Newton, IL, Rotary Club

Newton, IL, Rotary Club Meets every Tuesday at Noon, at Parklane's, 504 E. Jourdan St., Newton, IL 62448

A vibrant and active club of business and professional persons that promotes the values of Rotary International by supporting humanitarian projects at local and international levels.

On June 2, the Newton Rotary Club inducted a new member, Whitney Benefiel (see photo in comments). They also learned mo...
06/09/2026

On June 2, the Newton Rotary Club inducted a new member, Whitney Benefiel (see photo in comments).
They also learned more about the Jasper County Cancer Support Group from Tammy Ochs (left) and Theresa Leohr (center). Ochs serves as president and Leohr is vice president, but they depend on a large group of volunteers who assist them, and the generosity of those making donations of money or supplies.
The group provides support to Jasper County residents who have been diagnosed with cancer.
The group first began in 2011 and now meets once a month at the West End Event Center.
The Jasper County Health Department assembles gift bags which contain items that are useful and comforting when experiencing cancer treatment, such as a lap blanket, tylenol, chapstick, lotion, socks, candies, reading materials, gas cards, and a folder to organize papers. Since starting with the gift bags in 2019, they have distributed 78 bags. Information about recipients is confidential.
Beginning with donations, they now receive some grant money through Ticket For A Cure, and hold fundraisers like Bingo.
They hold an annual breakfast/brunch as a Survivor Celebration, catered by local chefs, with games and door prizes. More than 250 invitations were sent out for this event.
Any person living in Jasper County who has been diagnosed with cancer qualifies for this program. For more information, visit Jasper County Health Department or call (618) 783-4436.
Leohr then shared her personal experience of being diagnosed with breast cancer eight years ago. Through this group, she was able to meet other survivors and gain the support, insight, and encouragement that comes from others who have already walked her path. As she recovered, she began volunteering a lot of time to them.
Two club members also talked briefly about their own experiences and how appreciative they were for the support and the gift bag.
Chairperson for the meeting was Rotarian Kenny Kemper (right).

The Newton Rotary Club has been meeting at the Newton American Legion for the past few months, and learned a lot more ab...
05/31/2026

The Newton Rotary Club has been meeting at the Newton American Legion for the past few months, and learned a lot more about all their activities from manager Tina Messina (right) on May 26.
Messina is excited after years of working toward the goal of a new building, property has been purchased at the industrial park, and plans are drawn. An artist's rendition of the proposed building can be seen in the comments below.
The new building will be 60' x 120', and will be able to seat 200 people. There will be a full-time open kitchen, serving breakfast and evening meals daily. There will be a children's room, so that kids have a place to play where their parents can easily keep an eye on them. It will have space set aside for specific use, such as the Operation Home Front group, who meet on the third Thursday every month, to assemble packages to send to our military people serving away from home.
Until they move and sell their building, they are open to the public every evening at their current location at 108 E. Jourdan, every Friday from 4:30 p.m. with food and the very popular Queen of Hearts drawing. They also serve food on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4 to 7:30.
They have a brunch scheduled for June 7, and other events later this year such as a jeep run, a BBQ cookoff, which drew 27 teams last year from several states, a car show, and live music.
The Newton American Legion has always been very instrumental in the beautiful Veterans' Day program, and have decided to hold it at the Newton Community High School track area, to make more space for the hundreds of Veteran Flags on display, and because of the demolition and construction that will take place on The Square.
The Newton American Legion currently has about 100 members. They are open for any Veteran to join. They do not currently have an active Auxiliary, but they have an active Sons of the American Legion group. You can find more about their many activities at their page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089743426366
Chairperson for the day was Rotarian Sarah Diel Kinkade (left).

On May 19, the Newton Rotary Club learned some things about cyber security from Josh Brant (left), who does IT work with...
05/31/2026

On May 19, the Newton Rotary Club learned some things about cyber security from Josh Brant (left), who does IT work with a global company called LRS. Originally from Ingraham, he met people from LRS when he worked at North American Lighting several years ago, who were there doing cybersecurity work, which intrigued him.
He started doing this kind of work and has gone from 1.5 workers in 2019 to more than 30 today.
Brant's company sells products to help avoid these problems, and also do problem solving and containment. They offer strategic consulting based on specific factors like risks and costs.
They work with companies varying in size from about a dozen employees, to some as large as 30,000, and from all backgrounds.
A recent case involved hackers accessing a business system and locking up their information, demanding a massive ransom to be paid in bitcoin. In spite of precautions the company had taken, they were still vulnerable and could not conduct business. Eventually, Brant and his team were able to help them recover their data and ultimately paid no ransom.
Brant strongly urges computer users to use caution in protecting their passwords. One of the biggest weaknesses is using the same passwords multiple times, or choosing weak passwords that are easy to guess. A person needs to constantly monitor their security, but the cost of that effort saves money in the long run by avoiding unnecessary breaches.
Brant also mentioned that he and his wife, Jackie, have opened a kennel at Island Grove, called Seven J's Boarding and Grooming.
Chairperson for the day was Rotarian Brett Lessley (right).

The Newton Rotary Club enjoyed a presentation by one of our own members, Don Leventhal (pictured), who described a trip ...
05/18/2026

The Newton Rotary Club enjoyed a presentation by one of our own members, Don Leventhal (pictured), who described a trip to Israel during the past holidays.
Leventhal has relatives there, a cousin whose grandmother was a sibling of Leventhal's grandfather. His cousin, Itaie Leviaton, has retained the old spelling of their family name. Other relatives he met for the first time, and was able to become more familiar.
Since the family live in Israel, they are very familiar with the historical and other interesting sights to see, and helped Leventhal visit the Old City of Tel Aviv, and how it contrasts with the other very modern buildings of the city. Leventhal had also travelled there in the 1960's, and was surprised at how modern it had become.
They also visited Jaffa and shopped in the open air markets. He was able to visit a broom maker, which was of special interest since that is also his line of work, operating Newton Broom Factory.
At Jerusalem, they saw the Dome on the Rock mosque, a holy place in both Judaism and Islam, and the historic Western Wall.
Cousin Itaie works as a structural engineer, and they visited his beautiful offices in Tel Aviv.
Itaie described how buildings there are built with safety in mind, considering the violence that often occurs in the region. Each floor of the building had a safe room in case of air raids, and they have special air filtration systems in case of airborne danger.
Every Israeli citizen serves in their military. The country is frugal with precious resources, obtaining the majority of their drinking water from desalination of sea water, and the grey water is used for animals and irrigation.
He showed some slides of the people and places he visited, and answered a few questions.

On May 5, the Newton Rotary Club got an update on the many services available at the Jasper County Health Department, fr...
05/07/2026

On May 5, the Newton Rotary Club got an update on the many services available at the Jasper County Health Department, from Mandy Rieman (left), Program Supervisor.
The Health Department currently has three locations; two in Jasper County, and one in Richland County, offering services in Public Health, Behavioral Health, and Environmental Health. They employ about 40 people.

The Richland office offers WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), lab testing, and drug screenings. They also have Behavioral Health (mental health and substance abuse) services available there.
The Newton location offers a wide array of nursing services, including WIC, immunizations, lab service, drug screens, vision and hearing tests, Health Works family health, among others. They also provide vision and hearing tests for St. Thomas School, and teach the Certified Nursing Assistant course at the High School.
Rieman emphasized the lab testing services they offer, and a partial list can be seen in the comments below, with tests and rates. They offer very competitive pricing. They also offer a special lab on every First Thursday each month. No doctor's order is needed for PSA, cholesterol, general health panel, or wellness check panel, and you can see a flyer for that in the comments below.

Behavioral Health services are housed in a separate building, a former medical office on S. Van Buren, near the Health Department. The offer mental health counseling, psychiatric consultation, addictions treatment, DUI evaluations, Illegal Consumption, and Risk Education classes, Divorcing Parents, Grief Support, and crisis intervention. The demand for Behavioral Health services is very high, even though they have about 20 staff (out of the 40 total employees), and still have a waiting list of new requests for service.

Environmental services include food inspections, vector control,
and permitting for new well construction and sewage disposal systems. They monitor local mosquito populations and the West Nile Virus they may carry, and can help identify ticks, spiders, or other insects.

Jasper County Health Department is celebrating their 60th year this year, and are bigger and offer more services than ever before. You can find out more at their website jasperhealth.org, or you can follow them on facebook at Jasper County Health Department.

The annual Health Fair is scheduled for Wednesday, May 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Chairperson for the day was Rotarian Louise Lybarger (right), a former long-time employee of Jasper County Health Department, in Behavioral Health.

On April 28, the Newton Rotary Club welcomed a new member, retired teacher and historian Mike Hartrich (left), who also ...
04/29/2026

On April 28, the Newton Rotary Club welcomed a new member, retired teacher and historian Mike Hartrich (left), who also spoke about the plans for a old-fashioned style celebration at Ste. Marie in observance of our country's 250th birthday.
Scheduled for Friday, July 3, the planning committee is working to re-create the traditional celebrations that Ste. Marie became known for, after holding annual events from 1962 through 1987, including a bigger celebration for the country's Bicentennial in 1975.
There will be many activities, including a doll stand, dime toss, dunking booth, face painting and games for smaller kids.
For people who are hungry or thirsty, there will be porkburgers, ice cream, and lemon shake-ups, and a beer garden. As a special offer, there will be 750 chickens prepared in the "Ste. Marie" grilling style. When this was done in years past, people lined up from all directions and they sold out quickly, so go early!
There will be an antique car cruise-in as well as an antique tractor cruise-in. There will be a rope-making machine demonstration, with the ropes available for purchase. There will be bluegrass music, and a band made of former school band members, an opera singer who has moved back to her home area, and some other locals, including the youth band "Southern Comfort".
All of the participating vendors are representing various local not-for-profit organizations, and will be allowed to keep their income from the day. There will be no Cork and Pork event this year, since they would be so close together. Cork and Pork normally raises a lot of funds that are distributed to the NFP's, so this will help them maintain their finances.
A special Presentation of The Flag will be held, and a finale of fireworks. A lot of planning and work is going into this event, and they encourage participation and volunteers, if possible.
The Foundation House in Ste. Marie, a local museum and B&B, will remain open during the entire celebration.
You can follow the plans at their page: America 250, A Jasper County Celebration.
Chairperson for the day was Rotarian Kris Newton (right).

On April 14, the Newton Rotary Club heard a presentation from Clayton Herring (right), with the company out of Swansea, ...
04/24/2026

On April 14, the Newton Rotary Club heard a presentation from Clayton Herring (right), with the company out of Swansea, IL, who are doing the new construction for Newton Elementary School.
Rotarian Joe Sornberger (left), also speaking as the Jasper Unit #1 Superintendent, described their plans, which will begin this summer and should finish in the Spring of 2027.
The new construction will add onto the existing elementary school building, and will add ten new classrooms and office, connected to the multi-purpose room. The additional space will allow for moving Kindergarten classes from Ste. Marie, to close that facility and allow for all the Pre-K, Kindergarten, and First Grade classes together in one wing.
The changes will also include some much-needed additional parking.

On April 14 the Newton Rotary Club welcomed R. J. Lindemann, into the club, pictured here (right), with Rotarian Tom Cla...
04/24/2026

On April 14 the Newton Rotary Club welcomed R. J. Lindemann, into the club, pictured here (right), with Rotarian Tom Clark (left). Welcome, R.J.!

On April 21, the Newton Rotary Club heard about the interesting travels of one of our members, Luke Bloomberg (pictured)...
04/24/2026

On April 21, the Newton Rotary Club heard about the interesting travels of one of our members, Luke Bloomberg (pictured), who recently returned from a visit to Egypt and Morocco in Northern Africa. He is pictured in front of a photo of himself riding a camel.
Traveling with some family and friends, they visited the great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and the Sphinx, royal tombs including many relics from the tomb of King Tut, some dating back to 2,500 BC.
They visited the Church of St. Sergius in Cairo, where Mary, Mother of Jesus, hid with her young baby when Herod ordered the purge of young children. Cairo is now a city of about 35 million.
Bloomberg had some photos from his trip, and some of the best were shots taken from a hot air balloon ride. They also visited Casa Blanca, and took a cooking class where they learned how to prepare some Middle Eastern breads. Much of their cooking uses olive oil, as it is produced in that part of the world.
The group enjoyed seeing the photos and hearing about his adventure.
Chairperson for the day was Louis Ochs.

On March 31, the Newton Rotary Club heard from one of their own members, Broc Hemrich (pictured), who talked about his e...
04/02/2026

On March 31, the Newton Rotary Club heard from one of their own members, Broc Hemrich (pictured), who talked about his experience with working as a mentor to a student in the CEO Program at Newton Community High School. CEO is an entrepreneurial organization that teaches students business skills like marketing, budgeting, and customer service.
Hemrich works at the Peoples State Bank and is mentoring high school Junior Colten White(not pictured) , who has chosen a dog walking service as his CEO project, called "Wags and Walks". (See his flyer in comments.)
White has dogs of his own, and enjoys meeting new pets and their owners. He says, that like many people, many pets lack enough exercise, and many pet owners lack the time to adequately address that issue.
White also works at the Road Runner fuel station in Dieterich, and has participated in the TRIO program in addition to his school work. He wants to attend Eastern Illinois University to study computer design. The CEO program has taught him a lot about starting and running a business, and helped him gain social and leadership skills, and general confidence.
NCHS first started their CEO program in 2014, one of more than 300 schools nationwide who sponsor this program. Each CEO student has a mentor.
The CEO students have been doing a fundraising project, producing a board game called JASPEROPOLY, featuring local businesses and agencies on the board. They first sold the advertising spaces on the board to interested individuals, got the boards manufactured, and have been selling the games, which are still available. (See picture in comments.)

Address

P. O. Box 123
Newton, IL
62448

Opening Hours

11:30am - 1:30pm

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