President Linda Gerber called the fifth meeting of her year to order at 7:30 a.m. on the dot with the ringing of the bell.   

 

After reciting “Why We Are Rotarians,” Kelly Fidei gave us the thoughts for the day from Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring:

 

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts; there's something infinitely healing and the repeated refrains of nature, the assurance that dawn comes after night and spring after winter. We stand now where two roads diverged but, unlike the roads in Robert Frost’s familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with greatest speed, but it's endless disaster.  The other fork of the road, the one less traveled, offers our last and only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.”

 

 

Bruce Baumberger – Rotary Minute.Today’s Rotary Minute during our club meeting focused on encouraging members to establish a MyRotary login ID to access comprehensive information about all facets of Rotary.  Instructions on creating this will be sent out.   Please contact Bruce if you have any issues with the creation of your ID.  During future Rotary Minutes, he will highlight some of the content at MyRotary. Please recognize that your access to MyRotary is in addition to your ClubRunner login ID that is used to access our club’s website and communications functions. Bruce would appreciate your suggestions about future Rotary Minutes.  He would be happy to address any questions you may have about Rotary.

 

Bill Glader – Remind the Taste of Evanston Committee that we are meeting Thursday night, August 5, at Bill’s house and to RSVP.  We will discuss Covid contingency, logistics, 50/50 raffle, Paypal readers, volunteers, restaurants, getting supplies from the locker, set up/teardown.  If anyone wants to join in, email Bill and he will send an invite. 

 

 

Dale Bradley – boasted the Chamber of Commerce golf team: Bill Glader, Chip, Zbig and Bryant Wallace.  Did not win anything, but had fun!!

 

Bruce Baumberger – Boasted Linda on doubling the C&W District grant money from $5,000 to $10,000 with a gofundme double of any grant to C&W.  Kathy Tate-Bradish, Kristin Brown, Kate Collinson, and Ann Weatherhead were part of the team.     

 

Linda Gerber – Boasted Eric Schmelling for inviting her and Harold Bauer into his home to start coaching on Reimagining Philanthropy. 

 

Charlotta Koppanyi – Boasted herself for phoning in from Sweden where she will be for six months.

 

Dale Bradley – Boasted himself for walking to work today – all three blocks!

 

Ann Weatherhead – Returned from Moab, Utah, and boasted herself for surviving a hike in Arches National Park, sweating away. "It was dry heat!"

 

Ashok Nagella – Boasted the Metropolitan Water District for offering barrels for rainwater collection.  Buying direct from them is very cost-effective.  But you can also get them from Lowes.  Also, it is his birthday and he plans to join our club when he returns from a trip in the next couple of weeks. 

 

Linda Gerber – Joke about three guys which we won’t print here!

 

 

 

 

Kyle started his career bartending in Washington, D.C. in 1998. Over the next decade, he worked in nearly every position possible in bars and restaurants across the country, including Washington, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

 

In 2007, Kyle formed his beverage consulting, education, and events company The Boozehound, and from 2008 - 2010, he opened and operated the retail drink boutique Drinks Over Dearborn. During this time, he also served as a professor of wine & beverage at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Chicago, an instructor for Master Mixologist Bridget Albert’s Academy of Spirits & Fine Service, as well as for the Advanced Mixology & Culinary Academy.

 

Today, Kyle is the Director of Brand Advocacy for the craft spirits collective Samson & Surrey, where he oversees all aspects of education and ambassadorship for FEW Spirits, Bluecoat Gin, Brenne Single Malt, Widow Jane, Mezcal Vago, and Tequila Ocho. From 2011-2016, Kyle worked as a Diageo Master of Whisky. In 2015, Kyle earned his General Certificate in Distillation from the Institute of Brewing & Distilling based in London.

 

Kyle is a Certified Spirits Professional with the U.S. Bartender's Guild (USBG), where he also served as National President (2018-2020) and Chairman of the Board. He is a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers, a Cicerone Certified Beer Seller, a trained BJCP beer judge, and an Executive Bourbon Steward, to name a handful of his certifications. Kyle is also a graduate of the IBA Bartender Training Center Europe (Tallinn, Estonia 2016) and the BAR 5-Day program (New York, NY 2017). In 2021, Kyle joined the Board of Directors of the USBG National Charity Foundation.

 

Kyle represents FEW Spirits, which is celebrating its 10^th anniversary.  FEW was the first to produce alcohol in Evanston and all FEW spirits are made here and aged for at least four years in locations around Evanston.  FEW Spirits are sold in 30 countries and all 50 states in the US.

 

In early 2020, small boutique spirit brand market share was hit hard, but by August ,2020, had rebounded and surpassed their highs in 2018.  The pandemic crippled some craft distillers while others thrived.  The restaurant closures around the world cut off one of the two main market channels for spirits, but over a few months, people started to have a drink at home and this gave sales a boost.  The “Super Premium” (+$35/bottle) spirits sales grew substantially in that time.  FEW is in this category. 

 

FEW saw a 20% increase in sales during the pandemic.  This growth was despite the new tariffs that were imposed, which cut sales by 38% in the EU and 53% in the UK.  They are a part of the Sampson family of products which has helped pull-through to new markets.  New products have been introduced, including coffee-infused Bourbon, which uses coffee from a Chicago roaster.  They have introduced a tea-infused rye whiskey.  FEW labeling uses images from the Chicago Worlds Fair.

 

Another big part of Kyle’s life is the 6,000-member, 75-year-old United States Bartenders Guild and their National Charity Foundation.  This industry typically has no health insurance and little income security.  The Foundation is a bartender emergency assistance program.  In 2019 they saw an average of five applications a month.  As of March 15, 2020, they were receiving 60 applications per minute for three days as their entire industry shut down.  They shifted funds and recruited thousands of volunteers to process more than 60,000 applications.  Because of generous donations, with the biggest from Miller Coors, they handed out more than $10 million to more than 30,000 applicants.

 

His Guild is focusing on issues surrounding diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.  Working with consultants, they have started their first social responsibility symposium which is going on right now.  He also has a new podcast, “Served Up,” talking about digital marketing and digital event planning. 

 

 

 

Ashok Nagella – Interested in learning more about Rotary.

 

 

Bachman, Jacob - 6 years - Aug 5, 2015

 

Baumann, Gerry  - 14 years - Aug 7, 2007

 

Chakraborty, Pramugdha - 3 years - Aug 0, 2018

 

Bauer, Harold - 15 years - Aug 8, 2006