Written by Patrick Hart

 

 

 

Diana Taylor opened the meeting with a pledge and a prayer, and Dennis Kratohwil led us in singing God Bless America.

 

BRAGS:

 

No doubt feeling humbled by the majesty of the world around us, no one chose to brag this week.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

 

Our board will meet at 5:30 p.m. on November 13 at ChiliU.

 

Our winter fundraiser will be held on March 1, 2019.

 

On December 5, we will hold our Holiday Party at the same place as last year, Post Time Sports Bar and Grill in Green Oaks.  There will be no morning meeting that day.

 

We will be ringing bells for the Salvation Army on December 8.  Every member is expected to take a two hour shift.

 

The board has voted to make Ken Chapin an honorary member.  His induction will be at our November 21 meeting, which Ken will attempt to attend.

 

The 5ThWednesday/Halloween Party at Rick Mittelman’s house was a big success.  Dennis Kratowhil won the best original costume contest for wearing an outfit that was hard to visualize when Mr. Mittelman described it.  So I guess you had to be there.  Rich Shoeneman also won a prize for best costume, and Peggy Freese won the award for craziest costume.

 

Elliott Pinsel is passing out ornaments for his holiday gift program and will be bringing a truck to our December 12 meeting to pick them up.

 

Tom Miller needs volunteers to help with parking at the Feed My Starving Children event to be held at Pet Factory on November 30 thru December 2.  You could also sign up for a packing slot by going to the Feed My Starving Children website.

 

Jeff Harger says we will again be collecting for Thanksgiving baskets to be given out by the food pantry this year.

 

Doug Fendon announced that the good deeds of the four members who brought new members into our club during our membership drive will be appropriately rewarded.  He also encouraged us to bring in more new members to help us build a strong future.

 

Dave Potts informed us that Dan Lutter has improved enough to move to the White Hall Nursing Home in Deerfield.  He welcomes visitors.

 

 

 

Greg Hill led us in an exciting contest to name the price of some exotic items which I doubt many of us have purchased lately.  He forgot to tell us whether he wanted the price before or after sales tax.

 

 

Our speaker this week was Nan Buckardt the director of education for the Lake County Forest Preserve.  The Lake County Forest Preserve is the second largest forest preserve in the state and has 31,000 acres of land under its care.  This includes 200 miles of trails and 400 miles of boundaries. It consists of 64 sites and our speaker highlighted several of these.  She mentioned Spring Bluff by Illinois Beach State Park, which has a two mile loop trail through the wetlands.   

 

Ms. Buckardt also talked about the ravine exhibit at Fort Sheridan.  The ravine system that runs from Evanston to Milwaukee possesses an ecological system that is the only one of its kind in the world.  The ravine were formed shortly after the receding glaciers created Lake Michigan as a byproduct of water from the melting ice seeking the lower level of the lake. These canyons take in the cool air off the lake that in the summer can make the bottom of the ravines as much as twenty degrees cooler than the land at the top. This has resulted in the unusual assortment of plant life in the ravines including several endangered and protected species.   

 

Another attraction run by the Lake County Forest Preserve is the Dunn Museum, which features exhibits covering Lake County history from prehistoric times.  The Dunn Museum has recently relocated to Libertyville.

 

Finally Ms. Buckardt urged anyone who was interested to subscribe to Horizon Magazine, the free publication of the Lake County Forest Preserve.    

 

 

This week we had $29 in the regular kitty and $56 in the progressive pot with only 53 card left.  Tom Miller’s ticket was drawn first and he chose to take a chance on the big money, probably because he had already left and one of his “friends” made the choice for him.  After Tom lost the draw, Bill Rickert won the weekly prize.

 

 

Greeter and Prayer:  Tim Dempsey

 

Fun and Frolics and Bingo:  John McDonald