Rotary Informer

Andre Strydom led us in America the Beautiful

Four Way Test:  Walt Byers

Invocation:  Neil Bidwell

“You invoke a new future when you envision your past in the light of your present”

Eric Micha'el Leventhal

Singing/Song:  Steve Cross (on guitar and vocals), Reg Smith (on tambourine) and Andre Strydom (on piano) led us in a spirited rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” and “Smile”

Calendar Winners:  Read off by Steve Cross

Calendar Winners February 19, 2020

Visiting Rotarians:  None

Visitors:  Lexi Brummeler, Barb Scholten, Ryan Kreisck, Ryan Hysinga, Geno D’Angelo, Andre Strydom

Life Events: 

Birthdays:  None

Anniversaries:  

Liz Ahrens 13 Years

Terry Newton 22 Years

Bill Graham 36 Years

Care Committee: 

Ron Broquet  - recuperating.

Mike Landi’s wife Molly recuperating nicely (she should be going home soon).

Karen Ragland – Suffering from a gimp limb engaged in commendable and heroic feats during sauce night and went far above and beyond the call of duty. She will forever be known as Wonder Rotarian.

Announcements:

Spaghetti Dinner:  Happening tomorrow, Thursday, February 20!! This dinner is an all-hands-on-deck event for our club! Please arrive at the Petoskey High School cafeteria by 4:00 PM sharp, as there’s a big basketball game tomorrow night and parking will be tight. Come to the Bay View Inn after 2:00 PM today if you’d like to help with our annual ‘sauce night.’

PRCCI Grant Cycle:  Melissa Colby let us know that Petoskey Rotary Club Charities, Inc. (a.k.a. PRCCI, a.k.a. the charitable arm of our club) is now accepting applications to its annual grant cycle. Applications are available on our website and are due by March 15 at 5:00 pm. Let local nonprofits know about this and encourage them to apply for a grant. PRCCI grants range from $500 - $5,000 to support charitable projects in our area.

YMCA Report:  Leah Callan let us know that the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA is conducting a community needs assessment and will design and deliver new programs and services that address critical issues in the areas of youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. Your responses are not individually tracked and are kept confidential and it should take no more than 5 minutes of your time to complete this survey. Link to Survey 

District Foundation Raffle:  District Foundation Raffle tickets are available for the next couple of weeks.  See Steve Brummeler if you are interested. They are $20/each.

Community Mediation:  Jane Millar has tickets for Community Mediation theater fundraiser on March 9. They are $25/person.

Char-Em United Way:  Anora O’Connor mentioned that Char-Em United Way’s “Toast to Literacy” event is happening on Saturday, Feb. 29. All proceeds benefit their Dolly Parton Imagination Library program to supply books to children.

Program:  John Scholten

Our very own Rotarian, Dr. John Scholten, gave an incredible program about the cross-country bike ride he took last autumn. John was part of a group of 26 cyclists. They began their ride in Santa Monica, CA and finished 42 days later in Myrtle Beach, SC.  This was a “bucket list” adventure for John and many of the riders, most of who were in their 50s and 60s. Together the group averaged 16 miles per hour during their 3,000-mile ride, allowing them to see—to really, truly SEE—the beauty and expanse of our great country, rather than zoom through it at 75 mph on a freeway. John supplemented his remarks with an awesome slideshow of pictures in a PowerPoint put together by Ken Mainland from the Sunset Rotary Club.

Next Week’s Program:  Adam Koivisto MSU Extension

Two-Week Notification:  This is the second of the two-week notification for Becky Philipp-Kranig who was approved by the board of directors on February 11, 2020.