Rotary Informer

Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER

August 25, 2021

1921 – 2021          100 Years of Service Above Self

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Petoskey via Zoom on the world wide web and in-person from here on out if God willing and the creek don’t rise. Ashley Whitney, President officiated the meeting. If you did not get the chance to attend, you can watch it from this:  Recording

Pledge/Anthem:  America the Beautiful

4-Way Test:  Bob Waldvogel

Invocation:  Jeff Wynder

Cheers!

Calendar Winners:  Read off by Walt Byers

Calendar Winners August 25, 2021

Visiting Rotarians:  Bob Swanson, Birmingham, MI; Mary Lou Stone, Plymouth Noon; Patricia Wimmer, Rochester, MN

Guests:  Heidi Finley, Mary Lou Stone, Malcolm Snyder, Sophie Cranney, Heather Giammalva & Eric Giammalva, Lance Bailey & Rebecca Bailey

Life Events: 

Several years ago, John Emley's daughter Meredith was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which many know is an exceptionally aggressive form of cancer. Meredith underwent equally aggressive treatment and, as of this week, has been CANCER FREE for six years. Congratulations to Meredith and family!!!

Rotary Care List:  Member Teri Donaldson’s husband Mike was diagnosed with rectal cancer. He will begin a 6-week course of radiation and chemotherapy in mid-August.  Thankfully, the Karmanos and McLaren oncology teams are optimistic, providing us comfort and relief. Please keep him and the family in your thoughts and prayers. 

Sharon Schappacher's partner Dan Anderson has stage 4 lung cancer and is undergoing treatment in a clinical drug trial at Cleveland Clinic. He is having his second transfusion August 9. Please keep him and Sharon in your thoughts and prayers. 

Birthdays: 

John Parker

Chris Hammond

Anniversaries: 

Georgia Abbott – 6 Years

Jeff Wynder – 6 Years

David Finley – 9 Years

Singing/Song:  We sang Happy Birthday and Smile and John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane.”

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Upcoming important date changes:

In-Person Meetings:  In-person Rotary meetings beginning 7/7/21 at the Perry Hotel and thereafter with a Zoom option available.

Petoskey Citizen Academy:  Matt Breed invited Rotarians to participate in this year's Petoskey Citizen Academy. Click here for more info. It's truly an awesome, experiential opportunity to learn more about public safety/law enforcement in our community.

100 Acts of Service:  This year our club aspires to complete 100 Acts of Service for our 100 years. If you did something to serve others in the last week, please be sure to record it in our online survey – click here. Thank you! Also, our PR folks would love to help tell Acts of Service stories. Please consider submitting a photo of any group service projects, or a photo of the result of your good deed if appropriate. Thank you!

Rotary Team Alzheimer's Walk on Sept 18:  Happening at 9:00 AM at the Festival Shelter at Bayfront Park. Click here for more details, to register and/or to donate!

Support for John Scholten's Polio Bike Ride:  Rotarian John Scholten is doing a 970-mile bike ride, across Oregon and Montana, to raise money for the Rotary Foundation's polio campaign. The Rotary board of Directors voted to donate $1,000 in honor of his extraordinary effort. Thank you, John!! Please contact him directly if you'd like to make an individual donation as well. John Scholten is departing soon for his 760-mile bike ride. Follow his adventures on Instagram @scholten788. 

Program Committee - Volunteers Welcome:  We need another 1-2 people to research and schedule speakers for our weekly meetings. This is a great opportunity to serve the club, by scheduling speakers that will educate us on something new, get us thinking deeper about an issue, etc. Contact Kassia Perpich if you are interested.

Fellowship Committee - Volunteers Welcome: If you like gathering fun people for fun times, please consider joining the fellowship committee and organizing a social or two that your fellow Rotarians will love! The activities don't have to be elaborate. Think:  a quarterly happy hour at a local bar or winery, a monthly walk on the Wheelway, etc. Understandably, this committee has been dormant during the pandemic and it's time to revitalize it! Contact Kassia Perpich if you are interested.

Vocational Service - Volunteers Welcome:  Rotary board member, Karen Ragland, is in charge of 'vocational service' this year. Vocational service is when one utilizes their profession as a way to serve others--for example, by attending school Career Exploration Days, allowing students to job shadow, giving an education presentation to the club about your profession, etc. If you would like to assist Karen with programming in this realm, please contact her!

Kiwanis Disc Golf Match on Sept. 14:  Save the date! On September 14 we will hold a "grudge match" against the local Kiwanis Club, who beat us in a baseball game in 1925. Unacceptable!! Time to show them once and for all that Rotary is the best service club around!! We will play from 5:30--7:30 PM at the disc golf park on River Road. No experience required! Contact Ashley Whitney or Georgia Abbott with questions.

2021 Pedaling for Polio Event on Sept. 19:  Save the date! On Sunday, Sept. 19 at 10:00 AM we'll meet at Petoskey Brewing for a charitable bike ride to raise money for polio eradication. Our ride should end around 11:30 AM at the same place we started (Petoskey Brewing) so stick around afterwards for refreshments!! We're asking for a $50 donation from each rider. If the weather is bad that day, we'll hold the event a week later on Sept. 26. Contact John Emley if you have any questions.

Fall Festival Event on Oct. 16:  Save the date! On Saturday, October 16 we're planning to organize a 'fall festival' fundraiser at the Winter Sports Park, for our centennial project. There will be music, games, food trucks, libations and more -- stay tuned for more details!! Ben Slocum is working with us to brew a special Rotary beer for our upcoming fall festival in October. Last week he collected input from Rotarians on what style the beer should be. "Rye, red and honey" were the most common descriptors. 

Assist Sophie Cranney:  Rotarian Angie Cranney's daughter, Sophie Cranney, continues to experience health issues following a car accident last year. Sophie has several medical appointments lined up this summer and needs help getting to/from her appointments.

Good news, Sophie has graduated from her eye therapy and no longer needs to travel to Traverse City.  I have deleted those appointments but added a few more local appointments. Please consider helping, view the list and offer to pick up a shift or two. 

Past President Centennial Updates:  Starting now, over the next 4 months, 19 past Presidents of our club will take turns giving a historical overview of club happenings in 5-year periods (until we reach 100 years). They will make remarks on what was happening in the world, in Petoskey, and in our club. Terry Newton 91st President 2012-2013. He covered the period of 1980-1984.

PROGRAM  

This week we had a joyful Teacher of the Year celebration, led by Rotarian Lisa Hammond. We celebrated not only our 2021 Teacher of the Year, but also 2020's recipient as the pandemic prevented us from having a ceremony at that time.

2020's Teacher of the Year is Lance Bailey, from Petoskey High School

2021's Teacher of the Year is Heather Giammalva, from Petoskey Middle School.

We received a slide presentation on each. Both clearly love what they do as teachers, and we are lucky they call Petoskey home!!!

Next Week’s Program:  Liam Dreyer – Government for Tomorrow (high school student)