Unless otherwise specifically indicated regular Wednesday 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.
Rotary Responses to the Crisis in Ukraine
The thoughts and prayers of so many of us are with the courageous people of Ukraine.
The following is a summary of some of the opportunities to contribute through Rotary:
How to Donate
The Rotary Foundation Disaster Response Fund
1. Cash Donations: Click here to donate. https://my.rotary.org/en/disaster-response-fund
2. District Designated Donations (DDF): Clubs can donate their unallocated District Designated Funds to the Disaster Response Fund by completing the jotForm that will be coming out from the Grants Committee very soon. There is no cash requirement.
River Cities Response to the Crisis in Ukraine
1. Donations to our collaborative efforts with Rotary Club Kyiv International can be made via PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=X4RN2CEWRXGMU
2. Alternatively, checks payable to Rotary Club of River Cities can be sent to Alex Todd (our club treasurer) at the Prospect Heights Library, 12 N. Elm Street, Prospect Heights, IL 60070
ShelterBox: https://www.shelterboxusa.org/donate/ Please include "for and in honor of the Ukrainian people", your club name, District 6440, and Donna Lee Gulley as ShelterBox Ambassador. Credit card at website or mail to ShelterBox. PO Box 5055, Santa Barbara, CA 93150.
Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund in support of Ukraine can be made online at Disaster Response Fund | My Rotary. All funds need to be received into the Disaster Response Fund by 30 April, 2022 in order to qualify for use in support of the Ukrainian relief efforts.
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March 30, 2022 -- Brian Lambel, Fire Chief, Village of Wilmette
Brian Lambel, Fire Chief of the Village of Wilmette, will provide an update of the Fire Department, including a review of his first year serving as Fire Chief and the Fire Department's Stategic Plan.
The meeting will also include recognition of several of the Club's donors to The Rotary Foundation.
April 6, 2022 Evening Event -- Wilmette Theatre Tour and Talk
Amy Falkowski, Program Director of the Wilmette Theatre, will provide a tour of the Wimette Theatre, including recent renovations, and a talk describing the programming and activities of the Wilmette Theatre. The Wilmette Theatre is located in downtown Wilmette at 1122 Central Avenue.
April 13, 2022 -- Barbara Tubekis, Executive Director, The Volunteer Center
Barbara Tubekis, Executive Director, will describe the current activities of The Volunteer Center, located in Winnetka, Illinois.
May 4, 2022 Evening Meeting -- Senta Plunkett, Wilmette Village President
Senta Plunkett, Village President of Wilmette, will present in the Club's 2022 series of "Community Conversations."
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 certain months 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 will be held in the evening on the first Wednesday of a month).
Our first Community Conversation was held on June 30, 2021 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. Our fifth Community Conversation was held on the evening of November 3, 2021, when Club hosted a Community Conversation on Race: A Welcoming Community. This panel discussion panel furthered the Club's continuing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative.
At the Club's November 2, 2021 Community Conversation, 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
Our sixth Community Conversation, held on February 23, 2022, featured Kari Cremascoli, Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools, Wilmette Public Schools District 39.
March 23, 2022 Regular Meeting -- Discussion of Options for Making Contributions to Relieve the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis: Suzanne Gibson, Andy Ullman, Donna Lee Gulley and Others
The the Club had a robust discussion options for contributing to relieve the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, with a particular focus on the activities and opportunities of Rotary.
In response to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, The Rotary Foundation has created an official channel for Rotary members around the world to contribute funds to support the relief efforts underway by Rotary Districts and has designated its Disaster Response Fund as the main avenue for contributions. Suzanne Gibson spoke about the Disaster Relief Fund and the credibility of The Rotary Foundation on the world stage for using funds wisely and giving the impacted area the ability to create grants specific to their needs.
Andy Ullman of the River Cities Rotary Club discussed direct financial aid to Rotarians on the ground in Kiev, describing his Club's interactions with a Rotary Club Kiev International.
Donna Lee Gulley, Rotary Shelter Box Ambassador, discussed the Shelter Box's role as a trusted partner of Rotary for many years, on many continents and many dire situations.
Please contact Mike Bailey at mike@mbaileylaw.com if you would like to receive a powerpoint of the presentation describing these initiatives and opportunities.
Other Recent Meetings
March 16, 2022 Regular Meeting -- Anna Wright, Purple Valley Farm
Anna Wright provided a delightful and informative presentation on bees and her Purple Valley Farm apiary located in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
Purple Valley Farm is an eco-friendly farm with a handful of hives nestled among our heirloom fruit trees. The farm is run by Kenilworth native, Anna Swisher Wright. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Jonesborough, TN, the farm operates the old-fashioned way, sustainably harvesting honey by hand and bottling one jar at a time.
Samples of Purple Valley Farm honey will continue to be available to those attending regular meetings in person.
March 9, 2022 Regular Meeting -- Raul Guzman, Blue Star Recyclers
Raul Guzman, Plant Manager of Blue Star Recyclers at its nearby facility, provided an informative description of the mission and activities of Blue Star Recyclers.
Blue Star Recylers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to create jobs for adults with autism and other developmental differences, along with providing established electronics recycling services. Blue Star handles most types of electronic waste. More information can be found at the following:
bluestarrecyclers.com
March 2, 2002 Evening Event -- Visit to Block Museum "A Site of Struggle" Exhibition
On March 2, 2022 members of the Club and guests toured a powerful and compelling exhibition at the Block Museum on the Northwestern University campus for the Club's "first Wednesday" event for March.
The exhibition is A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence and the visit was in furtherance of the Club's ongoing DEI initiative. Further information about the exhibition can be found at the following:
https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/exhibitions/2022/a-site-of-struggle.html
After the visit to the exhibition the Club hosted a gathering to discuss the exhibition. The Club thanks the Block Museum for providing an introduction to the exhibition and for welcoming our group.
February 23, 2022 Regular Meeting -- A "Community Conversation"with Kari Cremascoli, Superintendent of Schools, Wilmette Public Schools District 39
Kari Cremascoli, Ph.D. provided an update of developments at Wilmette Public Schools District 39. Dr. Cremascoli provided an engaging update of District 39's strategic plan, recent changes in policies relating to masks and other developments. This presentation was the first of the Club's 2022 "Community Conversation" series.
February 9, 2022 Regular Meeting -- Melissa Custic, Chicago Region Trees Initiative
Melissa Custic, Chicago Region Trees Initiative Operations Manager in affiliation with The Morton Arboretum offered a presentation on "Urban Forest Update: What's Going on with our Trees?"
Melissa provided a great presentation on the Chicago Region Trees Initiative. Please contact Mike Bailey at mike@mbaileylaw.com if you would like to receive a powerpoint of the presentation.
February 2, 2022 Evening Event -- Environmental Committee Book Discussion -- 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
The Environmental Committee of the Club hosted a discussion of The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan. Ben Ivory led an engaging an informative discussion of the book and of the history and current condition of the Great Lakes. The group discussed the steps ordinary citizens can consider to help to preserve the Great Lakes and how the themes of the book relate to the Rotary test "Is it the truth?" Particular thanks to Ben Ivory for arranging this event and for preparing a video and interesting slides for discussion by the group.
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 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.