Rotary Informer

Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER

July 15, 2020

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Petoskey via the world wide web and our third 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:  We recited the Pledge of Allegiance

4-Way Test:  Liz Ahrens

Invocation:  Neil Bidwell

Words are entrusted to us as equipment for our life together, to help us survive, guide and nourish one another.  We need to take the metaphor of nourishment seriously in choosing what we “feed on” in our hearts and in seeking to make our conversation with each other lifegiving.   

Marilyn Chandler McEntyre from “Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies”

Calendar Winners:  Read off by Bob Metzger

Calendar Winners July 15, 2020

Visiting Rotarians:  Allene Carlile, Grosse Pointe Sunrise, Michigan; Patricia Wimmer, Rochester, Minnesota

Guests:  Angela Lasher, Prospective member; Casey Haggerty, Speaker, Ingrid Tomey and Ken Winter were there in support of the speaker. We attempted to get Ken Winter to cross party lines; (He’s a Kiwanis member and almost got ran out on the rails), but he was not having anything to do with it.

Life Events: 

Rotary Care List:  None

Birthdays: 

Betsy Newton

Neil Bidwell

Anniversaries: 

Jim Erhart – 25 Years

CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Paul Harris Fellows:  Congratulations to Vic George, who earned a Paul Harris Fellowship, and to Mike Snyder, who earned a Paul Harris Fellowship +2!!! Awesome! Thank you both for your deep commitment to Rotary.

District COVID-19 relief grant:  Dave Thomas announced that our District 6290 received a $25,000 grant from the Rotary Foundation to support COVID-19 relief. The district leadership opted to donate the funds to two organizations, including Feed America, which serves all the food banks throughout our district.

Virtual CROP Walk:  Walt Byers, who organizes the CROP Walk in Bay View every year, announced that this year's walk--though held virtually--raised over $19,000 for hunger relief both locally and worldwide. Walt thanked Rotary for our donation to it.

Reach out to a Rotarian:  Liz Ahrens is asking all Rotarians to please reach out to a fellow Petoskey Rotarian they haven't chatted with in awhile. Think of someone you'd normally be seeing in the summer, and give them a call. See how they're doing, and encourage them to attend an upcoming meeting if possible. Now more than ever it is important that we remain caring and connected to each other.

Centennial Planning:  As you know, next year is our club's 100th anniversary. A Centennial Steering Committee was formed earlier this year, and they're meeting later this week. 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. We will move forward with presentations on those options, and come to a final decision.

PROGRAM

Today we were joined by Casey Haggerty, a Food Corps volunteer stationed at Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities. Just like the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps, Food Corps volunteers dedicate 1-2 years in service to vulnerable populations. In this instance, Casey's job has been to go into local schools and educate children about healthy foods. Why children, you ask? According to Casey, 1 in 3 kids are on track to develop diabetes. 1 in 5 kids are hungry. A consistent lack of access to healthy food causes both emotional and physical stress, resulting in lower test scores, lower school attendance, and ultimately lower career advancement.

For the last two years, Casey has done a variety of activities with the children to encourage healthy eating and generally build a culture of school health. The kids have enjoyed taste tests of different fruits and vegetables, cooking classes, food-related art projects and more. Casey led 342 lessons to approximately 300 students. Her activities are working! One year Casey surveyed children on beets. About 50% said they 'liked them' after tasting. After a year of Food Corp programming, Casey administered the same survey--now 75% of those children liked beets!

Casey's time with Food Corps recently ended, and she's in the process of finalizing a permanent job with a local organization.

Next Week’s Program:  Unknown currently

Parting Shots:  Howard Richards treated us to Charlie Daniels; “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”