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

District 6440 Histories 2005
area - Gurnee-Waukegan.
1991-93 - Celebrated 75th anniversary. Held duck race to raise funds for the Health Reach Clinic.
Beautification of Waukegan lakefront through our ecology project.
1993 - In conjunction with Boy Scouts of America, donated 10,000 issues of Boy’s Life magazine to
boys who can’t afford subscriptions. Clothing drive for the homeless. Support Friends of the Hungry
with a cash donation. Continue to hold annual fruit fundraiser. Bell ringing at Christmas for Salvation
Army.
1994-95 - Began Free Immunization project for Waukegan and North Chicago area, supplying
manpower and cash donations to Health Reach Clinic with the North Chicago Rotary Club. Started very
ambitious project, adopting a park with a five-year contract to improve Washington Park. Participated in
skills re-training program to help heads of households back into work world. Recognized various
members of the community with luncheon and plaque; scholastic and athletic honors students with
luncheon; and hosted annual Salvation Army luncheon. Furnished labor and $2,000 to send supplies and
equipment to a hospital in Mexico.
1997-98 – John T. Larsen was president. As past president of the Rotary club of Waukegan I have a
special interest in seeing that our club continues on the path set forth by all former presidents and
boards. This is why I have remained active in the club since my presidency. I have served on the board
for most of the years since I was president and served several positions prior to my term. I am a selfdescribed
Rotary brat – being third generation Rotarian in the Waukegan club. I remember Rotary
years, members, and some presidencies back to the mid 50’s. Some of these early memories are quite
clear. Memories of Christmas parties when children were invited and Santa would pass out gifts. I also
remember my father’s presidency in 1969. His fundraiser was a chicken dinner. I joined in the work of
cutting the whole chickens into pieces, cooking, serving and cleaning up. This was my first Rotary
service project. My own Rotary presidency was filled with the usual and some unusual projects,
problems, a sense of accomplishment and relief at being able to pass the position off to one of my
friends knowing that I had served to the best of my ability. We received the Presidential Citation that
year and the credit for this goes to my board and chairs. It is with a sense of pride that I look forward to
next year when my daughter will serve as president of our club. She is the forth generation of our
family to be a member of the Rotary Club of Waukegan and the third generation to serve as president.
1999-2000 – Alain H. Oller was president. Organized three fundraisers to include a bowling event, silent
auction, and citrus sale. Four Avenues of Service Award.
2000-01 – Mark Thorn was president. The plan for my year as president actually started out at the
district assembly for Al Oller. The idea then was for a three-year plan. The numbers of Rotarian
members had started to see a decline in some of the district clubs, and many of the programs that the
clubs were involved in recently were not in continuity from year to year. So, the idea for the next three
years was for the presidents to plan what they were going to do together for an easy flow of ideas,
programs, and goals. By looking three (3) years into the future we could hopefully accomplish these
goals. I believe our goals were (or something like this): (1) strengthen the club membership numbers by
retaining present members and having a definite goal of adding new members. This would be done
through: (2) Quality and interesting club programs that would improve attendance at meetings. (3)
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