Executive Committee

Wayne Gerlock, Chair

Wayne Gerlock joined the Rotary Club of Marion, IL in 1977, after moving to Marion in 1974. He served as District 6510’s District Governor in 2006-07 after serving in all leadership positions for the Rotary Club of Marion and was their President in 1995-96. Wayne has served District 6510 as: 1998-99 District Conference Co-Chairman; Assistant Governor of Area 6 from 2000-04; District Trainer 2003-06; and Deputy Governor for Community Service 2005-06. Governor Wayne served as District Administrator for 10 years starting in 2008.

Wayne led the chartering of “The Rotary Club of Williamson County, Heartland” in Marion, IL in 2003. While District Governor, he also chartered the “Rotary Club of Red Bud”. In 2004, Wayne was one of the organizers of the “Land of Lincoln President-Elect Training Seminar”, which is made up of 4 Districts from Southern/Central Illinois and Southern/Central Indiana. The first LOLPETS was held, to train the incoming Presidents, during Wayne’s year as District Governor 2006-07. He continued as a officer of LOLPETS from 2005 until 2023.

Also, during Wayne’s District Governorship, he authorized the start of the “District Disaster Response Committee”. In 2017-18 Wayne became a Co-Chair of the committee and helped DAC design and write the software for their Disaster Response (DR) module. The DR software tracks member volunteers, member equipment, and member services. He currently serves as: Vice Chair for Southern Illinois Regional COAD; Rotary International District 6510 Disaster Co-Chair; Rotar International Zones 30/31 Disaster Response Advisory Committee member; and Disaster Aid USA Zone 31 (North) Co-Director.

Orval Rowe, Vice Chair

Orval is the Coordinator/Emergency Manager for the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office/Emergency Management. He has been full-time with Jackson County since 2017. Orval serves as the Chairperson for the Jackson County Local Emergency Preparedness Committee (LEPC), the Vice-Chairperson on the Jackson County Emergency Telephone Services Board (ETSB 911) and the Executive Board for Shawnee Preparedness and Response Coalition (SPARC). Prior to his current position, he served on the Jackson County Board for 8.5 years, completing in the position of Vice Chairperson. Orval is a member of both the ELKS and MOOSE lodges in Murphysboro and has served as an officer of the ELKS Lodge #572 in Murphysboro. He is also an Usher and Past Elder of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Murphysboro, where he has been a member since 1996. Orval is a graduate of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and has received his Professional Development Certificate (PDS) and Illinois Professional Emergency Management (IPEM) certifications from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency/Office of Homeland Security (IEMA/OHS).

Michele Jones, Secretary

Michele Jones is the Deputy Director of Operations for the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency. She also spends her time as a Volunteer Firefighter, EMT, and Public Information Officer for the Cambria Volunteer Fire Department. Recently, she became a BLS, Heartsaver, and First Aid Instructor for John A. Logan College. If that was not enough, she is also a small business owner running a web consulting business and is a Core Contributor to the WordPress Open Source Project.

With a long professional background of teaching and technology, and communications, she brings a fresh approach to emergency management In the digital age. She resides outside of Carbondale with her husband and two cats. In her downtime she loves to travel around the world, attend any and all concerts or sporting events, photography, history, reading, and being crafty.

Carrie Eldridge, Executive Director / Public Information Officer

Carrie currently serves the Jackson County Health Department as a Program Manager / ITFC Coordinator in the Health Education Division. Previously she served as the 4-H Youth Development Educator for University of Illinois Extension. She also worked at Franklin- Williamson Bi- County Health Department for 19 years and served as the Director of Health Education, Interim Director of Emergency Preparedness, and as an Educator. She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University with a bachelors degree and University of Southern Indiana with a Masters degree. With her background, she bring a diverse knowledge of experience in health education, emergency preparedness, public relations, media information, and programming to youth and adults.

Brian Burgess, Emergency Management Liaison

Brian is the Director of the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency. He lives in Marion, Il with his wife and 2 children. He is a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where he earned a bachelor's and master's degree in Special Education in addition to a master's degree in Educational Administration. His professional experience includes 25 years in the public school setting as a special education teacher, technology coordinator and Career and Vocational Instructor. After leaving the public schools, he worked as a Curriculum Support Specialist for the Illinois Fire Service Institute where he worked with subject matter experts to create and update educational programs for te fire service. Additionally, he is a Battalion Chief for the Williamson County Fire Protection District. He brings a diverse background of experience to his position in emergency management.

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