President Chuck called the meeting to order at 12:20.
Thought of the Day: Brooke shared a meaningful quote.
Birthdays: none.
Anniversaries: Keith Reed – 8 years
Announcements: DG Lyle Staab spoke about the importance of supporting Rotary through The Rotary Foundation, reminding us that we joined Rotary because we want to do good in the world, which is the focus of The Rotary Foundation.
Happy Bucks: Rich had a Happy Buck for District Governor Lyle for his outstanding work as DG and excellent communication.
Dig N Grin: Bob Sanfilippo spoke to the Euro 2020 soccer championship currently taking place, sharing his pride in his Italian heritage with some Italian jokes!
Visiting guests and Rotarians: District Governor Lyle Staab, David Bartlett, a former Rotarian from another club and guest of Terry Dason and Bill Leske, introduced by Greg Nelson, and Moha Bouacha, a Rotarian who has moved here from the Rockford area.
John Thomas introduced Village President Chris Rintz.
Chris’ program focused on accomplishments of the village in the past (unprecedented) year. These include:
Continuing with services despite COVID, moving to virtual meetings, virtual inspections.
Chris expressed kudos to Rob Bahan for his excellent financial management, creating expense reductions to offset revenue losses during COVID.
The Village leadership held a weekly teleconference with fellow governing bodies: New Trier, District 36, Park District and the private schools, creating deeper communication.
For businesses, the Village provided:
Local sales tax refunds, based on previous year
Unrestricted grants to restaurants
Revised outdoor seating and liquor restrictions to allow for better sales.
A “Take-out Challenge” program
Texting program for businesses and residents to communicate opportunities occurring within the Village
Worked with Chamber (kudos to Terry for her hard work) to communicate health and safety guidelines. Chamber worked very hard to assist with state and other grant funds available.
Chris noted that over 10 NEW businesses were added in 2020.
The Village collaborated with CCDPH to provide vaccination days, using space donated by New Trier at New Trier Northfield. In total they provided 20,980 vaccines to 10, 292 people.
Chris noted the Virtual Tree Lighting and Reverse Fourth of July parade as ways in which the Village tried to keep “normal” events occurring during COVID.
A new website was launched.
The second phase of Streetscape was completed on West Elm.
The third phase of Streetscape began on East Elm; it will be completed shortly.
Stormwater work continued – agreements are now completed, final engineering is taking place now.
The Village refinanced stormwater bonds, saving $7.1M.
Historic Preservation code was adjusted to lengthen demolition requirements and potentially save more significant homes.
Created an RFP for the site on the southeast corner of Green Bay and Winnetka Ave. Four restaurants and a garden center presented proposals.
Looking ahead:
Chris would like to re-engage IDOT in a conversation to transfer Green Bay Road from state jurisdiction to Winnetka, allowing for improvements to the infrastructure of the road and surrounding areas.
Complete the Comprehensive Plan – the last one was created in 1990.
Explore federal assistance for stormwater projects.
As the 2020-21 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 local COVID-19 relief efforts, Kids Against Hunger, and our Ecuador "Farm to Table" Global Grant.
Please thank these 14 Rotarians for already making their annual contribution, especially those in bold who are Paul Harris Fellows:
Bob Baker, Wes Baumann, David Birkenstein*+, Laura Cunningham, Joe Fell, David Grant*, Heather Higgins, Tony Kambich, Rich Lalley*+, Robert Mardirossian, Lee Padgitt, Brooke Peppey,Fred Schwimmer*+, and Patty Van Cleave. * 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 $3,600, and next year we will can receive $3,672. 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.
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).
