Patti chaired the meeting which was called to order at 12:15. There were 18 members present and 3 attending on Zoom. Our special guest was Safiyyah Hassan’s 4 year old son, Muhamed.

ANNIVERSARIES: There were no birthdays but Brooke Peppey has been a Club member for 26 years and Peter Skalski for 30 years.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: There will be no Board meeting in August; the August 11 Club meeting will feature Carol Rosenstein speaking on how music therapy can “mend minds”; our August 18th Club meeting will feature Paula Turelli from Mothers Trust Foundation; and our August 25 regular meeting will be the Club Assembly meeting to discuss status, future and development of our Club. Rich reminded everyone of the Club Benefit (this year benefitting Operation Warm) to be held October 14 at Valley Lo Club in Glenview and featuring star blues singer Gerald McClendon.

HAPPY BUCKS: Tony donated $100 in honor of his and wife Carolyn’s 61st anniversary and also his 25 year old son who is getting married soon. Fred donated in honor of his and Ellie’s wedding date which was one week before Tony’s. Robert then donated subject to the condition that Tony does not count his Son’s wedding dinner as his special night out with Carolyn in celebration of their 61st!! Barb donated for the relief she’s had completing the clean out of her Mother-in-law’s house. Patti donated due to her experience in coordinating efforts of North Shore Country Day and a Wilmette Rotary Club in providing sleeping bags for the homeless.

PAUL HARRIS AWARD: Patti presented Chuck Norton with his 4th Paul Harris award which means he has donated at least $4000 to Rotary over the last few years.

SPEAKERS:  BETTY GRIEBNOW (Winnetka Library Assistant) and SYDNEY CLARK (Northfield Branch Librarian). The most important message from these library representatives was that these library operations found a way to prosper and develop new programs/services during the pandemic!! It seems that the most beneficial development was the use of virtual communication in presenting most of their programs. Their Summer Booklet listed the following programs for the 3 summer months: Books on the Beach, Mystery Book Club, Cookbook Book Club, Nonfiction and Fiction Book Clubs, Author Events, Dramatic Performances, Food & Drink, Health and Wellness, Business & Financial, Home & Garden, Poetry & Writing,Travel, History-- just to name a few. They had an extensive summer reading program for kids and adults of all ages with prizes given to kids who read at least 20 minutes a day for at least 40 days. Another interesting program was the “Library of Things” collection that members could borrow from the library things that the no longer keep at their home—for example a metal detector, telescope, VHS to Digital Recorder, 8mm converter, DVD player, VCR, sewing machines and even knitting needles. Another successful development was for 100 or so libraries in Illinois joining together to have big name authors make virtual presentations which were seen by hundreds of interested readers. It was easier to get big name authors because they didn’t have to spend money for travel and lodging and all the participating libraries could share in speakers’ honorarium charges.

To summarize, the local libraries have been very energetic and creative in remaining a very valuable part of Winnetka and Northfield. (It was mentioned that these services are available only to residents of these two villages who live in the two library “districts” within the villages, but any questions regarding this condition should be discussed with the local librarians.)

ADJOURNMENT: At 1:25 pm, Patti led the group in the Rotary 4 Way Test and the meeting was adjourned.