Welcome to the Rotary Club of Naperville - Downtown!

The Rotary Club of Naperville Downtown is one of four Rotary Clubs serving Naperville, Illinois.

The Rotary Club of Naperville was chartered in February, 2007, and is a member of Rotary International, District 6450.

The Club meets weekly on Wednesday, at 4:44 p.m. in downtown Naperville.

For information about upcoming meetings, see our Meetings page or our Calendar page.

To see past programs and photos, see Past Programs and our Fun Photos page.

To learn more about our club, please visit our Club Information page and our Club Documents page.

To learn more about Rotary, visit Rotary International's web page, or check out our links page.

Club News:

New location for our weekly meetings!

Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown is moving its weekly meetings ... to David's, a new restaurant located in the Jefferson Hill Shops building on Jefferson Avenue in downtown Naperville.

Rotary meets in one of the private rooms. Typically, we start arriving at 4:30 PM for fellowship and fun, take attendance at 4:44PM and begin the official meeting at 5:00 PM. There is a separate entrance for our room off of Chicago. Look for the Rotary signboard on the sidewalk.

Naperville First Responders Calendar Available For Purchase

2009 First Responders 13-month calendar is now available for $20

It's a one-of-a-kind gift for teachers, family, friends, co-workers and neighbors

The Rotary Club of Naperville /Downtown has produced a 13-month calendar, “First Responders 2009,” featuring the dedicated men and women of the Naperville Fire Department. The international service project will benefit The Gear Up Foundation, firefighters helping firefighters in developing countries worldwide that are in need of equipment and gear. The cost of the 2009 calendar that includes January 2010 is $20.

Recognizing that Naperville is one of the safest cities of its size in the country, the Rotary /Downtown timed its first major fundraising initiative with Naperville Public Safety Month in October. Since the Naperville police and fire departments are "Partnering for Prevention" with local organizations, Rotary/Downtown is contributing to public awareness about fire prevention.

Ed Curley and John Drohan, volunteer members of the Naperville Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), took more than 2,200 photos for the project, working with Firefighter/Paramedic Dan Donahoe and Lt. Marty Walker. Then 100 images of local firefighters in training and on the job were selected for the presentation on the pages, designed by Ethan Danstrom at Minuteman Press.

Soraya McLaughlin, Community Education Specialist at the Naperville Fire Department, contributed to nearly 250 basic fire prevention tips and historical notes that serve as daily reminders to use common sense to keep your family and home safe.

“We wanted to pay tribute to this exception group of public servants,” said Nancy Quigley, who heads of the Rotary/Downtown International Service Committee.

First Responders 2009 are available for $20 at Quigley’s Irish Pub, The Canterbury Shoppe, Naperville Convention and Visitors Bureau, Oswald’s Pharmacy, DBCW Law Offices, and Minuteman Press.

Special orders of 10 are $150. Orders of five or more can be delivered to your home or office in Naperville.

The calendar is sponsored by Positively Naperville, First Community Bank-Naperville, West Suburban Irish, Councilman Jim Boyajian, Casey’s Foods, Lynmar Lending Group, Michael Hurley, Patti Powers of Cameo Travel, Cindy Giles of CASA of DuPage, Quigley’s Irish Pub Naperville, Feldott & Associates Real Estate Services, Allison DeBoer, Minuteman Press Naperville, Gary F Baumgartner of Citi Smith Barney, Blooming Color, Ray Kinney, Tony Chirico and Councilman Kenn Miller to benefit International Service project of the Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown.

Club Calendar of Events now Online

Check out our online Club Calendar for information about Club Meetings and Rotary Events. Let us know of anything that should be added to the Calendar. The Calendar is available as a page of this site, or by following this link.

District Governor Mike Slevnik visits the Downtown Club.

District 6450 Governor Michael Slevnik visited the Club on July 23rd, and told us of his plans for the District for the 2008-09 Rotary year.

DG Mike urged the Club to find ways to fulfill the theme for this Rotary year -- Make Dreams Real, and to find projects that help children.

Here are DG Mike and Club President Jim Boyajian at the meeting:

The Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown marked it first anniversary on February 20, 2008.

Naperville’s third Rotary club was chartered with 27 members in February 2007. On Wednesday, February 20, the Rotary Club of Naperville/ Downtown celebrated its first anniversary during a Paul Harris Fellow Recognition Dinner at Tessa's, the location where the club meets at 4:44 p.m. every Wednesday.

“The timing also is significant because Chicago attorney Paul Harris founded Rotary on February 23, 1905,” said Gary Baumgartner, Past President, who coordinates Rotary Foundation donations. “As the story goes, Harris called three business associates to a meeting with a goal to start a club that would develop fellowship by ‘rotating’ from business to business.”

Today, Rotary, an international service organization comprised of more than 1.2 million members, has 32,000 clubs in 200 countries. Rotarians meet weekly to build friendships, goodwill and peace worldwide with a motto of “Service above Self.”

Paul Harris Fellowships denote contributions to the Rotary Foundation, an endowment established in 1917. Anyone who contributes $1,000 or more over time to The Rotary Foundation Annual Programs Fund may become a Paul Harris Fellow. Typically, clubs recognize Paul Harris awards once a year.

Baumgartner and Rotary District 6450 Governor Art Davis recognized 14 new Paul Harris Fellows.

The evening’s festivities also included presentations about international Rotary projects. Naperville Sunrise Rotarian Rick Quackenbush recounted his recent trip to Nigeria where he helped vaccinate children during a PolioPlus National Immunization Day. Since 1985 as Rotary’s largest initiative, “PolioPlus” has made great strides toward its goal to eradicate polio worldwide.

Pat Merryweather, Vice-President of the Rotary Club of Naperville, presented an update on Upendo Village in Kenya, funded in part by matching grants of local Rotary clubs.

Nicki Scott, Vice-President of Rotary/Sunrise, has been connected with educational projects in Tikondane, Zambia, Africa. After Nicki brief overview, Rotary/Downtown presented a check to help with matching grants for that project. “It's our first matching grant working with another Rotary!” exclaimed Scott.

During its first year, Rotary/Downtown has allocated grants to Waubonsie Valley High School Warriors Reaching Out, a cultural exchange with Cape Town, South Africa; Petra’s Education Project in Kosovo; and The Gear Up Foundation, firefighters helping firefighters worldwide.

Closer to home, grants went to the DuPage Symphony Orchestra; Naperville CARES; Carpenter’s Place/Aurora and the North Central College Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center.

Four scholarships of $1,250 each were set up equally at College of DuPage and Waubonsee Community College.

The Club recently approved its board of directors for 2008-09: Jim Boyajian, president; Ron Nyberg, president-elect; Chuck Corrigan, vice-president; Pat Benton and Lynda Reilly, treasurers; Nancy Quigley and Karen Helm, secretaries; Allison DeBoer, sergeant at arms; Stephanie Penick, immediate past president; and Ed Fey, Neal Cerne, Erin Christianson and Jeffry Knuckles, directors. The new board will be installed on July 1, 2008.


Club President Stephanie Penick welcomes members and guests to the Paul Harris Fellow Recognition Dinner at Tessa's on February 20, 2008.	Some of the new Paul Harris Fellows pose for their photo with District Governor Art Davis.