Presiding was President Brad Weiss and the Thought for the Day was provided by Joan Borg.

 

Announcements

Brad Weiss made the following announcements about upcoming events:

On March 11, the Rotary Club of Winnetka will hold an event, “Kids Against Hunger Food Packing 2017 – 100,000 meals for the hungry”. The event will be from 8:30 am to 4 pm. Register online at the Winnetka club website.

On March 7, two chefs from Solidarity Soup supporting immigrant communities will make soup available for pick up from 3 to 7 p.m.  Go to solidaritysoup.org for more details.

The District Conference will take place on April 27 – 30 at the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort.

Marv Edelstein announced the Youth Leadership Day event that will take place on Friday, March 3, at Rotary International. Students from ETHS, Roycemore, and Beacon will participate in the event. The event starts at 8:30 a.m.

Susan Prout announced that Bundled Blessings will be packing diapers on Tuesday, March 7, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church.

Brad communicated that the club board has decided to forgo the inbound exchange student for FY 17-18, but will place a line item in the budget for all future years. The total amount is $2,100.

Brad also announced that the district scholarship application is available online (rotary6440.org) for students who plan to attend post-secondary training with a duration of less than four years. Amount is $1,500.

Brad thanked all the members who have participated in the Random Acts of Kindness initiative.

He also thanked all those who attended last week’s Mayoral Forum at RI and thanked Marv Edelstein to cover for him while he was out of town.

Brad also thanked Mike Merdinger for bringing back a Rotary Club banner from his trip to Peru.  

Harold Bauer announced that next week’s program by Emily Volz promises to be an excellent program on operas

Jean Saunders received her blue badge, having met all the requirements for a new member.

Roasts and Boasts

 

Steve Goranson expressed his appreciation to the club for the co-sponsorship with the Noon Club of the Mayoral Forum and the continuation of the visioning activities by the club.

Ann Searles boasted both John Searles and herself for having grandchildren who are bound for college that were accepted at Vanderbilt University and Perdue University.

Harold Bauer boasted his wife, Karen, for being invited to Stockholm to participate in the Voice Education Conference following the successful release of her book on the same subject two years ago.

Helen Oloroso boasted a long-time friend who passed away on Valentine’s Day at 90 years old. Her family discovered through her belongings two bronze stars she received for serving as a nurse in WWII. Her hospital was bombed twice, but she stayed put “with the boys.” She raised nine children. Helen has known her since grammar school days.

John Osterlund boasted about the celebration of his and his wife’s 24th wedding anniversary and, as he said, paraphrasing the late club member, Chuck Remen, for 24 years of “intermittent bliss.”

Chip Uchtman boasted Rotary for finding himself sitting at breakfast next to a former classmate he has not seen in many years.

Bruce Baumberger boasted Horton Kellogg for doing a great job during the Old Men's Jazz Club concert last Sunday.

 

Special Presentation

Brad Weiss introduced Candace Chow and Val Weiss for a special presentation on the upcoming Evanston/Skokie School District 65 referendum (April 4) Candace Chow, consultant and District 65 board president, explained that the referendum is seeking community authorization to increase property taxes to support school operations. Starting this year, the district faces a significant budget shortfall with a cumulative deficit reaching $112 million in 2025. A successful referendum would increase annual property tax revenue available to District 65 by $14.5 million and would eliminate current projected deficits through 2025. The District is currently spending $14,150 per student. The sources of the funding is from property taxes for 75% of the total. The state only accounts for $600 per student in funding. The District has had a balanced budget for the past 15 years. However, the student population has significantly increased without a corresponding increase in property taxes. On a parallel path, the district is highlighting and preparing for the cuts that will need to be implemented in case the referendum fails. These operating reductions will amount to $8.8 million over the next two years. The last time the District held an operating referendum was 30 years ago, and it was successful, she said. 

Candance Chow

Program

Dave Simmons – Visioning Part 3

Dave began by explaining the current stage of the visioning work by moving from “putting legs on our ideas” to an overall strategic direction that will guide the tactical actions of the next three years. He started by defining “Who we are” as a club – growing, active, diverse, and a group that gives time, talents and gifts to improve people’s lives at both local and international levels.

He continued with “What we do” – a group that actively identifies and engages local and international issues and partners with similar service organizations. And Dave concluded with “How we do it” – by having a clear plan and an idea of the funds needed to support the club’s vision of sponsoring major events and initiatives, and how we communicate to the community at large.

Dave used the metaphor of a sailboat in direction toward a lighthouse and all the different paths available to take the boat to a specific location on the shore. Dave passed out a voting sheet to capture feedback from the members that will facilitate further fine-tuning of the strategic vision for the club.

Members provided several additional ideas to Dave that will be incorporated in the work. The start date for the strategic plan is targeted for July 1st, coinciding with the new Rotary year with a new president. In order to be ready for that target date, Dave identifies several activities that need to take place between now and July 1st.

Marv Edelstein thanked Dave and the committee for the excellent work they are doing on the strategic plan.

Dave Simmons

 

Guests and Milestones

Guests

Suzy McNamara, Top Box Foods, guest of John Osterlund

Candace Chow, D65 Board, guest of Brad Weiss

Miguel Hernandez, guest of Kea Gorden

Luiz Abreu, Exchange Student

Val Weiss, Committee to Save Evanston Schools, guest of Brad Weiss

 

Club Anniversaries

Neil Gambow, 9 years

Charlotta Koppanyi, 5 years

Susan Prout, 2 years

Joan Borg, 2 years

Katherine Adams, 4 years

 

Birthdays

Rotary turns 112 years

Carol Pandak, February 27

Don Cross-Fink, March 6

 

Next Week’s Assignments

Greeters:   Elaine Clemens and Marv Edelstein

Thought for the Day:  Ira Graham

Scribe:  Linc Janus

Meeting set-up:  Malu Simon and Joan Borg

Breakdown:  Bill Glader and Steve Goranson