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.
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:
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Robert PollardNovember 1
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Robin KarpanNovember 8
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Cheryl MaguireNovember 14
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Patrick BoyleNovember 15
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Lindsey HerronNovember 18
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Mark SmithNovember 20
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Brad PulaskiNovember 23
Spouse/Partner Birthdays:
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Bonnie TylerNovember 8
Anniversaries:
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Patrick BoyleJane BoyleNovember 25
Join Date:
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Henry StudnickiNovember 1, 196956 years
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Michael KellyNovember 1, 199926 years
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Paul GuccioneNovember 1, 199926 years
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Donna KarpanNovember 8, 201015 years
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Brad PulaskiNovember 15, 199035 years
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Diane SchuetteNovember 18, 201015 years
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Wendell RossNovember 30, 199134 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
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2025 CHRISTMAS PARTY
Rustic Roots Event SpaceDec. 18, 2025
5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. -
Trivia Night
Julia's Banquet CenterFeb. 07, 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.
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.
We welcomed the new Madison County Coroner, Nick Novacich, who spoke about the responsibilities of the office and his personal learning curve to understand all aspects of the job.
We were joined by the Executive Director of AmareNFP, Carson Conn, who told us about the services her organization offers to clients who are recovering from substance abuse.
We heard an enthusiastic presentation from the Wood River Library Director Lindsey Herron. She shared some stats from the recently ended fiscal year and talked about the wide variety of programs that the library hosts-from toddler events to AARP sponsored tax filing.
Scouting America (formerly the Boy Scouts of America) representative Nick Schubert joined us an provided an overview of the the variety of programs offered by the organization.
We were joined by Karen Wilson, Executive Director of our local food pantry, Operation Blessing . She gave us an overview on the operation and some thoughts about the Riverbend area homeless population.
Beverly Farm Chief Development Officer Taylor Justice joined us to talk about the 137 year old institution that serves 300 developmentally disable clients from 43 states.
Madison County Historical Society volunteer Steven Hansen joined us to talk about all the great things the organization is doing to preserve our local history. Find out more by linking here http://madcohistory.org
Rusty Wheat joined us to talk about the Chain Gang program. The program's mission is to help keep our communities clean.
East Alton Ice Arena Manager Larry Thatcher joined us to talk about the 30 year history of the facility (he's been in charge since day 1). It's been a great add to the community.
Wieland Group representatives Mike Roth and Jeff Byrd talk about the almost $600M modernization and expansion of their East Alton brass facility scheduled for completion in 2028.
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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