President-Ken Drummet opened the meeting at 12:17pm and welcomed everyone. Rives Collins shared an inspiring thought of the day about saving starfish washed ashore as an analogy to Rotarians making a difference in other people’s lives from one to many. President-Elect Debra Campbell provided a very punny Dig & Grin.
Announcements included:
5K Hope Walk May 9th at 10:00am in Gilson Park to fund support for the unhoused by our club, Wilmette, Evanston Lighthouse and Skokie Valley. $40 individual, $100 family of 4, $20 18 and under. Hope Walk signup link [https://pci.jotform.com/form/260597117044053]
Moha reported that the trip to Morocco to visit the women’s clothing cooperative in the village of Tomoulilt will be in Spring 2027, not this October. The project is well on its way with the building under renovation and 20 plus women signed up for training.
Rich Lalley reminded club members of the celebration of life on Friday, April 10th for an exemplary Rotarian, Joe Fell. In Joe’s honor, the club has made his wife Karen Templeton a Paul Harris Fellow and will present her with a certificate and pin.
Robert Mardirossian made an impassioned appeal for club members to match his $500 donation to fund the installation of an AED at the Counseling Center of the North Shore and the Winnetka Thrift Shop. With a projected cost of $1,100, 6 club members quickly pledged the $600 needed.
Northfield Village Board President Tracey Mendrek and Northfield Village Trustee Charles Orth shared the Northfield Centennial celebration on August 22nd. They explored the 100-year history of farming, village formation in 1926, and residential and commercial development. They answered a range of questions about the history of Northfield. Melissa Jewett, Director of Administrative Services, also joined them. The Village has a website dedicated to the Centennial. https://northfield-centennial.org/
President Ken called the meeting to order at 12:20.
Pledge led by Robert.
Thought was offered by Rich, who read an eloquent tribute by JB Pritzker in memory of Sam Harris. Sam recently died and was a Holocaust survivor, and was a founder of the Holocaust Museum.
Dig N Grin: Barb engaged us in a game of “Simon Says”.
Happy Bucks:
Rich is happy to be retired AND celebrating his 70th birthday!
Moha is happy that we have sent $35,000 to the Morocco club and the funds transferred successfully.
Robert is happy to report that he was at Wrigley for the home opener last week.
Barb is happy to have her dental work completed.
Program:
Terry Dason provided us with an update of what’s going on in our villages from the Chamber’s perspective.
Winnetka highlights:
One Winnetka is progressing well.
Chase bank building is complete and will open on April 6.
564 Green Bay is under construction, will house Engel & Volckers realty and three condos above.
Post Office will be demolished in April. Land will remain a green site, which will be complete at the end of the summer. Permanent plan for this site is still being determined.
Former Killian site in Hubbard Woods is under construction and will be a lighting studio.
912 Green Bay Road will be a high end chocolate shop.
Glencoe:
Glencoe Golf Club is being rebuilt and will open late summer. A restaurant is being sourced.
Glencoe is completing a comprehensive streetscape study. They are undertaking an initiative to make Glencoe a dementia-friendly community.
Eloyn by Ozz Mediterranean restaurant has opened in Glencoe.
A sushi restaurant has opened in Glencoe.
Northfield:
They are celebrating their Centennial on October 23.
A grocery tenant for the Marianos space is still in the works.
Dates to note:
Winnetka Music Festival is June 19& 20.
Winnetka Farmer’s Market begins on June 6 and runs through October.
Chamber Recognition Lunch is April 22.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 with reciting the 4 Way Pledge.
Our Club’s charitable foundation, the Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Charitable Foundation, recently completed our annual Community Grants process. We are pleased to report that this year with a budget of $18,000, we awarded 12 grants to local non-profit organizations that serve our community. Links to these those organizations are:
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.
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.
Gillson Park
