President Marv Edelstein asked whether members have started putting $2  in a jar at home every week, so that at the end of the year members can each painlessly contribute $100 toward the “Every Rotarian Every Year” Rotary Foundation campaign.

 

Marv then congratulated the club on a respectful discussion last week about how to begin our meetings. He called Jean Saunders up to read the new opener. Jean adapted language from Rotary International:

 

“Why We are Rotarians

 

As Rotarians, we value: Service, Fellowship, Diversity, Integrity and Leadership.

 

We have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues.

 

We are always working to better our world and we stay committed to the end.”

 

Jean’s suggestion was met with extended applause.

 

Neil Gambow presented the Thought for the Day. 1. “Without Freedom of Thought there can be no such thing as Wisdom; and no such thing as public Liberty, without Freedom of Speech.” Benjamin Franklin. 2. “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” Harry Truman. 3. “I may not agree with you but I will defend to the death your right to make an ass of yourself.” Oscar Wilde.

 

 

Bill Vernon said another Eagle Scout was certified. Their troop raised enough money to purchase a trailer, and thanks to Bruce Baumberger’s suggestion, Subaru will store it.

 

Neil Gambow auctioned two tickets to a Northwestern football game on Saturday. Ilana Seligman won in a heated bidding war.

 

Helen Oloroso announced a fellowship dinner on Wednesday, October 25, at 6:30 p.m. at Jennifer’s Edibles Restaurant.

 

Jean Saunders announced that World Polio Day will be commemorated at the City Council meeting Monday, October 23, with a Declaration by Mayor Haggerty, thanks to efforts by Paul Brown and Dick Peach (noon club). Club members can commemorate in two ways on Tuesday, October 24: 1. Rotary International will live stream the commemoration from the Gates Foundation at 4:45 p.m. in the RI auditorium; 2. Come to Temperance Beer Company, 2000 Dempster St., for a social and delayed streaming even with the Rotary Club of Evanston from 6-8 p.m. Bring a friend, and if you have it wear your End Polio gear or Tucson Bike to End Polio gear.

 

Gary Peterson announced the rescheduling of the Golf Road Cleanup for Saturday, October 21, at 8:30 a.m. at the TJ Maxx parking lot. Bring gloves and dress for the weather. Gary had several Beacon Academy t-shirts to give away, and announced the Interact Club at Beacon has raised more than $16,000 for wells in Haiti and a group is going to Haiti Monday, with Gary as outnumbered chaperone.

 

Elaine Clemens read thank-you’s that came to the Community Service Committee. They were from the Erie Family Health Center “Reach Out and Read” program, Bundled Blessings, and the Evanston Work Ethic Program.

 

Marisa Naujokas told us it’s time again to start selling for our Holiday Sale 2017 Fundraiser. Flyers were on the table and information including order form downloads are at www.evlrc.org on the left-hand side. New members will get personal tutorials.

 

Mike Merdinger introduced Jill Collins and Maria Iordana from the ETHS Interact Club. Their club is raising money for the White Helmets of Syria by compiling and selling a cookbook of international recipes. They would like recipes, and need assistance with graphics and layout. (Your scribe noticed Jim McGuire sidling over and offering assistance!) Submit recipes to: http://tinyurl.com/evanstoncookbook

 

 

 

President Marv awarded Ann Searles her Paul Harris Fellow Three Ruby pin, which is Paul Harris +8. Ann said she and John donate together, but she’d argue about it later!

 

 

 

Marv presented new member Lucas Albright with his (imaginary) Blue Badge. Due to a glitch, the actual Blue Badge will be delivered later. Welcome to the club, Lucas!

 

 

 

Sergeant-at-Arms Al Menard presided over the Roasts and Boasts.

 

Susan Prout boasted Don Gwinn for his excellent Treasurer’s manual. She also boasted the eight Rotarians and three friends who had fun helping with Bundled Blessings. And she finished by saying that the Taste of Evanston committee outdid itself getting the Park City condo donated. She enjoyed it, hopes it’s offered again next year, and doesn’t want anyone else to bid against her! (NB: did she pay up for all these boasts??!)

 

Joan Borg boasted the 60 Years of YAMO production at ETHS, and brought a Wildkit mascot mask for Yves Lassere, who wasn’t present, to honor his work as the president of the ETHS Educational Foundation.

 

Visiting Rotarian Jay Collingham is excited that he may have a job with the EPA’s Region 5 office, which will bring him to Evanston.

 

Al closed with a little humor. Some might say very little. “What’s worse than raining cats and dogs?” “Hailing a taxi!” Groans were heard.

 

 

 

Holly Halliday introduced the speaker, John Suzukida. His family, in particular his mother, was a longtime friend of Holly’s from her days as chaplain at Presbyterian Homes. John has other connections with our club, including having attended school with and been friends with member Randy Usen from K-12. They hadn’t seen each other in about 40 years!

 

Holly told us that Pearl Harbor Day 1941 was both the day she was born, and the day John’s mom’s life was changed forever.

 

John is a member of the Rotary Club of Arden Hills/Shoreview in St. Paul, MN. He came to talk to us about the impact of legislation, Executive Orders, and xenophobia on Japanese and Japanese-American families like his after December 7, 1941. John shares from his personal family history and his parents’ photos and documents to help us avoid the mistakes of history.

 

President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 10 weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It allowed the military to exclude any person from any military area without due process, and the military defined all of California as a military area. John’s mother lived at that time with her family on Terminal Island, near Los Angeles.

 

The military rounded up both “aliens” and “non-aliens” – “non-alien” is another word for U.S. citizen! John’s grandparents were Issei (Eee-say), first generation immigrants who, like other Japanese immigrants, were not allowed to own land or become US citizens. His parents were Nisei (Nee-say), second generation, were born in the US and were US citizens. The US military incarcerated both Issei and Nisei persons; both his grandparents and his parents.

 

John’s parents could be described as “All-American” – his dad wrote the school song for his alma mater, John Marshall High School; his mom was a Cubs fan from an early age.

 

His father’s family ran a popular restaurant, and even with broken windows and racial slurs posted on the door, old customers flocked to the restaurant to assure the family that they would support them. But after the second broken window, the insurance company cancelled their insurance. The Federal government froze their bank account, and the State of California revoked their beer and wine licenses and took away their sales tax permit so they couldn’t conduct business.

 

Then, his dad’s family was rounded up and sent to the Santa Anita Race Track, renamed the Santa Anita Assembly Center. The family got only pennies on the dollar for all of the furniture, vehicles, and other belongings they were forced to sell, and were allowed only two canvas bags each for possessions. They lived in horse stalls, surrounded by armed soldiers and subject to unannounced inspections. Their “family number” was 18257. Around 18,000 people of Japanese descent were placed in that camp under “protective custody” – two thirds were US citizens.

 

John’s mom’s family, along with all others of Japanese descent living on Terminal Island, Calif., were given 48 hours to pack belongings and were sent to the Poston, Ariz., internment camp. Many of her family’s belongings were also sold at a huge loss, though friends and Quakers tried to help. His grandfather had died before the war, and a Levi Strauss salesman who had sold many of the items to his grandmother’s store came and bought back everything at the price he had sold them to her.

 

Dr. John W. Thomas from the American Baptist Home Mission Society visited the Poston camp frequently. He facilitated a safe passage travel permit and John’s mother gained entrance to a Baptist Theological Seminary. She went into mission work after graduation because the church had been so helpful.

 

The 442^nd Regimental Combat Team & 100^th Battalion, consisting of all Japanese-Americans, rescued the Texas “Lost Battalion” in 1944. Their motto was “Go for Broke,” as they felt they had nothing to lose and were prisoners for life. They were and remain the most decorated military unit in US history.

 

John’s parents married, and ultimately moved to Skokie, in part to help their children assimilate. His dad was not bitter, and wrote: “I was enriched by the camp experiences, and I am not bitter towards any person or the country of my birth for having been put through the experiences.  I believe honestly that I am a better American for what my family and I endured…no group of Americans should have to be subjected to such treatment.”  He felt that: “It might be looked back upon as an experience or happening in the United States of America that was a result of our own immaturity as a democracy.”

 

John’s dad was a Rotarian and Paul Harris Fellow.

 

 

 

 

Jay Collingham, San Francisco Rotary and prospective member

John Suzukida, Arden Hills/Shoreview Rotary and our speaker

Patrick Mbullo, Kisumu Winam Rotary, Kenya, and prospective member

 

 

Jill Collins and Maria Iordana, Interact ETHS

Connor Smith, We Are Lions

Patida Phanitkullawat, our exchange student

 

 

Don Gwinn, October 18

Brad Weiss, October 20

Kristin Brown, October 21

Jackie Mack, October 22

Bob Teska, October 23