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PEOPLE OF ACTION

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Meeting on Zoom. In person meetings resume at Community House June 10.

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Winnetka, IL 60093
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Meeting Notes September 9

Posted by Carl Yudell

Bill Leske chaired the meeting commencing at 12:21. Lunch was being delivered late.

Chuck Norton presented John Thomas with a Paul Harris +1 Rotary Pin.

Announcements:

Rich Lalley reminded us of the October 15 Benefit concert at Valley Lo with GERALD MCCLENDON "THE SOULKEEPER". The concert benefits Operation Warm. The cost is $60 for dinner and a cash bar. More auction items are needed More information can be found on the Web Site: https://happeningnext.com/event/operation-warm-benefit-eid3a086ucfrr

Rotary is co-sponsoring on September 22 another benefit concert. It will be at the Wallace Bowl, Gillson Park, Wilmette from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. The benefiting charity is Our Place which is a center for teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Volunteers are needed. More information can be found at: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/2414/Event/benefit-concert-for-our-place-1.

Robert Mardirossian reported that a long-time member of the Rotary Club, Allen Ramsey, passed away. A memorial will take place at the Winnetka Congregational Church on Saturday, October 23.

Robert also reported that the Membership Committee needs new members.

Liz Taylor introduced Andy Knox with Wintrust as her guest.

Birthdays: Wes Baumann and Terry Dason are celebrating birthdays this week. Wes made a special gift of $81.00 to Rotary Foundation celebrating his birthday.

Anniversaries: Todd Stephens celebrates 23 years as a Rotarian on September 10, 1928. Fred Schwimmer celebrates 9 years as a Rotarian since September 13, 2012.

Happy Bucks:

Robert Mardirossian saved some money on banking fees and is donating that amount to the Rotary Foundation.

Liz Taylor is happy because the food arrived.

We broke for lunch and then today’s speaker, Chad Fitzloff from Edward Jones Securities was introduced. We have been in a significant Bull Market several years. We had a recession but this was a very different recession. In most cases, the recessions have been driven by the financial markets and are therefore Financial Recessions. This last recession was a biological driven recession. Given all the factors, Edward Jones is still bullish on the stock market and feels there is still room to grow.

Meeting Notes September 2

President Bill called the meeting to order at 12:24.

Thought of the Day: Tony Kambich shared a spontaneous thought: “Here’s hoping you live forever and I never die.”

Greeter Fred Schwimmer led us in the Pledge. After lunch, Fred introduced visiting guest Dr. John Bair, a Winnetka resident who has spoken at our club in the past.

Birthdays: Heather Higgins on the 6^th; Mike Shelton on the 7^th.

Anniversaries: Tony Kambich – 42 years (!) in our club. He noted that he has been a Rotarian for 50 years, as he was in another club for 8 years.

Announcements:

Wilmette Rotary club and our club are co-sponsoring an event at Wallace Bowl in Gillson Park on September 22^nd. The event benefits Our Place. They need volunteers! Talk to Bill or Rich.
Our Annual Operation Warm benefit will be on October 15^th at Valley Lo club featuring Gerald McClendon, whom many of us have heard before – he’s a terrific musician. Tickets are $60 per person. Sponsorships available, auction items requested.
Amy reminded us that there is a statewide mandate to wear masks when indoors except when actively eating or drinking.

Happy Bucks:

Barb Tubekis is happy to see everyone in person. After quarantining due to exposure at a family event, she urges all to take the delta variant seriously.
President Bill gave a buck for the newly-renovated room 101, which now has hardwood floors.

Dig N Grin: Fred Schwimmer cautioned: “many a truth is said in jest” then shared some very funny “truths” spoken by various medical professionals about Obamacare.

Speakers: Our speaker was Ward Wilson, an historian and expert on nuclear weapons. He has been studying the development and use of nuclear weapons for almost 40 years. He believes that realistic, common-sense conversations could take place around the future of nuclear policy, and suggests that Rotary, as an international organization, could engage in this conversation with “calmness, realism and integrity.”

This very informative presentation can be viewed on the Zoom recording.

President Bill adjourned the meeting at 1:30, when we all recited the Four Way Test.

Meeting Notes August 26

Posted by Keith Reed

The meeting was called to order by Co-Chair Bill Leske. There were 21 members present (Zoom and in person). Bob Sanfilippo gave the “thought of the day” on time management. Guests were Mike Stark and Paul Clements, Publisher and Editor of Winnetka Living Magazine, respectively, with Paul also being a Highland Park Rotarian. Such magazine is sent to Winnetka residents free of charge upon request.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Attendees were reminded that the Wilmette Rotary Club is hosting on September 22^nda benefit concert by 3 bands to benefit Our Place (an organization that helps teens and adults with developmental disabilities.) The concert will be at Gillson Park from 5 PM to 8 PM, with one of the 3 bands being the New Trier High School Jazz Combo. There is also a raffle of travel packages to Scottsdale and San Francisco. Tickets to the event are $25 each and raffle tickets are $50 each or 3 for $100.
Marie announced that the Club’s Monday evening cocktail hour is being reactivated on Zoom and those interested should contact her for directions to join in.
Pat O’Day, an honorary member of our Rotary Club for years and its President from 1992 to 1993, reported that in 2007 he was appointed part of the Rotary Food Study Program and as part of that program he was able to travel all over the World from Paris to California as a representative of Rotary. During these trips he collected flags and banners from the Rotary Clubs he visited. He took these flags/banners and had them mounted on a piece of cloth about 5’ by 7’ and he presented that to our Club for its archive collection. Tony quickly pointed out that Pat was an outstanding President of Rotary and has been a loyal Rotarian all these years.

HAPPY BUCKS:

Barb Tubekis gave in gratitude for all the good things Robert Mardirossian has done for and in the name of Rotary. Then she told of her recent trip back to Colorado to attend her Uncle Bill’s funeral. She was impressed by all the activities his Rotary Club had sponsored for poor kids in the Colorado area. She was pleasantly surprised to find out that about half of the people at her Uncle’s funeral were Rotarians. Tony donated as the result of a similar incident that happened to him recently in the Minneapolis airport where he ran into 4 athletic looking young men who appeared to be in their 20’s and all of them were around 7 feet tall. When he asked them about their sport specialty they told him they were in Canada for a basketball tournament, but they also told him that two of them were Rotarians. Point being, let it be known you are a Rotarian and you’d be surprised how many other people you run into who are also Rotarians.

DIG N GRIN WAS HANDLED BY Lee Padgitt who told us about the importance of obeying traffic lights.

SPEAKER SCOTT MYERS from the Winnetka Music Fest: Scott reviewed why the Winnetka Music Festival was postponed last year and that it was difficult trying to decide what to do in 2021 with the Covid situation. A decision had to be made early in the year and it was decided to call it “Emerge Winnetka”, referring to our community emerging from the pandemic and numerous young musicians who would have the chance to “emerge” as new stars with so many of the more experienced musicians refusing to travel or play much due to Covid. In past years we have had 20-25 bands on 4 stages in downtown Winnetka. Due to the cooperation of the Winnetka Park District it was decided to use one of the baseball fields on Skokie Playfield as sound stage areas for the bands and the other baseball field as a “food oasis”. The Playfield should be able to accommodate about 4000 attendees who could socially distant themselves on the premises. The date set is September 11 from 2:00 to 10:45 PM. There will be 6 very experienced bands performing during that time. There will be 5 food vendor trucks servicing the area along with beer and wine vendors. To get into the park, everyone will need to have a certificate showing a recent negative Covid test result or a vaccination certificate—if neither is produced, the person can take a “rapid test” for Covid paid for by a Federal government program. Northwestern Medicine is supplying free hand sanitizers and masks.

Because many bands are refusing to travel, Scott feels that we were able to book 6 very good bands. Five dollars of every ticket sold will be donated by the event’s producers to one of 11 local charities. There is a need for 200 volunteers to work the day of the festival. Parking will be tight around Hibbard and Willow, but parking can be found within a reasonably short walk. Folding chairs, blankets are welcomed but no liquor or food can be brought in by the attendees. The cost is $50 a person and VIP tickets cost $150, but with no rain checks.

There being no more business, the Chair led the group in reciting the Rotary 4 Way Test and the meeting was adjourned. Lunch was late in arriving, thus at this time most members stayed and had lunch together.

Meeting Notes August 19

Posted by David Grant

Visiting Rotarians: Tamiye Meehan, our Assistant District Governor from the Wheeling Club.

Guests: Sam Badger introduced his wife, Nancy.

Zoom Attendees: Sylvia Pacyk, Laura Cunningham, Marie Kuipers

Announcements:

Robert Mardirossian donated Cubs tickets to the Foundation.Thank you Robert!
Rich formed a committee (Joe Nash, Laura Cunningham, Bill Leske) to help plan a Benefit for Operation Warm to be held at the Kenilworth Club on October 1. The party will feature the ‘Soul Keeper’ band.
Marie Kuipers is organizing the return of ‘Monday Happy Hour.’

Dig and Grin: Joe Nash told us why a genie grants a wish to build a bridge to Hawaii.

Speaker Robyn Gabel: Robyn is our 18^th District Representative. This year she is an assistant majority leader in Springfield. She has been in the House for 11 years and is 18^th in seniority out of 118 Representatives. She is proud of her track record, and recent accomplishments:

Elected a new House speaker, Emanuel Chris Welch (no more Mike Madigan).
New 10-year term limits for leaders of the House.
Election reform making it easier to vote.
Telehealth benefits are now permanent.
90% of people in her District are now vaccinated.
The Feds gave IL $8 Billion on Covid relief to spend over 4 years, and the State spent $2 Billion the first year.
State made a full pension payment last year.
Expanded the social safety net.
Clean energy jobs act promising to become carbon-free by 2035.

In the Q&A portion Robyn expressed the opinion that redistricting should be a federal issue that is taken away from IL control.

Meeting Notes August 12

Posted by David Grant

Thought of the Day: Tony Kambich shared his interactions with John F. Kennedy.

Zoom Attendees: Keith Reed, Sylvia Pacyk, Laura Cunningham

Induction of New Member: Congratulations and welcome to Moha Bouacha!!!

Announcements:

Rich Lalley announced the Wilmette Club Benefit Concert to be held on 9/22.
Rich also is planning a Benefit for Operation Warm to be held at the Kenilworth Club on October 1.
Rich encouraged members to sign up for the ‘District Leadership Academy,’ which is an e-learning format on-line.
Teri Dason invited us to participate in a Blood Drive on Wednesday, 8/18.Details can be found on the Winnetka Chamber website.

Happy Bucks:

Amy Skalinder is launching an Adult Program Guide for the Community House.
Tony Kambich called our attention to an article in this month’s Rotarian Magazine about the Peace Academy located in Kampala Uganda.
Queen Marie Kuipers encouraged us to get vaccinated.

Dig and Grin: Fred Schwimmer took us on a donkey ride, and told us if you try to please everyone you will lose your ass.

Speakers: Stacy Sigman, Northfied Village Manager spoke first about the excellent state of government in Northfield. Some of the highlights are:

4 of 7 new Board Members
Kept AAA bond rating
Progress on infrastructure planning
Advanced the goals for a 2040 plan.
Promoted local biz
Despite COVID, Village revenues were 10% better than their ‘best projection.’

Steve Gutierrez, Northfield Director of Communications, spoke about development projects in the Village:

Skokie Valley Trail is 100% funded.
Happ Road Reconstruction is in phase 2 engineering work.
Lowest retail vacancy rate (only the old Subway location is vacant).
The new branch of North Shore Community Bank is open
Josselyn Center completed renovation of their offices, and opened a new administrative location.

Benefit Concert for Our Place- Sept. 22

Let's turn out to support our friends from the Rotary Club of Wilmette to make the world a better place for people with developmental disabilities.

On September 22, they are hosting a benefit concert to support Our Place. It will be held at the Wallace Bowl in Gillson Park, Wilmette from 5PM to 8PM. Three bands have generously donated a performance for our event: The Suzanne Cross Combo, a Jazz Combo from the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory and the New Trier High School Jazz Combo.

There will also be a raffle with travel packages to include a house in Scottsdale, AZ and a condo in San Francisco.

Tickets are $25 per person. Raffle tickets are $50 or 3 for $100. Both event tickets and raffle tickets can be purchased here.

All proceeds will go to support Our Place, a center for teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities to learn, socialize and be a part of our community.

Meeting Recordings

One of the nice features of meeting virtually is that our meetings can be recorded. This of course depends on your meeting host (me) remembering to start the recording (sometimes I'm a bit late in starting it).

Here are links to view our recent meetings:

Suburban Rotary clubs team up to collect new shoes for children in need

Rotarians from Cook and Lake counties partnered with Operation Warm this month to provide 1,530 pairs of new shoes to area children.

The shoes were delivered to local nonprofit organizations and schools for distribution to families. The 11 participating Rotary clubs gathered Saturday morning at a Northbrook warehouse to pick and pack shoes for Operation Warm’s new Warm Soles program.

“It’s all about the kids, it’s all about taking care of the kids in the area,” said Bill Kolb of Zion, who delivered shoes to northeastern Lake County recipients.

Rotarian Gary Moriello of Northbrook helped deliver shoes to Waukegan.

“We have so much ourselves,” Moriello added, “and then to have a chance to give to somebody else who doesn’t have (new shoes) is a great idea.”

The program was funded from contributions from each participating club and a matching grant by Rotary District 6440 and The Rotary Foundation.

Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

Grants Committee Makes Annual Community Grants Awards

The board of the Winnetka Northfield Rotary Charitable Foundation has awarded grants to the following organizations:

Blues Kids Foundation

Career Resource Center

Counseling Center of the North Shore

Good News Partners

Jhoole

North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic

The Volunteer Center

SamaraCare Counseling

Special Gifts Theater

Winnetka Youth Organization

The committee has set aside $700 to match additional donations by our members. If you would like to make a donation and have it matched, email Rich Lalley with the amount of your donation and which organization you are supporting. The foundation match will be awarded on a first come, first served basis, and is capped at $200 per member and $700 total. Contact Rich if you have any questions.

People of Action- The Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield and The Rotary Foundation Provide Relief to Those Impacted by COVID-19

The Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield has met weekly at the Winnetka Community House since 1924. That streak ended in mid-March, when the club suspended its weekly lunch meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, this did not stop the club from continuing to meet and live up to its well-earned reputation as People of Action. Almost immediately, the club began to meet on Zoom every Thursday at its regular 12:15 time, and the club’s board and committees did so as well.

Over the club’s 96 years, it has undertaken many notable service projects. So, it is no surprise the club quickly responded to the needs of those affected by COVID-19. Supported by donations from members and friends of the club, and a grant from The Rotary Foundation, the club took the following actions:

Supported the local food pantry and provided financial assistance to families experiencing severe financial need through a $5,000 donation to the New Trier Township Angel Fund.