The meeting was called to order by both our Co-chairs Barb and Patti around 12:40. There were 12 members present and two guests—Mary Bak attended on Zoom and Michael Goldberg attended his 3rd Rotary meeting and looks forward to becoming a member of the Club. He is a financial advisor from Glenview. The Dig N Grin was handled by Barb subbing for Tom Evans.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Birthdays were celebrated by Heather Higgins, Mike Shelton, Wes Bauman and Terry Dason. Club membership anniversaries were celebrated by Todd Stephens (24 years), Fred Schwimmer (10 years) and Tony Kambich (43 years with our Club and 8 with another Rotary organization). Patti reminded everyone of the Operation Warm benefit to be held October 14 at the Valley Lo Club in Glenview to provide winter coats for Chicago Area Kids in Need. Barb announced the “Firsty Thursday” event in the WCH garden that evening featuring snacks and other refreshments and live music. Happy Bucks were given by David Grant and Keith Reed who cheerfully recognized each other’s work as Club scribes, along with Patti filling in when necessary, and who again mentioned the need to get one more scribe to help with this duty.
SPEAKER ROB LEACHMAN and AUTHOR OF “ONE RIDE AT A TIME”.
Rob is a 20 year Rotarian who recently moved to Arlington Heights to be close to his children/grandchildren who live in Winnetka and love its schools and the community. His career had been in education and consulting and when he retired he and his wife decided to venture on an amazing 42 day bike ride across the USA (ala Forest Gump on wheels). It was such an awakening experience for them as amateur bike riders that Rob decided to write a book about the experience. Some of the details of the ride were: they started at San Diego and ended up in St. Augustine (3000 miles); there were 42 riding days with the longest daily ride being about 100 miles; there were 9 amateur riders and Rob’s wife was the only female; they had a support group of 8 experienced riders who planned the trip, rode with them, repaired bikes, arranged for hotel/meals/luggage transfer etc. Being amateurs, Rob and his wife had new experiences such as riding up the mountains in the West; desert conditions in Arizona; 40-60 mph winds blowing westerly against them which turned into a sand storm; a Texas rain storm; and many other things that really made them appreciate this spectacular Country. Needless to say, this was a binding experience, especially for the amateur riders. Unfortunately one of the riders from Scotland fell in Georgia about 300 miles from the finish line in Florida. He broke both legs, was hospitalized for 2 months, but eventually recovered. At that time he decided to go back to Georgia to finish the last 300 miles of the planned trip. When his fellow cyclists on the trip heard of that, many of them , including Rob and his wife, flew to St. Augustine to be there when their friend finished his trip. It was partly due to this nostalgic event that made Rob want to write his book to describe the wonderful bonding experience they had with the other cyclists who were total strangers before the trip.
After several Q and A, Barb adjourned the meeting by leading the Rotary 4-Way test.
A team of local citizens is throwing a benefit party to support the Operation Warm program of the Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield. This will be the fourth time in five years for this fun event that brings warmth, confidence and hope to Chicago area children living in need with the gift of a brand new winter coat.
The party will be held at Valley Lo Club in Glenview on Friday October 14 and features the soulful music of Gerald McClendon- “The Soulkeeper.” A buffet dinner will be served with a cash bar. A silent and live auction will enable attendees to acquire great items while supporting this important cause.
“Our club has partnered with Operation Warm since 2009 to bring new coats to thousands of Chicago area children,” said Barb Tubekis, Co-President of the club. “We are so grateful for the support of the community, especially the team of volunteers who plan this annual party that allows us to serve more children.”
“When I told my friends about our Rotary Club’s annual Operation Warm project, they immediately wanted to help.” Said Joe Nash. “They especially liked that many of these coats are given to children at neighborhood libraries, thereby connecting families with the great resources they offer.”
Tickets to the party may be purchased at http://tinyurl.com/OWBenefit2022. Donations may also be made. $20 provides a high-quality, brand-new coat to Chicago are child living in need.
Event sponsors include the New Trier Rotary Clubs- Glencoe, Wilmette, Wilmette Harbor, Winnetka-Northfield; Joe Nash of @Properties, VJ Killian Co, North Shore Community Bank, One80o, Sunset Foods, Mitch Kielser, Chuck Norton & Carole Barthel, Fred & Ellie Schwimmer, Nora Costello and the Kemper Educational & Charitable Foundation.
The Event Committee: Victoria Adams, Ron Bernardi, Laura Chaveriat, Mary Cooper, Nora Costello, Enza Fragassi, Melinda Harmon, Muffy Hostetler, Amelia Katz, Mike Kelly, Mitch Kielser, Rich Lalley, Joe Nash, Kelly Nash, Jackie Satherlie, JR Scassellati, and Wendy Sorrentino.
1. Call to Action! The New Trier Township food pantry needs our support. The pantry is low on essential items that support Township residents and workers. We will be collecting non perishable food items and hygiene supplies at each Thursday meeting. Donations can also be dropped off at the Community House every other day of the week. This service project will run through the end of September. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever that we support and uplift one another.
2. Additional items that we will be collecting at each Thursday meeting are pop tabs from aluminum cans and bread clips. The pop tabs will be donated to Ronald Mcdonald House for recycling and they go towards offsetting the costs of helping children and their families.
The bread clips will be donated to 'Scarcely Resourced' who will be recycling them in partnership with 'Danielle Cares for Chairs'. A few thousand of these bread clips will purchase a wheelchair for a child in need. The bread tags are also now being utilized by a prosthetic clinic to strengthen the molding process of making a prosthesis.
For those of you who wish to support our fellow Rotarian Sam Badger in his time of loss, please consider making memorial gifts in Nancy's honor (Nancy Mack Badger) to either of these organizations:
• The Mesulam Center c/o Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 420 E. Superior Street, 9th Floor, Chicago, IL 60611or at feinberg.northwestern.edu/giving or by calling 312-503-8933. The Mesulam Center offers world-renowned dementia and Alzheimers disease research and care on Northwestern's downtown Chicago campus.
• The Winnetka Northfield Rotary Charitable Foundation for its incredible impactful work globally, as you know.
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