The virtual meeting was called to order by President Chris Joyce at 7:30 a.m.on the dot with ringing his bell followed by reciting Why We Are Rotarians. 

 

The thought for the day was from Linc Janus:

 

“One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever….The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place where he arose….The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits….All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whence the rivers come, thither they return again.”   -- The Book of  Ecclesiastes

 

 

Chris Joyce – BREAKFAST WITH THE FIRST FEMALE ROTARY PRESIDENT​  "I’m ​REALLY​ looking forward to this Thursday’s edition of the Elgin Breakfast’s Leadership Speaker Series because we’ll hear from RI President Nominee Jennifer Jones.  ​Jennifer will discuss the challenges and opportunities of both the presidency and of being a woman in Rotary​ .​  ​She’ll be followed the next two weeks by President-Elect Shekhar Mehta, and Rotary Foundation Chair-Elect John Germ.  Hear what motivates them and keeps them awake at night as they consider the challenges facing Rotary.  All sessions start at 7:15 a.m. and can be viewed on the club’s Facebook Live page here​.  (4) Elgin Breakfast Rotary Club | Facebook

 

SAVE THE DATE – FEBRUARY 6​ GRANTS SEMINAR​   Want to learn more about District and Global Grants?  Intend to apply for a Global Grant in 2021-22?  To be eligible, representatives of our club ​MUST​ attend the Grants Seminar. More info soon.

 

DISTRICT COVID VACCINATION TASK FORCE​   We’ve just kicked off our efforts, but it’s likely that in the short term, the focus will be on education and communication.  There may be forums where our members and our partner organizations – school districts, park districts, food banks, community charities – can learn about vaccination and identify needs in their diverse communities.  Stay tuned – and if you’d like to join the task force, let me know.

 

Bruce Baumberger -- Showed us a 30-second Rotary video being promoted on radio and television.  Jean Saunders was a part of the productions and mentioned that footage from Bill Glader was used.  The video is part of a PSA campaign and is available on the Rotary Brand Center page.  We are all encouraged to download it and use it in places like social media and on our club website.

 

The preliminary, unaudited financial results are in for the Holiday sale.  Our net at this point is $28,973.  We still have to count the donation from Sam Lovering. Thanks, Sam and good to see you today!

 

Ann Searles -- Sunshine Report – Ann mentioned the passing of Bruce Baumberger’s brother and Gary Peterson’s father.  Horton Kellogg is moving to a new apartment and Ira Graham is chugging along and would welcome a phone call from club members.

 

Katherine Peterson – The next Club Service meeting is Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 7:30 a.m. via Zoom.  Contact her if you are interested in attending and she will send the link.

 

Zbig Skiba – The tree planting program is delayed until fall because of COVID concerns.  The trees to be planted will be bigger than last year.  Any cost differences from the current tree size will be covered by the City. 

 

Susan Prout - The next Community Service meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom.  Contact her if you are interested in attending and she will send the link.

 

Mike Merdinger – The next Young Leaders Committee meeting is Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 9 a.m. via Zoom. Contact him if you are interested in attending and he will send the link.

 

 

Marv Edelstein – Presented a “Dog Days” video to add some humor to the dark days of 2020.  He also boasted our new Rotarian, Troy Perkins, for joining the tech team (we won’t tell Cisco he was in Zoom!!)

 

Linc Janus – Boasted his golden retriever for keeping his head off the dinner table.

 

Paul Brown – Boasteed Bruce for his dedication to the Holiday Sale all the way back to 2000 when Paul was president.

 

Steve Steiber – Boasted Bruce for his dedication to the Holiday Sale this year.  He was always there wherever he was needed.

 

Joy Joyce – Boasted our club vitality and wants to broaden her network and join in the fun with Rotarians who would like to invite her to be part of something.

 

Paul Brown – let us know his older brother had passed away last week.  Our condolences to you, Paul.

 

 

 

 

Several months ago, Willie and Chris Joyce talked about Willie's skill as a storyteller.  Chris suggested he tell our club a story sometime and that some time was at this meeting.

 

Willie regaled us with his story around the assassination of President John Kennedy on Nov. 23, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, when Willie was 9 years old. To prepare for this, he contacted two old friends who were in Dallas at the time to bring more color to the story.  He also consulted with original copies of the Dallas newspapers that he has in his possession. 

 

While scanning the papers, he came across a full-page with 12 very incendiary questions addressed directly to Mr. Kenedy (not referencing him as President Kennedy) concerning issues that were actually promoted by the John Birch Society which was an ultraconservative (kindly put) think tank back in the day.  This was a bit of a parallel with what we are seeing in today’s political rhetoric and tone  Things don’t change.

 

A specific memory was watching television with his father when Jack Ruby, a Chicago-based rabble-rouser, shot Lee Harvey Oswald, who was under arrest and charged with shooting Kennedy.

 

While at 9 years old, Willie had no real perspective on what was happening, but the raw emotion of the day is still there. 

 

Joy Joyce asked Willie if he had contributed to “Story Corps” with NPR.  Willie knew about the program but had not done anything with it.

 

After the story was told, the question of where everyone was that infamous day came up. 

Editor's Note: Chuck Bartling was a copy editor, working on the copy desk at the Jacksonville (Fla.) Journal, as he experienced the first and only special edition produced during his journalism career.

 

 

 

Yves Lassere - January 13

 

Bryant Wallace - January 17