Welcome to Our Club


The Rotary Club of Wilmette has merged with the Wilmette Harbor Rotary Club, the combined clubs are now all officially the Rotary Club of Wilmette. The original Wilmette Rotary Club was chartered in 1924 and was known as the Noon Club.  In 1990, the Wilmette Harbor Club was chartered, and was known as the Morning Club.  In 2019, a satellite club was established as part of the Noon group.  Today there are over 80 active members who gather to do good for others while enjoying good fellowship, with the choice of meeting either morning, noon or evening.
 

Our Club members enthusiastically live the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” both locally and internationally. Recent projects include water well installation at schools in Angola, food packing and providing necessities to the homeless in Chicago, supplying ultrasound equipment and related training to people in Uganda, providing disaster relief supplies to hurricane, typhoon, and other natural disaster survivors, providing winter coats and shoes to low-oncome children, food packing for people in Guatemala and Central America, and supporting local food pantries, literacy efforts and diversity.

NOTICE: Beginning in January 2025, we will meet in-person on the 1st Tuesday of each month at 6pm, the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at Noon, the 3rd Wednesday at 7:30am. Our meeting place for the 7:30 am and Noon meetings is the Sheridan Shores Yacht Club in Gillson Park.  The Tuesday evening meeting is at St. Joseph Church, Wilmette.

We’d love to have you join one of our meetings!

Club Information
Welcome!


Our Motto: Service Above Self

We meet In Person
Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m.
Sheridan Shores Yacht Club
20 Harbor Drive
Wilmette, IL 60091
United States of America
Phone:
(847) 722-2115
In 2025, our Rotary Club meets monthly on the 1st Tuesday at 6pm at St Joseph Church, the 2nd and 4th Wednesday at Noon and the 3rd Wednesday at 7:30am at the Sheridan Shores Yacht Club in Gillson Park. Mailing address: PO Box 111, Wilmette, IL 60091
CLUB NEWS
Thanks to all who participated in our Drive for the Homeless in support of the Fraternite Notre Dame Sisters' unhoused clients in Chicago.  Together we were able to provide the following donations via an Amazon list:
 
60 pairs of socks
132 pairs of gloves
132 knit hats
78 sleeping bags
24 fleece blankets
11 cases deodorant
Tony Duncan, owner of Body Science, a personal training business in Winnetka, related how he grew up and overcame many obstacles to become the owner of a successful business. He shared his family’s struggles including the shooting death of his brother, his own improper arrest by officers who were found guilty of police brutality and false arrest, as well as a devastating personal loss. Through all this he maintained a passion for creating opportunities for all types of people and cultures. Besides operating his personal training business, he has donated time and fitness equipment to underserved communities in Chicago, so members of the community could have a safe place to go and exercise.
The Rotary International Foundation approved our Club's global grant application for funding to provide medical equipment for Chitokoloki mission Hospital in Zambezi, Zambia.  This was a joint submission by the Rotary Club of Solwezi and the Rotary Club of Wilmette. The award is in the amount of $49,525.00. Congratulations to Ray Zeiss for his hard work on this grant application!
Our new meeting schedule is now in effect. Our next Rotary meeting is at NOON on Wednesday, January 22 at the Yacht Club. There will also be a Happy Hour on Wednesday, January 29 at 6pm at the Yacht Club.
 
Members and guests will be able to park in the Yacht Club parking lot behind the building.  There are stairs leading up to the front entrance from the parking lot. There are also 2-3 parking spots in the curved driveway in front of the Yacht Club that can should be used for handicapped parking only.
 
The January focus for us in Rotary is Vocational Services Month. During this period, clubs highlight the importance of the business and professional life of each Rotarian. Special activities promote the vocational avenue of service.
On Friday, October 25, Wilmette Rotary Club members Puran Stevens, Terry Porter, George Pearce, Debra Morris and Heidi Voorhees fitted students at St. Thomas of Canterbury School with warm coats.  Approximately 200 coats were unpacked and students were fitted and picked out their favorite color! This is one of the many service projects supported by our Rotary Club's fundraising.  We were able to dedicate $2000 to the purchase of warm coats through Operation Warm.
 
Rotary International has declared October 24 to be World Polio Day.  Our club was well represented at two locations this year.  We were at the French Market and the Jewel at Plaza del Lago in Wilmette on Saturday, October 26.  Frank Hussey has organized this event with Debora and Heidi (ably assisted by George Pearce) at the French Market, and  Frank Cheswick and Ben Ivory were at the Jewel to talk about the End Polio Now campaign and collect donations. We collected approximately $700 between on line and in person donations!
 
Hurricane Helene has caused widespread devastation in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, leaving countless families in need of urgent assistance. Rotary Zones 33 and 34 are responding swiftly, and your support is crucial in helping the hardest-hit areas. Please use the donation link below to contribute to recovery efforts.  Jim Pockross was the first to suggest we use our club meeting collections to send some funds to help this relief effort. We have only collected about $400, so if anyone would like to up that amount before we send it, you can do so at the next club meeting, or donate directly to Hurricane.  Former Harbor Club members may remember the name Ladd Waldo -- he was a member of the Harbor Club and is now coordinating this relief effort in Florida.
Our Beach Sweep on September 21 was a great event. Wilmette Rotary members have been participating in the annual Beach Sweep at Gillson Beach for more than 25 years!  For many of those years, students from Springman Junior High School in Glenview have joined us and this year we also partnered with Go Green.  Many thanks to Chris Simcox and Ben Ivory for organizing this wonderful event.
 

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SERVICE ABOVE SELF

How We Serve and Support:
 
Speakers
Gordon Heinrichs
Jan 22, 2025 12:00 PM
Health Literacy - Improving Doctor/Patient Communications

Gordon Heinrichs has a long and varied work history in healthcare as well as a background in health education. He has assisted healthcare non-profit companies to improve the readability of their public documents and is a patient advocate whose goal is to improve doctor-patient communication. 

He’s a member of the American Medical Writers’ Association and his latest book is, Did Your Doctor Pass Communications 101? How Miscommunication Endangers Your Life. 

Patti Capouch, Executive director
Feb 12, 2025
Impact- Behavioral Health Partners
Dr. Yashar Taheri-Karamati
Feb 26, 2025 12:00 PM
Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar
Krista Gallagher
Mar 12, 2025 12:00 PM
Regina Dominican High School
Lisa Torem and John Philip Shenale
Mar 26, 2025 12:00 PM
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