Libertyville Sunrise Rotary Bulletin October 18, 2023

 

Written by Patrick Hart

 

Rich Babjak opened our meeting with a prayer, a pledge, and Dennis Kratohwil leading us in singing “I’m Dreaming of a Great Pumpkin.” He even brought us lyric sheets which he had to stay up all night typing.

 

 

 

We were joined this week by Joan McCarthy, a guest of Mary Cole.

 

Kim Smith bragged about the 5K which the Center Club held this previous Saturday despite the rain.

 

Scott Hezner recently attended a presentation on community service at a Rotary district conference, and after comparing our performance to everyone else’s, he wanted to brag about the fine job we do in this field under the leadership of Patricia Bleck.

 

Glenn Garlick bragged about the club he met with on Tuesday who had not contributed to Rotary’s polio campaign for four years, but which presented him a check when he showed up.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

After canceling for the rain last Saturday, we have rescheduled our fall highway cleanup for Saturday morning October 28.  Meet at 7:00 a.m. at the southeast corner of Butterfield and 137.

 

In another service opportunity we are once again helping in the annual Libertyville Pumpkinfest in Cook Patk at 8:30 in the morning this Saturday October 21.  Our chairman, Tim Dempsey, cheerfully reports that we have lots of volunteers for that event, although maybe our songmeister Dennis Kratohwil could also show up to lead everyone in a rollicking pumpkin melody.

 

Next week on Wednesday October 25 the Libertyville Sunrise Rotary will not be holding a morning meeting. Rather we will be kicking off the first of our three scheduled evening meetings, commencing at 6:00 p.m. at Mickey Finn's. 

 

Our club will be holding its annual elections shortly, and while we are blessed to have Jon Robb running for president, there are some other vacancies.  So talk to Rich Babjak if you are willing to step up.

 

On a sadder note it looks like inflation is catching up with the Libertyville Sunrise Rotary Club, and our dues will be taking a slight rise next year to pay for the delicious breakfasts that Lambs Farm feeds us every week.

 

Elliot Pinsel will be distributing his holiday ornaments at our November 1 meeting.

 

 

John McDonald was in charge of Fun & Frolics this week, and he began with a touching story about the time his youngest son took off for England to attend Nottingham University. The lad not only made the Atlantic crossing on his own, but he also managed to navigate a quick side trip through Italy and some point farther east, where he met up with a friend who was now working as a bartender.  This feat impressed his parents that the young man had matured more at that point than they had given him credit for, which speaking as a parent, I know can create a warm fuzzy feeling inside.  

 

John then proceeded to conduct a short trivia quiz on various sports questions.

 

Our speaker this week was Jessica Celsel of the United Way of Lake County.   She heads Women United which is a branch of the United Way.  Women United has about one hundred and thirty-five members and they do a lot of volunteer work, including a recent shift at Habitat for Humanity, which several of our club members participated in. The big focus of the organization is early childhood education, particularly two to five year olds.  Most brain development occurs at this age, and the women believe it is important to work with these children to help them maximize their potential.

 

One of their big focuses is a project at Whispering Oaks in Waukegan.  Whispering Oaks is a gated community of Section 8 housing, and the inhabitants face serious problems with crime and poverty.  Women United had created a community room in the basement, where they conduct classes for parents on ways to help stimulate learning in their children.  They also provide various miscellaneous help to young children, such as distributing backpacks, providing free haircuts, and participating in vaccine distributions.  

 

This week our raffle offered a $32.00 pot for our regular prize, plus our progressive pot for the more adventuresome folks.  As of Wednesday morning our progressive pot had risen to a whopping $609.00 with only33 cards left.  Kim Smith’s card came up first, and being the conservative person she is, she took the sure money. The wild and rugged Howard Jaffe then shot for the moon, but unfortunately came crashing back to earth when he only drew the 9 of diamonds.  I can hardly wait for next week’s exciting contest.  

 

 

"Man's goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.” Nelson Mandela