Welcome to our club web site. I'm Mark Smith, Club President for the 2025-26 Rotary year. Our club was created on January 1, 2021 when the former Wood River and East Alton clubs merged to become the Riverbend East Rotary club. Feel free to browse our newsletters, photo albums and other content you may find of interest. The club also sponsors a Facebook page. You may link to those sites below and to the right. Our club is located on the Illinois side of the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area. When you are in the area, please feel free to attend one of our meetings.
Member Birthdays:
-
Patti AndersonFebruary 3
-
Mark SpecialeFebruary 4
-
Scott LevanFebruary 24
-
Erin PhillipsFebruary 25
-
Glenn BreuklanderFebruary 27
Spouse/Partner Birthdays:
-
Christine HooverFebruary 5
Join Date:
-
Jean KainzFebruary 2, 200917 years
-
George TylerFebruary 7, 197254 years
-
Kyndra GreenFebruary 8, 20242 years
-
Sherry TiteFebruary 20, 201412 years
-
Chris HerzogFebruary 22, 200719 years
-
Robin KarpanFebruary 25, 20197 years
We meet In Person
Thursdays at 12:00 p.m.
JULIA'S BANQUET CENTER
101 Eastgate Shopping Center
East Alton, IL 62024
United States of America
East Alton, IL 62024
United States of America
Our Mailing address:
POB 56
East Alton,IL 62024-0056
-
Trivia Night
Julia's Banquet CenterFeb. 28, 2026
5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. -
Golf Tournament
Belk Park Golf CourseJul. 18, 2026
7:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
President Mark Smith presents Service Above Self certificates to Roxana High School seniors Trenton Hollaway and Ava Cherry
We were joined by the president of the Wood River Refinery Museum, Glenn Breuklander, who spoke about the history of the Shell (now Conono-Phillips) refinery. It's long and quite interesting.
Club President Mark Smith presents Service Above Self certificates to Haley and Sean. Continue reading below.
Alton Police Department K-9 officer Lane lawson joined us to tell us about his duties and to introduce his partner Riggs.
Club President Mark Smith presents November Service Above Self certificates to Autumn Hart and Gavin Springer
Phillips 66 refinery Manager of Public Relations, Melissa Erker, joined us to provide an update on the recent refinery sale and upcoming work at the plant.
Steelworkers Union President Craig McKee was on hand to talk about the history and current operation of the U S Steel Granite City plant.
East Alton-Wood River High School students Ayla Thomas and Malachi Carter are recognized as our October Service Above Self award recipients. Read more below.
We were joined by Wood River Parks & Rec Supervisor Dickson Wong who told us about his month long experience as a participant on the Deal or No Deal Island reality show.
We recognized our October Roxana High School Service Above Self award winners, Dalton and Alix.
Club member Diane Schuette spoke about her time as a volunteer with the USO facility located at Lambert Airport in St. Louis. She encourage everyone to consider volunteering to serve our active and retired military.
Madison County Catholic Charities board member Andy Macias told us about the the services offered by his organization, with locations in Alton and Granite City.
Heather's Zen Den owner Heather Garrigus joined us to talk about all the services she offers at her yoga studio located in Eastgate Plaza Shopping Center in East Alton, IL. Here's her business link http://heatherszenden.com
President Mark presented September Service Above Self award certificates to Tamarion Marshall and Brooke Parker, students at Eas Alton-Wood River High School.
President Mark welcomed Roxana High School students Lilliana and Noah as the September recipients of our Service Above Self award.
Wood River alderman (and club member) Jeremy Plank gave us a state of the city overview, focusing on downtown economic development.
Tyler Elbrecht spoke to us about his Elite Hockey School program and managing the East Alton Ice Arena.
The new owner of the Rustic Roots Events Center, Tara Pickett, joined us to talk about the plans to expand and upgrade the facility in downtown Wood River.
Rotary District 6460 Governor Bill Knake paid us a visit and shared his thoughts about the furute of Rotary.
Lucas Schneider joined us to talk about the program that he administers, CEJA-IL (Climate Equitable Jobs Act).
Piasa Armory owner and CEO (Chief Everything Officer) Scott Pulaski shared the history of his business and the variety of services that are available under his roof.
Bulletin Subscribe
President
President Elect
Treasurer
Secretary
Community Service
Club Service
Youth Service
International Service
Vocational Service
Club Foundation President
Newsletter Editor
Sergeant Arms
Immediate Past President
The first run of the new Soapbox Race car down Berkshire Hill
Mark Allison
Patti Anderson
David Ayers
Pat Boyle
Rod Croxford
Rodney Durr
Cory Gallivan
Paul Guccione
Allen Hale
Chris Herzog
Rick Hooks
Paul Hoover
Jean Kainz
Donna Karpan
Michael Kelly
Scott Levan
George Moore
Virgil Moore
Tommie Myers
Lori Palmer
John Pearson
Erin Phillips
Brad Pulaski
Bill Pyatt
Wendell Ross
Joe Silkwood
Mark Smith
Mark Speciale
Henry Studnicki
George Tyler
Mark Vaughn
Alana Yount