This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Weekly Happenings of the Rotary Club of Palatine

Weekly update of Rotary activities and a comment to the article by Rachel Glaser

This past week at the Rotary meeting, we had a general assembly to talk about what future projects the club will be working on to help the community of Palatine and Internationally.  We also talked about planning our 50th anniversary project which will be in 2014. We want to have a project that will have a major impact in Palatine.  In the past, we have worked to build thehandicap playground at Twin Lakes, to help build the Fireman’s Memorial and the gazebo at Town Square.  Six projects were talked about and we will be selecting one of them in the new future.

  This coming Tuesday’s meeting should be one of the most interesting meetings we have had this year. It will have an international flare that is so much part of the Rotary tradition. First of all, our Rotary Exchange Student, Naara Julia de Souza arrives from Brazil and will be attending her first meeting.  Second, the mayor of our sister city of Fonteray-le-Comte, Hugues Fourage will be our guest.  He is also a Deputy in the National Assembly of France. He is here visiting Palatinewith his family. Lastly, we will have a speaker from Rotary that will explainto us the Rotary Fellowship Group Study Exchange.  The Rotary Foundation’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for businesspeople and professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits in paired areas of different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country's culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.  When they return, the host country sends their businesspeople and professional for a similar exchange.

 

Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

With the arrivial of our Exchange Student, we are still looking for the last host family. I want to give a big thank you to the other 2 host families and this year, Kathy and I will be hosting her for 2 months over the holidays.  We have done this over 10 times in the last 20 years and I can’t tell you what a rewarding experience it is for us everytime.  If you live in the Fremd School District and are interest in hosting Naara please e-mail Jaime Suszek at: info@palatinerotary.com.

The Rotary Club of Palatine meets every Tuesday at the Red Apple Restaurant at 7:15AM. For more information go to http://www.palatinerotary.com. The main objective of Rotary is service — in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world. Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today's most critical issues, such as children at risk, poverty and hunger, the environment, illiteracy, and violence. They also support programs for youth, including leadership and educational opportunities and internationalexchanges for students, teachers, and other professionals, and vocational andcareer development. The Rotary motto is Service Above Self. Our club motto is Doin’ Good Havin’ Fun Maybe Both.

Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On September 14, 15 and 16 we will celebrate our 5th annual Oktoberfest. See http://www.palatinerotary.com/Oktoberfest.php for details. We are now gathering donations from local merchants to fill the raffle baskets. Last year, local merchants donated over $45,000.00 in merchandise and coupons for the baskets. And yes, the wheelbarrows of beer will be back and better than ever. If you are interested in donating please give mea call at 847-788-9022. We have also have started to sell raffle tickets for a chance to win one of 24 baskets we raffle at the event.

 

  I have decided to end my column today with a discussion of the article written by Rachel Glaser on "if Fests are good for downtown Palatine" and the comments made by readers.  As I only work the Pop andWater Booth at Streetfest, I can’t talk about what happens there but I am on the committee that plans Oktoberfest and have been on site the entire time the Fest has been open for the past four years and can give you firsthand knowledgeof what happens at Oktoberfest.  First to clarify one main point of the article, we are moving the beer tent to the middle of the intersection of Slade and Brockway to give more room to the area.  This will take the crowds away from the stories on Slade and give their customers an easier time getting to the store.  The two stores mentioned in the article are not across the street from the beer tent but a ½ a block away.  As for closing the intersection, this is due to the growth of Oktoberfest and for safety of the people walking around the area. Finally,lets discus the main point of the article, which is the problem with the crowds drinking too much and not family friendly.  All of our severers are certified by the Palatine Police Department and will not serve anyone who has too much to drink.  We can’t control if they leave Oktoberfest and go to anyone of the local bars and get served there.  We are very careful about how much is served.  We also have many port-a-pods for our guest and they should have no need to go on the street or as one comment mentioned “looking for a nice clean bathroom to desecrate”.

Oktoberfest is turning into a major festival in Palatine and drawing large crowds to the downtown area.  You would think that the merchants would welcome the increase in the traffic flow (most do).  In addition, Oktoberfest is run when the stores are closed except for Saturday afternoon when we hold Family Days from noon to 3:30 PM.  We have many different type of entertainment and activities for the kids and it bring families to the fest which most store owners want to come visit them.    For the Rotary Club of Palatine, we feel that this is a win/ win situation for all concerned. We raise money for charity, the merchants in downtown get exposure to potential new customers and the people have their last outdoor festival of thesummer to enjoy. 

  I hope to see you at Streetfest where I will be working the Pop and Water Boothon all three days.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?