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Meeting Notes May 8

Posted by Amy Skalinder

In the absence of our current Co-Presidents, who could not be here today, Patti Van Cleave opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Liz Taylor shared a thought for the day that particularly reminded her of Rotarians: “Shout out to the people who make this world a better place by being good friends, doing good deeds, and simply being kind humans.” We said the Pledge of Allegiance and enjoyed our lunch!

After lunch, Patti kicked off our meeting with birthdays and anniversaries. Happy birthday to Bob Baker, Patti Van Cleave, Joe Fell, Barb Tubekis who all have birthdays in early May (with more to come later in May)! Liz Taylor and Barb Tubekis both had Rotary anniversaries recently.

Announcements:

Liz Taylor announced she was giving a check to celebrate her anniversary and also brought a check to pay for the auctioned Cubs tickets Robert Mardirossian offered last week – her son enjoyed the game!
June 3 is the next first Tuesday of the month, which is our day to pack meals for Connections for the Homeless. Patti and Barb went to Costco to meet with a member of the Wilmette Club to learn what is needed for the lunches so we can do the shopping on a rotating basis with Wilmette and Evanston Clubs. There will be a Sign-Up Genius to sign up to volunteer for our designated dates.
Bob Baker shared the latest information about an upcoming fundraiser to support our Club Foundation. It will be held July 17, a Thursday night, at Valley-Lo in Glenview, the same location as the Operation Warm benefit. We will have a buffet dinner, trivia, raffle items, and a 50/50 raffle. Save the date!

Happy bucks for today:

Thomas Applegate shared that the Garden is open at the Winnetka Thrift Shop today through the weekend! He also shared that their fundraiser is coming up next week; more information and tickets are available here.
Patti Van Cleave shared that the Winnetka Congregational Church Rummage Sale opens tomorrow and runs through Saturday.
David Grant shared that an American was elected Pope for the first time: Robert Francis Prevost, who took the name Pope Leo XIV, was born in Chicago.

Heidi Sibert shared some fun facts about grass, weeds, sprinklers, native plants, and No-Mow May for Dig-N-Grin.

David Grant introduced our speaker Sheila A. Weinberg, Founder & CEO of Truth in Accounting, a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and empower citizens with understandable, reliable, and transparent government financial information. She shared a presentation entitled The Truth about Balanced Budgets: What Illinois (and Others) Aren’t Telling You.

Sheila led us in a Q&A session about how balanced budgets and debts work, and also discussed the current financial state of our home state of Illinois. If you are interested in learning more, there is a LOT more information on their website, including reports on the federal government, every state in the U.S., and even cities: click here.

The meeting adjourned with our usual recitation of the 4-Way Test.

Meeting Notes May 1

Posted by Amy Skalinder

Co-President Moha Bouacha opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Tony shared a thought for the day from Sarah Ban Breathnach. Bill Leske led the Club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

After lunch, Moha wished everyone a happy May Day. He shared a few Rotary announcements:

The Hope Walk for the Homeless will be May 3 at Gillson Park, 10am. Please register or volunteer if you haven’t already and are able to do so. We are co-sponsoring this event. If you can’t walk or volunteer, you can donate.
We still need people to sign up for next Tuesday, May 6 to pack lunches for the homeless. Someone will need to do the shopping each time we sponsor the food, and packing is limited to 15 volunteers. This is an ongoing project, the first Tuesday of the month, 6:00pm-7:30pm at St. Joseph Church in Wilmette. Contact Barb Tubekis for more information.
Registration is open for the installation dinner for the incoming District Governor, Marlene Frisbie. More information and registration is available here.
Other upcoming District events can be found on the District calendar.

Other announcements:

Fred Schwimmer shared his enthusiasm about the work our Club Foundation is doing.
Robert offered Cubs tickets for next Tuesday night to anyone who makes a $60 donation to the Club Foundation. Liz Taylor was the lucky recipient!

Chuck Norton shared humorous thoughts about laughter, sound, stupidity, genius, children, and smiling for Dig-N-Grin. Moha Bouacha and David Birkenstein were happy that Fred has returned this week, in-person! Barb Tubekis shared a happy childhood memory about May Day.

Bill Leske introduced David Kerpel from Furever Home Dog Sanctuary as our speaker. David founded the organization, which has a mission of going to shelters and rescuing dogs who have various challenges that make them difficult to adopt and rehabilitate them so they can find a forever home.

David shared the origin story of the organization as well as some photos of the facility they are building. They are very excited but need financial support and are kicking off a capital campaign to fund the project. You can read more about their plans and sign up for their newsletter on their website. They are hoping to finish their facility in 6-9 months and be able to accept their first dogs from shelters at that time. They will take a maximum of 21 dogs at a time.

If you’d like to watch the video that David shared – we had trouble with the sound at the meeting – you can do so here.

The meeting adjourned with our usual recitation of the 4-Way Test.

Meeting Notes April 24

Posted by David Grant

Co-President Moha chaired the meeting.

Announcements: Moha welcomed the many social service organizations attending the meeting. He encouraged them to consider joining Rotary in addition to all the good they already do!

Events: Debra invited us to her opening reception on May 1st from 4-6pm for an exhibition of her art held at the North Shore Senior Center. Discover the beauty of Mosaics!

Community Grant Award Presentations: Bob Baker explained what our WNRCF is, and some of the great service projects we sponsor. The microphone was passed to Patti to hand out the checks to representatives of each organization. In no particular order, Patti called them to the stage, and each organization succinctly summarized how they would use their awards:

Samaracare providing care for anxiety and uncertainty
North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic funding on-staff lawyers
Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired education
Family Promise Chicago North Shore Shelter for emergency homeless
Our Place of New Trier Townshipadults with learning disabilities
Pickles Group to help kids whose parents have cancer diagnosis
The Record Community News Group journalism
SaLT: Service and Learning Together student driven service opportunities
Deerfield Free Store aid to 5-10 refugee families per week
The Volunteer Center days of service & website matching service
Special Gifts Theatre stage productions for kids with disabilities
Counseling Center of the North Shore mental health services
Trees That Feed Foundation plant breadfruit trees around the world
Hunger Resource Network provide protein for other food pantries, shelters, etc.

Meeting Minutes April 17

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

The meeting was called to order at 12:15 by Co-President Moha.

Greeter Wes led us in the Pledge.

David Birkenstein shared two humorous Thoughts of the Day.

Visiting Guests and Rotarians: Eric Birkenstein joined us, and brought his friend Steve Greenberg. Moha invited a visiting Rotarian, Zoana Popescu, Rotary Club of Salzburg. She is a talented violinist who is studying in the area.

Announcements:
-- The food packing project for Connections for the Homeless will be an ongoing monthly effort in partnership with the Rotary Clubs of Wilmette and Evanston Lighthouse. We will meet on the first Tuesday of the month at St Joseph’s church in Wilmette. There is a signup genius on the website.

-- The Hope Walk for the Homeless is on May 3 at Gillson Park. All are invited to walk or volunteer or donate.

--A committee will meet on Monday at 10:00 on Zoom to begin planning a fundraiser supporting our Community Grants program. Our Annual Community Grants presentation is NEXT WEEK, April 24^th. We will award 15 grants.

--Barb noted that all lunch serving products are now compostable and should be placed in the green bags on our tables when you are done eating.

Dig N Grin: We contributed in the absence of a presenter.

Happy Bucks:

--Rich went to a great event – a concert – at College of Lake County.

--Moha had a great virtual meeting with those involved in our project in Morocco.

--Tony is happy to be back from St. Maarten, where he and Carolyn had a lovely time.

--David B salutes Debra for an article in the North Shore Senior Center newsletter.

--Debra shared that she is having an exhibit opening featuring her mosaics on May 1 from 4-6 at the North Shore Senior Center.

--Barb recognized those celebrating both Passover and Easter.

Program: Our speaker was Bill Hayes, who shared valuable information on energy initiatives both being developed and in the early stages. The title of his presentation: A Key Question for Earth Week: Are You Zero Carbon Yet?

The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 by Moha, with all of us reciting the Four Way Test.

Meeting Notes April 3

Posted by David Grant

Co-President Moha chaired the meeting. He encourages us to sign up to participate in the Wilmette Rotary Hope Walk scheduled for Saturday, May 3. Details are in the story below with a link to register!

Community Service Project: Barb reported on a very successful evening service project with the Wilmette Club which was held on Tuesday, April 1 at St. Joseph’s Church in Wilmette, which is the site of their Club’s monthly service project of preparing lunch bags for Connections for the Homeless. Barb and her committee helped pack 160 lunches, which will be distributed by Connections for the Homeless.

Speaker: Darrin Utynek is the new Executive Director at Paws for Patrick, which is a Winnetka social service agency operating in all 50 states. Paws for Patrick uses Emotional Support Dogs to help alleviate the burden on individuals seeking to acquire an Emotional Support Animal to aid them with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health diagnoses.

Meeting Notes March 20

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

President Rich called the meeting to order at 12:17pm.

Thought: Tony shared a thought of gratitude for awaking each day.

Rich led us in the Pledge.

Guest: Carole Barthel, wife of Chuck Norton

Announcements:

--There will be a meeting at RI in Evanston on April 4 about the Strategic Planning process. All are welcome.

--District 6440 meeting on April 5 at Harper College.

--Our Moroccan GG is getting closer to our fundraising goal of $100K. We still need DDF funds and some cash. Patti volunteered to bring a cake to celebrate when we reach our goal.

--Barb shared that Ellie Schwimmer told her that Fred LOVES phone calls. Please call!

--Barb also shared that our service project with Wilmette and Evanston Lighthouse Rotary is on April 1 at 6:00PM at St. Joe’s church, corner of Ridge and Lake. We will be packing meals for Connections for the Homeless.

Happy Bucks

--Bob was happy that on St. Patrick’s Day, the Tubekises brought them a full Irish meal.

--Tony was happy that he and Carolyn are going to St. Maarten next week.

DigNGrin:

--Bob shared some funny quotes.

Program:

Chamber Director and Club member Terry Dason updated us on all that is going on in Winnetka, Northfield and Glencoe.

President Rich adjourned the meeting at 1:30.

Meeting Notes March 27

Posted by Amy Skalinder

Co-President Moha Bouacha opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Robert Mardirossian shared a thought for the day from Georgia O'Keeffe and encouraged members to take time to see flowers and connect with friends. Chuck Norton led the Club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

After lunch, David Grant introduced Tracie Frederick, Director of Development for North Shore Country Day School, who is a guest accompanying today’s speakers.

Co-President Rich Lalley shared a few Rotary announcements:

Reminder that Rotary International is hosting a session called Rotary: Your Path to Purpose on April 4, 12pm-4pm. The afternoon includes a tour and overview of Rotary Action Plans. All are welcome!Click here for more info and to register.
The District 6440 Club Leadership Summit is coming up on April 5. Visit the District calendar for more information on this and other upcoming District events.
We will be joining the Wilmette Club’s ongoing project to pack lunches for the homeless, the first Tuesday of the month, 6:00pm-7:30pm at St. Joseph Church in Wilmette. Sign up sheets are available for April 1 at today’s meeting or just show up! Several participating Club members are going to dinner afterwards – all are welcome to join.
There is an updated postcard about the Morocco project – see Moha or Debra if you need a copy. Rich shared that we are closing on our fundraising goals for the project.

Other announcements:

Barb brought compostable bags to the meeting for the compostable utensils. Barb will collect today’s utensils in bags and take them over to the community compost drop-off site at the Winnetka Congregational Church. Thanks, Barb!
Bill Leske’s birthday was yesterday – happy birthday, Bill!

Happy bucks were shared by David Grant and Patti Van Cleave. Bill Leske shared some interesting facts about this day in history for Dig-N-Grin.

David Grant introduced our speakers for the day, who will be sharing information about the Three Pillars Initiative and the Youth Philanthropy Board program.

Remy Sheehan is the Chief Program Officer for the parent organization of the national Youth Philanthropy Board program, the Three Pillars Initiative. He is also currently running the senior cohort for the Evanston Youth Philanthopy Board.

He introduced Rachel Ross, a student at Evanston Township High School. This is her 2^nd year on the Youth Philanthropy Board. She provided an overview of the program model, gave a list of local schools where the Board is active, and shared her own personal experiences with the program. The Board has raised $16,000 towards their goal of $26,000 for the year, and Rachel invited everyone to contribute towards that goal!

Tracie Fredericks also noted that they are always looking for mentors. Rotarians can find more information about the Three Pillars Initiative and its programs on their website.

The meeting adjourned with our usual recitation of the 4-Way Test.

Meeting Notes March 13

Posted by David Grant

Co-President Rich chaired the meeting.

New Member Induction: The Club is pleased to welcome Vicki Bittar as a new member. Vicki is a Manager of the Northview Bank, and her sponsor is Liz Taylor.

Announcements: Rich presents Debra Campbell with a Paul Harris Fellow Certificate to acknowledge her new donor status. Rich also recognizes David Birkenstein as a Major Donor 4+ to the Rotary International Foundation. Congratulations to both our generous members!

Community Service Projects: Bicycle Racks have been ordered, and will be ready to install in April. Barb invites us to join the Wilmette Club on Tuesday, April 1 at 6:00pm at St. Joseph’s Church for the Wilmette Club’s monthly service project of preparing lunch bags for Connections for the Homeless. St. Joseph's Church is at the corner of Lake and Ridge. Enter through the east lower entrance. A Rotary Club meeting follows immediately after the sandwiches are made.

Happy Bucks: Debra says thank you to the Club for sending her to PETS. Rich is happy that David B is attending today’s meeting. Robert complimented Rich’s speech last week to the Club about the RI Foundation, and our local WNRCF.

Birthday: Moha is a March 17 St. Patty’s Day Birthday leprechaun.

Speaker: Our member Michael Ambrose first hit the political campaign trail when he was 10 years old. Even at that early age he was a fan of Peter Jennings and all things political. Michael described his experiences as a lobbyist in Washington, DC, where “the students run the school,” and people in their early 20’s are really the ones writing and creating legislation. Michael, welcome back to the Midwest!

Meeting Notes March 6

Posted by Amy Skalinder

Co-President Rich Lalley opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Barb Tubekis shared a thought for the day about honesty. Michael Ambrose led the Club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

After lunch, Rich shared a few Rotary announcements:

Rotary International is hosting an online discussion for International Women’s Day: Advancing Women, Building Peace. Click here to register and see more information about the international panelists. If you can’t attend, register anyway and you will receive the full recording of the session.
Rotary International is hosting a new member orientation session (Rotary: Your Path to Purpose) on April 4, 12pm-4pm. You don’t have to be a new Rotarian to attend, all are welcome!Click here for more info and to register.
Scholarships for vocational training are available through the District, more information is available here. The deadline for application is March 22.
Our Club will be participating in the District’s collaborative grant program – the Wilmette Club has submitted the grant application. We will be joining the Wilmette Club’s ongoing project to pack lunches for the homeless, the first Tuesday of the month, 6:00pm-7:30pm at St. Joseph Church in Wilmette. Further details will follow.

Other announcements:

Tom Applegate shared that the Counseling Center of the North Shore’s thrift shop is open for the spring season!
Tom also shared that he and Moha Bouacha attended a meeting of the Northbrook Rotary Club recently, where Moha gave a presentation about the Global Grant our Club is sponsoring. Moha and Tom participated in the 50/50 raffle held that day and Moha won – and promptly donated the proceeds to the Morocco Global Grant project.
Amy Skalinder shared two opportunities for Rotarian socializing are coming up at the Community House: Rock the House on March 8 (with two local bands) and the Village Follies, a variety show starting March 14.
Robert Mardirossian shared that Cubs opening day at Wrigley Field is April 4. He predicts they will make the playoffs this year.
Arlynn Presser shared that her new book, Your Book of Days is out, offering a story for each day. She shared a brief story about Oreo cookies, originally considered a “health food” meant to stimulate appetite – and brought Oreos to share in celebration.

For happy bucks, Heidi Sibert shared that her company, James Martin Associates, gives charitable donations to organizations chosen by their customers for the holidays, and she presented a check to our Club Foundation for Operation Warm.

Liz Taylor shared fun facts about a variety of subjects for Dig-N-Grin. Greeter Michael Ambrose introduced John Baer, who is visiting from the North Chicago Rotary Club.

Our speaker for the day was our own Rich Lalley, who gave a presentation about our Club Foundation and the Rotary Foundation. These are distinct entities – both are 501(c)(3) organizations that allow our Club and Rotary International, respectively, to receive donations and designate funds for charitable projects and activities.

For our Club Foundation, funding has recently gone to Thanksgiving groceries, Operation Warm, bike racks for local park districts, disaster relief projects, Global Grants (including the one we are working on now in Morocco), and community grants (application process required).

The funds for these projects for come from money put on the table at our weekly meetings for Dig & Grin, Happy Bucks, birthday donations, appeals for specific projects, general appeals to our membership, fundraising events, and donations from member donor-advised funds, required minimum distributions, and estates. Funds can and often are designated for specific projects. You do not need to be a member of our Club to contribute to our Club Foundation.

The Rotary Foundation is linked to Rotary International, and its mission is to help Rotary members to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.

Major programs of the Rotary Foundation include District Grants, Global Grants, Programs of Scale Grants, Peace Fellowships, and Disaster Response Grants. Most grants are linked to Rotary’s areas of focus: promoting peace, fighting disease, saving mothers and children, supporting education, growing local economies, protecting the environment, and providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene.

When you give to the Rotary Foundation, you can choose to give to the Annual Fund – SHARE, which results in district designated funds (DDF) coming back to our Club to be used for charitable projects as we choose (within guidelines). But there are many other options for giving to the Rotary Foundation, including funds for specific issues and planned giving.

The Rotary Foundation raised $352 million last year. It carries an A+ rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy, and 4 stars (the highest rating) from Charity Navigator.

If you give $1,000 (or someone donates $1,000 in your name), you become a Paul Harris Fellow. There are many other levels of recognition as well.

Our Club has set a goal of having 100% of our members give at least $25 to the Rotary Foundation (which again, is separate from our Club Foundation) every year. We would also love to have 100% of our Club membership be Paul Harris Fellows. The Board has decided that if anyone who is not a Paul Harris Fellow reaches $250 in donations, the Club will provide the rest to make that person a Paul Harris Fellow.

In closing, Rich reminded everyone of the Rotary vision: Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.

The meeting adjourned with our usual recitation of the 4-Way Test.

Support The Rotary Foundation!

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.

Meeting Notes February 27

Posted by Amy Skalinder

Co-President Moha Bouacha opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Lee Padgitt offered a thought for the day, and Robert Mardirossian led the Club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

After lunch, Moha shared a few District announcements:

All are encouraged to read the District 411 email that comes out regularly.
The District is holding mental health lectures the first Monday of each month – information about this and other events are available through the District calendar
There is a “Spring Training” event being planned for April 5, information on the District calendar

Amy Skalinder shared two opportunities for Rotarian socializing are coming up at the Community House: Rock the House on March 8 (with two local bands) and the Village Follies, a variety show starting March 14.

Chuck Norton shared inspiring and entertaining quotes from past Presidents of the United States for Dig-N-Grin.

Today’s Greeter Robert Mardirossian welcomed Club members Barb Tubekis and David Birkenstein back after health-related absences. He also introduced visiting Rotarian Marty Daiga from River Cities.

Happy bucks were shared by Barb, Tony, Robert, Bob, and Moha.

Moha introduced our speaker today, Andy Ullman, International Service Chair of the Rotary Club of River Cities, who came to share information about a project in Ecuador.

The Club previously did a computer lab project in Uganda as well as a scholarship program in Uganda, and they are now doing a computer lab project in Quito.

These projects started through Rotary’s International Travel and Hosting Program: Andy went to Uganda and had the opportunity to go to a local high school and speak to students. He saw there were no computers regularly available for students or computer-related classes. This led to a project to provide computers and related accessories and now this school has a significant computer lab which allowed computer related classes like website development to be taught – but also resulted in a huge improvement in academic performance.

They are now working on a similar project for a school in Quito, Ecuador.

The meeting adjourned with our usual recitation of the 4-Way Test.

Meeting Notes February 20

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

President Moha called the meeting to order at 12:17pm.

Thought: Bill Leske shared some quotes from our founder, Paul Harris.

Heidi led us in the Pledge.

Laura Cook had two guests: Elizabeth Kuruski, a financial planner and Irene Lo, owner of Simply Organized.

Announcements:

--Fred is now in rehab after surgery on his hip. He hopes to be home this weekend.

--Jean Wright’s memorial service will be at Winnetka Congregational on Saturday at 10:00.

--February is Peace Month. Also, District Mental Health services continues on the first Monday of the month on zoom. See this Bulletin or D6440 website for details.

--Amy reminded us of the Community House “Rock the House” event on March 8.

--Moha mentioned that the Moroccan project needs funding to reach our goal.

Happy Bucks: No one was happy enough to donate.

Program:

David introduced Patti Capouch, Executive Director of Impact Behavioral Health. Patti shared a personal story. In the context of her story, she reminded us that homelessness can happen to anyone, at any time.

Impact’s mission is to support adults (now some families as well) living with mental illness. They were founded in 1988 and have buildings in Evanston, Skokie and at various sites on the north shore.

President Moha adjourned the meeting at 1:30.

Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Club Creating a Women's Clothing Cooperative in Morocco

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.

For more information, contact Club Co-President Moha Bouacha at m_bouacha@yahoo.com. Cash contributions may be made online by clicking here.

Meeting Notes February 6

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

The meeting was called to order at 12:15 by Co-President Moha.

Greeter Thomas Applegate led us in the Pledge.

Wes Baumann shared A Thought of the Day.

Announcements:
-- Rotary International Conference – Calgary, June 21-25

--We received an email from Glenn Garlick regarding Polio support. Donations up to $500 will be matched by Jack Blaine’s foundation.

--D6440 has named February “Month of Peace” month.

--Mental health awareness programs sponsored by D6440 continue on the first Monday or each month.

--Patti announced that the Foundation Board will meet on Feb 7 at 9:00AM.

Dig N Grin: Moha shared some famous sayings.

Happy Bucks: Moha is happy because we have guests, two staff members from the Chamber.

Program: Our scheduled presenter did not arrive. Moha shared some updates on the GG in Morocco. He has been doing presentations at area clubs to raise awareness and funds.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:10 by Moha, with all of us reciting the Four Way Test.

Meeting Notes February 13

Posted by David Grant

Co-President Moha chaired the meeting.

Guest: Deb Guy, Executive Director of the Women’s Exchange.

Happy Bucks: Moha is happy about the snow that fell overnight!

Dig ‘N Grin: Tony shred eccentric facts about former Presidents.

Speaker: JohnJoe Farragher, President & CEO of Hadley shared their ambitious goals for expanding distant learning services for the blind.

Meeting Notes January 23

Posted by David Grant

Co-President Rich chaired the well-attended meeting.

Visiting Rotarian: Our Rotary Assistant Director, Sonia Martin.

Announcements: Barb Tubekis attended remotely on zoom as she is recuperating with knee surgery. She announced that she is turning the corner on her new mobility, and she looks forward to joining us soon in person.

We were also happy to see Peter Skalski on zoom!

Paul Harris Award (+8) is awarded to Robert Mardirossian. He gets a new pin with 3 rubies to celebrate his generosity to the Rotary International Foundation!

Happy Bucks:

Wes salutes Robert for his PH+8!
Moha is busy making presentations about our Club’s global grant project in Morocco.He is scheduled to be the speaker at 5 Clubs!

Dig ‘N Grin: Patti treated us to ‘this day in history.’

Speaker: Steve Fine, President of the Melanoma Education Foundation, shared with us what he learned about melanoma self-detection and prevention. For further information, please check the Melanoma Education Foundation Web Page: https://www.skincheck.org

Or these Video Links:

31-Minute Early Self-Detection/Prevention Video: https://bit.ly/3hipmFK

(This video has most of the live Rotary Presentation Content)

16-Minute High School Student Video: https://bit.ly/2CBzdoT

22-Minute Middle School Student Video: https://bit.ly/2yv32Ep

30 Minute Health Teacher Training Video: https://bit.ly/3jqzejP

Meeting Notes January 16

Posted by Amy Skalinder

Co-President Rich Lalley opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Ken Drummet shared several Paul Harris quotes as the thought for the day:

The greatest gift you can give to someone is your time.
Living a life of purpose is the truest form of success.
Happiness lies in the joy of giving.
We rise by lifting others.
Success is not measured by wealth, but by the positive impact we have on others.

After the Pledge of Allegiance, Rich shared an update about Barb Tubekis, who had knee surgery last week and is now home from the hospital. Heidi Sibert is stopping by Barb’s house with a card and some brownies – everyone is encouraged to sign the card.

After lunch, Rich shared a few announcements:

Two Rotary Districts in California have established disaster relief funds to address urgent needs for those impacted by the fires in southern California. Rotarians can learn more and contribute through the links below:

Operation Warm has also committed to sending 10,000 pairs of shoes to southern California; more information will be forthcoming. We will likely provide some funding to this effort from existing Operation Warm funds already available in our Club Foundation.

Ken Drummet (filling in for Greeter Bill Leske who had to leave early) introduced visiting Rotarian John Baer, President of the North Chicago Club. Johnjoe Farragher, who is President of Hadley, and is here as a guest for the second time. Liz Taylor introduced her guest: Vicki Bittar with Wintrust, manager of two locations (Northbrook and Northfield) and previous member of the Deerfield Rotary Club.

David Grant shared that Steve Fine, President of the Melanoma Education Foundation will be our speaker next week.

David Grant, Ken Drummet, and Tony Kambich shared happy bucks. Robert Mardirossian, zooming in from warm and sunny Florida, shared a story about witty and thought-provoking refrigerator magnets for dig-n-grin.

Rich introduced Iliana Vazuka, Associate Chief of Staff for the Pickles Group. He noted that our Club Foundation has supported the Pickles Group with a grant in the past.

Iliana provided a summary of the organization’s history and programming. Founded four years ago, their mission is to provide free peer-to-peer support and resources for kids and teens impacted by their parent or guardian’s cancer. They serve school-aged kids and teens enrolled in 1st through 12th grade, generally between the ages of 6-18 through in-person and virtual groups that provide information and support. Resources for parents, caregivers, and health professionals are also available. Everything they offer is free of charge. Though they started locally here on the North Shore, they now serve families and children across the country. You can visit the Pickles Group website for more information about everything they do.

Rotarians who would like to donate to the Pickles Group can do so through this link (which offers an online giving platform along with a mailing address – scroll down, it’s at the bottom – for those who prefer to send a check).

The meeting adjourned with our usual recitation of the 4-Way Test.

Meeting Notes January 9

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

The meeting was called to order at 12:15 by Co-President Rich.

Greeter David Birkenstein led us in the Pledge.

Bob Baker shared A Thought of the Day, asking us to hold those in the midst of crisis in California and other areas in turmoil in our hearts.

Announcements:
-- Patti reminded members that January dues notices have been sent. She also let everyone know that Barb had knee replacement surgery.

--Debra offered free golf towels from her business!

--Wes fined himself $10 for missing DigNGrin last week.

--Rich inducted Thomas Applegate, Executive Director of Counseling Center of the North Shore, into our club. Rich also awarded Ken Drummitt with a Paul Harris Fellowship, times two!

Dig N Grin: Debra shared quotes from Former President Jimmy Carter, in honor of his death this week.

Program: Moha presented information about the Global Grant that our Club is sponsoring in his home town of Timoulilt Morocco. Donations can be made directly to The Rotary Foundation using Global Grant # GG2571461 or to our Club’s foundation noting Morocco in memo line.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 by Rich, with all of us reciting the Four Way Test.

Meeting Notes December 19

Posted by Keith Reed

The meeting started with Barb leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Amy giving us the “thought of the day” which was Margaret Atwood’s following explanation of the “solstice” part of the year which is: “This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year’s threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future; the place of caught breath, the door of a vanished house left ajar.”

Ballots for the Election of Officers & Directors of the Club for Rotary year July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 were passed out for members to cast their votes. The results of the voting were: Ken Drummet will serve a one-year term as President, Debra Campbell will be the President Elect for a one-year term, and Amy Skalinder a two year term as Secretary. Bob Baker will serve a two-year term as Director, Moha Bouacha and Rich Lalley will continue to serve on the Board as Past Co-Presidents, Patti Van Cleave will continue as Treasurer in the 2^nd year of her 2-year term, and Bill Leske, Chuck Norton, Heidi Sibert, and Barb Tubekis will continue to serve as Directors in the 2^nd year of their 2-year terms.

Happy Bucks were given by Ken Drummet for celebrating his birthday and both Debra Campbell and Moha were happy to help Rich distribute coats to kids in Chicago which brought the total number of coats given kids in Chicago by our Club so far this year to 2500. Robert Mardirossian gave 4 Happy Bucks for member Adriana Cook bringing 3 guests and prospective new members—Marjane, Doris and Kirsten.

Barb announced that we will be meeting for our January 2^nd meeting at Little Honeycomb for lunch and we will not have a speaker or program that day.

GUEST SPEAKERS Ida Fiore and husband—co-founders and administrators of SaLT—Service and Learning Together which is a learning and education organization based on the North Shore, primarily in Highland Park, Lake Forest, Glenbrook, Deerfield and Winnetka, with the goal of trying to “inspire young people to change their World”—both Ida and her husband have substantial educational backgrounds. Their brochure lists the following “service and learning” programs –Supporting Local families Fighting Food Insecurity; Tutoring Services for Local Elementary Students; and Offering Essential Items to Communities in Crisis. The SaLT Service Learning Trips have taken high school age kids to Orlando, New Orleans, Puerto Rico and Alaska. It was mentioned that many of the high school SaLT programs are very similar to Rotary’s Interact Program.

In the Shop N’ Drop flyer of the SaLT program it lists the “ways to help” people in need is to collect and “donate food and essential items” for needy families, much like Rotary now does around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. They indicate that their Shop N’ Drop programs provide over 28,000 hours of service with over 2300 volunteers—it further states that it serves over 2200 people in over 550 families, including many of the migrants who have been left stranded at some of the railroad stations on Chicago’s North Shore. This presentation was very informative and presented a number of areas that this organization might be able to team up with some of Rotary’s programs to help those people in our communities in need of such services.

The meeting ended around 1:30 pm with the reciting of Rotary’s 4-way test.

Meeting Notes December 12

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

The meeting was called to order at 12:15 by Co-President Moha.

Greeter Fred led us in the Pledge.

Barb shared A Thought of the Day.

Guests: There were no guests. Our District Governor, Thor Davidson was visiting us for his annual visit.

Announcements:
-- Moha thanked all who assisted with our Holiday Lunch on December 5.

--RI Annual Conference is in June in Calgary. You are encouraged to reserve a hotel room if you are considering attending, as they are in short supply.

--Polio Plus donations to TRF will still be matched up to $500 through June, 2025 by Jack Blaine’s foundation. Jack was a former member of our district.

--The Wilmette Club is looking for donations to their current project, providing supplies to unhoused individuals in Chicago. Items may be purchased through Amazon and sent directly. Here is the link directly to the list: https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/28RFO9JHT1P4E

--Barb announced that our January 30 program will be a service project, sorting seeds in collaboration with Friends of the Green Bay Trail.

--Rich announced that the last coat distribution seeking volunteers is today in Humboldt Park.

--Bill announced that the Chamber Holiday Party is tonight at Fields BMW in Northfield from 5-7pm.

Dig N Grin: ArLynn told a story about Mary and her pregnancy.

Program: Our District Governor, Thor Davidson, who is a member of the Wheaton Noon Club, shared his personal story, his Rotary story, and how his travels for Rotary have impacted his life.

He encouraged us to contribute to The Rotary Foundation, which has the highest rating possible through Charity Navigator. Our Club has $611,000 in all time giving to TRF.

He encouraged us to attend the Annual Conference in Calgary.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:32 by Moha, with all of us reciting the Four Way Test.

Meeting Notes November 21

Posted by Keith Reed

We didn’t have a regular Rotary meeting since this was the meeting where we prepared about a 100 bags of food for the Good News Partners organization to help them celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Moha brought a guest, Professor Rives Collins, who worked especially diligently at the food packing.

There was a short Rotary Club Meeting with our usual Little Honeycomb luncheon served afterwards. Then Barb explained how the 16 Rotarians present were going to distribute about $3000 worth of essential food goods that had been purchased earlier by our members Bob Baker, Barb Tubekis, Patti VanCleave and Moha Bouacha at Costco and Jewel with the $3000 raised by our Rotary Club members for this event and that these 4 Rotarians, along with Amy and Heidi, had spent an hour that snowy morning bringing all that food into the WCH and piling it neatly on several tables. The 100 bags of these essential food goods will be distributed to unhoused individuals and families in the Rogers Park neighborhood during the Thanksgiving holiday. This is a program our Club has participated in for several years, initially through Barb Tubekis at The Volunteer Center, who started this collaboration in 2015. The Good News Partner’s success is to help the unhoused get on their feet, find employment or GED in the case of the young women and their babies in their New Life Shelter. There are over 60 families who have been able to pull themselves out of homelessness by utilizing the GNP services and have managed to purchase their own condominiums or pay their own rent in more comfortable space.

But the big question at our Rotary meeting was how were 100 bags of foodstuffs going to get from the WCH tables into the minivans being furnished and driven by Bob, Barb, Patti, Moha, and Ken Drummet with only 16 or so Rotarians acting as “material handlers” and whose average age was probably somewhere between 75 and 85! Somehow the Rotarians succeeded in working together in using carts and shopping bags and “brute strength” to get everything out to our mini van drivers who then successfully got their cargo delivered to the Good News Partners’ distribution area.

All this effort was rewarded when Rotarian Bill Leske, senior officer at Byline Bank, a full service commercial bank based in Chicago with offices located in Wilmette, Evanston and Glenview, announced that the Byline Bank was donating $1000 towards the cost of this very important and timely Rotarian project.

Also special thanks to Heidi Sibert who on her own volition purchased a variety of 100 special breakfast treats in ziplock which provide each recipient with a large reusable bag that holds a week’s worth of groceries and helps tide them through the week following Thanksgiving.

Many thanks to all those Rotarians who helped with this very important project that will truly provide a Happy Thanksgiving to those who have to rely on the good efforts of GNP.

Meeting Notes October 24

Posted by Keith Reed

The meeting was chaired by Moha Bouacha with Lee Padgitt leading the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. ArLynn Presser gave the thought of the day by reporting that it was this day many years ago when a 63 year old woman named Annie Edison Taylor was the first person to go over Niagara Falls tied to another vessel with a leather harness and she survived the journey!

There were 16 members and guests attending the meeting including Thomas Applegate (the newly appointed Executive Director of the North Shore Counseling Center), Mike Ambrose (his second visit to our Rotary meetings), and Grace Sica, who is the Executive Director of Operation Warm, leading a group of over 50 people who distribute every year over a million warm coats and shoes to needy Chicago area children.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Distributed at the tables was an announcement pertaining to the Volunteer Center’s 22^nd year of UPCYCLING at the Indian Hill Train Station in Winnetka and the “goods” that are always welcomed as donated items; also mentioned was a recent email to our members and all District 6440 Rotarians from Mary Bak pertaining to a variety of Mental Health Programs being provided by District 6440 Task Force on Mental Health. Some of the speakers for the 8 programs listed might be potential speakers for some of our Rotary lunch meetings.

Other announcements were that the lunch for our November 7^th meeting at the Rotary’s International Office in Evanston will start at 12:15 pm with the tour of the Rotary headquarters to start at 1:30 pm. You should also note that our November 21^st Rotary meeting is the Thanksgiving Service Project of filling baskets for Residents of Good News Partners.

SPEAKER: MEAGAN McCHESNEY, CURATOR OF WINNETKA HISTORICAL MUSEUM. The WHM has produced a very complete video film presentation of Winnetka houses built, modified, torn down, etc. before baseball, hockey, tennis, golf, flood retainers and school facilities took over that area along Willow and Hibbard Roads in Winnetka. David Birkenstein suggested that our Club her Meagan's fabulous presentation, and Fred Schwimmer can tell you who lived in most of those houses since he was a kid!! The film shows how the early houses were usually large, on large lots, mostly followed the designs of 5 different styles, and how many new residents who then moved and built in the Winnetka area copied many of the styles in their early homes and how many of these homes are still occupied today. The video film starts on the West side of the Village and goes all the way to the Lake and also covers many of the large Winnetka building projects in the 1800’s such as the Village churches. The film also explores the artistic lives/successes of many Village residents who became well known architects, builders, and corporate tycoons.

The other video film shown at the Rotary meeting was a summary of where Rotary’s battle against Polio stands today. Thanks to several generous individuals and corporations such as the Gates and Blane Foundations, basically polio has been beaten in most wealthy nations but there are still thousands of children in less wealthy nations who need to be vaccinated. At the end of the meeting several Rotarians made donations to help finish the eradication of this dread disease. Rich and Moha have set as our Club’s goal this year to raise $1000 among our Rotarians for this cause.

The meeting ended around 1:30 pm with the reciting of the Rotary’s 4-way test.

Meeting Notes November 14

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

The meeting was called to order at 12:17 by Co-President Rich.

Greeter Debra led us in the Pledge.

Wes shared some quotes from department store founder Harry Selfridge.

Guests: David Grant’s spouse Leslie, and our speaker Mariana Alfar.

Foundation Minute: Moha updated us on progress with our project in Morocco. Moha hopes that this will be approved as a Global Grant, with a budget of $60-100,000.

Announcements:
-- Rich inducted our newest member, Michael Ambrose into our Club.

--Our Good News Partners food packing will take place next week. Shoppers are going to Costco on Wednesday the 20^th. This year the funding is limited to what we can raise, as there are no DDF funds for this project, so we need donations! We also need drivers to take the bags to Rogers Park after lunch next week and people to come early and set up the room.

--There are several Operation Warm distribution projects coming up in the next few weeks. Rich will send an email asking for volunteers.

--Our Holiday Luncheon with the New Trier Swing Choir is December 5. It was agreed that we would have a more special lunch that day, and all are encouraged to bring guests!

--The bins for NTT Food Pantry at the Community House are full. Need volunteers to take to the Township office.

Happy Bucks:

--Debra shared that she finally finished a mosaic that has taken 8 months to complete. She is having a show tonight at her studio – all are welcome!

--Michael is happy to be a member!

-- Barb is happy to have Michael join us. She also shared the sad news that her aunt died last week.

--Fred shared that his dear friend, a lifelong friend Dan Leonard died recently.

--Liz is happy that Michael brings down the average age of our club members!

--Bob is happy that his son got a job in New York City. He shared that they have been happy to have him here.

--Rich celebrated our veterans, Tony and Fred, and asked Tony to share with the club something special that happened to him recently (besides turning 90).

Dig N Grin: Bob shared some events that occurred on This Day in History.

Program: Our speaker was Mariana Alfar. Mariana was most recently President of the Wilmette Club, and is currently District Governor Nominee Designate for District 6440. David described her as a “Super Rotarian”.

Mariana spoke eloquently about her personal life as a Palestinian Christian, and her professional life as a journalist working for BBC and other news outlets. She shared her thoughts about the current war in Israel and Palestine.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:32 by Rich, with all of us reciting the Four Way Test.

Share Your Bounty

Continuing our club's long standing Thanksgiving tradition, we will once again partner with the Volunteer Center to provide post-holiday groceries for families in transitional housing who are served by Good News Partners in Chicago's North of Howard neighborhood. We will purchase groceries in bulk at Costco before our meeting on Nov 21, so please donate by November 17.

Your gifts provide post-holiday groceries to these families in need. Donate by credit card or bank transfer here, or mail a check made payable to WNRCF to Rotary Club of Winnetka Northfield, 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, IL 60093.

We hope to provide over 100 bags of groceries, and have a fundraising goal of $2,500.

Donate here, or bring a check or credit card to a lunch meeting.

Meeting Notes October 17

Posted by David Grant

Co-Presidents Moha & Rich chaired the meeting.

Visiting Rotarian: Ron Bernardi from Northbrook.

Announcements: Moha thanked the ‘unsung’ W-N Rotarians who work hard behind the scenes to organize the Club. Special thanks to Barb for ordering lunches, Heidi for the many years of Kids Against Hunger, David G for the speakers, and all the donors to both the RI Foundation and the WN Foundation.

Rich thanked all the sponsors and attendees to the Operation Warm benefit who helped the event raise funds to provide 2,000 coats this year. One of the highlights of the evening for him was seeing David and Mary Birkenstein on the dance floor.
Rich also saluted David Birkenstein with a Level 4 Donor Award Recognition for gifts made to the RI Foundation.

Happy Bucks:

Bob Sanfilippo thanked the Club for many happy years of membership. He is retiring as the Executive Director of CCNS.
Wes Happily donated $123 for 39 years in the Club and his 84^th birthday.

Speakers: Today was ‘Members’ Day,’ a BYOT (Bring Your Own Topic) day. Ken shared his plans as our Club’s Chair of the International Committee. Bob Baker shared his plans for the RI committee, and also his & Patti’s plans for the Winnetka Northfield Rotary Foundation committee which he co-chairs with Patti. Other members who shared topics were David B., and Robert.