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OFFICIAL VISIT ISSUE AUGUST 16, 2025
VOL. 6 NO. 6
GOVERNOR'S ROUNDTABLE
NEWS-NOTES-NONSENSE
District Governor Bill Knake made his annual whistle stop at Julia's to share some thoughts and entertain some Q's. Bill hails from Havana, IL where he has a machine shop business.He pointed out that he works for us and wanted to know our concerns. There was no pep talk/formal presentation per say, he shared some info that he thought we might find useful. Bill touched on this year's theme "United for Good" and suggested that by working together we can accomplish a lot. The big news was that the International President during the 2027-28 Rotary year will be from our zone, the Kansas City area to be precise. He appreciated the fact that we have a Prez-Elect in place, PattiA. A lot of clubs don't. Bill gave a brief overview of the upcoming District Conference. Do you know a Gold Star Girl Scout or a Scouting America Eagle Scout? Bill has a certificate that he would like to present to her or him. He encouraged us to form an Interact Club and told us about a visioning program that's available to all clubs. Bill concluded by reminding us that the Rotary of today is not the one we may remember from years ago, embrace it to move forward.
Congrats to AlanaY on her 14 years of club service.
Prez Mark thanked everyone who signed up to serve on one of our committee. He is looking for someone to chair the Soap Box Race on September 6th and our Christmas party.
Early birders included-AllenH, JoeS (who wondered why he was so early) and BillP.
We welcomed Riverbend Rotarian JeannieT and Sam Harris, the new pastor of the Wood
River First United Methodist church, BillP's guest.
The post-nooner list included ScottL, GeorgeM, ChrisH and MikeK.
The Color Run flyer can be found on our Facebook page. We are actively looking for sponsors. September 27th is the date. Since the proceeds will help to fund our Eswatini dental clinic project Prez Mark suggests why not ask your dentist for a sponsorship donation? Smile!
The SRI (slide right in) crowd featured ChrisH and GeorgeM
RobinK has returned from her delightful Irish adventure. Even though she arrived home a day later then scheduled, she observed "What's not to like about spending an extra day in Dublin".
JoeS has less than fond memories of eating "fried nothings" (plain arepas) during his baseball stint in Columbia.
We had 19 members in the house to welcome DG Bill and nosh on filet 'o fish sammies, peas and carrots, tots/fries and cookies.
50-50 opportunities were afforded BradP and ScottL They passed. GlennB won the scratch-off.
Shameless plug-The Edwardsville Rotary Criterium bike race event is today (Saturday) in downtown Edwardsville. Racing starts @ 2, with the last race scheduled to start @ 9:35PM.
Opening duties were covered by AllenH, JoeS and RodneyD.
20 members forgot to take a look at the last issue of the Eastender News.
NOSHING WITH THE GOV
POST-MEETING CHATTER
ALL THINGS TRIVIAL
At a Hindu. temple in Bali monkeys swipe phones from tourists, trading them back in exchange for what?
A-Mangos
B-Figs
C-Peanuts
D-Bitcoin
(The answer is found near the end of the newsletter)
Today is National Tell A Joke Day
What is the largest Caribbean island by area?
Cuba
Hispaniola
Jamaica
Puerto Rico
Covering more than 42,000 square miles, Cuba is easily the largest island in the Caribbean Sea. Coming in second place at over 29,000 square miles is Hispaniola, which contains the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Despite its size, Cuba's 11 million residents make it only the second-most populous country in the region, just behind Haiti and just ahead of the Dominican Republic.
FROM OUR ARCHIVES
Sourced from the Eastender News, Make-Up and Banner newsletters
August 2018
The WR club heard a presentation about how to pack a suitcase from Dea Hoover of the Are We There Yet travel agency. The EA club found out about the Bellefontaine Cemetery in STL where the motto is "every stone tells a tale".
The WR Rotary Raffle was on the horizon. Tickets were $10 per or 3 for $20.
MarkSp was off to the PGA tournament in STL.
Happy Fines were paid by PaulG, MikeK and DonnaK.
A RHS scholarship student received a $1,800 check @ the EA meeting.
Leonard Berg was impressed by the number of club members he spied at the recent Alton Amphitheater Beach Boys concert.
MarkA announced that the Steak Fry would be held on October 16th.
RodC returned a bit late from his Amtrak trip to Glacier National Park.
Prez JohnP tickled the ivories in the absence of Betty Moxey.
MarkV handled all the cash collected from fines.
DonnaK left $252 on the table while MarkA and ChrisH virtually ignored the $16 EA "jackpot".
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
DATELINE:ROTARY
DURING THEIR TIME OF NEED, ROTARIANS RESPONDS
By Chad Wellman
On the morning of 11 February our lives changed forever. I was at home in Gunnison, Colorado, getting ready for work when my phone buzzed with an alert: “Hard Fall SOS.” My mom, Grace’s, smartwatch had detected a hard fall and notified emergency services – and me, since I was listed as an emergency contact. With the alert was a surprisingly accurate map of the “hard fall” location, an on-ramp to Interstate Highway 95 near Florence, South Carolina, USA.
Grace and my dad, Phil, were traveling in their RV when they had an accident with another vehicle. Both vehicles burned. Grace was lost instantly. Miraculously, Phil and the two family dogs were unharmed. But my dad, left with nothing, was stranded in South Carolina, far from his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in a place where none of us had any connections.
Our entire family – all seven of us – began making our way from five separate towns across Colorado. Our main concern was getting to Dad and making sure he wasn’t alone. He had always been there for us in our times of need. Now it was our turn.
Knowing Dad was a longtime Rotarian (a member of the Rotary Club of Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Virginia), a family friend contacted the Rotary Club of Florence West and asked if anyone could stay with him until we arrived at the hotel where he had been transported after the accident.
Over the years, I’ve attended Rotary meetings with Dad in various parts of the country. Rotary aligned closely with his values and it matched his deep sense of service and generosity. It was such a relief to hear from David Boulware, who along with several other local Rotary members dropped everything to be by Phil’s side. We had never met them, yet the bond was immediate, and their acts of kindness were heartfelt and generous.
The Rotarians brought Dad a new phone charger, medications, clothes, a toothbrush, and food for the dogs. But just having someone there with him was more important than a change of clothes, a shower, or any material needs. I’m sure stories were shared that day, and I imagine the camaraderie in that little roadside hotel room was tangible.
But it went beyond that. During their time together, Dad told them about the things his Rotary club did, including delivering care packages to first responders. Within days, the Florence West club decided to do the same. The name they gave the program? Sharing Grace, in honor of Mom. To continue reading, link herehttps://shorturl.at/brTdd
AND I QUOTE
“Growing older gracefully means having a keen curiosity about learning things about the world that you didn’t know yesterday, no matter how many yesterdays you’ve had."-Padma Lakshmi
"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."-John F. Kennedy
"Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present."-Marcus Aurelius
"It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future”-Yogi Berra
SMILE
Did I ever tell you about the time I went mushroom foraging? It’s a story with a morel at the end.
What happened when two slices of bread went on a date? It was loaf at first sight.
Why do crabs never volunteer? Because they're shell-fish.
What's a shark's favorite saying? "Man overboard!"
What did one slice of bread say to the other before the race? You're toast!
How did I know my girlfriend thought I was invading her privacy? She wrote about it in her diary.
Why did the electric car feel discriminated against? Because the rules weren't current.
Why do melons have weddings? They cantelope.
Watch what you say around the egg whites. They can't take a yolk.
Were did the pumpkins have their meeting? In the gourdroom.
What's the best way to save your dad jokes? In a dadda-base.
I got a new pen that can write under water. It can write other words too.
My boss said “dress for the job you want, not for the job you have.” So I went in as Batman.
THE NUMBERS
The percentage of employees who say they feel engaged—that is, involved and enthusiastic about their work and workplace—fell to 21% last year from 23% the year before-Gallup’s annual State of the Global Workplace
Almost half of drivers sought quotes from other insurers in 2024-LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Restaurants in the U.S. receive around 4 billion food-delivery orders a year through apps alone-Consumer Edge
The average American man spends $553 total on apparel and footwear each year-U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Half of American employers are now hiring professionals to train rusty or inexperienced employees how to handle clients and dress appropriately-Intelligent.com
One in eight pickup-truck drivers buy their rigs for job-related-purposes. Most pickups—there are about 60 million rolling around the U.S.—are “lifestyle” purchases-“The Essential Book of Pickup Trucks”
