The meeting was chaired by Moha Bouacha with Lee Padgitt leading the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. ArLynn Presser gave the thought of the day by reporting that it was this day many years ago when a 63 year old woman named Annie Edison Taylor was the first person to go over Niagara Falls tied to another vessel with a leather harness and she survived the journey!

 

   There were 16 members and guests attending the meeting including Thomas Applegate (the newly appointed Executive Director of the North Shore Counseling Center), Mike Ambrose (his second visit to our Rotary meetings), and Grace Sica, who is the Executive Director of Operation Warm, leading a group of over 50 people who distribute every year over a million warm coats and shoes to needy Chicago area children.

 

   ANNOUNCEMENTS: Distributed at the tables was an announcement pertaining to the Volunteer Center’s 22^nd year of UPCYCLING at the Indian Hill Train Station in Winnetka and the “goods” that are always welcomed as donated items; also mentioned was a recent email to our members and all District 6440 Rotarians from Mary Bak pertaining to a variety of Mental Health Programs being provided by District 6440 Task Force on Mental Health. Some of the speakers for the 8 programs listed might be potential speakers for some of our Rotary lunch meetings.

   Other announcements were that the lunch for our November 7^th meeting at the Rotary’s International Office in Evanston will start at 12:15 pm with the tour of the Rotary headquarters to start at 1:30 pm.  You should also note that our November 21^st Rotary meeting is the Thanksgiving Service Project of filling baskets for Residents of Good News Partners.

 

   SPEAKER: MEAGAN McCHESNEY, CURATOR OF WINNETKA HISTORICAL MUSEUM.   The WHM has produced a very complete video film presentation of Winnetka houses built, modified, torn down,  etc. before  baseball, hockey,  tennis, golf, flood retainers and school facilities took over that area along Willow and Hibbard Roads in Winnetka.  David Birkenstein suggested that our Club her Meagan's fabulous presentation, and Fred Schwimmer can tell you who lived in most of those houses since he was a kid!!  The film shows how the early houses were usually large, on large lots,  mostly followed the designs of 5 different styles, and how many new residents who then moved and built in the Winnetka area copied many of the styles in their early homes and how many of these homes are still occupied today.  The video film starts on the West side of the Village and goes all the way to the Lake and also covers many of the large Winnetka building projects in the 1800’s such as the Village churches.  The film also explores the artistic lives/successes of many Village residents who became well known architects, builders, and corporate tycoons.

   The other video film shown at the Rotary meeting was a summary of where  Rotary’s battle against Polio stands today.  Thanks to several generous individuals and corporations such as the Gates and Blane Foundations, basically polio has been beaten in most wealthy nations but there are still thousands of children in less wealthy nations who need to be vaccinated.  At the end of the meeting several Rotarians made donations to help finish the eradication of this dread disease.  Rich and Moha have set as our Club’s goal this year to raise $1000 among our Rotarians for this cause.

 

   The meeting ended around 1:30 pm with the reciting of the Rotary’s 4-way test.

The District 6440 Task Force on Mental Health Initiatives is proud to announce the second of our series of monthly speakers on mental health topics. Our November speaker is Meg Kissinger, North Shore native and author of the book, While You Were Out, An Intimate Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence. Meg spoke at the District 6440 Conference in April, 2024, about her family's journey through mental health and suicide. It was a moving presentation that touched all who heard her. 

 

ALL presentations will be made on ZOOM, a different topic on the first Monday of each month from 12:00 - 12:30.  

There is no charge, but you do need to register.  THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO ROTARIANS AND NON-ROTARIANS.

The LINK BELOW IS SAFE. It will take you directly to the Rotary District 6440 Registration page for the November 4 presentation. You can also go to the District 6440 calendar for the link. 

 

 

 

Upcoming speakers are listed below:

 

11/4/24  - Meg Kissinger, author of "While You were Out"

12/2/24 - Doug Bolton, PhD.  "Parenting Myths that Undermine Mental Health"

1/6/25  - Sofia F, high school student and Daniel Paustian, LCSW, Asst Principal Class of 2027, New Trier High School. "Teens and Technology

2/3/25  - Cassy Horton, Executive Director of Pickles Group. "The Changing Status Quo of Children whose Parents Have Cancer"

3/3/25  - Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook

4/7/25  - John Kilner, PhD will speak on peace of mind by creating Advance Directives. "Access to Medical Decision Making"

5/5/25  - Tish Rudnicki, MSW, Executive Director of North Shore Senior Center. "Issues of Aging"

6/2/25  - Erin Tegge, LCSW, PEER Services. "Substance Use, Prevention, Treatment and Recovery"

 

No Assignments