The meeting was opened at 12:15 by President Tom Nash. That was followed by Tony Kambich’s “Thought for the Day” which was the Optimist’s Creed. Then the pledge of allegiance was led by Denny Lauer. Lunch was served and the meeting in the Winnetka Community House started about 12:30 with 27 of our 52 members (52%) in attendance. There were 5 guests present: Felicia O’Malley with Liz Taylor and Greg Nelson hosted Lizabeth Lopez, Elizabeth Ury, Stephanie Sarris, and Geno Benvenuti. Also with us was Deputy Fire Chief John Ripka from the Village and our Asst. Dist. Governor, Mary BAK.
UPDATED ANNOUNCEMENTS: Robert Mardirossian reported that his father-in-law, Dr Francis Lavin, had passed away last weekend after a long and fruitful life. Robert said his father-in-law was a physician active in the years before the Salk vaccine and had treated many polio patients. So Robert is making a contribution to Rotary in his father-in-law’s name recognizing Rotary’s work in virtually eliminating polio in the world.
President Tom noted we will be participating with a booth in the WPD Fall Fest this weekend and repeated his request for volunteers. Rich Lalley talked about the kick-off of Operation Warm, the program that gives new winter coats to kids in need. He thanked those who already have contributed and asked for donations from those yet to give. Mr. Lalley noted he is happy to see his son in the final stages of his PhD program with only the oral exams left to do. Tony Kambich is happy his Caribbean condo is intact but noted St. Maartens is still generally a disaster area and needs help.
SPEAKER NOTES: Introducing Lou Dickson, our speaker, was Greg Nelson. Lou is the Director of the Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse. She heads this non-profit agency that promotes recycling housing materials and provides job training for people facing barriers to employment. She discussed the background of her organization with several visual aids explaining how and what ERW does. Basically both the workers and volunteers tear down houses and salvage a high percentage of the material. That material is then sold to the public from their warehouse at 2101 Dempster in Evanston from 10am-5pm Tuesday –Saturday. She finished her presentation at 1:15. A lengthy Q&A ensued and the meeting ended at 1:30. We then closed with a heart-warming recital of Rotary’s four-way test.