President Chris Joyce presided. 

 

The Thoughts for the Day were presented by Don Gwinn:

 

The well-satisfied customer will bring the repeat sale that counts.

It is always the start that requires the greatest effort.

It is the service we are not obliged to give that people value most.

Clock watchers never seem to be having a good time.

                        - - J.C. Penny

 

 

Chris Joyce welcomed new member Troy Perkins.

 

Chris announced that there will be a Board Meeting tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. The Club will not meet for the next two weeks due to the holidays. There will be a Zoom holiday party this Friday beginning at 5 p.m.

 

He also summarized announcements that he sent by email to all Club members: 1. The existence of a multi-club grant for additional local service projects; 2. A phase two public image grant to help clubs increase their visibility in the community; 3. An upcoming Elgin Breakfast Leadership series that begins on Jan. 7 with a speech by RI President Holger Knaack.

 

Bruce Baumberger announced that Holiday Sales have gone well with an estimated profit of more than $27,000. Bruce reported we have received positive feedback on the quality of our food products. He asked members to please collect C.O.D. orders in a timely manner. Please deliver the funds to Joan Borg. Any remaining food items are at Kate Collinson’s and remain available for sale.

 

Katherine Peterson announced that happy hour for the virtual holiday party would start on Friday at 5 p.m. Kathy Tate-Bradish will be seeking singers for the party. We will have breakout rooms. Katherine urged folks to wear holiday attire, including ugly sweaters. She also reminded members that a two-shift bonfire gathering will take place, one beginning at 2 p.m. and one beginning at 3 p.m., at Emily Oaks Woods in Skokie on Saturday, Dec. 19. Each gathering is limited to 10 people.

 

Ann Weatherhead said that former Club member Jeff Gardner lives in New Orleans and works on affordable housing issues.  Ann is going to talk with him. In response to a question, Ann said that members can make clothing donations to Connections for the Homeless and leave them at her building, Sherman Plaza, 807 Davis St., Evanston. Please make clear to the doorman that the donations should be brought to Ann’s attention.

 

Ann Searles reported that Sam Lovering continues to recover and do well.  She urged Club members to contact him.

 

Joy Joyce made an announcement concerning a Books and Breakfast activity involving a disc jockey.

 

 

Don Gwinn: boasted his 53^rd wedding anniversary.

 

Ann Searles boasted Nick Powers for helping her deliver boxes of grapefruit and doing all the heavy lifting.

 

Holly Halliday boasted Joan Borg for doing her holiday deliveries while she is in New York state.

 

Kathy Tate-Bradish boasted Joan for performing deliveries and serving on many Club committees.

 

Harold Bauer boasted Bruce Baumberger for helping him navigate the holiday sale process.

 

Joy Joyce boasted Zbig Skiba for setting up the tree donation gift certificate process.  

 

Bryant Wallace boasted the ELRC for its donation of holiday hams on behalf of the Chessman Club of the North Shore and read a letter of thanks from the Club. 

 

Marissa Naujokas boasted Bill Glader for his donations.

 

 

 

 

Bryant discussed the progress made developing an Evanston, community-based online local marketplace (“ELM”). ELM gives local merchants assistance surviving the changes in shopping brought about by the pandemic.

 

ELM has retained Value Innovation Technologies Corp. to create the platform being used.  The platform enables business-to-business, business-to-government, and business-to-consumer sales. ELM seeks to more than double local spending by the City of Evanston from the current level of approximately 4.5 million.

 

In Beta testing over one weekend, seven vendors loaded 300 items for sales. Consumers (including Linda Gerber and Kathy Tate-Bradish) placed orders valued at approximately $2,000. The platform processed all orders correctly. Kathy and Linda praised the quality of the items they ordered. Anyone interested in buying local items in the platform should email Bryant.

 

Harold Bauer asked what a local hospital could buy in Evanston. Bryant responded that a hospital could create a local set aside in its request for proposal for cleaning services, for example, thereby requiring a nonlocal vendor to partner with an Evanston company.

 

Bruce Baumberger related that the Club uses Shopify to create its holiday sales website. Bryant responded that minorities own Value Innovation; he praised its responsiveness in tailoring the platform to meet local needs in contrast to Shopify.

 

 

 

Evelyn Lee, president of the noon Club.

 

 

 

 

Marv Edelstine – December 16

 

 

Lesley Peter – December 12 – 6 years.