“Understand and be confident that each of us can make a difference by caring and acting in small as well as big ways.” ― Marian Wright Edelman – American lawyer and activist for children’s rights

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” – Maya Angelou – 1928-2014 – Poet-Singer-Memoirist-Civil Rights Activist

“Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.” – Coco Chanel – 1883-1971 – French Fashion Designer

“She was powerful not because she wasn’t scared but because she went on so strongly, despite the fear.” – Atticus – Character-Poet

ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

July Bucket Money will go to Daily Bread Soup Kitchen.

This Saturday, Aug.7, at 10am club volunteers will meet in the lobby of the IMC/old Post Office building in downtown Urbana to begin the Books 2 Prisoners service project. The following people have agreed to participate: Phyllis, Michelle, Mary Kay, Charlie, Ata, Ed Perry, Ed Bridges, Robb, Ray Elliott, Larry.

On Tuesday, Sept. 14, volunteers are needed to help transplant overgrown flowers from the Decker Garden to an adjacent location in Mattis Park. Phyllis and a representative from the Champaign Park District will supervise the work. Bring a shovel and learn the proper methods of transplanting flowers.

Please continue to save and bring your old newspapers to our Thursday club meetings. They will be used for our Champaign County Humane Society service project in October. Ed Perry will collect each Thursday and turn them into beautiful animals.  Ask Ed to make your favorite create for you!

SOCIAL GATHERING

Last Thursday evening a fun casual get together for club members, family and friends took place outside at Lodgic. Hors ‘d’oeuvres and drinks were served with conversations and laughter. There was even a Chuck Reifsteck siting!

Conversation included updates on families, summer trips and vacations, concerts recently attended, visits to area parks and several upcoming community and club events. Concerns were expressed about an increase in Covid cases due to the Delta variant. Lodgic requested mask wearing when entering the building as per recent health guidelines.

It was a fun evening, and we look forward to future social gatherings on the fifth Thursday of every month.   

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

August 5th – District Governor Heather Stoa

August 12th – Mark Hanson, Curator for the Museum of the Grand Prairie, CCFPD will discuss the upcoming year, post-pandemic (Charlie)

August 19th – Normal Rotarian Drake Zimmerman, co-founder and chair of the Rotary Action Group Against Malaria, will speak about Global Grants of Scale (Mary)

August 26th – Gabe Lewis, Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (Ondine)

September 2nd – Club Assembly

September 9th – TBD (Tom)

September 16th – TBD (Bob)

September 23rd – TBD (Cary)

September 30th – Club Social

October 7th – Club Assembly

October 14th – TBD

“Self-esteem means knowing you are the dream.”  – Oprah Winfrey – – Actress-Entrepreneur-Talk Show Host-Media Executive-Philanthropist

“You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.” – Andrew Murphy – Olympic Athlete

“When we witness great acts of kindness or courage, it inspires us and elevates us to also want to be a kinder and braver ourselves.” – Lea Waters – Researcher-Psychologist-Author-Speaker

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

Urbana Club guest Ray Elliot visited.

July Bucket Money will go to Daily Bread Soup Kitchen.

The following people will be participating in a volunteer event for Books 2 Prisoners on Sat. Aug. 7th from 10:00a.m.-noon: Phyllis, Michelle, Mary Kay, Charlie, Ata, Ed Perry, Ed Bridges, Robb, Ray Elliott, Larry.

No meeting next Thursday July 29.

Our next club social will be on Thursday July 29, 5:30pm at Lodgic (in our regular meeting rooms). Hors d’oeuvres will be served – beer, wine and other drinks will be available at the cash bar.

PROGRAM

Our speaker for the morning was Professor Geir E. Dullerud.  Dr. Dullerud is the W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering at UIUC.

Professor Dullerud’s presentation focused on the University’s Center for Autonomy which performs a lot of its robotics testing at the new Intelligent Roboics Lab (IRL) facility in the Research Park next to the I-Hotel & Conference Center.

From self-driving cars to intelligent robotic assistants to remote surgical systems, autonomous technology will revolutionize the way we live, work, and play. To enable this revolution advancements in research and workforce development must take place to provide certified-safe performance.

The Century for Autonomy’s Mission Statement is: A major technological and societal revolution is underway in which the physical systems of the future will be autonomous and able to provide functionality without human intervention. A successful phased transition to such systems that is welcomed and trusted by humanity and society will require new research from all dimensions of technology, the social sciences, business, and law. The goal of this Center is to provide a systematic pursuit of these research developments on a Campus-wide scale.

Professor Dullerud spent the second half of his presentation on the Center for Autonomy’s work with the US Naval Academy. Using a programming language called MATLAB systems are being developed and tested in which robotic harbor Navy patrol ships can monitor and intercept intruder units using mathematics and probability computing.

The IRL facility allows researchers a large space to test mobile robotics. Projects are focused on robotic autonomy, control, and artificial intelligence.

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

July 29th – No AM meeting – Club Social at 5:30PM at Lodgic

August 5th – District Governor Heather Stoa

August 12th – Mark Hanson, Curator for the Museum of the Grand Prairie, CCFPD will discuss the upcoming year, post-pandemic (Charlie)

August 19th – Normal Rotarian Drake Zimmerman, co-founder and chair of the Rotary Action Group Against Malaria, will speak about Global Grants of Scale (Mary)

August 26th – Gabe Lewis, Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (Ondine)

September 2nd – Club Assembly

September 9th – TBD (Tom)

September 16th – TBD (Bob)

September 23rd – TBD (Cary)

September 30th – Club Social

October 7th – Club Assembly

October 14th – TBD

“Sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just show up.” – Brene Brown – Professor-Lecturer-Author

“I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong.” – Audrey Hepburn – 1929-1993 – British Actress-Humanitarian

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”  – Dr. Seuss – 1904-1991 – Author-Political Cartoonist-Illustrator-Poet-Animator-Filmmaker

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provides by the gruntled gentleman from Connecticut, Edward Perry)

Mary Kay thanked those that signed up for the “Feeding our Kids” volunteer project on Saturday, 7/29/21. All slots have been filled.

Larry passed around a signup sheet for volunteers to help with Books2Prisoners. Volunteers will meet at IMC, (the old post office in downtown Urbana) on Saturday August 7 from 10am to noon. An orientation will take place and then the group will work in pairs processing books and responding with letters to the prisoners. All volunteers should be fully vaccinated.

Cary noted that on Thursday, 7/29/21 a club social will take place at Lodgic with drinks and casual conversation. We will not have a club meeting that morning.

Darrell stated that the speaker for this Thursday’s, 7/22/21, meeting will be Professor Geir E. Dullerud who will speak about autonomous vehicles.

CU Sunrise Rotary Club has purchased a 3×5 flag to be displayed from the arbor in the Decker Garden on appropriate holidays.

On October 16 from 10:00-noon we will meet at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 2101 S. Prospect Avenue, Champaign, to fold newspapers for dog/cat cages at the Champaign County Humane Society.  Please save your newspapers.  If you can’t attend we’ll collect/fold your papers.  Ed “Paper Cat” Perry is leading this effort and will show us how to fold the papers so they fit correctly in the cages.

PROGRAM

Bob introduced Dr. Marianne Alleyne from the Department of Entomology & the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at UIUC, whose presentation was titled “Cicadas, Cicadas, Cicadas”. Dr. Alleyne gave a very informative and engaging presentation about the Cicada which is currently in the national news as billions of these noisy insects have been emerging this year in the United States after 17 years underground.

Dr. Alleyne explained the various broods of Cicadas, the various timing of their emergence, the areas of the United States in which they live, and their timetables to come out of the ground. This year’s area for the large Periodical group of Cicadas ranged from New Jersey westward to Vermillion County here in Illinois. If you missed them this year another group will emerge in 3 years in Illinois upward through Wisconsin. There are 20 species of Cicada just here in Illinois which are around every year, but are not in the vast numbers that we see with the 17 year Cicada. Cicadas can be found in many places and habitats throughout the world.

 Dr. Alleyne brought live cicadas and passed around mounted samples and noted the beauty of these interesting creatures. Questions from the club were many and constant. It was truly an informative presentation, and the club was totally engrossed.

Additional information can also be found by simply googling “Cicada” and Dr. Alleyne suggested a fun website, cicadamania.com, for more information.  

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

July 22nd – Dr. Geir E. Dullerud, Director, Center for Autonomy, and W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UIUC, will speak about autonomous vehicles (Cary)

July 29th – No AM meeting – Evening Club Social at Lodgic

August 5th – District Governor Heather Stoa

August 12th – TBD (Charlie)

August 19th – Normal Rotarian Drake Zimmerman, co-founder and chair of the Rotary Action Group Against Malaria, will speak about Global Grants of Scale (Mary)

August 26th – TBD (Ondine)

September 2nd – Club Assembly

September 9th – TBD (Tom)

September 16th – TBD (Bob)

September 23rd – TBD (Cary)

September 30th – Club Social

October 7th – Club Assembly

October 14th – TBD

“I thrive on obstacles. If I’m told that it can’t be done, then I push harder.” – Issa Rae – Actress-Writer-Producer

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt – 1884-1962 – Former First Lady of the United States

“I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be herself.”  – Emma Stone – Actress

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)

There are still three open slots for the July 24 Feeding Our Kids repack.

There will be no morning meeting on July 29.   Information about an evening social to follow.

Would you like to learn how to respond to prisoner requests for books?   Sign up for the training at Books2Prisoners, 2-4 PM on August 7.

The Board has decided that the club will plant a tree in memory of any deceased member.   Member donations will be accepted for commemorative plaques.   If you would like to donate toward a plaque, please send a donation to Lou Simpson.

PROGRAM

Jennifer Shelby spoke about her association with Blackburn College in Carlinville, IL.   She has been a trustee on their board for 11 years and says Blackburn is one of the best kept secrets in higher education.

Blackburn was founded by Reverend Gideon Blackburn as a Presbyterian liberal arts college in 1837.  Their work program began in 1913.

There are 11 “work” colleges in the country.  The mission is to link a rigorous and affordable liberal arts education with a unique work experience.   Blackburn is the only one in Illinois and the only one that is student managed.  USA Today called it one of the “top ten affordable colleges” in the nation.

With the exception of some commuters, all students work 10 hours per week in exchange for tuition waivers.  Each of 12 departments is managed by a student.  They hire employees, make personnel decisions and complete reports.   One of the 12 departments is community services.   Those students work for local businesses, schools, libraries, etc.   They come out with real job experience and a resume to go with the diploma.

Over a third of the students are the first in their family to attend college.  Their families cannot afford to help them.   Blackburn is the most reasonably priced private college in Illinois. Full tuition, room and board is about $15,000 per year.   Alumni donate to funds established to help kids who can’t afford supplies or need to pay for transportation to go home for family emergencies.   Students graduate with very little debt.

Blackburn offers 40 majors and minors.   Currently, enrollment is at 490 students.   They have a 10:1 student to faculty ratio, and they offer NCAA Division III athletics.

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

July 15th – Dr. Marianne Alleyne, Assistant Professor of Entomology, UIUC, will discuss the emergence of cicadas (Bob)

July 22nd – TBD (Cary)

July 29th – No AM meeting – Club Social

August 5th – District Governor Heather Stoa

August 12th – TBD (Charlie)

August 19th – Normal Rotarian Drake Zimmerman, co-founder and chair of the Rotary Action Group Against Malaria, will speak about Global Grants of Scale (Mary)

August 26th – TBD (Ondine)

September 2nd – Club Assembly

September 9th – TBD (Tom)

September 16th – TBD (Bob)

September 23rd – TBD (Cary)

September 30th – Club Social

October 7th – Club Assembly

October 14th – TBD

“If you can dance and be free and not be embarrassed, you can rule the world.” – Amy Poehler – Actress-Writer-Comedian-Producer

“Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” – Angela Lee Duckworth – Psychologist-American Academic-Science Author

“I began learning long ago that those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” – Booker T. Washington – 1856-1915 – Educator-Reformer

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Newsletter staff is on vacation this week.  Please see the coming email from our top reporter, Paul Conforti, with news and information from last week’s meeting.

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

July 8th – Jennifer Shelby will talk about the work college concept at Blackburn College in Carlinville

July 15th – Dr. Marianne Alleyne, Assistant Professor of Entomology, UIUC, will discuss the emergence of cicadas (Bob)

July 22nd – TBD (Cary)

July 29th – Club Social

August 5th – District Governor Heather Stoa

August 12th – TBD (Charlie)

August 19th – Normal Rotarian Drake Zimmerman, co-founder and chair of the Rotary Action Group Against Malaria, will speak about Global Grants of Scale (Mary)

August 26th – TBD (Ondine)

September 2nd – Club Assembly

September 9th – TBD (Tom)

September 16th – TBD (Bob)

September 23rd – TBD (Cary)

September 30th – Club Social

October 7th – Club Assembly

October 14th – TBD