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.