April, 2006 My Fellow Rotarians - Rotary's Global History Fellowship

District 6440 Histories 2005
Grove Club, which has been dissolved. With the expansion of the Rotary area served, the name of the
Skokie club has been changed to Skokie Valley Club. Community and international service has been a
continuing program of the club. Each year, financial grants are provided to local organizations serving
education, youth, performing arts, cancer, mental health, family services, and other community
organizations. Annual programs serving both fundraising and fellowship include the pancake breakfast,
shopping benefits days, holiday flower sales, Skokie Festival of Cultures assistance, and the Soup
Kitchen.
In recent years, the club has undertaken a very significant and difficult activity with sponsorship of the
local performance of the Carson & Barnes Circus in the summer of 2003 and again in July of 2005.
Club members have been organized for circus promotion, provision of facilities, ticket sales,
sponsorships, marketing, parking, tent raising, public relations, etc. The five-ring circus is known as the
“Biggest Big Top on the Earth,” seating up to 2,700 people each performance; and includes acrobats,
jugglers, wild animal acts, flying trapeze artists, and clowns. It is complete with elephants, camels,
tigers, lions, and other exotic animals. The 2003 sponsorship by the Skokie Valley Club permitted the
club to contribute a very significant amount to the regional fundraising for the “PolioPlus” Rotary
worldwide program. The club expects to achieve a much larger contribution for the July 2005 circus. If
the plans are effective, the club hopes to provide about $30,000 to PolioPlus. If all goes as planned, the
goal is in excess of $88,000 for ticket sales, parking, sponsorships, and posters.
The club membership is organized for monthly meetings dedicated to circus planning issues. The
previous initial appearance of the circus in 2003 was a success, with four sold out shows, attended by
about 10,000 people.
The circus has not diverted the members from attention to worldwide programs. World Community
Services (WCS) programs have been completed or are in process in India, Guatemala, Peru, Israel, and
Panama, cooperating with local clubs in those countries in every instance.
The Skokie Valley Club membership is currently in the upper 20% of the membership of the 70 clubs in
Region 6440 exceeding 65 members. Eight membership drive teams have been organized, each with a
team leader to recruit new members from the four communities the club represents. Prizes will be
awarded for the team recruiting the most new members. The membership plans to ensure that the club’s
membership represents a variety of community professional men and women including leaders in
business, industry, the arts, government, military, and religion.
Significant events since chartering the club in 1939:
Annual grants to social service agencies and other local community organizations; annual vocational
scholarships for high school students; grants for specific medical programs of local hospitals; annual
support for various social service organizations; annual boat trips for retarded children – several years;
aid to handicapped – when presented; Hadley School for the Blind; Orchard Village – annual; foreign
exchange students; Gamin project for abandoned children; annual pancake breakfasts since 1988 –
funded by Rotarians and sponsors; youth exchange – Dist. 219 students; Interact Club formed at Niles
North High School in 1988; auction for local, international, and Rotary activities raised in excess of
$4,000; Niles Township sheltered workshop, B’Nai B’Rith; Ezra Jewish assistance; Boy Scouts – north
suburban program; Skokie Festival of Cultures – annual volunteers; Guatemala project for homeless
girls needing food, education, and housing; Skokie sculpture park; big wheel auction, golf, raffle,
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