For the past year, WGLT’s Welcome Home series has shared stories aimed at Bloomington-Normal’s newest neighbors. The topics ranged from local history to the housing crunch, to curiosities around town, like: Why do we have two school districts? What is Bloomington-Normal’s connection to the circus? And what is Ronald Reagan’s connection to the region?
These topics were selected based on reader feedback. WGLT sent a survey to new transplants, who almost universally said a top priority was making social connections.
In other words: How do grown-ups make friends?
Work friends are one way. Dog parks are another. And for many, volunteering gets them out into the community, connecting with others.
It may surprise some to hear there are six rotary clubs in Bloomington-Normal. There’s the Bloomington Rotary and the Normal Rotary, plus Sunrise, Sunset and Daybreak — not to mention the Elks, Kiwanis, Jaycees, Lions, the Shriners — the list goes on and on.
This might be the answer to the friend-making challenge, and for many Twin City residents, it is. But certain aspects of social clubs remain shrouded in formality and social and political capital.
Social scientists have documented a sharp decline in civic engagement over the last four decades, as social media and "slacktivism" reign supreme. Social clubs have struggled to modernize and attract new, young, diverse membership.
Rotary international, for example, did not accept women until 1989. In Bloomington-Normal, membership remains disproportionately white. And many young adults' work patterns and social lives look completely different from those of their elders, a trend that was exacerbated by the pandemic.
Enter the Pub Club
“We ran the numbers in October,” said Kate Burcham, treasurer, incoming president, web designer and social media manager for the Bloomington Pub Club Rotary. “We are 55% female and our average age is 45.”
Founding president Tara Conklin reached out to four friends in 2021 with an idea for a new Rotary club.
“So, we all sat at a bar,” Burcham said. “In March 2021, we had our inaugural meeting. We had almost 30 people show up. By our official start date in May, we had 21 members. From there, we just grew.”
Now tipping above 80 members, Pub Club is the fastest-growing Rotary in Illinois. From the original five, the board will expand to 13 members next year.
“It’s more attractive to a younger demographic,” said Realtor and current board member Shannon Smith. “They want to help in the community. They might not be able to do it financially, but they can give their time.”
Pub Club meets monthly in a rotation of local watering holes. But Burcham said the club is not just about drinking. The Pub Club's main goal is completing service projects. Smith said she tried out almost every Rotary in Bloomington-Normal— and this was the one that worked for her.
“We’re doing more service hours than any other Rotary in town,” she said, though it took some convincing to get Rotary International on board.
“We’re bringing in members and doing all these things,” Smith said. “They recognized, maybe we need to make some changes — not to get rid of what traditional Rotary is, but open it up on another spectrum so the people that aren’t looking for that model can join this model.”
Recently, the Pub Club won a regional trailblazer award for its efforts, showing there’s not just one way to Rotary.
A more conventional option
Chartered in 1949, a more traditional club is the Normal Rotary that meets at noon Wednesdays at Illinois State University's Alumni Center.
Despite its traditional trappings — they ring the bell, recite the Pledge of Allegiance and sing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" at the top of each meeting — president Dayna Brown said the club has evolved to meet the moment.
“We really try to be open,” Brown said, “where we embrace the history but welcome change.”
As one example, Normal Rotary no longer has an attendance requirement. They've made moves to meet members where they're at, and it appears to be working, with a growing membership and age range spanning from 30 to 92.
“I think a lot of groups that haven’t been willing to change, that’s where they start to see some difficulties,” she said.
But a lunchtime meeting can be challenging for some — and is one reason why Pub Club started.
“I own my own company,” said Burcham, adding many Pub Clubbers are business owners and “solopreneurs.”
“Our time is money,” she said. “I’m sorry, but if it’s between going to a lunch at noon or meeting with a client — the client is always going to win,” she said.
Members across multiple clubs said scheduling was their primary motivating factor in choosing which Rotary to join.
Sunset Rotary meets after work, for a quick weekly meeting with no meal. Pub Club meets monthly. They don't provide food, but buy members a beer. Sunrise and Daybreak are for the early birds, combining weekly meetings with breakfast.
Finding your ‘fit’
Rotary Club members also talked about figuring out "where you fit in." That can be coded language for newcomers, especially given the longstanding rule that membership relies on paying dues [that run anywhere from $200-$600 a year] and sponsorship by an existing member. Being welcoming and being inclusive are not always mutually exclusive, and these factors, in part, are why Bloomington-Normal has six Rotary Clubs when one or two might do.
Until the Pub Club came around, Daybreak Rotary was the newest, chartered in 2013. With just 15 members, Daybreak Rotary is, quite honestly, a vibe. They meet at the Original Pancake House. Most members order “the usual,” eating their pancakes and eggs as they run through the agenda.
“I was attracted to this primarily because I had a friend here, and because of the focus on service,” said Chris Hoy, who joined Daybreak Rotary six months ago. Hoy has been involved with scouting and Habitat for Humanity and had never been exposed to Rotary.
“The group of people here, who have a social connection, but also the drive to give back with sweat, in town, was something I wanted to be a part of,” he said.
At a November meeting, the group debriefed on their second annual Grocery Grab, a Supermarket Sweep-styled fundraiser at Hyvee in Bloomington — and the club's biggest event of the year.
“We try to do the best we can in our little corner,” said club president Jason Sleet Shirley. The Daybreakers raised $1,250 in the Grocery Grab, divided among three charities.
“It’s huge for us,” Shirley said. “I originally came to this club because the business that I worked for paid for it. It was supposed to be a networking opportunity. There’s 15 people in here, and of course we come from all walks of life, but this isn’t that kind of club. If you want to network and hand your card out, Sunrise is where you go.”
The “movers and shakers”
“Once you come here, you hear the energy, you feel the excitement. The comraderie that’s in this group — I felt this is home for me,” said Sue Seibring, president of Sunrise Rotary, chartered in 1990.
“It’s a long-standing group,” Seibring said. “It’s a great variety, very diverse, all different types of occupations, all different age groups, which makes it fun, too.”
As the largest club in the Twin Cities, Sunrise Rotary is flush with networking opportunities and chock full of business owners. Daybreak, Normal Rotary and Pub Club members almost universally called Sunrise the "movers and shakers" in the community.
“Your fingers are out in the community even more when you have so much diversity,” said Seibring.
Realtor and past president Laura Pritts joined Sunrise Rotary looking for organized service opportunities.
“The future of Rotary is in groups like Sunrise and Pub Club,” Pritts said. “There’s energy and there are people who can’t wait to get up and go.”
Sunrise gathers on Tuesday mornings at Eastland Suites in Bloomington. Breakfast begins at 6:30 a.m.
“We have so many people who say, ‘I’m not a morning person,’ and yet they’re here every single Tuesday,” Pritts said. “There’s something about that.”
Long-lasting connection
Pritts said Sunrise Rotary also is about friendship. At a November meeting just before Thanksgiving, guest speaker Phil Bachman of Luther Oaks discussed the “Blue Zones,” areas of the world where seniors are thriving.
One tenet of long-term independent living, Bachman said, is “finding your tribe.”
“For so many of us here in this club, if this is not 'the' tribe, it’s certainly one of them,” Pritts said.
Miranda Johns-Cummings moved to the area six years ago. She joined Normal Rotary specifically looking for social connections.
“I knew no one, but the people in my household and the people I worked with,” she said. “To get to know the people in the community better, to meet community leaders, really, and people who could connect me with resources in the community, I joined Rotary.”
Johns-Cummings lives in a rural area and works in Bloomington-Normal, so the lunchtime meeting works for her.
“I have made some great friendships here, but I often wonder, how do you deepen those relationships as an adult?”
While social clubs aren't the answer for everyone, they do build social connections grounded in community service. Not a bad combination, but it's up to us — and those of the next generation — to take those connections to the next level and build real, lasting friendships.
