Rotary

Primrose Promise

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Primrose School of Long Grove Director Sarah Simon and Franchise Owner Rich Wierzchon joined me at the March 15, 2016 Rotary Club meeting.

Primrose School of Long Grove Director Sarah Simon and Franchise Owner Rich Wierzchon joined me at the March 15, 2016 Rotary Club meeting.

One of several new businesses currently under construction in our village is Primrose School of Long Grove. Located on Old McHenry Road just north of Route 22, Primrose will offer educational child care for infants & toddlers, and preschool, kindergarten, and after school programs. In anticipation of welcoming their first students later this summer, Director Sarah Simon and Owner Rich Wierzchon attended the recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Long Grove, Kildeer, and Hawthorn Woods to give an informative program.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Sarah and Rich previously, so I already felt I had a basic knowledge of the new school. But I was impressed to learn more about the Primrose Promise. Using expertise and passion, this company is determined to make a difference in children’s lives; not just those who attend our Long Grove school but for some of America’s children at greatest risk. The Primrose program incorporates a strong character development component. Through fun activities like arts, games, and role playing, the children learn values such as honesty, compassion, respect, and good judgement. They participate in community-minded programs such as Save the Children sponsorship and a local “adopt-a-grandparent” partnership. One of the values that I particularly like is the Primrose commitment to giving without expectation. In today’s world, it is especially important to learn that serving and caring for others is what we do as good citizens, without expecting something in return. Children, families, staff and owners join together to support local charities and the Primrose Children’s Foundation, a non-profit that partners with national charities such as Reach Out and Read.

Rich Wierzchon told us a moving story about the motivation for him and his wife Jenny to start this particular business at this particular time. Jenny is an experienced teacher who followed in the footsteps of her mother, a life-long educator. The entire family believes strongly in the character-based education Primrose will provide, and the opening of this school is being done in part to honor the legacy of Jenny’s Mom, who recently passed away.

I believe Primrose School will fit right in to compliment the high-quality education already available in our community. We will all look forward to the completion of construction in the months ahead and welcoming another new business to our Village. And I promise to come visit our little philanthropists and citizens of tomorrow!

Holiday Support for Veterans

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Rotarians (L to R) Ross Spencer, Jim Runnfeldt, George Dorner, Karl Riehn, and Robert Mintz prepare to deliver Thanksgiving meals to area Veterans.

Rotarians (L to R) Ross Spencer, Jim Runnfeldt, George Dorner, Karl Riehn, and Robert Mintz prepare to deliver Thanksgiving meals to area Veterans.

Smokin’ T’s in Long Grove is hands-down my favorite place for BBQ. But my love for this restaurant grows even greater this time of year because of what they do for our Veterans.

Chef Tom Gescheidle and his family are the owners of Smokin’ T’s, and since 2008 they have offered the Military Meal Deal Program. Each year the staff spends hundreds of hours preparing over 6,000 pounds of fully cooked holiday meals which are then delivered at Thanksgiving and Christmas to the individual homes of over 150 Lake County veterans. Each meal is completely cooked and ready to feed between 9 and 12 family members.

The restaurant works closely with the Veterans Assistant Program to help those military families most in need of supplemental nutrition. Bringing families together over the holidays with healthy food lets the veterans know others are thinking of them and is a real cause for celebration.

I really like this program not only for the way that it honors our local veterans, but also because it gives customers and local groups the opportunity to give back. Long Grove families like mine have an easy way to directly make a difference by donating meals. Local service groups such as the Rotary Club of Long Grove, Kildeer & Hawthorn Woods and students from Stevenson High School get to thank the veterans themselves while personally delivering the meals on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve. This program is a win-win for everyone involved!

It takes a lot of hard work and organization to make this happen every year, and for the last eight years the Gescheidle family has done a wonderful thing for our community. For this reason I have recently nominated them for a local award. Keep your fingers crossed for this business to be recognized when the winners are announced in a few weeks.

As we all prepare to gather with our families I wish you a holiday table filled with warmth, delicious food, and love!

Rotary Heritage Run

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Rotarians Jonathon Mintz, Robert Mintz, and Aaron Underwood at the September 12, 2015 Heritage Run.

Rotarians Jonathon Mintz, Robert Mintz, and Aaron Underwood at the September 12, 2015 Heritage Run.

We are enjoying some truly lovely late summer/early fall weather here in Long Grove right now. This also held true for the morning of September 12th, as Mother Nature gifted the Rotary Club of Long Grove, Kildeer, and Hawthorn Woods with a perfect day for their annual Heritage Run/Walk. This event, in it’s 18th year, raises between $50,000. to $100,000. for as many as 12 different local charities. Community members and charity supporters get to participate in a fun race starting and ending in our historic downtown, and everyone is included in the post-race pancake and sausage breakfast. It’s a win -win for the Rotary, the community, and the charities, but it does take a massive amount of work to pull this event off successfully every September. Besides helping at the registration table and walking the course, I also had the honor of handing out the medals during the awards ceremony again this year. Thanks go to all the Rotarians who make this happen, and congratulations to all the winners!

Congratulations, Madame President!

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Congratulating Sarah Knight on her installation as President of the Rotary Club of Long Grove, Kildeer, and Hawthorn Woods.

Congratulating Sara Knight on her installation as President of the Rotary Club of Long Grove, Kildeer, and Hawthorn Woods.

Those people who know me also know that I believe in the value of women as leaders. I think that our country could benefit by having more women in the male-dominated field of politics. I am fortunate to have many like-minded voters in our area of Lake County to support this view, as our two closest neighbors, Kildeer and Buffalo Grove also have female mayors. Last month, I was honored to attend the installation ceremony of the new President of the Rotary Club of Long Grove, Kildeer, and Hawthorn Woods. It was as recently as 1989 that Rotary International voted to first allow women to join this community service group. Sara Knight is now serving her second term as our local club president. No stranger to leading groups of men, Sara is the owner and President of her own Engineering firm. On top of working full-time and making a major volunteer commitment to Rotary, Sara and her husband are also busy raising two elementary-age children.

Last week the Chicago Tribune had an article on the front of the business section titled “trails yet to be blazed by women.” The NFL has just hired its first female coach, Jen Welter of the Arizona Cardinals. But also listed were some top jobs that a woman has never occupied:  CEO of a top U.S. bank (as measured by assets), Librarian of Congress, U.N. Secretary-General, Chief Justice of the United States, Director of the CIA, Director of the FBI, Vice President and President of the United States.

So it seems that despite our local success, there is still some progress to be made nationally. I am confident that with women like Sara leading the way, our daughters have an even brighter future of opportunities awaiting them.

Standing Strong

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L to R: Dr. Cristina Cortesi, me, and Jamie Epstein of the Stand Strong Coalition

One nice side-benefit of being Village President is also being an honorary member of the Long Grove, Kildeer & Hawthorn Woods Rotary club. Being married to a Rotarian makes it even sweeter! While I don’t have time to make it to most of the weekly breakfast meetings, I did make it a priority to attend the meeting this morning. Our speakers were Jamie Epstein and Dr. Cristina Cortesi of the Stand Strong Coalition, of which I am also a member.

Formed just this past summer, Stand Strong is a community coalition dedicated to preventing underage drinking and drug abuse among youth in our Stevenson High School community. The group serves to help educate parents and teens on the health risks associated with alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drug abuse in young adults, without being judgmental. The purpose of the coalition is to begin to change cultural norms by getting the community engaged in strategies for change. Members of Stand Strong include concerned parents, SHS coaches, counselors, staff and administrators, police officers, elected officials, healthcare professionals, religious leaders, business professionals, representatives from social service agencies, experts in the area of teen addiction and substance abuse, and more.

As one of the founders of the group, Jamie gave an informative talk on some of the successes so far, such as the “Not My Kid” event held at Stevenson this past September. Social hosting laws in our communities have been highlighted and strengthened, and work is underway to make prescription lock boxes more available and disposal of prescription medicines easier. Cristina, who serves as a Prevention Counselor at SHS helped us understand the effects of alcohol abuse and binge drinking on young adults, and the dangerous and permanent changes that can occur to adolescent brains when exposed to marijuana. Upcoming events include an 8th Grade Parent Talk on April 15th at Noah’s of Lincolnshire, and a drug and alcohol free Post-Prom celebration at Great America on May 16th. Local law enforcement officers will be working side-by-side with student volunteers this spring on a “Your Actions Matter” campaign in our area liquor stores and drinking establishments.

I am proud to support this new organization and have been impressed with the enthusiasm it has generated among the members. As the Stand Strong Coalition gains momentum, I feel that it has the potential to provide a tremendous asset to all the families in our community. Best wishes for continued success!