January 24, 2013Catch Up Edition

MAKE UP SITESMONDAY

NOON•Wood River—St. John

UCC, WR•Jerseyville—Peace

United Church6 PM

•Alton-Godfrey—AltonSports Tap

•Bethalto—Strykers

TUESDAYNOON

•Collinsville—HolidayInn

•Granite City—NiedringhausMethodist

•Highland—Michael’sRestaurant

WEDNESDAYNOON

•Goshen—LCCC Center,Edwardsville

THURSDAYNOON

•Riverbend—Mac’s TimeOut Lounge, 315Belle St.

•Edwardsville—FirstChristian

FRIDAYNOON

•Troy, Silver Creek—Pizza Man

To locate a club whereyou are visiting check:http://www.rotary.org/en/AboutUs/SiteTools/ClubLocator/Pages/rid

RBFM-- A Community ResourceLast week's speaker was Tammy Iskarous of River BendFamily Ministries. RBFM is located on Ferguson in Wood Riverproviding a variety of services to help people to become self-sufficient.Tammy says that most of their clients need their servicesbecause of drugs or abuse. RBFM offers them counseling,parenting classes, child advocacy (CASA), violence counseling(RAVEN), life-skill classes, and similar services. RBFM is alsothe home of Riverbend Youth on Fire and Options Now PeaceMinistry.No one at RBFM receives a salary, not even Tammy. Theyhave six client service counselors plus the various serviceproviders. Last year there were over 1700 clents served with58,000 volunteer hours. 87% of all money raised goes directlyto services provided.Funding for RBFM comes primarily through donations andthrough fund-raising events like their annual Trivia night. Theyhave a board of directors of community leaders and can befound online at www.riverbendministries.com.

News, Notes, and NonsenseTwenty-two Rotarians and guests broke bread (BBQ chicken)together last week. The speaker was our solo guest and therewere no make-ups offered.

Larry and Dave, sitting together at the late table due to Dave'scompassion on Larry, collaborated on the right or wrong question.The answer was Steak and Shake. The question was ???

Rick found the usual ways to generate fine dollars for the club.Returnees and those who had not signed up to work the BBTournament were among those given an opportunity to enhancethe club reserves.

The 50/50 pot has grown to $148. Red and Lori only took home ashiny new card. After the draw, Rhonda checked to see if the jokerwas really there. Was there ever any doubt?

PROGRAMTODAY

Erin PhillipsMike Crews

Hurricane SandyNEXT WEEK

Rhonda PluesterMonica BristowBIRTHDAYS

Upcoming Events2-16: BasketballTournament2-28: BoardMeeting

CLUB OFFICERSPRESIDENTEric Barger

PRESIDENT -ELECTRhonda PluesterSECRETARYLori PalmerTREASURERCory GallivanDIRECTORSCLUB SERVICEPaul Hoover

VOCATIONAL SERVICEBrad Lavite

COMMUNITY SERVICEMark Allison

INTERNATIONAL SERVICERod Croxford

NEW GENERATIONSRhonda Pluester

NEW MEMBERSHIPKelli Keller

FUNDRAISINGAllen Hale

SERGEANT AT ARMSRick Hooks

BANNER EDITORLarry Lacher

CLUB ARCHIVESRick Hooks

FOUNDATION OFFICERSPRESIDENTErin PhillipsTREASURER

Mark SpecialeSECRETARY

Rose Sebastian

The Rotary BannerEast Alton Rotary Club

Chartered Oct. 28, 1971 District 6460www.eastaltonrotary.org

East Alton RotaryClubP.O. Box 56East Alton, Il 62024

Service Above Self

The Four Way Test

*Is it the Truth?

*Is it Fair to all concerned?

*Will it Build Goodwill andbetter Friendships?

*Will it be Beneficial to allconcerned?

We're on the Web!See us at:www.eastaltonrotary.org

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eastaltonrotary.blogspot.com

Club ArchivesJanuary 24, 1991

-Red was our Prez andCharlie our Secretary. Wewe breaking bread atDiRomero's-Next week's program willbe "OskeeWowWow" themovie featuringcommentary from Allen. -Our program last weekfeatured the EA-WR HighSchool Show Choir.-The next board meetingwould be held onFebruary 5th at LeeMarc's.-On April 6th we wouldsponsor the Pat HoltSingers at the EA-WR HSauditorium. may 7thwould mark the date ofour Bike rodeo.-Bud Hotson and MikeMcLaughlin werescheduled for upcomingprograms. (I'll bet theywere "interesting.")-Mark S. had detailsabout the Rotary YouthExchange orientationpackage for students andparents.

Free MoneyOur guest two weeksago was Illinois StateTreasurer, DanRutheford. Dan hasserved as treasurersince 2011. Beforethat, he served tenyears in the IllinoisHouse ofRepresentatives andtwo terms in the IllinoisSenate.

Dan talked to the clubabout I-Cash. He saidthat $1.6 billion ofunclaimed money isheld with the statetreasurer. These fundscome from manysources includingestates that were notcleared and gift cardsthat were nevercashed. About 20% ofpeople who check withI-Cash will find thatthey are duesomething. $21 millionbelongs to residents ofMadison County. Tocheck your status go towww.treasurer.il.govand follow the link to I-Cash.

Dan also spoke to theclub about the IllinoisDebt Crisis. Illinois'debt crisis is the worstin the nation and itsunemployment is theworst in the mid-west.The problem is due tothe unfunded pensionfunds for the statecreating anunmanagable liability.Dan says if something

does not change soon,the pension fund willsoon absorb all staterevenues. Forinstance, that last 67%tax increases did not goto pay unpaid bills, butto pay for publicpensions. Dan says theState Legislature is notaddressing the issueand should be held toaccount.

Making SchoolsGreen

On January 10, ourguest was AnnLinenfelser who came atthe invitation of VirgilMoore. Ann has beeninvolved in MadisonCounty as the recyclingcoordinator for MadisonCounty Schools since1990 which is nowknown as the GreenSchools Coordinator.

Over the years, Ann haspromoted recycling andsustainability in ourschools leading tobroad-based recyclingincluding shoes,eyeglasses, keys, tabtops, aluminium cans,plastic bags, gift cards,holiday lights, milk andjuice boxes, cell phones,and batteries.

The current initative isto compost food leftover from meals. EastAlton is one of the pilotschools that signed onearly and has developeda regular method forcomposting. "If itcomes from the earth, itgoes back to the earth."

Just For FunAn idiot decided to start a chicken farm, sohe bought a hundred chickens to start. Amonth later, he returned to the dealer foranother hundred chickens because all ofthe first lot had died. A month later he wasback at the dealers for another hundredchickens for the second lot had also died."But I think I know where I'm goingwrong," said the idiot. "I think I amplanting them too deep."