President Marie Kuipers chaired the meeting.
Guests: No Guests Today
Birthdays: No Birthdays Today
Anniversaries: Greg Nelson’s 3 year anniversary will be on October 20.
Announcements:
Marie reminded us of Fall Training on Saturday, October 19 and World Polio Day on October 24. There are still seats for the Northwestern/Purdue Football Game on November 9th.
- Barb Tubekis reminded us that on Thursday, Nov 7 from 12:00 to 1:30, we will be working at the Lakeview Center at Gillson Park sorting books.The Center is looking for volunteers for 2 hours per week.
- Joe Nash announced there would be a thank you party volunteers for the Operation Warm dinner dance.It will take place on November 21st at Little Ricky’s.
- Keith Reed alerted Northfield residents about a village survey concerning a cannabis shop in town. Winnetka has already rejected, but it looks like there will be a shop in Glencoe.
- Barb T. also reminded us of an event at Gilson Park on November 7 for the Catalyst Charter Schools sorting books;
Happy Bucks:
- Tony Kambich was happy about a new survey showing that when women run projects the projects get done.
- Bob Baker was happy that Patti Van Cleave is giving last week’s winnings to the Rotary Foundation;
- Wes Baumann was happy that the Cardinals only lost 2 games out of 7 to the Cubs and gave $10.
- Robert Mardirossian was unhappy the Cubs lost 5 out of 7 but was happy to give $25 to the Foundation.
- Marie Kuipers gave a gift in honor of Elijah Cummings and fined herself for her non-presidential attire; and
- Robert Mardirossian gave more saying he liked Marie’s attire.
Dig and Grin:
Lee Padgitt entertained us with stories concerning last Wednesday’s date night with his wife.
Bill Leske introduced our speaker, Kevin Kuhn, an employee and spokesman for the Forest Preserves of Cook County. Kevin brought large maps, trail maps and fall guides as handouts as well as much of information about the Forest Preserve District.
The Forest Preserves were created in 1915 (about the same time as the National Park System 1916). The preserves now cover over 72,000 acres in Cook County with an enormously diverse ecological system. There are thousands of plants and animals in Woodlands, Wetlands, Savannas and Prairies. In the next 25 years, the District intends to restore 30,000 acres. That means getting rid of invasive plants such as buckthorns and Asian Honeysuckle and burning large portions of the preserves. Fire gets rid of the invasive plants and allows the seed beds already there to rekindle themselves.
The key for the future will be those volunteers of tomorrow. He started out as a volunteer. There are plenty of opportunities to Participate, Advocate and Support the Forest Preserves. See their On-line Calendar for Opportunities to Volunteer at https://fpdcc.com/volunteer/