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Winnetka-Northfield

PEOPLE OF ACTION

We meet In Person & Online
Thursdays at 12:15 PM
Community House and via Zoom
620 Lincoln Avenue
Winnetka, IL 60093
United States of America
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Meeting Notes April 9
Posted by Thomas Applegate
President-Ken Drummet opened the meeting at 12:17pm and welcomed everyone. Rives Collins shared an inspiring thought of the day about saving starfish washed ashore as an analogy to Rotarians making a difference in other people’s lives from one to many. President-Elect Debra Campbell provided a very punny Dig & Grin.
 
Announcements included:
  • 5K Hope Walk May 9th at 10:00am in Gilson Park to fund support for the unhoused by our club, Wilmette, Evanston Lighthouse and Skokie Valley. $40 individual, $100 family of 4, $20 18 and under. Hope Walk signup link [https://pci.jotform.com/form/260597117044053]
  • Moha reported that the trip to Morocco to visit the women’s clothing cooperative in the village of Tomoulilt will be in Spring 2027, not this October. The project is well on its way with the building under renovation and 20 plus women signed up for training.
  • Rich Lalley reminded club members of the celebration of life on Friday, April 10th for an exemplary Rotarian, Joe Fell. In Joe’s honor, the club has made his wife Karen Templeton a Paul Harris Fellow and will present her with a certificate and pin.
 
Robert Mardirossian made an impassioned appeal for club members to match his $500 donation to fund the installation of an AED at the Counseling Center of the North Shore and the Winnetka Thrift Shop. With a projected cost of $1,100, 6 club members quickly pledged the $600 needed.
 
Northfield Village Board President Tracey Mendrek and Northfield Village Trustee Charles Orth shared the Northfield Centennial celebration on August 22nd. They explored the 100-year history of farming, village formation in 1926, and residential and commercial development. They answered a range of questions about the history of Northfield. Melissa Jewett, Director of Administrative Services, also joined them. The Village has a website dedicated to the Centennial. https://northfield-centennial.org/
 
Ken closed the meeting with the 4-Way Test.
Meeting Notes April 2
Posted by Patti Van Cleave
President Ken called the meeting to order at 12:20.
Pledge led by Robert.
Thought was offered by Rich, who read an eloquent tribute by JB Pritzker in memory of Sam Harris. Sam recently died and was a Holocaust survivor, and was a founder of the Holocaust Museum.
Dig N Grin: Barb engaged us in a game of “Simon Says”.
Happy Bucks:
  • Rich is happy to be retired AND celebrating his 70th birthday!
  • Moha is happy that we have sent $35,000 to the Morocco club and the funds transferred successfully.
  • Robert is happy to report that he was at Wrigley for the home opener last week.
  • Barb is happy to have her dental work completed.
Program:
Terry Dason provided us with an update of what’s going on in our villages from the Chamber’s perspective.
 
Winnetka highlights:
  • One Winnetka is progressing well.
  • Chase bank building is complete and will open on April 6.
  • 564 Green Bay is under construction, will house Engel & Volckers realty and three condos above.
  • Post Office will be demolished in April. Land will remain a green site, which will be complete at the end of the summer. Permanent plan for this site is still being determined.
  • Former Killian site in Hubbard Woods is under construction and will be a lighting studio.
  • 912 Green Bay Road will be a high end chocolate shop.
Glencoe:
  • Glencoe Golf Club is being rebuilt and will open late summer. A restaurant is being sourced.
  • Glencoe is completing a comprehensive streetscape study. They are undertaking an initiative to make Glencoe a dementia-friendly community.
  • Eloyn by Ozz Mediterranean restaurant has opened in Glencoe.
  • A sushi restaurant has opened in Glencoe.
Northfield:
  • They are celebrating their Centennial on October 23.
  • A grocery tenant for the Marianos space is still in the works.
Dates to note:
 
Winnetka Music Festival is June 19& 20.
Winnetka Farmer’s Market begins on June 6 and runs through October.
Chamber Recognition Lunch is April 22.
 
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 with reciting the 4 Way Pledge.
 
Meeting Notes March 3
Posted by Thomas Applegate
President-Nominee Thomas Applegate opened the meeting at 12:16pm and welcomed everyone. Thomas quoted Eleanor Roosevelt for the thought of the day.
 
With a full room of grantees, Bob Baker stepped to the microphone as the co-chair of the Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Charitable Foundation. Bob was excited to share that this year our foundation is awarding grants totaling $18,000 to 12 local nonprofits. Co-Chair Patti Van Cleave proclaimed today as her favorite of the year, because we join with our grantees in making our communities better.
 
Patti invited each grantee to the podium to share how their grant will be used to benefit the people that they serve. In attendance where:
1) Counseling Center of the North Shore, 2) Deerfield Free Store at Holy Cross, 3) Hadley, 4) Hunger Resource Network, 5) North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic, 6) Our Place of New Trier, 7) SaLT: Service and Learning Together, 8) TotalLink to Community, 9) Volunteer Center, and 10) Youth Philanthropy Board.
Two grantees were unable to attend: 1) SamaraCare Counseling and 2) Saroj Ghandi Sue's Pantry.
 
Patti thanked all the grantees for their important and impactful work for our communities. Thomas closed the meeting with the 4-Way Test.
 
Meeting Notes March 5
Posted by Patti Van Cleave
President Elect Thomas called the meeting to order at 12:20.
 
Pledge led by Rives.
 
Thought was offered by Tony, written by JFK and Charles Dickens.
 
Announcements: Bob reminded us that next week is our Foundation’s Grant award ceremony.
Patti shared an update on RYLA. We are actively looking for high school students to sponsor for this leadership retreat. First session is next weekend, the second is in April.
Thomas reminded us that we will be ordering new badges. Please let him know how you want your badge to read. If you choose, you can underwrite the cost of the badges, which are $18.
Rich – encourages us to attend a program at RI to learn more about Rotary. RI President will speak from 7:30-8:30am on March 17 at RI in Evanston.
 
Dig N Grin: Bill shared This Day in History, with lots of good facts.
 
Happy Bucks: Thomas is having a BIG Rotary week and threw in $100 for the foundation.
Rives shared that his daughter and her husband bought a house in Skokie, his son and daughter in law had twin boys in Cleveland. Big week for his family!
Barb and Bob shared their “leftover” Oreos from the Tuesday Connections food packing project. Barb shared thanks to Bob, Thomas and Heidi for helping on Tuesday.
Tony shared that sometime today he is having a great grandson in Florida.
Wes shared that his grandson was transferred to London, went there this week and found a great apartment.
 
Program:Laura Conti from Project Cure, headquartered in Denver.  They provide donated medical supplies to Ukraine, this is one of several programs that they have.
Cargo Program: sends containers of goods to 135 countries in the world since 1985. In Ukraine, since 2022 they have sent 200 containers, $63M of supplies.
Support Hospitals in Ukraine (SHU) – currently fundraising for this partnership. They know the environment and where to deliver high quality medical surplus materials.
A one-million-dollar donation from John Evans a Wyoming Rotarian has made matching funds available enabling Rotary Clubs to send a container of medical supplies and equipment to Ukraine for just $15,000. Each shipment has an estimated value of $300,000-400,000.  Donations will be matched by a generous gift from fellow Rotarian, John Evans. Every $15,000 raised sends a container to Ukraine.
 
The Wilmette club has partnered with Cure to send supplies to Uganda.
 
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 with reciting the 4 Way Pledge.
 
 
Meeting Notes February 12
Posted by Thomas Applegate
President-Elect Debra Campbell opened the meeting at 12:17pm and welcomed everyone. Liz Taylor offered quotes for our Thought of the Day.
 
Club members enjoyed lunch and then got to work making dozens of decorated Valentine’s Day cards for veterans at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center. Barb Tubekis has worked with the Center before, and she will drop off the cards in time for Valentine’s Day in North Chicago.
 
Background from the Lovell Federal Health Care Center website:
Lovell FHCC is located in North Chicago, Illinois, and was established on Oct. 1, 2010 when the former North Chicago VA Medical Center (VAMC) and the former Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes (NHCGL) merged their resources and services. A combined mission of the health care center means active duty military, their family members, military retirees and Veterans are all cared for at the facility. The center cares for nearly 80,000 patients per year, including an estimated 40,000 Navy recruits who prepare for military service at Recruit Training Command at Naval Station Great Lakes.
https://www.va.gov/lovell-federal-health-care-va/about-us/
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
image
 
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.  Links to these those organizations are:
 
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.
 
Got Questions about Rotary or our club? We've got answers.
Posted by Richard (Rich) Lalley on Mar 11, 2013
Got Questions about Rotary or our club? We've got answers.

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.

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Upcoming Speakers
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Hope Walk for the Homeless
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