News Story for November 15, 2021

November 17, 2021 Meeting -- Bill Selonick, Teatro ZinZanni

The next regular meeting of the Club will be held at the Harbor Club in Gillson Park on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at 7:30 am and will feature Bill Selonick, producer, Teatro ZinZanni.  Teatro Zinzanni is a theater production now running in downtown Chicago with Cirque, Clowning and Broadway quality vocals.  Bill Selonick will detail the origins of Teatro ZinZanni and the work required to navigate the Payroll Protection Program and Shuttered Venues Program that ensured the show's survival.

As has been the case for recent meetings of the Club, the meeting will be held in hybrid form, so that members and guests can participate either in person and 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.  

November 10, 2021 Meeting -- Amy Torf, Executive Director, Noggin Builders and Noggin Builders Foundation

The November 10, 2021 meeting of the Club featured a presentation by Amy Torf, Executive Director of Noggin Builders and Noggin Builders Foundation. 

Noggin Builders Foundation’s mission is to develop and enhance the creative problem solving skills of youth through unique, hands-on STEM experiences.  Noggin Builders Foundation provides low-cost or no-cost STEM programming to children who do not have ongoing access to STEM.

November 3, 2021 Community Conversation on Race: A Welcoming Community

On the evening of November 3, 2021 the Club hosted a Community Conversation on Race: A Welcoming Community. This panel discussion panel furthered the Club's continuing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative.

Van Gilmer of the Wilmette Human Relations Commission moderated an informative and lively discussion. The panelists were as follows:

Miya Hasegawa, Healing Everyday Racism in Our Schools (HEROs) member
John Jacoby, Village of Wilmette Historian and former Village of Wilmette President
Rev. Erin Raska, Associate Minister at Glencoe Union Church
Gerry Smith, Chair, Village of Wilmette Human Relations Commission

Making this event a success was truly a team effort of many Club members. Special thanks to Susan Fisher and George Pearce for organizing this event (and special thanks to the wonderful panelists for the event).  The event was recorded on Zoom.  Please contact Mike Bailey at mike@mbaileylaw.com if you would like to view the recorded program.
 
Fundraising  to Support Refugees at Camp Atterbury
 
Over the past few weeks the Club has completed a very successful fundraising efforts to support refugees at Camp Atterbury in Southern Indiana.  Special thanks to Sue Watson for her service volunteering at Camp Atterbury, providing information about the refugee needs at Camp Atterbury and leading our Club's special fundraising efforts. Thanks also to the other local Rotary Clubs who joined us in this effort.
 
 
The Club's Holiday Fundraiser is Now a Focus of the Club
 
The Club is now past the mid-point of its annual Holiday Fundraiser. Funds and contributions raised in this fundraiser enable the Club, through its Foundation, to support a wide range of charitable and other community organizations and programs. The fundraiser includes a variety of gifts for purchase, a raffle and ways to contribute to the Club's Foundation. Please consider submitting orders before Thanksgiving. Please see
 
www.rotarygifts.com
 
for more information or to order online. Thanks to Jim Waite, Jim Pockcross and the entire Fundraising Committee for their great work on this Club effort.  Please contact Jim Waite with any questions.
 
Club Member Jim Pockross to Host a Thanksgiving Ceremony of Gratitude
 
Club Member Jim Pockross will host a Ceremony of Gratitude on Thanksgiving morning. During the event, participants will share with others what people and things they are grateful for in their lives. The event will be held on Zoom at 10:00 am Central Time. The Zoom link will be forwarded to any who express an interest in participating.
 

Edens Pollination Garden

On November 10, 2021, the Village of Wilmette installed a sign at the Pollination Garden at Lake and Laramie in Wilmette recognizing the Club's contribution to that project.

October 27, 2021 Meeting

The October 27, 2021 meeting featured an engaging and information presentation by Michael Clarke, owner of the Pit & Tap restaurant that recently opened at 1168 Wilmette Avenue in downtown Wilmette. 

The October 27, 2021 meeting also included an update of the Club's extraordinary fundraising efforts to support refugees at Camp Atterbury.

October 13, 2021 Meeting -- Exodus World Service

The October 13, 2021 regular meeting of the Club featured Carissa Zaffiro of Exodus World Service.  Carissa discussed the efforts of her organization to support refugees in this time of pressing needs. Her presentation complemented the Club's special initiative to provide support to refugees at Camp Atterbury in Indiana.

More About the Club's Community Conversation Series

 
Each Community Conversation provides an opportunity for one or more community leaders to discuss important developments the community.  The Community Conversations also present an opportunity for those in attendance to ask questions and offer comments.  Interested members of the community are invited to join us.
 
The Club usually will be holding Community Conversations on the last Wednesday of each month at 7:30 am at the Harbor Club in Gillson Park, and also usually be available by Zoom in hybrid meeting form (although please note that some events in our Community Conversation series may be held in the evening on the first Wednesday of a month).  Our next Community Conversation will be scheduled for the end of January 2022.
 
Our first Community Conversation was held on June 30, and featured Steve Wilson, Executive Director of the Wilmette Park District.   Our second Community Conversation, held on July 28, 2021, featured Anthony Austin, Director of the Wilmette Public Library.   Our third Community Conversation was held on August 25, 2021, and featured John Jacoby with an interesting presentation about his new book Wilmette at 150.  Our fourth Community Conversation, held on September 29, 2021 featured Julie Wolf, Chair of the Wilmette Environmental Commission.  Julie offered an enlightening description of the development of the Village of Wilmette's Sustainability Plan.
 
Please contact Mike Bailey at Mike@mbaileylaw.com if you would like to obtain a copy of Julie's PowerPoint presentation.
 
The fifth Community Conversation in our series was the "A Conversation on Race:  A Welcoming Community." held on the  evening of Wednesday, November 3, 2021.  
 
Community Conversation meetings generally will continue to be held in hybrid form, so that members and guests can participate either in person and 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.  
 
World Polio Day -- the Club's Activities to led by Frank Hussey
 
World Polio Day was October 24.  Rotary and its partners have reduced polio cases by 99.9% since 1998.  See
endpol.io/wpd
 
Thanks to Frank Hussey for leading our Club's activities by fundraising activities on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 22, 23 and 24.  
 
Environmental Committee News:
 
Book Drive -- Open Books
The Environmental Committee is organizing a book drive this year with Open Books, following the successful book drive last year.  The book drive is tentatively scheduled for the morning of Saturday, January 29, 2022.
 
 
Elmwood Dunes Volunteer Opportunity
The Wilmette lunch club After Dark (RAD) group has a project to help preserve the native plants at Elmwood Dunes Preserve by pulling out the choke weeks that threaten the natural plants in the upper garden.
 
They will be scheduling Saturday 10:30 am volunteer days and will welcome our club's support.  Ben Ivory will share details of their next volunteer day.
 
Environmental Book Selection
Based on the success of the DEI book discussion, the Environmental Committee is in the process of finalizing a selection for an environmental book for the Club to read.  If you have a suggestion, please send to Ben Ivory or Maureen Barry.   The Club tentatively plans to set aside one of our "first Wednesday" evening events for discussion of the book selected.