| The Rock Falls Rotary Club was chartered on June 5, 1936. It is in the northern Illinois district of 6420. Our club's membership is just 25 - 30 members, but involvement by the members is great. The club has many projects which it has undertaken with great enthusiasm. |
| The "small but mighty" philosophy of our club's involvement is revealed through our many service projects. |
Rotary Park
Rotary Park in Rock Falls is a Community Service project that has been ongoing for over 7 years. We "adopted" this park from the Coloma Park District and have made it a priority for club resources since then. Improvements such as adding a shelter, playground equipment, and the flagpole have been jointly sponsored by the club and the park district. The biggest commitment was the addition of bathrooms on site and, with a five year commitment of resources, members were pleased when that was accomplished. Not wanting to rest on our laurels, the club's membership continues to look at other ways to improve Rock Falls Rotary Park for the community. A project for Rotary's Centennial Celebration was the addition of some playground equipment which would be handicapped-accessible, and usable by all children. This placehas also become a memorial to honored long-time members of the club. We wished to remember these friends in some way by our club, so we created the tradition of planting a tree here for each, and inviting their families to a small remembrance service we have. Each has a memorial plaque by the tree, and becomes a source of both fond memories of these people and a growing addition to the park. The park is a source of pride and pleasure, as we also hold our meetings in the shelter there several times a year. It is a time for Rotarians to share the park with their spouses, children, and grandchildren as well as having them be included in the Rotary fellowship. It is a "work in progress", as we always look for new improvements to be make, which was shown by our most recent addition of paying for the costs of bring electrical power to the shelter. If you want a beautiful place to hold a picnic, bring kids to play, or have a baseball game, the Rock Falls Rotary Park is the place for you! |
|
Literacy Awareness Month November is designated annually as District 6420 Literacy Awareness Month. 
Rock Falls Rotary participates in the Hometown Holidays Parade the weekend before Thanksgiving with an entry which is based on reading. In past years the theme was the Cat in the Hat. Bookmarks that promote parents reading to their children, stickers for the children that promote reading are passed out to the crowds. What a way to create awareness in a community about the importance of modeling reading at home! Recent Literacy projects include: The Dictionary Project This year the Rock Falls Rotary Club began participation in the Dictionary Project with a giveaway in January of more than 600 books. A District Simplified Grant received by the club has allowed every third, fourth and fifth grader in the six Rock Falls schools of Nelson, East Coloma, Merrill, Riverdale, Montmorency and St. Andrew to receive his or her own dictionary. Starting next year, the dictionaries will be given to third graders in each school every year. Twelve Rotarians went into thirteen classrooms in teams to introduce the dictionaries to the students with an activity that defined the Rotary Four-Way Test. Dictionaries will contribute to reading and vocabulary skills of the students, increasing their literacy level and chance for academic success. This has the potential to raise the graduation rate, then college attendance numbers, and ultimately putting more skilled individuals into the local workforce. The Ducks for LIFE River Race This is the fifth year that the Rock Falls Rotary Club has sponsored the Ducks for LIFE River Race, a fundraiser to support the Literacy is Fun for Everyone literacy program in Whiteside County. Through this program, now serving more than 1400, children can receive a free book a month from birth until they turn five years of age. The program is run by a committee composed of community members from schools, businesses, libraries, and local Rotary Clubs. The River Race is the biggest fund raiser of the year, where supporters sponsor plastic ducks for $5, which are then dumped in Elkhorn Creek and carried by the current to the finish line. The first three ducks bring their sponsors a cash prize, and volunteers then scoop all of the ducks out of the water with nets. This wonderful literacy program puts books right into the homes and hands of children, where they can be read to and develop the pre-reading skills that prepare them to be ready to begin learning to read in Kindergarten. Reading ability is the most important skill needed for academic success. Rock Falls Rotary Club Reading Partners For almost ten years our club members have gone into the classrooms of East Coloma Elementary School weekly. Members read to, listen to and assist students in developing reading skills. Talk about getting back more than you give, the rewards of this program are felt deeply through the interaction between the enthusiastic students and our readers. This program has also been a springboard to writing, shown by the creation of the students' cards and thank you letters sent to us from them. |
|
Hometown Holidays One of the club's involvement in the town is through the Rock Falls Hometown Holidays. It occurs at the end of November and is the official start of the holiday season in Rock Falls. On Friday night, the businesses in town have special events all evening for the public, with hundreds of luminaries lining the streets and casting a friendly glow along the sidewalks of Rock Falls. At the end of the evening, the second aspect begins as the Rotarians from our club gather with spouses, children, and friends to retrieve all the luminaries. All must be picked up and hauled to the city garage. We coordinate the acquisition of trucks and trailers and synchronizes the placement of volunteers on the street routes. This requires much walking, bending, and loading of flatbed trucks by the gathered Rotary volunteers. But the helpful hands accompanied by positive attitudes make the work go fast. This last year we finished in a record 48 minutes! Of course a warm night for that time of year helped immensely. In recent years, service clubs from Rock Falls High School have been of great help to us. The second phase of Rotary involvement includes our float in the Hometown Holidays Parade, which takes place on Saturday morning. The theme of our float is Rotary Supports Literacy [see photo in this section]. The Literacy Committee always create an interesting and clever method to promote literacy. |
|
Farmers' Night Surrounded by rich, Midwestern farmland, the Rock Falls Rotarians host our annual Farmers' Night during the month of March. Rotarians invite friends who are farmers, or in the business of agriculture, to enjoy a dinner and evening of entertainment as our act of appreciation for their livelihood. The last few years it has been held at the beautiful Deer Valley County Club and this year found over 160 farmers in attendance. They are provided with a delicious meal, followed by a guest speaker or entertainer. In recent years we have added a new twist. Members bring delicious pies or cakes to auction off to attendees. The auction leads to some good-natured fun, comments, and competition between bidding tables. The profits from this add to the coffers of our scholarship program to students living in Rock Falls. [One is the Glen Coleman scholarship. Glen was a long-time honored member of the club and farmed all his life, and the scholarship was created to honor him.] The evening usually ends with drawings from the 50-50 raffle, as well as many door prizes won by the farmers. A sincere tip of the cap goes to Keith and his Rotarian helpers for all their work on this project. It was a fabulous farmers' fling, full of fun for all farm fans. |
