Announcements

(notes provided by the venerable Neal Chamberlain)

The Rotary Minute was provided by Reuben Chambers.  Reuben was born and raised in Chicago in a family of nine children.  He attended Chicago schools, and received a B.S. degree from University of Illinois, Chicago in Liberal Arts. Reuben moved to the Champaign/Urbana area 14 years ago.   He joined the C-U Sunrise Rotary Club in 2006. Rueben is employed by Comcast as an account executive.  His wife is Tasha, and they have three children, Dylan, Landyn and Donovyn.

Rod announced that there is still time to sign up for helping with the Habitat for Humanity house build on Saturday, August 2^nd.  Members and friends are encouraged to sign up, even if they can only come for a few hours.

Program

Kris introduced the speaker for the day, Isak Griffiths, who is the Executive Director of Courage Connections.  Isak has a bachelors and an MBA from University of Illinois, and is an Air Force veteran.  Isak also introduced her co-worker, Mary Wallace, who is the Director of Development for Courage Connections.

Isak explained that although she is new to her position and the name Courage Connections (most recently know as Women in Transition) is new, the organization’s purpose and contributions to the needs of women in this community are not new. Courage Connections continues to provide housing, advocacy, education and self sustainability for women who are in need.  Courage Connections has three main connections:

First, the courage to connect:  We see the person behind the 2,000 domestic violence calls made to local police each year.  With Courage Connections, no one has to deal with domestic violence alone.  We know that over 300 school age children in our community are homeless.  With Courage Connection, these children have a safe place to go.  We believe that Courage Connections can and will provide services enabling families to achieve safety, stability and self-sufficiency.

Second, the courage to help:  We help victims of domestic violence and homeless women and children find a place of courage, safety and community.  We provide domestic violence services by providing 24-hour hotline, emergency shelter, counseling, safety planning, court advocacy and children’s case management.  We also provided transitional housing with daily phone assessments, counseling, educational assistance, support groups and early head start programs.  We are providing affordable rental housing for families and singles.  We encourage persons to use our retail training program in which they learn job skills, resume and interview skills, and job search assistance.

Third, the courage to change:  When women and families have used the needed support, they are able to connect to achieve success.  With the education and support we provide we have witnessed the lives of women change as they have courage to become a productive member of their family and community.

Isak ended her remarks by saying that Rotarians can help Courage Connections by volunteering, by providing financial support and by reminding people we are here.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE

July 31st – Deborah Miller, Director of Development, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

August 7th – Visit from the Governor

August 14th – Molly Delaney will discuss the CU Schools Foundation

August 21st – Bruce Knight, Planning and Development Director, City of Champaign

August 28th – Celeste Choate, Director, Urbana Free Library

September 4th – David Thiel, Director of Content for WILL TV

September 11th – Dr. Judy Wiegand, Superintendent of Unit 4 Schools

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(noted provided by the unconventional and unorthodox Paul Conforti)

Jack the Hammer: Yearly dues needed for those who have not yet paid – see Jennifer Shelby for a better experience in this endeavor.

Do you like hammers too? Rod Roberts has openings for hammer swingers (volunteers) to help with upcoming Habitat for Humanity building projects. There are several slots available on Saturday August 2^nd, and just a few slots left on Saturday September 6th.

Neal Chamberlain, who recently celebrated his 100^th birthday, gave a brief overview of his long stay on this planet.  Neal’s discussion was mostly positive news about his life and career, but he strayed a bit at the end and talked about the Cardinals.

PROGRAM

Mary introduced our speaker for the day, Linda Tammen, who is the Youth Literature Festival Coordinator.  Linda Tammen gave one of those frequent great programs which makes our club that much more extra special!  Linda is a retired Kindergarten and 1st Grade teacher from the Paxton Buckley Loda area. Linda is also a graduate of the University of Illinois, and after her retirement the College of Education recruited Linda to chair this bi-annual event.

Linda realized early in her career that her primary role in education was to get 1st graders to read proficiently in their first year as readers in school. Linda realized that if a 1st grader cannot read proficiently during 1st grade there is a significant chance that student will be behind the learning curve in all subjects for every grade thereafter. She understood this incredible responsibility of the 1st grade teacher. It helps when the teacher also loves literature, and Linda does just that. She also found that when you “connect a kid with a book you cannot calculate the impact it will have” on the child.

The Youth Literature Festival, which began in 2008, will take place this year from October 16-18 and is sponsored by the College of Education at the University of Illinois. In the realm of children’s literature this is a major event. Authors working in a variety of genres and appealing to students at many different age levels will be visiting our community for three days. The first two days will include visits to schools around East Central Illinois, and Saturday 10/18/14 there will be a community day that is open to the public at the I-Hotel.  The 22 authors who are participating have received a combined total of over 275 awards and special recognitions for their published works.

Please check out their website (http://youthlitfest.education.illinois.edu/).  You won’t want to miss another magnificent and unique cultural opportunity our community is afforded on such a regular basis!

SPECIAL NOTE

Last week’s speaker, Lacey Rains Lowe, shared a link to a video on bicycling riding.  The video is entitled C-U Sharing the Road and can be found here: http://ci.champaign.il.us/departments/planning/long-range-planning/bike-champaign/

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE

July 24th – Isak Griffiths, Executive Director, and Mary Wallace, Director of Development, will discuss Courage Connection (formerly Center for Women in Transition)

July 31st – Deborah Miller, Director of Development, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

August 7th – Visit from the Governor

August 14th – TBD

August 21st – Bruce Knight, Planning and Development Director, City of Champaign

August 28th – Celeste Choate, Director, Urbana Free Library

September 4th – Molly Delaney will discuss the CU Schools Foundation

September 11th – Dr. Judy Wiegand, Superintendent of Unit 4 Schools

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(noted provided by the crafty and courageous Barb Lintner)

The Champaign Rotary Corn Toast and Golf Outing will be July 21.

Sign Up now for our Habitat for Humanity build on August 2.

We were reminded to get our dues payments in for 2014-15.

SPEAKER

Lacey Rains Lowe, member of the Advanced Planning Division of the Planning Department for the City of Champaign, spoke to us this morning about “Champaign Growing Greener.”  Lacey graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in architecture and then received her master’s degree in urban planning at Clemson University.

“Our City is a model for environmental sustainability” was the future oriented goal adopted by the Champaign City Council in 2013.  This includes seven focus areas:  green economy, water, the built environment, energy, transportation behavior, solid waste and recycling, food and urban agriculture.

To achieve the goal it was necessary to create benchmarks and Lacey shared some of the results.  A study of greenhouse gas emissions in Champaign revealed that 22% of emissions are from vehicles, 28% from power plants, and 28% residential.  Energy efficiency studies yielded the information that 44% of use came from street lights, 1% from traffic lights.  By changing to LED’s the city has saved $162,000 per year.  15% of Champaign residents walk or bike to work; 65% drive alone.  The city has encouraged staff to use zip cars and the bike pool to attend meetings.  2/3 of water use is residential but the demand per person has steadily decreased in the past 10 years due to low flow fixtures.  90 % of waste in Illinois is from construction and demolition, food, and paper.  Champaign has free recycling pick up at curb side and 53% of residents recycle regularly.  The Illinois state goal for local supply of food from farm to grocery is 20% by 2020.  Local is considered 56 miles or less.  Most food travels an average 1,400 miles.

To achieve goals the city has created the outreach program, “Grow Green Till It Comes Naturally” and has partnered with Ameren for free energy audits (call866-838-6918 for information).  In addition a “Keep Champaign Beautiful” steering committee is being formed as part of the “Keep America Beautiful” campaign in order to plug into existing resources and grant money for tree planting litter clean up, etc.  Lacy told us about the Tour de Coop on Saturday, July 17, an opportunity to see how city residents are raising chickens as a local food source and mentioned other ongoing initiatives such as bike lanes.

Topics brought up in discussion included permeable paving, confusion about bike lane usage rules for bikers and drivers (a 15 minute DVD is available), and the possibilities of green construction certification in the city or state.

For more information you can contact Lacey Rains Lowe at 217-403-8800 or Lacey.Rains@ci.champaign.il.us

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE

July 17th – Linda Tammen, UIUC College of Education, will discuss the upcoming Youth Literature Festival (Oct 16-18, 2014)

July 24th – Isak Griffiths, Executive Director, and Mary Wallace, Director of Development, will discuss Courage Connection (formerly Center for Women in Transition)

July 31st – Deborah Miller, Director of Development, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

August 7th – Visit from the Governor

August 14th – TBD

August 21st – Bruce Knight, Planning and Development Director, City of Champaign

August 28th – TBD

September 4th – Molly Delaney will discuss the CU Schools Foundation

Date TBD – Chuck Reifsteck will discuss the trials and tribulations of his life while in office, including all the controversial votes, vetoes, and videos

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)

A visiting Rotarian from Texas, Mary Nelson, introduced her sister, Judy Vasey, who is interested in joining a Rotary Club in this area.

Jack reminded us that “Dues are due!”

PROGRAM

Mary introduced Susan Warsaw, retired from the University of Illinois, and her husband Ronny, who is retired from the USDA. A native of Queens, NY, Susan volunteered five times at Ground Zero.  One of her jobs was to help the United Way by calling donors to make sure that the decimals of their on-line donations were in the right place.  She also volunteered in the Medical Examiners tent and served food at the food tent.

Susan and her husband Ronny returned to the site in May.  She and Ronny, along with other volunteers and the families of victims had one-on-one private tours of the new Liberty Museum, where some of Susan’s mementoes are on display.

Susan described the beautiful gardens surrounding Tower One, unofficially known as the “Freedom Tower”.  The people of Holland donated 2 million tulip and daffodil bulbs, planted to bloom in the Spring following the tragedy.

Families of the victims were allowed to select the location of their loved ones names on the ledge of the water feature.   You can put flowers in the holes created by the names and they will be watered by the water flowing into the falls.    Susan suggested that visitors place flowers in the names of those victims whose families live far from the Memorial.

Upon entering the Liberty Museum, you see the huge Americans 9-11 Memorial Victims Quilt.   In the Remembrance Room, the walls are lined with 8×10 pictures of each of the victims.   In the center of the room are kiosks, where you can type in the name of a victim, see his or her family pictures and hear his or her life story.

A crushed fire engine and beams from the Twin Towers are on display.  Another room is dedicated to Flight 93.  Visitors sit on long benches and watch a time line of the trajectory of the plane’s path.   Simultaneously, you hear recordings of the voices of the air craft controllers speaking with the pilots.   Then they play recordings of cell phone calls between passengers and their families.

The last column is signed by all who volunteered at the site.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE

July 10th – Lacey Rains-Lowe, City of Champaign Planner, will discuss the city’s Environmental Sustainability Plan

July 17th – Linda Tammen, UIUC College of Education, will discuss the upcoming Youth Literature Festival (Oct 16-18, 2014)

July 24th – Isak Griffiths, Executive Director, and Mary Wallace, Director of Development, will discuss Courage Connection (formerly Center for Women in Transition)

July 31st – TBD

August 7th – Visit from the Governor

August 14th – TBD

August 21st – Bruce Knight, Planning and Development Director, City of Champaign

August 28th – TBD

September 4th – Molly Delaney will discuss the CU Schools Foundation

Date TBD – Chuck Reifsteck will discuss the trials and tribulations of his life while in office, including all the controversial votes, vetoes, and videos