Announcements

(notes provided by the venerable Neal Chamberlain)

The invocation by was given by Reuben.

Tod announced that beginning next week the “Sixty Seconds of Fame” will be replaced. Tod distributed blank 3 x 5 cards to all Rotarians.  On the card, each member was asked to write a suggested topic on which a Rotarian will be asked to speak. Each week in the future, a Rotarian will draw a card (blindly) and speak a maximum (or minimum, depending on the individual’s entertainment factor) of sixty seconds about the topic on the card he or she draws.

Visitors included:

*Antonia Rivera, Rotary Youth Exchange Student, from Chile

*Deborah and Chris Miller, and daughters, Adele and Callie, Rotary Youth Exchange Host Family

*Robin and Phil Ferguson and son Andrew and daughter Callie, Rotary Youth Exchange Host Family

*Finn Kerins, with father Andrew. Note: Finn was much better dressed than his dad; it’s questionable whether Finn enjoyed the club’s rendition of Happy Birthday.

Sixty seconds of Fame – Review of Life by Lou Simpson

As our Sixty Minutes of Fame speaker we were fortunate to have Lou, a charter member of CUSR, chronicling the special events of his life.   He started by asking if any other club member, except him, was born at Forbes Air Force, nearTopeka,Kansas.  His early growing up years were in the Chicago suburbs. He attendedWesternIllinoisUniversity, Accounting – BB degree – 1976, Finance, MBA – 1977.  Lou has kept busy since 1987 operating Simpson Accounting Services, Inc.  He is married to Trina, who is a Receptionist, Secretary at theUniversityofIllinois, Department of Music.  After a few years in the Champaign Rotary Club he chose to become a charter member of CUSR where he has served as Past President, 1990-1991, he is a Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary Benefactor – loves this club. He loves music (especially karaoke); he is a fan of almost all sports.

(Comment from Neal the Notetaker: we can all rejoice that Lou is a cancer survivor.  When I joined the club 7+ years ago, Lou said to me he liked CUSR because club members were willing to work for the club and the community.  I was impressed with the many ways in which Lou was, behind the scene, organizing/supporting many of CUSR’s activities.  Our club is extremely fortunate to have a guy like Lou.)

Program

Due to contrary communication between computer and projector the program was presented using the screen of a laptop computer, held by her host family father – but it worked out alright for the Antonia Rivera’s presentation.

Antonia is our club’s sponsored Rotary Youth Exchange student from La Serena, Chile.  She did not hesitate to say that January inChileis much warmer than January inChampaign.  She communicated very well as she described points of interest in her hometown.  LaSerena is near the ocean making the beach and surfing a popular tourist attraction.

She described some of the foods of Chile as being more highly seasoned – but she has found the foods of Illinois very good.  InChampaignshe enjoys dancing and playing soccer.  She finds Central High School much different than her school in Chile – there is much more moving from room-to-room at Central, and the school as a whole is much larger.

Antonia said that her father is a manager in a company.  Her mother makes paella (not sure of spelling) and serves it to guests and tourists.

Antonia was very impressive as she presented the program with poise and personality in spite of not being able to use the projection equipment.  She is a very talented young lady – a tribute to Rotary Youth exchange, her family and her country.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE

January 29th – Dr. Mosbah Kushad from the College of ACES, UIUC, will discuss his home country of Libya

February 5th – Nathan Montgomery, Executive Director, Salt & Light Ministries

February 12th – Barbara Gillespie-Washington, found and leader of Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO)

February 19th – Dr. James Leonard, CEO of Carle Hospital, will discuss the challenges with health care in the future

February 26th – Sam Banks, CEO, Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club

March 5th – TBD

March 12th – TBD

March 19th – TBD

March 26th – TBD

April 9th – Denise Martin will discuss Cradles to Careers

Announcements

(notes provided by the crafty and courageous Barb Lintner)

The Rotary Minute will continue this year but since we have all contributed biographical information, Tod has asked us to fill out 3×5 cards with questions for fellow Rotary members, things you might like to know about them.  Some examples might be: favorite places to vacation, hobbies, etc.

This year’s all-area Rotary meeting will be at noon on February 25 at the Round Barn Center.  We will not have our regular Thursday meeting that week.  Bring a boxed or canned food for a food drive that day.

The District Conference will be in Champaign on May 2 and 3.

Harold Adams announced the Rotary Foundation Bowl winner.  Dave Krchak received $100 with a $100 donation going to the Rotary Foundation.

The District 6490 Dyslexia Project in which our club participated was included in “The World” in the January issue of The Rotarian.

Speaker

Zarina Hock, retired Senior Editor and Director of Book Publications at the National Council of Teachers of English and member of a truly multicultural household,  is a volunteer for the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen where she serves on the Board and as Crew Chief on Fridays.

The first soup kitchen in Champaign-Urbana was founded in 1980 by Ellen McDowell who served about twenty guests.   In 1990 the kitchen became known as St. Jude’s Catholic Worker House and expanded to about sixty guests a day in a new location.  In 2009 St. Jude’s decided to close the soup kitchen and the volunteers banded together to form Daily Bread at New Covenant Fellowship.

The church needs the space over the weekend so the kitchen operates five days a week.  In the past few years heo numbers have increased significantly.  In 2014 153,295 hot meals were served.  In addition sack lunches can be had from a van on the weekends.  New programs include working with guests to get bus passes, ID’s, and birth certificates.  The guests represent a wide range of people including students, the homeless, and the working poor.  A new building has been purchased at 118 First St. in Champaign which will become operational in 2016 so that food can be served seven days a week.

One third of Daily Bread’s expenses are for food; the rest include rent, utilities, and purchases to meet public health requirements.  Food is donated by local businesses and purchased at low cost from the East Central Illinois Foodbank.  It operates with 100% volunteers.  To volunteer call 217-356-SOUP (7687) or visit www.dailybreadsoupkitchen.com.  Visit this website for information on donations as well.

Fundraisers such as the annual Candy Foster concert help to keep the kitchen running.  There will be a Trivia Night on January 31 from 5-8 pm at the High Dive.  Zarina has compiled and edited a cookbook from recipes supplied by the Indian Cultural Society of Urbana-Champaign.  It was published in 2012 and has raised $10,00 so far.  “Home Cooking of India” can be purchased on Amazon with all receipts going to the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen.

Zarina closed her presentation with the following quote from Margaret Mead.  “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”

At the conclusion President Tod presented a check for $5000 from our CU Sunrise fruit fundraiser to Zarina for the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE

January 22nd – Antonia Rivera, Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) student from Chile

January 29th – Dr. Mosbah Kushad from the College of ACES, UIUC, will discuss his home country of Libya

February 5th – Nathan Montgomery, Executive Director, Salt & Light Ministries

February 12th – Barbara Gillespie-Washington, found and leader of Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO)

February 19th – Dr. James Leonard, CEO of Carle Hospital, will discuss the challenges with health care in the future

February 26ty – Sam Banks, CEO, Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club

April 9th – Denise Martin will discuss Cradles to Careers

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)

Robb reminded members to turn their fruit sale money into Jennifer.

Book Mentors, please see Mary Hodson for your books and instructions for the Spring Book Mentor visits.

Contact Harold before he contacts you regarding unpaid gambling debts from the Rotary Foundation Bowl.   Half of the proceeds will go to the Foundation.

The club welcomed Andrew back from his honeymoon in Italy, Croatia and Germany.

ROTARY MINUTE

Jennifer Shelby gave the Rotary Minute.  She was born Jennifer Keller and came from a long line of Rotarians.   Her grandfather Bob Eisner was a District Governor.    She has a brother Rob who has a son Leo and a sister Kate who has a daughter Maggie.   Jennifer is very close to her niece and nephew.

Jennifer published a paper in college and was encouraged to go into research.   She studied this in college and realized it wasn’t for her.   Her first job out of college was at Bloomingdales in Delray Beach, Florida.   She moved back to Champaign and ended up as a salesperson for Shelby Motors.    She married the owner, Mike Shelby.

After Mike’s sudden death in 2008, Jennifer bought the company.   She sold it in 2013 and started looking for other things to do.  She is a trustee for Blackburn College, is involved with the Kendall Gill Golf Outing (started by her husband), and U of I Women’s Basket Ball supporters.   She rehabbed a house, is a part owner of an independent film company and runs a blog called “Gym Bytch”.   She is currently negotiating the purchase of two car dealerships in Hoopeston.

PROGRAM

Mary introduced Cloydia Larimore from Cunningham Children’s Home (CCH).   In addition to Jennifer’s involvement with the Kendall Gill Golf Outing, CU Sunrise has other connections to CCH.    Mary formerly served on their Board and now, Justin Lytle, who is a great-nephew of Judge Cunningham, serves on the Board.

Cloydia related how she received a FB message from someone who had found the journals of Judge Joseph O. Cunningham in Texas.   The first journal began in 1853, when Joseph Cunningham moved from Ohio to Urbana.   The second was from the 1890’s, when Judge Cunningham and his wife donated their home to the women of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the purpose of founding a children’s home.

Cloydia introduced former Board member Reverend Richard McGuire who came in character as Judge Joseph O. Cunningham, and read from his journals.   The Judge felt that the Methodist Church should be doing more to minister to the sick and to children.   In 1894, he submitted his proposal to donate his home to be used as a home for homeless and friendless children.   The deed was executed 120 years ago on January 1, 1895.   Reverend McGuire said that Judge Cunningham laid the groundwork for programs at Cunningham, the Baby Fold in Normal, The Sunset Home in Quincy, Even Glow Lodge in Dwight, the Methodist Hospital and Illinois Wesleyan College.

Since its founding, Cunningham Children’s Home has helped over 10,000 children to heal from trauma.   Today, CCH has group homes, foster care and independent living programs as well as an educational component.    They currently run three schools.  Gerber is on the Cunningham grounds, a public school under Urbana Unit #116.  Circle Academy Day Treatment School serves Champaign and Ford County kids who can’t attend public school because of their behavior.  Recently, Cunningham opened a school in Rossville to serve kids from Vermillion County.

CCH receives funding from the Dept. of Children and Family Services, the Dept. of Human Services and the Dept. of Corrections.   But this reimbursement from the State covers only about 80% of the costs.   The remainder comes from charitable support.

There are nine buildings on the CCH campus on North Cunningham St.   Currently, students on the Cunningham campus must walk from one building to another during their school day.  This is a challenge for kids with emotional and behavior problems.  The goal of Cunningham and its Board is to raise funds for a new educational building with a dining hall that would allow the students to remain in one building during the school day.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE

January 15th – Karen Pickard will speak about The Daily Bread Soup Kitchen

January 22nd – Antonia River, Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) student from Chile

January 29th – Dr. Mosbah Kushad from the College of ACES, UIUC, will discuss his home country of Libya

February 5th – Nathan Montgomery, Executive Director, Salt & Light Ministries

February 12th – Barbara Gillespie-Washington, found and leader of Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO)

February 19th – Dr. James Leonard, CEO of Carle Hospital, will discuss the challenges with health care in the future

February 26ty – Sam Banks, CEO, Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club

April 9th – Denise Martin will discuss Cradles to Careers

Program

The C-U Sunrise Rotary Holiday Party provided the usual laughs, merriment, and goodwill towards others that we all have come to expect from this annual gathering.  We sang the Twelve Day of Christmas with the choir students from Centennial High School, including a notable performance by Bob LaCharite.  We also had a visit from Old St. Nick who was just as jolly as ever (Editor’s Note: attempts to verify the whereabouts of Santa’s sleigh and reindeer were unsuccessful again this year, according to Newsletter Intern Finn K.).

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE

January 8th – Cloydia Larimore, Cunningham Children’s Home and Richard McGuire as Judge Joseph Cunningham

January 15th – Karen Pickard will speak about The Daily Bread Soup Kitchen

January 22nd – Antonia River, Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) student from Chile

January 29th – TBD

February 5th – Nathan Montgomery, Executive Director, Salt & Light Ministries

February 12th – Barbara Gillespie-Washington, found and leader of Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO)

February 19th – Dr. James Leonard, CEO of Carle Hospital, will discuss the challenges with health care in the future

February 26ty – Sam Banks, CEO, Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club

April 9th – Denise Martin will discuss Cradles to Careers, the national movement to improve education for all students from cradles to careers