	To the left, Rotarians are shown involved in helping fund and rebuild homes in Pass Christian, Mississippi. A project of Naperville Responds, many Rotarians are lending a hand or a dollar. Rotary Club of Naperville Downtown President Stephanie Penick recently visited the community ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Naperville Responds has raised nearly $1,000,000 in donations and in-kind services to help build 20 homes in Pass Christian. Labor has been provided by the Mennonites Disaster Service.
Rotarians from Chicago Rotary District 6450 were brought together with Rotarians from the Gulf Coast by American Airlines to launch the airlines direct service from O'Hare to Gulf Port/Biloxi, Mississippi. RCN/Downtown President Stephanie Penick is pictured as a representative of Naperville Responds. www.napervilleresponds.org. Naperville residents Mayor George Pradel, at podium, Jack Persin, Kevin Gallaher, Camille Hoffmann and Bill Brestal also attended the ceremony in Gulf Port. Mayor Pradel is a member of the Rotary Club of Naperville and Brestal is an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Naperville/Sunrise.
	Looking up from the base of Moser Tower, one is impressed by the mass and height of the structure. Club members climbed to the top for spectaculars views on Halloween, 2007.
It was no mean trick to get to the top, but the view was quite a treat!
	Joe Cantafio and Vince Forras express gratitude to Nancy Quigley for her passion toward first responders and public safety. Thanks to Quigley, on Sept. 11, 2007, the Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown stuffed a firefighter's boot with $1,400 during a "friend" raiser in support of the Gear Up Foundation. Gear Up was created as a living tribute to those firefighters who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001 and others in the firefighting community who continue to give their lives helping others here and around the world.
Restaurateur Jim Bergeron is sandwiched between Gear Up Foundation founder Vincent Forras and singer Joe Cantafio after the Rotary/Downtown meeting at Tessa's. Forras was on hand to thank club members for connecting their International Service project with The Gear Up Foundation.
	Patriot and singer Joe Cantafio sings for the Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown in between commentary about his travels to Iraq to entertain U.S. Troops and his quest to raise awareness for first responders and www.gearupfoundation.org.

On August 15, 2007, District 6450 Governor Art Davis visited our club to share his vision of Rotary, and his ideas on what our club can do in the coming year.

	Karen Helm, Bev Eigenberg and new member Brian Fry reminisce about the spellbinding magic of guest speaker Michael Kett who showed R-O-T-A-R-Y members a few tricks.
Michael Kett, corporate speaker and entertainer, amused members of the Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown with his mind-reading ways. For information about Kett, visit www.michaelkett.com. At right, Angel Huang, a Rotary Exchange student from Taiwan who recently turned 17 years old, is attending Naperville Central High School this year. She is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Naperville.

Our speaker at our July 19, 2007 meeting was Beth Palmer, Executive Director, of Shelter Box USA. Beth told us how Shelter Box, in conjunction with local Rotary Clubs, supplies thousands of tents for temporary shelter and other essentials to victims of natural disasters throughout the world each year.

To check it out, please visit www.shelterboxusa.org.

Club President Stephanie Penick presides over her first meeting as President, in the third floor meeting room at Tessa's in downtown Naperville.

On 5/23/07, Dr. Hal Wilde, President of North Central College, talks about the new Wentz Concert Hall and the Fine Arts Center at the corner of Chicago Ave. and Ellsworth near downtown Naperville. Gifts of all sizes are welcome to help raise funds for a challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation.

Rotary President Gary Baumgartner greets Jared Canfield, a Naperville home-schooled junior, who presented his patriotic speech about the Constitution which had advanced him to the final round of 70th Annual American Legion Oratorical Contest.
Rotarians heard Canfield's speech just before the final round with 53 other state champions at the Indiana-Purdue University Conference Center in Indianapolis on April 15-16. During the weekend competition, the 17-year-old came in third in the nation, taking home some $20,000 in scholarships.

During the April 4, 2007, weekly meeting at Catch 35, District 6450 Assistant District Governor Jerry Feldott presented the official charter document for the Rotary Club of Naperville Downtown to President Gary Baumgartner. In February, the 26-member club celebrated its charter with more than 125 Rotarians from District 6450 at Riva Naperville.

Marcelo Martins sends his "make-up" greetings from Trentino, Italy. Our Rotary Club of Naperville / Downtown VP really gets around this world!

On 3/28/07, Steve Luckman, Executive Director of Carpenter's Place of Aurora, presented an enlightening program on the mission of the organization and insights on some of the need in the western suburbs.

Carpenter explained that the organization is dedicated to serving the needs of our community through case management addressing individuals needs using a holistic approach. Carpenter's Place of Aurora assists them develop an action plan and provides steps to direct them.

An upcoming theater presentation titled, ‘A Place Called Home,’ is slated to begin at 7PM, on both April 27 and April 28. The benefit production hopes to create awareness about the organization. The presentation will be held in the theater at Ginger Creek Community Church, 2850 Ginger Woods Parkway in Aurora. For more information about the production or Carpenter's Place, visit www.cpaurora.org

Rotarian Tony Chirico, right, is pictured with visiting Rotarian Ron Czalbowski. Czalbowski presented a program called "Safe Wheels of America." The award-winning, nationally-acclaimed project was first organized ten years ago to promote school/business/community partnerships. The program is designed to encourage safe driving habits to students enrolled in drivers education classes.
	Visiting Rotarian Bob Whaley from the Rotary Club of Moraine Valley visited with Ed Fey from the Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown during a weekly meeting at Catch 35.

Rotarian Jim Boyajian with Idalynn Wenhold of KidsMatter

KidsMatter Executive Director Idalynn Wenhold presented an overview of the group's Job Fair slated at the end of March.

KidsMatter is a local nonprofit organization that partners with youth, parents, businesses, social service agencies, youth serving organizations, schools and faith communities to support the development of caring, competent and responsible young people.

For more information, click here.

Welcome to the newest club in Naperville.
Charter date - February 21, 2007.

Below are photos of District Governor Sue Small Wood presenting the charter and Keynote speaker Dick Galitz

District Governor Sue Smallwood

Keynote Speaker Dick Galitz

On 2/7/2007, Janet Derrick, Co-President of Naperville Cares, was our featured speaker.
The mission of Naperville CARES is to provide resources to people within the Naperville community who need assistance to avoid homelessness and to attain self-sufficiency.

For more information, click here.

Pat Benton & Janet Derrick

Pam Curtin & Gary Baumgartner

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Pam Curtin is shown with President Gary Baumgartner. On 1/31/07, Pam gave a program about CASA and the services this organization provides.

CASA volunteers are Court Appointed Special Advocates for children. Citizen volunteers are recruited, screened, trained and supported by CASA staff. Once trained, volunteer advocates are assigned to monitor a child's case through its duration resulting from a formal court order (normally 18 months to 3 years). For more information, click here.

Allan Poole, Director of Public Utilities for the City of Naperville, provided a powerful history with insights about his job, electricity and waste water management.

He explained the City staff and the City Council have dedicated much time toward educating themselves on the different power source options and researching becoming a member of the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA)--- in the best interest of the city for its residents and businesses. Naperville will be the 30th member upon approval from the agency's board of directors on February 1.

Allan has 45 years of experience as an environmental engineer. In March, he will mark 35 years with the City of Naperville.

President-Elect Stephanie Penick and
Rotarian Kenn Miller.

On 1/17/07, the program was "Get to Know" new Rotarian Kenn Miller. Kenn is currently on the Naperville City Council and has a management consulting business. He grew up in a small town in western Illinois and has lived in different parts of the country before settling here in Naperville.

On 12/20/06, Rotary District 6450 Governor Sue Smallwood presented an overview of her experiences in Rotary to our provisional club.

Since the 2006-07 Rotary year began in July, our district governor has been making the rounds to all the Rotary Clubs in the district. Sue provided the new charter members an overview of Rotary and inspiration about the good works of Rotary. For more information about District 6450, click here.

Art Muehlhausen (Past District Governor) & Sue Smallwood (District Governor of District 6450)

President-Elect Stephanie Penick lead the club meeting held at the Comedy Shrine.

Linda Yates, New Generations Chair for the District, provided information about some of the youth programs in the District.

Gwen, Barbara, & Gary (Rotary President	On 11/29/06, Gwen Seeley-Joosse & Barbara Stone from Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic organization gave a presentation about the organization and the effects on the clients they serve. RFB&D's library of recorded textbooks are available for people unable to read print due to a visual or perceptual disability. For more information, click here.
Gerry Cassioppi (District 203 School Board member) serves as an advisor for RFB&D and is currently a member of the Rotary Club of Naperville.

visiting Rotarians!

Sala & Kevin Sander
Rotary Club of Suva East
Fiji Islands
Rotary District 9920

Jack Ryan, Executive Director for Little Friends, provided a program on 11/22/06 to bring us up to date about the organization, the services it provides, and how it benefits from Hometown Holidays Parade.

Little Friends, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization serving children and adults with developmental, emotional or behavioral disabilities. Based in Naperville, Illinois, Little Friends operates 14 programs including early intervention, alternative schools, family support, vocational training, and community-based residential services. For more information, click here.

On 11/15/06, Walter Johnson from the Heritage YMCA Group spoke to the club about the service projects of the Naperville YMCA.

Walter talked about the Naperville Family Resource Center.

The Naperville Family Resource Center is a joint project of the Heritage YMCA Group and the Naperville Police Department located in the Naper Trails Apartments in South Naperville.

This Center serves approximately 30 kids between the ages of 6 and 15. It gives them a place to go after school and provides homework assistance, mentoring, tutoring, and classes on such things as team building, arts and crafts, sports, and conflict management. For more information, click here.

Stephanie Penick (President-Elect) & Walter Johnson (YMCA)

On 11/8/06, Ken Dvorak joined the club. The photo shows members, from left to right, Ken Dvorak, Allie DeBoer, and Neal Cerne.

The meeting was held at the Comedy Shrine Comedy Shrine upstairs at River Square, 22 E. Chicago Ave.

Our program on 11/1/06 featured a little history on Naperville. Peg Yonker gave a brief overview of her new book, Lone Feather and the Settlers, A History of Naperville, Illinois, finished just in time to wrap up Naperville's 175th anniversary year. The progressive narrative depicts three Naperville woman that Peg has chosen to portray in first-person interpretations she presents for the Naperville Heritage Society Speakers Bureau.

After the program, Rotary members lined up to get signed copies of Peg's new book.

For a few more photos, click here.

Dr. Mary Ann Bobosky, Past President of the Rotary Club of Naperville Sunrise, provided an inspiring program on Vocational Service.

Vocational Service is one of Rotary International's Four Avenues of Service. Mary Ann spoke on the unmistakable way Rotarians help Naperville's young people through Career Insights. Career Insights is a partnership with Rotary, the Naperville School Districts, and the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. The roots of this program began with the enlistment of business people in our community to come into the schools and give the students a realistic idea of what they can expect when pursuing various careers.

Arguably, attorney Neal Cerne provided insights about his passions during his time at the podium to share his bio with fellow Rotarians. The lawyer who concentrates primarily on divorce provided many lighthearted and heartfelt insights about his career and family.

Patti Powers and Pat Benton share the podium this week as we get to know two first-time Rotarians. Pat, the provisional club treasurer, is a native Napervillian, who brings his banking insights to volunteer service. Shown is Pat sharing some fish stories about his favorite memories as we get to know him!

Patti, the provisional club's sergeant-at-arms, is a travel agent who already has "made up" a missed meeting during an international trip to Croatia.

Dr. Barry Rabin, MD, Medical Director and Director of Geriatric Psychiatry at Linden Oaks at Edward Hospital, presented an enlightening talk about "Flourishing as You Get Older." His presentation, interwoven with helpful hints and humor, provided guidance and insights on aging.

On 9/20/06, Rotarian Stephanie Penick was the honored person for "Getting to Know" our Rotarians. After college Stephanie moved to New York and started a cake shop. She became famous in the celebrity circles for her cakes. She was even featured in People magazine!

Her current endeavor is as publisher of Positively Naperville, a newspaper featuring good news articles about the people of Naperville.

Stephanie is the President-Elect for the provisional club.

On 9/13/06, our club program was "Getting to Know" two of our members, Nancy Quigley and Gary Baumgartner.

First up was Nancy Quigley, the owner of Quigley's Irish Pub. Nancy was co-chairman of the 2006 West Suburban Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade, to name one charitable cause. She's also an active volunteer with Naperville's emergency services. Nancy is a first-time Rotarian and our provisional club secretary.

Gary Baumgartner, a founding member of the Rotary Club of Naperville/Sunrise in 1991, enlighten us about his Naperville heritage and passions for Rotary. A past-president of the Rotary/Sunrise, Gary is also the provisional club president. Past-president of Rotary/Sunrise Tom Greenberg presented Gary with a special award for his leadership with the Naperville Sunrise Rotary club.

Our featured program on 9/6/06 was getting to know Karen Helm, a first time Rotarian who has joined the provisional club. Karen grew up in Aurora and has lived in many places around the world. She is currently volunteering for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for children. For more information, click here.

Liz Zienty, Rotary Oktoberfest, provided an overview of the festival being held in downtown

Naperville over Columbus Day weekend (10/6-10/8). This event is jointly staffed by members from all the Rotary clubs in town. Liz was requesting volunteer help from our club. For more information about the event, click here.

On 8/30/06, our featured program was getting to know local attorney Ron Nyberg. Ron previously was a member of the Rotary Club of Naperville and will now be a Charter Member of the Downtown club. Ron has a legal practice in 5th Avenue Station, where he provides business general counsel and estate planning.
	Sven Asmus, Rotarian from the Naperville Rotary Club, talked to the members about the upcoming Rotary Oktoberfest. The proceeds from this Rotary project goes to benefit worthwhile projects and organizations in town. Manpower is needed to run this event, and Sven is looking for support from all the clubs in Naperville.

On 8/23/06, our featured program was getting to know Bev Eigenberg, founder and director of Creative Nursery School where every day she opens doors to children who learn "Childhood is a journey...not a race." Bev is a first-time Rotarian.

Our featured program on 8/15/06 was getting to know Erin Christianson, who is listed among the youngest members of the Rotary Club of Barrington as he awaits being a charter member of the Provisional/Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown. An exciting moment for Erin last month was when his young cousin who takes photos of exotic cars and their owners appeared in June on the Jay Leno Show!

On 8/9/06, our featured program was getting to know local attorney Chuck Corrigan, a new Rotarian with many years of service in the Naperville Jaycees. Chuck's also served as Chairman of the West Suburban Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade and it's no surprise that Ireland is his favorite vacation spot! The picture of is Chuck and his son Brian.

Susan Strunk, Deputy Director, of the Naperville Public Library provided a program about why she loves libraries and the NPL in particular. She described how she came to work at the Naperville Public Library and the services our library system provides to the people of Naperville.

With a stash of fine diamonds and all that glittered, Ed Fey gave an enlightening presentation about how to select diamonds. Fey, who owns a family jewelry business with his brother, also provided an interesting history and many facts about the world's diamond producers. For instance, did you know Canada was the fourth-largest producer of diamonds in the world?

Naperville Downtown Rotarian, Marcelo Martins, provides the program to the club on 7/5/06. Marcelo grew up in a Rotary family in Brazil, moving to Chicagoland to pursue advanced education. He is now travels to many countries as stone importer. Marcelo is the Vice-President of our club.

C.N. Ramdas, Retired Secretary to Govt. of India & Chairman, was a visiting Rotarian to the Downtown club from Chennai, India. C.N. provided a brief overview of this club in Chennai and presented their Rotary banner. He is in the United States visiting his son, who lives in Naperville.

Naperville Downtown Rotarian, Jeff Korhan, provides the program to the club on 6/28/06. This was an opportunity to get to know one of our own a little better. Jeff provided his natural insights which included lifestyle balance topics such as meditation, corporate wellness and Feng Shui and Vastu. Jeff is also the owner of Treemendous Landscape Company.

On 6/21/06, Sister Florence Muia (right), President and Founder of Upendo Village in Nairasha, Kenya Africa spoke to the club on the water project that the Naperville Rotary clubs funded.

Working hand-in-hand with the Wheaton Franciscans, Sister Muia was instrumental in developing Upendo Village, a grass roots endeavor that offers specialized treatment and counseling services for AIDS-infected women and children in Naivasha, Kenya. The Franciscan Sisters of Wheaton provided seed money for the renovation of a small school on a 4-acre piece of land outside Nairobi that was donated by the Diocese of Nakuru for outreach to AIDS victims. The enterprise was ultimately launched in May 2003.

Sister Beatrice Hernandez (left), Executive Director of Upendo Village is located in Wheaton (P.O. Box 449, Wheaton, IL 60189, Phone: 219-362-3807).

For more information on Upendo Village, see: http://www.upendovillage.org/

Above is a picture of some of the attendees at the Downtown club's new meeting location, Bistrot Margot. The Rotary Club of Naperville Downtown will be meeting at Bistrot Margot each week. A special "thanks" to Sullivan's Steak House for their hospitality as the meeting location over the past several months.

Naperville Police Chief David Dial presents a talk on public safety in Naperville and how things have changed in law enforcement since 9/11. In March, Chief Dial received his Master of Arts in Homeland Security and Defense, distinguished as the first graduate of the course from the State of Illinois.

Rotarian Scott Przybyla and Mary Morrissey, who are members of the "Rotary Club of Naperville New Member Committee," gave our provisional club an overview of the 12:15 club's new fundraiser, "Rotary Presents Connie Payton, Another Avenue of Service," slated for Aug. 22 at Pfeiffer Hall. This project benefits Naperville Responds, Walter Payton Foundation, and Rotary. Information, Tickets, and Sponsorship opportunities are available from the Rotary Club of Naperville.

Rotarian Pat Merryweather (center), one of two International Service Directors for the Rotary Club of Naperville, is shown here with President Gary Baumgartner and President-Elect Stephanie Penick.

Pat provided a presentation to acquaint the club with the Rotary grant process and described several of the successful projects that are being funded with the help of matching grants.

On 5/17/06, Naperville historian Steve Hyett presented local lore along with his vintage 100-year-old-plus postcard collection and inspired narration. With more information than can be presented in 40 minutes, Steve was asked to come back to continue the history of Naperville.

Naperville native David Eigenberg, an actor who is performing this month on the Chicago stage and who is seen nightly as Steve in reruns in Sex in the City, provided a program on 5/10/06 on his experiences Naperville. David is the son of club member Bev Eigenberg

Tina Kao

At the Downtown Rotary meeting on 5/3/06, Tina Kao was a visiting Rotarian from Taipei City, Taiwan. Tina is the President-elect for a Rotary Club in Taipei and was using the Naperville Downtown club as a make-up meeting.

The photo below shows Tina in a photo shot with the club members.

"The Party of Ten" provided entertainment for the club on 4/26/06. The Party of Ten, Naperville North High School's female vocal jazz group, recently earned an invitation to compete in the 2006 International Championship of High School A Cappella finals. During a recent ICHSA Midwest regional competition at Naperville North, The Party of Ten was one of the top-scoring high school groups in the country.

Rick Quackenbush, Rotary Club of Naperville Sunrise, provided a program on Rotary Youth Exchange. For more information, click here.

Prakasam Tata, member of the Rotary Club of Naperville, provided a program on Rotary's activities to provide clean water and sanitation to people of the world. The Rotary Club of Naperville is working on a model project for a village in India. Prakasam, an Environmental Engineer by training (now retired), is impassioned to spread his knowledge to improve the water and sanitation conditions in areas of the world with these needs.

Provisional President Gary Baumgartner and Provisional Vice-President Marcelo Martins display the first Rotary Club flags presented to the Rotary Club of Naperville Downtown. The flags are from Mississauga Ontario Canada and Izmir Turkey.

Rev. Scott Mitchell, Psy.D, Executive Director of Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Center, provides a program about the services provided at the Center. Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Center provides counseling and psychotherapy for individuals, couples, families and groups. Scott is a member of the Rotary Club of Naperville.

Scott Mitchell is shown here with the officers of the new downtown club. 4/12/2006 is the first meeting in the new meeting location, Sullivan's.

Below members and guests enjoy the Rotary fellowship.

The Rotary Club of Naperville Downtown's Provisional Vice-President, Marcelo Martins (right), visits a Rotary club in Izmir, Turkey during a business trip.
On the left is Mr. Ilhami Sancar and the one on the middle is Mr. Budak Derya, they are both members of the Rotary Club in Izmir. This picture was taken at the Izmir Marble Fair. Next year they are planning on having a Rotary Meeting at the show, since there was a lot of Rotarians at the show.

On 4/5/2006, Anne Cressy (left), Development Manager for Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois, gave a program about the organization. Sheila Patterson (right), Make-A-Wish Volunteer, provided a first hand account of the impacts the organization has made on the lives of children and their families in the Naperville area.

This year this chapter of Make-A-Wish will grant 620 wishes. For more information, go to www.wishes.org.

On 3/22/06, Richard Mikel, Assistant Fire Chief of the Naperville Fire Department, provided a program on the response Naperville provided for the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The Naperville Fire Department took part in a major state-wide effort to provide a quick response to the disaster.

President Gary Baumgartner, right, welcomed Mayor George Pradel to give an abbreviated state of the city address to the Provisional Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown at its weekly meeting on March 15, 2006.

Patti Powers, a new Rotarian and member of the Provisional Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown, recently visited the first international Rotary Club on behalf of the new club. The gentleman pictured with Patti is Dr. Boris Brkljacic, president of Rotary Club # 54472 in District 1910, Zagreb Centar (Croatia). The Croatian club meets at 7:30PM every Monday at the Sheraton.