The meeting was called to order by President Marv Edelstein at 7:30 a.m. on the dot and the Thought for the Day was presented by Harold Bauer:
He quoted from a speech by John Adams given to the Congress in the latter part of his life:
“O posterity, you will never know how much it cost us to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that I took half the pains to preserve it.”
As an added note, Harold spoke briefly about what is going on in our country with the government efforts to limit immigration and urged us all to speak out against this and not be complicit with what is going on by remaining silent.
Announcements
Joan Borg offered two sets of Northwestern football tickets with any funds received going to the Club Foundation. No takers at this point.
Steve Steiber noted that we have another vehicle to raise money for our Club Foundation,
Flower Power. As you land on this page, go to the link at the bottom of the page that says: “Shop Now.” Half goes to our club’s foundation, and the bulbs go straight to the address they specify.
Helen Oloroso reminded members that the Club’s summer picnic is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 6, from 6-8 p.m. at Fran Caan’s house, 2236 Orrington Ave. Sign-up sheets were passed around for set-up/teardown help and attendance.
THERE IS NO MEETING ON TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 5! The next club meeting will be the following Tuesday, Sept. 12.
Scribe training will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 30 in Helen’s office at Northwestern, in the Ford Building.
Also, she said, we need help with AV at our meetings.
John Searles said that the Beach Sweep is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16.
Gary Peterson announced that the Golf Road Cleanup will be at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2. Gather at the TJ Maxx parking lot.
Elaine Clemens announced that the KOI Restaurant has set September as our month to receive a 10 percent discount and 20 percent of the net receipts from our purchases by specifying “Table 23” when making a reservation or ordering take-out. The money raised will be dedicated to the Community Service Committee and will be used to support mental health programs in honor of the owner’s son, who passed away recently and was a victim of depression.
Kea Gordon reminded us of her bike journey for polio and that we can contribute by using the link on our Club web site.
Kristin Brown gave results of the “Big Idea” focus area questionnaire from last week. The top three areas are Health, Water, and Literacy, in that order.
And Marv noted that his sling is getting smaller!!
Roasts & Boasts
Steve Steiber boasted his son, who competed with 3,500 other aspiring authors to gain a mentor to push forth publication of his book. He was successful and is on the way to getting his book published by St. Martin Press.
Albert Menard boasted his wife for putting up with him for 47 years – Happy Anniversary!
Chuck Bartling boasted his wife and family for celebrating 50 years of marital bliss – Happy Anniversary!
Neil Gambow boasted his wife for 50 years of marital bliss and noted that they were married on the same day as Chuck and his wife, but said the Bartlings beat the Gambows to the altar by about 30 minutes. Happy Anniversary!
Ann Searles boasted husband John Searles for his 80th birthday, so we all sang the birthday song, led by Harold Bauer.
Kathy Tate-Bradish boasted Steve Steiber and Marisa Naujokas for coming up with new fund-raising ideas to make up for the projected budget shortfall.
Sergeant-at-Arms Albert regaled us with questions about the state of Illinois. Who knew our legislators were concerned about things like the state mineral!
Program
Maudyne Ihejirika, Chicago Sun-Times
The author and award-winning multimedia journalist with 25 years experience as newspaper reporter, editor, and columnist, spoke eloquently and passionately about her book, Escape from Nigeria: A Memoir of Faith, Love and War, which chronicled her mother’s journey from war-torn Biafra to the United States in the 1960s.
The book is a compilation of oral history collected from her mother over 15 years and was published last year. Maudyne worried that this book would never “get there” but, as she pointed out, the timing could not have been better with the immigration difficulties our country is facing.
She prefaced her stories with comments about the deplorable immigration policy changes that are being implemented in our country. With that she read two selections from her book. Her first was of her mother and family’s last-minute, harrowing escape from certain death at the hands of militants bent on eliminating her ethnic people.
Her father was out of the country at the time and it was up to her mother to save her family.
The second was her stay in another city as a refugee family, by hardship in providing for herself and her family. In the meantime, her husband found his way to Evanston. With the help and support of five North Shore families who raised money, pressured government officials and provided additional help, she finally obtained exit visas for herself and her family to emigrate to the U.S.
The stories were riveting and Maudyne received a standing ovation. A copy of her book was donated by the Club to the Evanston Public Library in her name.
Maudyne Ihejirika and Marv Edelstein
Guests
Visiting Rotarians
Ijeome Pearl Okoro visiting Rotarian from Nigeria, Port Harcourt Rotary Club
Geeta Mauel, Rotary Club of Mutheuye
Tusu, Rotary Club of Kampala North, guest of Kathy Tate-Bradish
Patricia Mbuiio, Rotarian from Kenya, guest of Kathy Tate-Bradish
Gianni Jandolo, visiting Rotarian from Milan, Italy
Other Guest
Alice Dolan, guest of Steve Steiber
