucose or high levels of insulin.
The “H-angry” feeling can be avoided by eating regularly (every 4-5 hours) and choosing whole foods when possible. Focusing on foods that would be picked out of a garden, off a tree, or that walked or swam leads to a healthy, balanced diet, along with drinking 64 ounces of water a day (8 ounces before and after meals and snacks). Also remembering to load our plates half full of vegetables and salad will help as a natural way to properly balance a diet.
No foods are bad for you, unless they are spoiled. Balancing meals and snacks with whole foods and moving more today than yesterday leads to healthy nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.
PAQ interactive Tuesday, October 13, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Paul Lund of PAQ Interactive visited our club last week. Paul explained that Paq Interactive is a technology services company specializing in Web and GIS solutions. Their web design and development work focuses on the web as a communication tool. More than static pages, they assist their clients through the design of interactive, content rich, fully customizable web sites that allow their clients to use their web technology investment for internal and external communications. In GIS services, PAQ consults with clients in creating and maintaining a business-level GIS. Paul said that PAQ provides training, custom programming, data analysis, and GIS project management solutions to create or expand on our clients initial investment in GIS.
Governor Surinder Sethi Tuesday, October 6, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Rotary District #6490 Governor Surinder Sethi paid his official visit last Wednesday to Monticello Rotary Club.
Sethi, from Bloomington, oversees the district that stretches from Metamora in the northwest to Robinson in the southeast. He operates his own consulting engineering firm.
Sethi told us a bit about himself and how Rotary has inspired him. He also encouraged the membership to utilize grant funds available at both the district and international level to continue the battle against polio, illiteracy and a lack of pure drinking water among other causes.
Orphans Treasure Box Tuesday, September 29, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Julie McClure spoke to our club last week on the Orphans Treasure Box. Julie told us about how Beth Wendling wanted to get rid of a bunch of books stored in the basement of her Champaign home. She posted eight of them on Amazon.com and sold four of them in just one day.
Little did Beth know, Orphans Treasure Box, would eventually blossom into a book outlet in Champaign, where she could sell books and receive donations at the same time.
Orphans Treasure Box is an organization that sells thousands of books every year online and through their used-books outlet located at 826 Pioneer St. in Champaign. Every day, the shop receives book donations, which are then sold in the outlet and online in places such as Amazon.com, AbeBooks.com and Half.com. The net profit is given to charitable causes that provide aid for orphans.
Since January 1, 2015, Orphans Treasure Box is close to giving away $10,000 in donations.
Julie McClure, said the book donations from people are vital to the organization’s growth.
Derek Peterson, Assistant Director of Park Operations at Allerton Park Tuesday, September 15, 2015
The September 9 program for Monticello Rotary Club was presented by Derek Peterson, Assistant Director of Park Operations at Allerton Park.He reported on the upcoming "Experencing" series which fulfills the desire of Robert Allerton that the park and mansion be used for educational purposes.The first event"Experencing Lincoln" will be held Oct. 11-13.Leading this event will be attorney and Lincoln author Guy C Fraker along with Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame, Urbana attorney and UI law professor Steve Beckett and Fran Harty, a Nature Conservancy naturalist.
With these experts, those who attend can experience Lincoln through lectures and conversations as well as unique hands-on opportunities to interpret the landscape that helped shape the man Lincoln was.
Cost of the event is $435 for the entire seminar with overnight accommodations, six meals, daily snacks and Sunday night cocktail hour; and $105 for one day pass which includes all meals and snacks on the day of your choice. Details can be found on the Allerton Park website and briefly include:
Sunday - Guy Fraker & Prof. Steve Beckett
Monday - Fran Harty, Guy Fraker & Special Guest; a hike on the prairie and charter bus
Tuesday - Prof. Michael Burlingame, Guy Fraker and Fran Harty.
The event begins at 2:00 p.m. on Oct. 11 and ends at 4:00 p.m. on Oct. 13. For questions, you may call 217-333-3287.
Kerry Redshaw, Executive Director of Monticello Main Street Tuesday, September 1, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Kerry Redshaw, Executive Director of Monticello Main Street, shared plans for this year's Monticellobration and other fall activities. Starting in 2001, this will be the 14th Monticellobration and it will be held on September 19-20. This year's event celebrates the Golden Age of the railroad and coincides with the Railroad Museum's Railroad Days. Activities will highlight life in the late 1890s through the 1930s. Be on the look out for hobos, newsboys, flappers and maybe even a gangster! The restaurants around the square will be converted to look like a 1920s Speak Easy and there will be live music throughout the afternoon featuring the Jim Markum Band as well as the Donna Weghorst and Friends Band. In additions, there will be a classic car show and a structure straight out of Hooverville will be presented by local 6th graders on the Courthouse lawn. In the evening, you can enjoy the music of Bad medicine and the Feudin Hillbillies. On Sunday, Crossroads Church will be holding a service on the square and additional entertainment will be held in the afternoon. She is also working with the local businesses to be open on Sunday afternoon. The popular Kids Corner will be a part of the monticellobration again this year, and Kerry shared that she's in need of a coordinator for that area She also emphasized the important role of volunteers in making this a successful event, and asked for Rotarians to consider signing up for a volunteer shift. A sign-up sheet will be available at next week's meeting or you can go online to sign-up.
Monticello Main Street also has plans to host Pumpkins, Goblins and Brews on October 9th and the Reds of Christmas on November 27th.
Kerry has served in this role since July 1, 2013 and a brings a wealth of business and event planning experience to this position. A native of Peoria, she returned to her hometown after graduating from the University of Illinois to help manage her family's business, the Clubs at River City, a multi-sport recreational business. After assisting her father and brother for 22 years, she left the family business to enter athe ministry. For nine years, she served in various capacities at Northwoods Community Church, including Director for Community Outreach.
Kerry and her husband, Marty, moved to Monticello in 2012. Marty is originally from Monticello and they now reside in the home where he grew up.
Sen. Chapin Rose Tuesday, August 25, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Rick Rhodes introduced State Senator Chapin Rose to our Club last week. Chapin was pleased to speak about the new law stopping the practice of putting hazardous waste over aquifers. He then took questions from the club that went spanned from the budget battle currently going on in Springfield to School funding. Chapin was raised in the 51st District, along with his wife, Camille. Rose attended Charleston High School and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with an emphasis in Economics from the University of Illinois. After graduation, Rose attended the University of Illinois College of Law. Prior to becoming a member of the Illinois Senate in 2013, Rose served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2003 until 2013. Chapin is also behind getting the petition signed for term limits and computer driven re-districting and asked us to consider actively participating in getting signatures to put the question to the voters.
Dr.Tom Ramage - Parkland College Monday, August 17, 2015
Dr.Tom Ramage is being his 8th year serving as the President of Parkland College, and has been employed with Parkland College for the past 18 years. Parkland College partners with 12 universities to provide bachelor degree programs. Some of these universities include ISU, Southern, Olivet, Millikin, and EIU. Most of EIU students that enter from a community college, were Parkland College students.
Twenty-five percent of Parkland's student enrollment comprises out of district students with a large portion of that 25% coming from Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Parkland has recently experienced a slight reduction in its out of district student enrollment with those drops primarily with out of state student enrollment. In district student enrollment remains steady and there has been a rise with international student enrollment.
In August 2014, Parkland College opened its Aviation Institute. Parkland is one of only three aviation schools in Illinois. Parkland College has begun the accreditation process to instruct avaiation students from China.
Beginning with the Fall 2015 semester, Parkland College will be offering education for employment training (EFE) which include various technical areas such as criminal justice, automotive, mechanics, and welding, to name a few.
Currently, Parkland College has 289 student accepted into its Parkland Pathway to the University of Illinois program. Students in this program are recognized as students of both Parkland and the UofI, and are entitled to student access and rates for sporting events, clubs, etc. Parkland Pathway students are entitled to a UofI tuition lock at the amount set their freshman year, so long as the minimum GPA is maintained for that department of study.
In 1998, Parkland has only 16 students enrolled in online courses. Today, Parkland has 6,300 students who take advantage of Parkland's online programs. Parkland College has one of the top 5 online programs for community colleges.
Parkland College has been in the process of signification renovation and construction of its campus buildings. Six new buildings have been constructed and new roofs have been installed on existing buildings. Moving into phase 2 of the construction, Parkland will begin remodeling of empty spaces to convert into classrooms and labs. This has been a $92 million investment for Parkland College.
Of the graduates from Monticello High School, a recent 5 year average shows that 37.7% enroll in Parkland College upon high school graduation. It is noteworthy that in 2010, 44% of MHS graduates enrolled in Parkland College upon high school graduation.
Meghan Drewes : Empty Arms Tuesday, August 4, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Meghan Drewes spoke to our club today about Empty Arms. The mission of Empty Arms is to provide understanding and compassion to parents who have suffered the loss of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death. http://www.windsorroad.org/adults/empty-arms/). Meghan co-founded Empty Arms after the death of her first born infant son. At the meeting, Meghan spoke about what the Empty Ams does for grieving parents and also how people can support a loved one going through similar loss. In addition to her work running Empty Arms, Meghan is CFO of AgCreate Solutions, Inc.
Dave King: Piatt County Mental Health Center Tuesday, July 21, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Dave King Director of the Piatt County Mental Health Center spoke to our Rotary club last week. Dave spoke to us of the struggle with State funding and how the Center is a drug or alcohol rehabilitation center with a primary focus on mental health and substance abuse treatment.
The treatment center provides outpatient care. There are special groups and programs for adolescents, persons with co-occuring mental and substance abuse disorders, DUI and DWI offenders, and criminal justice groups. No special language services are available.
Dave explained that the Center can take payments via state financed insurance, medicare, and private insurance, but they have adopted a payment assistance method that takes advantage of a sliding fee scale.
Karin Sykes from the therapy department at Kirby Medical Center Tuesday, July 14, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Karin Sykes from the therapy department at Kirby Medical Center was the presenter. She presented the physiological changes that sedentary lifestyle has on the human body. Sitting for prolonged times, longer than 2 hours, is especially related to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, joint problems and poor mental health, even though one may engage in the recommended amount of moderate to vigorous activity. Adults who sit for prolonged periods of time every day, even while attaining their weekly 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise are still vulnerable to developing metabolic syndrome (i.e., elevated systolic blood pressure, abnormal plasma glucose and elevated LDL cholesterol and/or triglyceride levels.)
Ways to increase activity may include: - a brisk walk during morning and afternoon breaks; - park far away from a building’s entrance; - view house work as activity and do it; - etc.
Thanks for a great year! Wednesday, June 24, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
To all of my Fellow Rotarians, I say THANK YOU!
As my year as president comes to an end, I think back to all of the things that have made this year eventful! I also think about the events that Rotary has been involved in and all of the opportunities that we have had to show "Service before Self"! I also treasure the friendships that I have through Rotary and thoroughly enjoyed meeting and serving with new friends!
I thank my Board for all of their hard work and support as things got sticky sometimes! I thank them for new ideas for the future and for being good examples of "Service before Self". Thank you to Heather Lawhead and Karla Bradley who are done serving on the Board. A big thank you to Diana Wilkin for her support not only on the board but for having my back as immediate past president!!
I thank the general membership for having good humor when I made mistakes (lots of mistakes!) and for supporting the various projects that we had throughout the year. I need to thank SO many of you for all that you have done, but I'm sure, in true Gay Adams fashion, that if I made a list I would leave someone out! So please know that I couldn't have done it without ALL of you!
I am truly blessed!
Yours in Rotary,
Gay Adams
Eric Luedtke - Update on Nepal Wednesday, July 1, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Eric Luedtke, of Mahomet Rotary Club, joined us to give us an update on Nepal. Many of us know Eric through his booths at District conferences. He displays and sells Fair Trade Jewelry made by talented women in Nepal. This represents one of the programs that he has created to help free women from sex slavery. He has also created several programs in Nepal to help rescue children from slavery. These relationships and programs have allowed him to be in the perfect place to be one of the "first responders" after the April 25th earthquake and all of its aftershocks.
The details of the damage and loss that he shared were almost too much to fathom. Entire villages are gone. Terraced farms have slid down the sides of mountains. There is little to no clean, safe drinking water. The current death toll is reported to be just over 8,000 although he is confident it is more. For people who had nothing to start with, this catastrophe took everything that they had. He has been there, searching for friends and neighbors. Helping to move debris. Helping to mobilize hearts to hope. And he will return again in 2 weeks.
Today, he makes a plea for help. Help, he explained, can come in many forms. He invites individuals to go with him! Actual visits are short due to the severity of conditions there. He invites individuals to support Nepal financially. And he invites us all to keep Nepal close to our hearts and in our prayers.
If you feel called to go with him, please contact him directly. Airline fees are reduced for humanitarian and mission related travel. The costs while in country are very small. His next trip is only 10 days long. There will be many more trips after that!
If you would like to donate financially to the relief efforts, please forward your tax deductible donations to the Mahomet Rotary Foundation. Several grants have already been added to these monies to help get Nepal back on their feet again. (Additional grants are in process - most are matching grants, so our funds are still needed).
To date, our club has given $1000.00 to ShelterBox (during a 1:1 matching program just days after the earthquake.) We also gave Eric a $1000.00 check today to add to the Foundation's current Nepal fund.
Additional/Individual contributions can be mailed to:
Mahomet Rotary Foundation c/o Eric Luedtke, PO Box 1193, Mahomet, IL 61853
Eric promises to keep us regularly updated! We wish him the best as he continues to serve the people of Nepal and we are honored to have a friend who not only exempifies Service before Self but who puts it to work every day of his life! THANK YOU Eric!!
P.S. Shelter Boxes are actually only going to hospitals in Nepal. Individuals are receiving quanset huts which are better to withstand the upcoming monsoon season and which are available at a smaller cost. (The cost of a quanset hut is only $150.00).
2015 Paul Harris Fellowship Recipients Wednesday, June 17, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
District Governor Leslie Mitkos joined us today to recognize this year's new Paul Harris Fellows. He handed out awards to 16 New Paul Harris Fellows who are either a Rotarian or were being honored by a Rotarian and a surprise award to 1 Non-Rotarian from the Community. He also awarded Multiple Paul Harris Fellow pins to 4 Rotarians. They are:
New Paul Harris Fellows:
Mary Lynn Arnold (honored by father Jim Pownall)
Mike Atwood
A. Richard Ayers (honored by son Jim Ayers)
Rick Cromwell (honored by Jim Ayers)
Eryn Finet (honored by mother Kelly Finet)
Mark Fruendt (honored by Jim Ayers)
Betty Gantz (honored by daugther Beth Manuel)
Mike Harris
Max Howe (recipient of Benefactor Challenge awarded by Liz Skinner)
Tim King
Kimberly King (honored by spouse Tim King)
Mary Louise Koch (honored by Liz Skinner in honor of Dick Koch)
Dale Lattz
David Lochbaum (honored by moher Sue Lochbaum)
Lauren Rhoades (honored by mother Dana Rhoades)
Mitchell Rhoades (honored by mother Dana Rhoades)
The Club Honored Non-Rotarian was: Kathleen Foster
The Multiple Paul Harris Fellows are:
Kelly Skinner PHF +3
Marilyn Benedino PHF +2
Sue Lochbaum PHF +1
Roger Morgenstern PHF +1
Congratulations to all!
Mark Dixon - The Atkins Group Wednesday, June 10, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Mark Dixon, from The Atkins Group, was our speaker today.
Mark has been a member of Champaign West Rotary Club since 1992, serving as their president in 1999-2000.
He is currently living in Urbana with his wife and 2 kids, aged 11 and 9.
He is a Monticello High School Graduate. He received a B.S. in Architecture, a M.S. in Architecture and an MBA from the University of Illinois. He recently celebrated his 26th year with The Atkins Group and is currently their Director of Real Estate in the Commercial/Industrial Division.
He shared with us a little history of the firm, a little of his own history with the firm and then shared some patterns and trends that he feels will impact regional real estate. Some things he says to keep an eye on are: City of Champaign growth policies (often straining out dated infrastructure); Major infrastructure projects (Multi-mode connection of downtown and campus, Curtis Rd I-57 interchange and Mattis Avenue bridge); State of Illinois fiscal performance; University of Illinois growth; Willard Airport; Medical Industry trends; City of Urbana leadership and it's interactions with Carle and also it's increasing tax base; City of Decatur and where it is going with it's loss of population; Farm Land Prices; Baby Boomer transitions; and lastly, Technology Advancements (and how on-line search options along with the ability to interact and transact via email, texts, Facebook messenger, etc. are changing the way all of us get information and share that information).
MHS Incoming Interact Officers Wednesday, June 10, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
During our meeting today, we had the interact officers attend and share with us their goals and plans for the upcoming summer and next year's school year 2015 and 16. The incoming president of interact, Grant Bailey, shared with us that the focus of interact in the coming year would be both international missions as well as local service opportunities focused on senior centers in the area. Grant also indicated that he would like to strengthen attendance at meetings by providing opportunities for greater service as well as fun incentives to attend meetings. Also in attendance was vice president Hannah Smith and treasure Bethany burger. Secretary Hayden Lambertwas unable to attend.
Cunningham Children's Home: Hope Begins Here Wednesday, June 3, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Sharla Jolly joined us today to tell us a little about Cunningham Children's Home in Urbana, Illinois. Founded in 1895, the school offers residential treatment, specialized foster care, transitional living, independent living, vocational education and therapeutic special education to children and adolescents ages 5-21. Although affiliated with the United Methodist Church, primarily the United Methodist Women, they receive 80% of their funding from the referring agencies (such as DCFS, JDD and other federal programs) and 20% from benevolent support. 80% of the students that receive services from Cunningham are from central Illinois. Currently there are 276 youth with 66% of those being boys between the age of 11 and 17. Cunningham's primary goal is family preservation and restoration of healthy relationships. Sharla said we can help support them in several ways: 1) pray for the students, the staff, the families. 2) collect box tops. 3) become part of their giving program. 4) take part in the 26th annual Kendall Gill Golf Benefit on July 13, 2015. For more information about the golf outing, please look for information on the Rotary bulletin board. For more information about Cunningham Children's Home, look for them online at www.cunninghamhome.org or find them on Facebook!
Robert Bennett of GROWMARK, Inc. Wednesday, June 3, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
John Morrell introduced Robert Bennett of GROWMARK, Inc. Robert is a graduate of University of Illinois, currently working in the Agronomy Division of GROWMARK, Inc. Robert gave us an overview of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s). He started with a basic definition of a GMO. Robert explained the scientific process, the rigorous testing, regulation, and oversight involved brining a GMO into public use. He specifically explained how we have benefited from the use of GMO’s in modern farming practices. Robert explained how the use of fertilizers and chemicals have decreased, while yields have increased due to GMO’s. He also brought a little humor to the issue, remember next time you see watermelons or sunflower seeds advertised as “GMO Free”….there are no GMO watermelons or sunflower seeds.
Reporter - John Morrell
2015 Rotary Shield Winners Wednesday, May 20, 2015 By Gay Lynne Adams
On Wednesday, May 20, 2015 we met our 2015 Rotary Shield Scholarship Winners.
This scholarship is given to two Monticello High School students who have excelled academically, shown strong leadership in actiivites and, most importantly, participated in service projects that exemplify Rotary's moto of "Service Above Self".
This year's winners are Olivia Lanker and Daniel Peterson.
Congratulations to both of you!
News-Gazette Editor - Jim Rossow Tuesday, May 19, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
News-Gazette Editor Jim Rossow spoke to Rotary on May 6. The long-time newspaper employee had spoken to the club about a year ago shortly after being named Executive Editor. The move to overall Editor was a promotion he received earlier this year.
Rossow shared one more Loren Tate story, and added that he remembers comments made last year questioning why there weren't more local stories in the paper. For that reason, he said changes have been made – including local stories on the front of every section nearly every day.
The N-G Editor also spoke of technological progress at the newspaper, including the use of drones to film feature videos for its website, www.news-gazette.com. Not only are all stories from the print publication also online, but the website also fields more photos and content that do not fit in the newspaper, in addition to video contest.
Rossow also said the daily publication benefits from its ownership of several weekly newspapers, including the Piatt County Journal-Republican.
Canvas and Corks - Heather Kelly Tuesday, May 5, 2015 By Diana R. Wilkin
Beth Manuel introduced Heather Kelly of Canvas and Corks. Heather has lived in Monticello the past eight years and now conducts guided painting parties for the public as well as for private gatherings.
The idea of making it a business came out of a guided painting event came from when she was asked to lead at the Allerton Park and Retreat Center in February.
Since that first event, Heather has not only held the Thursday night events at the Steeple Gallery, but has been hired for corporate gatherings as well as birthday parties for children. She also has a Mother/Daughter party planned for May 14 at Steeple Gallery.
More information about Canvas & Corks is available on their Facebook site or by calling Kelly at 217-841-6374.
DID YOU KNOW THAT 150 YEARS AGO Friday, March 20, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
DID YOU KNOW THAT 150 YEARS AGO:
April 16: Illinois Governor Oglesby, close friend of Lincoln, happened to be in Washington.He was assigned to meet with Mrs. Lincoln to help arrange a burial in Springfield.Mrs. Lincoln was not receiving visitors, but the decision was made to allow a Springfield burial if son Willie’ Lincoln’s body could also be moved.
April 18: General Johnston surrenders to Gen. Sherman in North Carolina. Public viewing of Lincoln's body in White House.
April 19: A short funeral service was held in the Green room.Funeral procession up Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. “amidst tolling of bells and firing of minute-guns”.
April 20:Public viewing-24 hours Capitol rotunda. Springfield begins preparations for burial plot close to downtown Springfield.50 thousand dollars were donated and a temporary vault started immediately.Working day and night the site would be ready.
April 21:Lincoln’s coffin and his son’s coffin taken to Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Depot to depart for Baltimore Maryland.20 miles per hour.Nine cars in the funeral train.Approximately 300 mourners were on the train.The coffin removed to Merchant’s Exchange building for 3 hours of public viewing with over 10,000 people.Departed Baltimore for Harrisburg, Penn.Son Robert left the train to return to D.C.He would travel to Springfield for the funeral.
Dean Hixson, Race Director for Allerton Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Nikki Mann introduced our guest speaker Dean Hixson, Race Director for Allerton. Dean spoke about the Half Marathon that is taken place at Allerton Park. The funds raised go to the Make-A-Wish Illinois to help children with life threatening illness or medical conditions. This was their 3rd year for the event, they have raised in the upward amount of $37,000. Donations, sponsorships and the generous volunteering helped them to push an average of 80% of each race fee directly to Make-A-Wish. The evening before is a Trail –Glo 5K Run/Walk as well.
Illinois Red Cross - Jason Trent Tuesday, April 14, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Fellow Rotarian Jason Trent presented on the Central Illinois Chapter of the Red Cross. The Red Cross helps disaster victims, teaches CPR/First Aid, trains children to live safer & supports military in 8 counties in the Peoria area.
Conceived at what is now the Pettengill-Morron House on Peoria’s West Bluff, and chartered on Dec. 8, 1916, the Central Illinois Chapter has a long, proud history of assisting and educating local adults and children.
The Central Illinois Chapter has two office locations, providing our service area with disaster relief, health and safety education, business continuity planning and more.
ARC Responds to Roughly 70,000 Natural and Man-made Disasters Year
–Fires
–Tornadoes
–Floods
–Hurricanes
–Earth Quakes
–Terror Attacks
–HazMat Spills
–Transportation Accidents
Kay Butcher:Case Manager for Champaign County Regional Planning Commission Tuesday, April 7, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Fellow Rotarian, Sue Lochbaum, introduced Kay Butcher, a Case Manager for Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, for our presentation. Kay began her career in social work and has continued to work in a similar capacity. She can be found at the County Offices located next to Piatt County Nursing Home each Thursday.
On-the-Job Training Program (OJTP) for Businesses is the newest assistance program offered through the Champaign County RPC. This program assists employers by offsetting the cost of training their employees to achieve the skills necessary to become a valued employee. The training is designed by the employer and carried out on the job site. Assistance is offered at a maximum 50% reimbursement of cost and maximum of six months to complete. In addition to OJTP, Champaign County RPC also offers a summer program to assist our youth with the skills to obtain a job as well as Job Club training on how best to represent oneself to an employer and education expense in a high growth career path. Regardless of the program title, there is one underlying mission of getting under employed and/or unemployed individuals back to work.
Dr. Stuart Baker Tuesday, March 31, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Steve Tenhouse invited Dr. Stuart Baker to speak at our club last week. In addition to cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, Dr. Baker specializes in wound care, laser surgery, and the surgical and non-surgical treatment of various hand conditions. Dr. Stuart Baker grew up as a farmer's son in Dalton City, Illinois. After graduating from Northwestern University and University of Illinois School of Medicine he began his private practice in Decatur. He has become a well respected Plastic Surgeon and Hand Surgeon. He is the Director of The Center for Cosmetic Medicine as well as the Director of the Wound Care Center at Decatur Memorial Hospital. He has been sharing his expertise with the people of Decatur and Champaign for 35 years and is excited to annouce that he will also be seeing patients at Kirby Medical Center in Monticello. He is available for consultations in Monticello on the 3rd Monday of each month but will be here doing surgeries weekly.
Tatman Village Meeting Friday, March 20, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Once again this year our club visited Tatman Village for our traditional "Irish" meal. Special thanks to the Tatman team for the great meal and also to our entertainment. Our entertainers were Larry Stoner, Don Mosher, Jeff Clodfelter and Rick Rhodes, who sang their renditions of a several traditional irish songs!!
Cara Stoerger: Allerton Public Library Literacy Programs Tuesday, March 17, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Cara Stoerger, works for the Allerton Public Library and gave a presentation regarding Literacy in our community and all of the services our library has to offer. March is considered Literacy month which stresses the importance of literacy and the joy of reading. She provided a number of statistics about children and literacy – one statistic showed that children who live in low income homes have ¼ of the vocabulary compared to children who have access to books and are read to on a regular basis. Another interesting statistic was that approximately 34 million adults function at lower than normal standards for reading. She then went into the services that Allerton Public Library has to offer. In regards to youth services they offer a variety of programs – Storytime, laptimes, Monthly Saturday programs, Holiday reading program, Kids Read, Summer reading program, outreach to area preschools and the upcoming Teen Art Show. There are also many services that the library provides that most people wouldn’t think of. They currently offer free copy/fax services, WIFI, patron terminals, a reading area, DVDs, Interlibrary lending, archives for history minded individuals and the newest addition to their services is free tax preparation offered by the AARP. There are always volunteer opportunities if people are interested in assisting at the library.
Reporter: Heather Lawhead
Rotary Writer Award Tuesday, March 10, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Today Vic Zimmerman introduced our Rotary Writer winners for 2014-2015.
We had 2 high school and 2 middle school winners that read their stories to us and recieved a monetary reward.
For MHS - Amy Love (1st) and Zach Meslplay (2nd) Teacher was Ellen Burtschi
For MMS - India Wright (1st) and Melanie Lamsen (2nd) Teacher was Melanie Stripens
Vic also thanked all the Rotarians that supported the competition by judging.
Cody Morris, the '14-'15 Illinois State FFA President Tuesday, March 3, 2015 Edited By Wilkin, Charles Scott
Our club hosted Cody Morris, the '14-'15 Illinois State FFA President for our program today. Cody began his FFA career at Mattoon High School and he held several positions during his tenure there. He served as Chapter President during his years there and was inspired to run for state office after he graduated. He graduated from Mattoon in May 2013 and spent his first year post-graduation at Lake Land College, where he is majoring in agricultural business. Cody was elected at the State FFA Convention in June '14 to his current office. He travels across the state with his officer team and speaks to fellow members on current & future trends in agriculture today. He is responsible for 5/25 sections across the state and has seen many interesting things occur during his term. Cody sees himself working in seed sales or even agricultural finance after his term is finished & he completes his collegiate degree. Cody is a firm believe in the future of agriculture being spearheaded by the current and past membership of the National FFA Organization.
Reporter: Max Howe
Paul & Ashley Adams - Marion Medical Mission Wednesday, February 18, 2015 By Gay Lynne Adams
President Gay Adams introduced her husband Paul and her oldest daughter Ashley as today's speakers.
Paul and Ashley Adams shared their experiences and stories of working with Marion Medical Mission in Malawi and Tanzania, Africa. They work primarily with the Shallow Well Program.
UNICEF reports 4,000 children worldwide die each day because of unsafe drinking water. Over 14 million people in the rural areas of Malawi, Tanzania and Zambialack access to safe drinking water. In Sub-Sahara Africa, the largest source of disease is from unsafe drinking water.
Marion Medical Mission is helping to change these statistics by installing wells that are inexpensive, can be built in remote areas, and are easy to repair and maintain. People from the village receiving a well participate in the building process by hand digging the well, making brick to line it, and by collecting sand and stone needed for construction. MMM supplies only what the villages cannot: the cement, pipe, pump and skilled African labor and training. We, the volunteers of MMM, are in country only during the dry season (September - October) because if you can find water during the dry season, you have water all year round. This is a program where everything is purchased, manufactured, maintained, and administered in Africa by Africans.
American volunteers pay all of their own expenses while there and all of their own travel costs to and from Africa. The cost to volunteer is roughly $4,000.00 for 3.5 weeks of life changing experiences!!
The cost of a well is only $400.00!! This will provide a life time clean water supply to a village of 150-200 people!! WOW!!
Paul has been working in the African field every fall since 2005. Ashley accompanied him fall 2013, during her gap year between undergraduate and graduate school. Our youngest daughter will accompany him this fall during her gap year. Gay was fortunate enough to attend in 2006 and is looking forward to another trip sometime in the near future! YOU should consider going too! Feel free to talk to any of us about how it's changed our lives!
More information about this program or other programs that Marion Medical Mission offer is available on their website: www.mmmwater.org
Monticello Area Education Foundation Wednesday, February 11, 2015 By Diana R. Wilkin
Sarah Probst-Miller, President of the Monticello Area Education Foundation shared information about the Monticello School District Foundation and the upcoming Gala. The following information is from the MAEF website regarding the Gala and ticket information:
On March 7th, 2014 the Monticello Area Education Foundation will host the 12th Annual Legacy of Learning Gala at Monticello Middle School. With the theme “Sage Ingenuity”, Monticello High School Graduates in the Science and Technology field will be honored. Proceeds from this event help teachers fund creative projects to benefit students throughout the Monticello school district.
Meet our Honorees:
Mark Schneider is a Senior Principle Engineer for The Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington. He is responsible for the design of structural and mechanical assemblies used in space applications. As the Responsible Engineer for the Boeing Commercial Space Company Sea Launch Program Payload Interface Assembly, he has coordinated both electrical and mechanical interface requirements between Boeing designed hardware and the Russia Space Corporation Energia upper stage of the Sea Launch 3 stage Zenit rocket. An additional responsibility is coordination of the Boeing payload assembly operations performed at the Sea Launch processing facility in Long Beach, California. Graduating from Monticello High School in 1972, Mark pursued an engineering degree and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Illinois. His interest in math and science started in elementary school with the beginning of the space race to put a man on the moon.
Hobbies that helped develop this interest consisted of constructing scale models of aircraft and rockets, the launching of amateur rockets, and studying astronomy. As a young boy growing up on the edge of Monticello, Mark’s back yard connected to an open field of corn or beans allowing him to safely conduct rocket launches and recoveries as well as having an unobstructed view to the stars. Lincoln and Washington Elementary School writing projects allowed Mark to expand interest on current affairs in space, astronauts’ missions to prepare for the moon landing and forecasting advancements in satellite technology and space science. At the age of twelve, the money earned from Mark’s first job, walking beans for local farms, went to pay for his first telescope. His experience with the Industrial Arts class at Monticello High introduced mechanical drawing training that connected Mark’s hobbies with his career.
As a young boy Mark dreamed of orbiting the earth from space, but as an adult, he is happy to travel around the world with his family; wife Lisa, and daughters, Erin and Erica. Their adventures together have taken them to Europe, Africa, Asia, as well as Central and South America. Through family and career, Mark has developed new goals which combine engineering with assisting communities around the world, through resolving local issues like providing electrical power and clean drinking water to remote villages.
Having his loving and supporting family; Mother, Therese and Father, Eugene and siblings, Steve, Carol & John, Mark was encouraged to learn the basics of his interests at an early age. But life has been an education every day finding new ways to help make the world a better experience for all through engineering
C. Scott Wilkin is currently the Associate Director of Business Development for the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois Champaign campus. Scott is a 1983 graduate of MHS, and culminated his education with a Master of Science from the University of Oklahoma where his studies specialized in Low-Temperature Solid State Physics. Scott and Diana met in Carbondale Illinois while attending Southern and were married in 1992. Scott started his professional career as a Product Line Manager for Texas Instruments, after 2 years transitioned to National Semiconductor where Scott, at the end of his tenure, managed over 150 people. In 1999, Scott decided to join Alcatel as a Program Manager and shortly thereafter Scott and Diana had their twins Nick and Natalie in 2000 with Jacob following close behind in 2001. Scott and Diana decided it was time for a change of scenery (and weather) and moved to sunny Monticello Illinois in 2007, so we could raise our children in this wonderful community. Scott concluded his work with Alcatel-Lucent in March of 2014 as the Vice-President of Business development for the optics division supporting Verizon and AT&T. Scott is involved in the Rotary Club of Monticello and has been instrumental in bringing current technology uses to the club.
Tickets can be purchased at First State Bank, the Supts Office or at http://www.eventbrite.com/ or you may send a check to MAEF at PO BOX 473, Monticello, Illinois, 61856.
Our Rotary Youth Tuesday, February 3, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
A few members of the Monticello High School Rotary Interact club joined us at Rotary on January 28, 2015. Lindsey, Olivia, Annie, and Bailey are all involved in the Rotary Interact club at the high school. They discussed some of the projects that the club has been doing, including volunteering at the Crisis Nursery in Champaign, visiting the residents of Maple Point Supportive Living Facility, and participating at Camp Corral. The Rotary Interact members told the club about one of their upcoming projects, Project Linus. The Interact members will be making fleece no-sew blankets to give to service members and their families. The idea is to give the family of a service member a blanket, and when their service member is deployed or away from home, they have a piece of the blanket to take with them to help them always feel close to their loved ones. The Rotary Interact club is taking donations to help them purchase fleece for this project.
The exchange student from Finland, Ella, also shared with the club some of her experiences while she has been in Illinois. She shared pictures with us of her experiences at the Illinois State Fair, visiting Chicago, attending U of I basketball and football games, visiting the pumpkin patch, traveling to Disney World and Universal Studios, ice skating, and participating in the MHS color guard.
Reporter: Eryn Finet
Club Honors Cross Country Teams Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Fellow Rotarian, Jerry Johnson, introduced Monticello High School Cross Country Coach Dave Remmert and congratulated him and the team members on a successful season.
The boys’ cross country team won first place in Class 1A and secured the school’s first team state championship on November 8 at Detweiller Park in Peoria. Winning by 52 points, the team won by the largest margin of victory in any of the cross-country classes. Prior to this season, the Sages had finished third at state three of the past four seasons.
The Girl's Cross Country team finished strong at the end of the season, after not being given consideration as a contender at the start of the year. With a team comprised of mostly underclassmen, the girles placed 7th at the state meet.
Coach Remmert, shared that he is “living the dream” and described the team members as “great kids” who also happen to “run fast”. A former Rotarian and 25 year Monticello resident, Coach Remmert shared his love for the community and expressed his appreciation for the support of the teams and the cross country program.
Team members who were present introduced themselves and those who will be graduating this spring shared their post-graduation plans. Many of the seniors are pursing running opportunities, including participating in Division 3 programs. The students shared that academic reputations and programs were their first priority in selecting a college and it would be a bonus for them to be able to continue their running careers.
Coach Remmert and the team members emphasized the importance of running in a pack at meets for scoring purposes, and how the cohesiveness and camaraderie of the team was key to its success. Further, they described some of their training regimens and encouraged Club members with young students to consider competing in cross country.
Story by: Sarah Ross
Team Building Wednesday, January 21, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Cochran Keating had the club laughing today as he acted out a comedy "team building" skit as Coach Marvin Scuggins. He reminded us of the importance of having fun at our Rotary meetings.
Thanks Cochran!
Coalition IMPACT Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Fellow Rotarian, David King, introduced his colleague Ashley Fultz for our presentation.Ashley has been with the Piatt County Health Department (now partnered with Dewitt County) for several years to coordinate Impact Coalition and further develop school programs regarding substance abuse prevention.She typically works with children ages eleven to seventeen.Both David and Ashley offered shocking statistics about substance abuse.
·10% of our population has a substance abuse problem.
·For every person with a substance abuse problem, six others are adversely affected.
·66% of 8th graders do not drink alcohol.
·87% of 8th grades do not use marijuana.
Challenges facing Impact Coalition include funding, stigma and denial.In an effort to focus on positive reinforcement everyone is invited to learn more about Impact Coalition at their monthly meetings held at the Piatt County Mental Health Center on the second Thursday of every month at noon.Assistance is needed to provide ideas for the National Drug Facts Campaign in January, programs such as the Reality and Risks of Drugs as recently held at Kirby Hospital and the Strategic Related Prevention Projections.Important areas of need include feedback and opinions of the community, better education in our area and volunteering for after school programs.
Submitted by: Nikki Mann
Bob Easter UI President Tuesday, January 6, 2015 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Brian McDowell introduced our speaker on Dec 17th, University of Illinois President Bob Easter. Brian first got to know Bob through his work where Bob participated as a board member for his Bank.
Easter grew up on a Texas ranch and attended Texas A&M. Bob joined the agriculture faculty of the University of Illinois in Champaign in 1976.
Easter said the University is a $5.6 billion operation with 26,000 full-time employees and 46,000 on the payroll. He said the University has 78,000 students, including 48,000 in Champaign-Urbana.
He said state funding has obviously become a challenge for the institution and noted the new governor has a “difficult task.” A total of 15 percent of current U of I funding comes from the state.
Bob is looking forward to staying active in his retirement, and staying put in the Mahomet area.
Tombstone Rubbings - Ron Nolte Tuesday, December 16, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Monticello Rotary Club Member Ron Nolte, shared with us a new batch of Tombstone Rubbings. Ron is our club's “taphophile" and has a collection of gravestones and monuments rubbings from all over the world. Ron has traveled to cemetaries in Europe and all over the United States to collect the impressions. Be careful because if Ron knows your going on vacation he might have you go find a grave while your there!!
Jennifer Brittenham of Acupuncture Works Tuesday, December 2, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Jennifer Brittenham of Acupuncture Works came to speak with us about acupuncture. Jennifer is licensed to practice Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and has her own office in Monticello.
Acupuncture uses of very fine thin needles and involves inserting those needles into certain points on the body and can be used to treat several ailments including pain, stress, colds, digestive disorders and other illnesses, and it can even help with weight loss. Jennifer also practices other forms of Oriental medicine such as fire cupping, Moxibustion and use of essential oils in her treatment plans.
Acupuncture Works uses a sliding scale for payments but typically ranges from $20-$45 per session. For more information you can contact Jennifer Brittenham at 720-201-4020 or visit her office located at 304 S. Market St. Suite B in Monticello.
Reporter: Eryn Finet
Annual Rotary & Chamber Luncheon Wednesday, December 3, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
The Monticello High School Madrigal performers attended the annual Rotary-Chamber Lunch and provided a wonderful holiday performance. The Madrigal singers are under the direction of Mrs. Tricia Shaw. Each year they host Madrigal dinners at the high school which are scheduled for December 11th (dessert only night), 12th and 13th.
Carl Burkybile - Kenya Water Project Tuesday, November 18, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Mike Harris introduced Carl Burkybile, reporting on the continued progress of the Kenya Water Project.
Carl explained Kenya's hardships to get clean water. Carl showed us pictures of the trenching and piping to connect the three wells, water tanks and 9 kiosks andl 2 power houses.
The Thika Rotary was pleased to work with Carl to make this happen.
Carl shared with us several quotes one from a gentlemen exclaiming during the final trenching, “I am very happy digging these trenches because soon my wife and my children will be getting clean water a short distance from our home.”
Justus, the program manager on site told Carl that he is encouraged to see the positive attitudes of the people and their desire to see the project completed.
All the well pumps are installed and hopefully the Thika Rotary will be able to convince Kenya Power to move forward in the near future to get all of them set with the electrical hook-up. They are running to Diesel powered generators at this time to keep 2 pumps running.
Carl also showed us pictures from the Rotary International visit which is required as a part of completing this portion of the project but there is much more work to do and many more people to help.
(Carl Burkybile also is Champaign Rotary Club’s World Community Service co-chair, Caring for Kenya director and Healing Hands International director of agriculture)
K. Gaba - Should I be Worried about a Spot Tuesday, November 11, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Today, Kelly Gaba shared with us her presentation "Should I be Worried about a Spot". Kelly has a Bachelor of Physician Assistant from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and currently works for Christie Clinic.
In her presentation Kelly explained what pre-cancerous lesions "Actinic Keratose" look like and then gave us a Skin Cancer 101, going through the common types and describe the cancers and treatments.
In the Department of Dermatology where Kelly works she is able to diagnose and treat a variety of skin diseases and disorders. She performs physical examinations, prescribes medications, orders and interprets lab tests, and performs skin biopsies and dermatologic surgical procedures.
Rotary Foundation Campaign 2014 Wednesday, October 29, 2014 By Gay Lynne Adams
November will be Rotary Foundation Month.
In preparation, Liz Skinner spoke to us today and brought us up to date on Foundation Giving opportunities. She reminded us that money given to the Annual Programs Fund comes back to benefit clubs throughout the year through various grants. Money given to the PolioPlus Fund has helped eliminate Polio in several third world countries and we are still working towards that goal! She also reminded us that it is easy to become a Benefactor. Gifts to the Permanent Fund also help fund grants and Polio eradication but also Vocational Training Teams, Scholarships and other programs hosted by Rotary International.
Again this year, Liz is challenging us to give as individuals and is generously offering several Rotary Foundation Matches and Incentives. This is a very generous gift! I hope many of us will take advantage of the opportunities that she is offering! Attached, please find a hand-out that outlines our giving opporunities and her campaign matches and incentives.
The campaign will run from October 29, 2014 to November 19, 2014. Judy Greene will be available at Wednesday meetings or via phone or email if you would like to inquire about your giving to date. (or you can find it online at www.rotary.org/MyRotary).
No other club to my knowledge is fortunate enough to have such an opportunity so please join me in extending a huge THANK YOU to Liz for her generosity!!
Fellow Rotarians... Let's make this year's campaign great!
Ella Luhta - Exchange Student from Finland Tuesday, October 28, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Our speaker today was Ms. Ella Luhta who is the Exchange Student from Finland sponsored by the Monticello Rotary Club. Ella is currently living in Monticello with the Dustin and Denise Burger family and attending Monticello High School.
She presented an overview of her country and community and a bit of insight into the Finnish culture, food, and holiday traditions. At a couple of points she elicited a chuckle or two, specifically when she made the logical argument that Santa Claus must come from Finland, because they have his reindeer there!
It was very clear she loves her country and town, and misses her sister and dog, too.
In response to questions from the group, she admitted that her favorite "American" food was actually "Chinese" food and she also likes the seafood, especially shrimp. But the American food she found least appealing was Macaroni & Cheese as served at the High School.
Ella will be returning to speak to us again in a few months and will have an opportunity to talk about her experiences thus far in Monticello.
Story by: Roger Morgenstern
Robin Peters - CEO Dreamscape Tuesday, October 21, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Robin Peters spoke to our club last week and discussed his film making career. Robin shared that he is mostly interested in screen writing and directing, but spends most of his time securing funding for his films. Robin worked on his first screenplay for over 8yrs, but now has his craft down to being able to develop scripts in months. Some of Robin's career highlights are below.
Career Highlights: - Wrote feature film trilogy about space/time travel entitled "Cosmic Journey" - Directing Documentary about 100 years of American brushmaking starring Ed Asner - Developing movie about the Beatles' 1st Managers - Wrote/Directed an action movie with A-list talent - "Lowlifes" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3111306/ - Won Best Light of Show at NAB, the nation's largest entertainment expo. - Created a new web site for Sony Corp. and a video for Sony Biotechnology - Made a presentation about Screenwriting at a NASA outreach program to empower Creatives with advanced space science; - "My Dog the Space Traveler", which Robin wrote and directed, secured worldwide distribution (his 4th movie to achieve this - see http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1384445/ ) - Selected to participate in NASA's LaunchPad Program for writers; - Wrote and Directed "Act Your Age", Audience Award Winner at the 28th Annual Breckenridge Festival of Film and one of Academy Award Nominee Pat Morita's last films; - 9 awards for Screenplay and/or Filmmaking, including Directors Gold from International Family Film Fest and Award of Excellence from the Accolade Competition
Robin likes directing in the Monticello area and will continue this in the future.
Chick Finson Tuesday, October 14, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Charles N. “Chick” Finson died on October 6, 2014 at Kirby Medical Center, Monticello, IL. He was born in Monticello, IL on January 1, 1915, the son of William Lawrence and Bertha Danford Finson. He graduated from Monticello High School in 1932 and from the University of Chicago in 1936. On August 15, 1937, he married Ardeth Ellen Hannah in White Heath, IL. After college he worked for his father at the Finson Grain Co. in Monticello. He became the owner-operator of it when his father died in 1943. He sold the grain company in 1953, and worked for A.E. Staley in Decatur as a district sale representative. In 1957, he became president of the National Bank of Monticello, where he spent the rest of his working career. Over the years he served on the Monticello City School Board (before the school consolidations) and the Monticello Community Unit School District #25 board, the Monticello City Council, the Monticello Township Cemetery Board, the Tatman Village Board, the Monticello Grain Company board, the Ridgeview Development Co. board, and the Kirby Hospital Board where he served as a director and later chairman. He was a member of the Monticello Rotary Club for more than 75 years. Chick had a great sense of humor, good memory, gentlemanly nature and his love of his family. He is survived by his sons, Michael L. Finson (Ann) of Bluffton, SC, and Hugh Finson (Gloria) of Monticello, IL, 10 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, and his brother-in-law, Lawrence H. Hannah of San Diego, CA.
Healing Horse Stables Wednesday, October 8, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
Healing Horse Stables is located in Pesotum Illinois. Dorey Riegel provided information regarding their services and clientele. The following is information from their website www.healinghorsestables.org:
Our mission is to promote the physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual health and wellbeing of individuals, regardless of age or ability, by providing equine assisted therapies.
We are a nonprofit organization offering: therapeutic riding, equine facilitated learning, mommy/daddy and me riding for ages 2-6, and riding for relaxation. We hope to soon also be offering equine assisted psychotherapy and hippotherapy – speech, physical, and occupational therapy utilizing horses.
Vic Zimmerman, the Superintendent of Schools in Monticello Tuesday, October 7, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
This week’s guest speaker was Vic Zimmerman, the Superintendent of Schools in Monticello CUSD #25. Dr. Zimmerman highlighted several of the schools in the Monticello CUSD #25 achievements in recent years, including White Heath being named a Blue Ribbon School, which was one of only 13 schools in Illinois to receive that award.
Vic addressed the upcoming November 4th election which will include 2 questions pertaining to the school district. One question asks voters about the construction of a new high school, and the second question will ask voters about imposing a 1% sales tax to be used for school facility purposes. Vic also showed 5 tentative plans for the new high school if the referendum were to be passed, and handed out an informational piece which can be found online at www.sages.us
Reporter: Eryn Finet
Dunn and Gone Racing Tuesday, September 16, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Bill Blickhan introduced John Dunn of Dunn and Gone Racing. John's car named "Dunn & Gone" is a 1973 Duster with over 3,000 horsepower generated by an 1992 Hemi, which runs in the Porstalgia nitro funny car class of drag racing. John and his wife Melissa own the car and the along with Melissa Josh and Luke Dunn are part of his pit crew.
John's Major Sponsors are Mancini Racing, Moser Engineering, Victory Performance, Ace Clutches, G&G Machine, Hedman Hustler, Jeff's Custom Exhaust, Total Seal, Funny Factory, Dean's Grahpics
Marcus Jackson from the News Gazette Sports. Tuesday, September 30, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
This week’s guest speaker was Marcus Jackson from the News Gazette Sports. Marcus graduated from EIU and has been in the Champaign area for 14 years. In 2005 he started his internship in Design with the News Gazette, and then became a full time sports writer for high school football and basketball in 2007. He is now in his 3rd season as the College Basketball reporter.
Marcus touched base on recruiting. Jay Coleman commits to Illinois, he will be the first high school student to sign with the U of I since 1985 from Indian State.
Reporter: Dena Clifton
Aspen Creek Memory Care Residence Wednesday, September 17, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
Aspen Creek is a home environment with care provided to individuals with dementia. Teresa Crawford is one of the founders along with Kay Kibler. Teresa shared their vision of providing exeptional care, providing all the comforts of home. Aspen Creek was founded in 2009 with locations in Sullivan and Troy with plans of expanding to include the Monticello area. Alzheimer specific dementia is a progressive dementia affecting 5 million people in the United States and is the 6th leading cause of death. Aspen Creek cares for individuals at all stages and typically through end of life. They focus on improving the quality of life for their residents and family members. As their website states: "Aspen Creek isn't the end of the road; it's the start of a much better path."
Visit their website at www.aspencreekliving.com for additional information regarding services provided and contact information.
Congressman Rodney Davis Tuesday, September 9, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Jim Ayers introduced Rodney Davis our U.S. House member representing the 13th Congressional District.
Rodney was born in Des Moines, IA, before moving with his family to Taylorsville, Illinois, when he was seven. Davis attended schools in the area, worked at a McDonalds, which was operated by his parents, and then attended Millikin University where he majored in political science. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and graduated in 1992.
Congressman Davis ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 13th District.Davis was nominated by the Republican party to fill the vacancy left after incumbent Timothy V. Johnson announced his decision to retire following the Republican primary. Davis defeated David Gill (D) in the general election on November 6, 2012.
He is running for re-election to the U.S. House in 2014. He defeated Michael Firsching and Erika Harold in the Republican primary on March 18, 2014.The general election takes place November 4, 2014.
Great Alaskan Road Trip Tuesday, September 2, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Shelly Crawford-Stock introduced her Dad and Rotarian, Greg Crawford today at our Rotary meeting. Greg presented a slide show of their trip to Alaska. Items of note were the many Russian Orthodox churches, the narrowness of the roads, huge mountains and the great alaska highway.
Piatt Co. Habitat for Humanity Monday, August 25, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
On August 20, 2014 Rotary Guest Speaker Larry McClure Presented by Jeff Clodfelter discussed the local Piatt Co. Habitat for Humanity.
HFH was first founded in Piatt Co. by a group of men from the Methodist Church, in 1994/95. Mr. Habitat or as many may know him Fred Finn started this chapter in Piatt County. Fred and Dick O'dell started a committee going in 1996; later building their first Habitat home in 1999.
Year to date they have built 3 homes in Bement, 2 in CG, 1 in Hammond, 1 in Deland and 3 in Monticello. The organization is in need of monetary donations and volunteers. Every dollar is reinvested back into the homes. Donations of $5000 is considered a Major Donor. Your name or organization is recognized on a donor board. If you would like to donate a "Lot"; your name/organization will be recognized in the same fashion. Lots have been donated in the past from the Monticello Rotary, City of Monticello and other citizens, they could always use lots.
In order to make monetary donations to the Piatt branch, send donations to:
The Piatt Co. HFH P.O. Box 611Monticello, Il 61856.
The Habitat for Humanity is also in need of volunteers. The need firewood, they are about $10-12,000 short on firewood. The need volunteers to split the wood and deliver the wood. Right now the delivery days are Thursdays but would like to increase the days to Saturday if they could acquire more volunteers.
If you have questions about Habitat for Humanity for Piatt County, volunteering, or making a monetary donation you can contact Larry McClure or Max Olsen Who are chairs of the Fundraising Committee.
Reporter: Jenny Bates
Pat Tomilnson-Pioneer Seed Tuesday, August 19, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
Pat Tomlinson, Farm Manager Coordinator at Pioneer Hi-Bred, International, Inc, was our speaker for today. Pat spoke about the many changes in agriculture from the past to present. Everything from the 70’s with an 8 row planter to more commonly used 24 row planters today. The most changed over time is in the seed itself; biologic, genetic.
Story submitted by: Dena Clifton
AAIM Employers Association Wednesday, August 6, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
Larry Timm with AAIM spoke to the club today about the AAIM organization and employment/workforce trends. AAIM has over 1600 members. They offer services to employers that help with hiring, developing and the retention of employees. AAIM's common goal is to "develop high-functioning employees that drive organizational excellence". Larry shared that 70% of employees are typically not engaged in their jobs secondary to not fully understanding the company strategy. When employers provide learning and growth opportunities, this increases employee engagement.
More information regarding the AAIM association may be found at www.aaimea.org.
Medical Marijauna Panel Discussion Wednesday, July 30, 2014 By Gay Lynne Adams
A panel of experts shared their insights into Medical Marijuana and what the future holds for us here in Illinois.
Joining us for the presentation and discussion were Charles Demirjian, David Demirjian, Timothy Potter and Security Specialists Pete Piazza and Mark Delia.
Medical marijuana is legal is 23 states and is pending legalization in 16 states, including Illinois. (2 states have legalized it for recreational use: Colorado and Washington).
There are many symptoms that respond to different components found in Marijuana. The active cannabinoids within the plant are not necessarily the components that make people high. The FDA has NOT approved smoking marijuana but HAS approved 10 different purified cannabinoids for various uses. Unfortunately, government funding for research doesn't exist yet so there is a lot yet to learn.
The proposal for Illinois is:
Have 22 cultivation centers. There would be only one center per police district and would be overseen by the Department of Agriculture.
Have 60 Dispensaries. These cannot be the cultivation centers. Most will be north of I-80 (based on population) and will be overseen by the Department of Public Health.
Patients that will receive approval for medicinal use will have to suffer from one of 39 enumerated illnesses (which does not include chronic pain). Some examples are: Migraines, Nausea, Chemotherapy Side Effects, Epilepsy, Seizures, etc. (although we are not certain if all of these will be applicable in Illinois)
The projected Economic Effect:
Estimated patient prescriptions: 20,000-100,000 per year
Sales Revenue $20,000,000 to $250,000,000
State tax Revenue up to $30,000,000
Over 1500 Direct Jobs will be created across a broad spectrum of pay levels.
District Governor Visit Wednesday, July 23, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
President Gay Adams welcomed Rotary District 6490 Governor Les Mitkos and his wife Yvonne. Les shared his experiences in different countries through his military career and with Rotary. He has seen many hardships and has strong faith that organizations like Rotary can make a difference. During his time in Rotary, he has headed up the Polio Plus fundraising. This has been a project close to his family as his sister has Polio. Les wishes to empower Rotarians with his message of "Light up family of Rotary through Service".
Champaign Crisis Nursery Wednesday, July 9, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
On Wednesday, July 9, 2014, Mike Atwood introduced his speaker, to the Monticello Rotary Club, Stephanie Record, Executive Director of the Crisis Nursery in Champaign. Atwood has personally served as a volunteer with the Crisis Nursery.
“The Crisis Nursery creates an island of safety dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect by providing 24-hour emergency care for children and support to strengthen families in crisis,” said Record. It's also the only organization that provides emergency, 24-hour childcare in Champaign County. Record also stated that 850 children were served in 2013. The Crisis Nursery may house up to 12 children at one time and they may stay for up to 72 hours. They do not house the parents. Though the organization predominately serves Champaign County, in special situations, they may be able to work with children in other communities, if there is a Champaign County connection.
Kristin Bosch, the Marketing and Development Director for the Crisis Nursery, who attended with Record, presented information on Darkness to Light trainings, which have been granted through the University of Illinois. These trainings focus on equipping adults, rather than children. In the past, many trainings have put all the burden on the children, such as when children are taught about “Stranger Danger.” This type of training puts the responsibility on the adults. Thus far, they've been training police departments, librarians and other public workers. Due to the grant specifications, these trainings have been in Champaign County. Bosch explained that they have provided some training materials to individuals in the Danville area for the cost of $10 and could do the same for individuals in Piatt County.
The organization is heavily dependent upon volunteers and Bosch explained that you do not have to work directly with children to be a volunteer at the Crisis Nursery. They have over 150 volunteers come in each week, who complete a variety of tasks, including gardening, handyman work, administrative duties and more.
The Crisis Nursery operates largely off of two fundraisers. Their Annual Dinner & Auction, and their Childrens' Holiday Shop. Record recognized that they have many financial supporters and volunteers from the Monticello community.
For further information about the Crisis Nursery, please visit their website at www.crisisnursery.net
Story provided by: Stephanie Davenport
Paul Harris Fellow Wednesday, June 18, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
Rick Davidson, District Foundation Director was our speaker for today. Rick has been a Rotarian with Tuscola since 1977, Member of the Paul Harris Society. He was here to present “Members Completing Sustaining Membership” and “Members Honoring Others”. Touched briefly on the Annual Funds being used; one half goes to Global Grants, one quarter back to the District and one quarter to World Fund Foundation.
Rotarians recognized for becoming Paul Harris Fellows were Luke Feeney, Joe Mouser, Larry Stoner, Diana Wilkin, and Scott Wilkin. Bill Abbott honored his daughter Traci Kaufman and Jeff Clodfelter honored his wife Julie. Receiving pins for PHF+1 were Jerry Johnson, Ron Nolte and Jim Pownall.
Story provided by: Dena Clifton & Judy Greene
Installation of New Officers Wednesday, June 25, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
At today's meeting, PE Gay Adams received the Presidential gavel and pin to start her 2014-2015 Rotary Year. She introduced the incoming officers and recognized the Board members.
Best wishes for a successful Rotary Year Gay!
President's Message: Thank you Tuesday, June 24, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
Many "THANKS" to all of you for everything you did to make this Rotary year so successful. It has been an honor to serve as President and this journey is one that I will always treasure. Our club has grown significantly and with that growth the club is stronger and more visible in the community. Through our compassionate service, we touch many lives and that impact will be everlasting. So as we begin a new Rotary year, I encourage all of you to stay involved and active. There are no limits to what we can achieve.
THANK YOU!!
Michael LeJuine-President of Willow Tree Missions Sunday, June 15, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Michael stated that Willow Tree is totally self-funded. Their revenue mostly comes from sales at the Willow Tree Resale Shop. This past year our club gave money towards several new exterior doors, new door locks, and security cameras. Cameras are installed at this point but they are waiting for the new doors to arrive. Diana will be asking member’s assistance to install the doors and locks once they arrive. There also are many community service workers from the jail and probation that assist in helping out.
Their mission has slightly changed from their beginning. Now, there is much more effort made to let ones getting abused know the signs before they become hurt. One of their outreach programs is to visit schools and organizations letting people know how domestic violence begins, showing the patterns and what to look for. He stated that the home that was purchased last year did not get used as much this past year, as it did the previous year, because there is more outreach efforts made in helping before a problem becomes very serious. The home is getting used 60% of a year by Piatt County residents. The capacity of the home is for two families and people usually stay 72 hours. No adult men are allowed to stay at the same time as women would be there.
The ways we can help is take all our unwanted items to the resale shop. Donate your time on a Saturday at the resale shop. Become an advocate trainer which takes 40 hours of training. Michael shared his story on why he has the passion for this mission. Hopefully, all of us can keep these things in mind and find a way to be of help.
***Rotary notes submitted by Kathy Keith-June 11, 2014
District Governor Visit Sunday, June 15, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
District governor, Larry Pennie and his wife visited our club as his term is coming to a close. He presented our club with an award and banner. The award is “Every Rotarian Every Year Award”.
This means there was over $100.00 per member given to the contribution fund this past year.
Congratulations club!
**Story submitted by: Kathy Keith
Rotary Shield Award Winner Wednesday, June 4, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
Congratulations to Evelyn Brand, recipient of this year's Rotary Shield Award $1000 dollar scholarship. Evelyn attended the meeting today along with her mother. She shared her plans to attend Northern Illinois University to study Elementary Education.
Rotary Flag Placement and Pick up Saturday, June 7, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
Many thanks to all of the Rotarians who helped this year with placing and picking up the flags at the Monticello Cemetery. This is an annual service project, completed around Memorial Day and is coordinated by Jerry Johnson and Jim Cavanaugh. Flags are placed at the graves of veterans.
Neighbor House Project Tuesday, June 10, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
A special Thanks to Scott Wilkin and Bill Blickhan for their assistance with the installation of security cameras at the Neighbor House Domestic Violence Shelter. The shelter is awaiting the arrival of the new security doors and then all new locks will be installed as well. This was all made possible from a Rotary District Grant. Rotarians from our club will be involved in the installation of the doors and locks when ready.
Mission Trip to Cuba Wednesday, June 4, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
Pastor Paul Spangler visited the club to share pictures and information regarding a mission trip to Cuba. Paul is the new Pastor for the First Presbyterian Church of Monticello. He has completed multiple mission trips, having been to Nepal, the Holy Land, and most recently Cuba. The mission work is made possible with an outreach foundation and coordinated partnerships with other churches in the United States and around the world.
Nicaragua School Project Wednesday, May 28, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin Edited By Wilkin, Diana R.
Patrick Hayes, International Service Chairman for the University of Michigan Rotaract Club, presented a slide show and video regarding the school improvement project in Nicaragua. Patrick, along with 14 other Rotaract members, traveled to Granada, Nicaragua during their Spring break to work on a school in a poverty stricken area. The work included installation of new roofing, walls, ceiling fans, and a wall garden.
Patrick coordinated this project through the La Esperanza Granada group which is made up of volunteers who focus on making improvements involving education and children. Along with the support of their Rotaract sponsor, the Ann Arbor Rotary Club and with the $1000 dollar financial assistance our club provided, the project was worthwhile and successful.
This was one of our club's selected International projects for the year.
2014 Scholarship Winners Wednesday, May 21, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
The club recognized and welcomed one of the Rotary Shield Award scholarship winners and the recipient of the Keith Hutson Memorial Scholarship at the meeting today. Carter Ness received the Shield Award which is a $1000 dollar scholarship to be used for college expenses. He is planning to attend Harding University. Owen Myers was selected to receive the $1500 dollar Keith Hutson Memorial scholarship and will be attending Carthage College. Both scholarship recipients were selected because of their outstanding leadership and community service. Carter and Owen thanked the club for being selected to receive these scholarships. Congratulations to Carter and Owen!
Brian Karbach from the Champaign Police Bomb Squad Tuesday, May 20, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Brian Karbach from the Champaign Police Bomb Squad was our speaker this week. Brian has been a police officer for the past 21 years, which is his full time job. He has been on the Bomb Squad for approximately 13 years, being a part-time position. There are 6 techs for local central Illinois covering a wide area, few being Macon, Coles, Moultrie, Piatt Counties. On average they receive 25-30 calls a year. They had 46 calls in 2013 ranging from pipe bombs to military ordinances. 43% of the military ordinances they find, are still active.
All techs go through the same training in Huntsville, Alabama. This involves very intense 6 week training with test each week. If you fail any one test, you are eliminated at that time and do not go any further. You have advanced training every 3 years going forward. There are approximately 3,000 bomb technicians in the United States.
Submitted by: Dena Clifton
MMS Jazz Band Plays for Rotary Tuesday, April 29, 2014 By Charles Scott Wilkin
Thanks to Mrs. Amanda Allen and the Monticello Middle School Jazz Band for performing at our club's Administrative Assistant Day.
Illinois Innocence Project Wednesday, April 2, 2014 By Diana R. Wilkin
Today's speaker was Bill Clutter, a licensed private investigator. He founded the Illinois Innocence Project in 2001 which is made up of private investigators who are committed to freeing innocent people. In January of 2013, he formed a new national organization called Investigating Innocence. The following is their Mission Statement: Investigating Innocence is a not-for-profit organization that provides investigative support to indigent inmates, lawyers and Innocence Projects throughout the United States who seek to prove post-conviction claims of actual innocence. To help accomplish this goal, the organization is dedicated to training and educating its members to the highest standards in how to conduct post-conviction investigations. The organization is supported by annual membership dues of private and public investigators, as well as individual and institutional members.
Bill shared information from specific cases he investigated and the outcomes. For more information, go to: www.investigatinginnocence.org