Pictured: National President Larry Cassell, First Lady Nelda Cassell, and Rep. Darren Bailey. Photo courtesy of Darren Bailey’s Office.
Louisville, IL-(Effingham Radio)- State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) welcomed Ruritan National president Larry Cassell and his wife, First Lady Nelda Cassell to Illinois this month at the Ruritan breakfast in Mt. Erie.
Ruritan is a civic service organization made up of local clubs in urban areas, small towns and rural communities.
Currently, there are eleven clubs in Illinois including Allendale, Dieterich, Geff, Irvington, Johnsonville, Mill Shoals, Wayne City, Beecher City, Bluford, Dundas, and Mt. Erie.
“What an honor to welcome the national president of this positive service organization to the Land of Lincoln,” said Rep. Bailey. “Eight of the eleven clubs in Illinois are in counties I represent in the 109th Disttrict. Mr. Cassell and his wife Nelda are great ambassadors for the Ruritans and I look forward to having them back to Illinois soon.”
Ruritan National has nearly 25,000 members throughout the United States, that work to improve more than 900 local communities.
Since the organization’s beginning in 1928, Ruritan Clubs have served America with Fellowship, Goodwill, and Community Service.
Pictured: Jim Zehr, DuBois, IN (Past National Director), Beverly Tanner & Howard Tanner of Fairfield (Past National Directors), Rep. Darren Bailey (109th District) Photo courtesy of Darren Bailey’s Office.
The organization’s purpose is to create a better understanding among people and through volunteer community service, make America’s communities better places in which to live and work.
Club membership represents a cross-section of the community in which the club serves, and is not restrictive with regard to occupation, social position, or any other specific criteria.
Unlike most civic service organizations, Ruritan rarely has national programs.
Rather, each club surveys its own community as to the needs of that community and then works to meet some of those needs.
Nearly all clubs work locally with FFA, 4-H and other organizations serving youth.
Nearly one-third of Ruritan clubs sponsors a Boy or Girl Scout unit.
The first Ruritan Club was chartered May 21, 1928, in Holland, Virginia.
Since that first club, Ruritan has grown throughout the United States of America, and in doing so, has become “America’s Leading Community Service Organization.”
The name “Ruritan” is a combination of the Latin words for open country “ruri” and small town “tan,” interpreted as pertaining to rural and small town life.
The Lincoln Land district of Ruritan National include 18 clubs in Illinois and Indiana.
To learn more about this group and to get involved, Rep. Bailey suggests contacting them at www.ruritan.org.
