The Rotary Club of Saint Joseph met today at the beautiful Albrecht Kemper Museum of Art. We had a great crowd ofaround 32 people at the meeting. President-elect Ryan Jones presided over today's meeting, with President Bill out of town for his anniversary.
Please keep Rotarian Susan Campbell in your thoughts and prayers. Amy Spaeth reported that her father is in the hospital.
We were pleased to welcome as our guests to today's meeting prospective member Honi Brown from the News Press (Skye) and Aaron Stutterheim of Creal, Clark, and Seifert. We were also joined by our program speakers Megan Wyeth and Suzanne Lehr.
Spanky and Buckwheat's catering provided a spread of barbecued chicken pieces (not too bad!), garden salad, corn, and potato salad.
Black Bowls donations for this quarter (today is the last day) go to the St. Joseph Safety and Health Council. This supports their educational programs such as Safety Acres and Safety Town. Members can contribute on our Square site online or bring the cash to meetings.
The next quarter will go towards the 4H Shooting Sports programs of Buchanan County.
Meals on Wheels delivery assignments:
October 1 will be Don Gladhart (solo) and Alan Van Zandt (solo).
October 8 will be Mary Beth Revels with Erik McGuire (subbed for Shelly) and Heather Shearin (solo)
Shoes for Orphan Souls Update (for 2026-2027 Campaign):
Joan Brewer shared that our club's goal for the 26th Anniversary Campaign of Shoes for Orphan Souls is 1,500 pairs. Members are encouraged to bring shoes to Rotary meetings as they find good deals. Amy Spaeth reports that our current shoes count is somewhere around 250 pairs.
Ryan Jones thanked the Rotary volunteers for helping out with the Marathon over the weekend. They and other race volunteers made it easier for him to finish the race! See the article attached at the bottom for some photos.
October Rotary Social! We will take our show on the road to the Riverwood Winery on Friday, October 16 from 4:30 to about 6:30 p.m. The address is 22200 MO Hwy 45, Rushville, MO (just a few miles N of Iatan).
Ryan Jones shared with the club that he has begun building the club's board of directors slate for the 2026-2027 Rotary year. If you have an interest in serving in a particular area, please let Ryan know.
Wednesday, October 7... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the Albrecht Kemper... program presented by Laura Evans with MU Extension
Wednesday, October 14... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the Albrecht Kemper... program presented by Frank Till, Executive Director of the St. Joseph Safety and Health Council
Wednesday, October 21... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the Albrecht Kemper... program presented by Shelby Wiggington from the Missouri Small Business Development Council
Wednesday, October 28... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph World Polio Day (actual day is 10/24) trivia and celebration event at our regular Noon meeting
Friday, November 6: District 6040 Rotary Foundation Dinner at the Carriage Club in Kansas City... the club has several folks staying the night at the Hampton Inn on the Plaza... should be fun!
The Rotary Foundation is the engine that drives the community and international service of Rotary, from the club level, district level, and international level. Funds raised provide local grants, global grants, scholarships, help with the campaign to eradicate polio, assist in disasters, and more.
Members can contribute in many ways... one of these is by signing up for recurring monthly or quarterly donations (can be for as low as $10/month) through Rotary Direct at https://my.rotary.org/.
Foundation Dinner on 11/6 at the Carriage Club
Please support the Golden Ticket Raffles and Community Sponsorships and other giving opportunities! If you would prefer to write a check or pay cash for the raffles or the sponsorships- we can work with that too- just let Shelly Hulet know.
Once at the site, simply select which ticket you'd like to purchase and how many tickets you'd like. No login is required to complete the purchase.
The Golden Tickets and community sponsorships are open to Rotarians, non-Rotarians, spouses, members of the community, anybody...
Golden Ticket Raffles Flyer:
Shelly also shared that our club is putting together a silent auction basket for the dinner, and we are in search of local St. Joseph experiences or gift cards. Do you know a business or have connections to assist with us putting together a sweet St. Joseph package!
Hod was born in March of 1933 in Littleton, New Hampshire, but his parents and family home were in Vermont, so we’ll go ahead and accede to his demands to call him a Vermonter. Hod attended 1 school building from grades K-12, before attempting to enter the Naval Academy and West Point, but being denied due to failing the physical. Instead, he settled on an obscure, little known school named Dartmouth and earned his degree.
Powell Park sits at the intersection of 10th and Powell at the site of the former Sisters Hospital. Led by Rotarian Tim Curry, the Rotary Club of Saint Joseph has breathed new life into this neighborhood park.
The final results are in for the 2026 Purple Pinkie Polio Eradication Fundraiser, and I am thrilled to share that together we raised $1,200,788 for Rotary's End Polio Now campaign.
Every dollar will support the fight to eradicate polio worldwide. Thanks to the dedication of Rotary members, partners, and supporters, we are now down to just two endemic countries. The finish line is in sight.
Over a dozen Rotarians from Argentina arrived in Kansas City for the FIFA World Cup as part of a friendship exchange program through the international organization.
Rotary families from KC metro clubs are opening their homes as part of this program
The travelers were greeted by their host families at Kansas City International Airport, where the reunion was anything but a meeting of strangers, despite many coming face to face for the first time.
The Rotary Club of Saint Joseph's 2025-2026 District Grant project has been to install an accessible outdoor area for the new Day Program at Life Unlimited's St. Joseph location.
The Sergeants-at-arms collected several Happy Bucks today, as well as a round of trivia questions for each of the 5 tables:
Ralph Schank for being excited to run in the donut dash
Don Gladhart for Tim Curry's 50th Rotary anniversary this week- making him now the most tenured member of the club
Erik McGuire for the awesome October edition of Rotary Magazine
Jeanne Chavez for her 2 granddaughters playing in 8 softball games over the weekend
Ron Auxier for his grandson Mac being selected as one of only 96 finalists to be a Disney character in Orlando out of over 2000 applicants
Program Speaker:
Voices of the Past
Mt. Mora Cemetery
By Megan Wyeth and Suzanne Lehr
St. Joseph has a remarkable history, and much of our early history can be found at Mt Mora Cemetery.
Among the highlights is the famous Mausoleum Row, featuring 12 mausoleums.
The cemetery opened officially in 1851, although the first burial was in 1843.
3 Missouri governors are buried there, as are some members of the Robidoux family.
To help preserve the stories and to raise funds to maintain the cemetery, Megan Wyeth has published 3 books about the history of Mt. Mora. The most recent is "Voices of the Past". This book goes into the lives and situations of some of the people buried in the cemetery, and includes tawdry tales of murder and intrigue.
Did you know that Frederick Avenue used to be called "Asylum Avenue"?
The book may be purchased at the Albrecht Kemper, Story Collective, Nesting Goods, or the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
