Christmas Auction Report Once again, our Christmas Auction was a big success and just a generally fun night. We started with socializing and shrimp cocktails and a charcuterie board with meats and cheeses. Then we enjoyed dinner with prime rib, chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, green beans, and salad, which were all excellent. Some of us had seconds, even. Then, we had several choices for dessert supplied by our own members.   The final part of the evening was Santa's auctioning of gifts donated by club members and club friends. The top bid of the evening was $2,500 for the multi-night stay in the Brink's downtown Chicago condo. In all, the evening brought in over $5,000 that will be split three ways between ACTS, Good Samaritan, and the First Presbyterian food pantry.  Thank you to Tom Stephenson, Gary Chenoweth, and Sherry Stephen for setting everything up for us, and thank you to Ed and "Mrs. Claus" for running a better auction than even Barret-Jackson does.     Christmas and New Year Hiatuses Because of the holidays, and reduced need for meetings, both the Good Works Committee and the Regular Board Meeting will not be held in December. Additionally, we well not have morning meetings on 12/24 or 12/31 so that you can get your last minute shopping in, and so you can sleep in the morning of New Year's Eve in the hope that you'll still be awake later at midnight.  Officers for 2024-2025 President - Dale Gehman President Elect - Ed Boettcher President Nominee - Doug VanCura Secretary - Julia Pollister-Amos Treasurer - Laura Savoie

Meeting Responsibilities    Morning Meeting Chair  Ed Boettcher Greeter Jim Hockin Sargent At Arms Mel Matchett Reflection Quote Carol Hockin Happy Dollars Ed Boettcher President's Message As we approach the middle of the Rotary year, and the half-way point in my year as president, I think some thank-yous are in order. While many in the club see us as a duck sitting calmly on the water, what they don't realize is that there's a whole lot of paddling going on under the water that's not so obvious. First, thank you to Julia for maintaining the records of everything. Thank you to Laura for taking care of our bookkeeping and finances. Thank you to Jim Nothoff for working tirelessly to give away our money, and to Ed, Blaine, and Doug for pulling in more money. Thank you to Bob for championing the Foundation, and getting involved with everything. Thank you to Mel and Rick for making us squirm, and laugh in the mornings. Thank you to Larry and Jennifer for leading the Chicken BBQ, again. Thank you to Camille for bringing us new members, to Jim Sak and Norm for reminding us of our history, and Nancy for giving us her legal expertise. Thank you to Terry for getting us out there, and making the bulletin better. Thank you to Sherry for getting socialized, and Jim Hockin for putting us to work.    As a club, we do a lot, and it takes a lot of help. Without all of these above and their contributions to our success, we wouldn't be successful, so, again, thank you all very much. And for those I'm sure I'm missing, I'll have more to thank in an upcoming bulletin, I'm sure.    Upcoming Meetings December 10 - Networking December 17 - Open December 24 - Off for Christmas December 31 - Off for football                         watching January 7  -     Open January 14  -   Men's Shed                         presentation 2024-2025 is the 75th Anniversary Year of our club.  We plan to have snippets of history shared with members and some creative activities.