<\/p>\n
Morgan County Democrats club members continue the club’s pop-up rally campaign with a June 18 rally at Nichols Park. The rallies, which club members said are intended to encourage people to vote, are expected to continue in assorted Morgan County communities ahead of the November elections.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Joe LockmanAndia\/Universal Images Group via Getty<\/p>\n
Jacksonville Sunrise Rotary Club<\/p>\n
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As the sun rose on a pleasantly cool summer day, 10 Rotarians, two family members and one guest speaker gathered in the back room of Rudi\u2019s Grill. While some ordered breakfast, the Unbreakable Polio Jar made its way in fits and starts around the narrow meeting table; greetings and chatter ebbed and flowed. When the time was right, Adler \u2014 with a little help from President Brittany \u2014 rang the June 16 meeting open at 6:59 a.m., followed by Jay leading the Pledge of Allegiance, Ella leading the Four-Way Test, (five for the fun-loving members) and Pat giving the opening prayer.<\/p>\n
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Rotations were made by Jay, Jane Zachary, Mary, Cindy, Ella, Pat and Sarah Edmiston. Recognitions followed, with Jay doing his best to guilt donations to the scholarship fund with stories of printer issues and getting up at the crack of dawn to find articles in that morning\u2019s newspaper.<\/p>\n
Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott and Cass Counties director Loren Hamilton took the floor and gave an excellent program on National Night Out, describing how this important event got its start, the reasons it was developed, highlights of the local Night Out, plans for this year\u2019s free evening of community and good will at Community Park, and more. After answering questions, Loren accepted an appreciative round of applause and a thank-you gift, the \u201chot off the press\u201d discount card.<\/p>\n
Pat passed out packs of discount cards to members to sell. See your nearest Sunrise Rotarian for local savings opportunities for the low, low price of $5. Savings start July 1 and last for a year. Pat put on her birthday hat for an upcoming celebration. Members found Ella\u2019s horoscope somewhat accurate. Her newly opened gift will aid in accuracy in one of her favorite activities. Sarah asked about the club\u2019s interest in working the gate at the Morgan County Fair. Ella asked officers to speak at the upcoming Passing of the Gavel.<\/p>\n
When the dust settled (or the coffee ran out), Adler \u2014 with a little help from President Brittany \u2014 rang the meeting to a close at 7:43 a.m. The next meeting will be at 7 a.m. June 23 in the back room of Rudi\u2019s Grill. All guests and visiting Rotarians are welcome.<\/p>\n
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\u2022 Meeting \u2014 7 a.m. June 23 at Rudi\u2019s Grill<\/p>\n
\u2022 Discount cards \u2014 for sale for $5; savings start July 1 and run for a year<\/p>\n
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\u2022 Passing the Gavel \u2014 June 27<\/p>\n
\u2022 National Night Out \u2014 Aug. 4<\/p>\n
\u2014 Submitted by Sarah Edmiston<\/p>\n
Jacksonville Sunrise Rotary Club<\/p>\n
As the sun rose through wispy clouds heralding a lazy, hazy summer day, 10 Rotarians, one family member and two guest speakers gathered in the back room of Rudi\u2019s Grill. While some ordered breakfast, the Unbreakable Polio Jar made its leisurely way around the narrow meeting table; greetings and chatter ebbed and flowed. When the time was right, President Brittany, with Adler\u2019s help, rang the June 9 meeting open at 7:01 a.m., followed by Jay leading the Pledge of Allegiance, Sarah Robinson leading the Four-Way Test \u2014 followed by a chorus of the fifth test (everyone was ready for fun) \u2014 and Pat giving the opening prayer.<\/p>\n
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Ryan started off the meeting by putting on his Zone hat and using colorful flyers to invite members to register for the local leadership seminar on July 11 in Springfield. (There\u2019s even a baseball game on Friday night.) John spoke next, answering many questions about Camp Courage and the history of this important summer camp for people with physical disabilities ages 6 years and up, his involvement at camp, stories of his favorite campers, what donations are needed, and more. After an appreciative round of applause, he accepted a donation as photos were taken.<\/p>\n
Rotations were made by Jay, Ella, Sarah\u00a0Edmiston, Jane Zachary, Sarah Robinson, Dave, Cindy and Don. Jay did his best to guilt donations to the scholarship fund with Recognitions, even getting up at the crack of dawn to find articles in that morning\u2019s newspaper.<\/p>\n
The club got down to business. After some persuasion from the current president, a certain member agrees to become President-elect. The club also discussed plans for the Fourth of July parade.<\/p>\n
When the dust settled (or the coffee ran out), Adler, with a little help from President Brittany, rang the meeting to a close at 7:48 a.m. The next meeting will be at 7 a.m. June 16th in the back room of Rudi\u2019s Grill. All guests and visiting Rotarians are welcome.<\/p>\n
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\u2022 Meeting \u2014 7 a.m. June 16 at Rudi\u2019s Grill<\/p>\n
\u2022 Discount cards \u2014 Coming soon<\/p>\n
\u2022 Passing the Gavel \u2014 June 19<\/p>\n
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\u2022 National Night Out \u2014 Aug. 4<\/p>\n
\u2014 Submitted by Sarah Edmiston<\/p>\n
Jacksonville Lions<\/p>\n
As a beautiful summer day mellowed to a quiet evening, 17 Lions and three perspective Lions crowded in the back room of Rudi\u2019s Grill. When the chatter ebbed to a dull roar, President Lion\u00a0Tamra rang the June 16 meeting open using the official bell, one of many highlights for the evening.<\/p>\n
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Other highlights include awarding future President Lion David Rubin de Celis with the Lion of the Year award, reviewing a successful Trivia Night (fun was had by all!), recapping last week\u2019s Mobile Unit, and Jim giving a touching biography.<\/p>\n
When the agenda was complete, President Lion Tamra enthusiastically rang her last meeting as president to a close at 7:09 p.m. The next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. July 7 in the back room of Rudi\u2019s Grill. Officers for the new Lion year will be inducted that day.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Flags down for Flag Day and Juneteenth \u2014 5:30 p.m. June 22<\/p>\n
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\u2022 Flags up for 250th Independence Day \u2014 5:30 p.m. July 3<\/p>\n
\u2022 Flags down for 250th Independence Day \u2014 5:30\u00a0p.m. July 6<\/p>\n
\u2022 Meeting \u2014 6:30 p.m. July 7\u00a0at Rudi\u2019s Grill<\/p>\n
\u2022 Morgan County Fair Gate \u2014 3-8:30\u00a0p.m. July 10<\/p>\n
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\u2022 Camp Lions treats \u2014 July 23<\/p>\n
\u2014 Submitted by Sarah Edmiston<\/p>\n
Rotary Club of Jacksonville<\/p>\n
Meeting Notes \u2013 June 12, 2026<\/p>\n
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President Kelly Pool called to order the June 12 meeting of Rotary Club of Jacksonville at noon in the Fireside Room of the Hamilton\u2019s 110 North East.<\/p>\n
President Kelly led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance and one verse of \u201cAmerica.\u201d Maryjane Bradbury delivered the week\u2019s Reflection, sharing quotes from Rotary founder Paul Harris that reminded us that, as Rotarians, we are ambassadors of goodwill to all.<\/p>\n
Our meeting volunteers were thanked profusely. David Bauer and Shawn McCombs were greeters, while Jan Ryan and Ginny Fanning sold 50\/50 tickets. Craig Albers and Shawn McCombs acted as sergeants-at-arms. Justain Corliss was in charge of delivering leftover food to The Salvation Army, which seems like some natural synergy. Daniel Lepper worked on tech setup, while Ryan Byers, who really looks like he\u2019s been working out lately, took notes.<\/p>\n
Our guests were Rabbi Rob and Lauren Thomas with Jan Ryan and various members of Craig Albers\u2019 family: his wife, Amy; his son, Steven; his daughter-in-law, Kayleigh; and, most importantly, his grandson, Benny.<\/p>\n
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Daniel Lepper led us in song, accompanied by the multitalented Sharon Zuiderveld.<\/p>\n
Rotary-related announcements were made:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 President Kelly updated the club on our contributions to the Rotary Foundation for the year. We have given $14,406 to the foundation\u2019s annual fund, exceeding our goal of $12,000. We have given $2,831.00 to Polio Plus, exceeding our goal of $2,500 and even our stretch goal of $2,600, the latter of which unlocks the award of\u00a0Bertie Robinson dressing up as a cowgirl at an upcoming meeting. (No, seriously.)<\/p>\n \u2022 Craig\u00a0Albers solicited sign-ups for the club\u2019s upcoming volunteering at the Morgan County Fair. We will be working the gate on July 9 and serving beer on July 11.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u2022 Joan\u00a0McQuillan reminded the Independence Day Parade committee that they will meet at 5 p.m. June 15\u00a0at Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n \u2022 Bertie Robinson thanked the club for its contributions to Polio Plus.<\/p>\n President Kelly presented a Paul Harris Plus-Four recognition to Trent Cain and a Paul Harris Plus-Eight recognition to Sharon Zuiderveld. These represent $5,000 and $9,000, respectively, of lifetime giving to the Rotary Foundation. Thank you for your generosity, Trent and Sharon!<\/p>\n Craig Albers led Recognitions and Rotations. Karen Walker was recognized for appearing in a newspaper article about the Summer Fun and Wellness Festival. Rotations were offered by Dan Lepper, thanking the club for volunteering at the Ferris wheel and recognizing the efforts of Interact President Jasmine Patel); Bill Blue, thanking volunteers at the Summer Fun and Wellness Festival; Brianna Pickens, whose\u00a0husband started a new job, daughter started daycare and who is in the last two weeks of her master’s degree program; Karen Walker, noting 5,900 pounds of food were given away in one hour at the Summer Fun and Wellness Festival; and Craig Albers, welcoming Benny to his first Rotary meeting.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Karen Walker introduced the program, which was our annual presentation of Paul Harris Fellowships, which are named for the founder of Rotary and recognize community members through a donation of $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation. Justain Corliss was named a Paul Harris Fellow by our club\u2019s\u00a0Circle Number 1, presented by Diane Seufert. Lauren Thomas was selected for a Paul Harris Fellowship by Circle Number 3, presented by Jan Ryan. Samantha Boston awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship to Trevor Huffman on behalf of Circle Number 6. Circle Number 4, represented by Joan McQuillan, gave its Paul Harris Fellowship to Matt Moore. Finally, a Paul Harris Fellowship was presented by Keith\u00a0Lape, on behalf of the entire club, to Steven Albers.<\/p>\n Keith Lape drew unsuccessfully for the 50-50 pot.<\/p>\n The meeting closed at 12:45 p.m. with the recitation of the Four-Way Test.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u2014 Submitted by Ryan Byers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morgan County Democrats club members continue the club’s pop-up rally campaign with a June 18 rally at Nichols…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":898292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3095,3188,723,7310,50,288293,52,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-898291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-features","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-jacksonville","tag-news","tag-nosocial","tag-top-stories","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116826877756824411","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}