There were 30 members present at the meeting and three corporate members: Kate Brower from WCH, Mary Komlofski from WYO, and Kelsey Raftery from Winnetka Park District. Joe Nash handled the “thought of the day” which had an appropriate Irish tinge to it. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The big announcement for the day was the celebration of Rodg Morris’ 92 birthday— Happy Birthday was sung and chocolate cake with green frosting was served to all. Marie Kulpers was celebrating her 4th year as a Rotarian. Heidi Sibert reminded everyone of the Kids For Hunger event on this coming Saturday and that all tables have been sold out. Raffle tickets can still be purchased 6 for $25 and the prizes include restaurant coupons, Sox tickets and a $100 “pot of gold”. Heidi said that she still needs volunteers for both the setup on Friday afternoon and packing the bags on Saturday—she thanked the Winnetka Park District for helping to unload food, boxes and other materials. Barb Tubekis reminded people of the meeting sponsored by her Volunteer Center and the WCH on the topic of “Meet Your Press” on March 21 at the WCH from 8:30 to 11:00 AM to discuss how non-profit organizations can better use the media for marketing/publicity purposes. Patti gave a short report on the Club Board meeting held before the lunch and that updated “frequently asked questions” by Club members and a new Club Photo Directory are now available. 

Bill Leske announced that everyone should plan on attending the Club’s annual benefit scheduled for May 11, 2018—details to be announced later. Several people reported on the great success of last Thursday’s event at Little Ricky’s—lots of fun was had by all and about $2000 was raised for Kids Against Hunger. Thanks to all who planned and participated in the event, but especially Joe Nash who was instrumental in providing the band and much of the crowd. 

HAPPY BUCKS: Robert Mardirossian gave for Patti using his old picture in the updated directory and for Rodg’s 92nd birthday; Tony gave for the great party at Little Ricky’s which was fun, especially when he won the grand prize (and you know what he did with it immediately); Marie Kulpers gave in honor of her Mother who passed away 5 years ago which resulted in Marie coming to Chicago and becoming a member of Rotary; and David Grant gave in tribute to the great season his daughter had as goalie for the Wesleyan University lacrosse team (it was pointed out by others that David’s daughter was also the star goalie on Wesleyan’s ice hockey team). 

DIG & GRIN: Chuck Norton explained the major problem of husbands aging while their wives refuse to get older, especially after your 30th wedding anniversary! 

SPEAKERS KELSEY RAFTERY AND JOHN MUNO FROM WINNETKA PARK DISTRICT: Kelsey is Manager of Marketing Services and has been with the WPD for about 8 months. She has been busy communicating to the community the various activities available and recently completed the WPD’s new brochure, which drew compliments from some in the audience. She showed a video highlighting these various activities and more detailed videos explaining the WPD’s golf, tennis and ice rink activities. These videos are available on the WPD website. John Thomas, who has been a long term board member of the WPD, explained that the villages of Winnetka and Northfield have recently agreed to let Northfield residents pay the same fees as Winnetka residents for golf, paddle tennis and the beaches; while Winnetka residents can pay the Northfield resident fees to use Northfield’s new fitness center. It was pointed out that Northfield residents living on the East side of Edens expressway have always been able to access the Winnetka facilities for Winnetka resident fees. 

During the question period, Tony commented that Winnetka residents should realize that many of the WPD facilities were donated by individuals or paid by bond referendums, as opposed to being a burden to the local taxpayers. John Muno reported that the Crow Island involvement in storm water run-off is still being debated; that the South end of Duke Childs Field is under the control of New Trier but that the WPD is trying to convince them to use underground tanks and Astroturf the same as the WPD did for the athletic fields on the North side of the tennis building—this project is being studied by several Winnetka organizations; that since WPD has finished its rehab work on two Winnetka parks, it will be addressing shoreline problems on the Village’s five beaches; and that the Village is trying to coordinate the services other organizations are providing in the Village so as to avoid duplication of effort—the North Shore Senior Center was cited as an example. 

Patti was the winner of the weekly $5 raffle and the meeting was adjourned at 1:30.

LeAnita Ragland-Brooks is the President-Elect for The Winnetka Club. She has also held board leadership roles at the Junior League-Evanston North Shore, and the American Cancer Society North Shore. Her philanthropic efforts range from Saks Key to The Cure, Autism Speaks to The Catholic Charities of Chicago.  The Powerhouse of the North Shore, this lady makes a difference everywhere she goes!

She is currently an executive with US Bank and has led high performing teams at JPMorgan Chase, American Express, and Citigroup. In addition to working full time, LeAnita is an entrepreneur who has created her own jewelry line, LeAnita Jewelry. Her statement pieces have been seen on CNN and on the runway at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. These one of a kind pieces are sold in boutiques (LeChic Boutique in Winnetka and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach) and at leanita.com.

 She has been a North Shore go-getter for 18 years and has been profiled in NS Modern Luxury, Make It Better, and Sheridan Road Magazines.