ANNOUNCEMENTS
(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)
RYE Antonia Rivera and her host mom, Robin Ferguson, visited the club.
Todd introduced a prospective member, Judy Swanson.
Bob LaCharite gave the Rotary Minute. He grew up in Assumption, IL and graduated from the U of I in 1969. He then served two years in the Army at a Nike Missle site in the Chicago area. He worked for the FDIC and the IRS during his work career and was able to move back to Champaign from Massachusetts with the IRS in 2006. He served in the Champaign IRS office as a customer service specialist through his retirement in 2012. He now volunteers for Carle Hospital and as a tax preparer in the senior center during tax season. Since retirement, he has taken courses through OLLI and Parkand and has traveled to Japan twice to visit with his son David, who serves as an English language teacher in a Japanese school there.
PROGRAM
Phyllis introduced Todd Gleason, who is with the U of I Extension. Todd discussed the challenges with modern farming, including the fluctuations in the commodity market, as well as the ever-adapting role of technology in our daily lives.
Todd was the 5th of 6 boys growing up on a farm in Logan County. Four of his brothers and his dad still farm. In 1986, Todd got a degree in Ag Communications from the U of I.
He gives the “Closing Market Report” and hosts “Commodity Week” on WILL AM 580. The WILL 580 signal covers 138 counties in Illinois and Indiana.
American farmers provide the bulk of the food for 320 million Americans, plus exports. In 1800, there were about 2 billion people on the earth. By 1900, the world population was 3 billion. Today there are 7 billion mouths to feed. Todd explained how farmer’s incomes go up and down, tied to oil prices and weather conditions. During the drought, corn sold for $8 a bushel. Today the price is $3.41. A tractor costs between $85,000-100,000 and a combine typically costs between $500,000-700,000. A typical farm family must farm around 800- 1200 acres and have at least one job off the farm to survive.
Todd gave several examples of how he and farmers use technology in their lives. The first is by using SKYPE. His phone interviews are done by SKYPE. He also uses it to keep track of his invalid father.
Todd uses Twitter to communicate with farmers. Farmers don’t sit in front of computers all day. They get information via their phones. Todd has over 1,000 Twitter followers all over the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia. He also blogs and set up his own website using Google.
Finally, Todd proudly explained how he has lost between 35-40 pounds using his “audible diet”. He walks for an hour, almost every day of the week. Although he walks the same route or uses a treadmill, he never gets bored because he listens to books on tape! He has listened to 35 books since last October.
Flag Exchange
Geoffrey Rugege, brother-in-law of Iblaimu Kakoma, visited the club and presented a flag from the Kigale Virunga Club in District 9150 in Ruanda. His club would be interested in working on projects with ours. Geoffrey’s email is rugege@gmail.com.
—
| Sept 25th | Oct 2nd | Oct 9th | Oct 16th | |
| Introductions | Bob La Charite | Barb Lintner | BJ Lytle | Ben Mast |
| Invocation | Rod Roberts | Jen Shelby | Jeff Van Buren | Cary Woolard |
| Greeters | Bob La Charite | Barb Lintner | BJ Lytle | Ben Mast |
| Ed Perry | Rod Roberts | Jen Shelby | Lou Simpson | |
| Song Leader | Gary Olsen | Scott Paceley | Robb Patton | Allan Penwell |
| Notetaker | Lintner | Conforti | Chamberlain | Perry |
| Rotary Minute | Barb Lintner | BJ Lytle | Ben Mast | John McDaniel |
—
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
September 25th – Club Assembly
October 2nd – Kevin Hambly, Head Women’s Volleyball Coach, University of Illinois
October 9th – TBD
October 16th – Robin Christian Peters will discuss directing movies, interactive media, and video development
October 23rd – Dr. Paul Diehl, Henning Larsen Professor of Political Science, UIUC, will discuss international relations
October 30th – Joe Hooker, Assistant City Attorney for the City of Champaign, will discuss the Mahomet Aquifer
November 6th – Anne Sautman, Director of Education at Krannert Art Museum, will talk about KAM’s current exhibits of Goya prints and French WW I posters
November 13th – TBD
