Home Page | Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield

WELCOME TO OUR CLUB! CELEBRATING 96 YEARS OF SERVICE. COME JOIN US CONNECTING FOR GOOD.

PEOPLE OF ACTION

We meet In Person

Thursdays at 12:15 PM

Meeting with Zoom during the health crisis. Email info@wnrotary.org for log-in info.

620 Lincoln Avenue
Winnetka, IL 60093
United States of America

District Site

Bulletins

Venue Map

Meeting Notes January 21

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

President Chuck called the meeting to order at 12:20. There were 24 members in attendance.

Thought of the Day: Terry Dason shared some quotes from famous folks that pertain to the Inauguration yesterday.

Birthdays: Jean Wright’s birthday (her 95^th!) was on the 19^th. Anniversaries: None.

Announcements:

Our Club Elections will be held next week on the 28^th.
Rich shared that he attended the Elgin Breakfast Club meeting today, featuring RI President-Elect, Shekhar Mehta, speaking on “The Power of One”. He shared a link to the presentation for us to see it.
Robert asked a Zoom etiquette question about eating on a Zoom. He was encouraged to turn off his video.
Barb followed up and encouraged all to mute when the speaker begins.

Happy Bucks:

Bob shared a HB for Marie, who told him that Walgreens sells CBD. He reports that his knee is improved!
Fred shared that he will make a larger than usual donation to our foundation this year.
Barb applauded the Poet Laureate who spoke at the Inauguration: Amanda Gorman.
Bob asked if anyone saw Al Roker get his vaccine on The Today Show – it was administered by Bob’s nephew, Dan Baker.

Dig N Grin:

Fred pitched in for Laura with some humorous comments made by athletes.

Speaker:

Our program featured our own John Thomas speaking about New Trier Township.

An engaged Q&A followed his presentation.

President Chuck adjourned the meeting at 1:10.

Meeting Notes January 14

Posted by Barb Tubekis

President Chuck Norton opened our weekly 12:15 meeting

Thought of the Day:

David Birkenstein shared a quote from one of his favorite philosophers who is a longshoreman from the West Coast, Eric Hoffer:

"The beginning of thought is disagreement -- not with others, but with ourselves."

Birthdays/Anniversaries

Again no birthdays this week, but Peter Skalski reminded us of Jean Wright's 95th birthday. Feel free to send a card or call her cellphone: 847-217-1906

Address:

Ms. Jean Wright

Brookdale Palmer Ranch

5111 Palmer Ranch Pkwy

Sarasota, FL 34238

Announcements:

Barb Tubekis announced the Volunteer Center's MLK Day activities, Sunday, January 17th, the HEROS (Healing Everyday Racism in our Schools) virtual workshop on the Legacy of MLK. In addition, the VC will host its annual no-sew fleece blanket donation program for the homeless that begins at the Community House (thank you for opening your house to us) on MLK Day, Monday Jan 18th and runs through Saturday, Jan 23rd.

Board Elections:

Rejoice! Chuck Norton made the happy announcement that he has secured two terrific co-presidents-elect for our 2021-22 board.

They are the esteemed Bill Leske and Greg Nelson. Terms begin July 1st.

Note: Greg Nelson said he will not fight any impeachment attempts :)

Happy Bucks:

Robert Mardirosian pledged five Happy Bucks in honor of Bill & Greg for stepping up and agreeing to be co-presidents. Barb Tubekis added $5 to Robert's pledge for $10 donation.

Dig 'n Grin:

Eric Birkenstein passed the spotlight to his daughter Leslie Ann Birkenstein who shared some jokes with us, notably: "Why does a clock get more food? It goes back for seconds." :)

Speakers:

The research team of Dr. Sajoy Varghese, Primary Investigator from the Lovell Federal Health Care Center and Dr. John Bair, PHd. presented: "Correlating Kynurenine Pathway & Heart Rate Variability: A Novel Method to Assess Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder With and Without Alcohol Use Disorder." Or for the benefit of us very lay listeners: "Psycho Physiological Effects of PTSD & Alcohol Use Disorder."

This very thorough presentation covered this expert team's research on the devastating effects of PTSD and what they have uncovered about addictions - reward systems and anti-reward systems that alcohol can have on PTSD on a molecular level - biological intervention. PTSD widely occurs in Veterans of the Vietnam War, and along with it a high rate of suicide. They live 10 or more years less than those without PTSD and their families also experience more violence from those suffering from the addiction.

Dr. Varghese presented chemical evidence and shared an important approach to their study with this quote about addiction psychiatry from Victor E. Frankel:

"Between stimulus & response is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth & our freedom." Determines whether or not you turn to alcohol to understand that gap is a large part of their research. Why? What are the known and unknown triggers?

Questions and answers followed, including a discussion of potential positive impact of cannabis support. There needs to be more research to what Dr. Varghese termed is still controversial.

Please visit the meeting recording for accurate, detailed and scientific research they presented. https://youtu.be/31QRfj2db3w

Meeting notes for January 7

Posted by Carl Yudell

President Chuck Norton chaired the meeting commencing at 12:18 with the Pledge of Allegiance in light of the chaos at the Capital.

There were no birthdays this week, but on January 19, Jean Wright will be celebrating her 95^th birthday. If you would like to send her a birthday card, her address is:

Ms. Jean Wright

Brookdale Palmer Ranch

5111 Palmer Ranch Pkwy.

Sarasota, FL 34238

(Although she has trouble seeing, others will be able to read cards to her). She also likes to get phone calls. She may answer who's this? Because she can't see a caller's name. But as soon as she knows - she's right there!

Her phone is 941-244-4701

Other Announcements:

Rich Lalley is working on a companion program for Operation Warm—Shoes for Children. With the help of a grant from Rotary International, the cost of a pair of shoes is only $6.50. Your contribution would be much appreciated.

Barbara Tubekis has been busy delivering Donna’s meals to needy families at Good News Partners in Rogers Park. She needs some help. It is right after Rotary on Thursdays. You would pick up the meals from Donna after Rotary and deliver them to Rogers Park.

Chuck Norton is working on the Co-Presidents and just needs to tie up a few loose ends.

Happy Bucks: Patti was pleased to be seated (on her screen) next to Mike Shelton.

Peter Skalski was happy to be in Florida and about Jean Wright’s 95^th birthday.

Dig and Grin: Julie Tye told us about “A horse walks into the bar….”

Speaker: Mitch Meyers. Mitch gave us an overview of the cannabis business in Illinois, Missouri and the United States. Take Aways:

Cannabis medical-uses have been under-studied due to illegality. As it has become legal in more states, its potential uses have dramatically increased. For an example, cannabis can be used to treat epilepsy and has far less side effects than current Big Pharma drugs.
Cannabis was legal until the 1930’s and the end of prohibition.At that time, a federal bureaucrat, in danger of losing the funding for his operation, determined that cannabis (which he renamed as marijuana) was a danger to the public.In fact, cannabis is significantly less dangerous than alcohol, tobacco or opioids.
The tax on medically prescribed cannabis is 1% while the tax on recreational cannabis is 35%.
Cannabis has been generating significant new taxes and has resulted in a re-building of parts of downtown Denver.
Medical cannabis is restricted to 4 oz. per week while recreational uses are restricted to smaller amounts, but instead based on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, most to the dispensing licenses and the growing licenses have been distributed to rich white men because any blemish on a person’s record disqualified them from receiving a license and the need to spend thousands of dollars before even applying for a license disqualified other minorities.The next round of licenses will be more accessible to people of color.
Since cannabis is still illegal federally, national banks cannot be used. Only state chartered banks can be used to finance cannabis operations.

Meeting Notes for December 17

Posted by Keith Reed

The meeting was called to order by Chair Norton with 21 members present. Guests were Governor of District of 5950, Tom Gump, and another District 5950 member, Lloyd Campbell.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Wes used the life spans of the dog, monkey and cow to show how God intended humans to spend their first 20 years enjoying their eating, sleeping and good health; the next 20 years working and providing for their family; the next 20 years entertaining and enjoying their grandchildren; and the remaining years setting on their front porch barking at and complaining to all passers-by!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Marie Kuipers will be celebrating her birthday on Dec. 18^th. Marie announced that although the Club’s Social Justice Committee’s ability to meet has been somewhat curtailed by the virus, she said that anyone who would want to volunteer to contact voters in Georgia to encourage them to vote in their Jan. 5^th run-off election could contact her for assistance.

Rich Lalley reported that Operation Warm had a very successful event for school-age children in Highwood and Highland Park where 250 coats were given to the children with half of the funding provided by the Highland Park Community Group.

Tony presented a framed certificate that he recently found in the back of a WCH closet that had been given by our Rotary Club to the founder of the Hadley School for the Blind, William A. Hadley, back in 1939 making him an Honorary Member of the Club after having served as a regular member for many years. It had been signed by 57 members of the Club. Tony thought that it would best be housed in a place of honor in the Museum at the Hadley School.

Barb said that due to the virus the Volunteer Center will not have its traditional Martin Luther King celebration this year in the WCH. But she mentioned that the Heroes Group in Wilmette is having a virtual workshop right before the MLK holiday which will include service activities that seniors can perform and enjoy. Barb also announced that there is a toy and clothing drive this coming Saturday in Wilmette sponsored by the Family Focus Group and the Girl Scouts.

HAPPY BUCKS: John Thomas donated because he had a good experience and good outcome when he was required to take two nasal Covid tests before he had a medical procedure. It was covered by Medicare, done at the NTL Lab in Skokie and both came out “negative”.

DIG N GRIN: Bob Baker mentioned a couple of long- standing traditions for the Christmas season besides the ones we usually enjoy. For example, KFC took advantage of the Japanese fast food business in the early 1970’s by providing “party barrels” of chicken and its own version of a chicken based Christmas cake. In certain parts of Ireland there is a special holiday 12 days after Christmas solely for women because they do most of the work in organizing and performing the necessary duties on the Christmas holiday.

SPEAKER: John Thomas introduced our speaker, Hannah Warren, by referring to her excellent bio set forth in our meeting notice. Highlights of her bio are that she was a former Rotary Youth Exchange Student to Thailand , a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to India and Global Grant Scholar to London. In India she learned about the plight of female weavers and founded a company called Jhoole, a nonprofit eco-fashion social enterprise designed to help women gain economic independence, invest in education and to have more administrative and financial control over their art/business of weaving. She has set up a similar organization in Rockford (where she now resides) called Womanspace to help women connect, create and empower each other. She has degrees in South Asian Studies and Linguistics from the University of London and a MA in Fashion Entrepreneurship from the University of the Arts London College of Fashion. She is also President Elect of the Rotary Club of Rockford.

An example of what Hannah was able to accomplish in India was to change the age-long tradition of Indian women not wearing the saris they made. Through her company Hannah was able to get the weavers to make saris for their own use and/or to sell them to others with the profits being shared with the other female artisans. The Rotary Foundation supported many of these business-type activities which empowered the weavers and women generally and enabled them to actually support themselves and their families. Another development Hannah initiated was the introduction of industrial machines to expedite the weaving process. Her company currently employs about 50 women and trains at least 500 women per year to perform weaving and related activities.

Although her business in Rockford works with several Indian groups on weaving activities, it has expanded into other areas of providing needed services to the community. For example when the Covid hit the area, her Womanspace organization made 13,000 cloth face masks and donated them to the local community. Her company is now expanding its clothing line to include leisure wear for Indian women.

After this very informative presentation, Chair Norton announced that we would not be meeting next week (Dec. 24) and that we will announce later on whether we meet on December 31. After leading us in Rotary’s 4 way test, the meeting was adjourned at 1:10 PM.

Meeting Notes for December 10

Posted by John Thomas

The meeting was online via Zoom and had 24 members. We were opened at 12:20 PM by President Chuck Norton followed by the pledge of allegiance. The Thought for the Day was given by Todd Stephens. Krysten Warnes provided our Dig & Grin and regaled the assembled multitude with three Christmas “How To” anecdotes.

BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES : President Chuck noted he had a birthday to be celebrated but was mum on which one. This week’s anniversaries included Roger Morris (48), Mary Lou Bilder-Gold (25) Amy Skalinder and Krysten Warnes with one year each.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Norton noted he is still seeking someone interested in being a co-President next year. He also noted grant applications for our Foundation need to be in by Dec. 31.

Tony Kambich said he has uncovered some possibly valuable Rotary historical material in his garage that seems worth saving He asked if there was still storage space in the WCH Rotary closet

Rich Lalley was pleased to confirm that, after 2½ years the Rotary Foundation has approved grant funding for the farming project in Ecuador

HAPPY BUCKS: Julie Tye noted the Hadley School reached 25,000 enrollments which is triple the normal level. This was the result of significant re-structuring of their curricula and cost structure. She will throw in something less than a buck for each enrollment.

SPEAKER: At 12:40, John Thomas introduced today's speaker, Andy Drendel. He heads the Trust Department at the Byline Bank and was recommended by Bill Leske. With over 40 years of wealth management experience, 20 of which have been in Chicagoland, Andy Drendel has extensive expertise in trust administration, estate planning, asset protection and fiduciary practice management.

He started by outlining what Trust Services from a bank entail. He then explained in some detail the factors that suggest having a bank be Trustee for estates of moderate complexity. He added commentary on what might be the disadvantages of professional trust services.

A spirited Q&A followed for almost 30 minutes led off by David Birkenstein as well as Eric Birkenstein,. Both are active in advising clients in that area. Keith Reed also had some legal-oriented questions

The meeting was closed at 1:25 with a recitation by all of the 4-Way test.

Share Your Bounty- A Success!

We did it again! Thanks to all our members and friends of Rotary who contributed over $2,700 to our annual Share Your Bounty campaign! 100 bags full of groceries are going to Good News Partners, along with a financial donation to support their food pantry.

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 on November 23, so please donate by November 22.

We hope to provide over 100 bags of groceries, and have a fundraising goal of $2,000. This will be easy if everyone contributes.

This campaign has closed. If you missed out on supporting it, please consider a donation to our sleeping bags for the homeless campaign. You can donate here.

Bringing Warmth to the Homeless in Chicago

We are partnering with the Rotary Club of Wilmette to provide new sleeping bags to homeless people in Chicago. Your donations will support new sleeping bags which will be sent to the nuns of Fraternite Notre Dame, who will provide them to homeless men and women at Christmas time.

Your donation of $30 will provide a sleeping bag to another person in need. Donate today at https://secure.givelively.org/donate/winnetka-northfield-rotary-charitable-foundation/sleeping-bags-for-the-homeless-in-chicago or send a check to WNRCF with notation "sleeping bag" to the club at 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka.

Meeting Recordings

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).

Here are links to view our recent meetings: