Alejo Vazquez is from a small rural town in Argentina. His hobbies are drawing, video games and Rubik’s cubes and his favorite class is math. He has the highest grade point average in his class. He has been vice president of his student council and has participated in the youth parliament with students from other schools so that their proposals reach the national congress.
Alejo enjoys learning new things and taught himself English and looks forward to learning about the USA while on his exchange.
Alejo is attending Harlem High School and is living with Leandro Tarragona & Maricel Colman, who also hosted Timeo, our youth exchange student in 24/25.
This is always a fun and interesting program and one you will want to bring a guest or prospective member to learn about one of Rotary's most successful youth programs.
President Paul will introduce Alejo and act as Rotary host.
Ted Berger is the Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS). Ted joined IEMA-OHS in May of 2025 following a distinguished career in public policy and public safety leadership across multiple levels of government. Most recently, he served as Executive Director for the Cook County Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security (EMRS), overseeing emergency management and homeland security programs within the nation’s second-largest county.
Previously, Ted held senior roles in Cook County Government, including with the State’s Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Board President, and as Chief Deputy Director for EMRS. His earlier public service includes leadership positions with the City of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, as well as several state agencies, among them the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the Illinois Tollway, and the Illinois Department of Transportation. He began his public service career as a James H. Dunn Memorial Fellow in the Office of the Governor.
Beyond his professional roles, Ted served in the volunteer fire service as Deputy Chief of Training, EMS, and Safety for the North Park Fire Protection District in Machesney Park, and as a volunteer Associate Staff Member for the White House Office of Scheduling and Advance. He holds a Master of Arts in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Bradley University
Ted previously presented to us when he was working for the City of Chicago. This time his presentation will center around the whole state of Illinois and what the state is doing to prepare for various emergencies which may arise in the future. This will be an interesting program and one you will want to invite a guest or prospective member to join us in person at Memorial Hall or via Zoom.
Suzanne Berger, who just happens to be Ted's mother, will introduce our presenter and act as Rotary host.
Rockford Rotary Club is offering a buffet lunch before each Thursday meeting at 11:30 AM.
Here is the lunch for our 9/17/26 Meeting.
"Lasagna Feast
Special Italian Salad with house Italian Dressing. Your choice of Meat, Vegetable, or Six Cheese Lasagna and assorted rolls and butter.
To reserve the above lunch, test Elise by Monday at 3:00 PM at (815) 985-8300. Price is $15 each. If you have a guest, reserve a meal, but the guest meal is free.
At the August 18th Rotary Board meeting, the Board voted to appoint Maliha Khan to fill the remainder of Tom Huber's term which will end on June 30, 2027.
We thank both Maliha and Frank Buchmann for their willingness to serve on the board. We would also hope that both of them will be consider making themselves available to serve next Rotary year when three Director positions will be available.
Now that school is back in session it is the time of year when we are looking for volunteers to read with 2nd and 3rd grade students in RPS 205. How exciting that we are now in our 25th year of Rockford Reads! This year we are going bilingual, so we are in need of bilingual volunteers as well. If you have not participated in Rockford Reads before, please consider it now. It is a very rewarding experience to help influence the lives of these students. Volunteers do not need to be Rotarians. If you know of someone who might be interested, let them know about this program.
If you are interested or know of someone, please reach out to Kathy Kwiat-Hess at kathykwiathess@gmail.com.
