The meeting in the Winnetka Community House was opened at 12:15 by President Tom Nash followed by Liz Taylor’s “Thought for the Day” from Warren Buffet. Then the pledge of allegiance was led by John Thomas.
Lunch was served and the meeting itself started about 12:25 with 27 of our 52 members in attendance. There were no guests present nor was there an anniversary or birthday.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Tom noted we will be participating with a booth in the WPD Fall Fest this weekend and repeated his request for volunteers. He also noted World Polio Day and the need for volunteers at the Winnetka train station on 10/24. Mary Nelson, Hadley School CEO announced October is Blindness Awareness Month. She told us to look the statuary in town with appurtenances calling attention to this. Rich Lalley talked about the kick-off of Operation Warm, the program that gives new winter coats to kids in need. He thanked those who already have contributed and asked for donations from those yet to give. And, Joe Nash reminded us of the Little Ricky’s fund raiser this evening for Operation Warm
Barb Tubekis reminded us Oct. 28 is Make a Difference Day and volunteers are needed from 9-Noon at the train station. Ned Meisner said this is the 200th Anniversary of the founding of B’hai. He called our attention to a schedule of events on the tables.
HAPPY BUCKS: Mr. Lalley noted he is happy to see his son now awarded his PhD and can be addressed as Doctor Lalley. Tony Kambich is happy his Caribbean condo is intact but noted St. Maartens is still generally a disaster area and needs help. Robert Mardirossian opted to forgoe his usual kick-in in respect to the dire occurrence of the Cubs losing the evening previously.
SPEAKER NOTES: Introducing our speakers Mike and Mary Mclaughlin, was Barb Tubekis. The two speakers are originally from Jamaica and now run a pro-bono Breadfruit tree operation. Their mission is planting those trees to feed people, create jobs and benefit the environment. They supply individuals and groups with quantities of the best varieties of Breadfruit trees, providing trees for planting in small farms, field margins, agroforests and urban backyards. They also work with commercial orchards on large scale planting. Thus far, most of their effort has been planting breadfruit trees in Haiti and Jamaica.
As part of their food effort, they purchase and distribute Breadfruit and locally produced post-harvest products such as a tasty Breadfruit porridge to schools, orphanages and hospitals. And, through coloring books they educate children about the advantages of planting trees in general and Breadfruit trees specifically
They finished their presentation at 1:20. A Q&A ensued and the meeting ended at 1:30. After Greg Nelson won the lottery, we closed with a heart-warming recital of Rotary’s four-way test.