Written by Patrick Hart

 

President Eliot Pinsel opened our meeting with a pledge and a prayer, and Dennis Kratohwil led us in singing “To the Halls of Montezuma” in honor of Veterans Day.

 

Also in the spirit of Veterans Day, Rick Mittelman read from a letter, which his father wrote to Rick’s uncle, while he was a soldier during World War II. The narrative included a vivid account of a fist fight, which he engaged in with another soldier in the latrine, and demonstrated that soldiers going to war did not always get along.

 

Eliot Pinsel bragged about a recent trip he took to New Orleans, which he says is a great city to visit, but he would not want to live there.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

-Jon Robb mentioned that he still needs volunteers to help pack wine at ten o’ clock this Sunday morning. November 13.  Contact Jon Robb if you are available.

 

-Eliot Pinsel will bring a bus to our November 30 meeting to pick up the ornaments donated to his holiday gift event.

 

-Just when we all thought that we would nuts, if we had to listen to another election ad, Elliott reminded us that it is time to start thinking about our annual club election.  We need board members and a president elect for next year.

 

Howard Jaffe hosted fun & frolics this week with a free throw basketball contest, and the great thing about his event was that we all participated and all got equal court time.  We were each allowed to take one shot at the basket, which most of us missed.

 

Our program this week was presented by Patrick Blake, from Kirk Players.

 

Kirk Players began 56 years ago when the group presented a show at the Kirk of the Lakes Presbyterian Church in Mundelein, to raise funds to help Vietnamese children with cleft palates; and they have been presenting theatrical performances in numerous local venues ever since. They consider themselves a service organization that gives service through the theater.  They are a 501(c)(3) organization, and they maintain their nonprofit status by donating any profits from their plays to community improvement.  Kirk Players fund a lot of scholarships, and they run free workshops for youths who are interested in the theater.

 

Patrick has been performing for Kirk Players for 29 years, and he has been in dozens of shows.  He says he likes the rolls where he can become more animated, and one of his favorite times was when he played Captain Hook in a version of Peter Pan entitled “Peter and Wendy.” Patrick will be directing a play which Kirk Players is putting on next June named “Morning at Seven” which focuses on four sisters in their 60s who are living in a small midwestern town in 1928. 

 

He says that Kirk Players puts on very few musicals, because the royalties that a theater has to pay for a musical are much higher than they would pay for other plays.  About five years ago though they presented “Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up.” They do put on a lot of children’s plays.

 

The group has also presented plays that deal with significant societal issues.  They did a show a couple of years ago in celebration of the 150^th anniversary of women’s suffrage. They have also done a show on Anne Frank.

 

 

This week the kitchen at Lambs Farm was unavailable, but being a man who does not back down from a challenge, President Pinsel merely declared it to be “bring your own breakfast week”, and we had a meeting the likes of which I have not seen in my entire twenty-eight years in Rotary.    

 

I must admit that I was skeptical whether this wingding was really going to work, especially since instead of instructing different members to bring specific items, so we would end up with a nice variety of breakfast cuisine, our fearless leader merely asked everyone to bring something to share. I am pleased to admit though that the results were a remarkable feast. Everyone came with whatever the spirits inspired them to share with their fellow club members that morning, and we all enjoyed a lovely spread, which included eggs, and donuts, and bacon, and donuts, and fresh fruit, and donuts.  It was a very tasty culinary experience, especially if you are one of those people who appreciates donuts, which appears to include a high percentage of Libertyville Sunrise Rotarians.  I give it six stars!

 

 

 

This time we had $23.00 for a weekly prize, and a dazzling $1,027.00 in our progressive pot with only 17 cards left.  Move over Power Ball the big players have arrived!   Rick Mittelman’s ticket came up first, and he went for the mega bucks.  Rick was bitterly disappointed, when he failed to pull the ace of spades, thus triggering another rollover, but everyone else in the room seemed to take his loss okay.  Then Dave Potts once again won the weekly prize, which seems to have become his modus operandi.

 

Greeter and Prayer:  Doug Fendon

 

Fun & Frolics:  Dennis Kratohwil

 

QUOTE FOR THE DAY:

~William Shakespeare