Rotary Club of Springfield Southeast

Recognition lunch 2019

Our club celebrated its successes in the 2018-'19 Rotary year, honored the Volunteer of the Year, thanked its leaders for the past year, and installed its 2019-'20 leaders at our annual Recognition Lunch on June 20.

Tammy Mast presented the Volunteer of the Year Award to Mark McNay. Bill also honored our club's executive secretary, Kim Pittman, and assistant executive secretary, Linden Mueller.

Past Assistant District Governor and Past President Brad Bodenhausen installed our new officers.

The event then included the ceremonial passing of the gavel from our club's first president, Sam Hamra (1967-68), down the line through subsequent presidents to our newest president, Patrick Harrington (2019-20). Patrick thanked Bill Squires for his service this past year and gave special recognition to Bill's wife, who had to deal with his extra absences from home in the past year as he dealt with Rotary business.

Dan Emrie took these photos.

Bill Squires

Tammy Mast

Mark McNay

Bill Squires, Kim Pittman, Linden Mueller

Brad Bodenhausen swears in the club's new officers.

The 2019-'20 board prepares to take their oath of office.

The ceremonial gavel starts its journey from Sam Hamra to Charlie O'Reilly

.. to Rex Johnson to Jerry Stiefvater

... to Steve Benton to Steve Scott

... to Danny Correll to Mike Williamson to David Caffey

... to Doug Nickell to Barbara Lucks

... to Steve Rice to Brent Dunn

... to Brad Bodenhausen to Bonnie Keller

... to Bob Hammerschmidt to Rob Montileone

... to Anne Browne to Jim Conley

... to Heather Ramsey to Rick Van Pelt

... to Bill McNeill

... to Lori Barnes Miller to Bill Squires

... to Patrick Harrington.

Welcome new member Adam Reichert

Adam was introduced on May 30. His sponsors are Luke Westerman and Bill Squires.

Adam is a Springfield native and, aside from a five-year stint between Des Moines, Iowa, and Houston, Texas, Adam has lived in the Springfield area for more than 30 years.

He received his bachelor's degree from Drury University and his masters from Iowa State University. After several years doing sales and consulting in the healthcare industry, Adam made a transition to banking. He is a middle market commercial lender with US Bank.

In his spare time, Adam enjoys spending time with family and is an avid runner and swimmer.

2019 Four-Way Test Award winner: Brandi O'Reilly

As all Rotarians know, we encourage high ethical standards in all professions and foster the ideal of service in all aspects of our lives. We see these values well-articulated in “The Object of Rotary”, as well as our motto, “Service Above Self,” and, of course, “The Four-Way Test,” which we recite at each meeting.

The Springfield Southeast Rotary Club’s Four-way Test Committee chose to present the 2019 Four-Way Test Award to Brandi O’Reilly, founder and board president of Dynamic Strides Therapy, for demonstrating the fundamental ideals of Rotary through high ethical business standards and service to others in her professional, community and personal life.

Dynamic Strides Therapy lets children with special needs experience the therapeutic benefits of equine movement, a unique sensory gym and the compassionate support of skilled, certified therapists.

Nominator Abby Akin states in the nomination form, “Brandi volunteers full time without pay. She puts the needs of these kids above everything else. Brandi chose to put her own time, money and work into this place because she saw kids who were not able to get help they needed . . . and felt it was unfair.”

The thing that really impressed us about Dynamic Strides is that it takes people in order, without regard of ability to pay. With a waiting list of more than 120 kids, she could easily fill the slots with private pay or Medicaid patients but made the conscious decision to take everyone.

The Four-Way Test Committee is chaired by Bob Hammerschmidt. The other committee members are Bonnie Keller, Dan Emrie, Danny Correll and Vocational Lane Director Lisa Odom.

Four-Way Test Award ceremony

Dan Emrie took these photos on May 23, 2019. They show Four-Way Test Award winner Brandi O'Reilly, nominator Abby Akin (center), and Committee Chair Bob Hammerschmidt.

Four-Way Test

The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.

Of the things we think, say or do:

Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Object of Rotary

The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

Avenues of Service

Club Service focuses on making clubs strong. A thriving club is anchored by strong relationships and an active membership development plan.
Vocational Service calls on every Rotarian to work with integrity and contribute their expertise to the problems and needs of society. Learn more in An Introduction to Vocational Service and the Code of Conduct.
Community Service encourages every Rotarian to find ways to improve the quality of life for people in their communities and to serve the public interest. Learn more in Communities in Action: A Guide to Effective Projects.
International Service exemplifies our global reach in promoting peace and understanding. We support this service avenue by sponsoring or volunteering on international projects, seeking partners abroad, and more.
Youth Service recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young professionals through leadership development programs such as Rotaract, Interact, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and Rotary Youth Exchange.
We channel our commitment to service at home and abroad through five Avenues of Service, which are the foundation of club activity.

Welcome new member Jessica Pearson

Abby Akin introduced Jessica on April 18. Her co-sponsor is Angela Smith.

Jessica works for Green Circle Projects as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Project Manager. Some of Jessica's other endeavors include: spearheading efforts to draft a petition to form the Galloway Community Improvement District, serving as a development representative on the City of Springfield's Galloway Stakeholder Committee, sitting on the Board of Directors for Springfield Botanical Gardens and serving as vice president of TrailSpring's Board of Directors.

Jessica is a Springfield native who graduated from Parkview High School and Drury University. At Drury, she majored in Advertising and PR with a minor in Business Administration and Global Studies. She was also captain of the Drury Lady Panthers Volleyball Team.

Outside work, Jessica has a beautiful family. Her husband Joel Pearson, daughter Dylan and son Cyrus share Jessica's enthusiasm for outdoor adventures. You can usually find their family on road, gravel or mountain bikes, or hiking, running, doing yoga, going on float trips or rock climbing. If that's not enough, Jessica regularly volunteers overnight with Safe to Sleep at the shelter.

www.rotary.org

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Welcome new member Stephanie Garland

Brian McDonough introduced Stephanie on April 11. Her co-sponsor is Ashley Walden.

Stephanie is a native of Houston, Texas. She graduated with honors from Harding University in Searcy, Ark., with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. She spent about a decade in broadcast news, most of it on-air as a reporter, multi-media journalist and anchor, including at KSPR in Springfield. She won numerous news awards.

Since late 2017, Stephanie has been the Better Business Bureau's regional director. She is responsible for overseeing the BBB’s area list of about 1,650 accredited businesses. She is also the organizer for the annual BBB Shred Day, which is the largest event of its kind in the state, and the area BBB Torch Awards. She implemented the BBB's free In Pursuit of Ethics programs into 30 local schools, and that number is growing.

Stephanie has five weekly columns in newspapers. She also does three weekly radio interviews and two weekly television interviews. She spoke to almost 2,500 people last year.

Stephanie is married to Logan Staggs, who served five years in the U.S. Army. They live on the west side of Springfield. She is heavily involved in East Grand Church of Christ, serving on several committees and participating in church choir.

www.dacdb.com

What "Rotary" Really Means

Rotary Club of Springfield Southeast 2017-'18 President Lori Barnes and 2018-'19 President Bill Squires discuss what people should know about Rotary and why it matters.