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: Our Noon meetingsthe 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month, are at St. John's Church, Wilmette and Morning meetings, the third Wednesday of each month are at the Sheridan Shore Yacht Club.  We also meet in-person on the 1st Tuesday of each month (for Lunch-packing) at 6pm 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.
St. John's Lutheran Church
1235 Wilmette Ave
Wilmette, IL 60091
United States of America
Phone:
(847) 722-2115
We meet monthly on the 1st Tuesday at 6pm at St Joseph Church, 2nd and 4th Wednesday at Noon at St. John's Church, Wilmette, and 3rd Wednesday at 7:30am at the Wilmette Harbor Club in Gillson Park. Mailing address: PO Box 111, Wilmette, IL 60091
CLUB NEWS

Rotary members across 11 states and 2 countries will take part in the World’s Largest Polio Walk — a powerful, visible demonstration of our commitment to Rotary’s efforts to end polio forever.  Our club wll be participating with 10 other clubs from our district in the World Polio Walk on Saturday, October 24 at 10:00am at One Rotary Center in Evanston.  

 Why It Matters: Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for decades, reducing cases by over 99.9%. But until we finish the job, children everywhere remain at risk. This walk is our chance to stand united, raise awareness, and show the world that Rotary will not stop until polio is eradicated.

The walk will be 1.5 miles starting at One Rotary Center (rain or shine). After the Walk, walkers can retire to Sketchbook Brewery in Skokie to socialize and try out a new beer, “Purple Pinkie”, a  limited-edition beer to support Rotary's eradication efforts. One dollar from all beer sales will go to our End Polio Now campaign. The Evanston Nouveau Rotary Club teamed up with the brewery to produce this beer event.

SIGN-UP TO WALK

Can't walk with us?  Please consider donating to help finally eradicate polio worldwide. DONATE

The next speaker in District 6440’s Mental Health Series on Monday October 5, will be Laura Wurzling. Her presentation is entitiled : Screen Strong- an organization that  empowers families to prevent and reverse childhood screen addiction with parent-proven solutions grounded in child development science and medical research. Tune in then to learn how screen addiction negatively affects children, (and perhaps adults as well??) 

This presentations will be made on ZOOM,  from 12:00 - 12:30.  There is no registration required. Here is the link to the presentation. Meeting ID: 899 9424 5708, Passcode: 227480. Video recordings of each speaker are available at https://www.youtube.com/@RotaryDistrict6440.

Rotarians attending the September 16 Noon Rotary meeting were treated to a very special presentation by our own member, Sarah Holman.  Sarah has co-founded the GraceNote Collective (gracenotecollective.org) a Gospel Choir "representing many faiths, spiritual practices, ages, races, nationalities, sexual orientations and gender identities."  She talked about her personal journey with respect to gospel music as well.  We hope to attend one of their concerts, possibly on Saturday, October 24!

The September 9 Noon Meeting hosted Sara Jane Abbott, Executive Director of the Wilmette/Kenilworth Chamber of Commerce.  Throughout the year the Chamber hosts a wide vareity of networking events including Business for Breakfast, Business After Hours, Educational Workshops and Lunch and Learn events.  In addition the Chamber publishes the Community Guide which is a wealth of information about the Wilmette and Kenilworth communities and is distributed to over 12,000 households.  Ms. Abbott welcomed our suggestions and participation in Chamber activities.

The August 19 Rotary meeting featured Will Beiersdorf, Outreach and Development Program Manager for the BRAVE Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin.  Will is also a member of the Arlington Heights Rotary Club.  His service in the Navy after 9/11 gave him unique insights into veterans who are living with the impact of Traumatic Brain Injuries.  This led him to his work with BRAVE which also supports First Responders who are dealing with TBI.  BRAVE is the Midwest's first program of its kind and works in collaboration with the Wisconsin Institute of Neuroscience, and the Avalon Action Alliance (provides similar services in other parts of the country).  BRAVE provides a three week intensive program that includes a thorough evaluation, travel and lodging, food, clinical care and related therapies. Interestingly, 40% of those they serve are first responders (firefighter/paramedics).

The monthly Lunch-packing project on August 4 was well attended.  Members from all participating clubs were present, and several brought family members to participate. Over 160 sandwiches were made, then packed in lunch bags for transport to Connections for the Homeless in Evanston the following day.  This project continues to be a focus for the Wilmette, Evanston-Lighthouse and Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Clubs.

Whenever a 5th Wednesday occurs in a given month, we host a social meeting called Happy Hour. July 29 was the second Happy Hour of the year.  We had good attendance and great weather, so everyone could eat and visit outside on the terrace at the Wilmette Harbor Club. We were recognizing our country’s 250th anniversary, by wearing red, white or blue.  Pizza, salad, cookies and beverages of all kinds were provided at no cost.  Our next Happy Hour will be on September 30. Guests are welcome.

Martin Gruner is Founder of Gruner Capital Management of Raymond James. He has over 30 years of experience as a financial advisor.  Martin told us about smart strategies for retirement planning and investing.  He strongly encouraged having a Roth IRA because your heirs will not need to pay taxes if they inherit the funds, and will not have the restrictions that a traditional IRA has.  Additionally, he stressed the importance of diversified asset allocations, and not putting all investments in just stocks. It was an important and informative presentation.

 

Scott Berman, co-owner/operator of Superdawg drive-ins presented a fascinating and entertaining history of his family's business which was started by his parents in 1948.  Currently they have two locations, one in Chicago and one in Wheeling. Scott explained today's operation including how to peel 5000 potatoes every day, and keep them fresh, create greaseless fries, cook all-beef hotdogs, and prepare a variety of sandwiches, ice cream treats and more. He described how his entire family has been involved in the operation at some point. Our members were impressed with Scott's description of his products and his quality control, those who have never been to his drive-ins will be going soon. 

 

SERVICE ABOVE SELF

How We Serve and Support:
 

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Speakers
District Governor Rick Reigner
Sep 23, 2026 12:00 PM
Official Visit from District Governor
Official Visit from District Governor

Current Distict Governor will tell us what his goals are for Rotary Year 2026-2027, and what is happening with District 6440.

Will McFarland & Erin Carter
Oct 14, 2026 12:00 PM
Meals on Wheels Update
Dick Farkas
Oct 21, 2026 7:30 AM
Sand
Glenn Garlic
Oct 28, 2026 12:00 PM
End Polio Now Update
Jim Pockross
Nov 11, 2026 12:00 PM
What We Should Know About Medicare
Club Executives & Directors
Co-President
Co-President
Immediate Past President
Co-President Elect
Co-President Elect
Club Foundation Treasurer
Secretary
Treasurer
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Membership Chair
Public Image
Co-chair Community and Environmental Service Committee
Co-chair Community and Environmental Service Committee
Youth Service Chair
Web Site Coordinator
Program Chair
Co-Bulletin Editor
Co -Bulletin Editor
Fundraising Chair
INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHAIR
Rotary Foundation
Finance Chair
AI Assistant 
Ask our AI Assistant, Avery, any questions about our Rotary Club.
 
 
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITES
Monthly Lunch-packing on October 6,  Please Sign-up to participate.  Our monthly service project of preparing lunch bags for Connections for the Homeless is at St. Joseph's Church, Lake and Ridge, Wilmette at 6pm. Enter through the east lower entrance. A Rotary Club meeting follows immediately after the sandwiches are made. This is now a collaborative project with members joining us from the Winnetka-Northfield and Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Clubs.  
 
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