(If you have any comments or questions, please contact the editor)
PI ISSUE MARCH 14, 2026
VOL. 6 NO. 23
FEBRUARY EA-WR SAS STUDENT EMMA
NEWS-NOTES-NONSENSE
Spring break time. Look for your next Eastender News on April 4th.
On Thursday PaulG made a presentation about the influence of the Republic of Venice between 697-1797. It's strategic location on the Adriatic and connecting to Europe via the Brenner Pass and Rhine River made it the nexus of commerce and culture. Paul indicated that Venice pioneered banking, trade, public health and allowed the arts to thrive. Paul also pointed out that, for the most part, the 14th century in Europe was pretty miserable.
Our Pork Jambalaya Dinner is scheduled for Saturday April 25th @ the Keasler Center. Prez Mark began distributing tickets on Thursday. Everyone is asked to sell at least five tix @ $10 per. Proceeds will benefit the EA-WR High School Special Ed program. See flyer below for more details.
Opening duties were covered by ChrisH, PaulH and BillP, who was very thankful for the mini-fruit.
We recognized the EA-WR February Service Above Self students-Emma Glenn and LeBron Reed (who was absent).
Happy birthday greetings go out to JeanK on St. Patty's day.
GlennB and PattiA attended the recent District 6460 sponsored PETS (President-Elect Training Seminar) and LoriP completed her Master Class training. Glenn found the training excellent and was able to make some nice networking connections post-training.
Put it on your calendar-Our Pints for Polio event will take place on August 13th
Congrats to exchange student Lilly on her receiving the Richard Morse Rotary Youth Exchange Scholarship from the Springfield Sunrise Rotary Club Foundation.
Our club's 100th anniversary is coming up in 2029. How will we recognize and celebrate?
Rotary Day At The Ballpark is @ Busch on May 30th vs the Cubs. Discounted tickets are available for $54. We plan to order as a club and sit together. March 25th is the early bird discount deadline. Want to go? Let LoriP know ASAP. See her email from this past Monday for all the details.
Early-birders included Prez Mark, AllenH and WendellR.
Slide-right-inners-PaulH and ChrisH.
The were at least 11 pinball wizards and Skee Ballers at Atomic Pinball last Friday. Fun for all. Thanks to Prez Mark for coordinating.
We welcomed WendellR's wife Deisy.
Last to arrive included GeorgeM and ChrisH.
There were 16 members dining on beef stroganoff, Rotary g-beans, rolls, salad and mini fruit pies.
SAA RickH recruited RobinK to be the finemaster. PaulG paid a Happy Fine bragging about how Italy beat the USA team in the World Baseball Classic a couple of days prior. We answered 3 out of the five trivia Q's correctly. Kanas does have a "peak" over 4,000 feet. Tired of winter? pay a $.
Two weeks after RickH claimed the 50-50, WendellR found the joker. His winnings will buy him a nice burger, maybe. KristenB was left with the rest of the deck.RobinK won the scratchie.
OUR PETS PARTICIPANTS
GOT YOUR JAMBALYA TIX?
THAT'S A WINNER!
WELCOME
ALL THINGS TRIVIAL
Apple came out with a new low-cost MacBook- called what?
A-Geo
B-Meo
C-Neo
D-Zeo
(Find the answer near the end of the newsletter)
Today is National PI Day
Which president developed the idea for the interstate highway system?
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
Herbert Hoover
Dwight D. Eisenhower
When President Dwight D. Eisenhower developed the idea for the interstate highway system, he had three different inspirations. First, he participated in the U.S. Army’s First Transcontinental Motor Convoy in 1919, which showed him structural challenges in the nation’s roadways. Second, he saw how efficient the Autobahn highway was when he visited Germany. And third, he was worried about evacuation routes if a bomb went off.
FROM OUR ARCHIVES
Sourced from the Eastender News, Make-Up and Banner newsletters
March 2022
We heard about the Sock For Tots program.
LoriP was busy distributing Baseball Mania tix.
Plans were afoot to attend the Alton River Dragons baseball game on June 1st.
MarkA returned from his Tampa winter home. Nice to have him back.
Prez Lindsey was looking for Color Run race sponsors.
LoriP announced that the deadline for ordering Rotary Day at the Ballpark tix was April 4th.
What's your favorite Madison County small business? Let RickH know and he will share your intel in the Eastender news.
SAA SherryT posed some difficult trivia Q's and tossed one softball sized Q to AllenH's table about the Benld Coliseum.
PaulG and JeanK failed to find the joker (from the previous week). BillP and WendellR had the same results with this weeks drawing.
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
DATELINE:ROTARY
Foundation results: World Polio Day and GivingTuesday
World Polio Day
In support of World Polio Day 2025, donors from around the world contributed more than US$2.3 million, and over 250 events collectively raised more than US$400,000. Together, we can eliminate polio to ensure a healthier future for generations to come. Learn more at endpolio.org.
GivingTuesday
The Rotary Foundation received more than US$2.7 million for GivingTuesday in 2025. We partnered with the GivingTuesday organization for the first time and piloted a Rotaract service project challenge, which resulted in 10 service projects. Thank you to everyone who participated in this global day of giving so we can keep Doing Good in the World.
AND I QUOTE
“Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example."-Mark Twain
“The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast."-Oscar Wilde
"People always live forever when there is an annuity to be paid them."-Jane Austen
"Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops."-Kurt Vonnegut
SMILE
Corporate Jargon Abuse
(Do you have a favorite?)
Bandwith
Change agent
Circle back
Decision tree
Deep dive
Growth mindset
hard stop
Hit the ground running
Juice isn't worth the squeeze
Lean in
leverage
Move the needle
Pivot
Put a pin in that
Take a 10,000 foot view
Unpack that
THE NUMBERS
Board games in the U.S. in 2024 generated almost $4.6 billion in revenue-Imarc
Youth sports costs have increased 46% over the past five years-Aspen Institute
Between January 2022 and December 2025, chocolate-related Google searches increased roughly 104%
Car buyers spent more than $26 billion to cover destination charges in 2025-Edmunds
More than 300 billion emails are transmitted every day, creating a composing, reading and responding burden that consumes as much as 28% of employees’ workdays
Nearly 30 million households, or 54% of primary mortgage-holders, have mortgage rates at or below 4%-Intercontinental Exchange
(Trivia answer-C)
THE OBJECT OF ROTARY
The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
First-The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
Second-High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
Third-The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
Fourth-The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
