Rotary Informer

Andre Strydom led us in “God Bless America”

Four Way Test:  Lyle Peck

Invocation:  Jeff Wynder

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

~Albert Einstein

Singing/Song:  Andre Strydom led us in Bill Wither’s “Lean on Me” and “Smile”

Calendar Winners:  Read by Chris Etienne

Calendar Winners March 11, 2020

Visiting Rotarians:  Kathleen Guy, Traverse City Sunrise

Visitors:  Andre Strydom, Becky Philipp-Kranig, Nikki Devitt, Julia Johnson, Bill Craft

Life Events: 

Birthdays:  

Jeff Bodette

Katie Winslow

Anniversaries:  

Tim Dykstra – 18 years

Chris Etienne – 29 years

Care Committee: 

Mike Landi’s wife Molly passed away last week. Please keep Mike and family in your thoughts and prayers.

Jim Beno gave us an update on Bill Graham. He was back in the hospital. Please keep Bill and family in your thoughts and prayers.

Ron Broquet – recuperating.  

Pat Ryde – recovering from an auto accident (sent card).

Announcements:

Centennial Project:  Next week is a Club assembly, where we will discuss three potential service projects to undertake in honor of our 100^th anniversary. The three projects under consideration include (1) Building a dog park on the edge of Petoskey city limits (2) Upgrading the Winter Sports Park to become more of a year-round recreation facility and (3) Capital upgrades at NCMC. You will receive written info about each project in advance of the meeting. We will take a vote to select one project. If you can’t make the meeting, you’re still encouraged to vote by email or other means. We want as many members engaged as possible!!

Spaghetti Dinner:  Jim Wibby announced that we raised $9,081 in net revenue from the Spaghetti Dinner. Congrats on a job very well done!! These funds support college scholarships and other charitable activities. New for this year—we’ll be donating $1,000 to Petoskey Public Schools to help alleviate student lunch debts.

‘Spring Fever’ Potluck:  Getting tired of winter yet?!? The Rotary board of directors is organizing a Hawaiian/luau/tropical/warm weather-themed potluck for us. Stay tuned for details! Will likely be sometime in mid-April, after spring break and Easter.

Rotary District Conference:  Happening May 14-16 at the Great Lakes Center for the Arts. Click here to register  – get an early bird discount if you register by March 14! Jane Millar also passed out some sign-up sheets to help with the conference. We need folks to be ambassadors and ushers – to greet conference goers, take tickets, make sure no food/drink is brought into the main auditorium, etc. Contact Jane if you have any questions!

Program: 

We began our program with a new member induction – Nikki Devitt!

Nikki is the President of the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce. She and her husband have three children (Brett, Brady and Brandon). They moved to northern Michigan in 2006. Prior to moving here, Nikki had a long career in radio broadcasting.

Nikki is passionate about performing arts. She is on the board of Little Traverse Civic Theatre and has acted in several productions with them. Nikki joked, “I auditioned for a play before I even finished unpacking from my move up here!” Nikki is also an avid reader, averaging about 120 books a year.

Welcome to our club, Nikki!! We are glad to have you.

Following our new member induction, we received a presentation from Dave Droste of Michigan Works.

Dave told us more about what Michigan Works does. It provides job search assistance for unemployed individuals (helping with resumes and cover letters, doing practice job interviews, etc.). Michigan Works also offers workforce training and business services to connect employers to talent.

Michigan Works organizes a huge hiring event every spring, featuring 75 employers and 300-500 job seekers.

Next Week’s Program:  Club Assembly – 100^th anniversary service projects.