Author: Indy Rotary

  • June 26: Celebration Dinner, The Year in Review & Welcoming in the New Year

    June 26: Celebration Dinner, The Year in Review & Welcoming in the New Year

    We will NOT be meeting for lunch on Tuesday!

    Instead, we’ll be meeting in the evening at the Indiana History Center. The last meeting of the Rotary year is always something special. Join us as we celebrate the year of President Ramona Adams- the year we all got excited, engaged and evolved!

    We may still have tickets available for the dinner and afterparty- please call the office at 317-631-3733 if you would like to order a ticket for yourself or someone special. The public is welcome and encouraged to join us for this spectacular night.

  • June 19: Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett

    June 19: Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett

    Each year, our club proudly welcomes an address from our Mayor. This year, we are excited to welcome back Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett for lunch at Rotary on Tuesday, June 19. Guests and visitors are always welcome, so please consider inviting your colleagues, friends and family for just $25 per person.

    Joe Hogsett grew up in Rushville, Indiana, a small town near the Indiana/Ohio border. His father was an aeronautical engineer, working in a Westside Indianapolis factory and his mother was a social worker. After high school, Hogsett enrolled at Indiana University, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in history and political science.

    Over the years, Hogsett has balanced his time between work as a public servant and his law practice in the private sector. He served six years as Indiana’s Secretary of State and four as United States Attorney. He has also continued to pursue his academic interests. In the past several decades, he has earned three master’s degree – in English from Butler University, divinity from Christian Theological Seminary, and history from IUPUI.

    Following a campaign notable for its civility and largely focused on substantive issues facing the city, Hogsett was elected Mayor of the City of Indianapolis. Since then, Mayor Hogsett has used the results-oriented approach that he cultivated during his time as federal prosecutor to focus on public safety, neighborhoods and the fiscal well-being of Indianapolis.

  • June 12: John Krull, director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism, to discuss new Lugar Documentary

    Reason’s Quiet Warrior is a documentary about the life and times of Rotarian and Senator Richard G. Lugar.  A partnership with Franklin College, it was written and produced by John Krull with WFYI Public Media. To view the documentary, you can stream it by clicking here:.  It will also be aired on WFYI on June 24 at 8 p.m.July 16 at 10 p.m. and July 28 at 8 p.m.

    John Krull, director of Pulliam School of Journalism and journalism professor also writes 120 to 150 columns per year that are published in newspapers across Indiana, including The Indianapolis Star.  He also hosts a bi-weekly radio show called “No Limits” for WFYI, discussing news and public information.

    Krull worked as the executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union and as an editorial writer, columnist and special projects reporter for The Indianapolis Star andThe Indianapolis News before becoming director of the Pulliam School of Journalism in 2004.

    During his years as a professional journalist in Indiana, Krull has earned more than 50 journalism, broadcasting and writing awards, including a Sagamore of the Wabash, the Indiana High School Press Association Louis Ingelhart Award and the Indianapolis Education Association’s Martin Luther King Award.

  • June 5: Professor Kelly Eskew, “Hoosier Hysteria- Muncie Centeral in 1964”

    In 1964, Muncie Central High School got the “death penalty” at the hands of the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s (IHSAA) new commissioner, Phil N. Eskew, after post-game brawling at a boys basketball game led to a broader investigation of the entire program.  In the closing moments of the game, a Muncie Central opponent was bloodied by an inbound pass to the face and fans erupted in violence, swarming the floor.  The ensuing investigation revealed racial tensions, issues of sexual mores, political discord, and deep problems in the web of interrelationships that make up the phenomenon of Hoosier Hysteria.

    Kelly Eskew is a Clinical Associate Professor of Business Law & Ethics. An attorney, Professor Eskew started her law career with ten years in private practice, representing corporations and hospitals, the Indiana Horse Racing Commission, and the doctors who invented Gatorade, among others. She also served for three years as in-house counsel to IU Health, managing malpractice and employment litigation. In 2014, she joined the American Civil Liberties Union as a staff attorney and litigated civil rights cases.

    Professor Eskew started teaching in 2010 at the IU McKinney School of Law and spent several years with Butler University’s College of Business before joining the full time faculty at the IU Kelley School of Business in Bloomington in 2015.

  • May 29: Welcome Governor Eric Holcomb

    May 29: Welcome Governor Eric Holcomb

    A lifelong Hoosier, Governor Eric Holcomb will join us at Rotary on Tuesday, May 29.  He is a veteran of the United States Navy, served as the state’s 51st Lt. Governor, was a trusted advisor to both Governor Mitch Daniels and Senator Dan Coats, and was a former state chairman of the Indiana Republican Party.

    He was elected governor in November 2016, following an unprecedented 106-day campaign and was sworn in on January 9, 2017.

    Throughout his career in service, he has earned a reputation of being a consensus builder. He has traveled extensively throughout the state—talking with folks wherever he goes about how to make Indiana an even better place to live, work and play. A lifelong basketball fan, Gov. Holcomb has shot and made a basket in each of Indiana’s 92 counties.

    The governor is a graduate of Pike High School in Indianapolis and Hanover College in southeastern Indiana where he majored in U.S. History with a focus on the American Civil War and the Reconstruction Era.

  • May 22: Club Service Project, Backpacks for Homeless Veterans

    May 22: Club Service Project, Backpacks for Homeless Veterans

    Work together to pack backpacks for
    homeless veterans

    Every night, veterans wander the streets of Indiana’s cities and towns looking for a place to sleep or a hot meal. The Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP) reports 4,800 to 8,000 homeless persons in the Greater Indianapolis Metropolitan Area on any given night. Of that figure, approximately 600 (25%) are honorably discharged veterans. Nightly, there are over 62,619 homeless veterans nationally, and 126,000 veterans experience homelessness over the course of a year. Sadly, these veterans who are now homeless are the same veterans who served our country with courage, self-sacrifice, honor, dignity, and pride. These veterans are America’s forgotten heroes. They fought for our freedom on the battlefield, and now they and their families fight daily for their survival on America’s streets.

    Join us on Tuesday, May 22 as we hear from HVAF, the nonprofit who supports Indiana’s homeless veterans.  We’ll also work together to pack backpacks with life essentials, which will be distributed to those in need.

  • May 15: Chris Eley, Owner of Goose the Market and Smoking Goose

    May 15: Chris Eley, Owner of Goose the Market and Smoking Goose

    Fresh off an appearance on Good Morning America as well as a James Beard Nomination, we welcome Chris Eley, owner of Goose the Market and Smoking Goose, to Rotary on Tuesday, May 15.   Chris will talk food- after all, his Smoking Goose production facility is often lauded as one of the best butcher shops in the Midwest and ships his “meat treats” from coast to coast. Chris will also share his experience with the business of food and the challenges and opportunities that come with growing a business that features delicious, sustainable and widely-distributed products.

    Chris is a native of Indianapolis and is dedicated to using traditional methods to cure meat from healthy animals raised by Midwest farmers. Chris trained and worked in Chicago, Rhode Island, Thailand and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands before returning to Indy to be part of the growing food scene.

    Our catered MBP lunch will feature products from the Smoking Goose, so be sure to come hungry on Tuesday.

  • May 8: Richard D. Chegar, Major General, United States Army (retired)

    We welcome Dick Chegar to Rotary on Tuesday, May 8.

    Dick Chegar was witness to a historic event at West Point in 1962 when, as a First Class Cadet Captain, he escorted General Anthony “Tony” MacAuliff of Bastogne fame to the ceremony honoring General of the Army Douglas MacArthur as the 5th recipient of the Sylvanus Thayer Award.  While his account of the event and the famous “Duty, Honor, Country” speech delivered by General MacArthur are captivating, it is Dick’s revelation about the “MacArthur Moment” during the speech that went unnoticed and has gone unreported that makes his talk relevant and memorable. Downtown Rotary will be only the second group for whom the “MacArthur Moment” has been shared with the public.

    Rotary Veterans will also be honored during the program on Tuesday.  Please plan to attend and maybe bring a Veteran or guest with an interest in military history!

  • May 1: Kellie Hanner, CEO and President, Indiana Donor Network

    Indiana Donor Network, one of 58 designated organ recovery organizations in the U.S., is a vital link between people waiting for life-saving organ transplants and donors. Indiana Donor Network works to provide Hoosiers with information needed to make an informed decision about donation, offers access to the Indiana Donor Registry, evaluates potential donors for medical suitability to donate organs and/or tissue and coordinates the donation process according to federal regulations and with the utmost respect for medical ethics.

    Hanner began her career at Indiana Donor Network in 2000 as a procurement transplant coordinator. Prior to joining Indiana Donor Network, Hanner worked at Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health as a registered nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit. She earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Indiana University and is a certified procurement transplant coordinator.

  • April 24: Rotary Headed offsite to Newfields

    April 24: Rotary Headed offsite to Newfields

    Rotary Headed offsite to Newfields

    The Rotary Club of Indianapolis will be going offsite for our luncheon program to one of the city’s hottest spring locations next Tuesday, April 24. Registration is closed, but call the office at 317-631-3733 to see if a waitlist spot might be available.

    The program will begin with a lovely boxed lunch for networking and then we’ll proceed to a program presented by the Ruth Lilly Deputy Director for Horticulture and Natural Resources Jonathan M. Wright who will share with us the transformations occurring on the grounds of the property. Optional tours of their incredible outdoor natural exhibit, Hello Spring, will occur.  Hello Spring is an exhibit at Newfields, where a quarter of a million flowers will be arriving in stages through May, including different kinds of tulips you didn’t even know existed.

    Please note the alternate timing for this great program:
    Boxed Lunch in the Sutphin Fountain Room: 11:30-12:30
    Program in DeBoest Lecture Hall: 12:30-1:15
    Optional Tours of Hello Spring: 1:15-2:15