Members of the Rotary Club of Cary-Grove present a check to the Cary-Grove Food Pantry, located at St. Barnabas Lutheran Church in Cary. Funds for the presentation were raised at the Club's "Steak Fry", which was held at Cary's "Main Street Fest" this past September. A special thanks to all those who attended that event, which made this donation possible.  

 

 

Rotary International will be celebrating its second annual World Polio Day event on October 24th. Through the generosity of club member, Dave Miller and Bernie, of Liberty Outdoor Advertising, the Rotary Club of Cary-Grove has installed an outdoor sign at the entrance of Lake Julian Trout Farm to bring public awareness to this occasion. The sign is located at Route 14 and Jandus Road and is visible to traffic headed in both directions. 

 

To learn more about total eradicati0n of this crippling disease, visit Rotary International's website.

Congratulations, Cindy! Maybe I should say Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Cary-Grove. It is with great excitement that we welcome our newest member, Cindy Finlon. Cindy is well known to the membership and has already contributed much to the organization. Welcome aboard!

Today's guest speakers were Jeffrey Maycan and Lori Feuerhelm from True Value Paint Manufacturing. Jeff is the Factory Director for their facility located here, in Cary. This 600,000 square foot building is the only paint manufacturing plant that True Value processes. The 135 employees working at this facility are responsible for producing and distributing paint to True Value's 4700 stores. Their efforts account for 4% of the company's total revenue, but 50% of its profit.

 

Depending on the type and color being produced, each batch of paint can have 7 to 20 different ingredients, all of which are warehoused on site. This makes it possible to provide over 1,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKU's) to meet the current demands of their customers and the ability to produce in excess of 50,000 gallons a day. In addition, as stated on True Value's Website, its EasyCare Ultra Premium Acrylic Latex paint has been certified as asthma and allergy friendly.

 

Thanks, Jeffrey and Lori for a very informative and interesting presentation. More information about True Value Paints can be found on their website at https://www.truevaluepaint.com

Bill Gates was the guest speaker at the Joint Rotary District Conference in Spokane Washington. Follow this link to his blog where he has the entire text of what he had to say.

Our guest speaker this morning was Dr. Margaret Stefani from Pediatric Associates of Barrington. Dr. Stefani spoke to the membership about the health benefits of teaching children at a very young age to wear a helmet when riding a bike. A bicyclist herself, she encourages parents to be the role model for their children by wearing helmets when they ride. She is so passionate about this that she has offered to pay her own children $1,000 if she is ever caught riding without one.

 

Nationally, there are over one thousand bicycle related deaths annually, and over 50 thousand people are hospitalized as a result of bike accidents, a cost to the health industry of over $2 billion. Children and teens account for 60% of these accidents. Head injuries are the most prominent result of these incidents and most of them can be prevented by wearing a helmet. In fact, statistics have shown that 70% of these injuries could be prevented by a properly fitted helmet. Yet, just 40-48% of children admit to wearing them.

 

To help combat this, Dr. Stefani has teamed with the local Police Departments of Cary, Fox River Grove and Crystal Lake to help promote the idea of safe bicycling. Children seen riding their bikes while wearing a helmet are stopped by the Police Officers and presented a gift certificate from sponsoring local companies. While still relatively new, the program is gaining awareness. According to Police Chief Finlon, when kids see a patrol officer approaching, they point to their helmets. Can't get much better than that. Thank you, Dr. Stefani for your concern and passion surrounding this important issue.      

At today's meeting, Erik Morimoto, Director of Public Works, and Matt Anderson gave an overview of the Wastewater Treatment System for the Village of Cary. Matt described in detail the filtration process used by the village. Residents of Cary are fortunate in having the property, facility and expertise to ensure that our wastewater is efficiently processed in a cost-effective manner. And, the facility has the capacity to accommodate additional growth within the community without the need to upgrade equipment.

 

Erick reviewed some of the Construction Projects that are planned for the Village. At the top of that list is the upgrade to the Metro Station, a $2.3 million grant project that includes a new depot and pedestrian crossing at Route 14. Being the 60th busiest station out of Metra's 236 stations, this upgrade is much needed. Thanks to both Matt & Erik for a very informative program. 

Elizabeth Kessler, Executive Director for the McHenry County Conservation District, was the guest speaker this Elizabeth Kessler, Executive Director for the McHenry County Conservation District, was the guest speaker this morning at the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Cary-Grove. Shawna Flavell, Executive Director for the McHenry County Conservation Foundationwas also present at the meeting. Founded in 1971, MCCD established a mission of "Sustaining the Dream" by becoming stewards of the places we love in McHenry County. Nearly fifty years later, that dream still motivates the staff and volunteers that nurture the 25,000 plus acres that make up the district. at the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Cary-Grove. Shawna Flavell, Executive Director for the McHenry County Conservation Foundation was also present at the meeting. Founded in 1971, MCCD established a mission of "Sustaining the Dream" by becoming stewards of the places we love in McHenry County. Nearly fifty years later, that dream still motivates the staff and volunteers that nurture the 25,000 plus acres that make up the district.

At the core of what it does, MCCD works at protecting the environment that local animals and plant species rely on for their habitat.  Thirty-four sites are open to the public featuring 105 miles of hiking trails, 45 miles of biking trails, 23 fishing ponds, 6 campgrounds, 4 canoe launches, 40 miles of horse trails, and 21 sites with picnic shelters, and a multitude of opportunities for wildlife viewing. Over 500 volunteers help with the maintenance of these properties.

 

 

At today's meeting, Rotarian Ann Hughes from the Rotary Club of Woodstock, gave a presentation of an Agro-Ecological Training Farm located in La Esperanza, Ecuador. The project provides hands-on training for local residents of ancestral agricultural knowledge and introduces new technologies to improve nutritional health in the local communities. 

 

The lead club for this Rotary International grant project is the Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield. They have been working with the Club Rotario  de Quito Equinoccio for the past three years, and are once again, looking for partnership funding opportunities. Next steps will include the construction of a post-harvest building for cleaning and packaging produce grown on the farm. In addition, a retail store for selling the produce, and a mobile retail market which will transport produce to local neighborhoods is being considered.

 

Visit their website to learn more about this exciting adventure.

Lots happening in the world of Rotary.  Read all about it in The Rotarian Magazine.