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David Grant
Upcoming Events
Kids Against Hunger Benefit Concert
Little Ricky's
Mar 08, 2018
7:30 PM – 10:30 PM
 
Kids Against Hunger
Winnetka Community House
Mar 17, 2018
8:30 AM – 4:00 PM
 
Speakers
Mar 01, 2018
New Trier Township Supervisor
Mar 08, 2018
Chiropracty
Mar 15, 2018
Winnetka Park District Executive Director
Mar 22, 2018
Mar 29, 2018
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Club Information
WELCOME TO OUR CLUB! CELEBRATING 94 YEARS OF SERVICE. COME JOIN US CONNECTING FOR GOOD.
Winnetka-Northfield
Service Above Self
We meet Thursdays at 12:15 PM
Winnetka Community House
620 Lincoln Avenue
Tyrrell Room (winter) 111A (summer)
Winnetka, IL  60093
United States
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Stories
Meeting Recap February 22
There were 26 members present.  The only guest was Gerry Keenan from Trees That Feed who is working on the Club’s breadfruit tree project in Haiti and is going to apply for membership in our Club.   John Thomas did the “thought” of the day which was that “today is more important than yesterday or tomorrow, so make the best of it”.  Rich Lalley announced that Rotary lost one of its more important member, Jack Blane, who was President of the Wheeling Rotary at least a couple of times and has played a major role in raising funds for Rotary’s polio project over the years. Rich donated $50 to the Rotary Foundation in Jack’s honor and said that the Gates Foundation will double that amount as part of their match program to the Foundation.  Members can contact Rich directly with their donation or they can respond to the email they received from Kristina Laib from District 6440.
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS:  Gerry Keenan gave a short report on Rotary’s breadfruit project in Haiti.  He just returned from Haiti where he is working to organize a Rotary Global Grant for our Club to participate in a project to plant several thousands of breadfruit trees in Haiti. There are several U.S. Clubs and a couple of Haiti Rotary clubs that are also participating in the project.  A formal proposal will be made by the participating clubs within the next few weeks and the project should be underway in 2019.  Bill Leske announced that we are still in need of auction items for both our May benefit, as well as the Little Ricky’s reception on March 8th.  Heidi Sibert thanked Felicia O’Malley for sponsoring a table at the Kids Against Hunger food packing project March 17th and that she is trying to have a special table for the volunteers from our Club  that day.  Volunteers are needed to pack food on the three shifts of 8:30-10:30, 11:00-1:00, and 2:00-4:00.  Contact Heidi or Tom Nash with the times you can serve.
 
HAPPY BUCKS:  Tom gave in recognition of Patti chairing our meetings in his absence.  Liz Taylor donated due to a cell phone malfunction! Barb Tubekis donated in recognition of all the efforts and results of the U.S.A. athletes in the Olympics, especially the women’s hockey team.  Heather Higgins donated for the many young people who have been speaking up for better security in our school systems and Wes Baumann also contributed for that reason. Heidi donated because the Des Plaines River crested short of the prediction, which minimized the amount of materials she had to take out of her garage.
 
 Dig and Grin:  Bob Baker (because of his occupation) was requested to read a newspaper account of a passenger plane having to land due to malfunctioning toilets even though there were 85 plumbers on board going to a convention.  Bob didn’t seem to think the story was very funny, but his under-the breath comment as he was leaving the speaker’s podium broke up the audience.  Bob felt better at the end of the meeting when his ticket won the week’s $5 raffle prize.   (Members should know that we now have a winner every meeting in order to increase sales of our raffle tickets.)
 
SPEAKER ALISON HENDERSON, FOUNDER OF MOVING IMAGE CONSULTING COMPANY:  Alison explained that her consulting company advises companies on appropriate body language in the work place, as well as on the very timely subject of sexual harassment.  Her company addresses subconscious behavior which contributes to a toxic environment.  She said that overt sexual indecency is obvious, but it is more difficult to detect and correct perpetual, misunderstood and nonverbal behavior.  Although most companies have provided some training on sexual harassment, she said that the personal training sessions are far more effective than showing employees a video tape.  She said with the recent allegations and resignations of those associated with this type of activity, that she has observed a change in the workplace with men not commenting as much on non-work things such as how a woman wears her hair or clothes.  Alison has published materials on “Reducing the Drama in Business Relationships” and “Listen With Your Eyes”.  In deciding what is inappropriate behavior in the office, the employer has to consider the workplace culture and environment and then make sure there is harassment training that fits the workplace.  The employer has to be aware of vendors or those people providing services on the premises—often times these people are not as well trained on this subject as the employer’s own employees who have received training.  Employees have to be aware that they should not invade another person’s space—e.g. standing too close to a person in a conversation; stepping towards a colleague who has stepped back to protect space; or looking over another employee’s shoulders in viewing computer or other work product. Managers should stay on the same level as an employee when meeting in the manager’s office; they should not appear tense when an employee comes in the office for a meeting; they should not roll their hand over on top of their hand shake and should not shake with both hands unless they know the other person well; and men need to be careful about avoiding work contact with women simply because they are unsure what constitutes sexual harassment. Employers have to realize the importance of avoiding discrimination charges since the average complaint filed with the EEOC costs the employer $75,000 to $125,000 if a violation is found. For those with questions or comments, Alison invited them to contact her at:  alison@movingimageconsulting.com
 
 
Speaker on February 22: Alison Henderson
Alison specializes in developing the leader within each individual through language, non-verbal presence, and understanding the decision-making process. Through the MOVEPRINT program, business leaders and teams learn more about themselves and how they are empowering or sabotaging their business! They discover what type of person to add to their team, how to make the best enrollment conversation, and how to improve client relationships. Every individual discovers their best self and how to best communicate for their personal brand.
Meeting Recap February 15
We had 28 members in attendance at this week’s meeting.  There were two guests:  Felicia O’ Malley brought her husband, John; and Liz Taylor brought her colleague, Larry Dickman.  Additionally, Mary Bak, our district’s assistant governor was in attendance.
 
Patti Van Cleave who was filling in for President Tom Nash announced that Erik Birkenstein was celebrating his 8th club anniversary while Carl Yudell was celebrating his 3rd.  She then presented the ballot for next year’s officers and board.  It was noted that at this time we do not have any candidates for President-Elect (2019-20) and President Nominee (2020-21).  Past-Presidents Erik Birkenstein and ArLynn Presser both spoke about the privilege and fun of serving the club in this capacity.  Past-President Wes Baumann asked all the other past-presidents to stand for which he would donate one Happy Buck for each.  Eleven stood up, and two of them had served two terms so Wes put in $13.  Please give serious thought to serving your club.
 
Heidi Sibert reminded the club that our annual Kids Against Hunger project would take place on Saturday, March 17th at the gym in the Community House.  We will be packing 100,000 meals for children in need of decent nutrition.  Heidi said they are looking to have 100% participation among the membership.  The entire project requires about 400 persons spread over the three 90-minutes sessions.  We also have to raise approximately $30,000 to pay for the food and shipping.  Joe Nash has organized an evening at Little Ricky’s to raise funds for the KAH project.  There will be a 6-piece band preforming, dancing, a Rotarian guest bartender, silent auction and a raffle.  This program will take place on March 8 from 7:30 to 10:00 pm.  The Club really appreciates Little Ricky’s support for KAH.
 
Rich Lalley announced that he expects the Club’s request for a Rotary grant to support the Breadfruit trees in Haiti.  This means we will have to raise funds to assist with this grant.   Rich said that the gentleman who is the head of the organization who will benefit from the grant would be joining our club in the near future.
 
Felicia O’Malley introduced the day’s speaker, Jeff Shepard, who was speaking on the bitcoin phenomena.  Jeff serves as a wealth advisor at Eastgate Capital Advisors, which is located on Green Bay Road in Winnetka.  His task was to try to explain what Bitcoins are.   Jeff took out a dollar bill and said in reality it had no value but that it represented value because it was backed by the faith of the U.S. government and some gold bullion in Fort Knox.  Most foreign currencies work in a familiar fashion. 
 
Bitcoin is a form of cryptocurrency, a type of currency that does not exist in a physical form.  It was developed by Satoshi Nakamoto in late 2008 and released as an open software code in January of 2009.  Shortly there after Nakamoto disappeared and no one knows his identity or if the name was a pseudonym for a group.  It is the first decentralized digital currency as the system works without a central bank or a single administrator.  Basically it is a person-to-person electronic transfer of currency.  There are several other lesser-known cryptocurrencies such as, Etherum and Litecoin, among 800, many of which are scams.   Bitcoin represents at least 35% of all cryptoassets.  To date, the system has never been hacked, which is a valuable asset to Bitcoin. 
 
Every transaction is recorded and stored as part of a ‘block chain.’  A block chain is the record of every transaction that has taken place in the history of Bitcoin.  Blocks contain approximately 10 minutes of records and they are linked together in chronological order.  Bitcoin is dealing in crptocash, thus transactions are not reversible as they are with credit cards.  Since credit card companies will eat the cost of fraud it makes them more costly.  The reviews on cryptocurrency are mixed:  Warren Buffet advises clients to ‘stay away’ while Paul Krugman says that Bitcoin is evil.  However, those who got into Bitcoin on the ground floor made a lot more than a ‘bit’ of money on their investment.  As The Economist magazine says...“Anyone clever or lucky enough to have bought $1,000 of Bitcoins in July 2010, when the price stood at $0.05, would now have a stash worth $46 million.”
 
P.S.  The scriber for this meeting found that many of our Rotarians still had trouble understanding the basics of Bitcoins at the conclusion of the meeting.  The attached 22-minute “YouTube” video might provide further illumination for those interested.  Personally, my eyes started to glaze over in the middle, but by the end I did have a somewhat improved understanding of cryptocurrency. 
 
Trees that Feed and Sustain Families in Haiti
 
A proposed Rotary Foundation Global Grant Project
 
We are pleased to announce our formal agreement with the Rotary Club of Les Cayes, District 7020, Haiti, to partner on a Global Grant project that will bring sustainable jobs and locally grown protein rich food to the Jeremie region of Haiti. 
 
We are looking to raise approximately $20,000 for this project, which when matched $2.50 to $1 by The Rotary Foundation, will provide $70,000 in funding for this project. Rotary Clubs interested in participating should email info@wnrotary.org. 
 
Areas of Focus
¨ Economic & Community Development
¨ Maternal & Child Health
¨ Bonus: Positive Environmental Impact
 
Project Objectives
¨ Restore and expand breadfruit production in Jeremie region of Haiti that was devastated by Hurricane Matthew
¨ Create a local, solar-powered breadfruit processing facility
¨ Provide vocational training to farmers, facility workers
¨ Develop the domestic and export market for breadfruit products
 
Planned Activities
¨ Propagate and grow 5,000 breadfruit saplings
¨ Provide ready-to-produce tress to small holder farmers and coop orchards
¨ Fund processing equipment for new facility (building funded by cooperating NGO)
¨ Provide packaged breadfruit breakfast meals to local schools
¨ Provide vocational training to farmers and workers
 
Expected Outcomes
¨ Produce 2.5 - 5 million lbs. of breadfruit annually
¨ Economic impact on region- $470,000 - $900,000 annually
¨ Good jobs and businesses for local population in poorest region of Haiti
¨ Provide nutritious meals to school children
¨ Develop an export industry for Haiti
 
Contribute to this project with the button below. Donations will be matched 2.5 to 1 by The Rotary Foundation. 
 
       
 
 
Meeting Assignments
February 22
GreeterRebecca Wolf
Dig-n-GrinConnie Berman
Thought Carl Yudell
Sgt-at-ArmsBob Baker
ScribeKeith Reed
 
March 1
GreeterTerry Dason
Dig-n-GrinPatti Van Cleave
Thought Joe Fell
Sgt-at-ArmsEric Birkenstein
ScribeJohn Thomas
 
March 8
GreeterRobert Mardirossian
Dig-n-GrinRich Lalley
Thought Heather Higgins
Sgt-at-ArmsJohn Ford
ScribeWes Baumann
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kids Against Hunger Registration Open!
 
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Patrick (Pat) O'Day
February 12
 
Jeanne Beckman
February 23
 
Join Date
John Stone
February 1, 1981
37 years
 
Thomas Nash
February 13, 2014
4 years
 
Eric Birkenstein
February 18, 2010
8 years
 
Carl Yudell
February 19, 2015
3 years