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Winnetka, IL 60093
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Meeting Notes September 14

Posted by David Grant

President Bob led today’s meeting with 11 in-person Rotarians, 2 guests, 1 Visiting Rotarian, and our speaker.

Guests: From The Volunteer Center, Barb introduced their new Executive Director: Bridget Lewis. From Byline Bank, Bill introduced their Director of Financial Literacy: Judette Kurasz.

Visiting Rotarian: Our Assistant District Governor: Sonja Martin

Announcements:

Barb is the Interim President of the Volunteer Center.
Bill will be at the Winnetka Farmer’s Market this Saturday with Liz, Moha, and Barb, and he sent this picture:

Robert auctioned Cubs tickets that Rich bought with a $60 donation to the Winnetka-Northfield Foundation.
President Bob will give you a Rotary International ‘Hope’ pin if you ask him.
Rich reminds us to buy tickets for the October 13 Operation warm Concert/Party/Benefit.

Happy Bucks:

Moha is happy that all his family members survived the Moroccan earthquake. And he is also happy that his dog survived being hit by a car earlier today.

Speaker: Zach Dmyterko is the Communications Manager for Refugee One. He is third generation in a Ukrainian immigrant family. His Grandparents had been refugees from the Ukraine. The organization he represents has expanded from 35 employees to 100 in the last year. They are Chicago based, and deal uniquely with the refugees coming to our area.

Meeting Notes August 31

Posted by David Grant

President Bob led today’s meeting with 12 in-person Rotarians, 3 guests, and 1 zoomer.

Visiting Rotarians: Two visiting Rotarians from the North Branch Club: Asssistant Governor Sonia Martin and John Baier. Mark Duart from the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Club has family here in Winnetka and was curious to see our Club in action.

Announcements:

Bob announced that the Buffalo Grove Club duck race is this month, and Glenview Sunrise Club also has a fundraiser event.
Rich sent email invites to all of us for the Operation Warm event on 10/13.

Happy Bucks:

Robert contributed because he likes how Bob starts each meeting with a moment to breath and be present.

Speaker: Fellow Rotarian Moha Bouacha led us through some Sung Tai Chi moves including parting the horses tail, and cobra and crane fighting.

Meeting Notes August 24

Posted by Keith Reed

The meeting was chaired and started off with two deep breaths led by Chair Bob Baker. There were 14 members present and one on Zoom. Matthew Butler handled Dig N Grin and Wes Baumann gave the “thought” of the day which was “Success comes from Good Decisions--Good Decisions come from Experience—Experience comes from mistakes—and you learn from your mistakes-- Forecasts may tell you a great deal about the forecaster but tell you nothing of the future!"

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Our speaker next week (August 31) will be our own Club Member Moha Bouacha giving us information and a demonstration on Tai Chi. Members will need to bring their own water to our meetings starting next week and the plastic or can containers will be recycled by the member. Our good friend and supporter Ron Bernardi is celebrating his 80th birthday on September 1 with an open house at the Sunset Foods store in Northbrook from 2 to 6 PM with food, music, door prizes, etc. Rich announced an interesting sports related activity hosted this week by the Philadelphia Eagles football team where they are giving away 3 sports bras to each girl in need at a local high school to encourage them to continue to work and excel at the sport of their choice. Rich also announced that NASCAR is a big supporter of Operation Warm and that this next Saturday, the number two driver on the circuit (Denny Hamlin) will be driving a car with a large “Operation Warm” logo on its side. Rich also reminded us of Operation Warm’s Benefit Party at Valley Lo Club on Oct. 13 from 6:00 to 11:00 PM.

CLUB MEMBERSHIP Anniversaries were announced: Brooke Peppey 27 years, Peter Skalski 31 years and Sam Badger 10 years in our Club, but many other years in other area Rotary Clubs.

SPEAKER JASMINE RICHMAN, DIRECTOR OF PROGRAM MANAGEMENT FOR HOLIDAY HEROES. Holiday Heroes is a not- for- profit organization that is in its 15th year of providing entertainment in several hospitals throughout the Midwestern states to hospitalized children of all ages and illnesses. Such programs include costume parties, sports and arts activities, musical programs, and providing gifts that are enjoyed by children of all ages. Since it is a not- for- profit organization, it relies heavily on donations and volunteers to do most of the entertaining and party activity, including the bagging of sports items, balloons, baseball cards etc. This is where our Rotarians were asked to use their skills in filling over 200 bags of games, toys, balloons, etc. for Holiday Heroes to pass on to hospitalized children. Although our hand dexterity was a little out of practice at the start, by the end of our half hour bagging toys we all became pretty efficient, which was greatly appreciated by Jasmine.

At 1:30 we were all relieved to end the meeting with the reciting of Rotary’s 4 Way Test.

Meeting Notes August 17

Posted by David Grant

President Bob led today’s meeting with 14 in-person Rotarians and 2 zoomers.

Announcements:

Patti Shelterbox is sending funds to Hawaii. She will send them a personal donation. You can also donate at Home Page | Hawai'i Rotary District 5000 (rotaryd5000.org)
Patti The Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Foundation Board meets at NSCB @ 11:00am this Thursday, 8/24.
Amy will empty the New Trier Pantry food collection box in the lobby of the WCH today. We will continue collecting.
Barb This Thursday’s service project will be in the Garden Room at WCH.
Rich Operation Warm concert is coming up soon.

Happy Bucks:

Patti is happy she is going to the Cubs for first time since 2019.
David is happy his wife Leslie and daughter Allegra came to hear him talk about Taylor Swift.
Barb is happy this is her 39^th wedding anniversary.

Dig ‘N Grin: Heidi dressed as a bumblebee and shared some bee puns.

Speaker: Fellow Rotarian David Grant set the context for why Taylor Swift is getting so much attention this summer. Her Eras tour will gross a record-setting $1.5 Billion with 148 concert dates. The stadium tour will be seen by more than 7 million fans. The tour features songs from all ten of her albums which were released between 2006 and 2022. Her concerts last 3 hours, but we only had time to sample a few of her most popular songs. Below is a list of YouTube links, organized by album, if you want to listen to any of the songs we sampled:

Taylor Swift (2006)

Teardrops on My Guitar: Taylor Swift - Teardrops On My Guitar - YouTube

Fearless (2008)

You belong with Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw
Love Story: Taylor Swift - Love Story - YouTube

Speak Now (2010)

Back to December: Taylor Swift - Back To December - YouTube

Red (2012)

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA4iX5D9Z64

1989 (2014)

Blank Space: Taylor Swift - Blank Space - YouTube
Wildest Dreams:Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams - YouTube
Bad Blood: Taylor Swift - Bad Blood ft. Kendrick Lamar - YouTube
Shake it Off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM

Reputation (2017)

Look what you made me do: Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do - YouTube
Delicate: Taylor Swift - Delicate - YouTube

Lover (2019)

Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince: Taylor Swift - Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince (Official Music Video) - YouTube

Folklore (2020)

Evermore (2020)

Willow: Taylor Swift - willow (Official Music Video) - YouTube

Midnights (2022)

Carolina (2023)

Taylor Swift - Carolina (From The Motion Picture “Where The Crawdads Sing” / Lyric Video) - YouTube

Taylor Swift University Course Asks Psychologists: 'What Can We Learn From Her?'

Meeting Summary August 10

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

There were 11 Rotarians in person, no one on Zoom. Our guest was Debra Puce from Counseling Center of the North Shore.

President Bob called the meeting to order at 12:20.

Fred offered a Thought, reminding us to take note of the lovely trees in our village.

Announcements:

Our board began discussing the Centennial celebration. We invite any members who is interested in planning for this year of events to join a committee. Patti and Fred are already on the committee.
The foundation will be doing further research on a project in Uganda. We have raised funds to support a project, and will be investigating whether we support this project or another.

Happy Bucks:

Barb shared that they had a hair-raising flight into the Aspen airport. However, their stay in CO was awesome.
Tony shared that he and Carolyn recently celebrated their 62^nd wedding anniversary.

Dig N Grin – Bob shared some “This Day in History” facts on behalf of Heidi.

Program: Sydney Clark and Betsy Arlenbenow provided us with an update on what’s going on at our libraries. There’s a LOT going on at our libraries! They also shared some of their favorite recent reads. Powerpoint available upon request.

We concluded the meeting with the 4-way-test at 1:30.

Meeting Summary August 3

Posted by Keith Reed

The meeting was chaired by President Bob Baker and had 18 members present. Guests were Rich’s sister, Ryan Good (now a local schoolteacher), John P. Bair from Roselind Franklin Medicine & Science (a Rotarian in North Chicago,and a previous speaker at our Club), Ken Drummet (attending his 3^rd Rotary meeting and now eligible for Club membership), and Debra Campbell who will be one of our September Rotary speakers on the subject of “alternative healing processes”.

Barb gave the “thought of the day” which was when you face difficult times that your challenge is to increase your strength and not to let the difficulty weaken your resolve.

Bob Sanfilippo handled the Dig N Grin.

Club membership anniversaries were Brooke Peppey (27 years), Peter Skalski (31 years) and Sam Badger (10 years).

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Amy reminded everyone of the “Thirsty Thursday” event to be held this evening in the WCH garden featuring the Replay Band, pizza and a cash bar. Bob reminded the Club Board of Directors of next week’s Board meeting.

HAPPY BUCKS were given by Barb in anticipation of her Colorado trip; Rich in anticipation of next week’s vacation; and by our guest John Bair for the support he has received from our Club.

HAPPY BUCK offered July 27 by Barb: In memory of her dear 95 year old family friend, Barbara Manning. Barb expressed gratitude for the life of Barbara Manning as an amazing human being who helped people in dire need throughout Barbara’s life.

SPEAKER: BRETT H. WEISS, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF WEISS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION, 416 W. Jackson Ave., Naperville, Ill 60540, Cell phone 630-248-5405.

Brett said that the driving force behind his Foundation is that more than half of the children in the world get little to no education; that education is the only long-term sustainable solution to poverty; and that his Foundation works hard through its Scholarship programs to grant over 180 scholarships to the young children in Kenya (primarily at 5 locations in the Dago area) so that they can get a primary school education, then on to a high school program and then several students qualify to take college programs in the U.S. (Elmhurst University has participated). The Foundation can provide this education up through high school for about $3500 per student. The Foundation has 7 staff educators to work with the students at all levels with an annual payroll cost of about $37,000. There are about 140 Rotary clubs and many individuals Rotarians supporting these programs. Brett is an active member of the Naperville Rotary Club and his background in education was as a high school social studies teacher in the Bartlett, Illinois area.

The background of most of the students is-- they have no electricity or plumbing in their homes and only one meal per day; average family income of $2 a day; few have both parents living; most leave school around 4^th grade when they realize they can’t afford high school; there are some government run schools but they are not co-ed and they tend not to cooperate with or provide any funding for the private schools; limited supply of books and school supplies; few people live beyond age 40 due to lack of medical care; and, according to Brett “women tend to have less rights than men and they seem to do most of the work.”

Accomplishments of the Weiss Foundation have been—it’s doubled the number of children completing primary school; there are now almost as many girl students as boys and they are performing almost as well as the boys; and recent exam results at end of primary school have improved by 40% since the Foundation has initiated its programs.

Regarding the future of Kenya, Brett said that it has many problems but that the government seems to be responding more to improving its medical services rather than its education programs. Brett used a very interesting 34 slide power point presentation the link for which is available upon request to Rich, David or Keith.

After reciting Rotary’s 4 Way Test, the meeting was adjourned at 1:30 pm.

Meeting Summary July 27

Posted by David Grant

President Bob led today’s meeting with 12 in-person Rotarians, 1 zoomer, and 1 guest (Ken returning for his 3^rd visit).

Announcements:

Bill thanked everyone who worked at the Northfield Market & Music event on Wednesday, July 26. See the picture below:

Happy Bucks:

Peter is happy on his Birthday
Fred celebrates 62 years of marriage.
Robert donates for the Cubs 17 -3 victory.

Speaker: Louis Ortega coordinates organ & tissue donation for the not-for-profit Gift of Hope. Gift of Hope is one of 57 such organizations in the United States. They cover 180 hospitals in and around Illinois.

Meeting Summary July 20

The meeting was chaired by President Bob Baker. There were 18 members present along with the 3 guest speakers. Bob handled the “thought for the day” by referring to a quote given at a 1956 Rotary Convention about the importance of Rotarians using their minds, hearts and spirit in performing their duties as Rotarians.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Amy announced that the next “Thirsty Thursday” in the WCH garden will be August 3rd from 5 to 8 PM with the Replay Band performing.There will be a cash bar and “pizza truck” available to add to the fun.
Bill Leske announced that our Rotary Club will have a tent at the July 26th“Market and Music” event at Clarkson Park in Northfield from 5:30 to 8:30 PM at which we have a chance to display Rotary materials and to greet the many guests of all ages that are showing up at these Market and Music events every Thursday night during the summer — volunteers should contact Bill to participate.

HAPPY BUCKS: Barb and Patti reported on their role in recently hosting a Rotarian from the United Kingdom. Barb mentioned that her visitor from the UK had been here all week. He is Director of a Volunteer Center in England.

Barb and Patti hosted a newly-formed group of volunteers at Little Honeycomb last Wednesday. The purpose of this group will be to do service projects in our communities, in the name of our Club. The intent is to raise awareness of Rotary in our Centennial year and to enhance our motto of Service Above Self. This is not initially intended to be a Satellite Club, but may evolve into one.

DIG N GRIN: Bill Leske handled this part of the program by giving us dates on which special world events occurred.

BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES: Amy’s birthday was July 10 and Mary Lou Bilder-

Gold’s was July 14; Julie Tye celebrated 7 years and Patti 16 years as Rotarians.

GUEST SPEAKERS: We are privileged to have three outstanding members from the Gleview Sunrise Rotary Club speak to us today. Their home club meets weekly at 7:00am to do good things for Rotary.

MARCIA CEBULA started by explaining some of the projects undertaken by the Sunrise Club such as attending a Rotary International Convention on “peace and mental illness”. Other topics covered there were eradicating diseases in addition to polio, providing needy communities with low cost medicine, clean drinking water, quality medical care and education to the children. Marcia also reported on the service trip that 10 members of the Glenview “Sunrise” group took last February to Uganda with some other Rotary Clubs participating. Their main project was to help repair and construct a local school attended by preschool to 7th graders and to buy needed school supplies and sports/recreational equipment since the local government there only pays the salaries of the teachers but does not pay for any other expenses of operation. Marcia also summarizied what Rotary is doing in Uganda to improve the health of expectant mothers and newborns.

DEE SANTUCCI then explained her experience on this Uganda trip which included a safari in a

National Park where they were introduced to gorillas of all ages and sizes, but all were very

friendly as long as they had green trees/bushes to consume! She also attended several days on

their school project as well as attending a local Rotary meeting (where the attendees seemed to

be more serious than their American counterparts!)

CECILIA HAGIST (a Northfield resident and local school teacher who grew up in Mexico City and whose grandfather was a longtime Rotarian there) then talked about the importance of engaging our “youth” in Rotarian activities and how much her 16 year old daughter, Anna, benefited so much by going on the Uganda trip described above. She also mentioned that the Interact program at New Trier High School was discontinued when the assigned New Trier teacher/advisor retired and has not been replaced. She suggested that our Club may want to review and take action to reinstate this program at New Trier. She then explained what she and her daughter, Anna, are doing to try to establish an Interact program at the Skokie Jr. High School in Northfield. Through the efforts of the Hagist family and the Sunrise Glenview Club there may be many of the 40-50 students in the7th and 8th grades at this Junior High School who would be interested in this extracurricular school activity if there is a teacher who is willing to serve as the advisor, which Cecilia is working on. Rotary requires a minimum of 5 members to start the Interact program.

After a short Q and A period, the meeting ended around 1:30 with the recitation of the Rotary 4-Way Test.

Meeting Summary July 6

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

Newly-Elected President Bob Baker called the meeting to order at 12:21.

Fred shared a Thought of the Day.

Michael led us in the Pledge.

Announcements:

We welcomed our AG Sonja Martin. Sonja was the only visiting Rotarian.
Amy offered a PSA about using the Community House’s new directional microphones. It is important to speak directly into the mic in order for your voice to be strong and heard by all in the room.
Amy also reminded us about Firsty Thursday beginning at 5:00.
A reminder that our meeting on July 13 will be at RI in Evanston. RSVP in advance if you would like to purchase lunch, which will follow a presentation by our RI President. David B. reminded us that parking in Evanston can be challenging – allow plenty of time!
Our Board meeting will be moved from the 13^th to the 20^th at 11:00, in the Community House.
AG Sonja reported on the most recent District meeting, which focused on making year-end donations to The Rotary Foundation, and ongoing work on membership issues.

Happy Bucks:

Bob offered a buck because he is BACK from a trip to England and Scotland. He was sadly unable to verify the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, although he put forth considerable effort. The myth continues…
Robert offered $23 HBs for perfect attendance and reminded us of this year’s RI theme: Be Present, which was expounded on by Bob at our Installation Dinner.

DigNGrin: Sylwia told a series of one-liners.

Program: We watched a TED talk on artificial intelligence presented by a man who worked for Apple in the early days. It was fascinating.

Bob adjourned the meeting at 1:25 with the Four-Way test.

Meeting Summary June 29

Posted by Keith Reed

The meeting was chaired by our tremendous outgoing duo of Patti and Barb. All members have voiced their appreciation to both for the great job they have done for our Club!!

There were 15 members present at the meeting and 2 attended via Zoom. David Birkenstein handled the “thought of the day” by referring to both Eric Hoffer (American Philosopher and West Coast Longshoreman) and Steve Jobs who both thought it was better to do your own “thinking” and not waste time on letting others do it for you. Guest for the day was Linda Monty, Wellness Director of Limitless Health and Wellness, who was quickly asked to be a future speaker for us since she knows lots about healing the body naturally with “stem cells healing.”

There were no birthdays or anniversaries, but Patti did mention that the undersigned has just past his 10^th year as one of the Club’s regular scribes. She and David Grant have also been doing such Club scribe duty for a considerable time.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Patti mentioned that one of our Club members reported that former Club member Rodger Morris still lives in his house but has recently lost a couple of his favorite pets. She then passed around a greeting card which was signed for presentation to Rodger.

Amy mentioned that her Thirsty Thursday event will be held again on the south side of the Community House on July 6 from 5 to 8 PM complete with band, and your favorite beverages and goodies. There is no admission charge for this event.

Rich announcd that our Club has donated over $2000 to the Rotary Club International Foundation so far this year. He also awarded Liz Taylor her Paul Harris fellowship pin “plus One” for her contributions.

Rich announced that on July 13^th the Wilmette and Evanston Rotary Clubs are sponsoring a noon reception at which Gordon McInally, President of Rotary International, will be the main speaker—the lunch will be catered at a $20 price.

HAPPY BUCKS: Bill Leske gave HB for the great jobs Patti and Barb did as our leaders over the last year; Liz Taylor gave HB because of the very successful and interesting installation dinner that the Club recently had at the Happ Inn in Northfield; Patti gave HB for her daughter being very close to having a baby, which would be Patti’s 4^th grandchild; and Moha gave in celebration of his Muslim holiday.

SPEAKER TERRY DASON, DIRECTOR OF WNG CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Terry (with the assistance of some long time Winnetka residents with good memories) gave a very important presentation on what is happening with several North Shore businesses. Terry volunteered to document this information for distribution to Club members so it can be shared with those who are interested in doing their shopping with the local merchants/establishments. This report will be distributed to all Club members in the near future.

After a lively discussion about local events and merchants, the meeting was adjourned at 1:30 with the recitation of Rotary’s 4 Way Test.

Meeting Summary June 8

Posted by Keith Reed

Co-Chair Barb conducted the meeting starting at 12:15. Thought of the day was given by Bob Sanfilippo who gave us some philosophical sayings including one from Adam Smith. There were 15 members present but no one on Zoom. Heidi was the Greeter and reported that there were no guests present. There were no birthdays celebrated but Club anniversaries recognized were Pat O’Day (44 yrs.), Keith Reed (10 yrs.), Wes Baumann (38 yrs.) and Kelly Tess (1 yr.).

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Members were reminded of the Installation dinner for our new officers, especially for Bob Baker, our new President, a position he has held several times in the past. We will also be honoring outgoing Co-chairs Patti and Barb for a job “well done”.

Installation will be the Happ Inn in Northfield at 6:00 to about 8:30 PM but you need to call in your reservation register online by end of day, June 15 from the email invitation or details and registration can be done on our Club website or from the email sent June 8th.
It is also important to note that our next Club meeting on June 15th will be at the North Shore Senior Center, 161Northfield Road in Northfield, in the Jacoby Room at our usual time 12:15. The Honeycomb Restaurant will be catering lunch and the NSSC will be providing speakers about the NSSC’s many programs and on their “memory care” programs and taking our members on a tour of their premises.

HAPPY BUCKS: Moha gave some HB due to a very nice trip he recently took to an oceanside resort with plenty of warm weather and enjoyable ocean activities. David Grant gave a HB but only to warn members of the problem his 31 year daughter had a few days ago while walking downtown Chicago near the Sears Tower during lunchtime when she was accosted by a man who demanded her cellphone—when she resisted, a gentleman close by stepped in to stop the activity and to push away the attacker at which time the attacker knocked the gentleman down on the sidewalk and ran away before the police could arrive to administer aid to the injured gentleman. David’s daughter wasn’t hurt in this confrontation and managed to keep control of her cellphone, but David thought it important to report this type of activity to our members who frequent downtown Chicago.

DIG N GRIN: Fred was in charge with a list of Zen comments that he had received 7 years ago from an old friend he has known for over 80 years.

GUEST SPEAKER EMILY MYSEL: SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER OF FAMILY SERVICE of GLENCOE SPEAKING ON THE BASICS OF DEMENTIA: Emily was originally from the Glencoe area but spent much of her youth in Central Illinois and then graduated from Miami of Ohio. She has spent 21 of her 40 years working in the “family service area, primarily on the North Shore in developing and administering Glencoe’s very successful “Dementia Friendly Program”. She defined dementia as a loss of cognitive functioning in thinking, remembering, keeping track of personal items, missing appointments, wandering away from home, or even fading visual perception. The different kinds of dementia are Alzheimer’s, Vascular, Lewy Body and Frontotemporal. Alzheimer’s has no current cure, but work is being done on research to treat and prevent it from developing. It is the 6th leading cause of deaths in the U.S. with close to 6 million Americans having some form of it. Illinois is considered a very “friendly dementia state” with several community-based services and many corporations developing programs to study and treat those suffering from the disease. For example: Glencoe trains its employees and safety personnel how to handle people who seem to be suffering from dementia—the Village encourages residents to fill out a health form to be kept in an accessible place in the home (like a freezer) to list the medications and any other dementia signs of the resident so that safety or police officers know how to handle a dementia problem if called to that home. Glencoe offers dementia “consultation” services to those residents suffering from the condition. The state of Illinois is not only considered to be “dementia friendly” but it has as many as 26 Illinois communities with extensive programs to recognize those persons with the condition and helping them get proper attention and treatment. Emily told of her Father’s experience with dementia and Alzheimer’s before he died at age 69. She suggested that we can all help those with this dreaded condition by educating ourselves on the disease and symptoms/treatments therefore; check in with those you know who are suffering from the disease or have family members affected; and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you or a loved one show signs of the disease. Emily had a very informative power point which she is willing to email to you upon request. She can be reached at 847-461-1668 or by email at emily@familyserviceofglencoe.org. Our regular meeting ended at about 1:30 with the reciting of Rotary’s 4-way test.

Meeting Summary June 1

Posted by David Grant

Patti led today’s meeting with 12 in-person Rotarians, 1 zoomer, and 2 speakers.

Announcements:

Mark your calendars for the changed dates, times and locations for the next 3 meetings:THURSDAY, 6/15 is at the Senior Center, TUESDAY, 6/20 is Bob Baker’s Installation Dinner @ 6:00pm at the Happ Inn, and WEDNESDAY, 6/21 is an evening meeting at the WCH at 5:00pm.
“Every Rotarian, Every Year,” suggested donation to the Rotary International Foundation is $100 every year, or any amount is appreciated!

Happy Bucks:

Heidi is happy the flowers are blooming in the Rotary Pollinator Garden at the WCH. Wander by and pull a few weeds if you see any!
Barb is happy that she watched the season finale of Ted Lasso and recommends we watch all 3 seasons (if you have not already).

Speaker: Northfield Township Supervisor Shiva Mohsenzadeh spoke to us about the services they provide to the 89,000 people in the Villages of Northfield, Northbrook, Glenview, and parts of Glencoe, Deerfield, Prospect Heights, and Wilmette. There are a total of 8 elected officials working at the Northfield Township offices.

Their largest area of human services funding is their food pantry which involves 200 volunteers. Other notable services include the Assessors Office, Dial-a-ride, maintenance of roads and sanitary services, college scholarships, summer camps for homeless kids, and emergency assistance to township residents when needed.

For more information, visit their website at: What is Township Government? - Northfield Township

Meeting Summary May 25

Posted by David Grant

Barb led today’s meeting with 15 in-person Rotarians, 1 zoomer, and 4 speakers.

Announcements:

Amy invites us to WCH Firsty Thursdays starting Thursday, 6/1. See her story below!
Rich reminds us “Every Rotarian, Every Year” to donate to the Rotary International Foundation.

Happy Bucks:

Peter is happy to be back from Florida and in-person at the WCH.
Robert is also happy to attend in-person, and equally happy to have zoomed last week.

Speaker: Lynn Weis is the Executive Director of the Evanston Work Ethic program (WE), which is a local charity set up to help students pursue alternatives to 4-year college degree programs. The WE Program was founded in 2017 by Hecky Powell, the owner of Hecky’s BBQ in Evanston.

Lynn brought 2 alumnae from the We program to also speak to us this afternoon: Humana Garcia, who is sponsored at Elmhurst College in a nursing program, and Taiwan, who is sponsored in a culinary training program. WE sponsors 15 Evanston High School Juniors in paid summer internships to pursue vocational programs. They also sponsor a similar size group of high school seniors, and then extend support after graduation. The annual budget is around $200,000 and is funded by individuals and family foundations.

Meeting Minutes May 18

Posted by Keith Reed

The meeting was chaired by Bob Baker with the assistance of Patti and Barb. The installation dinner for the new officers is scheduled for June 20 @ 5 to 8 pm at the WCH—with one important change in the evening plans. In the past, the Club paid for the dinner and drinks—this year the Club is asking the members to bring their own alcoholic drinks and keep them at their tables.

There were 13 members present at the meeting and 2 hooked in by Zoom. Guests were Don Crost from the Bonita Naples Rotary Club; John Bair from the North Chicago Club; and Tim Keefe (hosted by Bill Leske).

BIRTHDAYS: May birthdays already recognized were Bob Baker, Joe Fell, Barb Tubekis, Patti Van Cleave, Sylwia Pacyk and David Grant. But the birthday that was on May 18 was Fred Schwimmer. Thus, Fred insisted that he have the birthday song sung for him and in exchange therefore he generously donated one piece of U.S. paper currency!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Barb and Patti announced that on June 21 we are going to have a different sort of Rotary meeting in the evening around dinner time (TBA) to be held at a local restaurant (probably The Honeycomb). This idea came out of the recent Club meeting where we discussed new ideas for meetings, meeting times, and new community service projects. The June 21 meeting will be open not only to Club members but also to others who may have suggestions for future “community service projects”.

Rich announced that Don Crost’s truck trip from Naples to Evanston raised over $1200 from our Club for the Rotary Foundation. Rich also reminded regular Club members that they are expected to donate at least $100 a year to the Rotary Foundation for it to provide its many programs.

Patti, Barb, and Rich reported on their attendance at Rotary’s recent District Conference and especially the reports describing the many good things that women Rotarians are doing under the Rotary banner—they were unanimous in saying that “the future of Rotary is in good hands.”

HAPPY BUCKS: Wes gave some HB in honor of Barb’s recently announced retirement from the Volunteer Center after many years of valuable and dedicated service. Don Crost donated due to all the support he received for his “truck from Naples to Evanston” trip. And Robert donated in honor of all the great service Rich has given our Club for all these many years.

DIG AND GRIN: Tony handled this part of the meeting by passing out a memo which he had prepared many “Mother’s Days ago” in honor of his mother. It listed 25 things that his mother “taught him over the years and why he loved her”.

SPEAKER: ERIC KLEIN, CERTIFIED SENIOR ADVISOR AND OWNER OF NORTHSHORE CAREPATROL, officed in Park Ridge, discussing “The Complexities of Aging and Understanding Your Care Options”.

As one of the highly recognized Senior Care Solutions Organizations in the country, CarePatrol helps families and individuals find the right care options for their loved ones based on their needs, budget, and location. These solutions may include: Assisted Living, Independent Living, Memory Care, Respite Care, In-Home Care, Nursing Homes, and Retirement Homes. Advisors from CarePatrol review the history of each care provider, generate a recommended list of care options based on individual needs and financial resources of the patient and help with the transition process. Advisors are available to accompany those people seeking medical assistance on their personalized tours with potential care providers to make sure they ask all the right questions. CarePatrol advisors can also refer other services to the family seeking senior care such as referrals to elder law attorneys, financial planners, and house call physicians.

CarePatrol mentions in its materials that their services are at very reasonable costs and sometimes these services are provided “at no cost to the senior or their family”. There wasn’t enough time in the Rotary meeting to engage in a conversation about who pays for these services, but the internet seems to mention that CarePatrol gets most of its revenues from referral payments made to them from the care providers that provide the services to the patients - such as a nursing/retirement home, a memory care facility or nurse staffing agency.

The presentation was very informative and timely for most of our members. The take-away is that your family will most likely experience someone having an aging problem; that hospitals basically get you well enough to be discharged, but don’t provide much post-discharge care; that there is a shortage of skilled employees providing these necessary services; that the cost of these aging services are going to continue to increase; and that most people wait too long to become knowledgeable about the “complexities of aging and their care options”. The speaker left his following contact information: eklein@carepatrol.com/ phone 847-653-1212

After reciting the 4-way Rotary pledge, the meeting was adjourned around 1:30.

Meeting Minutes May 4

Posted by Keith Reed

The meeting was chaired by Bob Baker. His Installation dinner is scheduled for June 20 @ 5:00 to 8:00 pm at the WCH. Actress Audrey Hepburn was cited for the “thought of the day” and Moha got a big laugh from the crowd with his joke about how 4 world leaders and a 7 year girl decided how to use 4 parachutes to escape a disabled plane.

BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES: Ned Meisner, Tom Nash, Joe Fell, Barb, Patti and Bob Baker are all celebrating April birthdays—Club anniversaries were Heather Higgins (28), Terry Dason (7), Liz Taylor (21) and Monica Dombrowski (2).

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Members were reminded of the Club’s participation in the Walk for the Homeless organized by the Rotary Club of Wilmette in Gillson Park May 6; that our next noon meeting on May 11 will be at the Avli restaurant in Winnetka from 12:15 to 1:30 pm—(call Bob Baker or the Avli restaurant to pre order your noon meal if you didn’t do it at our 5/4 meeting--this will be primarily a social event although there will be a Q and A segment that will surely be entertaining.) Rich announced the completion of Rotary’s Uganda grant which was $275,000 with 30 Rotary Clubs participating (our Club gave $5,000 towards this project). He also announced that Rotary has its District Conference next Saturday in Schaumburg with a special speaker from India who not only is a polio survivor but rode a special mechanized bike all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean.

SPEAKER AND TASK MASTER FOR THE DAY: Heidi Sibert, Landscape Architect and Rotarian, and her two co-workers (Alex Mauldin and Sam Seaman) from James Martin Associates were very informative (and patient) in presenting the attached “Pollinator Garden Fun Facts” and directing the “pollinator garden service project” performed by amateur Rotarian gardeners on the southwest side of the WCH!!

Heidi’s Pollinator Fun facts can be viewed here:

https://portal.clubrunner.ca/2417/Documents/en-us/dc47a2f6-a061-4409-9d6f-9d5852fa5e0e/1/

Meeting Minutes April 27

Posted by David Grant

Barb led today’s meeting. She reminded us of the Volunteer Center Recognition event on 5/10 – tickets are available on their website.

Two visiting Rotarians attended:

Ken Drummond is a Mews neighbor and guest of David Birkenstein. He is a past Rotary President of the Lichfield, Il Club.
Deborah from the Wilmette Rotary Club shared the plans for the ‘Rotary Hope Walk for the Homeless.’

Significant Upcoming Rotary Dates:

Thursday, 5/4 Rotary lunch is the Pollinator Garden Service Project during our regularly scheduled meeting.Heidi Siebert and Martin Landscaping will be hosting this hands-on project where we help plant a garden at the WCH.Our Club received a District Grant which pays for ½ of this project.Heidi says: “Bring your planting gloves and wear your grubbies to the meeting and be prepared to hear about the birds and the bees!”
Saturday, 5/6 our Club is participating in the ‘Walk for the Homeless’ organized by the Rotary Club of Wilmette. It will be held in Gillson Park, beginning at 10AM.
Thursday, 5/11 is a social meeting at Avli restaurant in the Laundry Mall in lieu of our regular meeting location of the WCH that Thursday for lunch.No speaker – so come to enjoy the company of fellow Rotarians.
Saturday, 5/13 is the District Conference in Schaumberg.

Speaker: Elisha Gray brought the beauty of the Green Bay Trail into the WCH with a presentation about the ‘Friends of the Green Bay Trail.’ The FGBT is a non-profit organization founded 13 years ago to improve and advocate for the trail. Two Board members from the FGBT also joined Elisha – Ann Reilly & Craig Witty. We learned about cutting Buckthorn, collecting 15 million seeds from 53 different species of plants on the trail, and about educational programs given by the FGBT. Learn more about the trail and the organization at:

Green Bay Trail | (gbtrail.org)

Meeting Minutes April 20

Posted by David Grant

Patti led today’s meeting with 18 Rotarians in person, and 2 on zoom.

Significant Upcoming Rotary Dates:

Thursday, 5/4 Rotary lunch is the Pollinator Garden Service Project during our regularly scheduled meeting.Heidi Siebert and Martin Landscaping will be hosting this hands-on project where we help plant a garden at the WCH.Our Club received a District Grant which pays for ½ of this project.Heidi says: “Wear your grubbies to the meeting and be prepared to hear about the birds and the bees!”
Saturday, 5/6 our Club is participating in the ‘Walk for the Homeless’ organized by the Rotary Club of Wilmette. It will be held in Gillson Park, beginning at 10AM.
Thursday, 5/11 is a social meeting at Avli restaurant in the Laundry Mall in lieu of our regular meeting location of the WCH that Thursday for lunch.No speaker – so come to enjoy the company of fellow Rotarians.
Saturday, 5/13 isDistrict Conference in Schaumberg.

Happy Bucks:

Tony is happy to be back from his one month vacation in the West Indies.

Dig ‘N Grin: Bob Sanfilippo is on the cutting edge of Artificial Intelligence by asking ChatGPT to retell the same joke in the style of Hemingway and Shakespeare.

Speaker: Our member Michael Goldenberg introduced our speaker today: Victoria Mostov. Victoria was born in the Ukraine and moved to the U.S. in 1992. Through her many excellent contacts still in the Ukraine, Victoria is helping rescue orphaned animals caused by the Russian invasion. Her 501c charitable organization is Help4Paws.

Many of Victoria’s on-the-ground volunteers are based in unoccupied areas of the Ukraine, and they are able to ship animal food to occupied areas. Help4Paws also funds home shelters like the one she described with 100 animals in a 3 bedroom apartment. They go where bigger organizations like PETA can’t go.

Several members were moved by Victoria’s presentation, and they requested details on how to donate to help Victoria. Here are 3 ways:

Send a check to: Help4Paws c/o Victoria Mostov 1405 Oxford Drive Buffalo Grove, IL 60089.
Paypal: @help4pawscharity
Zelle: vmostov9876@gmail.com

Meeting Minutes April 6

Posted by David Grant

Patti led today’s meeting.

Visiting Guests: Tom Tubekis and Jane Dowding

Dates to Remember:

5/6 our Club is participating in the ‘Walk for the Homeless’ organized by the Rotary Club of Wilmette. It will be held in Gillson Park, beginning at 10AM.
5/11 is a social meeting at Avli restaurant in the Laundry Mall in lieu of our regular meeting location of the WCH that Thursday for lunch.No speaker – so come to enjoy the company of fellow Rotarians.
5/13 is District Conference in Schaumberg.

Announcements:

Remember to bring food items for the New Trier Food Pantry with you the next time you visit the WCH – there is a donation collection box in the lobby of the WCH.
Rich asks all of us to consider donating for Don Crost’s Little Blue Truck trip from Florida to Evanston, which will support ShelterBox relief going to Turkey. There is a link on the website to donate.
Bob solicited matching contributions for this year’s Foundation awards.

Happy Bucks:

Fred will be in town and in-person at the next meeting.
Barb is happy to be home from her long driving trip to Florida.
Robert is happy to hand deliver a letter to Bill Leske – so in honor of saving $0.60 on a stamp, he is kicking in another $0.40 for a whole HB.

Speaker: Today’s excellent speaker is Winnetka resident Chuck Dowding. His topic is: “Combating Global Warming with Wind, Solar, Nuclear Energy and Batteries: Uniqueness of Winnetka & Illinois energy sources.” Among many themes, Chuck shared his insight about where we get our local power: 68% coal, 21% solar wind (replacing a recent coal contract with Vistra), and 10% other wind. We need more batteries because our power sources are intermittent. The Village of Winnetka is paid $1.4 million per year under a contract to provide peak power to the grid by turning on our Tower road power plant. By 2035 Winnetka will pay off the bonds that financed the power plant, and the Village will need to decide how much to invest in the plant and what to do with it in 2035. Review Chuck’s slides by clicking this link: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/2417/Documents/en-us/8bdb038d-4f0b-47ae-81ab-e766e307afda/1/

Support for ShelterBox

At a recent club meeting, Donna Gulley gave us a great update on ShelterBox's disaster relief work in Turkey and Syria after the recent devastating earthquake.

Our club's Past President Don Crost (currently a member of the Rotary Club of Bonita Springs) also told us of his upcoming fundraising drive in support of ShelterBox. Don will be driving his 1953 Chevy truck from Naples Florida to Rotary Headquarters in Naples, stopping to speak at Rotary Clubs along the way and generating news coverage and new supporters for ShelterBox.

Here's his first news story from the Southwest Florida NBC tv station:
https://nbc-2.com/news/story2share/2023/03/24/in-his-1953-chevy-truck-naples-rotarian-traveling-cross-country-for-worthy-cause/

At our recent meeting, we pledged to renew our support of ShelterBox. You may contribute to this critical disaster relief work by donating here:
https://secure.givelively.org/donate/winnetka-northfield-rotary-charitable-foundation/shelterbox-drive-for-hope

Thank you for all you do through Rotary to make the world a better place.

Community Service

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

The Community House is collecting non-perishable foods and household goods for the New Trier Township Food Pantry. Club members and visitors to the Community House are encouraged to bring items on Thursday or whenever you are visiting the Community House. A large bin for drop offs is located at the front desk. Club members are asked to monitor the bin and take items to the Food Pantry when full.

This new service project collaboration will be ongoing, with a new recipient identified quarterly.

Every Rotarian, Every Year- Contribute to The Rotary Foundation

As the 2021-22 Rotary Year concludes, please join the millions of beneficiaries of projects funded by The Rotary Foundation in thanking our members who have honored their commitment of Every Rotarian, Every Year, contribute to The Rotary Foundation's Annual SHARE Fund.

These gifts support the local and international work of Rotary Clubs and Districts through District and Global Grants. A significant portion of these gifts support projects of our club like our recent contribution to Shelter Box, our annual Operation Warm coats and shoes for children projects, local COVID-19 relief efforts, Kids Against Hunger, and our Ecuador "Farm to Table" Global Grant.

Year to date, we are 57% of the way to Presidents Bill and Greg's goal of $12,000 for the 2021-22 Rotary year.

Please thank these 20 Rotarians (plus our good friend Donna Goodman) for already making their annual contribution, especially those in bold who are Paul Harris Fellows:

Sam Badger*⁺, Wes Baumann, Connie Berman, David Birkenstein*⁺, Eric Birkenstein, Moha Bouacha, Donna Goodman, David Grant*, Tony Kambich*, Marie Kuipers, Rich Lalley*^{+^}, Bill Leske, Robert Mardirossian, Lee Padgitt, Bob Sanfilippo, Heidi Sibert, Peter Skalski, Todd Stephens, Liz Taylor, Barb Tubekis, and Patti Van Cleave.
* signifies a Major Donor ⁺signifies Paul Harris Society ($1,000 per year) ^Bequest Society

There are many reasons to give to the The Rotary Foundation:

Contributions support humanitarian and educational projects initiated and run by Rotary Clubs and Districts in seven areas of focus- Disease prevention and treatment, maternal & child health, education & literacy, water and sanitation, economic & community development, protecting our environment, and peace & conflict resolution. Learn more by reviewing the Foundation’s annual report.
Contributions come back to support projects of our club's projects, like Operation Warm Soles, support for ShelterBox, last year's COVID-19 Response efforts, Kids Against Hunger and International grants projects like our Farm to Table eco-agribusiness project in Ecuador, the water and sanitation projects we helped fund for schools in Guatemala and Kenya, and the digital x-ray/community health clinic project organized by District 6440. This year, we received $3,671, and next year we will can receive $4,876. But we must give to receive.
Charity Navigator gives The Rotary Foundation its highest “Four Star” rating, giving it a score 100 out of 100.
The Association of Fundraising Professionals named The Rotary Foundation the World's Outstanding Foundation of 2016!
Giving to The Rotary Foundation is an easy way for you to participate in Rotary’s service work beyond our club, providing you a personal connection to this great organization and the good it does throughout the world.

It’s easy to give. Bring a check to made payable to “WNRCF” (mark TRF in the memo line) to our club, (or mail it to our club at 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, 60093); you can donate via PayPal by clicking here, or you can donate directly to The Rotary Foundation at www.rotary.org or by calling 866-976-8279. One very convenient way to give is by making a recurring monthly gift on your credit card or from your checking account, which you can set up on Rotary’s website.

If you have not already supported The Rotary Foundation this year, please do so now.

If you have any questions about The Rotary Foundation or how to give, contact Rich Lalley.

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.

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: