Thanks to the Grady clan and Eldon's daughter and her friends, we had a group of over 20 in our spot in the parade.
We also had a total of about a dozen Kiwanians in the parade because of others involved with the Library, Veterens, The History Center, etc
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
June 23rd meeting
At our 23 June meeting we were pleased to welcome Marty and 2 of his associates from the Arlington Heights Club. They passed the gavel in what, we hoped, was a case of beer. Instead, it turned out to be millions and millions of seeds that fell from Maple trees. At the left you see President John and Mike Bagby going through the seeds to find the gavel.
We also had a presentation by Tricia Williams of MCYAF (Maine Youth Assistance Foundation) on their attempts to reduce alcohol use among kids. Actually, it turned out to be more of a focus group discussing what we thought about their campaign and how it gets the message out.
Hopefully, the input we provided will be of assistance.
Next week we will hear from our newest member. Nancy Reiser.
One sad note passed along by Chuck Reid after the meeting, Bob Ayres is now in the ICU unit at a hospital near his son in Iowa. He was moved there by ambulance and was supposed to go to a care center. But, the long ambulance ride was apparently hard on him. The picture on the bottom is one of Bob with his great grand-daughter, Lydia Anne Tomczyk
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Election and D Shere
It was great to see 30 people at our 9 June meeting. Unfortunately, 1/3 was made up of the Palatine Kiwanis holding an Interclub and the Grady Clan.
However, Ed Kenny (left) chaired the election where officials were elected for the 2009-2010 fiscal year and Dennis Shere spoke on the role of defense council in criminal trials focusing in on his involvement with the defense team in the Brown's Chicken massacre trial.
Elected officials for the upcoming year are:
President Joel Bloom
President-Elect Holly Sorensen
Vice-President Betty Wurster
Treasurer Joy Matthiessen
Secretary Ed Kenny
Immediate Past President John Burke
Board of Directors
Term ending 2009-10 Michael Bagby
Keith Christman
Barbara Ryan
Term ending 2010-11 Eldon Burke
Gayle Mountcastle
Christen Osowski
Term ending 2011-12 Pedro Arias
Jim Grady
Nancy Reiser
Mr Shere's talk was fascinating and focused on many stages of the trial. From the goal of the defense team (to make the State prove its case), to jury selection to the process of jury deliberations.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Annual Our next meeting (9 June) will be our annual meeting where elections will be held. Please try to make this meeting.ting
Our next meeting (9 June) will be our annual meeting where elections will be held. Please try to make this meeting.
Note that this is in addition to our speaker being an attorney who was involved with the Brown's Chicken massacre trial. (See separate posting for details)
Note that this is in addition to our speaker being an attorney who was involved with the Brown's Chicken massacre trial. (See separate posting for details)
Avenues to Independence
Ann Marie Ehrlich of Avenues to Independence was the speaker at our 2 June meeting. She spoke about their clients, some of which live in a facility in Des Plaines. She also talked about the financial problems their organization and others are also facing as a result of the current financial crises in the State of Illinois. Fortunately, their problems are not as great as other organizations; but they are seriously affecting their programs.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
June 9th meeting
The June 9th meeting should be extremely interesting. Dennis Shere will talk about his experience as a defense attorney on the Brown's Chicken massacre trial.
This would be a great meting to bring a friend who may be interestred in what Mr Shere has to say.
From the Journal & Topics Editor newspaper
'A Fascinating Experience'
Rotarians Hear Defense Attorney's Insight On Brown's Chicken Massacre
By TODD WESSELL Journal & Topics Editor
Nearly two years after the first defendant in the 1993 Brown's Chicken massacre was convicted of murder, the second defendant is scheduled to go on trial beginning Apr. 12.
James Degorski, who in 1993 was 20-years-old, is accused of murder in the massacre of seven Brown's Chicken employees in Palatine during the late evening hours of Jan. 8 more than 16 years ago. Juan Luna was convicted of murder on May 8, 2007. He avoided being executed when one of 12 jurors held out against the death penalty. Degorski is currently being held in Cook County Jail awaiting his trial set to begin in less than three weeks. Luna is confined to Joliet State Penitentiary hoping one day to get a new trial, according to attorney Dennis Shere. "It's called manufactured hope," he said.
Approximately 25 members of the Park Ridge Rotary Club last week listened as Shere give a 30-minute presentation on Luna's 2007 court case. Shere was involved in that trial as a contract attorney for the defense.
A former Ohio newspaper publisher and Kane County public defender, Shere joined Luna's defense team in January 2004. One of his first jobs was to comb through 300,000 pages of court records to see if he could sift out any clues that might help the defense team. He currently is working on a book about the types of challenges lawyers face when working on defense cases.
"I was always interested in the case," Shere told Rotarians at last week's gathering at Summit Square in Park Ridge. "The state had an overwhelming case against Luna. They had DNA on chicken bones and a partial palm print of his at the scene. There were also two women who had talked to the police and there was a 43 minute videotaped confession given by Luna that was devastating." In that confession, Shere explained, "he admitted to slitting one of the owner's throats while Degorski was shooting people."
After Luna's conviction, the jury was told to determine whether he should be put to death or spend the rest of his life behind bars.
"The state argued why he should die," said Shere. "They said he was involved in multiple killings, that he killed someone and that the crime was cold and calculated. We argued that there was no proof he actually killed someone. We claimed the stabbing of the owner, a woman, would not have killed her." The owner, they believe, died of gunshot wounds.
After spending six hours to reach a verdict of guilty, the jury spent two more hours to decide that he should not be put to death. Eleven jurors felt he should die, but one woman felt otherwise. A unanimous verdict is required. The other jurors, Shere felt, were not willing to fight on for a death sentence adding that he believes "some jurors were secretly happy that one of them was not willing to go along with the others." The lone hold out was a 28-year-old mother of two small children who had worked at a fast food restaurant.
"It was a fascinating experience," said Shere. "I wish I could have been involved in it at age 30 rather than 63." He added that he spent some time with Luna at Statesville about a month ago.
This would be a great meting to bring a friend who may be interestred in what Mr Shere has to say.
From the Journal & Topics Editor newspaper
'A Fascinating Experience'
Rotarians Hear Defense Attorney's Insight On Brown's Chicken Massacre
By TODD WESSELL Journal & Topics Editor
Nearly two years after the first defendant in the 1993 Brown's Chicken massacre was convicted of murder, the second defendant is scheduled to go on trial beginning Apr. 12.
James Degorski, who in 1993 was 20-years-old, is accused of murder in the massacre of seven Brown's Chicken employees in Palatine during the late evening hours of Jan. 8 more than 16 years ago. Juan Luna was convicted of murder on May 8, 2007. He avoided being executed when one of 12 jurors held out against the death penalty. Degorski is currently being held in Cook County Jail awaiting his trial set to begin in less than three weeks. Luna is confined to Joliet State Penitentiary hoping one day to get a new trial, according to attorney Dennis Shere. "It's called manufactured hope," he said.
Approximately 25 members of the Park Ridge Rotary Club last week listened as Shere give a 30-minute presentation on Luna's 2007 court case. Shere was involved in that trial as a contract attorney for the defense.
A former Ohio newspaper publisher and Kane County public defender, Shere joined Luna's defense team in January 2004. One of his first jobs was to comb through 300,000 pages of court records to see if he could sift out any clues that might help the defense team. He currently is working on a book about the types of challenges lawyers face when working on defense cases.
"I was always interested in the case," Shere told Rotarians at last week's gathering at Summit Square in Park Ridge. "The state had an overwhelming case against Luna. They had DNA on chicken bones and a partial palm print of his at the scene. There were also two women who had talked to the police and there was a 43 minute videotaped confession given by Luna that was devastating." In that confession, Shere explained, "he admitted to slitting one of the owner's throats while Degorski was shooting people."
After Luna's conviction, the jury was told to determine whether he should be put to death or spend the rest of his life behind bars.
"The state argued why he should die," said Shere. "They said he was involved in multiple killings, that he killed someone and that the crime was cold and calculated. We argued that there was no proof he actually killed someone. We claimed the stabbing of the owner, a woman, would not have killed her." The owner, they believe, died of gunshot wounds.
After spending six hours to reach a verdict of guilty, the jury spent two more hours to decide that he should not be put to death. Eleven jurors felt he should die, but one woman felt otherwise. A unanimous verdict is required. The other jurors, Shere felt, were not willing to fight on for a death sentence adding that he believes "some jurors were secretly happy that one of them was not willing to go along with the others." The lone hold out was a 28-year-old mother of two small children who had worked at a fast food restaurant.
"It was a fascinating experience," said Shere. "I wish I could have been involved in it at age 30 rather than 63." He added that he spent some time with Luna at Statesville about a month ago.
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