President Ken Drummet welcomed everyone and opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Amy Skalinder shared a thought for the day, shared here by request:
Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.
― Kofi Annan
After lunch, there were several announcements:
Amy announced that tonight’s Jazz in the Garden event is cancelled due to the expected severe weather. The next Music in the Garden event is July 9 featuring The Sonya Major Band.
Ken noted that despite the inclement weather last night, our Club was well-represented at the Northfield Market and Music last night.
Ken reminded everyone that we won’t have a lunch meeting next week – instead, we’ll have our installation dinner at Avli, starting at 5:30pm. Barb needs to know today if anyone else is planning to attend. Guests are welcome!
Ken also reminded everyone that our bike raffle is still happening and we’ve sold 46 tickets so far. Please share widely! Patti Van Cleave shared that she took the graphic that was provided and shared it to her Facebook page. You can also email your friends and neighbors. Raffle tickets will be on sale until July 16.
For Dig-n-Grin, Chuck Norton shared a story about an experience he and his wife Carole had during their recent trip to Paris, which involved a boat, the mayhem of enthused and celebratory soccer fans, and tear gas. If you missed it, ask him about it!
Happy bucks were shared by Patti Van Cleave, Heidi Sibert, Bill Leske, Tony Kambich, Barb Tubekis, and Richard Rosen (our speaker today). Kudos were given to Thomas Applegate for another fun Rotary happy hour earlier this week, and to Ken Drummet as today is his last meeting as Club President.
Ken introduced today’s speaker Richard Rosen, who is a member of the Wheeling Rotary Club and is also the District 6440 Literacy Chair. His presentation is entitled “How Early Childhood Literacy Will Save a Child from a Later Life of Poverty and Crime.” He noted that early childhood literacy starts at birth and continues until the child enters school.
Richard shared several concepts about how early childhood literacy is developed and statistics to help illuminate why it is important. He also shared ideas for how Rotary Clubs can help.
The meeting concluded with our usual recitation of the Four-Way Test.
As the 2025-26 Rotary Year concludes, please join the millions of beneficiaries of projects funded by The Rotary Foundation in thanking our members who have honored their commitment of Every Rotarian, Every Year, contribute to The Rotary Foundation's Annual SHARE Fund.
These gifts support the local and international work of Rotary Clubs and Districts through District and Global Grants. A significant portion of these gifts support projects of our club like our Global Grant project in Morocco, our annual Operation Warm coats and shoes for children projects, and our programs addressing food insecurity.
Please thank these 17 Rotarians for already making their annual contribution, especially those in bold who are Paul Harris Fellows:
Thomas Applegate,Wes Bauman, David Birkenstein*, Moha Bouacha,Debra Campbell, Rives Collins, Ken Drummet, David Grant*, Tony Kambich*,Bill Leske,Rich Lalley*+^, Robert Mardirossian, Heidi Sibert, Amy Skalinder, Peter Skalski, Liz Taylor,Barb Tubekis+,Patti Van Cleave * signifies a Major Donor+ signifies Paul Harris Society ($1,000 per year) ^Bequest Society
There are many reasons to give to the The Rotary Foundation:
Contributions support humanitarian and educational projects initiated and run by Rotary Clubs and Districts in seven areas of focus- Disease prevention and treatment, maternal & child health, education & literacy, water and sanitation, economic & community development, protecting our environment, and peace & conflict resolution. Learn more by reviewing the Foundation’s annual report.
Contributions come back to support projects of our club's projects, like Operation Warm, our food programs, support for ShelterBox, and our current Global Grant project in Morocco. But we must give to receive.
Giving to The Rotary Foundation is an easy way for you to participate in Rotary’s service work beyond our club, providing you a personal connection to this great organization and the good it does throughout the world.
It’s easy to give. Bring a check to made payable to “WNRCF” (mark TRF in the memo line) to our club, (or mail it to our club at 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, 60093); you can donate online here, or you can donate directly to The Rotary Foundation at www.rotary.org or by calling 866-976-8279. One very convenient way to give is by making a recurring monthly gift on your credit card or from your checking account, which you can set up on Rotary’s website.
If you have not already supported The Rotary Foundation this year, please do so now. If you have any questions about The Rotary Foundation or how to give, contact Rich Lalley.
MONTHLY LUNCH PACKING FOR CONNECTIONS FOR THE HOMELESS
Pleasesign up to participate. Our monthly service project preparing 160 lunch bags forConnections for the Homeless is at St. Joseph's Church, Lake and Ridge in Wilmette, on the first Tuesday of the month at 6:00pm. Enter through the east lower entrance off the parking lot.
This is a collaborative project with members joining us from theWilmette and Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Clubs.
312 626 6799; Meeting ID: 198 435 237; Password: 798428 (note, if asked for User ID, press #).
Reminder- you can give happy bucks, dig n grin, birthday donations and other donations to our foundation at https://wnrotary.org/page/donate/ or by texting DIGNGRIN to 44-321.
The Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield is teaming up with The Rotary Foundation and the Rotary Club of Rabat in the capital city of Morocco to establish a women's clothing cooperative in the village of Tomoulilt. This will be a project funded in part with a Rotary Foundation Global Grant (GG#2571461).
The program's objectives are to:
Create a revenue-generating cooperative run by stakeholders of village women/girls;
Empower women to run and manage a long-term sustainable and profitable business operation.
The project funds new equipment and training for the cooperative's participants. Training will encompass technical use of the equipment, entrepreneurial skills, business planning and management, sales and marketing planning, and financial management. The program's vision is to create a self-sustaining long term business enterprise for the participating women in Timoulilt.
Overall program budget is $100,000. The club is seeking cash and District Designated Funds (DDF) support from Rotary Clubs and Districts.
At the March 6 meeting, Rich Lalley presented an overview of the work of our two foundations- the Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Foundation (WNRCF) and The Rotary Foundation (TRF) of Rotary International. You can review that presentation here.
The club's board has set a goal of achieving 100% participation in supporting TRF this Rotary Year. To reach this goal, every active member needs to donate a minimum of $25 to The Rotary Foundation. You can do this online by clicking here.
We also aspire to be a 100% Paul Harris Fellow Club. For member who are not yet a Paul Harris Fellow, once your donation level reaches $250 and you have made a contribution this year, our club will celebrate you with a Paul Harris Fellow Award.
We appreciate all of our members who have contributed generously to The Rotary Foundation and to our club's WNRCF foundation. Thank you!
Paul Harris Fellows
Bob Baker, Wes Baumann, David Birkenstein*, Moha Boucha, Debra Campbell, Ken Drummet, Tom Evans, David Grant*, Tony Kambich*, Marie Kuipers, Rich Lalley, Bill Leske, Robert Mardirossian, Ned Meisner, Chuck Norton, Lee Padgitt, ArLynn Presser, Fred Schwimmer*, Heidi Sibert, Peter Skalski, Liz Taylor, Barb Tubekis, Patti Van Cleave.
Bold indicates donation made this Rotary Year. * indicates Major Donor.
Please join our friend Ellie Schwimmer, her family, and friends as we celebrate the life of Fred Scwhimmer, a long time member of our club and important member of the Winnetka Community.
Please register here or let Rich Lalley know you (and any guests) will attend so we can give Ellie a count prior to the event.
The club's board has set a goal of achieving 100% participation in supporting TRF this Rotary Year. To reach this goal, every active member needs to donate a minimum of $25 to The Rotary Foundation. You can do this online by clicking here.
566 Chestnut Street
