The meeting was led by Marie and there were 25 members present, along with honorary member, Pat O’Day. No guests were present. Marie, Patti and Rich led a discussion of what Rotary is doing to supply aid to the Bahamas and those affected by the recent hurricane. Rich explained that our members can contribute by making a check payable to “WNRCF” (include notation re hurricane relief) or online here: https://tinyurl.com/wnr-hurricane. Donations will go to the Rotary Foundation’s Disaster Response Fund that provides grants for basic needs immediately to affected Rotary districts. The grants will be stewarded by The Rotary Foundation, assuring that the funds are put to good use. Our District is considering matching Club contributions, but that has not yet been finalized. Marie and David Birkenstein immediately said they would each donate $1000. Rich explained how many Rotary Clubs are in the Bahamas and in Florida which will also be very active in providing relief donations and volunteers.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Heather Higgins and Mike Shelton had birthdays, but with Heather absent Mike chose to make a contribution to Rotary rather than having Heather miss the grand rendition of the HB song by our esteemed chorus. Marie announced that on September 15th she will be representing the Club at the Rotary Corn Maze Day at the Richardson Adventure Farm and cheering on to victory our Club’s sponsored pig in the pig race , named Queen Marie! She will also be attending the Chicago Ultimate Women’s Expo on behalf of the Club scheduled for October 5-6 hosted by Districts 6440 and 6450. She reminded the members that the Rotary training session for future Club leaders will be held in Park Ridge on October 19 and that she will give more information in the near future.
Barb Tubekis reminded us that we have until September 13 to donate to the New Trier Township food pantry-- canned food or cash preferred. She also announced the Glencoe Community Garden Harvesting project for September 26th and that we need volunteers to work from noon to 1:30 that day. We will not have our regular meeting that day.
October 24th is the annual Rotary worldwide polio day when we solicit contributions at the local commuter train stations, which we will do again this year. But if anyone has any ideas of what we could do besides this solicitation, please feel free to come forward with your suggestions.
John Thomas reminded members to fill out the “member survey for future programs” form and submit it to him or Marie by next meeting date so the results can be tabulated and circulated. So far the things that members seem not to want to cover are education and real estate. But he did report that the recent Crain’s publication has a great article on the Winnetka One project, but the Village and potential real estate investors are being silent on the future of this project.
Rich reminded people of our upcoming Operation Warm Benefit to be held on October 4th at the Kenilworth Assembly Hall from 6:30 to 11:00.
HAPPY BUCKS: Marie reported that her knee repair was fairly successful and informative, but that she will probably need some cartilage replacement in the near future. David Birkenstein contributed in looking ahead to his Queen Mary cruise with his own queen, wife Mary, although part of the trip involves Nova Scotia and he is hoping Dorian is finished with its work by then! Tony proudly contributed $1 conditioned upon Rob wearing Bermuda “shorts” during his work assignment at the Glencoe Community Garden project on the 26th.
SPEAKERS: TROOPERS DAVID ROMAN AND TERRENCE KRUMB FROM THE ILLINOIS STATE POLICE: These troopers have been with the Illinois State Police (ISP) for 20 and 13 years, respectively, and are now assigned to recruit State Troopers to replace the 300-500 troopers who have retired from the force over the last 20 years. Minimum requirements are age between 21 and 60; no felony convictions; U.S. citizen; possess a valid driver’s license ; and be willing to work anywhere in the State. They must also have one of the following—bachelor’s degree, associates degree plus 3 years as a police officer, 3 years in the military with honorable discharge, served in a combat mission with honorable discharge, or been awarded one a several listed Military Medals for military service overseas. Those interested in completing an application can submit it online at illinoistrooper.com; or call 217-786-6240 or 217-785-4370.
In 1922, the first (ISP) force in Illinois emerged with a few leather helmet-clad men patrolling the highways on motorcycles. Today, the Illinois State Police is a multifaceted police agency enforcing the laws, protecting the public, and providing an array of specialty services to other law enforcement agencies. The ISP patrol all State highways and federal expressways, assuming available personnel to do so. Many ISP troopers are pulled off their regular assignments to help Chicago’s inner city, e.g. Englewood and West side. This means fewer ISP are patrolling such roads as Edens Expressway.
Several of the very important functions of the ISP are done at its 5 crime laboratories located throughout the State. Currently there are 27 job vacancies at these labs but the job requirements are very stringent. Overall, there are 1000-1500 job vacancies within the ISP. Recruiting is now difficult because of the image portrayed of law enforcement generally by the media (Trooper Roman has had personal experience with this problem), the fact that our public schools don’t educate students about the importance of law enforcement, and it’s tough to recruit vets coming out of the military, even though the pay and fringe benefits are quite competitive, because of their belief that it is a step backwards in their military careers. (Other interesting facts mentioned by the speakers were that their patrol cars do not have video cameras, they do wear bullet proof vests, and the State pays for their entire uniform--which isn’t the case for Chicago policemen who have to pay up to $10,000 for the uniforms they are required to wear by the City.)