On March 24, 2022 we visited visited the La Villa Restaurant in Chicago.

Our speaker was Christina Petrancosta, second generation La Villa Owner (founded by her father Salvatore Canale in 1972). This restaurant is celebrating a half century in operation. We had a private room with a U shaped table so we felt right at home. A special treat was watching Christina prepare tiramisu in front of us as she explained her work. Yes, tiramisu from scratch tastes better. There is a special kind of pride in a family owned restaurant.

Three new members received their membership certificates presented by our VP of Membership, Jim Franch. They were Richard & Janice Aaron from Chicago and Ngosong Fonkem, orginally from Cameroon. He now lives in Milwaukee.

On June 21, 2022 we visited visited the giraffes at Brookfield Zoo.

This was a delightful, unique and memorable experience. The high-tech sign of welcome greeted us. Our group was transported by an electric tram from the South Parking lot to Habitat Africa. We had the place to ourselves. We had the feeling that we were the only people at the zoo and the giraffes were the only animals. While we had our meeting and dined, the giraffes glided by. Sometimes coming from one side and sometimes from the other.

This was serene experience as these graceful animals leisurely moved around their home. They were aware of us and curious. Yet it was a sharing and not a staring experience. We had the giraffes to ourselves. Thanks to Jeneane and Don Blom for suggesting this experience.

At the meeting, we had our questions answered by the head giraffe zoo keeper and Dan Dozier, a former Georgetown Foundaton scholar, talked about his study grant on sustainable tourism. We have an emerging tradition in the club of sharing brief stories related to the topic of that evening's event. Over half the members shared memorable stories from past safaris.

On September 15, 2022 we had an event at the Cliff Dwellers Club on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

The Cliff Dwellers Club has spectacular views of Lake Michigan and Michigan Avenue. We had a private dining room. The bar had access to the terrace allowing us to socialize outside in glorious weather.

Before the presentation, Deanna Padgett, who supports our Foundation Scholars, gave an extensive update of how they managed during Covid. This was complex.

Our presentation was given by our own well-traveled (108 countries & 7 continents) Virginia Mullin who shared her experiences and photos of fairly close access interactions with Gorillas in Rwanda. Virginia also explained other aspects of Rwanda including the tribal genocide and the reconciliation museum. There was a lively audience participation during Q & A.

On October 29, 2022 we had a Fundraiser for Foundation Scholars at the home of Rich and Jan Aaron.

The Chapter has an annual event to raise money to send each year a Northwestern student on a round the world trip to do research on a topic they have selected. Northwestern helps students develop research proposals and gives advice on planning their proposed trip. Then NU interviews all candidates to determine the best three. Finally a committee of chapter members headed by Deanna Padgett selects a winner.

This was a fun event. Members were supposed to wear an article purchased overseas. This included clothing, jewelry and shoes.

We went around the room one by one for a show and tell. Each member explained what they were wearing, how and where they bought it, something about the history, etc. Then there was a Q&A with some comments and jokes. This is a very well traveled group. So it was fun and educational to see the clothes, hear the stories and listen to the Q&A.