Rotary Informer

Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER

August 12, 2020

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Petoskey via the world wide web. Liz Ahrens, President officiated the meeting. If you did not get the chance to attend, you can watch it from this:  Recording

Pledge/Anthem:  Howard Richards led us in God Bless America

4-Way Test:  Christine Hammond

Invocation:  Stuart Fenton

Calendar Winners:  Read off by Bob Metzger

Calendar Winners August 12, 2020

Visiting Rotarians:  None

Guests:  Jennifer Wixson, Speaker; Angela Lasher who is being inducted today

Life Events:  None

Rotary Care List:  None

Birthdays: 

Jay Neff

Gary Baxter

Anniversaries:

Matt Breed – 4 Years

PERSONAL UPDATES

No more in-person meetings for now; except the special one on August 19th; see below:  We will be transitioning back to ZOOM ONLY for August meetings. While we have had 8-10 people attend in-person at the Perry, unfortunately that is not a large enough crowd to justify the staffing and expense. Thank you all for your flexibility and patience as we figure out the best way to convene our club during this challenging time. The Zoom link for our meetings is the same every week.

Calendar Sales PICK UP NEXT THURSDAY:  Karen Ragland let us know that calendars will be available for pick up at the Perry from 1:00 – 5:00 pm on Thursday 8/20. This year’s calendar is Rotary based with local and national pictures. Please DO NOT CALL the Perry, Reg or stop by the front desk, there will be directions on where to get them.

Next Week’s Meeting Will Be Outdoors:  Liz let us know that we will be having an outdoor meeting at the Perry next week, 8/19.  We will have box lunches and you will need to RSVP.  We need to have at least 20 people attend for this to work and a max of 60. Here is the link to go to to register for this event: LINK

Upcoming social on Friday, August 21 -- Join fellow Rotarians on Friday, August 21 at 12:00 PM for a socially distanced outdoor gathering at the Pennsylvania Park gazebo. During this time, Crooked Tree Arts Center is hosting a free concert there. Let's come together to enjoy local music and each other's company. 

Nikki Devitt has offered to set up some tables, and Dave Thomas has offered to buy pizza or Jimmy John's for lunch!!! If you want to take advantage of either, please CLICK HERE TO RSVP so we have an accurate headcount. Otherwise, please bring your own lawn chair and lunch, and look for our group!!

Centennial Planning -- As you know, next year is our club's 100th anniversary.  Liz Ahrens noted that we as a club need to move forward in selecting our big Centennial service project sometime soon. Before COVID-19 hit, our club was exploring three options: (1) Renovations/upgrades at NCMC, (2) Renovations/upgrades at the Winter Sports Park or (3) Creation of a Dog Park. We need to move forward with presentations on those options, and come to a final decision. So in late August through early September, committees that investigated each option will present their information to the club and then we will do an official vote. These programs will be on the following dates:

8/26 NCMC

9/2 Winter Sports Park

9/9 Dog Park

PROGRAM 

New member induction -- Angela Lasher

Today we welcomed the honorable Angela Lasher to our club! Angela is a district court judge, having taken over for Judge Erhart. Prior to this, she was an attorney for 20 years including 15 years spent in the prosecutor's office.

Angela and her husband, Scott, have a 6-year old son named Bennett. Welcome to Rotary, Angela! We look forward to getting to know you better.

Following Angela's induction, we were joined by our program:

PROGRAM

Jennifer Wixson, the NCMC faculty member for early childhood education.

North Central Michigan College offers a 2-year associates degree in early childhood education -- which is a great credential for preschool teachers and childcare providers. Some individuals also take Jennifer's classes to enhance their work in social work, criminal justice, nursing, or even in general parenting.

Jennifer focused her remarks mainly on the lack of childcare in Emmet County, both in quality and quantity. There are more children than licensed childcare providers available, and Jennifer feels we will hit a crisis point soon if something isn't done to remedy that. 

Emmet County currently has 9 childcare centers and 11 home-based childcare programs. Only 50% of these providers have a 3-star or higher (out of 5) rating for quality.

So what can be done to remedy this? For the purposes of today's presentation, Jennifer kept the tone high-level, but she noted that support from area employers is essential to expanding childcare offerings. She also believes home-based providers would benefit from greater technical assistance in launching their businesses.

Next Week’s Program:  Becky Goodman – Downtown Businesses

Parting Shots:  Howard Richards treated us to 1956 Nervous Norvus; “Transfusion.” I can no longer provide links to songs because of copywrite concerns. You can always look these up on YouTube.