Meeting Recap - April 24
Posted by Wes Baumann
Thirty-four members attended the April 24 meeting. In addition to our speaker we had three guests including the speaker’s wife, Dr. Renita Jackson, visiting Rotarian Roland Catencci from the Wilmette Noon club and potential new member Mike Malloy, a guest of Luvie Owens for the third time.
Due to the spring rummage sale held at the Community House on the second weekend of May our weekly meeting for May 8 will be held in Glencoe at the Takiff Center located at 999 Green Bay Road, just north of Dundee Road.
A joint meeting with the Wilmette Noon Club will be held on May 15th at 6:00 p.m. at the Winnetka Community House. This meeting will be in lieu of our regular noon meeting. The speaker will be David Snyder, the associate publisher of Crain’s Chicago Business. Please mark your calendars!
Rotary “Fireside Chat” was announced for the evening of May 29th at 7:00 p.m. It will be held in the Board Room at the Park District’s Nielsen Tennis Center located at Hibbard Road and Elm Street. This event is open to all members of our club and is especially beneficial for new members. It is an opportunity to learn more about how our club operates and the activities we support.
This week’s Moment to Shine featured Jake Ieuter who was born and raised in the Township where his entire family currently resides. In 2009 he joined his father and two brothers in the family business, Secure Futures, a full-service risk management firm located in Northfield. He has been active in coaching his children and has remained a part of the Wilmette Youth Baseball Association.
Bob Jackson, our speaker, is the Executive Director of the Roseland CeaseFire Project in Chicago. He spoke about their Community Violence Prevention Program where they work with 14 to 27 year olds and their parents in an attempt to break the culture of violence in their area. Many of their clients started life as “crack babies” and have had problems with how to deal with their anger, which often results with incarceration. Most of the young people they work with have been referred to their organization by the court system of the county and state. He reported that most of the former organized gang leaders are now in prison and ‘cliques’ have replaced the ‘gangs’.
The state and county regularly audit their programs, both for program effectiveness and financial soundness. Bob also told us that the “Safe Passage” program instituted in Chicago following the closing of numerous schools to increase safety of children having to travel in new areas is a Federal program and that the use of a gun in a Safe Passage zone is a Federal crime.
P.S. The Chamber’s “After Hour” event that was sponsored by our club on the 17th was a wonderful success. Our club had super attendance and the great food and drink contributed to a delightful evening.