“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”― Charles Dickens 

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
― Abraham Lincoln 

“Well, it seems to me that the best relationships – the ones that last – are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is… suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with.” ― Gillian Anderson 

Announcements
(notes provided by the crafty and courageous Barb Lintner)

Thanks to all who worked on the Habitat house.

Upcoming events include the Champaign Rotary Golf Outing and Corn Roast at Lake of the Woods on July 31, Rotary Appreciation Day from 4 to 7 on August 15, the CU Sunrise Slow Ride at 5:30 on August 31 and the District Rotary Conference in Springfield on September 8 and 9.

Club Assembly

President Bob La Charite introduced his list of club goals which will help us achieve the District Presidential Citation this year.

Membership – We will work on getting 8 new members.  We presently have 39.

Project engagement – We will count hours spent working on projects.  It was suggested that we have an attendance sheet for each project and include the Decker Garden, Reading at Headstart as well as monthly projects.  Lou will collect these as he has done in the past.  We should also count the books given at meetings with speaker signatures in our totals.

Social activities – We will continue to meet on the 5th Thursday for social activities.

Interact Sponsor – We want to engage more with the group.  Do they have a twitter feed?

Foundation –We will increase our giving to the Rotary Foundation by 10%.  Last year we gave about $40.

Communications – We will use the Rotary logo in all our communications.

Programs – We need a new committee member and ideas from everyone.

Global Project – The board is looking at an international project.  Ann Witmer has asked for money to research a project.  Some other ideas are to join a project in progress such as the current one Champaign Rotary is working on. 

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

August 3rd – Adam Morrisette, Manager, Habitat for Humanity Re-Store (Tom)

August 10th – Kenny Chumbley, author of The Green Children, Literary Classics Book Award Finalist (Mary & Jen)

August 17th – Jen Shelby will discuss what’s next for Shatterglass

August 24th – TBD (Tod)

August 31st – TBD (Social)

September 7th – First Followers (Ethan)

September 14th – Belegarth Medieval Combat Society (Ethan) (Meeting in Savoy Room)

September 21st – Meagan Smith, Three Spinners (Mary)

September 28th – TBD (Phyllis)

October 5th – State Senator Scott Bennett (Bob)

October 12th – TBD (Tom)

October 19th – TBD (Tod)

October 26th – TBD (Mary)

November 2nd – TBD (Phyllis)

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” ― William Shakespeare 

“You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back.” ― Barbara De Angelis 

“The highest levels of performance come to people who are centered, intuitive, creative, and reflective – people who know to see a problem as an opportunity.” ― Deepak Chopra 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the distinguished gentleman from Connecticut, Ed Perry)

Mark your calendars for the upcoming Rotary activities:

July 22: CU Sunrise Rotary Habitat for Humanity Project, 8am to 3:30pm

July 31: Champaign Rotary’s Annual Golf outing and Corn Roast at Rotary Hill in Lake of the Woods

August 15: Baxter’s Restaurant’s Rotary Appreciation Day, 4pm to 7pm

August 31: CU Sunrise Rotary Social Slow Ride, 5:30pm meet at Tumble Inn’s parking lot

Sept. 8 and 9: Joint District Rotary Conference in Springfield, IL.

PROGRAM

Rotary District Governor Larry Howell was our program this morning. Larry recently joined Rotary when looking for a place in which he could serve. Larry is currently from Arcola, and this morning presented many Rotary topics, activities and ideas that are taking place in our district and throughout the world. Larry noted that Rotarians are People of Action, Making a Difference.  

While wearing this year’s Rotary gray Blazer and special tie designed by our International President, his presentation covered topics that included:

1. Presenting pins and a banner to the club with this year’s Rotary Theme and graphic: “Making a Difference”.

2. 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.

3. On September 8 and 9th our district will be part of a combined Rotary District conference in Springfield, Illinois. There will be many special speakers including the new Rotary International President, Ian H.S. Riseley. Everyone is invited.  

4. DG Larry has assembled a team who is currently updating the district’s web site, Facebook page, and district newsletter. He is asking all clubs to make sure the district has current address information for all members. While he visits each club in the district he is taking “selfies” with each club and will also take a photo of a project done by each club. His plan is for these to appear in the District Newsletter.

5. 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.

6. 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.   

Larry concluded his presentation by directing a rousing club chant “People of Action” and “Making a Difference”.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

July 27th – Club Assembly

August 3rd – TBD (Tom)

August 10th – Kenny Chumbley, author of The Green Children, Literary Classics Book Award Finalist (Mary & Jen)

August 17th – Jen Shelby will discuss what’s next for Shatterglass

August 24th – TBD (Tod)

August 31st – TBD (Social)

September 7th – First Followers (Ethan)

September 14th – Belegarth Medieval Combat Society (Ethan) (Meeting in Savoy Room)

September 21st – TBD (Mary)

September 28th – TBD (Phyllis)

October 5th – TBD

October 12th – TBD (Tom)

October 19th – TBD (Tod)

October 26th – TBD (Mary)

November 2nd – TBD (Phyllis)

“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” ― Lao Tzu 

“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” ― Napoleon Hill 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)

District Governor Larry Howell will be at our July 20 meeting.   Please stand when he is introduced.

There will be a club assembly on July 27.  Bring your ideas and party hats.

Contact Michelle to sign up for the Habitat for Humanity service opportunity.   We will be helping from 8 AM to 3:30 PM on July 22.

Champaign Rotary will hold their annual golf outing and corn roast on July 31.

Baxter’s will host a Rotary Appreciation Night from 4-7 PM on August 15.

CU Sunrise will have a Slow Ride social starting at 5:30 PM on August 31.   BYOB

Ed Perry shared that a Charter member of CU Sunrise, Walter Franke, recently passed away.   Walt was the founding dean of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations, now LER.

PROGRAM

Phyllis introduced Dr. Leslie Looney, the new chair of the Astronomy Department.   He explained the upcoming total solar eclipse and why we in Illinois will have a unique opportunity to experience it.

With undergraduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics from the University of South Florida, Dr. Looney worked one year at the Kennedy Space Center as part of the data processing system group lunching space shuttles.  With that experience, he started working on his PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Maryland.   He took a staff scientist position at the Max Planck Institute for space physics near Munich.  It was there that he saw his first solar eclipse and was “hooked” on the experience.

The sun is 400 times bigger than our moon but it is also exactly 400 times further away.   Every 18 months, the moon lines up directly between the earth and sun.  However, totality is just a 70 mile swath.  This year, the “sweet spot” for viewing is in Southern IL.   

CU will experience the eclipse between 11:50 AM and 1:20 PM on August 21.  Here the sun will be 93% blocked.   But three or so hours South of here, it will be totally blocked. However, due to weather, there will be just a 60% chance of observing it.  The U of I is the only school in Illinois with an Astronomy Dept. but  over 50 astronomers from all over will be meeting up at Goreville City Park, off 157, to observe the eclipse.   At the height, there will be total darkness.

Dr. Looney emphasized that looking at the eclipse with the naked eye will cause permanent blindness and regular sunglasses are not sufficient to prevent it.   He gave away special glasses that can be used for viewing and said these should be readily available for purchase closer to August 21.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

July 20th – District Governor’s visit

July 27th – Club Assembly

August 3rd – TBD (Tom)

August 10th – Kenny Chumbley, author of The Green Children, Literary Classics Book Award Finalist (Mary & Jen)

August 17th – Jen Shelby will discuss what’s next for Shatterglass

August 24th – TBD (Tod)

August 31st – TBD (Social)

September 7th – First Followers (Ethan)

September 14th – Belegarth Medieval Combat Society (Ethan) (Meeting in Savoy Room)

September 21st – TBD

September 28th – TBD

“A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year.” ― Paul Sweeney 

“Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite.” ― Charles Spurgeon 

“Every one goes astray, but the least imprudent are they who repent the soonest.” ― Voltaire 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Notes provided by Allan Penwell).

Our bucket money check for June was presented to Sarah Stumpf for her not-for-profit, Trinity Horsemanship Foundation.

Michelle announced that on Saturday, July 22, we need around 8 Rotarians to help Habitat for Humanity which is working on a new home at 1408 West Hill Street in Urbana.  This is the 100th house that Habitat has built in C-U.

PROGRAM

Joe Rank and Ryan Ross of the University of Illinois Alumni Association are presenting an 8-week history of the University to OLLI members this fall, and they condensed their presentation for our meeting.  Ryan is full-time with the Association, and Joe is a retired Navy commander whose hobby is to collect U of I music.

The University will begin celebrating its 150-year anniversary in February next year and conclude it in May.  There will be exhibits at Alice Campbell Alumni Center. The first building on campus was Old Main which is no longer in existence, but it was originally a seminary located where Beckman Center is now. Its nickname was “The Elephant.”

From 1868 to 1894 there was a daily chapel, and military instruction was compulsory for me until 1894 because it was a Land Grant institution.  Women were admitted in 1870.  The school colors were chosen in 1894 because orange meant freedom and blue stood for steadfast and stability.

From 1904 to 1920 Illinois came of age when President Edmund James promoted a strong library and recruited a top notch faculty. The years 1920-1940 were called Boom or Bust, according to our presenters, because the radio station was founded, football was a powerhouse, and Lorado Taft designed and built the Alma Mater statue.

The following years the GI bill lead to significant growth in the student population, and federal defense research dollars greatly enhanced the engineering and computer science departments. The first program for rehabilitating disabled veterans was started. From 1950-1965, there was conservatism, conformity, and the cold war.  Over half the student attended church regularly. The first supercomputer (if you could call it that) was born, and politicians were allowed on campus with John Kennedy making a speech in 1960. 

Joe ran out of time, but he reminded us that the first streakers were around in the Here Come the Boomer Years from 1965-1985.  Enrollment increased, and there were many days of protest.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

July 13th – Professor Leslie Looney, Director, Laboratory for Astronomical Imaging, UIUC will discuss the total solar eclipse on 8/21/17 (Phyllis)

July 20th – District Governor’s visit

July 27th – Club Assembly

August 3rd – TBD (Tom)

August 10th – Kenny Chumbley, author of The Green Children, Literary Classics Book Award Finalist (Mary & Jen)

August 17th – Jen Shelby will discuss what’s next for Shatterglass

August 24th – TBD (Tod)

August 31st – TBD (Social)

September 7th – First Followers (Ethan)

September 14th – Belegarth Medieval Combat Society (Ethan) (Meeting in Savoy Room)

September 21st – TBD

September 28th – TBD

“Some days are just bad days, that’s all. You have to experience sadness to know happiness, and I remind myself that not every day is going to be a good day, that’s just the way it is!” ― Dita Von Teese 

“Have patience with all things, But, first of all with yourself.” ― Saint Francis de Sales 

“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” ― Wayne Dyer 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Phyllis reminded everyone that the speaker at the upcoming July 13th meeting will be Professor Leslie Looney of the Laboratory for Astronomical Images at the U of I. His program will be on total solar eclipse that will past through Illinois in August.

Mary shared her recent experiences with a Rotary club in Ireland, including some of their projects and fundraisers. One project was the re-conditioning of bicycles by area prisoners and shipping them in containers to Africa. A fundraiser was a black tie affair with a live concert with area musicians.

Jack  noted that he will close out the years books tomorrow and that 39 members have paid for the coming year.

Bob noted that he attended the Rotary District Governor’s installation and that our new District Governor will be at our club on July 20th.

Congratulations Bob LaCharite on winning the Rotary Jacket Raffle and the Slow Ride gift certificate.

END OF ROD THE TERRIBLE’S REIGN

President Rod started the end of the year program with noting that the club met the 5 goals he set for this year. Five new members were added, our club’s committee structure was improved, we formalized a strategic plan and took part in club visionary sessions. We also met the goal for a one a month volunteer service project and we became a 100% Paul Harris member club.

Rod recognized the work of the club’s board, Robb Patton, Allen Penwell, Jack Kamerer, Keith Brandau, Scott Paceley, Ata Durakan, and Justin Lytle. He also thanked Jack for his many years of service, Allan for his continued “Super Star” Rotary work and Bob for his work as president elect, and Andrew, Phyllis, Lou, Tod, Darrell and Oktay for their service.

Oktay then also asked the past club presidents in attendance to stand up and describe their memories of what the club’s activities when they were president.  

AWARDS

Oktay presented our club’s awards for this past year:

Perfect Attendance

Ethan Chew, Michelle Barbey, Keith Brandau, Mary Hodson, Bob LaCharite, Candy Loyd, Phyllis Mischo, Scott Paceley, Robb Patton, Allan Penwell, Rod Roberts, Tod Satterthwaite, and Okay Baran.

Special Father and Son Award

Andrew and Finn Kerins 

Alive, Alert, Awake & Enthusiastic Award

Jen Shelby

Courage Award

Cary Woolard

Distinguished Rotary Service Award

Allan Penwell

New Rotarian of the Year Award

Michelle Barbey

Rotarian of the Year Award

Phyllis Mischo

BEGINNING OF BOB THE BELOVED’S REIGN

New President Bob LaCharite then presented Rod with the golden gavel award and past president’s pin. Rod followed with the formal “passing of the gavel” to Bob.

Bob presented his thoughts and goals for the upcoming year which included adding new members, increase fundraising activities and service projects. Bob also thanked several committee chairs and then welcomed Michelle Barbey and Angela Schoonover to the club’s board of directors and Billy Stull as club treasurer. 

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

July 6th – Joe Rank, U of I Foundation, will discuss Illinois at 150 (Mary)

July 13th – Professor Leslie Looney, Director, Laboratory for Astronomical Imaging, UIUC will discuss the total solar eclipse on 8/21/17 (Phyllis)

July 20th – District Governor’s visit

July 27th – Club Assembly

August 3rd – TBD (Tom)

August 10th – Kenny Chumbley, author of The Green Children, Literary Classics Book Award Finalist (Mary & Jen)

August 17th – TBD (Phyllis)

August 24th – TBD (Tod)

August 31st – TBD (Social)

September 7th – TBD

September 14th – TBD

September 21st – TBD

September 28th – TBD