October 13, 2021 Meeting -- Exodus World Service
The October 13, 2021 regular meeting of the Club will be held at 7:30 am at the Harbor Club at Gillson Park and will feature Carissa Zaffiro of Exodus World Service. Carissa will discuss the efforts of her organization to support refugees in this time of pressing needs. Her presentation is intended to be a follow up to our special Zoom meeting held on October 6.
Ben Ivory will preside over the meeting because Mike Bailey will be unable to attend. The meeting will be conducted in a limited hybrid manner. A Zoom link will be provided to view the speaker, but interaction with Zoom participants will be limited in this meeting.
The link to the hybrid meeting will be emailed to members, guests and others within the community who express an interest in attending. Those attending in person are reminded of recent Cook County directives relating to the wearing of masks indoors.
October 6, 2021 -- Special Zoom Meeting on Refugee Support Efforts and Visit to Block Museum
On the evening of September 6, the Club held two evening events.
Supporting Refugees at Camp Atterbury -
Club members reviewed and discussed a video of Sue Watson describing her experience volunteering to support refugees currently at Camp Atterbury in Southern Indiana. Susan Fisher led a discussion of how the Club can best support these volunteer efforts to support refugees at Camp Atterbury. Our Board has approved a special fundraising effort to support this cause, in coordination with other local Rotary Clubs. The link to the fundraising site is as follows:
The fundraising website includes a brief video by Sue Watson describing the refugee support efforts at Camp Atterbury and explains how to make donations.
Visit to Block Museum to View New Exhibition
Members of the Club met at the Block Museum on the Northwestern University campus to view the new exhibition "Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts: Thinking About History with The Block's Collection." The exhibition presents a thought provoking consideration of race and diversity in the visual arts.
For more information about location of the Block Museum, parking and the exhibition see
blockmuseum.northwestern.edu
On September 29, 2021 Julie Wolf, Chair of the Wilmette Environmental Commission, was featured in the fourth "Community Conversation" in our series. Julie offered an enlightening description of the development of the Village of Wilmette's Sustainability Plan.
Please contact Mike Bailey at Mike@mbaileylaw.com if you would like to obtain a copy of Julie's PowerPoint presentation.
Each Community Conversation provides an opportunity for one or more community leaders to discuss important developments the community. The Community Conversations also present an opportunity for those in attendance to ask questions and offer comments. Interested members of the community are invited to join us.
The Club usually will be holding Community Conversations on the last Wednesday of each month at 7:30 am at the Harbor Club in Gillson Park, and also usually be available by Zoom in hybrid meeting form.
Regular meetings will continue to be held in hybrid form, so that members and guests can participate either in person and by Zoom. The link to the hybrid meeting will be emailed to members, guests and others within the community who express an interest in attending. Those attending in person are reminded of recent Cook County directives relating to the wearing of masks indoors.
More About the Community Conversation Series
Our first Community Conversation was held on June 30, and featured Steve Wilson, Executive Director of the Wilmette Park District. Our second Community Conversation, held on July 28, 2021, featured Anthony Austin, Director of the Wilmette Public Library. Our third Community Conversation was held on August 25, 2021, and featured John Jacoby with an interesting presentation about his new book Wilmette at 150.
The fifth Community Conversation in our series is scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, November 3, 2021, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. The event will be a panel discussion furthering the Club's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative: "A Conversation on Race: A Welcoming Community."
September 22, 2021 Meeting -- Karen Tollenaar Demorest, Youth Job Center
The regular meeting of the Club held on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 featured a lively and informative presentation by Karen Tollenaar Demorest, Executive Director of the Youth Job Center. YJC’s mission is “Success for young people in the workplace and in life.” YJC is a leading youth workforce development agency in Cook County, founded in Evanston in 1983 and expanding services to Chicago in the last decade. YJC offers comprehensive workforce development services for youth and young adults ages 14-25, including job training and placement, personalized career advising, financial literacy training and coaching, work-based learning programs, career advancement supports for roughly 2,000 youth and young adults each year, the vast majority of whom are low-income Black and Brown youth.
The Club particularly appreciated Karen's interesting discussion about the steps YJC is taking to implement its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative. Members of the Club look forward to opportunities to collaborate with YJC in that respect and others.
Environmental Committee News:
| Elmwood Dunes Volunteer Opportunity |
The Wilmette lunch club After Dark (RAD) group has a project to help preserve the native plants at Elmwood Dunes Preserve by pulling out the choke weeks that threaten the natural plants in the upper garden. They will be scheduling Saturday 10:30 am volunteer days and will welcome our club's support. Ben Ivory will share details of their next volunteer day. |
| Beach Sweep | ||
Our Club hosted the Springman Middle School students again this year on Saturday morning, September 25th. Chris Simcox coordinated the event with a truly impressive turn out of volunteers. Club members Ben Ivory, John Wertymer, Puran Stevens and Mike Bailey also participated. | ||
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Operation Warm Benefit Concert -- October 15
A benefit concert for Operation Warm Benefit will be held on October 15 at Valley Lo Club in Glenview and features Gerald McClendon, “The Soulkeeper”, with great ‘60s and ‘70s Soul and R&B music. Your ticket includes a buffet dinner and provides new winter coats to 3 children. The event also have a silent and live auction.
Learn more and purchase tickets or donate to the cause at http://tinyurl.com/OWBenefit2021.
A headcount is needed for food by October 8. This event is being organized by the Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield.