Pat Savage-Williams is Special Education Coordinator at New Trier High School. She will give us her perspectives on how students and residents can recognize racism in the Township.
President Chuck Norton chaired the meeting commencing at 12:18.
Guests: Joining us today was Rotary District Governor, Tamiye Meehan, and our speaker, Ryan Aderman, Illinois Attorney General Community Outreach Liason
Birthdays and Anniversaries: No birthdays or anniversaries today.
Thought of the Day: Bob Sanfilippo highly recommended Erik Larson’s newest book on Winston Churchill, The Splendid and the Vile, covering the years 1940-41. The book was inspirational. Bob left us with one of his favorite Churchill Quotes: We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
Announcements:
Long-time Rotary Member, Jimmy Hilton passed last week
Our district governor, Tamiye Meehan would like to meet us on Zoom.The District is conducting 9 months of classes.
The Community House is closed due to a massive water main break on Pine.
Happy Bucks:
(1) Rich Lalley contributed $25 in recognition of all of Africa being free of wild polio virus—only parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan still have out breaks of wild polio.
(2) Fred Schwimmer spent a day with his older brother in Minneapolis (a joy to still have him with us) and Abbott has a new Covid -19 Test.
(3) Gregg Nelson and Robert Mardirossian bantered about the White Sox no-hitter and Robert gave some happy bucks in honor of the Sox achievement.
(4) David Birkenstein was happy that he turned age 90 last week and can still walk and talk and most importantly play golf.
Marie Kuipers gave us a capsule version of her life starting with an overly protective mother with many ups and downs. At age 16, she was off to Antigua on vacation where she met Martin Crowe (Russell’s cousin), a cricket champion. She kept up a correspondence with him through her years at Georgetown University, but eventually, she had to decide if she wanted to stay in the US or go to Australia/New Zealand. She decided to stay. Shortly after college she developed some medical issues that kept her in a hospital for a while, but then she was off to Utah for 15 wonderful years. Martin died in 2016 at the young age of 42 from cancer. Marie found roller derby while in Utah and then her loving spouse and her love of chickens (and Rotary) when she came to Chicago.
Bill Leske introduced our speaker, Ryan Aderman of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office of Community Outreach. Ryan said that one of the principal duties of the Attorney General is to advocate on behalf of the people of Illinois. There are 40 bureaus, the biggest being the Consumer Fraud Bureau. The Consumer Fraud Bureau has a special division to help seniors understand their medical bills.
Ryan then reviewed common scams targeting seniors. He had the following thoughts:
Renew your “Do Not Call” instructions each year.This will stop the domestically sourced calls, but will not screen the international calls;
There is a new Social Security scam that shifts your monthly checks to the scammer’s account. Do not give out your Social Security Number for any reason to somebody that calls you.Note:Social Security never calls you unless you called Social Security first.
When there is a scammer on the line:“Just hang up.”
Ryan then reviewed some more common scams: The charity scam; the home improvement scam; and identity theft. Ryan reminded us that we have a right to freeze our credit and receive a free credit report each year from each of the three major companies: Equifax, Transunion and Experian.
Guests: Our only guest was today’s speaker, Elijah Wilde
Birthdays and Anniversaries: No birthdays or anniversaries today.
Announcements: No announcements today.
Thought for the Day: Amy Skalinder inspired us
Happy Bucks: Rich Lalley was happy for his cousin Bobby who just received a new heart. Fred Schwimmer received a Covid – 19 Test and he was infection free.
Dig and Grin: Brooke Peppey entertained us with an “Ode to our Masks” and a new pick-up line: “If Covid -19 does not take you out, can I?”
Our Speaker for the Day was Elijah Wilde who is currently Chairperson of the Winnetka Caucus.
The Winnetka Caucus was founded in 1915 to encourage and evaluate individuals for public offices in Winnetka (and Northfield for the Winnetka-Northfield Library Board). There are 68 potential members from 16 districts. Without a major issue on the horizon, many of the slots are not filled. The idea of the Caucus is to avoid the bitter partisan debates that can tear apart communities and instead have an out-reach program to engage as many citizens as possible to discuss issues and concerns. Then, the Caucus encourages thoughtful citizens to run for the various public offices and Boards of Trustees within the community.
The New Trier Citizens League, the 105-year-old community caucus for New Trier Township, is seeking interested residents to serve as Township Supervisor and Trustee. Those elected in April 2021 will serve four years with monthly meetings.
The Supervisor and Trustees oversee Township government and participate on advisory committees that allocate grant funding to local social service agencies that provide a variety of services to residents.
The candidate exploration process begins now and culminates in this caucus-slating candidates for the April 2021 Consolidated Election. All Township offices will be on the ballot and elected officials must be registered voters who reside in New Trier Township.
Interested parties or those wishing to nominate an acquaintance should contact New Trier Citizens League President Peter Tyor at (847) 446-2217 or petertyor@gmail.com, with a deadline of August 17, 2020.
About New Trier Citizens League The New Trier Citizens League is a non-partisan community organization made up of volunteers who function as a caucus to slate candidates to serve as Township officials. Secondarily, the Citizens League functions as a watchdog group to provide oversight on behalf of residents to observe the work of New Trier Township. The relationship between the Citizens League and the Township is a partnership wherein members of the Citizens League educate themselves on the business of the Township to assure the Township stays focused on its core mission of providing leadership, advocacy and resources to benefit the physical, mental and social well-being of Township residents.
The Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield has met weekly at the Winnetka Community House since 1924. That streak ended in mid-March, when the club suspended its weekly lunch meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, this did not stop the club from continuing to meet and live up to its well-earned reputation as People of Action. Almost immediately, the club began to meet on Zoom every Thursday at its regular 12:15 time, and the club’s board and committees did so as well.
Over the club’s 96 years, it has undertaken many notable service projects. So, it is no surprise the club quickly responded to the needs of those affected by COVID-19. Supported by donations from members and friends of the club, and a grant from The Rotary Foundation, the club took the following actions:
Supported the local food pantry and provided financial assistance to families experiencing severe financial need through a $5,000 donation to the New Trier Township Angel Fund.
Helped provide infant formula to 50 Chicago area food pantries, shelters and social services through a $3,000 donation to Infant, Inc., a Winnetka based nonprofit.
Supported homeless families and children in foster care by providing weekly meals from Donna Goodman Events (the club’s regular caterer) to Good News Partners in Rogers Park and Lydia Home in Irving Park.
Provided 300 pairs of new children’s shoes from Operation Warm to homeless families served by La Casa Norte of Chicago.
“Rotarians are People of Action who live the long-time Rotary motto of ‘Service Above Self’, and our club fits that to a tee,” said Club President Marie Kuipers.
Chuck Norton, President Elect of the club, adds “We have a long history of humanitarian service- locally, in our region, and internationally. We are long term supporters of Rotary International’s work to eradicate polio, we have supported many international humanitarian projects in Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia. Every year, we provide hundreds of Chicago area children with the gift of a new winter coat through our Operation Warm project, and for over ten years we have sponsored the large, all-day Kids Against Hunger food packing event at the Winnetka Community House. Our longstanding Community Grants program annually provides financial grants to nonprofits that are nominated by our members and are doing work that aligns with our values.”
Local citizens interested in learning more about the Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield may join the club’s weekly lunch meetings on Thursday’s from 12:15 – 1:30. Each meeting features an interesting and topical speaker and opportunity to deepen friendships. Learn more at www.wnrotary.org.
Until meetings resume at the Winnetka Community House, email info@wnrotary.org to get the Zoom access link. Membership is open to anyone of good character who is interested in making new friends and taking action to create lasting change in the world.
One of the nice features of meeting virtually is that our meetings can be recorded. This of course depends on your meeting host (me) remembering to start the recording (sometimes I'm a bit late in starting it).
As the 2019-20 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 Kids Against Hunger, our COVID-19 response, and our Ecuador "Farm to Table" Global Grant.
To date, our club members have donated a total of $9,951 in the 2019-20 Rotary Year, 99% of our goal of $10,000.
Please thank these 27 Rotarians and friends for already making their annual contribution, especially those in bold who are Paul Harris Fellows:
Sam Badger*+, Bob Baker, Wes Baumann, David Birkenstein*+, Laura Cunningham, Donna Goodman, David Grant*, Heather Higgins, Tony Kambich, Marie Kuipers+, Rich Lalley+, Bill Leske, Robert Mardirossian, Greg Nelson, Chuck Norton+, Felicia O'Malley, Lee Padgitt, Brooke Peppey, Keith Reed,Bob Sanfilippo, Fred Schwimmer+, Peter Skalski, Liz Taylor, John Thomas, Barb Tubekis, Julie Tye, Patty Van Cleave, and Carl Yudell. * signifies a Major Donor+ signifies Paul Harris Society ($1,000 per year)
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 six areas of focus- Disease prevention and treatment, maternal & child health, education & literacy, water and sanitation, economic & community development 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 our COVID-19 Response efforts, coats for kids, Kids Against Hunger and International grants projects like our Farm to Table eco-agribusiness project in Ecuador, the water and sanitation projects we helped fund for schools in Guatemala and Kenya, and the digital x-ray/community health clinic project organized by District 6440. This year, we received $3,400, and next year we will can receive $3,660. 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. You can send a check to “WNRCF” (mark TRF in the memo line) to our club, c/o Bob Baker at Killian Plumbing at 933 Green Bay Rd, Winnetka 60093; you can donate via PayPal by clicking 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.
Helped provide infant formula to 50 Chicago area food pantries, shelters and social services through a $3,000 donation to 
Provided 300 pairs of new children’s shoes from Operation Warm to homeless families served by 
