Robert Hall Tinker was born on December 31, 1836, in Honolulu to missionary parents, the Reverend Reuben Tinker (1799–1854) and his wife Mary Throop Wood Tinker (1809–1895).[2] Tinker moved to Rockford in 1856, where he was employed as an accountant by Mary Dorr Manny, the wealthy widow of John H. Manny of the Manny Reaper Works.
Robert Tinker traveled extensively throughout Europe in 1862 and was greatly impressed by the estates and gardens he had seen there. On his return to Rockford, Tinker built himself a 27-room, two-story Swiss-style cottage on a limestone bluff overlooking Kent Creek.
In 1870 Robert and Mary were married, becoming one of Rockford's most influential couples. Tinker was mayor of Rockford in 1875, a founding member of the Rockford Park District and the CEO of the Northwest and I.C. Rail lines.
Mary Dorr Manny Tinker died in 1901 and Robert remarried her niece Jessie Dorr Hurd Tinker. His second wife adopted a son, Theodore "Teddy" Tinker in 1908.
Upon Robert Tinker's death in 1924, Jessie created a partnership with the Rockford Park District, allowing her to remain in the house until her death. After her death in 1942 the Rockford Park District acquired the property and opened the home as a museum in 1943.
Samantha Hochmann graduated from Northern Illinois University with a Master's in History in 2015. She began working at Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum in 2016 and took over as the Executive Director in 2018. Samantha spent 8 years as Secretary of the Rockford Historical Society and 3 years as the Media Coordinator for the Rock River Valley AMBUCS.
She currently serves as the Secretary for the Heritage Museum Park and as a team member of Haunted Rockford. Samantha has completed the Small Museums Pro Certification from the American Association for State & Local History and is passionate about social and cultural history.
Samantha will talk about the history of the Tinker Swiss Cottage and take us on a tour of the house via pictures. This will be an interesting and educational program and one that you can bring a guest or prospective member to join us in person at Memorial Hall or via Zoom. Jim Coffey, a former Tinker Board member and President, will introduce our presenter and act as Rotary Host.
The May15th meeting is set aside for Committee meetings. Committee chairs will contact their members to remind them of the meeting. If you are not assigned to a specific committee, feel free to join us for lunch and sit in on a committee meeting.
The Rock River Valley Food Pantry is having a "Peanut Butter Rally" from now until the end of May with the goal of collecting 20,000 jars of peanut butter to help families throughout the summer.
Rockford Rotary will have a barrel at the Main Street entrance to collect jars of peanut butter. If you forget to bring peanut butter, you can scan the code above and make a monetary donation.
On Friday May 2nd, Rockford Rotary planted a pollinator garden at Auburn High School as part of the District Governor challenge and to support the Interact Club.
Thanks to Tyler Smith for the prep work and for inviting RPS 205 Superintendent Ehren Jarrett to stop by. And thank you to members Mike, Paul, Linda, Tyler, Ehren, Becky and Pete.
Rockford Rotary will be working a shift at the Northern Illinois Food Pantry on Monday, May 13th from 12:30 - 3:30 at the Indoor Market Distribution center at 1397 Sandy Hollow Road (The Old K-Mart Building).
Volunteers should arrive at 12:15 PM. Volunteers can email Mary Maxted to sign up at marymaxted1@gmail.com'
Our May 29th meeting will be a road trip to the new Equine Center at Lockwood Park at 5201 Safford Road. The meeting will begin at 11:30 AM. We will have lunch, a brief business meeting, and a program on "Help and Healing with Horses". Following the program we will be able to tour the indoor equine facility.
A gentle reminder that you please pay for your lunch, $200 for March, April, May, and June. You can pay by credit card or send a check to our treasurer, Monica Glenny. If you bring your own lunch, you can opt out by not paying the $200.00. If you have any questions, or if you only want the lunches for a specific month, please tell Bob Canfield, 815-968-7200 or canfilaw@sbcglobal.net .
Each week we will be publishing a message from the Rotary International Foundation. This week's message is:
WHAT ARE PROGRAMS OF SCALE?
The Programs of Scale process awards funding to successful member-led programs so they can implement larger, higher-impact initiatives in our areas of focus.
Each year, The Rotary Foundation grants one Programs of Scale award of US$2 million to a club- or district-sponsored program that has proven its effectiveness and is ready to expand.
The programs need to use sustainable, evidence-based methods and have outcomes that can be measured. This allows us to track our progress and share what we learned in order to increase our impact — one of our Action Plan priorities.
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