President Ken Drummet welcomed everyone and opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Amy Skalinder shared a thought for the day, shared here by request:
Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.
― Kofi Annan
After lunch, there were several announcements:
- Amy announced that tonight’s Jazz in the Garden event is cancelled due to the expected severe weather. The next Music in the Garden event is July 9 featuring The Sonya Major Band.
- Ken noted that despite the inclement weather last night, our Club was well-represented at the Northfield Market and Music last night.
- Ken reminded everyone that we won’t have a lunch meeting next week – instead, we’ll have our installation dinner at Avli, starting at 5:30pm. Barb needs to know today if anyone else is planning to attend. Guests are welcome!
- Ken also reminded everyone that our bike raffle is still happening and we’ve sold 46 tickets so far. Please share widely! Patti Van Cleave shared that she took the graphic that was provided and shared it to her Facebook page. You can also email your friends and neighbors. Raffle tickets will be on sale until July 16.
For Dig-n-Grin, Chuck Norton shared a story about an experience he and his wife Carole had during their recent trip to Paris, which involved a boat, the mayhem of enthused and celebratory soccer fans, and tear gas. If you missed it, ask him about it!
Happy bucks were shared by Patti Van Cleave, Heidi Sibert, Bill Leske, Tony Kambich, Barb Tubekis, and Richard Rosen (our speaker today). Kudos were given to Thomas Applegate for another fun Rotary happy hour earlier this week, and to Ken Drummet as today is his last meeting as Club President.
Ken introduced today’s speaker Richard Rosen, who is a member of the Wheeling Rotary Club and is also the District 6440 Literacy Chair. His presentation is entitled “How Early Childhood Literacy Will Save a Child from a Later Life of Poverty and Crime.” He noted that early childhood literacy starts at birth and continues until the child enters school.
Richard shared several concepts about how early childhood literacy is developed and statistics to help illuminate why it is important. He also shared ideas for how Rotary Clubs can help.
The meeting concluded with our usual recitation of the Four-Way Test.