Rotary Informer

Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER

November 24, 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 Elect Jeff Wynder officiated the meeting. If you did not get the chance to attend, you can watch it from this:  Recording

Pledge/Anthem:  No Howard so we recited the Pledge of Allegiance

4-Way Test:  Jeff Bodette

Invocation:  Terri Donaldson recited by Lisa Hammond

Tomorrow as we gather with friends and families, many blessings will be counted.

Here’s some advice from Ethel Colwell Smith on How to Count Your Blessings 

Welcome all the passing showers,

Count your garden by its flowers,

Count your days by joys, not fear.

Count the rainbows through your tears. 

Count your world by friends, not strangers.

Count your town by hearts made strong.

Gratitude admits no dangers….

Count your blessings with a song. 

Count your night by stars, not blackness,

Count your time by good deeds done.

God’s sweet promise knows no slackness….

Count yourself His precious son.

Calendar Winners:  Read off by Gary Fedus

Calendar Winners November 24, 2021

Visiting Rotarians:  Gernot Runschke, Past District Governor, Grand Haven; Renato Weil, Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras

Guests:  Craig Stolzenfels

Life Events: 

Bill Hicklin found his red jacket!

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 Villa on the Bay – breathing problems, not COVID related, he has pneumonia and needs to get healthy so he can get a heart valve replacement.

Birthdays: 

Liz Ahrens

Joe Blachy

Anniversaries:  None

Singing/Song:  No Howard Richards so we sang Happy Birthday.It’s just not the same without Howard.

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 December 8, 2021. 

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.

Calendar update:  Just a reminder to please turn in calendar stubs by December 31! Any stubs not turned in by 12/31 will be invoiced to the corresponding member and those stubs will not be included in the raffle. 

100 Acts of Service:  WE DID IT!!! As of the week before last, 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.

Christmas Program:  Christmas program will be 12/15 and we will have live music from Owen James – no madrigals this year as they aren’t performing out and about.

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:  Christian Smith is the chairperson of this endeavor. There are two positions at Walmart at the North and South entrances. It begins at 10:00 AM and ends at 8:00 PM with one hour shifts. Please sign up for this important annual event HERE.

If you cannot make this or wish to change your sign up please contact Christian Smith at csmith11@ncmich.edu.

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.

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. 

PROGRAM

Today we were treated to a visit from Gernot Runschke, member of the Rotary Club of Grand Haven and one of our past district governors. Gernot is an architect and was behind the design of Petoskey's new athletic complex. He gave a very passionate and informative presentation on our district's involvement in water and sanitation projects in Honduras. 

Next Week’s Program:  David Finley talking about NCMC