Rotary Club of Springfield Southeast

55th annual Shrimp Feed

On Thursday, July 9, the Rotary Club of Springfield Southeast gathered at Patrick Harrington's home for its 55th annual John Simpson Memorial Shrimp Feed & Fireside Chat. Members shared the traditional meal of boiled shrimp, salad and garlic toast before breaking into small groups to take up a set of thought-provoking questions — conversations meant to give the club's membership a direct hand in shaping Southeast's direction. President Jeff Cumley presided over the banquet. The annual group photo was taken by past Southeast member Rick Gilmore. (Text and photos by Dan Emrie)

Shrimp Feed preparations

On Wednesday afternoon, July 8, a crew of Southeast members took over Evangel University's kitchen to boil 80 pounds of shrimp ahead of the club's annual dinner of shrimp, salad, and garlic toast on the next night.
Pictured from left to right in the first photo (click on it to see all of it): Gary Leonard, Rick Gilmore, Bill White, Rex Johnson, Harry Price and Dan Emrie

Recognition Lunch 2026

Outgoing President Jennifer Baker opened the annual Recognition Lunch program on June 25, 2026, by recognizing and expressing gratitude to the board members completing their service in the 2025-2026 Rotary year. She then reflected on the club's achievements over the past year, noting Springfield Southeast had truly lived up to this year's Rotary theme of "Unite For Good."

Highlights included volunteer work, community empowerment through the Springfield Southeast Endowment, participation in the Route 66 celebration, international service through the Tanzania Project, and numerous fellowship events.

Past President David Compere then took the floor to formally swear in and install the incoming 2026-2027 Officers. The following members stepped into their roles as the new Rotary Club of Springfield Southeast Board:

President - Jeff Cumley
President-elect - Lynette Weatherford
Secretary - Kimberlee Nevins
Treasurer - Tammy Young
Past President - Baker
International Service - Marilyn Lopez
Community Service - Mike Cosgrove
Vocational Service - Joseph Piatchek
New Generations - Catherine Upp
Club Service - Carrie Henry

We also thanked our outgoing board members:

President - Baker
President-elect - Cumley
International Service - Jason Flores
Community Service - Benji Lampert
Vocational Service - Carl Hutchinson
New Generations - Lynette Weatherford
Club Service - Dana Maugans

After Cumley was sworn in, past presidents did the annual Passing of the Gavel, which went from Rex Johnson (1984) to David Caffey (1993) to Steve Rice (1996) to Bonnie Keller (2004) to Bob Hammerschmidt (2005) to Anne Keckeley Brown (2008) to Bill McNeill (2016) to Lori Barnes Miller (2017) to Patrick Harrington (2019) to Rusty Worley (2020) to Lisa Blumenstock (2021) to Lori Johnson Murawski (2022) to Michael Wehrenberg (2023) to Compere (2024) to Baker (2025) to Cumley.

Cumley concluded the luncheon by thanking his wife, Stephanie, for her support and then revealing the new Rotary theme, "Create lasting Impact."

[Photos and text by Dan Emrie]

Hands-on Service at Ozarks Food Harvest

Six members of Springfield Southeast Rotary surrendered their Saturday morning leisure on March 14, 2026, to join the assembly line at Ozarks Food Harvest. Julie Jones, Bill Saddler, Rex Johnson, Lori Johnson Murawski, Sal Agosta, and Sal's wife, Christy, formed an efficient volunteer team. By noon, their collective effort had transformed into 623 packed boxes-- nearly 19,000 pounds of provisions -- that would soon become more than 15,000 meals for hungry families. This is the Rotary motto of "Service Above Self" at work again!

Hands-on Service: Springfield Southeast Rotarians volunteer for Good Dads!

Members of Springfield Southeast Rotary Club transformed the Pittman Elementary School gymnasium into a hub of activity on Friday, March 6, for the Good Dads program. The volunteers arranged tables, laid out craft supplies, and set up refreshment stations with donuts, coffee, and juice.

As fathers and their children arrived, they received welcome stickers and raffle tickets from the greeting team. Rotarian Kyle John led the day's featured activity: a paper airplane workshop in which dads and kids designed, built, and launched their creations together.

[L. to R.] Jim Bureman, Will Cox, Chuck Dow, Mike Cosgrove, Kyle John, and Dan Emrie (not shown) all contributed their time to make this service project a success. [Photo by Dan Emrie]

Hands-on Service: Ronald McDonald House of the Ozarks

Springfield Southeast Rotary members Irwin Cohen, Sal Agosta, Tammy Mast, Angela Delahoussaye, Cheryl Briggs and Dan Emrie spent the late afternoon of Feb. 18 at the Ronald McDonald House at Mercy Hospital preparing dinner for families whose children were undergoing medical treatment. We offered them a choice of cashew or sweet n' sour chicken over rice, spring rolls, salad and baked cookies. It was a wonderful time to work, have fellowship and serve food to appreciative families.

[story and photos by Dan Emrie]

Valentines Party at Metro!

The Metropolitan's special event room buzzed with Valentine's spirit as nearly 50 Springfield Southeast members gathered on Feb. 9 to celebrate their Valentines! Ned Reynolds took the microphone offering an impromptu welcoming to everyone before they settled in for their choice of salmon, steak, or chicken parmesan.

The night's entertainment centered on "Metro Bingo," with Lori Barnes Miller, Lori Johnson Murawski and Luke Westerman each walking away with $50 Metropolitan Grill certificates. Patrick had promised a round of Fireball whisky if ball "0 69" appeared during the game. When it did, glasses clinked amid laughter roared as everyone enjoyed their unexpected toast.

A big shout out goes to Mike Vann and Jim Robinette and the Fellowship Committee for making this a great event!

[story and photos by Dan Emrie]