Brad Weiss called the meeting to order and Jackie Mack gave the Thought for the Day: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

    

 

Gary Peterson announced that the first Golf Road Clean Up project of the new season will take place on Saturday, May 6, at 8:30 a.m. and will last about an hour.  Meet in front of the TJ Maxx at Golf and McDaniel in Evanston and bring gloves and any weather appropriate clothing.

 

Yves Lassare announced that the International Service Committee would be meeting on Thursday, May 4, at 7:15 a.m. in the RI cafeteria.

 

Marv Edelstein reported on the awards received by the Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club at the District 6440 Conference at the end of April.  The club received the Challenge Award and the Youth Service Award.  Marv received a diploma for completing the eight-month District Leadership Academy program.

 

Harvey Newcomb announced that the ETHS Interact Club also received recognition as a runner up for its video entry in the “Make a Difference” competition.  Marv Edelstein also mentioned the video project undertaken jointly by the Interact club at Beacon Academy and a local Interact Club in Kenya.

 

Don Gwinn acknowledged ELRC members who participated in the Rebuilding Together project on April 29 at a home in Evanston.  Special thanks were extended to Steve Carlson for his consistent organizational skills, to Kate Collinson for working on both Friday and Saturday, and to Marissa’s husband, Matt, for contributing his carpentry skills.

 

Kristin Brown gave an update on the status of the Visioning process that the club embarked on in January.  In keeping with the two priorities of that process, the planning/visioning committee will be guiding the club toward the identification of an overarching “big idea” for which we can partner with other Evanston organizations to make a big impact.

 

Brad Weiss announced that the next Board meeting will take place at 7:15 p.m. on Monday, May 8, at his home, 2725 Lincoln St., in Evanston.  All members are welcome to attend but “red badge” members are especially encouraged to attend and learn about club governance.

 

 

Neil Gambow roasted himself for forgetting to print out the membership application for Lucas Albright, despite having him join us for breakfast again.

 

Harold Bauer boasted his granddaughter, Elizabeth, on the occasion of her graduation from the College of Charleston and for having received two competing job offers.

 

Kristin Brown boasted our inbound Rotary Exchange student, Luis Abreu, for his work in managing the ushers for the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar.

 

Chris Joyce boasted his oldest son, Joel, for his work as a pediatric dermatologist.

 

John Searles boasted his granddaughter for graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of Kentucky and heading off to a PhD program at Duke.

 

Anne Searles added that both of John’s daughters got their start in high school debate societies.

 

Bruce Baumberger boasted the members of the club who attended the recent district conference.

 

Don Gwinn boasted the Rebuilding Together volunteers.

 

Barb Miles received her blue badge following her completion of all membership requirements.

 

 

 

Holly Hudnut Halliday and Debi Genthe were inducted as new members in the Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club.  Debi’s sponsor is Ann Searles and Holly is sponsored by Joan Borg.  Welcome to both Debi and Holly.

 

 

 

 

Jeff Hannah gave the club some background information on the ETHS Debate Team’s growth and expansion, from an original team of five students to the current roster of 80 students.  Students compete all over the U.S. in local, regional, and national events.  Jeff and at least one of the debaters had travelled all night from a competition in Kentucky and would soon be on the road again for more national level competitions.

 

The students who gave us various types of speeches were Gabi Asenjo, Nina Kaushikkar and Gillian Rosenberg.  Gillian spoke first and, as a freshman who is headed to nationals, gave a very compelling presentation on “Being a Mult-Potentialite.”  Gillian’s main point was that knowing what one thing we want to be when we grow up is an unfortunate way to short circuit a life of otherwise enriching activities and goals.  Diving into one course of action often leads to boredom and the accompanying anxiety when we finally feel the need to let go and move on to something else.

 

Nina Kaushikkar is a junior who is also competing at the national level.  Her topic addressed the trend in American society today to discount the importance of science, leading to irreversible damage to the planet.  The current administration in Washington is creating policies that reinforce that trend, rolling back progress that had moved the country in the direction of protecting natural resources and preventing the rise of global temperatures.

 

Gabi Asenjo rounded out the program with an impassioned plea for the discontinuation of “pan-ethnic” labels used to describe people as members of subgroups.  Gabi’s tour de force has earned her sixth place in the nation.  Starting with her fascination with Dora (“The Explorer”) as a child, Gabi began to realize that the cartoon image was originally created to epitomize Latinas.  Pan-ethnic labels have been used to maintain existing hierarchical power structures while at the same time generating political activism.  Gabi implored her audience to resist the use of pan-ethnic labels and instead have respectful conversations around topics of interest to every individual.  Her advice is to listen, learn, and ask about the identity concerns of others, but to first ask if one really needs to know how the other self-identifies.

 

To read more about the ETHS debate teams and to volunteer to be a judge, visit www.ethsspeechanddebate.org.

 

 

 

 

Jeff Hannah, ETHS Speech and Debate Coach
Gabi Asenjo, ETHS
Nina Kaushikkar, ETHS
Gillian Rosenberg, ETHS
Jim Rosenberg (Gillian’s dad)
Suzy McNamara , Top Box Foods
Luis Abreu, exchange student
Lucas Albright, Albright Financial, guest of Neil Gambow
Dan Coyne, District 65

 

 

MaLu Simon, May 7

 

 

Bill Glader, 8 years

Fran Caan, 8 years

Nancy Franzon, 18 years

 

 

Setup: Paul Brown and Kristin Brown

Greeters: Yves Lassere and Jacki Mack

Breakdown: Helen Oloroso and Gary Schultz