President Bill opened the meeting at 12:15. There were 24 club members present.
Rick Borjesson provided an impromptu Thought of the Day and Patti Van Cleave led us in the Pledge.
After lunch, Peter Skalski, filling in as Greeter, introduced the following:
Crystal LeRoy, visiting us for the third time and planning to be inducted next Thursday
Pat Fragassi, representing the Winnetka Park District
Carol Callahan, representing the Winnetka Community House
Dan Perpich, a Visiting Rotarian from Anchorage Alaska.
Melissa Mills, a Visiting Rotarian from Durham, NC.
Today is Brooke Peppey’s birthday. As she was not with us, we will sing to her later. There are 4 anniversaries: Denise Dubravec (5 years), Bob Baker (31 years), Joe Nash (6 years) and Felicia O’Malley (1 year).
Announcements:
Joe shared an update on the October 5 Benefit Concert for Operation Warm: There are 100 people registered now, cost is $40 now, $50 at the door. There are also raffle tickets available: $5 for one, $20 for five. This event has already raised over $14,000. Todd shared that the band is great and encouraged attendance.
Rich shared that with the proceeds of this event we will support at least 4 library-distribution events, providing 150 coats each time. Volunteers will be needed-info TBD.
Rich said that he has been at two Zone Conferences in the past two weeks. He strongly encouraged Rotarians to attend a Zone Conference, as programming and speakers are amazing.
October 11 - District Governor Julie Clark’s annual visit is next week. The board will meet with her at 11:00.
October 20 - One Rotary Summit at Harper College. All are encouraged to attend.
October 24 – World Polio Day. We will participate – info forthcoming.
October 27 – Make A Difference Day. We will support this project of the Volunteer Center.
Happy Bucks:
Robert Mardirossian shared a humorous perspective on the Cubs.
Tony Kambich shared that he got a call from Ned Meisner, who is in Ecuador. He sends his greetings to all of us!
Bill Leske shared that he had a great trip to Germany and Austria and thanks Patti and Tom for filling in in his absence.
Wes Baumann shared that he had been in France for 4 weeks and would rather still be there, which prompted Connie Berman to throw in a buck because she is going to France on Monday!
Visiting Rotarian Melissa shared that she is a part of a Rotary Action Group (RAG) that just recently approved funding for our Haiti Global grant project. She was pleased to be with us, as she grew up in Winnetka.
Sam Badger provided a humorous Dig & Grin.
David Birkenstein introduced Chuck Dowding, retired Professor of Engineering at Northwestern University.
Chuck provided us with an Infrastructure Report Card. Rankings of 16 areas of infrastructure nationally by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) reflects a cumulative grade of D+. While gains have been made in some areas, rail for an example, overall our aging infrastructure is going to require significant work in the coming years. Of course a major issue is lack of funding.
It is notable to consider that our world population will increase by 40% between now and 2050. Population in the US is projected to rise by 25% in the next 45 years. The infrastructure that serves us cannot keep up with our projected growth.
Lots more info here: https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/
And Chuck's slideshow here: http://portal.clubrunner.ca/2417/Documents/en-us/55edcf48-5d24-402d-ba75-236fae4fffd2/1/
Visiting Rotarian Melissa won the raffle and drew the 4 of clubs.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:32 with the recitation of the 4 Way Test.