Rotary Informer

Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER

May 20, 2020

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Petoskey via the world wide web! Liz Ahrens, our 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 led by Howard Richards

4-Way Test:  Ric Loyd

Invocation:  Neil Bidwell

Calendar Winners:  Read by Bob Metzger

Calendar Winners May 20, 2020

Visiting Rotarians:  Thank you for joining us today:  Patricia Wimmer, Rochester, MN; Gary Voison, Cheboygan; Kathy Hegedus, Grand Haven

Guests:  Andrea Coronado, PM

Life Events: 

Rotary Care List:  None this week 

Birthdays:

Peter Olson

Gary Fedus

Bob Waldvogel

Anniversaries:

Dennis Kelly – 9 Years

Announcements:

Rotary invoices:  Were recently emailed to all members. Please mail your payment to PO Box 61, Petoskey, MI  49770. If ability to pay is an issue during this challenging time, please contact Jim Wibby to discuss. We can be flexible on payment schedule!

STRIVE:  Petoskey High School provided STRIVE organizers with home addresses for this year's students. STRIVE organizers are going to send each student a note and an 'encouragement gift card' to conclude this year's program.

Summer meetings:  Liz Ahrens has been in conversation with Perry Hotel staff to explore it as a summer meeting location. We need to find out if the Perry has the capacity to host our group given current COVID-19 executive orders. All of this being said, Rotary also recognizes that some members are not yet ready to return to in-person meetings and that is okay too. We're going to find a meeting format (possibly a combination of in-person and zoom) that will hopefully work for most folks.

Businesses re-opening this weekend:  Nikki Devitt from the Petoskey Chamber noted that businesses are scrambling to re-open quickly under new restrictions. Everyone was surprised by the timeline of Governor Whitmer's executive order. Please be safe, wear make, and be kind and patient with businesses as they adapt. 

NCMC construction:  David Finley noted that NCMC's building renovation is underway! You can see progress through several webcams. Click here. 

High School Graduation Parade:  On Sunday, May 31 seniors will graduate from Petoskey High School through a specially designed 'drive thru' ceremony that will take place in the parking lot. At 5:00 PM the school is planning a car parade to salute these seniors. It would be great to have Rotarian participation! Stay tuned for details.

PROGRAM:  Jane Millar, Rotary District Conference

Our very own Rotarian, Jane Millar, gave a beautiful presentation on "what would have been" had we hosted this year's District 6290 conference, which was originally scheduled to take place last week at Great Lakes Center for the Arts. 

With a slideshow, Jane gave the highlights -- what we would have eaten, who would have spoken, what we would have learned about other clubs in our district, what free time activities we would have signed up for, etc.

Neil Bidwell gave the invocation he was planning to do, and Howard Richards played one of the songs he was planning to play.

It was a lovely tribute to the clubs in our district and to the many Rotarians (including several of our own members) who had spent countless hours organizing the experience.

Next Week's Program:  NCMC political science professor, Dr. Scott LaDeur will give election updates.

Parting Shots:  Georgia Abbott treated us to a lovely rendition of Carole King’s “So Far Away”