Our annual presentation of the Service Above Self Awards will be held on March 13th at Memorial Hall.  This always a fun event where we honor members of the community who have distinguished themselves with their service to help improve our area.  Since the start of the program in 1968, Rockford Rotary has presented Service Above Self Awards to approximately 332 individuals from our community including 7 who have received the award twice.  We give a second award to an individual who continues to serve the community after they have received their first award.  The Mary-Stuart Carruthers Community Impact Award has been awarded to 3 organizations since 2019.  And in 2021 we presented the Special Pandemic Humanitarian Service Award to the three Rockford Hospital Systems: MercyHealth System, OSF Healthcare and UW SwedishAmerican for their efforts during the pandemic in 2021.

     This year we will honor more outstanding members of the Rockford area for their "Service Above Self".  We would encourage you to attend this special meeting and support our honorees.  Dave Byrnes will again handle the meeting and introduce our honorees, and Mayor Tom McNamara will again say a few words and help hand out the plaques.

     Rockford Rotary held a wine tasting fundraiser at Artale on Friday March 7th.  We raised $620 for our Rotary Foundation.  As you can see from the pictures, a good time was had by all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rotary Happy Hour

 

     Our next Rotary Happy Hour will be held at The Goat at 1428 Main Street.  It will be on March 27th from 5:30 PM until everyone is gone.  The entertainment committee wants to support different businesses which is why we are going to try The Goat which opened a year ago.  It is a couple of doors north of The Norwegian and there is parking in the rear.

 

     The Northern Illinois food bank needs our help on Friday March 14th from 9-11 at their new location at 1397 Sandy Hollow Rd. We need 6 volunteers to join program coordinator Mary Maxted and President Mike.

     Please sign up here March 14th 2025 Foodbank Sign UP.docx or at one of our upcoming meetings.

 

     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 .

 

 

03/06/25 - State of Education in District 205

                 Ehren Jarrett, Superintendent

                 Host - TBD

 

03/13/25 - Service Above Self Awards

                  Host - David Byrnes