Co-Chairs Patti and Barb presided. Tony led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Guests were our two speakers and Carolyn Kambich. There were 17 members present and 5 joined on Zoom. Patti gave the “thought” of the day—that is “whether your glass is half empty or half full, just feel lucky that you have a glass and that something is in it”. No birthdays or Club anniversaries were announced. Barb did mention that our today’s lunch was provided by Little Honeycomb restaurant which is discussing with us the possibility of being our regular caterer. Tony also mentioned that as a greeter and Sgt. at Arms, he was recently rummaging through the Club’s closest and found a document that stated the Sgt. at Arms was responsible for “setting up things” for the regular Rotary meeting as well as “breaking up all fights among members”. Tony invited senior member of the Club, Wes Bauman, to help with this latter situation if it arises, but Wes indicated he’d have to give this matter further thought!
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Rich and Barb reminded everyone of the Kids Against Hunger event this coming Saturday in Matz Hall; and that we have about 75% of the spaces sold so far and expect a complete sellout—also that we could still use volunteers for Friday afternoon and Saturday to help pack the packages.
The Nominating Committee announced that Bob Baker has accepted its invitation to be the Club President next year (his 3rd term as President). According to Club election rules, ballots were passed out to all those members in attendance and their unanimous vote was in favor of Bob being our next President.
It was announced that the Club’s Board will be meeting next Thursday (Feb. 9) at 11:00 am in the WCH upstairs conference room. It was also mentioned that these Board meetings are open to all Club members and it was suggested that all members should attend some of these meetings.
HAPPY BUCKS: Liz gave HB due to having old friend Don Crost being our guest and speaker today and hoping that we can work out an arrangement for Little Honeycomb to be our regular caterer for the future. Fred reported in from sunny Florida that an old Winnetka resident, Hank Richardson, wanted to pass along his regards to all his old Winnetka friends, especially those who used to participate with him in the Winnetka Women’s Club shows back in the 1970’s. Robert had a number of very nice and romantic things to say about his wife, Mary Alice, since their wedding anniversary is fast approaching on February 29. In answer to some questions from the floor Robert did mention some advantages and disadvantages of celebrating this anniversary only on Feb. 29th!!
SPEAKERS DONNA GULLEY AND DON CROST: Both of the speakers are well known by our Club members. Don was a past president of our Club and Donna is a member of the Northbrook Rotary Club and has spoken to our Club several times about her involvement in the Rotary’s Shelter Box program which is a international disaster relief charity that hand-delivers emergency shelter to families impacted by natural disaster and conflict by providing emergency shelter and the essential supplies families need to self-recover—hopefully “transforming despair into hope”. Examples of supplies provided are such items as tents, shelter kits to help families repair their damaged homes, clean water, blankets, solar lights, cell phones, etc. Over the last several years, several Rotary Districts have been very active in volunteering their time and resources to help Shelter Box help others. Today it is an independent organization, but heavily funded by various Rotary Clubs. Currently it is providing its services and supplies to at least 20 different areas in the world where people have no homes due to natural disasters or political conflict—unfortunately the number of political conflicts causing shelter problems is far surpassing those caused by natural disasters—Ukraine being an example of a country that has recently needed all sorts of assistance from Shelter Box. Donna is supplying to Rich a link to her very informative power point—feel free to contact Rich or David Grant for such link.
Don presented on his upcoming trip from Naples, FL to Evanston with stops at Rotary Clubs along the way. Don will be driving his 53 Chevy pickup and will travel on Route 41. His purpose on this trip is to raise funds for ShelterBox. He is looking for sponsors at an estimated $5/mile. Our club offered a “pledge of a pledge” to support this trip. Once he arrives in Evanston, there will be a celebration at RI – all are invited!
After further discussion with the speakers, the meeting was adjourned at about 1:30 with the recitation of Rotary’s 4 Way Test.