Rotary Informer

Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER

November 17, 2021

1921 – 2021          100 Years of Service Above Self

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Petoskey via Zoom on the world wide web and in-person from here on out if God willing and the creek don’t rise. President Ashley Whitney officiated the meeting. If you did not get the chance to attend, you can watch it from this:  Recording

Pledge/Anthem:  Howard Richards led us in “God Bless America”

4-Way Test:  Joe Blachy

Invocation:  Terri Donaldson

An Irish Blessing as we start the holiday season…

May love and laughter light your days,

And warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

Wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

With joy that long endures.

May all life’s passing seasons

Bring the best to you and yours.

Calendar Winners:  Read off by Howard Richards

Calendar Winners November 17, 2021

Visiting Rotarians:  None

Guests:  Steve Decarteret; Sarah McDonnell, Prospective Member; Chris Struble, Tanya Struble, Speaker

Life Events: 

Rotary Care List:  

Neil Ahrens suffered a hemorrhagic stroke on October 17. He was airlifted to McLaren Flint for a two week stay in their Stroke Center ICU. He returned to McLaren Northern Michigan on October 29 for inpatient rehab and was released home on November 16.  He's progressing well with no paralysis or speech impediments. Some left side weakness is being addressed with more PT over the next month. Liz and their dog, Charlie, are so happy to have Neil home again. 

Herb Carlson is in the hospital – breathing problems, not covid related but looks like he needs a heart valve replacement.

Birthdays: 

Nick Liebler

Paul Schemanski

Kristy Beyer

Anniversaries:

John Scholten – 16 Years

Singing/Song:  Howard Richards played Happy Birthday and Smile and Julie Andrews 1959 “Do-Re-Mi”

ANNOUNCEMENTS

2022 - 2023 Slate of Candidates:  The Nominating Committee recently met to review upcoming leadership vacancies and recommend candidates to fill those positions. Their recommended slate of candidates is below. Our club will vote on this slate during our annual Club Assembly on Dec. 8. 

President Nominee:  Christian Smith
Board of Directors, Club Service:  Andrea Coronado
Board of Directors, International Service: Georgia Abbott
Board of Directors, Charitable Giving:  John Emley
Member at Large:  Judy Zorn

Congratulations to all nominees and thank you for your willingness to serve!

Beaver Island Plane Crash:  Bill Julian, from Traverse City died in a plane crash on Saturday on Beaver Island piloting his Island Airways aircraft. There were four other fatalities and one survivor the 11-year-old daughter of one of the passengers. Bill was a passionate aviator and strong advocate for youth in the area. He leaves behind his wife - Katie and 14-year-old daughter - Betsy. With support from NMC Aviation, EAA, Kurt and Kamala Wright and various Rotary Clubs, we have launched a GoFundMe page to support Katie and Betsie through these very tough times and beyond. Here is the link to the GoFundMe page…Link. Please consider a donation to the family cause and equally important spread the page through to your friends and other networks. Thank you, Bill Donberg, Elk Rapids Rotary, 231-409-5780.

100 Acts of Service:  WE DID IT!!! As of last week, our club has completed *at least* 102 acts of service since January 1, 2021. (Sneaky do-gooders who chose to not record their acts, we know who you are!!) Congratulations and thank you to all Rotarians who participated in this initiative.

New nametags:  At long last, our snazzy new nametags have arrived! Special thanks to Nikki LaDeur for designing them. We still have the old nametags for anyone who wants to keep theirs as a memento. Otherwise, artistically-inclined folks are encouraged to come up with an art project that uses our old nametags. 

Thirsty Thursday last week:  Thank you to all who attended our happy hour at the Noggin Room! Doug Buck has kindly volunteered to organize these for us in the future. Expect a survey sometime soon to collect your input on how frequently you'd like Thirsty Thursdays to take place and what other social activities you're interested in.

Toys for Tots:  Dave Thomas announced that Toys for Tots is back and he is requesting donations.  Items can be delivered to the Perry Hotel, unwrapped.  He suggested gifts in the range of 20.00.

Salvation Army Bell Ringing:  Mark your calendars for the annual bell ringing to be held on December 17th. A sign up will be sent out soon.

Secret Santa:  Save the date! On the evening of December 13, our club will hold a Secret Santa gift exchange again this year, in the Reycraft Room of the Perry Hotel. There will be a $30 limit on gifts exchanged. Separately, there will be a $20/person cost to cover appetizers and drinks during the gift exchange. Email has gone out to sign up and you must sign up by November 30, 2021, in order to participate. Click here to sign up.

YMCA Announcement:  Director of YMCA Liz Eddington shared that the 5K Turkey Trot will be held on Thanksgiving morning at 9am.

Past President Centennial Updates:  19 past Presidents of our club are taking turns at giving a historical overview of club happenings in 5-year periods (until we reach 100 years). They make remarks on what was happening in the world, in Petoskey, and in our club. Although he's not yet a past president, President Elect Jeff Wynder was the presenter this week. He talked about what happened between 2017-2021.

PROGRAM  Chris Struble – History of Petoskey part 2

Today we were joined by Chris Struebel, local history enthusiast and owner of Arlington Jewelers. Chris gave a presentation entitled "History of Petoskey, Part 2."

It was an awesome slideshow of historical pictures of Petoskey, focused in particular on the history of industry/commerce here. We learned more about Michigan Maple Block, Preston Feather, the Cushman Hotel, and the many prohibition-era tunnels that existed between downtown businesses.

Next Week’s Program:  Gernot Runschke & Renata Well – global grant project

Two Week Notification:  Sarah McDonnell was approved for membership to the Rotary Club of Petoskey by the Board of Directors on November 9, 2021. This is the second of her two-week notification for membership.