Home Page | Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield

WELCOME TO OUR CLUB! CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF SERVICE. COME JOIN US CONNECTING FOR GOOD.

PEOPLE OF ACTION

We meet In Person & Online

Thursdays at 12:15 PM

Community House. Check our bulletin to see if we are meeting in person. Zoom is always an option.

620 Lincoln Avenue
Winnetka, IL 60093
United States of America

Join Us Online [Login to view details]

District Site

Bulletins

Venue Map

Meeting Notes January 29

Posted by David Grant

Ken chaired the meeting. Moha announced that we have received official approval of the Morocco Project from Rotary International!! Patti donated a Happy Buck for seeing Wes back at the Club, and Debra followed up with a Happy Buck for protest songs like the classic ‘Alice’s Restaurant.’

Today’s speakers are Mary and Mike McLaughlin who operate Trees That Feed, a not-for-profit located in Northfield. Their mission is planting fruit-bearing trees to feed people, create jobs, and benefit the environment. Trees That Feed Foundation believes that tree crops are a large part of the answer to world food concerns. Tree crops are nutritious, yet require less input of labor, agro-chemicals, fertilizers and space than field crops. Trees also restore ecological balance to land damaged by misuse or neglect, capture and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and create habitats for small animals and birds. Planting a tree is a winning bet all around … for decades to come!

Meeting Notes January 22

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

Pledge = Ken led us in the Pledge

Thoughts – Bob B shared thoughts about travel

Announcements –

You should have received dues statements. Please pay! Or check with Patti Van Cleave, Treasurer.

David – Debra has redesigned our bulletin. It’s great and new! Take a look!

Thomas – Mental Healthcare Week – Lotteria #2 night is coming up on Feb 19 at AVLI.

Patti = WNRCF Community Grants awarded. List available and will be posted in bulletin.

Amy- Cyber Security workshop on Feb 12.

Bill – spoke to Pat O’Day this morning. He sends regards to the club.

Happy Bucks

Rich – For Moha in all that he has been through lately, the Moroccan soccer team, the Bears, and also including approval of the Global Grant.

Robert – Happy Buck: 75 degrees where he is now

Whiny Buck: Coming back tomorrow.

Dig N Grin – Rives led us in a rousing rendition of a Scottish ballad.

Program - Tony was our featured speaker for Rotarian Behind the Badge. His wife Carolyn was in attendance.

Tony shared Rotary-based stories and picutures from his history as a Rotarian. His stories of a trip to Switzerland to meet Russians were fascinating, as well as his time in Uganda.

Tony also shared some personal history, beginning with his childhood in Joliet. He considered pro baseball, but his father discouraged him.

As a printer’s apprentice in junior college, he met several famous Republicans. He attended the Republican National Convention where he liked “Ike”.

He met Carolyn in college at Northern Illinois.

Moving into his Rotary years, Tony was president in 1985. Once women were allowed in Rotary, the club admitted 4 women and was no longer an “old boys club”.

He met the RI President in Evanston at the end of his year as president. The RI President began the EndPolio initiative.

He learned at an International Convention about the inequality of women in Africa, Uganda specifically. He and Carolyn began a micro-lending program for women in Uganda. Over the course of the program, they raised over $300K and it became an International Rotary project.

Working with the State Dept, they were able to bring Ugandans to the US to be trained as teachers.

The school currently has 600 students and has grown over the years. The Kambichs have been to Uganda 14 times.

Community Grants Announcement

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

Our Club’s charitable foundation, the Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Charitable Foundation, recently completed our annual Community Grants process. We are pleased to report that this year with a budget of $18,000, we awarded 12 grants to local non-profit organizations that serve our community.

Those organizations are:

Counseling Center of the North Shore

Deerfield Free Store at Holy Cross

Hadley Institute

Hunger Resource Network

North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic

Our Place of New Trier

SaLT: Service and Learning Together

SamaraCare Counseling

Saroj Ghandi Sue's Pantry

TotalLink to Community

Volunteer Center

Youth Philanthropy Board

Grants will be presented at our weekly lunch meeting on Thursday, March 12 at noon at the Community House in Winnetka.

Guests are welcome to attend lunch on any Thursday to meet us and learn more about our Club. Contact info@wnrotary.org for more information.

Meeting notes for Jan 15

Posted by Thomas Applegate

President Ken Drummet opened the meeting with a warm welcome to all. Moha Bouacha then shared a pun-filled Dig & Grin. Happy Bucks followed, with Moha celebrating Morocco’s soccer victory and Rives Collins cheering the arrival of his new dog.

Thomas Applegate, our membership chair, inducted our newest club member, Karla Garjaka, presenting her with a welcome packet and the traditional Rotary pin. Karla previously belonged to the Waikiki Rotary Club, where she served on mental health and “Dictionary” literacy projects.

Karla was also our speaker for the day, sharing her passion for understanding the physical connection between the brain and emotions. With 30 years of experience as a neuropsychologist in education, she emphasized the importance of recognizing emotional illiteracy, noticing the body’s physical responses, and learning to read and describe our emotions.

Learn more about Karla’s work at https://karlagarjaka.com/

Ken closed the meeting with the Four-Way Test.

Meeting Notes for January 8

Posted by Amy Skalinder

President Ken Drummet opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. David Birkenstein shared a thought for the day.

After lunch, the following announcements were shared:

The next Rotary happy hour is set for next Tuesday at Guanajuato, 5:30-7pm. Please come and bring a new prospective member!
- Tony commented that perhaps former members of the now-defunct Glencoe Rotary Club could be invited.
- Robert encouraged people to invite staff from the local Fire Department, Police Department, and Village.
Our Club Foundation Board will be meeting next Tuesday at 9:30am to begin to review community grant applications. We have 9 applications to consider this year. Any Rotarian can join the meeting.
Patti shared that on December 29, she sent out dues notices for this quarter, which are due for payment by January 15.
Bob noted we received a thank you note from the Barrington Rotary Club Foundation, thanking us for giving a memorial gift.
Debra shared that the Trees that Feed Foundation is hosting an event with the Bookstall on Wednesday, January 14 at 6pm. Russell Fielding will be discussing his book, Breadfruit: Three Global Journeys of a Bountiful Tree.
Thomas shared that the Counseling Center of the North Shore is starting a new mindfulness meditation group. Please consider joining this 8-week group starting soon.
Jeanne Beckman, who shared a recent diagnosis and asked for check-in calls for support.

Thomas Applegate shared new year’s traditions from various countries and cultures for Dig-n-Grin.

Happy bucks were shared by Moha (highlights of his recent trip to Morocco, including a flag exchange with the local Rotary Club working with us on our global grant). He also reported that he is meeting with a grant officer from Rotary International and hopes to have good news about our Global Grant proposal soon.

Our speaker today, Evan Phifer, shared information about the history of the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration that may be awarded by the United States government. It is presented by the President, in the name of Congress. The first medal was awarded in 1776 to George Washington. He also shared an overview of other military medals and awards that have been given over the years, including various incarnations (and recipients) of the Medal of Honor as it evolved over time.

The meeting concluded with our usual recitation of the Four-Way Test.

Meeting Notes November 13

Posted by Thomas Applegate

President Ken Drummet opened the meeting at 12:15pm and welcomed everyone. Moha Bouacha shared a few inspirational quotes for the day. A Rotarian, John Baier from the former North Chicago club, joined us as a guest.

Barb Tubekis shared upcoming volunteer events, join in and invite friends to experience Rotary service:

“Share Your Bounty” grocery donations to Good News Partners is next Thursday, November 20^th during our meeting, and we need monetary donations to purchase the groceries. Patti, Barb, Bob, and Moha volunteered to purchase groceries.
Tuesday, December 2^nd 6:00pm is lunch packing for Connections for the Homeless, and December is our club’s responsibility. We need volunteers to sign up for purchasing food, assembly of lunches and delivery of the lunches on Wednesday, December 3^rd.
Rotary: Lunch-Packing for Homeless
Operation Warm gifting coats event: Saturday, December 6^th at Edgewater, 6000 N. Broadway, 1:30-4:00. Sign up: Operation Warm Coat Gifting- Edgewater Library | Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield
Also, you can bring your clear plastic food containers to our club meetings that we will give to Glencoe Community Garden for their fresh vegetable distribution.

Ken shared a couple of announcements:

The club Nominating Committee has met to assemble the officer slate.
Rotary International’s Annual Conference will be in Chicago in 2030, and a current project is to install peace poles. Think about where our club could sponsor a peace pole.

Ken invited Barb and Rich Lalley to go “Behind the Badge” and share a little of their respective life stories.

Early in her life, Barb went from Chicago to St. Louis and back to Winnetka. She loved her experiences at New Trier High School where she engaged in service, learned leadership, and was part of the water ballet team. At Depauw she continued her life of service. During her study abroad in Greece, their excursion to Egypt included a chance encounter with Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor, at the Cairo Hilton. She is proud to be a member of Rotary, and the club has been a big part of her life.

Rich believes that good things come from life’s challenges. Rich’s life journey has taken him across the country from the Naval Air Base at Norfolk, VA to Buffalo, NY, Edgewood Borough in Pittsburgh and Birmingham, PA, Arizona, Lansing (MSU), MI, Chicago, St. Louis, MO, Milwaukee, WI, and now Mundelein. Wow! Rich connected to our club when his banker brought him to lunch, and Rotary fit his commitment to service. He has worked with Operation Warm for 16 years.

Meeting Notes November 6

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

Thomas provided a thought.

Ken led us in the pledge.

Guests: Nancy Krueger was a guest of Liz Taylor. Karla Garjaka was a guest of Thomas Applegate.

Announcements:

District Conference – Thomas and Rich attended last Saturday. Save the date for the world’s largest polio walk next year on Oct 24.

Ken shared Operation Warm thank you notes from yesterday’s distribution in Elk Grove Village. Rich, Ken, Moha and Patti attended.

There is a public image workshop this Saturday.

Bill introduced guests from the North Shore Art League. A few weeks ago they were here to work with members to create artwork. Linda, Sophie and Jill attended today as our guests and gave out the member’s artwork.

Rich requested donations for the 11/20 GNP food packing project. Donate now! Look for donations to Jamaica and Haiti through TRF or our foundation.

Rich presented a Paul Harris Fellow x3 pin to Ken.

Amy shared that Rock the House is tomorrow night.

Thomas invited us to a fun fundraiser fir CCNS at Guanajuato on Nov 19.

DNG:

David B – some bad, but funny puns.

Speaker:

Gail Eisenberg, NTT Supervisor, Bill introduced and shared her bio. Gail’s presentation was “What New Trier Township Does”.

She covered social services provided by the township and responded to questions.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:35pm.

Meeting Notes October 30

Posted by Thomas Applegate

Location: Hadley, 700 Elm St, Winnetka

President Ken Drummet opened the meeting at 12:15pm and welcomed everyone. Bill Leske shared an inspirational thought for the day. Ken invited Thomas Applegate to welcome our newest club member, Rives Collins. Rives thanked the club members and especially Moha Bouacha for sponsoring him.

Ken shared a few announcements before lunch:

District 6440 conference is this Saturday, November 1^st.
Grocery packing for Good News Partners is during our lunch on November 20^th. Donations are needed.

Rich shared a couple of updates:

Your monetary donations are needed for groceries to Good News Partners by November 16^th, and we will pack grocery bags on November 20^th. Donation link is in the weekly club email, or bring a check to Patti.
On Saturday December 6^th you can hand out coats with Operation Warm at a library in Chicago.

Ken introduced Johnjoe Farragher, CEO of Hadely to update the club on their services and national reach. They have reached about 180,000 people this year, and by 2030 they want to serve 1 million people. A tour of the facility was offered.

Club History: The First 50 Years 1924-1974

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

Dating back to the Club's 50th Anniversary in 1974, this document tells the history of the first 50 years of our Club from 1924 to 1974:

https://portal.clubrunner.ca/2417/Documents/en-us/6a5470a0-5fbd-477b-b608-3af7f0468c9a/1/

50 Year Anniversary Celebration Card Graphic by Santy Kamal · Creative Fabrica

Got Questions about Rotary or our club? We've got answers.

Posted by Richard (Rich) Lalley on Mar 11, 2013

Are you thinking about joining our club, but have some questions? Or have you recently joined and want to know more about how things work? Check our our new FAQs:

Still have questions? Send them to info@wnrotary.org and we'll send you an answer and update our FAQs.

Doing Good in the World

Posted by Richard (Rich) Lalley on Feb 10, 2013

Last year, our club helped fund a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant program supporting a Rotary Club sponsored prosthesis clinic in Bolivia. Our club's funds were matched with funds from The Rotary Foundation; $2.50 for each $1 we contributed. Take a look at the impact this program has had on one gentleman!

Our club was able to participate in the matching grant program because our members contribute each year the the Annual Programs Fund of The Rotary Foundation. You can make a contribution via PayPal by clicking here.