Rotary Informer

Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER

July 1, 2020

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Petoskey via the world wide web and our first In-House Meeting in months! Liz Ahrens, President officiated the meeting. If you did not get the chance to attend, you can watch it from this:  Recording

Pledge/Anthem:  Pledge of Allegiance was recited

4-Way Test:  Dave Thomas

Invocation:  Stu Fenton

Calendar Winners:  Given to Terry Newton by Verne Osterlund

Calendar Winners July 1, 2020

Visiting Rotarians: 

Guests:  Andrea Coronado

Life Events: 

Rotary Care List:  None

Birthdays:  None

Anniversaries: 

John Logan - 15 Years

Roger Winslow - 19 Years

CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS

Increased meal costs:  Effective July 1st, in-person meal costs will increase to $14.00 per person (formerly $12.00 per person), due to serving plated meals instead of a buffet.

Quarterly invoices:  Jim Wibby will be sending out quarterly invoices soon. They will cover club expenses during April, May, and June. Most invoices will be quite low, since we haven't had any in-person meal costs!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

District Conference Notes:  Dave Thomas formally commended Jane Millar and Chris Etienne for their work on district conference planning.

Notes on First In-Person Meeting in Months:  Today's meeting was a combination of in-person gathering at the Perry and virtual gathering via Zoom. Overall, the experience on both ends seemed to go smoothly, but PLEASE share all feedback with board members so they may fine-tune this 'hybrid' meeting experience going forward.

PROGRAM

Today we were joined by Val Meyerson, Director of the Petoskey District Library, and a fellow Rotarian in the Sunrise Club.

Val updated us on the current status of the Library. It's been open to the public for the last week-and-a-half. Hours are a bit limited though, to allow time for proper cleaning. Please keep your eyes peeled for changing hours.

So far things have been going well. The Library has also been offering curbside service for about 3 weeks, where patrons may reserve a book online and receive it curbside instead of going into the Library.

Val noted the Library is currently quarantining all new materials for three days before putting them into circulation. That's because of a study recently done by the American Library Association and others, which showed that materials with COVID-19 physically on them had no traces of COVID-19 after sitting for three days untouched.

Val noted that the Library serves the City of Petoskey, as well as 4 townships that also contribute tax dollars to the Library's operation -- Little Traverse, Springvale, Bear Creek and Resort Townships. Those township contracts are up for renewal every four years--including this year. Voting residents of those townships will see a renewal on their ballots. 

Val then highlighted a few of the Library's recent programs, including the Growing Readers Together program, which offers one-on-one reading tutoring and other activities for children struggling with literacy. The Library tutored over 60 children last year.

The Library is also seeking to do something about the racial unrest in our country, including taking a deep look at diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI) within its own collection, its staff and volunteers, etc. Val feels that one thing white people can do to understand racial injustice is to read books by and about people of color. She talked about how the Library offers some books that are "mirrors" -- as you read them, you can see yourself in that book. Other books are "windows" -- as you read them, you have a window to another world. The Library wants to provide lots of "mirrors and windows" for its patrons.

Next Week's Program:  David 'DJ' Jones, Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation

Parting Shots:  Howard Richards treated us to Allan Sherman’s “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” (Camp Granada Song)