Our speaker was Vitaliy Bezrodnoy who works with the Rotary's Children's Fund and Golden Gates Youth Exchange Program. He gave an impassioned talk about the value young people receive from visiting other countries, especially the United States. He noted that the name "Golden Gate" didn't refer to the bridge in San Francisco, but the Russian word for "heart to heart." His 27 minute talk featured photos of young people, choirs, dancers, and world-wide scenes and covered just about every aspect of youth services imaginable!
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Tomorrow's Program
Dr. Mark Mench, MD, a member of Rotary since
January 1991 (30 years of service) will present a
program on Rotary History. Mark holds the
classification of Emergency Medicine and
received his degree in medicine in 1979 from
Loyola University. He and his wife, Michelle, live
at 1906 19th Avenue in Sterling.
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Meeting Notes
Tuesday - February 9, 2021
Gathering: President Barbara Majeski called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m. She asked Bill McLemore to say the invocation and then asked John Gvozdjak to do the video presentations so we heard the Pledge of Allegiance by John Wayne, the New Delhi Club of India's Four-Way Test, and the Gaither Vocal Band singing "God bless America." Bill McLemore called the roll. Those present were: Jon Berens, John Gvozdjak, Kevin Heller, Nick Hubbard, Mark Humphreys, Lee Kraut, Lori Lowe, Barb Majeski, Bill McLemore, Mark Mench, Chris Mitchell, Steve Munson, Dave Murray, Tim Schwingle, Brad Zacharski, and Christie Zepzauer. The club welcomed five student high school seniors as guests: Jacob Ackman (Newman), Taylor Finn (Sterling), Danae Palmer (Sterling), Olivia Schwingle (Sterling), and Madelyn Verdick (Newman).
Fun and Frolic: The recipient of contributions today is the Rotary Foundation. Kevin Heller filled in to lead the charge. The "fines" were as follows: (as best as I could keep up) Lee Kraut ($20.70), Nick Hubbard ($10), Jon Berens ($50), Christy Zapazower ($20), Tim Schwingle ($51), John Gvozdjak ($20), and Chris Mitchell ($20).
The Program: Continued above.
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Fun and Frolic Report from Brad Zacharski:
(Report received February 8, 2021)
January 18th: WYCA - Pledged $150.19, Collected $130.19, Difference $0.00.
January 26th: L.I.F.E. - Pledged $278.00, Collected $258.00, Difference $20.00.
Past President John Gvozdjak sent out an article from the “Wall Street Journal” by Saeed Shah and Betsy McKay that says, “After decades of work, polio had been wiped out almost everywhere in the world. All that was left were pocket in Afghanistan and Pakistan.” However, because of Covid-19, with its mutated forms, evidences of polio have greatly expanded in Pakistan. The article continues: “Some Pakistani communities have found they have a new leverage when vaccinators come calling. Teams in Pakistan have received demands for electricity, roads, and schools, as well as other health services before residents would agree to vaccinations.” This is a serious setback for Rotary’s world-wide effort to eradicate polio.
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Up-coming Speakers (February-June):
Tuesday - February 16 - Mark Mench, Rotary History.
Tuesday - February 23 - Tim Schwingle, Sterling High School Robotics
Tuesday - March 2 - Mark Humphreys, Joan Hermes, on the Community General Hospital (CGH) Foundation.
Tuesday - March 9 - John Gvozdjak - Kelsey Musich, Senior Environmental Planner - "An Overview of the Illinois Tollway's Landscape Program."
Tuesday - March 16 - Mike Sprague, Lori Lowe, Classification Talk
Tuesday - March 23 - Nick Lareau, To be announced.
Tuesday - March 30 - Dave Hellmich, To be announced.
Tuesday - April 6th - STUDENT EXCELLENCE
Tuesday - April 13th - Paul Steinke, To be announced.
Tuesday - April 20th - Ray Sharp, To be announced.
Tuesday - April 27th - Reed Hutchcraft, To be announced.
Tuesday - May 4th - Student Program
Tuesday - May 11th - Ron Pothoff, To be announced.
Tuesday - May 18th - Russ Siefken, To be announced.
Tuesday - May 25th - Russ Spitzer, To be announced.
Tuesday - June 1st - No Meeting
Wednesday - June 2nd - Scheduled BBQ
Tuesday - June 8th - Scott Porter, To be announced.
Tuesday - June 15th - Steve Munson, To be announced.
Tuesday - June 22nd - Tom Jensen, To be announced.
Tuesday - June 29th - Dave Hellmich, To be announced.