Meeting called to order by President Marv Edelstein at 7:30 a.m. on the dot and the Thought for the Day was presented by Linda Gerber, who read a poem from Rotary poet Edgar Albert Guest, "He Who Serves."
Announcements
Mary Bak ( Assistant District Governor) – Mary talked about her role as a source of information and support for the various Club presidents, including Marv. She presented Marv with his official Club Badge from the District for him to wear proudly. She then plugged the One Rotary Summit conference at Harper College (Wojcik Convention Center) in Palatine on Oct. 21, from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. It is free to any Rotarian who wishes to attend and learn more about best practices.
John Osterlund – The month of October is Rotary Foundation Month and John promised to have a lot of exciting news to tell us as the month progresses.
Katie Peterson (president of Beacon Academy Interact and Gary’s daughter) - Katie was proud to announce that their Interact Club has exceeded their goal of raising $15,000 for the Haiti water project. She thanked us for our support and for walking with her club on Sept. 27 to promote its project.
Harold Bauer – Although Harold stated he is against self-promotion, he was going to make an exception – for himself! After retiring from the music business he took up painting as a hobby. With a great amount of pride (well deserved) he let the Club know he is having a “One-Man Show” of his art at GALLERY OTR, "ABSTRACTIONS & more,” 2040 Brown Ave. Opening Reception is Friday, Nov. 3, 5-8 p.m. No admission fee, wine and cheese served.
Neil Gambow – Neil announced that we have two candidates for our Rotary Youth Exchange slot for an Outbound student and was on need of two or three people to help interview them. Leslie Peters, John Osterlund and Lucas Albright volunteered. A time and place for the interview will be announced. We have to notify Central Rotary Youth Exchange (CYRE) of our selection by Oct. 21.
Roasts & Boasts
Albert Menard noticed that Marv did not have his sling in place, so he enticed Marv to boast his doctors as his shoulder is continuing to heal nicely.
Sam Lovering – boasted his wife on the occasion of 40 years of marriage.
Albert quizzed us on facts about calendars, which failed to stump the troops. He again threatened to bring tougher questions next week!
Program
Speaker: Leslie Markman-Stern, Interior Designer
Zbig Skiba introduced Leslie and noted that he had heard her presentation on Interior Design, Contemporary Space for People of All Needs and thought this would be a good subject for our Club. Leslie is president and owner of Leslie M. Stern Design.
Leslie began with outlining the types of special needs that would be considered in designing a living space. These were conditions like vision impaired, hearing impaired, loss of taste, loss of smell, balance problems, loss of mobility. and so on.
The design of spaces for these conditions involve creative thinking and thorough knowledge of ramifications and consequences of each. An example of this is designing space for wheelchair accessibility. In this case where the occupant or a person being cared for by another in a home is confined to a wheel chair and must move from room to room. Doorways can be too narrow to permit passage and would be a real impediment to moving around the home.
Another example was the availability of safety rails in a shower or bath. These are good even for people without a condition, as slipping in a shower doesn’t happen to just older people. You may have a toddler in the shower and a grab can cause a fall.
After a review of the various special needs variations, a number of pictures of suitably arranged and appointed rooms were shown to visualize the extent of the design changes for accommodation.
Leslie Markman-Stern
Guests and Milestones
Visiting Rotarians
Jon Stillman, visiting Rotarian from the Stillwater, MN. club
Mary Bak, “AG” (Assistant Governor?), Glenview Sunrise Rotary Club
Gayle Knepper, visiting Rotarian from the Club of Alaska Yukon
Jessie Harman, Wendouree Club, located in Victoria, Australia
Other Guests
Patida Phanitkullawat, Rotary Exchange Student
Katie Peterson, President of Beacon Academy Interact and daughter of Gary Peterson
Birthday
Elaine Clemens