Greetings again from the Rotary Club of Crystal Lake Dawnbreakers.

Like most of the world, our club members are moving into the holiday season and getting into the spirit of the season. Some of us will be getting into more "spirits" than others, but I'm not gonna go there.

We welcomed five, that's right FIVE! new Dawnbreakers to the Best Damn Rotary Club. Chip, Alan, Kay, Chad and Greg are great additions to the Dawnbreakers and I will be proud to share my Gopher Pick Up and Reacher Tool (as seen on TV!) when we do road cleanup come spring. For obvious reasons, I don't hand that off to just anyone.

Some might say Dawnbreakers and dirty diapers go together like … well I can't come up with a clever analogy for this that could be printed here, but trust me,  we do go together and not in the way you are thinking.  Yeah, I know what you're thinking but stop it!

Our club is a big supporter of the "Every Little Bottom Counts" program, which was started in 2009. Another Dawnbreaker, Fr. Jim Swarthout of St. Paul Episcopal Church in McHenry, has been making local, regional and national news and programs with his diaper bank. Fr. Jim just received another donation of 100,000 diapers from Kimberly-Clark, which makes Huggies. You can get more info on this program at

http://www.stpaulmchenry.com/#/diaper-bank-partnership/facts-and-impacts

The motto of every Rotarian is "Service above Self" and Dawnbreakers take great pride in our service projects. We are still collecting coats from Crystal Lake and Prairie Grove schools and then distributing coats at the Algonquin Township Offices on Friday nights;  Nov. 19 and Dec. 3 between 5 and 6:30 pm.  

As we are every year, the Dawnbreakers will again be ding-a-lings for the Salvation Army's Holiday Bell ringing. We will be out in front of both doors at the Jewel in Crystal Lake all day on Saturday, Dec. 4.  Some of us bring our kiddies, some bring our hairy-butts, some sing (garnering donations for us to stop), some just stand there stomping our feet with a pitiful frozen look on our faces.

If you are out and about on Dec. 4, please stop by Jewel and make a kettle donation. Led by former Dawnbreaker Major John Price, the Salvation Army does great work in our community and this year more than ever they need all our help. 

Next time maybe I'll tell you why I hate fruit and why I will not sell it. Evah. For any reason. 

We invite anyone who would like to learn more about our club to come to a meeting. Our meetings are held every Wednesday morning at 6:30 am at the Crystal Lake Holiday Inn. I'll warn you, our club is not for the faint of heart.

Or check out our website at www.cldawnbreakers.org/ or email me at gimmeaguinness@comcast.net.

Happy Thanksgiving from all the Dawnbreakers and our families to you and yours. 

PS—Don't forget to donate to the 20^th Crystal Lake Community Harvest. Drop off donations at the former JoAnn Fabric store next to Hobby Lobby between 8  and 11 am on Thanksgiving Day.