BULLETIN – April 1, 2026

By Tim Dempsey

 

President Tom gore started our April Fools Day meeting by calling on Hank Clemmensen to give the Pledge. Greeter Ellen Young, channeling her glee club days, sang” Let there be peace on earth” offering that as both prayer and song.

 

-Dave Westlake bragged about “vacationing” in Buffalo, New York while watching his daughter Zoe compete in a national hockey tournament. She apparently led the entire tournament in penalty minutes!

-Jeff Harger is celebrating 49 years of wedded bliss with wife Cindy!  

 

-Birthdays: Hank Clrmmensen – 4/11, Sheb Karasu – 4/16, Doug Southgate – 4/20.

-Anniversaries: John McDonald – 58 years, Jeff Harger – 49 years, Happie Datt – 14 years.

-Club anniversaries: Bill Rickert, Larry Neal, Tom Zengler – all 39 years.

 

-Foundation Chair Rick Mittelman reminded us that if you are not a Paul Harris fellow, you can become one with a donation of $250. The Club matches that to get to the $ 1000 initial cost. A three to one match! He also awarded Michael Schnachner his initial Paul Harris Fellow and presented Ellen and Chris Young with their level V major donor certificate!

-Howard Jaffe announced that he has tickets for various events we sponsor. 

-April 29 is the fifth Wednesday of the month and there will be no morning meeting. We will have a fellowship event that day TBD.

 

Rob Likus was scheduled to do Fun & Frolics today, but he was a no show. Future Wheel? Tom Gore did a backup quiz about baseball.

 

Today’s program was Brian Floriani, founder of Bernie’s Book Bank. Brian has led an interesting life. He spent several years in the golf business as a professional after winning the Delaware state championship, jumped out of a perfectly good airplane, was a gondola operator at Telluride, and drove a Zamboni. He returned to the area and became an elementary teacher for 2 years in Zion teaching reading and the experience changed his life. His dad and grandmother died in the same month. His dad was Bernie and during the eulogy he decided to start Bernie’s Book Bank to honor his father.

Educating children is harder when they are under resourced. The kids in Zion were behind in reading but eager to learn. No books were sent home with the kids because they were never returned. He realized that book ownership was critical. 61% of low income homes have no books.  Brian’s father Bernie was the Director of the reading institute for the state of Delaware. Brian started the book bank with $5,000 on a credit card. The initial goal was to place 8 books per year in low-income homes. He wanted to be efficient, sustainable and scalable. He wants to operate as a business and a brand. 

Brian partners with local charities. They have distributed books to 315,000 kids in the Chicagoland area. They expect to distribute 100 – 150,000 books per year. He has volunteers of all ages from 5 up. “The only way to serve yourself is to serve others. There are chapters in Milwaukee and Tampa. The goal is to serve 20 million kids by 2045. Each book bag cost $21 in all. Books come from publisher over runs and donations. They accept used children’s books for up to 6^th grade level. They are having a Book Lovers Luncheon on May 29^th. For more information see: berniesbookbank.org.

 

-Daily: $31 won by Steve Risley who donated the winnings to Bernie’s Book Bank. 

-Progressive: $1,065 (22 cards). Jeff Harger drew the jack of spades. ROLLOVER!

 

-Greeter and Prayer: Jim Curtis.

-Fun & Frolics: Malvena Lube.

-Program: Jim Wojdyla from the Volo Car Museum.

 

Donations to the Food Pantry totaled $293.

 

-Rich Babjak led us in the Four Way Test.

 

“There is no crying in baseball!” – Tom Hanks in :” A League of It’s Own.”