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

District 6440 Histories 2005
1992-93 - Donated $3,800 to Family Service of Winnetka/Northfield. Contributed $1,500 to New Trier
Presidential Classroom, $500 to Josselyn Center for Mental Health, $300 to Winnetka Youth
Organization, and $2,000 to help fund Winnetka July 4th celebration. Donated to American Red Cross
Disaster Relief fund and Greater Chicago Food Depository. Contributed $2,000 to Cove School, $900 to
North Shore Senior Center, and $5,200 to Paul Harris Fellowship Fnd. Also $500 to Good News
Partners and donated to Post High School Committee for Youth.
1993-94 - Contributed $15,500 to Winnetka Streetscape beautification project, $4,500 to New Trier’s
Presidential Classroom and Scholarship program, $1,000 to International Scholarships, and
approximately $5,000 to various other community service projects. Donated $1,850 plus one month of
member Sue Barkley’s time to Golden Triangle Project, and supported the Winnetka Youth
Organization for their trip to Kentucky to help build low-income housing. Also contributed $2,000 to the
North Shore Senior Center and $1,500 to Cove School
1996-05 - Our club has had a stellar set of presidents in the years 1996-2005, not that the previous ones
weren’t wonderful as well. The presidents were, in order of their reign, Don Van Arsdale, Suzanne
Barkley, Peter Skalski, David Fell, Robert Mardirossian, Rodger Morris, David Grant, Bob Baker and
ArLynn Presser. The Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Club has accomplished many great things while
maintaining a commitment to enduring friendships, fun get-togethers, and mutual support.
Don proved to be a great leader, determined in particular to bring our club into the twenty-first century
with a website which he continues to maintain on our behalf. During Suzanne’s term, Rotary
International awarded our club a 3-H Grant - Health, Hunger, and Humanity. The grant funded a microlending
project called SEED, in a radically poor area of Uganda called the Rakai District. SEED
provides monies, in the form of small business loans, to women for the purpose of starting a business or
continuing one that is successful. The highlight around that was a trip by some of our members to
Uganda with a check in hand for approximately $350,000. Winnetka-Northfield members met with the
Rotary Clubs of Entebbe, Kampala, and Masaka to tell them the exciting news and hand over the
monies... and CELEBRATE with them. That SEED Project is now self-sustaining. We funded a
number of local and international organizations including the Winnetka Youth Org., Haven, Music
Institute of Chicago, Friends of the Library, a woman's shelter in Evanston, books for Uganda, Lawrence
Hall, and Interfaith House.
During Peter’s term, club members purchased a total of 27 Bicycles for Togo, Africa for $66.00 each to
facilitate delivery of polio vaccine in rural areas. Then there was Hurricane Mitch, which devastated
Honduras and Guatemala. Our club coordinated the collection of four vanloads (about half a ton) of
clothing and also came up with $1,030 for medicine and water. We received a District 6440 Community
Service award for our involvement with Interfaith House, a halfway rehabilitation facility whose board
chairman was Winnetka Rotarian, Paul Allen. We also received a Friend of the Township award from
New Trier Township for community involvement and assistance to the New Trier Food Pantry.
During David Fell’s year, our club successfully sponsored Ben Schonthal as an Ambassadorial Scholar,
our first in many years. We had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day benefit, which enabled us to continue to
support ongoing projects such as the micro lending program in Uganda and the Interfaith House in
Chicago, as well as numerous local charities.
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