At the Rotary Club Meeting on June 23rd, I would like your comments and approval on the recommended changes to our Club By-Laws. (These changes have already been approved by the Board.) I have attached both the new and the old versions. I am not providing a red-lined copy, because I moved sections around so that the new By-Laws would be more concise.
Instead, here is a link from Perplexity (an AI search engine) comparing the two documents:
The attached document contains recommended revisions to our current Club By-Laws. The primary goals of these changes are to streamline and clarify the existing language, consolidate related sections for easier reference, and ensure consistency with our current practices and Rotary International guidance.
Substantive provisions regarding governance, membership, officers, committees, and financial oversight are preserved, with only limited updates where needed for clarity or alignment.
The By-Laws also retain explicit provisions for a Satellite Club, so that option remains available to us in the future. I am requesting the Club's comments and approval of these revisions at our upcoming meeting.
These documents were sent out previously – please contact Sandy TODAY if you need an update. We will be voting on Tuesday.
If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know ahead of time so that we can move forward with approvals.
A new Club Constitution will also need to be adopted at the same time but that is pro forma, as RI mandates that we approve the standard RI Constitution.
Again, please let me know if you have any comments or concerns.
Sandy
Image from: SOUTHERN RENSSELAER COUNTY ROTARY CLUB
In Rotary, we're linked by our connections - the friends we've made, the work we've done, and the things we've seen and heard.
And when you attend a Rotary International Convention, your connections - and your understanding of Rotary - expand exponentially. In Taipei, I've been reminded of the reach of our organization - by how much Rotary accomplishes around the world, and by its resolve to make an even greater impact.
That's why we joined Rotary - to work with others to Make a Difference in our communities and around the world. That requires our time, our commitment... and our money. Thanks for your generosity to your Rotary club's projects, and to The Rotary Foundation.
As the Rotary year ends on June 30th, I hope you'll consider making another gift to The Rotary Foundation, to support our efforts to make lasting change.
If you have any questions about The Rotary Foundation or giving, please contact me.
As I look at the current donation numbers, I’m encouraged that we are moving in a positive direction in the fight to eradicate Polio in the world. However, just like the marathon runners at mile twenty-four we need to make a big final push to accomplish our goal. I’m sure that every club is making plans for the “Worlds Largest Polio Walk” coming up on October 24th, 2026, but it’s June 20th and you have a few days to process your year-enddonation. Even if you’re at the bottom of the organizational chart, you can still be a leader. Leadership is a behavior, NOT a title – be a leader and make a donation.
Two new Wild Polio paralysis cases were reported this week. We are now 5 weeks since the most recent report of a child being paralyzed by the Wild Polio Virus in Afghanistan.
Total Wild Polio cases
Year-to-date 2026
Total
2025
Total
2024
Total
2023
Total
2022
Globally
9
52
99
12
30
- in endemic countries:
9
52
99
12
22
2026 YTD Total Polio Cases (9 Wild + 66 Variant) = 75 2025 Year Total Polio Cases (52 Wild + 233 Variant) = 285
Renowned bioethicist John Kilner recently demonstrated a valuable resource to members of our Rotary club at a club meeting. For those unable to attend, here's a brief description of the resource and how you can make use of it for free. Every adult ought to have an advance directive. It identifies who you want to make medical decisions for you when you are no longer able to make them--as well as the values and priorities you want them to honor when they make those decisions.
You can now go to the website MedicalDecisions.info anytime to create a legally valid advance directive or to make a major medical decision that reflects your personal beliefs and priorities. This resource is completely private--you provide no personal information, username, etc.--and it is completely free (no ads!)--all the costs have been paid already, as a service to you. (As an aside, I used this for my Advanced Directive and found it incredibly helpful.)
About John F. Kilner, PhD
Emeritus Fellow
Advisory Board Member
John F. Kilner, PhD recently retired as the Franklin Forman Chair of Ethics, Professor of Bioethics and Contemporary Culture, and the Director of Bioethics Degree Programs at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. From the 1994 founding of The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity until 2005, Dr. Kilner served as the Center’s President and CEO. He presently serves as an Emeritus Fellow in the Academy of Fellows of The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity.
An author of numerous articles in such journals as the Hastings Center Report; Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law; American Journal of Public Health; Archives of Internal Medicine; Mayo Clinic Proceedings; American Journal of Jurisprudence; Interpretation; and Ethics & Medicine, he has written or edited over 20 books. His award-winning Dignity and Destiny: Humanity in the Image of God (2015) has most recently been followed by Why People Matter: A Christian Engagement with Rival Views of Human Significance (2017). Earlier books include Why the Church Needs Bioethics;Biotechnology and the Human Good; Life on the Line; Who Lives? Who Dies?; Cutting Edge Bioethics; The Reproduction Revolution; Bioethics and the Future of Medicine; Dignity and Dying; Genetic Ethics; The Changing Face of Health Care; Basic Questions on Genetics, Stem Cell Research, and Cloning; Basic Questions on Healthcare; Basic Questions on Reproductive Technology; Basic Questions on Alternative Medicine; Basic Questions on End of Life Decisions; and Basic Questions on Suicide and Euthanasia.
His interests have been shaped significantly by extended periods of study and research in inner-city Boston, Kenya, and Switzerland. A frequent speaker and seminar leader, he most commonly addresses issues related to resource allocation, age-based and other forms of rationing, treatment termination, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, human cloning, assisted reproduction, genetic intervention, stem cell research, ethical methodology, cultural values, and social change. Dr. Kilner has been interviewed in such television venues as NBC (with Tom Brokaw), FOX News (with Bill O’Reilly), CBS, CNN, and PAX, such radio venues as National Public Radio, Moody Broadcasting Network, and Salem Network, and such newspaper venues as the New York Times, Washington Times, and Chicago Tribune.
Previously, Dr. Kilner served as Senior Associate at The Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith, and Ethics, and as an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University Medical School, both in Chicago. Prior to his move to the Chicago area, he was an associate professor of social and medical ethics at Asbury Theological Seminary, directed the ethics grand rounds program at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, taught medical ethics as an adjunct professor at the University of Kentucky, and served as hospital ethicist for St. Joseph Hospital, Lexington, KY.
After completing a BA degree (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) at Yale University, he earned an MDiv degree (summa cum laude, valedictorian) from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He also holds an AM and a PhD "With Distinction" in religious ethics, with an emphasis in bioethics, from Harvard University. While there, he received the Newcombe, Danforth, Eisenhower, DeKarman, Roothbert, Merit, Howe, and Sheldon awards. More recently he has received the national Educator of the Year Award from Christian Medical & Dental Associations and the international Paul Ramsey Award for Exemplary Achievement in the Field of Bioethics from The Center for Bioethics & Culture Network.
Rotary/One President Nancy Kalchbrenner is hosting a unique bus‑and‑walking tour across Chicago, honoring the city’s memorials, flags, and Rotary history.
We’ll visit Mount Hope Cemetery, stop at the Paul Harris Home, and pass the new Obama Center on our way back to iconic Rotary sites downtown.
Afterward, stick around for a celebratory lunch recognizing our CPS Grant Recipients.
1st and 3rd Tues of each month 12:15 to 1:30
Max and Benny's
461 Waukegan Road
Northbrook
2nd Tue of each month 5:30 to 7 PM
Acorn Grill
Heritage Oaks Country Club
3535 Dundee Road
Northbrook
4th Tue of each month 5:30 to 7
Social
