Art Gore
Tom Tesdal was chosen to be a member of the Group Study Exchange to Australia along with Gordon Von Qualen of Dwight.
In August we collected leftover garden seed for the program ASeed of Hope@ to be sent to countries South of the Equator. The program was started by Bo Lawrence of the Park Forest Club.
We had two major fund raisers during the year:
- Apple Sales before and during Corn Festival.
- Lumminaries before Christmas.
New members brought in during the year were Ed Kulig and Jim Basel.
Our bulletin editor, Jerry Warner, and assistant editor Dr. Wayne Franklin did a great job and their jokes were terrific.
Edward Sanford
During Ed Sanford's year as president a new 60"x60" projection screen was purchased to be installed at the country Club. (The screen was lost when the Country Club dining room was remodeled.) A Bingo game was purchased for the residents of Elliot Manor.
The formation of a Kiwanis club in Morris greatly inhibited the addition of members in the 30's age group so members looked at the 40's group for prospective members.
Each member was responsible for one program per year. Often panels of members and local officials were the meeting program.
As a community service project the erection of a "Welcome to Morris" sign was done jointly with the Lions, Kiwanis, Business and Professional Women=s Organization, and the Chamber of Commerce.
When asked how his year faired, Ed stated that he "considered the year to be a building one."
Editor's note: Ed has since moved to Arkansas where he joined a Kiwanis Club. He is treated "appropriately" when he returns for a visit. His article was written by Chuck Johnson.
Robert Wren
During my tenure as president. I felt that Rotary's primary problems were poor attendance at meetings, a continuing problem of maintaining membership and lack of club spirit.It appeared to me that lively upbeat programs would resolve all of these problems. The dull business part of the program was compressed into very little time, usually 2 or 3 minutes and unlike other aspects of the program might be inserted first last or anywhere in between. The format started with the invocation/benediction followed by "This Date in History" and "The Worst Joke of the Week". Then came the program speaker for the night and so on, all at a relatively fast pace and in a generally upbeat fashion. The programs were no doubt more fun than previously. Did they end the problems perceived at the beginning of my year, perhaps a little bit. One interesting side note: a couple of years later I attended meetings of all the other local service clubs making an appeal for something or another and discovered that they had all adopted some part or parts of the Rotary program format.
Fred M. Gamble
William E. Skelton Ph.D. of Virginia was named Rotary International President 1983-84. His motto and theme C "Share Rotary--Serve People." The motto of District 645 was "Bloom where planted."
Fred Gamble was plant manager for A.P. Green, a clay products operation outside of Morris. He had the unpleasant task of closing the business and laying off all employees. Shortly after his year ended Fred and his wife moved to Florida.
During his term besides the usual and varied speakers, some of the members exercised fellowship participating in a district bowling event. Our club had two teams of five bowlers; also, several took part in the annual district golf outing. Lastly, during this time the club sponsored a "Pony League" baseball team. To demonstrate their youthful vigor, nine plus members formed their own short-lived team, aptly named -- "The Cardiac Kids." These "kids" took on the much younger team. The three inning results are missing.
Very significantly, two community projects were launched and completed during Fred's year. First, under the leadership of Jerry Warner C Community Service members donated objects of art to the Morris Public Library. The appraised value exceeded $3,400.00. Items included paintings, art prints, wood carvings, and sculptures. A 500 year old pitcher was donated by Dr. Wayne & Dr. Ruby Franklin. See April 9, 1984 issue of Morris Daily Herald.
Secondly, another Morris Rotary community service project is highlighted in the January 12th, 1984 issue of the Morris Daily Herald. It was decided that our club would undertake the development of a suitable resale store to be operated by the Illinois Valley Sheltered Workshop. The purpose of the store is to provide income to help with the expenses of the workshop in the training and employment of handicapped adults age 16 or older.
The A"inch A Penny" resale store opened January 14, 1984 and has been a real success. The original goals have been exceeded and the services to the community are: a) a place to send used clothing, furniture and durable goods for resale, b) a place to purchase clothing, furniture and durable goods at very reasonable prices, c) a place where destitute families or individuals can get clothing, furniture and durable goods at t\no charge, d) a source of income for the Illinois Valley Sheltered Workshop.
The article on Fred Gamble was written by Ken Seidler.
Ken Seidler
The International Rotary President was Carlos Canseco of Monterrey, Mexico. His motto---"Discover a New World of Service". Bob Leet of Lockport was our District Governor who asked us to "Take Time to Serve."
Membership of July 1984 listed 54 names -- 16 are still members. September 1997 has 52 persons as members; five (5) of which are women. So much for growth or lack thereof.
My recollection is that we met at the Holiday Inn during 1984 returning to the Country Club in February 1985. There was some ill-will toward the club as to food and management.
The Club was blessed with Dr. Wayne Franklin, Ph.D. as Editor of the "The Rotamorr," our weekly bulletin. He was assisted by Dr. Peter Malmquist, M.D. -- son of long time member Judge Robert Malmquist. These Rotarian "took time to serve" providing much detail on club happenings.
In mid-July 1984 George Brown took over as Program Chairman. Other officers included Jerry Murphy-Secretary; Tom Cwik-Treasurer; and Don Bixby-Vocational Service.
Programs and activities were many and varied. Among the first was the visit of Australia's Consul General-a Rotarian-Terrence B. McCarthy and his wife. He spoke of difference between America and Australia. He also spoke of Tumut, the sister city of Morris. This being a ladies night there were many guests including Morris Mayor "Bud" Washburn and District Governor Bob Leet.
During the second Home and Trade Show at the High School Field house the club had a Rotary Information Booth. Can't recall if we gained a member or two.
Talk started by Del Nobel to establish a scholarship for college bound students.
Jerry Warner's efforts got the "Corn Festival 10K Rotary Club Run" started. This event in later years became the "10K Shamrock Rotary Club Run".
Mayor Washburn gave his annual "The State of Morris" talk in January 1985. There were subsequent meetings covering: IRS Tax Update by Jack Allen; What's Going on in Real Estate by Chuck Turner; and Prognostication by our Local Bankers.
The programs for the meetings were diverse and interesting, i.e., Civil War facts; tour of G.A.V.C.; B.S.A.; Seeds of Hope; J.J.C.'s Fitness Center; Marseilles Radar; Coal Mining in Grundy Country; a Rotarian's trip to China; Fuel and Energy from the Oil Industry; an Alaska travelogue; and Pyramid Power and Dowsers, to name a few.
The A Blind Auction also came into being in January--Jerry Warner's idea. It became an annual event known as the "White Elephant" sale. It's a fun time as well as a fund raiser.
Continued financial support was given to the Sheltered Workshop (Illinois Valley Industries); Boy Scouts; Girl Scouts and Youth Baseball.
Jerry Warner
The Morris Rotary year of 1985-86 was a memorable one because of all the fun and worthwhile activities undertaken and shared by everyone in the club. President Warner stated it was an honor to serve as president for the year and lists events which stand out as highlights:
A
baseball picnic was held in August which pitted the first place Rotary
MALS
Pony League team against the "Cardiac Kids" from our club. We
had a great evening of fun and food which was topped off with a three
inning
game between our league champs coached by Tom Bennington and the AOver
the Hill@ team coached by Jerry Murphy. We had lots of support
and enthusiastic cheerleading during the
game with food and gifts for each of our young Pony League players.
The first Rotary 10K MALS Run was organized in conjunction with Corn Festival. This event attracted over 200 runners from all over northern Illinois and raised much needed funding for the MALS organization. Everyone in the club participated including several Morris Rotary runners. This event was continued for almost a decade and was a feature event for both MALS and Morris Rotary.
"Seeds of Hope" was started in Morris Rotary to assist the fight against hunger in the third world. This idea was born in our district and combined the gathering of unused farm and garden seeds with the distribution of the collected seeds to the needy in South and Central American countries. Our first project tied Morris Rotary with Costa Rica where Patty Norton, daughter of Rotarian Bill Norton, was working in the Peace Corp. The project was a success and we were able to get a large amount of seeds into an area where much needed food was grown.
Rotary International had it millionth member week and Morris Rotary responded by inducting both Orland Jeffries and Arthur Hornsby as the possible millionth member candidate during this international event.
On a sad note, the 1985-86 year saw the passing on of a long time Rotarian James Robert (Bob) Purdue. Bob was a Rotary president during the 1963-64 year and was active in many Rotary and community activities.
Robert F. Wenger
George Brown
George Brown reports that "his year as Club President was blessed with a hard working group of officers, directors and committee chairmen". He continued by saying that "Early on we were involved in the APolio Plus" program designed to finance the eradication of Polio was a world health menace. Rotary International saw to the procurement and distribution of vaccines into those countries that had high polio populations.
As the program was refined in terms of individual and club contribution, a number of members were able to project themselves into the Paul Harris Sustaining member program.
The club participated in community affairs, and held a number of fund raising events. Our traditional "Turkey Shoot" and the "White Elephant" auction helped swell the coffers.
As happens in most club cycles, attendance had its ups and downs... when low, I wondered what I was doing wrong! But we were restored to a good level in due time.
Art Hornsby chaired our "Polio Plus" raffle, with excellent results. Ed Ballard proved to be an excellent choice as Program Vice President. We were always scheduled weeks ahead of time, with interesting programs.
The Club enjoyed good relations with District Governor Sam Walker (Rita) He and his district staff provided us with good assistance.
Don Bixby developed and presented a special report on "Polio Plus" to the membership.
Stuart Dewitt came up with a novel fund raising idea that netted $946.00 for the club's community fund.
A review of the ROTOMORRs for that year indicate that we had lively discussion, good fellowship, and a good sense of partici-pation and interest by the membership.
DON BIXBY
President Bixby set forth six primary goals for the upcoming year:
- Emphasize community involvement (We are at our best as Rotarians if we are strong locally!)
- Have fun and involve families
- Steady membership and activity in the club
- Increase attendance
- Continued support of Polio Plus
- Continued support of the District
Throughout the year President Bixby would lead the club in continued support of traditional club projects and events such as:
- MCHS National Honor Society
- Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts
- Chamber of Commerce membership
- District outings and meetings
- Inter-service club steak fry
- Inter-Rotary Club joint meeting
- Numerous local charity actions
- Basic Fund-raisers:
- Corn Festival
- Raffle/Sales
- White Elephant Sale
President Bixby established two ad hoc committees to handle special internal affairs. They were the House Committee for meeting locations and meals and the courtesy committee for member health and welfare concerns.
He also began the alternative meals program to meet the health needs of members and established the President's Award - a monthly Rotarian of the month award in recognition of members meeting a high standard of criteria objectives.
Other highlights of the 1988-89 year with President Bixby include:
- Mr. and Mrs. Bixby's attendance at the Rotary International Convention in Philadelphia (Don was PROUD to be a ROTARIAN!)
- Vice-President Jeffries initiated the Christmas Greenery fund raiser project with gross sales totaling over $1,700 - an outstanding first effort.
- Changed the Rotamorr bulletin color from pink to Rotary International yellow.
- The Rotamorr earned the Best Club Bulletin Award at the District Conference.
- Secretary Stu De Witt began a weekly posting of club meetings/activities in the Morris Herald.
- Promotion of more frequent fields trips and ladies' nights throughout the year - family involvement.
- Stressed club member involvement in diverse community and charitable events.
- Dir. Jerry Warner initiated a program for all members to acquire Rotary blue jackets.
- Member Tino Froilan successfully ran a "Books to the Philippines" project.
- Initiated the action to establish the Morris Rotary Club Scholarship Fund (based on donation by Member R. Coleman).
Thomas Eugene "Gene" Ingels
President Ingels began his year with 60 members including 6 Paul Harris Fellows. District Governor was Norm Kloker. The motto for the year was ATake Time to Serve@.
Ed Sanford and Will Dolezal planned the seventy-fifth anniversary. It was held in July of 1990 at Drakes Farm Restaurant. Secretary of State George Ryan (then Lieutenant Governor) was the guest speaker.
This year the club bought a bingo game with at least 1,000 slide cards. Up until now the game was borrowed from the Knights of Columbus. The annual turkey shoot baffled Bob MacDonald and Ted Conley but with the new equipment and a little practice, they conquered the new bingo set.
Roger Coleman and his partners offered the Morris Rotary Club $5,000.00 with no strings attached for a high school scholarship fund if our club can contribute an equal amount. The club came up with the added $5,000.00. Don Bixby and Gene Ingles proposed new ground rules for the new scholarship fund.
During this year Jerry Warner and Stuart DeWitt rebuilt the mounting for our frayed and worn Rotary Banner. President Ingels' year ended with a total of 52 members of which 10 were Paul Harris Fellows.(President Gene Ingels article was compiled from meeting notes and newsletters and was submitted by Stu DeWitt.)
Orland Jeffries
The year was begun by President Jeffries and his wife Nancy attending the Rotary International Convention in Portland, Oregon. The Morris Club was present with banners from Forest Grove, Oregon and the Official banner of the Rotary International Convention.
Highlights of the year was the celebration of the Morris Rotary Club's 75th Anniversary. There was a wonderful turnout of many Rotary Clubs, Past District Governors, City and County Officials. Lt. Governor George Ryan was the keynote speaker. At this banquet George Brown, long-time Rotary member presented Ed a check for $10,000.00 to the club's scholarship fund to bring the fund's base to $20,000.00. That amount was then wisely invested to allow the club to begin awarding scholarships to deserving recipients.
The rules and procedures for administration of the scholarship fund were completed and approved by the club. The first two $1,000.00 scholarships were presented to Zane Moyer and Christina Hiney. The scholarship fund was started when Roger Coleman (former Rotary member), Bill Hansen and Shelby Harrison challenged the club to match their contribution of $5,000.00 to start the fund. The challenge was met, bringing the fund's initial beginning to $10,000.00. This was doubled by George Brown. Many Morris Rotary Club members continue to contribute $100.00 each year.
In January 1991, the first two women joined the Morris Club. Kandi Cassetto was sponsored by Ken Seidler and Patricia Hibner was sponsored by Chuck Turner. This was the beginning of welcoming other very qualified women to membership of Rotary.
The Rotary club donated and planted four ornamental trees at Chapin Park in a special ceremoney attended by City Officials, Boy Scouts and local citizens.The clubs charitable expenditures for the year amounted to $9,400. This along with other acitivites, i.e. MALS 10k, monthly assistance to "We Care", hosting Rotarians from Turkey on Rotary education exchange, as well as many interesting, educational and entertaining meeting programs contributed to a successful 1990-1991 Rotary year.
Jerry Baker
Jerry Baker's year as President began with 54 members of which nine were Paul Harris Fellows. District Governor at that time was Ed Fouth. Governor Fouth attended Jerry's final meeting as president, presenting the past president's pin to Jerry and complimented him on his year as President. To quote the Governor about Jerry's year, "It was a really good year".
Jerry recapped the year by listing some of the things accomplished during his term. Jerry said he was at a training session when the speaker said Athere is no rote way of being president, and there are no procedures, so he has done things his own way. His goals were: greater attendance, two more Paul Harris members, and 10% increase in members. He more than captured the 10% but with losses, netted only one additional member. The attendance increased and new Paul Harris members were added.
His other accomplishments through Rotary were the waste hauling landfill seminar for the county, planting of many trees and shrubs, and increasing the scholarship fund by 25% to $25,000. Donations were made to the eye care program, Illinois Valley Industries, and MALS. The Rotary Club participated in the Grundy County Vietnam Veteran Memorial, raised over $1,000 for the Sesquicentennial, and participated in the Grundy County Environmental Fair.
A novel idea came from the Sergeant at arms during Jerry's year as President. The Sergeant charged everyone $1.00 if they did not have perfect attendance for the last month.
The four Way Test Banner was given to the club by Jerry Baker and Art Hornsby.
President Jerry's year ended with 54 members of which 14 were Paul Harris Fellows.
(President Jerry Baker's Article was compiled from the meeting notes and newsletters and was submitted by Stu DeWitt)
Arthur F. Hornsby
Arthur Hornsby listed the following as the accomplishments of his year as president:Major Events:
- Past President Jerry Baker donated "The Four-Way Test" banner to the club.
- Our club participated in sponsoring a political forum and a land-fill forum at the Morris Community H. S. Auditorium.
- Our club participated in sponsoring the Welcome to Morris sign along Route 47 south of Morris.
- Don Bixby was the only person to have 100% attendance, a truly outstanding achievement.
- Our club participated in sponsoring forums on gang related activities at the High Schools in Morris, Minooka, Gardner and Coal City. Rotary and the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce organized the County No Tolerance Task Force. This project has received International acclaim. It was written up in the ABuilding Peace in the Community: A Role for Rotarians@ Brochure, a May, 1996 Rotary International Publication.
- Our club provided volunteers to help with the food distribution every month.
- Jim and Carol Baum presented $2,000.00 to the scholarship fund in memory of Jim's father and our long time friend and Rotarian, George Baum.
- The district led its first leadership round table for all present officers and directors in Oakbrook, IL.
Fund
Raising Events:
- Christmas Greenery Sales.
- White Elephant sale netted $322.00.
Charitable Donations
- A donation of $500.00 was made to the Red Cross for the Hurricane Relief in Florida.
- A donation of $200.00 was made to the ALove Light Tree@ at the Morris Hospital.
- The club awarded two $1,000 scholarships.
- $100.00 was contributed to the club for the scholarship fund in memory of Gene Ingels. The club made a contribution in Gene's name also.
- $250.00 was donated to the Morris Pup Van.
- $250.00 was donated to the "No Tolerance Task Force."
- $100.00 was donated for landscaping at the Morris Library.
- Our club sponsored Joy Battersby and Erin Hickey for their European Women's Fast Pitch Softball Tour.
- Our club sponsored ABingo@ which was attended by none and was best forgotten. A few weeks later our club went to the Empress River Boat Casino which proved much more fun than Bingo.
- Our club assisted MALS with their 10K Run. There were 237 runners.
- We held our Tri-Club Steak Fry with the Lions and Kiwanis members in Goold Park.
- Our club sponsored the ads and manpower for the Grundy County Health Dept. Pre-school immunization program.
- Our club presented checks to the following organizations: IL Valley Industries, Eye-Care, Boy Scouts, Operation St. Nick, Girl Scouts and Big Brother/Big Sisters.
- Our club members attended the 4-H Pork Chop Bar BQ thereby providing both financial and visual support for 4-H (The pork chops were good, too).
Great Programs
- Our club attended a performance of "Evita" at Pheasant Run.
- We heard about the Chernoble Aftermath from our speaker, who was the first American called in to consult the Russians, Mr. Bob Thomas from Argonne Laboratories.
- Jim Kesman attended our meeting. Jim's daughter was in Finland as a Rotary Exchange student.
- We attended the Grundy County Historical Society Banquet.
- Our annual ATurkey Shoot@ was very rewarding to our members as 18 turkeys were given away plus cash.
- We had an annual gift exchange and Christmas dinner. Will Dolezal provided the jokes, Tom Wilkinson performed magic, Chuck Turner led group singing and Lorene Wenger played the piano. A great time was enjoyed by all members and their guests.
- Mayor Washburn presented the state of the city. Some of the highlights were traffic lights installed at Rt.. 6 & Lisbon Rd., upcoming West side sewer and water project, airport improvements and the purchase of two acres purchased for the Riverfront project.
- Because
the North American Free Trade Agreement was high profiled in the news, we did
three program on the topic. Speakers
came from the Canadian and Mexican Consulates and a speaker presenting the U.S.
Department of Commerce's view point, a Catapillar executive.
- Our club hosted the National Honor Society of Morris High School with a dinner and awards.
- Mr. Dave Henderson spoke to our members about the mass tax appraisal being planned for Grundy County, generating many questions.
- Grundy County Board Chairman Don Kaufman and Arthur Hornsby presented the program on the Economic Development Fund Raising Drive recently kicked off in Grundy County.
- Mr. Ralph Dalton, District Engineer for Illinois Dept. Of Transportation, spoke to our club. One of the many topics discussed was the I-80 Interchange improvement from a cloverleaf to a diamond with traffic lights.
Chuck Turner
Chuck
Turner was installed as President on June 29, 1993 by past president Jerry
Baker who had the installation ceremony memorized and never used a note as a
crib. This was Jerry Baker's last meeting as he became so ill he was not able to attend
any more Rotary meetings. He passed
away October 1993. His memorial service
was Oct 23rd at the First United Methodist Church in Morris. He was a super guy.
New
members for the year 1993-1994 were Clay Hutchinson by Tom Bennington, Tom
Simons by Chuck Johnson, John Thoennes by Chuck Johnson, Ken Lillagore by Jim
Manlove, Darlene Roe by Pat Hibner, David Herman by Jerry Warner, David Bright
by Jim Basil, Chris Manhein by Chuck Johnson and Scott Reader by Clay
Hutchinson.
During the Rotary fiscal year, our club donated $500.00 to the Des Moines, Iowa Rotary for flood relief for the 1993 flood in Iowa and other sites along the Mississippi River and rivers in Iowa.
Some of our programs included Carol Havel (July, 1993) Assistant Director of Nursing at Morris Hospital, telling about the 39,000 spare feet added to the current building; Del Hancock (Dwight Rotary member) presented slides of Russia; Gordon McClain on his views of working with gangs in Chicago; Paul Stoddard at N.I.U. on earthquakes; Chris Manheim on Visions of Economic Development; and D. Jeff Baum, veterinarian of marine mammals at Shed Aquarium, Chicago, on health and welfare of marine life.
The Red Badge Program for new members requiring them to learn about the club and participate in the activities was started. The first orientation meeting in years was given to new members by Chuck Johnson and Stu DeWitt.HIGHLIGHT
OF THE YEAR: Banner patch --
significant achievement
award for being best club in the district. The award was presented at the District
Conference Award Ceremony.
The program for the first meeting of the new year was a club assembly for the chairs to organize and flesh out their committees. This was possible because of the previous two month's work. The year was spectacular because of great support and leadership from the chairs.
Although the club's plate of projects was full, Governor Bill Temple's visit prompted one more. He showed the board a brochure that Naperville had designed for advertising itself to potential members. Six months later Morris had one, too.
One of the major achievements for the term was organizing an Interact Club in the Morris High School. This accomplishment will hopefully keep the club tied to the area's youth. Our success and district acclaim has spawned several more throughout the district. Everyone likes a project that works. Ken Lillagore ramrodded the project with Darlene Roe-Poundstone being the first club advisor. Larry Spirek was first school advisor.Another goal of the year was an Inter-Service Club Council composed of the Morris Rotary, Lions, and Kiwanis Clubs. One immediate benefit was the Kiwanis' pledge not to try again to put a Key Club in the Morris High School. The clubs would work together on some projects too big for one club and keep out of each other's way on fund raising and other projects. Future co-ordination was planned.
Committees:
The Vocational Committee, chaired by Tom Bennington, organized tours of Caterpillar Mining, Chicago's Deep Tunnel, Collins Station, Bi-Met and the new hospital wing. In addition, the committee made $100.00 cash awards to one male and one female student at the Morris High School and Mounted a permanent plaque with names on recipients on it at the High School. These students were selected as the ones best representing the Four Way Test.
The Community Service Committee, chaired by Mike DelLoro in addition to the above projects, financially supported the Morris High School uniform drive - $1,500.00, No Tolerance Task Force - $1,200.00, Operation Snowflake - $100.00, Rock Dance - $100.00, I-Care - $500.00, We-Care - $500.00, Boy Scouts - $300.00 and Girl Scouts - $300.00. We presented the National Honor Society with pins and brought them to dinner. Members supported the BPW Candidates Night. Several members did a major amount of work on the Narvick House's landscaping. A new fund raiser project was added to the greenery sales this year. The ice cream sales at the corn festival was as much for publicity as for the money (net $450.00).
The Foundation Committee started an incentive program to promote contributions by using accrued credit to match new contributions. They also instituted a policy to buy sustaining member pins for new contributors.
The Scholarship Committee interviewed thirty-five students and awarded two $1,000.00 scholarships.
The International Committee, chaired by Arthur Hornsby, sponsored the Group Study Exchange from France and started the process of forming a district committee for the I-Care Charity (Ortiz's glasses and hearing aids).
Some of the other activities completed during the year helped to earn our Club the Banner Patch:
- Rotary's 90th Anniversary was the February 21st program. Members of eleven clubs attended producing eight current presidents, five P.D.G.'s, the District Governor and almost 100 people.
- The Board decided to solve the AV dilemma by buying a television, a video-recorder, a slide projector, and providing a beautiful wood storage cabinet made by Clayton Hutchinson.
- A New Member Training Policy was instituted so they could learn about Rotary and our Club.
- The club's books were audited for the first time.
- The ill-conceived FLY-IN was originated during this term. We were praised by the district and encouraged by many other clubs but not supported by attendance. We lost money on the project.
Membership suffered this term from the loss of six members. Only four were recruited.
On the District Level, Art Hornsby was a Governor's Group Representative -- our first District position in years.
To
wrap up the year, much credit must go to officers and board members who started
meeting in May so they could be focused for the 1994-95 term and prepared to
get projects started on the first meeting. This dedication was the reason the Morris Rotary Club won the
District Honors for 1994-1995.
James C. Manlove
Jim Manlove listed the following as accomplishments of his year as president.
Major Events:
- Demonstrated the Sun Oven at Coal City Elementary School
- Clayton Hutchinson made a storage cabinet for Rotary AV materials at the Country Club.
- First Morris Rotary Fly-in attended by 66 people (and 66,000 flies) at the Morris International Airport.
- Interact Club inaugurated at Morris High School.
- Three Paul Harris Fellowships awarded
- Assisted I-Care with local vision and hearing screening on two occasions.
- Supported the Grundy County Child Immunization Program with volunteers.
- Rebuilt the Service Club sign at Kneller's Shell Station.
- Sponsored a large group of local youths at RYLA.
- Hosted the Rotary Group Study Exchange team from Japan.
- Three members and spouses attended the District Conference in Lake Geneva and hosted two Interact Club members.
- Hosted the MCHS National Honor Society and presented pins to 46 members.
- Presented the Rotary Good Citizen Award at Morris High School.
Fund Raising Events
- Ice Cream Sales at Corn Festival.
- Christmas Greenery Sales.
- Beef Raffle
- White Elephant Sale.
- Rose Bush Sales.
Charitable Donations:
- Boy Scouts.
- We Care.
- MS Walk
- I-Care
- Narvick House
- Girl
Scouts
- Presentations by federal, state and local elected officials
- Visits to Quantum, R. R. Donnelley in Dwight, and Caterpillar in Aurora.
- Valentine Date Night with Mark Twain.
- Dr. Gamble, President of J.J.C.
- Rear Admiral Tracey, Great Lakes Naval Training Center.
- Mystery Mansion Dinner at the Jacob Henry mansion in Joliet. And many more....
Clayton L. Hutchison
First, I would like to say thanks to all of our members for all the support that I received. I had a lot of fun. I learned a great deal about Rotary and a lot about myself.
I had a good group of board members to work with and we proceeded to get on with the task at hand and that was to increase membership and make the public more aware of Rotary. We took on projects that would help us do that.
In July of 1996 we had a flood in the Joliet area and this gave us a project. The dam broke that feeds the water to the I&M Canal, the canal dried up and you could walk around and clean it up. We did just that. Jerry Warner and Don Bixby chaired the project. We had a sign up and met at the Gebhart Woods Park on Sat. Morning to start to work. Before we could start Jerry provided us with drinks and donuts. It was very gratifying to see the members (at our age) down in the mud working together, pulling out water soaked logs, old bicycles and just a lot of junk that had been there for 100 years or more. We had a lot of fun finding fishing lures and old bottles. When the day was done we had cleaned up the canal from Gebhart woods to the down town area.
We started selling our annual Beef Raffle Tickets in order to be completed for the Oct. Drawing. We combined this with our Ice Cream Sales during Corn Fest week. The weather did not cooperate with us and our Ice Cream sales were down from the years before that we have had nice warm weather for this event. But we had a lot of fun doing it. Despite the weather we still made money for our club, selling 3000 raffle tickets.
As school started our club started working with the interact club at the high school. Two members chaired this program; Darlene Roe Poundstone and George Brown. We saw the interact club grow from 30 members to around 60 active members. We invited two members of the interact club to our meeting each week so they could learn about Rotary and keep us up-dated on what they were doing in their club. We had to make sure that if they needed something, they knew we were there to help. This group of young people collected eyeglasses for I-Care, had food drives, collected toys for children at Christmas and really made a difference in the High School.
In September our Greenery Sales were started, chaired by Jim Manlove. This project is a very good fundraiser for our club, because over half is profit. The items were delivered to the home of the chairperson and picked up and delivered to the buyers by Rotarians. Money was approved to build a storage cabinet and a valance for the projection screen, which I made and installed.
In November we held our annual turkey shoot before Thanksgiving which is always a good time for the members. We started putting up Christmas lights at the Narvick House and the attendants loved them. We have a project of taking care of the outside of the Narvick House (Il. Valley Workshop), raking leaves, trimming the bushes, etc. This is a very worth while project.
In December it is a short meeting month. We had a very nice dinner with our wives and were entertained by the Madrigal Singers from the Morris High School. We noticed that a lot of the singers were members of our interact club. It was noted that Stu DeWitt sold the most Greenery again this year. New Board members were announced at the Christmas Dinner and approved by the membership. Due to the Morris Country Club closing on Tuesday nights, our club had to change our meeting from Tuesday night to Thursday night for the months of January and February.
January came and we were working on the projects for the last half of my year, but first we had to have the annual White Elephant Sale. We took down the lights at the Narvick House and started making plans for our 2nd annual M.S. Walk. Tom Simon chaired this.
In February our club gave donations to WE-CARE, I-CARE, the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts. We planned for the GSE Team from New Zealand, chaired by Kathy Shinneman. We had a very good report from Pete Ippel, the Interact President and appointed a new scholarship chair for 1998; Jim Wright. The list of twelve students to attend RYLA was mailed in for April conference and money was approved to send two interact students to the District Conference in Wis.
March was the month that we had a lot of planning to do, making sure that we were ready for the District Conference, plans for the GSE Team, plans for the scholarship interviews, and M.S. Walk plans.April the membership supported the M.S. Walk. It was a very nice day and we had a good turn out. Dennis Hackett was chairman for the Scholarship Committee. The members interviewed a total of 26 students for the scholarships. Dennis Hackett presented the three Scholarship to the high school students at Awards Day. Mark Morgan and ten interact students along with myself attended RYLA at Moraine Valley Community College.
The GSE Team came to visit and was welcomed with great enthusiasm. Tours of area along with local business and schools.I gave them a plant tour of Caterpillar Tractor Inc. of Joliet and a tour of Com Ed Braidwood Nuclear Station.
In May we attended the Tri-club cook out and started working on the spring clean up project at the Narvick House. We hosted around 45 members of the National Honor Society students from the Morris High School at our dinner meeting and presented them with their pins. Plans were made to fund and build a shelter picnic area for the Il. Valley Work Shop. Our club sponsors the Meal on Wheels program by taking delivery for a month during the year. Plans were made to support the Morris Air Show by policing the grounds. We dubbed this the Ecology Patrol. For this work we would be able to sell the beef raffle tickets and have a stand to work out of.
June
came very quickly and it was time to plan for the installation dinner
and have
one more play day. This past year we
lost some good members, but we gained some real good ones, too.
All in all, the total numbers stayed the
same. But we did get out in the public
and had people knowing that the Rotary club was working hard in our
community. This past year was a lot of fun. In one way, I
am glad that it was coming to
an end. But it has been my pleasure to
be a small part and serve my club as the president.
Scott Reeder
James Watson
Arthur Hornsby
Arthur Hornsby has the distinction of being the only Morris Rotarian to serve two terms as President.
Steve Fannin
Dr. James Allen
David Trotter
Paul Jung
District Goverrnor - District 6450
Rotary International
• A consolidation of the youth committees under the leadership of a Youth Coordinator, Guy Groot, has created a cohesive mutually supporting structure. The Interact program had four regional chairs, which rejuvenated three clubs, charted two, and has two organizing. We should end the year with 30 or 31 Interacts. Our goal was 40 but we didn’t get the anticipated surge in Chicago schools. The Youth Exchange target was 40 for long term and 10 for short term. Actual will be 24 and 10. RYLA was once again hugely successful with a limit sign-up. A new team was trained for next year.
• We had hope to start a Special RYLA for Handicapped Kids but it has proven to be much more complicated than previously assumed. The project will go forward with training in Chris’ year and first session in Rick’s year.
• Additional youth projects are the EarlyAct Clubs for grade school and the Four-Way Test Essay Contest for middle school students. We hope that at least one EarlyAct will be started by the end of the school year. The Essay Contest was very successful with 13 clubs participating and three very thoughtful essays chosen as District winners. The second place winner, Anne Moberly, will read her essay at our May 1st morning meeting.
• We had hoped to start three more Rotoract Clubs but little effort has been made in that direction. More Clubs will be chartered next year.
• The District hoped that clubs would start a Four-Way Test program in their Junior High Schools. It was hoped that the program would teach ethics to the students, create a link to the schools, and build membership. No clubs participated in one although many training tapes were issued.
• A provisional Club is being started in Channahon-Minooka with a hopeful chartering in June. The target was four.
• The number of small membership clubs was reduced and more will do so by year end. Clubs less than 20 members has been reduced from 22 to 18, less than 15 members from 9 to 7 and under 10 members is still at 2 clubs.
• Started bi-monthly District Strategic Planning Committee meetings for the Districts leadership. It will ultimately put six years of District Governors into continuous planning and training of new leaders.
• Started District Fellowship meetings to help break down the barriers between clubs. Tommy Gunn’s Garage and the June Kankakee River Picnic are the result of the effort.
• We started vocational tours to continue breaking down club barriers and to give clubs ideas about what the vocational committees can do. We visited Argonne labs and Eli’s Cheesecake factory.
• To aid the clubs in the education of new members, we started a District Orientation Program. Nine meetings were conducted.
• The District Website was redesigned and maintained with current information on committees and District projects. It is a model for many Districts.
• The District put on two Roundtable meetings that were very intensive and compressed. They created an atmosphere that caused many clubs to form partnerships to accomplish larger goals than individual clubs could do by themselves.
• Attendance at the foundation seminar was more than doubled. A share committee was formed from the major giving clubs to decide how the District’s Share Dollars were to be spent. The Governor would no longer make that decision.
• Expanded and mailed a copy of the District Newsletter to each member’s home so the Rotary Family could share in the excitement. It also helped to start the correction process of the District Database.
• Because the District Database is inaccurate, we have employed a part-time clerical person to bring it up to date. We plan on it being corrected before the next billing is sent.
• Membership has increased substantially. Because of the condition of the database in the District and at Rotary International Headquarters, we don’t know if the increase is1.5% or over 5%. The R.I. Database started the year with 40 less than our District reported and now has 43 more than the District. The clubs reported 2331 in Mid-March.
• An increased participation on District Committees and at District events has created more interest in Rotary in the Clubs and District.
• Work is progressing on designing and building a float for clubs to use in local parades and for the 2005 Convention parade.
• The literacy committee supported the Pilsen School, St. Pius V, by collecting funds to purchase the classroom reading list with funds totaling over $4000 from Club and District contributions. These books will be ordered and processed with bookplates and bookmarks. Over 300 new books were carried to the District Conference, labeled and packaged for Pilsen Libraries. Many clubs are still calling with more books to be collected.
• The District supported the Chicago Midwest Rotary Club’s Chess Clubs program in the Pilsen area schools. Thanks to District Donations, the program is a model of civic club support to the Chicago City Schools.
• The Rotary Partners was initiated as a new resource in the family of Rotary projects. A Rotary Partner column was started in the Newsletter to help make the other Partners feel connected to Rotary.
• Projected an Annual Giving Goal of $175,000. We anticipate the District will fall short of that goal.
This extraordinary year was the result of considerable District planning and training of club leaders. This Class of Presidents has inspired their clubs to a greater degree of dedication and involvement than any previous class. They are bringing in new members at a very high rate. The spirit of Rotary will grow into next year and be a solid base for DGE Chris to build on in 2004-2004.
As much fun as we have had this year starting these new programs, the future District Governors will enjoy the fruits of this year’s committees.
Thank you for supporting me and allowing me to be your District Governor. Susie and I have enjoyed leading District 6450 to have its very best year ever.
Rotary International District 6450
Alan Ferrari
Mark Blackwell
G. James Ringer
”Jim”
The theme for Rotary International this year was “Lead the Way”. Many members of the Morris Rotary Club
demonstrated their leadership abilities and took charge during this year to
make it successful.
Our club started off the year by giving We Care $3,000 from our charity
fund. Then we had a challenge offered
to us by the George Baum (Past President) foundation. We would receive one for one matching funds during the next year
for our downtown Morris Rotary Park project that we had initiated the previous
year, but with the condition that the match would apply only to work completed
in the next year. The plans were
quickly finalized and approved by the board for action. With this accomplished we allocated the
remaining available charitable funds and the future ”Ball In The Fall” proceeds
for this project. Dave Trotter led the
way during the year to get the park project up and running.
Our exchange student, Laura Espinel-Ballen, arrived from Columbia in
August. She was very bright and
musically talented and began her stay with Bob and Julia Drake.
The club also initiated the handing out of age appropriate dictionaries
to all of the 3rd graders in the town of Morris. We were surprised at how much the students
and the teachers appreciated the dictionaries.
I hope we continue this project in the future.
With the Grundy Community Volunteer Hospice as our partner for the 2nd Ball in the Fall “Ball In The Fall”, we were able to bring in $37,000 and have 235 guests in attendance. The ball requires every club member to support it, however, Alan Ferrari originated the concept and led the way again this year. The Ball provided $15,000 to the Community Hospice and Rotary received about $12,000 primarily going to fund the park project.
In November we lost a Past President and well-known community supporter
when Dr. Hugo Avalos past away at the age of 84. Hugo was very active in many roles of community service during
his lifetime and he’ll be missed very much.
Once again the club helped We Care by ringing bells for them in
December on the coldest day of the month.
We’re not sure how this happens but whatever day we volunteer is the
coldest day in December. But the cold
did bring some snow and it was great to see Laura experience snow for the first
time in her life. She borrowed a
snowsuit and went sledding for the first time too. She wasn’t in the cold very long before she came inside for a cup
of hot chocolate as she also hadn’t experienced negative Fahrenheit
temperatures before.
Laura transitioned to my house for a couple months before moving on to
the David Blackwell family. She must
have been happy there because she never complained and made the honor role.
During January Charlie Gibbs led the way to Belize on an I Care mission
that the club helped sponsor. The group fitted 1200 pairs of glasses in 4 days
and also got a winter tan in the process.
Before the year ended we lost another Past President and club member
with the passing of LtCol George Brown.
George was a long time active member and servant to the community. He
also will be missed.
This was the year that our club’s website received some TLC and
upgrades from Susie Johnson. It won
third place in the district website contest.
John Zappia edited the Rotomorr again and received an Honorable Mention.
[Click here to download President Ringer's report for your History Notebook.]