President Linda Gerber welcomed us to the 22nd meeting of this Rotary year. Chuck Bartling read “Why We Are Rotarians,” and gave the Thought for the Day. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." This was particularly appropriate for our club, as we tend to do everything with great enthusiasm, whether it's the Holiday Sale, the Taste of Evanston, picking up trash along Golf Road or Lighthouse Beach, or our work with the homeless shelters and with low-income housing. We do it all with great enthusiasm.

 

 

Harold Bauer – As Fundraising Chair, Harold spoke about the need for both financial contributions and contributions of time as volunteers. Both are equally valid ways to keep the Rotary wheels turning. Many of us are not in a position to be financial benefactors, but contribute time to the club and to our service projects. If you are in a position to contribute, be as generous as you can, “a family or a child in Evanston or in some small village in Ghana will be forever grateful.”

 

Dan Coyne - He explained what happened to last week’s speaker, Wayne Valliere, one of the last remaining native birchbark canoe builders in the world. Wayne had had a family emergency. Dan assured him that we would always be there to support him.

 

Vai Ravikumar – Holiday Sale update: We have about $33,000 in sales to date, with a goal of $55,000. Please keep selling! Volunteers are needed in some of the spots; please respond to the volunteer recruitment emails.

 

Helen Oloroso – Holiday Party: if you haven’t already registered for the party on Dec.12 at Sherman Plaza, 807 Davis St., from 5 - 8 p.m., do so immediately, it is nearly full. Respond to Helen’s email or click on the calendar even on our website.

 

More party details from Katherine Peterson: Club Service is receiving registrations through Dec. 1 for the club's annual Holiday Party. Once registered, attending members will receive a confirmation email from either ClubRunner or from Helen. Members registered as of the meeting this morning were sent a confirmation for themselves and any registered guest. Please contact Helen with questions. The party itself will include a buffet from Koi, provided by the club. Beverages will include assorted wines and sparkling water. Parking is available in the high-rise garage just west of 807 Davis. A separate call for volunteers will be sent out by the end of this week.

 

Kathy Tate-Bradish showed a video of Bella Hubbard, our 2018 Rotary Exchange student, whom we sent to Ecuador. She thanked the club, said she is going back to Ecuador for Christmas, is still an avid environmental activist, and said the opportunity to study abroad was “the best thing that could have happened in my life!”

 

Linda Gerber – On Thursday, Dec.2, we have an opportunity to meet the five cleft surgeons we are training in Brazil. Our partners in this Global Grant Project, the Rotary Club of Campinas-Sul, in Sao Paolo, Brazil, have invited us to join their meeting to hear from the five surgeons in the program. These five fellows, including two women surgeons, are in their eighth month of a year-long training in advanced cleft surgery. The program is going so well, the hospital has asked us to extend the training to more doctors. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in Sao Paolo, which is 4:30 p.m. in Evanston. At the meeting, we will screen the fourth episode of a web series Smile Train has produced to take us through the year-long journey. It will show us how our club and the incredible network of Rotary Clubs and Districts here in the States and in Brazil have worked together to put five new doctors into the world to provide free surgery to hundreds and thousands of children in the course of their careers – how thousands of children will benefit for many years from a program funded in Rotary year 2021-22. At the meeting, there will be Portuguese-English translation.

 

Program
 

 

 

The tree-planting initiative of the Evanston Lighthouse started on a gloomy day in January 2017, when the then-U.S. President pulled our country out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Rotary International President Ian Riseley had challenged us to plant one tree per Rotarian, which would have been more than a million trees.

 

Zbig had to do something, and got a small group together. Discussion and further collaborations ensued, and at the suggestion of noon club member Dick Peach, a collaboration with the Evanston Parks and Recreation Department was begun. The first year, 20 trees were planted in four parks. The following year, 100 trees were planted, and the goal of 75 trees was surpassed.

 

The city chose the parks that most needed trees, and the appropriate trees for our area. They also pre-drilled holes, provided some tools, and were tremendous to work with. ELRC planted 3.5 trees per member – a total of 272 trees in 15 parks throughout Evanston. More than $20,000 was raised and used to purchase trees for the city. Many Rotary members were involved, as well as involvement by groups from Northwestern, the Officer and Gentleman Academy, the Boy Scouts, ETHS football team members, and others.

 

It was a great way to contribute to the community and underscore relationships. Originally, the trees cost $70-$80 to donate. However, recently the city decided to plant only larger trees, which cost $200-$240 each, and take an hour for two to three people to dig one hole. Consequently, the tree project has been concluded.

 

 

 

Don Gwinn, 34 years

 

Patrick Mbullo, 9 years, (joined originally in Kisumu, Kenya)

 

Steve Goranson, 13 years

 

Chris Joyce, 5 years