Welcome to Our Club

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.

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. 

At our May 27 club meeting, George Pearce presented a scholarship award to Kelly Jacques, a Loyola Academy senior.  Kelly is a remarkable young woman who during her high school years volunteered at Our Place working with developmentally disabled individuals.  In her own words, Kelly believes this experience taught her to better understand “how important kindness, acceptance, and patience really are, and made me more aware of how important it is to create an environment that is inclusive for everyone.”  She also worked at a pizza restaurant part-time gaining job experience while still in high school. Kelly will be studying psychology at Marquette University.