Co-chair Bill Leske called the meeting to order at 12:15 PM and there were 21 members present on the Zoom meeting.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Liz Taylor’s thought was—To wonder, to understand, to search and then know how much there is we can discover if we talk to one another.
BIRTHDAYS celebrated were Bob Sanfilippo and Markie Gekas and CLUB ANNIVERSARIES celebrated were Sylwia Pacyk (2) and Chuck Norton (24).
HAPPY BUCKS—Wes donated due to the large attendance at today’s meeting; Fred sent his donation in for the same reason from sunny Sarasota; and Tony donated due to being able to look around and see all the” friendly faces” of his fellow Rotarians.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: The next Club meeting (Feb.3) will be on Zoom and then next week the Club will decide whether or not we can have our meetings thereafter “in person”. It was explained that for “in person” meetings we would need to have all attendees present proof of their vaccination shots by any of the 3 providers (doesn’t include any booster shots) and the Club will work out a system where we can keep track of that information on our attendance sheets.
Bill led a discussion of what we need to do to find a replacement for our loyal member John Thomas who has been in charge of getting speakers for our meetings. This is a very important assignment and we would be willing to consider more than one person assigned to this task. David Birkenstein, who held this position for many years, said that he would be willing to counsel and assist anyone who undertakes this assignment.
David Grant, who heads up our Club’s Foundation Grant Committee, said that the Committee will be meeting at 11:00 AM prior to our Feb. 3rd Club meeting to consider applications for grants from our Foundation. This committee meeting will be on Zoom. David said that there are now 10 members on the committee, and that we will need new members for the Foundation Committee next year who would be interested in assisting with these important decisions. He invited members to attend the Foundation Committee meeting as a guest this week to see how it is done.
Heidi Sibert announced that “Kids Against Hunger” will be postponed again this year due to Covid and lack of preparation time.
Rich mentioned that all Club members recently received a notice from Kevin Stevens (District 6440 Governor) regarding the International Office’s future activities, among which is a one hour video dealing with stories/statistics of sex and human trafficking in the Chicago area. Members can link into this video and Kevin highly recommended that members do so. (Feel free to email me or Rich if you would like a copy of Kevin’s email.)
DIG N GRIN- Being out of the snowbelt and close to the Florida beaches, Peter was inspired to tell us about a lady at his beach being surveilled by the local police for selling “C Cells on the Sea Shore” and how to have a successful lottery even if the prize cannot be awarded!!
SPEAKER NED MEISNER, MEMBER OF OUR CLUB. Ned is a member of our Club who decided to spend more time in Ecuador which he found to be a fascinating and welcoming place for Americans to visit and even to retire. He initially traveled there as part of a Rotary project. He said that there are 4 Rotary Clubs in the Quinto and Cuenca, Ecuador areas but that they are not very active with projects as we are in the States. People there tend to put things off more than we do, so he has done most of his volunteer work through individuals, foundations and charities.
Ned lives in the middle of the country about 9000 feet up in the Andes mountains—it’s close to the equator and is 70 degrees most of the year. He is near a National Park, much like our Yellowstone, where there are lakes, fishing, exotic birds, flowers, and only 15 minutes away from the city of Cuenca. There are about 10,000 Americans in the area and they are referred to by the residents as “gringos”, which apparently is not a disparaging term down there.
He has done considerable volunteer work for a woman named Rocio who runs a day school for about 30 challenged children during the day and then at 3:00 PM she helps her brother operate a restaurant in the same location while employing many of the parents of the school children. He suggested that our Club consider teaming up with Rocio on a project in this area. Currently our Club is the “sponsoring Club” for the Cimas project in Quito, which has helped with organic farm projects such as developing a rose and vegetable industry and in raising about $35,000 to support these activities.
Ned said he is on Facebook and would love to hear from our Club members and even arrange Rotarian visits. He said that there are many Americans who retire to the Quito and Cuenca areas but unfortunately for them they tend to stick together as opposed to soaking in the local culture. The Quito airport is nearby, the area has opera and a symphony organization and things are very cheap. He said that the country is heavily Catholic, and tends to be socialistic while it claims to be a democratic country. He said that there is still lots of poverty and that it “sucks the juice out of the Country”. Ned said he intended to stay in Ecuador for the immediate future and try to provide whatever assistance he can to assist people and organizations with constructive projects, and to just enjoy a very pleasant part of the world. He said that he recently sealed his commitment to the country by buying and having shipped to him a new P515 digital Yamaha piano and a Suzuki motorcycle!!
At 1:00 Chair Bill lead the group in the Rotary 4 way test and the meeting was adjourned.
REMINDER: the Feb. 3rd meeting will be on Zoom from 12:15 to 1:00 PM.