Rotary Club of Springfield Southeast

Hands-on Service: Good Dads program at Pittman Elementary School

For the second school year in a row, Springfield Southeast Rotarians are helping with the Good Dads program at Pittman Elementary School in east Springfield. The volunteers help set up and serve breakfast for the early morning program in which fathers enjoy activities with their children. These programs occur once each quarter.

Hands-on Service: Foundation for SPS Grant Delivery Day

Springfield Southeast volunteers had the honor of presenting Foundation for Springfield Public Schools grants at Sunshine and Reed schools on Sept. 4. It was a wonderful celebration as we were able to surprise winning teachers with checks.

Benji Lampert, Algerian Hart, Bill Sadler, Sal Agosta and Dan Emrie were the volunteers. The morning started with a rally and celebration kickoff at the SPS Kraft Administration Center. Lampert, Hart and Agosta then delivered 3 grant checks to Reed Academy's Jennifer Goods and LuAnna Bell and supporting staff. Emrie and Sadler presented a grant check to Sunshine Elementary's Amanda Brown.

The Foundation was able to distribute more than $200,000 at more than 40 SPS schools for 2025!

Hands-on Service: Supper at Ronald McDonald House

Springfield Southeast Rotarians spent an evening preparing supper for residents of the Ronald McDonald House at Mercy Hospital Springfield.

Welcome new member Chuck Dow

Nate Dunville introduced Chuck on Aug. 21. His cosponsor is Logan Aguirre.

Chuck is the managing director and a financial advisor at Synergy Wealth Solutions in east Springfield. His office has eight full time advisors and financial planners.

Chuck has lived in Springfield for 34 years, which is all his life except for two brief stints. He attended Southwest Missouri State University (now MSU).

Chuck is a former member of the Nixa Rotary Club. His volunteer work includes being a board member of the Generosity Collective, a giving circle supported by Community Foundation of the Ozarks that helps fund nonprofit organizations. He is also the founder and chairman of Borrow My Angel, which has a mission to harness “the power of real stories and human connection to drive positive change in the realm of mental health.”

Chuck and his wife, Jody, live in south Springfield and have two children.

www.dacdb.com

Welcome new member Molly Higdon

Jim Towery introduced Molly on June 19. Her cosponsor is Cliff Davis.

Molly has been the director of Private Wealth Markets for Simmons Bank Private Wealth in south Springfield since late 2024. She and her team manage $1.5 billion in trusts and investments. She’s worked in banking for 37 years after starting as a correspondent banker for Boatman’s Bank in southeast Kansas in the late 1980s. She most recently worked for a regional bank in private wealth leadership positions in Oklahoma City and Kansas City. She moved to Springfield from Leawood, Kan.

Molly is the youngest of three siblings. She grew up in Edmonton, Okla., where she was on the Pom-Pom squad in high school. She earned a BBA in finance at the University of Oklahoma, and an MBA in finance at University of Missouri Kansas City.

Molly is a past Rotary Club member in Oklahoma City. She is on the board of Lost and Found grief center in Springfield; the current president of the UMKC Alumni Association and UMKC Foundation; past board chair for Happy Bottoms KC diaper bank; she supported Kansas City ballet, and was in Business Council KC and the Kansas City Chartered Financial Analyst Society.

Molly is married to Hal Higdon, chancellor of the Ozarks Technical Community College system in southwest Missouri. She has two grown children: Campbell, a Marine captain at Fort Pendleton, and Annie, a dispatcher for Sacramento, Calif. For leisure, Molly spends time with her dog, Daisy the Puggle, red wine, and Sooners football.

Welcome new member Tom Willadsen

Bill McNeill introduced Tom on June 19. His cosponsor is David Compere.

Tom has been the transitional pastor for Trinity Presbyterian Church in Springfield since December 2024. He began serving churches as a transitional pastor just before the pandemic, serving churches in Omaha, Neb., and Reno, Nev. Tom began his ministry at First Presbyterian Church in Mankato, Minn. He moved to Baltimore for three years before returning to the Midwest to take a position at First Presbyterian Church in Oshkosh, Wisc., where he served for 19 years.

Tom was born and grew up in Peoria, Ill. After graduating from Peoria High School, Tom got his undergraduate degree at Northwestern University in 1986. As a member of the Northwestern marching band in 1982, Tom watched as the Wildcats broke a 34-game losing streak, the longest in NCAA football history.

After graduation, Tom took a job with the Department of City Planning in New York City before returning to Chicago to attend seminary at University of Chicago, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1990.

Tom has been a Rotarian for 20 years. He served as club president in Oshkosh in 2006-2007 and attended the International Rotary Convention in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2006. He also was a member of a club in Sparks, Nev. He is a Paul Harris Fellow.

Also while in Oshkosh, Paul earned his Doctor of Ministry from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and published his first Book “OMG! LOL! Faith and Laughter.” His past community service includes the Nevada Interfaith Association and Oshkosh Public Library Board.

Tom lives in south Springfield and has two sons: Peter is in graduate school at University of Kansas and David is in the Army, stationed in Monterey, Calif.

District 6080