President Harger opened the meeting and Jim Babowice led us in the pledge. Bob Stemper gave us a thoughtful prayer and guests included Yatziri and Sam "Bacon Boy" Pinsel. Rev. Paulson led us in a rendition of "You are my Sunshine". Where are those song books? If we pass a continuing resolution, can we get some new songs?
BRAGS:
-Dr. Dave Potts just returned from a 10 day trip to England with the Libertyville Bank & Trust group.
-Tucker Olson bragged that the Club cleared $35k from the Brainerd Fundraiser. This is $8k more than we made on any previous event.
-Ron Lapins recently turned 60 and celebrated with four generations of his family including his 89 year old father!
-Seb Cattanach told us her new company is doing well and she is going to Europe for two weeks for business.
-Scott Hezner just celebrated 29 years of marriage. Son Mason has an apartment in the city and is officially off the payroll.
-Teri Dreher reminded us of the Tanzania trip in November. They hope to raise enough money to build a second playground.
-Rev. Brian Paulson told us his Church is presenting the living Bible next weekend. Brian loves being in the Club because we do so much for the community.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
-Phil Gafka has resigned because of business reasons.
-The Club will be out shortly with a survey on how to make the Club better.
-There will be a makeup credit issued for taking Yatziri for an evening.
-Prez Harger is meeting with the Noon Club Prez to pursue joint projects.
-Tom Zengler announced that the "Coats for Vets" Campaign is now underway. Any and all clothing is needed including childrens clothing. Jeff Harger presented Tom with a plaque that has been missing since 2010 for event sponsorship.
- Elliott will conduct his 21st gift drive during the holidays. He will be on trial the first few weeks of December, so he needs help with collecting and distributing the gifts. See Elliott if you would like to help out.
-Steve Risley announced that "Rotary Reads" will be on Thursday October 17th from 10 to 11 at Dist 70 and Oak Grove schools.
-Pat Hart told us that Pumpkinfest is October 5th this year. Sign up next week.
FUN & FROLICS: Rick Mittleman entertained us with games of Study Hall Football.
PROGRAM: Oue speaker today was Dan Stearns, General Mananger of Independence Grove Forest Preserve. Dan has been in charge for 14 years. He was hired 9 months before IG opened. IG is an abandoned gravel pit that the Forest Preserve District purchased in 1978. The District was paid 16 cents per ton for the remaining gravel and that raised $4.5mil to start the project. Final cost was $17 mil.
IG has a 115 acre spring fed lake and 70 acres of prairie, and is home to many species of wildlife. IG is part of an 8000 acre greenway that runs North and South through Lake County. The Forest Preserve owns 80% of the Des Plaines River's banks in Lake County. Enterprise Funds were used to complete the project and much more was developed than originally envisioned.
Today, IG is self sustaining. Revenues come from rentals, catering, corporate events and a summer concert series. Concerts typically draw 500 to 2500 people each. The annual budget includes a 20% surplus for maintenance and reserves. Last year IG had 295,000 guests. The name Independence Grove is the original name for Libertyville.
RAFFLE:
-Daily: $41 won by Tucker Olson
-Progressive: $1156 with 16 cards. Bill Taranowski drew the King of Diamonds. Can you say rollover?
NEXT WEEK:
-Greeter & Prayer: Dr. Tony Collins
-Fun & Frolics: Larry Neal
-Program: Mae Watts Parrish: Libertyville real estate.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "When you care, people will notice".
