The Rotary of Macomb meets Tuesdays at noon at the First Presbyterian Church.
May 5, 2026 Today’s meeting was special: our Junior Rotarians— who have attended throughout the year—took the lead in planning and conducting the program.
Junior Rotarian Ethan Dildine commenced the Rotary Club’s 44th meeting by ringing the Rotary Bell at the First Presbyterian Church in Macomb. The invocation was delivered by Junior Rotarian Collin Adams and followed by leading in the Pledge of Allegiance..
Ella Hare reported attendance with 34 members present, comprising 64% of the club membership. With 10 guests in attendance, the total participation reached 44 individuals.
The attendees included guests: Tim Roberts and Adam Bednar Via Zoom our speakers, and 9 Junior Rotarians from MHS.
Thirteen Rotarians contributed “Happy Money” in acknowledgment of recent noteworthy events. The 50/50 drawing took place, with Garry Johnson having the correct ticket to win $70 by drawing the 9 of Hearts from the remaining 42 cards; however, he drew the Ace of Hearts, resulting in no winner for this week.
The club members were then lead in a patriotic song “Your Land is My Land” by Junior Rotarians: Dalia, Julia and Henry.
Junior Rotarian Ethan Dildine then had some announcements those being next week’s program on 5/19/26 will be about Habitat for Humanity and 5/26/26 will be our Paul Harris Award Day.
Emily Gillett was called to introduce the day’s speakers. First was Tim Roberts professor of History at WIU. He was to present on an upcoming event of living history.
Tim has been teaching at WIU since 2008 and has been the History Department chair for the past 5 years. He has taken history in this area off campus to get it into the hands of people to encounter history not just from books but to be immersed into history. His father had taken their family to historic places and one that stood out in Tim’s mind was a Civil Wear reenactment they attended. He remembers the authentic history being right around him and he wanted to continue that same type of history right here in Macomb.
He and the history department at WIU carried on this history experience when in 2023 they brought World War II reenactors to this area for a weekend of history. They continued another reenactment in 2024 and held it in a larger area at Veterans Park. With this second event women were also included in the group.
Adam Bednar then was called to speak and stated he had started being a reenactor while at WIU. He has been doing this as a hobby since 2007 and wants to bring this experience to Macomb with history and spectacles. They want to continue to see it grow and be more immersive.
Tim announced that this year the reenactment with be held on October 9-11, 2026. There will be some added features to involve children. Also, they are doing research to feature Camp Ellis that had a big impact on this area and Macomb. They will have special displays and facts about the camp that had up to 250,000 people at the camp.
The meeting concluded with the recitation of the “Four Way Test” and the sounding of the Rotary bell, encouraging all members to make Rotary Part Of Their Life – and to “Unite For Good”.
Interested in speaking at Rotary or becoming a member, contact Tom Stites at [email protected].
