Conrad gives new member Tom Moriarity his Rotary pin!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jorie Ouimet and Danielle Strauss from Link Together with Conrad
 
We started today’s meeting with more guests than we ended with!  Tom Moriarity joined us as a guest for the final time as he was formally inducted into our club.  We welcome Tom and hope he’ll enjoy being a Rotarian as much as we’ll enjoy having him! 
 
Kevin Killion is a visiting Rotarian whose club recently folded.  He’s lived in the area for about three years and is visiting the nearby clubs hoping to find a new home. 
 
And we welcomed back Jorie Ouimet and Danielle Strauss from Link Together.  They are our speakers for the day. 
 
Work needs called President Wendy away today so Conrad hosted the meeting.  He reported on his weekend spent at the President – Elect Training Seminar this past weekend.  One of the interesting statistics he picked up was the fact that 40% of adults have never heard of Rotary.  Something that definitely needs to change!  He also touched upon the Visions Program, which helps club create a 3-4 year plan of growth.  District Governor-Elect Rodney gave more details on how that program will work. 
 
Kathy told everyone to save the date for April 10-12 for our annual District Conference.  She also told us that the Mount Prospect Downtown Block Party will be July 24-25.  We’ve traditionally staffed the cotton candy booth for the party and need to decide if we will again. 
 
Brian reported that all of the high schools have our scholarship information.  We have three $1,000 scholarships to award for either college or vocational educations. 
 
 
Jorie and Danielle have talked to us about the latest projects from Link Together and today was no different.  They started by showing us how their efforts are showing noticeable and significant progress in combatting teen alcohol and drug use.  Over the past two years, overall use and perception of use by others have declined and the percentage of kids who reported talking to their parents about drugs and alcohol have climbed. 
 
One of their newest initiatives is a mock-up of a teenager’s room designed to help parents notice signs of drug use.  The set-up is portable (or I should say ‘portable’) and Jorie and Danielle take it all over the area for community events and for presentations. 
 
Their latest PSA deals with social hosting, or providing a place where kids can drink alcohol, even if you do not directly provide it.