At Thursday’s Rotary meeting, President JR Hubele introduced Sheryl Woodham, executive director of the Guardian Center. Sheryl then proceeded to introduce Rotary District 6510 Governor David Matthews and his wife Marilyn.
David was born and raised near Fairfield. David received his M.S. in Educational psychology from SIU and then became a school counselor in Chicago. He returned to Southern Illinois and has worked with abused, neglected and adopted children for many years in various capacities for the past 40 years. He has served on various advisory councils and has worked with the American Red Cross since 2003. In this endeavor, he has provided mental health services in disasters throughout the US. David joined Rotary in 2001 and has served on several District committees.
David’s passion is the care of children. He told members that the Rotary District Conference will be held in Mt. Vernon, Illinois on November 4th and 5th. The big emphasis will be the support for the six agencies in the district which are like the Guardian Center in our area. He also encouraged the members to come and help package 20,000 meals on that Saturday afternoon for the Rotary’s Stop Hunger Now program. He also discussed the Rotary Youth Exchange, the Belize Crippled Children’s program, The RYLA program, the Polio Program and the Water Well Program. These programs are district and international programs. David and Marilyn are both Rotarians and are assets to our Southern Illinois community.
In club business, President JR Hubele discussed some upcoming events with the club. Dale Peters named Randy Douglass the phantom. Cindy Conley won the honor of selecting the pink ball in the 50/50 drawing but did not so the large pot rolls over. Andy Williams and Little Giant prepared a delicious meal of ribs, baked beans, slaw and macaroni salad. Pictures are provided by Kenny Harrelson. The club meets at noon on Thursday at the First United Methodist Church. Anyone wishing to get involved is encouraged to come help Rotary with the many local projects and charities that are supported.
