Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER – February 25, 2015
 
Four Way Test:  Thank you Vern Osterlund
 
Invocation:  Thank you Randy Evans
 
Visiting Rotarians:  Meghan Meyer from Sunrise Rotary
 
Song of the Week:  "Imagine" From John Lennon. We thought John was in the room, it was so fabulous. Steve Cross is bringing us to a whole new level with our singing. We may end up with the International Rotary Singing Group as a result.
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
Coast Guard Station Tour:  Bill Collins
Thursday, March 5, 2015 meet at the Emmet County Fairgrounds at 10:15 a.m. for a 10:30 a.m. departure.  The $20 fee will be collected at that time. There are enough seats available for last minute additional Rotarians, and their significant others, so please show up even if you haven't signed up. The bus is scheduled to return to the fairgrounds by 4:00 p.m. Please, no kids on the bus.
 
Northmen Night Recap:  John Scholten
Northmen Night was held on February 21st and was a grand success.  A gross amount of over $41,000 was raised to benefit athletic programming for Petoskey Public Schools.  John thanks everyone for their support and thanked Steve Brummeler, in particular, for his leadership with the event.
 
First Thursday Fellowship:  Steve Cross
Thursday March 5, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. Meet at Tap 30 in Petoskey for drinks, appetizers, fun and fellowship.
 
Diamonds & Denim:  Cindy Bauer
Monday, March 2, 2015, 10:00 a.m. there will be a meeting at Julienne Tomatoes for anyone who is interested in taking a leadership role in planning Diamonds & Denim and the accompanying auction. Please let Cindy know if you are going to attend the meeting so she can get a table large enough to accommodate everyone.
 
Northern Community Mediation Annual Theatre Party:  Jane Millar
Monday, March 9, 2015 at Petoskey Cinema from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Guests can enjoy appetizers (that are sufficient for dinner) along with non-alcoholic wine and beer. There will be door prizes and a 50/50 raffle. At 7:00 p.m. everyone can go to the movie of his or her choice.  At only $25 per person, you do not want to miss this most enjoyable evening.
 
A Toast to Literacy Update:  Lorraine Manary
A Toast to Literacy was held Saturday February 21, 2015 at Castle Farms and was a beautiful event. Special thanks to Bill Collins for his fabulous auctioneer skills.
 
Program:  Elisa Seltzer, director of the Emmet County Department of Public Works 
 
Operates Emmet County Recycling (ECR) and was here to talk about the highly successful recycling program in effect through Emmet County. She stated that “Emmet County set the bar high in terms of the number of materials we recycle; our collaboration with regional and statewide markets, selling top-grade recyclables to Michigan factories; keeping jobs in Michigan and maximizing return on investment."  Other items she mentioned include the following:
  • ECR has been self-supporting (no county general fund tax dollars) since 1991.
  • 60% of single family homes in Emmet County receive weekly curbside pickup of recyclables.
  • Over 300 businesses use weekly or twice-weekly pickup and many others self-haul.
  • There are more than 23 factories in MI that buy recycled materials from ECR.  This keeps costs lower and keeps jobs and resources in the state.
  • Over 1 million dollars in revenue comes into the program each year by recycling 1.5 million dollars of materials that otherwise would be discarded as landfill.  This means 2.5 million dollars’ worth of benefit to the community.
  • Michigan's recycling rate for residential household waste is about 15%. The national average is 30%. Emmet County is at 42%.
ECR is a model to other communities throughout MI of how a recycling program which is both environmentally beneficial and profitable can be operated.  Elisa is lending her expertise to Governor Snyder's Recycling initiative of which she is one of 9 board members, and the only one north of Grand Rapids.