The Light for April 14, 2015 (Apr 16, 2015)

Meeting Notes from April 14, 2015

President Harold Bauer called the meeting to order.

Announcements

Ann Searles introduced Kathy Tate Bradish and Phyllis Magina (both of ABCs of Sex Education) and Robert Barasa from Kenya. Phyllis explained her work in Kenya helping people to make wise decisions in the prevention of HIV / AIDS infections. Robert explained his work working with grandparents who are raising their grandchildren who became orphaned because of AIDS. Both Phyllis and Robert will be guest speakers at the Evanston Library on April 20 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Paul Larson, President of the Rotary Club of Evanston, thanked Harold Bauer for being an excellent counterpart and for sharing ideas with him. He invited the attendees to visit his club. Paul also announced a free concert that will take place at the RI Auditorium on Thursday, April 23. The concert will feature violin prodigy Julian Rhee.

Bruce Baumberger reminded the attendees of the upcoming Evanston Lighthouse Rotary fellowship event on Friday, April 17, at Dave’s Italian Kitchen at 6 p.m., followed by the Lakeside Singers Spring Concert at 8 p.m. at the Music Institute of Chicago, Nichols Hall, in Evanston. Concert tickets are only $20. Bruce also announced that the Rotary Flame will be at the plaza in front of the RI building today (Tuesday).

Harold Bauer announced that the club Board meeting will be held on Monday, April 20, at his house.

Fran Caan and Bill Glader updated the attendees on the upcoming fundraising event - June 14, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.– on the lawn of the John Evans Center at 1800 Sheridan Road. Fran and Bill shared the progress they have made to date in coming up with a design for the invitation and several sponsorships for the event. They highlighted several more needs for sponsorships. Please contact Fran and Bill to offer your support for the event.

Don Gwinn announced a Rebuilding Together event to be held on Friday and Saturday, April 24and 25, at 1817 Emerson St. Volunteers are needed. Harold announced that a book will be donated to the Evanston Library in honor of Don for all his good work in Rebuilding Together.

Steve Goranson distributed flyers on the status of the Rotary Foundation contribution. The club’s contribution stands at 53%. Contributions need to be made by June for this year. Harold Bauer took the opportunity to remind the club members of the importance of the club’s contribution and how it impacts what is available to the club in order to fund the many international and local programs. Contributions of all amounts are encouraged.

Elaine Clemens mentioned to the club that there will be two service opportunities with the Community Service Committee on April 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Hilda’s Place. The activities will involve just the serving of the meals. The other event will take place on June 21 at Just Harvest. Volunteers are needed.

Two Lin Lin piano concert tickets donated by Ilana Seligman were auctioned. The face value of the tickets is $160/ticket. Sam Lovering purchased the tickets for $250. Auction was conducted by Don Crost-Fink.

At the close of the meeting, Harold reminded the attendees of the importance of the greeting function assigned to two members at a time on a rotation basis and the need to strengthen the process. Beginning today, The Light will list the greeters and the member scheduled to deliver the Thought of the Day for the following week's meeting. All greeters are asked to be present at 7 a.m.

Sergeant at Arms: Boasts & Roasts

There were none, due to time constraints.

Program

Presentation by Elizabeth Newton, Karin Scott, and Amee Long – “Global Youth Leadership”

Harold Bauer introduced Elizabeth Newton and related how he became familiar with and developed an appreciation for the work being done by Allowance for Good (AFG) during the past four years.

Elizabeth introduced Seth and Turner Dobbs. Turner is an alumnus of AFG and both he and his father, Seth, related their experiences with AFG. Turner joined AFG two years ago and has participated in all the stages of the program – from Global Philanthropy to an assignment in Nicaragua. Turner likes the skills and the experiences he has had throughout the program and he is energized to do more. Turner hopes that more people in his generation would be energized to serve others and make a difference. Seth related that he has seen the differences in Turner resulting from his learning of leadership skills while serving others.

Elizabeth, Amee, and Karin highlighted the vision objectives of AFG. AFG aims to engage youth locally and to inspire youth globally. AFG wants to be part of building the next generation of global philanthropic leaders. AFG works collaboratively with all stakeholders. The three major parts of the program consist of emerging leaders in philanthropy, a global philanthropy summit, and global engagement expeditions.

The programs are designed to educate, enrich, explore, and engage.

Elizabeth and Harold with Karin and Amee

Prospective Member Michael Masini:

Prospective member Michael Masini was born and raised in the Chicago area. He and his family have lived in Evanston since 1996.

When choosing to live in Evanston, it was important to Michael and his wife to raise a family in a community which offered diversity, open mindedness,wonderful public schools, a thriving business community, restaurant options, proximity to a world class city, and a magnificent lakefront. In time, Michael came to love the people and community, which as it turns out, has been the best part of living in Evanston.

Michael is a Principal of Clarus Communications, which he joined as a partner in 2014. Clarus Communications is a technology brokerage firm. Michael's focus is managing the strategic partnerships at Clarus. Of his 25 years of telecommunications, Michael spent much of that time managing partners directly or through his staff as Vice President at various providers.

Michael's commitment to partnering and team work has defined him in work and in his community involvement.

Michael has coordinated the Sunday Soup Kitchen for St. Athanasius for nearly 13 years. It has been his focus to serve the clients in as caring a way as possible. In fact, part of his mission is the spiritual nourishment for the clients and volunteers, which he considers to be as important as the high quality meals they serve. Another important factor is to focus on making it fun, also for clients and volunteers alike. As this endeavor has evolved, better than half of the volunteers are children or teenagers

Michael also has enjoyed engaging the youth of Evanston as a coach of the Evanston Jr. Wildkits. The purpose of the program is to teach fundamental football skills and philosophy to players between fourth and eighth grades. All of the coaches strive to develop each participant's sense of self esteem and community pride, and understanding of the importance of team work. The program demands educational and behavioral standards that each player is required to abide by in order to maintain eligibility within the program and to ensure that they are following a successful path into high school and beyond.

At the end of every April, Michael can be found handing out Jelly Belly candy to drivers who donate to Miseracordia. In 12 years, he has only been rained on twice.

Michael has been married for 27 years to Donna. They have two children: Luke, 16, and Alex, 12.

In accordance with the club's bylaws, any member with any objection needs to contact a board member within a week of publishing this biography. With no objection, Michael will be inducted as a member at an upcoming meeting.

Visitors and Milestones

Visiting Rotarians:

Phil Larson Rotary Club of Evanston

Jeff Gardner Carrolton Rotary

John Wertmeyer Wilmette Harbor Rotary

Birthdays:

Fran Caan

Ken Green

Steve Goranson

Jim McGuire

Club Anniversaries:

Helen Oloroso – 6 years

Bill Vernon – 12 years

Guests:

Karin Scott Allowance for Good

Kathy Tate Bradish ABCs of Sex Education

Phyllis Magina. ABCs of Sex Education

Robert Barasa. Kenya

Amee Long Allowance for Good

Anton Pokov AbbVie INC

Katerina Mach Guest of Jackie Mack

Seth and Turner Dobbs Allowance for Good

Greeters:

Louis Allred and Brad Weiss.

Next week's greeters will be Chuck Bartling and Gerry Baumann

Thought for the Day:

Ken Green shared the following thought, quoting Carl Jung:

"We cannot change anything until we accept it."

Next week's "thought" will be provided by Fran Caan