Presiding was President Steve Goranson and the Thought for the Day was presented by Carol Bild.
Announcements
President Steve Goranson reminded the attendees of the following upcoming events scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 6:
RI event – Rollin’ With Rotary - to be held at the RI building on Thursday, Aug. 6, starting at 11:00 a.m.
A little Rollin' with Rotary yoga in front of RI headquarters
Helping at the Friendship Garden – 10-11 a.m.
Another and perhaps more poignant opportunity is to have a group of Rotary members meet at the International Friendship Garden (at McCormick, just north of Golf Rd) from -10-11 a.m. to meet the Rollin’ with Rotary crew as they are videotaped touring and freshening-up the garden. Wally Bobkiewicz, President of the Rotary Club of Evanston, reports that the garden just needs weeding. He will bring gloves and garbage bags. This is a good opportunity for local Rotarians. Bring a weeding tool to lend a hand.
Bags will be distributed beginning at 4:30 p.m. at the Davis Street Metra and CTA train stations. Jane Lawicki at RI would greatly appreciate some assistance in delivering 350 bags from One Rotary Center to each station at 4 p.m. and helping with the bag distribution. NOTE: Wally Bobkiewicz, President of the Rotary Club of Evanston, reported that the City of Evanston is providing three to four interns to help distribute bags from their Sustainability group.
Local Rotary members are encouraged to attend the 7 p.m. Dance party at Fountain Square in downtown Evanston! We would encourage everyone to wear an End Polio Now shirt (or other Rotary clothing) if they don’t have an EPN shirt. (Regrettably, there will not be EPN shirts on-sale at the dance.)
Steve also mentioned the Family Fun Day at US Cellular Field on Tuesday, Aug. 4, at 7 p.m.
Steve indicated that more volunteers were needed for the club picnic scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 6 p.m. A sign-up sheet was distributed to the attendees at each table. Volunteers are also needed for the Lighthouse Beach Cleanup scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19.
Roasts & Boasts
Dale Bradley boasted his family for having taken a long overdue vacation together and getting along with his 14-year-old son and wife for the entire two-week vacation.
Harold Bauer boasted his granddaughter who lives in Japan for climbing Mt. Fuji and sending him a postcard with some pleasant remarks about seeing the sunrise.
Gary Peterson boasted his son who just returned from India on a teaching assignment and scheduled to start college in the Fall.
Zbig Skiba boasted Poland for approving him as a Polish citizen. He also roasted England for denying citizenship despite having been born there.
Paul Harris Award
Ken Green was inducted as a Paul Harris Fellow plus one.
New Member Installation
Jacob Bachman was installed as a new member. His sponsor is Jim McGuire, his father-in-law.
Jim attaching the Rotary pin to his son-in-law and our newest member, Jacob Bachman
Special Presentation
As part of the new focus on member education about the workings of Rotary, PDG Bruce Baumberger presented a primer about the structure of Rotary International (RI) and District 6440. Of note, he highlighted that RI has 34,000 clubs comprising about 1.2 million members in about 200 countries.
Bruce reviewed RI board structure and the various departments at the Evanston headquarters. On the District 6440 overview, he highlighted that there are 2,300 members in 71 clubs. They are comprised of 24 Breakfast, 45 Lunch and 2 Dinner clubs. (Our club was the first breakfast club in the district.)
Bruce also explained the roles and responsibilities of the district governor position. He ended the presentation by emphasizing the need for increased collaboration and partnership with other district clubs to undertake future projects and initiatives.
Program
Annual Presentation by the new District Governor, Rodney Adams
DG Rodney Adams began by thanking the club for its leadership role in the district by highlighting the significant contributions of many members of the club. He also related a few aspects of his personality that make him an action oriented and decisive person.
He noted the vastness and global reach of Rotary and related his experiences through trips he has taken to many countries, including Israel and Egypt. Through many of his experiences, he has become convinced of the importance of literacy and that peace around the world can indeed be reached through literacy. He observed that many troubled places around the world have a high rate of illiteracy.
He recalled that the fight to eradicate polio started in 1987 in this area with just a few Rotarians and that about 30 years later, we are very close to eradicating polio around the world. He also highlighted the work currently being done in Pakistan. Using this context, mention was made of the role played by Rotary in several major world initiatives such as the UN creation, Easter Seal, the work in Guatemala, just to name a few.
He then transitioned to the new strategic plan and focus for the coming year. These points of focus include the standardization of banners; the compiling of the organization’s history for the member’s benefits and easy access; the District Leadership Academy; the use of technology to build database of alumni and for other member services; attention to Rotary’s public image; clubs’ media presence; youth service and the need for club presidents to meet and discuss practices and to assist each other.
DG Adams noted several improvements that were made to improve club operations and members’ experiences from ClubRunner to the District Conference scheduling and location.
He concluded by inviting members to come forward with any ideas for needed support.
DG Rodney Adams with President Goranson
