News Story for December 14, 2021

No Club Meeting on December 15, 2021

There will be no meeting of the Club on December 15, 2021.  The next events of the Club are scheduled for January 5, 2022.

At least for the first part of 2022, regular meetings of the Club will 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.  

December 9, 2021, Holiday Party

The Club's holiday party was a lively and entertaining if low-key event.  The Club continued its adventures in technology by conducting its first "hybrid" party. Many Club members participated in person, but several also joined by Zoom. In the first half of the meeting, Club members did indeed offer brief holiday stories, anecdotes, poems or other readings, and jokes.  Special thanks to the muses of Club members for their inspiration.
 

December 8, 2021 Meeting --District Governor Kevin Stevens Official Governor Visit and Recognition of Major Donors

Kevin Stevens, District Governor of Rotary District 6440, joined the meeting of the Club on December 8, 2021, in his Official Governor Visit to the Club.  Kevin offered an informative presentation, highlighting in particular how the Club can better interact with the District, Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation.

The meeting also included a presentation by Donna Gulley and others recognizing as Major Donors Club member Frank Hussey and his spouse Gail, and Club member George Pearce and his spouse Mary.  The Club also recognized prior Major Donors John Kessler and Herb McDowell.

 
December 1, 2021 Evening Zoom Event -- Gillson Beach Clean-Up Discussion
 

On December 1, Sarah Murphy, ambassador for the Alliance for the Great Lakes and founder of toesnwater, led a discussion of the Gillson Beach clean-up the Club has participated in in 2021 and prior years. The discussion included information about the trash found on the beach, the impacts of litter on the Great Lakes, and how plastics impacts wildlife.

The event was organized by the Club's Environmental Committee. 

November 3, 2021 Community Conversation on Race: A Welcoming Community

On the evening of November 3, 2021, the Club hosted a Community Conversation on Race: A Welcoming Community. This panel discussion panel furthered the Club's continuing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative.

Van Gilmer of the Wilmette Human Relations Commission moderated an informative and lively discussion. The panelists were as follows:

Miya Hasegawa, Healing Everyday Racism in Our Schools (HEROs) member
John Jacoby, Village of Wilmette Historian and former Village of Wilmette President
Rev. Erin Raska, Associate Minister at Glencoe Union Church
Gerry Smith, Chair, Village of Wilmette Human Relations Commission

Making this event a success was truly a team effort of many Club members. Special thanks to Susan Fisher and George Pearce for organizing this event (and special thanks to the wonderful panelists for the event).  The event was recorded on Zoom.  Please contact Mike Bailey at mike@mbaileylaw.com if you would like to view the recorded program.
 
 
The Club's Holiday Fundraiser 
 
The Club has very successfully concluded its annual Holiday Fundraiser. Funds and contributions raised in this fundraiser enable the Club, through its Foundation, to support a wide range of charitable and other community organizations and programs. The fundraiser included a variety of gifts for purchase, a raffle and ways to contribute to the Club's Foundation.  Thanks to Jim Waite, Jim Pockross, Jim Bowman and the entire Fundraising Committee for their great work on this Club effort.  
 

More About the Club's Community Conversation Series

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 certain months at 7:30 am at the Harbor Club in Gillson Park, and also usually be available by Zoom in hybrid meeting form (although please note that some events in our Community Conversation series may be held in the evening on the first Wednesday of a month).  
 
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.  Our fourth Community Conversation, held on September 29, 2021, featured Julie Wolf, Chair of the Wilmette Environmental Commission.  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.
 
The fifth Community Conversation in our series was the "A Conversation on Race:  A Welcoming Community." held on the  evening of Wednesday, November 3, 2021.  
 
Community Conversation meetings generally 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.  
 
 
Environmental Committee News:
 
Book Drive -- Open Books
The Environmental Committee is organizing a book drive this year with Open Books, following the successful book drive last year.  The book drive is tentatively scheduled for the morning of Saturday, January 29, 2022.
 
 
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.
 
Environmental Book Selection
Based on the success of the DEI book discussion, the Environmental Committee is in the process of finalizing a selection for an environmental book for the Club to read.  If you have a suggestion, please send to Ben Ivory or Maureen Barry.   The Club tentatively plans to set aside one of our "first Wednesday" evening events for discussion of the book selected.