Wendy is the executive director of the Wilmete Theatre, where she is responsible for administration, fundraising, operations and programming. She had served as Co-President and Treasurer for the Board of Directors before her current role. Previous career experience was as a business consultant for leading accounting and investment banking firms including ALDINE ADVISORS, DELOITTE FINANCIAL ADVISORY SERVICES, DUFF & PHELPS, and MESIROW FINANCIAL. Wendy also has served on many professional and not for profit organizations including:
Past President of the Chicago Finance Exchange – an invitation only organization of senior women in finance in the greater Chicago Area
Past Board President and Treasurer Samaritan Counseling Center
Past President – Northwestern Professional Womens Association – Alumni organization for the Northwestern Kellogg Graduate School of Business
There were 28 members in attendance at this week’s meeting. We had two guests: Greg Nelson brought Brian Ross, a dentist in Northfield and Rebecca Wolf brought along her Head of Circulation, Donna Morales. Kate Hughes, their Communications Director, represented the Winnetka School District.
President Tom announced that the Rotary Summit would be held this Saturday, October 21, at Harper College from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00p.m. Tom and Bill Leske will be in attendance; all members are welcome. --It was also announced the District Conference will be held November 4-6. Rich Lalley will send an email to the members with more details. --Kate Hughes announced that District 36 (the Winnetka Public Schools) will be holding two visioning sessions called Global Perspectives for the District 36 Future Ready to get community input on October 24 from 9:15 to 10:45 am and a second one that evening from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. The sessions will be held at Skokie School. She encouraged Winnetka residents to attend. --Bill Leske reminded the club that we will be collecting funds for World Polio Day on October 24 in the morning at the Winnetka downtown and Indian Hill train stations.
Happy Buck$ this week were donated by Wes Baumann, Fred Schwimmer, Connie Berman and Heather Higgins. Patti Van Cleave conducted Dig ‘n Grin with a Cub quiz.
The speaker for the day was our own Rebecca Wolf, the Director of the Winnetka-Northfield Library. She provided an update on the status of the two library buildings. The Winnetka facility is slightly more than twice the size of the Northfield branch at 10,160 square feet. The two branches service 17,000 patrons and had 231,000 visits in the past year. She talked about the wide selection of audio books that are available through 3M’s Cloud Library. Rebecca also said that another option for audio books is Playaway. These are devices with preloaded audio books that can be checked out. There is also Lynda.com, which a subscription site, that is available through the library that offers instructional courses in over 2000 subjects. Also available is Hoopla, which offers streaming audiobooks, music and videos.
In the second half of Rebecca’s presentation she described renovation plans for the library. At the Northfield branch the bathrooms will be renovated and the front desk will be ‘refreshed.’ In Winnetka major changes will occur: the asbestos abatement phase will require the closing of the library for much of the month of February. Better sound insulation will be installed, three new small study/group rooms will be created, the quiet room will be refreshed, the bathrooms will be made ADA accessible, a new circulation desk will be installed and new ceilings and greatly improved lighting will all be part of the renovations. All tables in the reading room will have power receptacles. They are also creating an outdoor patio with access from the Lloyd Room.
In response to a question concerning the viability of books in the library, Rebecca said that the circulation of ‘real’ books has increased 15 to 30% in recent years. People still like something physical they can hold and turn the pages. When the renovation is completed, along with the technology “Studio” installed a few years ago, the Winnetka Library will be state of the art and a model for libraries of the future.
Nearly one in five American children live in poverty. More than 400,000 in the Chicago metro area.
For these families, deciding between food, rent, heat and medicine takes priority. Many children have to go without a coat during the cold Chicago winter.
You can help to bring hope,happiness and warmth to children living in need in Chicagoland with the gift of a brand-new winter coat. Your gift will help to improve a child's self-esteem, school attendance and overall wellness.
Our Goal is to Give 500 Children Brand-New Winter Coats Give today at www.operationwarm.org/wnrotary Or send a check payable to WNRCF to Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka IL 60093
We partner with schools and non-profits serving disadvantaged children, including Inner City Impact in Cicero, Holy Family Ministries school in Chicago, Hope Community Church in Chicago, Open Arms Mission in Antioch, Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook (holiday gift program), Jewish Council for Youth Services in Highwood and Family Promise Chicago North Shore.
This year, we are also partnering with the Chicago Public Library on an innovative program that gives a new coat at the libratry, bringing children into a library of the first time.
Your donation will go to Operation Warm, our partner since 2009. They provide us with brand-new, high-quality, warm winter coats for our children. Operation Warm is a GuideStar Platinum-rated nonprofit and has helped over 2 million children since 1998.
The video below was sent to us last winter as a gesture of THANKS from Holy Family Ministries.
How many children can you help keep warm this winter?
Our Rotary Club's Charitable Foundation is now accepting tax deductible donations for our Hurricane Relief Fund. Donations may be made by credit card here:
Our Foundation's Board will take direction from Rotary Leaders regarding where to direct our funds. Here is a letter received from our represntative on Rotary International's Board of Directors Robb Knuepfer:
Dear District and Zone Leaders:
As you have been reading in the news, severe rainfall has caused historic flooding along the Texas coast, including in Houston, the fourth largest city by population in the United States. Deluged towns in the region are in desperate need of aid as thousands of residents were forced to flee their homes. About 6.8 million people have been affected by the hurricane, which made landfall on 25 August.
Late last week, Presidential Aide Don Mebus and Past RI Director Greg Podd hosted a strategy conference call with governors from Districts 5930, 5840, 5890, 5910 and 6200 in Texas and Louisiana to develop a cohesive response.
A Gulf Coast Disaster Relief Donor Advised Fund (DAF) has been established by Greg Podd and President-Elect Barry Rassin through The Rotary Foundation to collect relief contributions. Don and Greg are working with leaders from the affected districts to create a process for disbursing DAF funds to their respective district foundations or local 501c3 organizations to support local relief efforts.
Updated information about contributing to the Gulf Coast DAF is available on the Rotary website. This page will continue to be updated as needed. Contribution information is also attached to this email.
ShelterBox, Rotary’s partner for disaster relief, is providing tents for use as ‘privacy tents’ to be pitched within the convention centers housing families that have been evacuated.
Please circulate the news about Rotary’s relief efforts to Rotarians in your district. Please direct inquiring Rotarians to the web story on Rotary.org for the most up-to-date information or to contact RI by writing to relief@rotary.org.
