Danville IL Rotary Club

Katie Hopper led us in the Prayer, Pledge, & 4-Way test.  Rick introduced visiting Rotarians & guests.  Installation of officers for the upcoming year will take place on July 6th.  Please try to attend to show your support for the incoming board.   Tom Chamberlin handled fellowship.

Our speaker for today was our very own, Dr. Alice Marie Jacobs from Danville Area Community College.  Dr. Jacobs spoke about the status of the college.  They continue to face funding cuts from the state while enrollment has almost doubled since 2000.  She also told us that community colleges receive only 13% of the higher education dollars while they serve 64% of the people attending college in Illinois.  DACC continues to improve itself through new programs and funding via grants.  Some facts about DACC can be found by clicking here.

Lynn Childs led us in the Prayer, Pledge, & 4-Way test.  Marla introduced visiting Rotarians & guests.  Reminder was made that the club board meeting would be held on 6/16/09 at 7am.  Tom Chamberlin took care of fellowship in traditional Rotary fashion.

Our speaker for today was Tom Redington, a Rotarian from the Clinton club.  He is heavily involved in the the Rotary Youth Exchange.  Tom brought us up to speed with expectations for our incoming youth for this year.  Tom was a wonderful speaker and brought some great stories of past youth exchanges he’s been involved in.

For more information about Rotary Youth Exchange, please visit: http://csrye.org

Chuck Schroeder led us in our prayer, pledge & 4-way test.  Frank Brunacci introduced visiting Rotarians & guests.  We thanked Amy Merchant (and her husband, Greg) for hosting the Wine & Cheese party this past Friday.  A great time was had by all and there is already talk of putting another event together.  Tom Chamberlin led us in fellowship.

Our speakers today were Eric Jensen & Axel Meuller from ThyssenKrupp.  More information on ThyssenKrupp can be found by clicking here. They gave a presentation on everything about ThyssenKrupp from its 200-year history to the plans for the local plant.  They are the world’s largest supplier of crankshafts.  The company has several business lines.  They addressed questions regarding the growth of their plant here in Danville to how the economy is effecting their company.

Thanks to everyone that helped with this meeting.  I was on vacation and not able to attend.  The speaker for today was fellow Rotarian, Deb Fridy from the Danville Area Board of Realtors.  A link to the DABR site can be found by clicking here.

Deb gave us un update on the real estate market in the Danville Area.  You can view a copy of the presentation by clicking here:  dabr-rotary

Overall the message is that things are not as bad here as most places. Thanks for the information Deb.

Shawn Mallady started our meeting with the Prayer, Pledge and 4-Way Test. Gil Garman delivered Fellowship.  Thank you to Gil for your work this month.  Scott Reed asked for all available club members to help place flags this Friday at 8am.  We will meet at St. Paul school.  The sign-up sheet for the Cheap Wine & Expensive Cheese was passed around. We will not have a meeting next Monday, due to Memorial Day.

The club recognized Dr. John Adams for his years of club leadership.  John is leaving our community and moving to Lafayette, IN.  John is a Past-President and has served as our club Treasurer for the past 15 years.  He will be missed by this club and this community.  Best of luck, John and the next chapter of your life.

Pat Owens introduced our guest speakers today; John Graves from Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. HFHI seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.

Habitat invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need. For more information, visit their website at: http://www.habitatdanville.org/index.html

Laura Williams started our meeting with the Prayer, Pledge and 4-Way Test. Gil Garman delivered Fellowship.  Scott Reed thanked those that worked at County Market on Saturday selling flags.  The group sold 109 flags.  The sign-up sheet for the Cheap Wine & Expensive Cheese was passed around.  Mike Brown of Provena USMC was welcomed back to our club.  Mike’s schedule changed and he is now able to attend our Monday meetings.  Welcome back, Mike.

Heather McKiernan has submitted her application for membership.  We look forward to welcoming Heather into our club.  Flag slips need to be turned in at next Monday’s meeting.

Chris Kittell introduced our guest speakers today; Rotarian, Vickie Hicks from the Danville Public Library Foundation and Barb Nolan from the Danville Public Library.  They presented a video that highlighed the many different aspects of the DPL.  Vickie spoke to the importance that the library holds in a community.  She read a story that is being developed to promote the positive aspects of our communuity, including the library.  For more information on the DPL, click here.

Rick Rotramel led off our meeting with the Prayer, Pledge and 4-Way Test. Gil Garman kept us in stitches with Fellowship.  Jim Wagner and Scott Reed received District 6490 Avenue of Service Awards for their work on Memorial Way.  Don Rokosch received an award from District for his work on International Service.  We need to continue to sell our flags for Memorial Way. We still need a couple of volunteers to sell Flags on Saturday at County Market North.  Contact Scott Reed if you can help.

Heather McKiernan from District 118 and Heather Cunningham-Jenkins from Coldwell-Banker were our guests today.  We are going to be hosting an exchange student in Danville.  If you are interested in serving as a host family, please contact  Dave Garver from Sunrise Rotary.  Don’t forget the Danville Symphony will perform this weekend.

Mike Finkle introduced our guest speakers today; Kathy Houpt & Mark Neil from Danville District #118.  They spoke about Danville New Tech which is part of the new Danville High School.  The students will each have a computer to build their electronic portfolios with.  The learn through project based learning.  The New Tech school is only the second one in Illinois, with only 46 in the US total.

Nana Rose presented our Prayer, Pledge and 4-Way Test.   Cathy Reardon let us know that we didn’t have any visiting Rotarians or guests.  Tom Mellen finished up his last week of fellowship.  Thanks, Tom for an entertaining month.  Scott Reed asked for volunteers for May 9th to sell flags for Memorial Way at County Market North.  We have the day broken down into 1-hour shifts.  He has handed out slips to each member with 10 flags to sell, please sell your flags. If you need more forms, they are available for download on our website.

Our speaker today was Sara Wheeler.  She is the Dean of Nursing at Lakeview College of Nursing. She gave us some background on the college and talked about the many different aspects of nursing that their students pursue.  Enrollment has gone up by over 200% since 2002.  She presented a video than can be viewed by clicking here. If you have any questions, please contact her at 217-477-2775 or by clicking here to email.

Nick Webster did out Prayer, Pledge and 4-Way Test, and introduced one of our guest speakers. Tom Mellen handled a shortened fellowship task. Scott Reed asked for volunteers for May 9th to sell flags for Memorial Way at County Market North.  He has handed out slips to each member with 10 flags to sell, please sell your flags. If you need more forms, they are available for download on our website.

We enjoyed two speakers today.

First, Jeannie Cook and Lisa Smith gave us on update on the Danville Dans.  They are very excited about the team this year.  They are once again looking for host families.  Details on becomming a host family can be downloaded by clicking here.

Our second speaker was Paul Sermersheim, he’s the Executive Director of Peer Court.  The program has worked with first-time juvenile offenders in Vermilion County for 15 years, teaching the youths to take responsibility for their actions. Through a court/jury scenario of their peers, the offenders are sentenced to community service, apologies, essays and other penalties intended to improve the youths’ choices in life. If you would like more information on Peer Court, please email Paul.

Tom Chamberlin did out Prayer, Pledge and 4-Way Test, and introduced our guest speaker. Tom Mellen took care of fellowship duties. The Sunrise Rotary Club is doing their annual flower sale. Roses are $20/dozen and $4 more for a vase. We are kicking off Rotary Memorial Way, please sell your flags.

Our speaker today was Charlie Hyde. Charlie is the Coordinator for the Victim Assistance Program in Vermilion County. He discussed the rights that victims have when it comes to their court cases. His departments act as advocates for the victims, keeping them informed of developments in their cases. Charlie noted that their annual Victim Assistance Golf Outing will be on July 24th at Turtle Run.