Unless otherwise specifically indicated regular morning meetings will continue to be held at 7:30 am in hybrid form, so that members and guests can participate either in person at the Harbor Club in Gillson Park or by Zoom. The link to the hybrid meeting will be emailed to members, guests and others within the community who express an interest in attending. Those attending in person are reminded of recent Cook County directives relating to the wearing of masks indoors.
Upcoming Events and Meetings
February 2, 2022 Evening Event -- Environmental Committee Book Discussion -- 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
The Environmental Committee of the Club will host a discussion of The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan. The discussion will be available by Zoom only. Members and guests are invited to participate even if they have not yet had the opportunity to read the book, because the discussion will generally encompass the history and current status of the Great Lakes.
A Zoom link will be distributed to members and others interested in participating.
February 2, 2022 Membership Committee Meeting -- 7:30 am to 8:30 am
The Membership Committee of the Club will meet on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 from 7:30 am to 8:30 am. The meeting will be conducted by Zoom only.
A Zoom link will be distributed to members.
February 9, 2022 Regular Meeting -- Melissa Custic, The Morton Arboretum
Melissa Custic, Chicago Region Trees Initiative Operations Manager of The Morton Arboretum will offer a presentation on "Urban Forest Update: What's Going on with our Trees?"
February 23, 2022 Regular Meeting -- A "Community Conversation"with Kari Cremascoli, Superintendent of Schools, Wilmette Public Schools District 39
Kari Cremascoli, Ph.D. will provide an update of developments at Wilmette Public Schools District 39. This presentation will be the first of the Club's 2022 "Community Conversation" series.
Recent Meetings
January 26, 2022 Regular Meeting -- Annual Meeting and Club Forum
The Annual Meeting of the Club included election of officers and directors for the 2022-23 year. Club members present unanimously elected the slate, including John Kay as President Nominee (to serve as President-Elect in 2022-23 and President in 2023-24) and Heidi Vorhees as Club Secretary starting in 2022-23. We thank and congratulate John, Heidi and all of the other officers and directors.
January 29, 2022 Book Drive
The Environmental Committee held a very successful Book Drive on January 29, 2022, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am The drop off location for donated books was Hong Kong Auto Service at 3500 Lake Street in Wilmette. The Club particularly thanks other local Rotary Clubs and Go Green Wilmette for participating in this Book Drive.
January 19, 2022 Regular Meeting -- Joe Ferguson, Former Inspector General of the City of Chicago
Joe Ferguson, former Inspector General of the City of Chicago, made a compelling and informative presentation to the Club, describing his service as Inspector General and the current status of the Inspector General and other government oversight functions in Chicago.
Joe Ferguson recently concluded a 12-year tenure leading the Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG), serving under three mayors. Chicago OIG is a nationally regarded municipal oversight agency with a professional staff of over 100 people conducting independent administrative and criminal investigations, government performance audits and program evaluations and inspections of operations and personnel (over 35,000 employees, officials, contractors, vendors and licensees) of the City of Chicago and associated governmental entities. Ferguson worked in the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois where he investigated and litigated a wide array of criminal and civil cases and held multiple management posts including as Deputy of the Financial Crimes Section, Chief of the Money Laundering and Forfeiture Section and Terrorist Financing Coordinator. He has held teaching posts. He presently is a lecturer at Loyola University (Chicago) Law School, where he is a founding Co-Director of its National Security and Civil Rights program. He also has taught at the UIC John Marshall Law School, Lake Forest College, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) National Advocacy Center and the DOJ Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development and Training. Ferguson received a J.D. from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and B.A. from Lake Forest College. Ferguson presently is a Pritzker Fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.
January 12, 2022 Regular Meeting -- Ten Thousand Villages
Robb Geiger and Joseph Meyer, both from the Ten Thousand Villages store in Evanston, provided a lively and informative introduction to principles of Fair Trade, discussed examples of fair and unfair trade, and described Fair Trade products available at their stores.
Robb Geiger has been volunteering at the Evanston store since 2010, and he has been on the Board of Ten Thousand Villages for seven years; he is the current Chair. Joseph Meyer has been manager of the Evanston store for seven years; has has over 30 years of retail experience, both in large and small stores.
January 5, 2022, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm Our Place Tour and Talk
Jane Gallery, President of the Board of Our Place, invited Club members and guests for a tour and talk at 1020 Forest Avenue in Wilmette on January 5. The mission of Our Place is to support teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities so that they can live meaningful, productive, socially connected lives in their home community. Members of the Club participating learned more about the wonderful activities and volunteer opportunities at Our Place.
Last year, the Club participated in a concert fundraiser to provide support to Our Place.
A detailed description of the activities and history of Our Place can be found at ourplaceofnewtrier.org
Greg Michel
We are sad to report that long-time former member Greg Michel has passed away. We understand that no services are planned at this time. Our deep condolences to Greg's loved ones and thanks to Greg for his many years of service with the Club and Rotary.