Villa Park Rotary minutes of July 27, 2011

The July 28, 2011 Newsletter has been published to the Villa Park Rotary website. A copy has been included below.

You may also read it on-line by visiting
http://www.RotaryClubofVillaPark.org/Newsletter.cfm

Rotary Club of Villa Park Newsletter

Bob Meyer: Distinguished World War II Glider Pilot

Follow the Club on our new Facebook site at Rotary Club of Villa Park

Opening Ceremonies:

Invocation: Greg Mills- Immediate Past President

Pledge of Allegiance: Jeannie Hankins

Rotary Four Way Test: Jane McDonald

Song:  Army Hymn- led boldly by Teri Brooks

Guests:

CPL Patrick Perkins- Volunteer Worker Camp to Belong/ Guest of Bryan Nash

Danny Friedel-prospective new member

Lawrie Solberg- Operation a Bit of Home/ Guest of Bob Meyer

Anniversaries:

Greg & Andie Mills celebrated their 17th anniversary with a trip to the river and a 'quiet night at home"

Special Presentations:

Immediate Past President Greg Mills received a Presidential Citation with Distinction from Rotary International - Jeannie Hankins presented him the award  which she had hoped to give him at his demotion party. Well Deserved and better late than never.

John Broussard was given his pin as a new member of the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians from Pete Moriarty standing in for Commodore Roger McGonegal.

Announcements:

Dinner at Ale Roma Cuchina Restaurant on Monday Evening August 1st,  7PM- RSVP to Steve Stern

    Angel's Game  August 20th- contact Ed Carter for tickets

    Craig Beinlich says the trees at the tree farm are happy and we received a thank you from

      the OC Parks for donating 15 Live Oaks to the park.

  Bob Bell reports that he and George Poulos are getting up to speed with Vocational Service

                          and we should be hearing more from them shortly.

  Jay Applebaum reported that he has made contact with 2 clubs in Zimbabwe regarding an

        International Matching Grant to help sponsor reconstructive facial surgeries in children

        through Operation of Hope.  He has also spoken with Bob Selinger who travels to that

        area frequently and has been doing grants for dental surgeries.  Bob has visited both

        the Herrare and Avondale Rotary Clubs and thinks they would be good partners for the

        grant.  Jay will meet with him to learn more.

Wayne Silzel spoke about the Silent Auction for this year's Fall Festival.  He is putting together

        ideas for potential baskets.  Don't forget to get those bottle of wine for the baskets-

        something that tastes good for about $15.

     Wayne was also today's Secret Greeter and caught several members unaware.

Nagy Ibrahim announced the upcoming speakers for August:

         August 4th- District 5320 Governor Greg Owen

         August 11th- OC Firechief

         August 18th- Nev Roseman -

         August 25th- Congressman Ed Royce

Teri Brooks announced that July 31st is the deadline to get ads in the Villa Park Football Program.

         Contact Teri for more information.

Happy Bucks:

Lisa Stepanski- announced that for the first time in 17 years she and her husband are going to

         to home alone for 3 days.  The boys have been sent ahead to visit family in Indiana.

Jane & Bill MCDonald spent last week on Grand Bahama Island

Jeannie Hankins spilled the beans.  She along with Pam Dunn, Mark Schmidt and son Jordan with

         his girlfriend pigged out on delicacies at the OC Fair. Lets see- deep fried Klondyke Bars,

         Deep Fried Twinkies, Frog'  Legs, Fried Pickles, Funnel Cakes, Cinnamon Rolls, Fried

         Zucchini-  What no Tums or Lipitor!! 

Jill Kuli  is a lucky women; six of her eight grandchildren live close by and today she's taking

           to the circus.

Marianne Koepnick was happy to announce that her son got married last weekend and had

          a Catholic Ceremony on Thursday  followed by a reception at the Turnip Rose on

           Friday. The couple is honeymooning in Cancun.

President Bryan Nash thanked the club for their support of his Camp to Belong which this

               week is hosting 125 campers and volunteers.  He sited CPL Patrick Perkins, one of

the camp volunteers who is visiting the club today.

Speaker: Bob Meyer

"Service with Pride"  and Operation a Bit of Home

You would never know it, but Bob Meyer is 89 years old and still has vivid memories of his

days serving as a young Lieutenant flying gliders for the Army Air Force during WWII.

Bob is one of the few pilots to survive all four of his squadron's missions. Flying troops behind

enemy lines and fighting his way out to fly more missions.  He has been highly

decorated and honored for his service.    He is writing a book entitled "Fly In, Walk Back"

that chronicles his experiences.  Bob is also devoted to our fighting men and women serving

overseas, sending 25,000 "Goody Boxes" and creating a  Library with over 30,000 DVDs for

servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Bob's youthful appearance can be attributed to

his nonstop advocacy for our soldiers and his ability to do talks all around America about his

war experiences; He still looks sharp and squared away in his uniform.

Next Week's Speaker:

District Governor Greg Owen