BULLETIN – January 21, 2026
By Bob Zamor
President Tom Gore rang the bell, Rick Mittelman led us in the Pledge, and Greeter Ron Lapins, led us in prayer. Albeit without a formal Song Meister, members rendered a rousing rendition of “Bear Down Chicago Bears”. It appeared Risley, Miller and Hezner carried the lyrics through to the end, while the rest of us hummed, stumbled, or pretended to mouth the words. Packer Fan Rickert remained mute on Zoom ;)
BRAGS: -Tom Miller bragged about his 2-week Caribbean Cruise with his better half. He and Cheryl were joined by Howie & Bev and a good time was had by all.
- Bill Taranowski couldn’t believe that his daughter actually gets to go take classes during the day while at work. He certainly could believe all the good things he’s heard about Scandinavia after returning from a trip there.
SPECIAL EVENT: Rick Mittelman recognized Jim Curtis for his multiple-level Paul Harris status and presented him with his pin.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: -While we’ll await Howard Jaffe’s return for up-to-date numbers, President Gore and Raffle-Meister Schoeneman reminded members to buy their fundraising tickets and bring their silent auction items to a meeting or drop them off at the Centre Club.
FUN & FROLICS: Doug Southgate, filling in for Doug Fendon, demonstrated our lack of geopolitical and historical knowledge of Venezuela, as well as little bit of Colombia (or was it Columbia….I’m so confused). Had he not asked the one true/false question, I’m afraid we’d have scored a big goose-egg. Even grading on the curve didn’t help!
PROGRAM: Our speaker this morning was Colonel Paul Hettich (Ret.). As a member of the Executive Committee on the Board of Directors of the Veterans Assistance Commission of Lake County (VACLC), Paul spoke firsthand of issues that veterans face when returning from deployments. After 32 years of service and 5 combat tours, he spoke of how the Veteran’s Administration, the VACLC, and numerous other organizations support our veterans address a myriad of issues. Lake County is home to nearly 100,000 veterans, with the fastest growing veteran population in the Country. Paul was proud to report that Illinois is only second to Texas in veteran benefits. This is in part due to the requirement that our county earmarks 0.25% of revenues to the VAVLC which results in $11 million to fund programs. With this funding and a staff of 26 employees, they are able to leverage a total of over $38 million for veteran benefits. The VACLC also has a 501(c)3 that accepts donations.
Thank you, Colonel Hettich, for your service.
RAFFLE:
-Daily: $ 30 won by Dave Westlake
-Progressive: With $720 in the pot and 32 cards remaining, Rich Schoeneman drew the 5 of Clubs. ROLLOVER!
NEXT WEEK: January 28, 2026
-Greeter & Prayer: Jim Laverdiere
-Fun & Frolics & Bingo: Glenn Garlick
-Program: Dan Palmeiri will present a program on the Bed Ministry
