September 14th, 2017

“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.” ― Henry Ward Beecher 

“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” ― W. Clement Stone 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Notes provided by Allan Penwell).

The board meeting this month is September 20th from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m at First Federal. There will be a full agenda.

The Lake Shelbyville party barge is September 23, and there are still a few spots available.  Talk to Keith for further details.

Diana is sponsoring a Generosity Feeds event on September 30th at Lincoln Square from 10:00am to noon. Generosity Feeds is a national charitable organization that is working to feed hungry children in every county across America so all children have the opportunity to thrive. The plan is to bag 10,000 meals in two hours. Sign-up is required, and Diana will register our volunteers.

Lou thanked everyone for their work on the Decker Garden. It looked great this year, and we look forward to next year.

One of our guests invited everyone to join in a celebration of the Baha’i faith Light of Unity Festival on October 21 (talk) and 22 (concert at Foellinger). For more information, call 217-337-1808.

PROGRAM

Our speaker for the Belegarth Medieval Combat Society was not available, but Ethan is a member of the local chapter that conducts simulated combat on the university campus. Members involved in this organization fight each other using foam-lined weapons. Participants typically use swords and shields, but can also use spears, bow and arrows, polearms, and hatchets. Many members decorate their shields to reflect their specific realm or their fighting unit. Ethan has been a participant for approximately two years and fights with a sword and shield.

Mary and Andrew attended the Heart of America Rotary meeting which was held in Springfield last weekend for Zones 30 and 31. Our zone is Zone 30 which is comprised of 14 districts and includes all or parts of Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee. Mary found it interesting that Rotary clubs in the zone have different sizes ranging from small clubs to the Birmingham, Alabama club which is so popular that it has a waiting list and caps membership at 650. It was surprising to learn that the Springfield area only has a total of 150 Rotarians, but there may be three times that many in C-U.

Some clubs are looked at as an elitist membership such as found in Europe and Asia. Other can be laid back such as one Rotarian who noted their club meets in the evening. Liquor is served, and many times just has a discussion rather than inviting a speaker.

—

—

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

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

September 28th – Jim Rossow, Vice President-News, News-Gazette Media (Phyllis)

October 5th – State Senator Scott Bennett (Bob)

October 12th – Dr. Shirley Palmer, the co-pastor of Faith Methodist Church, will discuss the combined Rotary grant program to provide a men’s homeless shelter over winter months in C-U (Bob)

October 19th – Laurie Matheson, Director, University of Illinois Press (Phyllis)

October 26th – TBD (Mary)

November 2nd – Derek Fultz, Director of Facilities, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, UIUC will discuss the renovation of the Natural History Building (Phyllis)

November 9th – TBD

November 16th – Adelaide Aime, Executive Director, RACES