BULLETIN – July 9, 2025

by Tim Dempsey

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Newly minted President Tom Gore opened the meeting with an enthusiastic ringing of the bell, Jon Robb gave the Pledge, Tom Zengler led us in prayer, and Song Meister Dennis Kratohwil took us through the Star-Spangled Banner with an unusually brief introduction! 

 

Membership Chair Doug Fendon introduced three new members: Steve Nelson, who is active in the Community Partnership for Affordable Housing, Kyle McCartney a Rotarian with Wintrust Bank, and Hank Clemmensen, a retired Fire Chief who has gone on fire prevention missions in Africa, Doug’s notable quote is: “We can make you a member of the Club, but we cant make you a Rotarian. That is up to you.”

 

- President Tom Gore thanked outgoing President Jon Robb for a great job. He also thanked Tom Zengler for hosting the Installation Dinner.

-Kim Smith’s daughter recently got engaged.

-Dennis Kratohwil bragged that the Four Way Testers golf league is celebrating their15 year anniversary.

-Rich Babjak celebrated the life of Sister Rosemary Connelly who recently passed away after serving 55 years at Misericordia.

-Rich Schoeneman has a new grandson and is celebrating 45 years of marriage with wife Jenna.

 

-Birthdays: Tom Zengler – July 26^th.

-Rotary Anniversaries: Gina Schad – 1 year, Rich Babjak – 29 years, Steve Risley – 29 years, Tucker Olson – 30 years, Tom Miller – 35 years.

-Food Pantry donations totaled $392. 

-John McDonald is looking for 3 volunteers to share projection and Zoom duties. See John.

 

Tucker Olson entertained us with a Rotary quiz.

 

Today’s program was Aaron Arnold from Waukegan to College. They begin with the end in mind through college and dreams. They exist to help students access education. “Live your dream”. An example is Moises Arreola. Moises was struggling with math and enrolled in a remedial program conducted by Lake Forest College. Moises now works for Medline in computer science and runs WTC’s remedial math program.

LHS graduates 96% of their students. Waukegan graduates 78%. 90% of LHS graduates go on to college. 50% of Waukegan graduates go on to college. Waukegan is one of the largest districts in the country with 13,500 students. Academics are easy, inspiration is hard. WTC currently has 339 students in their program. Thet start with students in middle school. They took students to UW Milwaukee for a visit. 8^th graders are 7 times more likely to go to college if they set foot on a college campus.

WTC’s three pillars include: readiness, access (affordability), and persistence. WTC visits every freshman to provide support. They have a 95% college graduation rate. They have found $27 million in financial aid since inception. Graduation day from high school is “the first day of the rest of your life”. Our club has given WTC $39k since 2019. Thanks to our Club. Their vision is to serve 1000 students by 2030.

 

-Daily: $38 won by Rich Schoeneman.

-Progressive: $869 (22 cards) Kim Smith drew the Ace of Spades. WINNER!

 

NEXT WEEK:

-Greeter & Prayer: Bob Zamor.

-Fun & Frolics: Elliot Pinsel.

-Program: Lake County Workforce Development Department.

 

“We have 40 million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.”. Rudyard Kipling