This week’s meeting was our annual installation dinner held in the Garden Room of the Winnetka Community House. For the first hour we enjoyed each other’s company made even more enjoyable with wine and beer. Tony Kambich started the meeting with everyone joining hands in a large circle around the room. He expressed his gratitude for Rotary and had everyone in the circle say a thank-you to the two persons they were holding hands with. After the Pledge of Allegiance, we all enjoyed a dinner of salmon, roasted potatoes and salad, topped off with chocolate cake for dessert.
Following dinner President Tom Nash had each table introduce their guests, starting with his wife, Sherry. President elect, Bill Leske brought his wife Teresa, daughter Cindy, son Matt and his girlfriend Barb (that is Matt’s girlfriend, not Bill’s). John Thomas’ wife - Ellen, Brooke Peppey’s husband - Chris, Sam Badger’s wife - Nancy, Peter Skalski’s wife - Betty, Fred Schwimmer’s wife - Ellie, Barb Tubekis’ husband - Tom, Marie Kuiper’s husband-Alan Zablocki, Tony Kambich’s wife - Carolyn and Todd Stephens brought his girlfriend - Connie Gutierrez. It was great to see Honorary Rotarian Alan Ramsay who joined our club in 1976. Guest of honor was District Governor Don Brewer from the Algonquin Club. We had a total of 35 Rotarians in attendance.
Paul Harris pins were presented to Fred Schwimmer, his 5th and Patti Van Cleave, her 3rd.
Wes Baumann was recognized for his 33rd Rotary anniversary, and we sang Happy Birthday to Don Brewer, our district governor. Happy Buck$ were contributed by Rich Lalley, Wes Baumann, Robert Mardirossian and David Birkenstein. Heather Higgins read a poem she wrote for Dig ‘n Grin.
Tom Nash gave his final thoughts of his year as president. He thanked the members for their support as he highlighted the year. He mentioned the successful Operation Warm project and Rich Lalley, where we raised money for new winter coats for kids and presented them to children at two Chicago public libraries. Once again, we had another great year with Kids Against Hunger, under Heidi Sibert, as the project that involved almost 400 people who packed 110,000 meals. Tom also thanked his brother, Joe, who organized several fundraisers for our projects. He was also proud of the fact that our club started the Trees that Feed, Breadfruit tree project for Haiti. Our club has raised over $20,000, which will make us eligible for $50,000 from Rotary International Global Grant Project. Brooke Peppey and her committee were thanked for their untiring efforts on behalf the club’s Foundation. This year the grants were handed out at our annual benefit that was capably run by President Elect Bill Leske. We had 80 in attendance. Tom was extremely proud that he had the privilege of installing seven new members into our club this past year. Tom then called on District Governor Don Brewer to install our new president and the 2018-19 Board of Directors.
Don thanked the Club for its great participation this past year and mentioned that our Club was one of his ‘favorite clubs.’ He asked that we support the new district governor, Julie Clark, in the same fashion. He told us that the new Rotary International president, Barry Rassin’s theme for 2018-19 was “Be the inspiration,” and asked that we work toward inspiring others.
Our new President then gave a few remarks of his own by thanking Tom Nash for his past year of service to our club. He presented Tom with a gift from the club. He thanked the Benefit Committee for their work in putting on a very successful benefit and mentioned that it was the first time our club used the Benefit to present our annual grants. He told the audience that the RI Foundation has been given a 100% rating by Charity Navigator and has had a 4-star rating, its highest rating, for the past 10 years. Bill also thanked Patti Van Cleave for organizing the installation dinner. He said that a few of his goals included brand recognition, increased media outreach, engaging the members in more service activities and increasing the membership to 61 by June 2019.
Remember we must “Be the Inspiration.”
P.S. Don’t forget that we are almost at the end of the Rotary year and our goal is to have every club member contribute to RI’s Foundation as part of the “Every Member, Every Year” program. See Rich Lalley next week with your check or a credit card!!!