Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER
November 4, 2020
Welcome to the Rotary Club of Petoskey via Zoom on the world wide web. Liz Ahrens, President officiated the meeting. If you did not get the chance to attend, you can watch it from this: Recording
Pledge/Anthem: Howard Richards Played “My Country tis of Thee”
4-Way Test: John Emley
Invocation: Christine Hammond
Under Jean Frentz’ leadership, a small subcommittee has been working on ways to share some of our Club’s history for our 2021 Centennial. Bob Metzger has done an awesome job of pulling together some of the highlights. Even though our focus is really on our 2021 programs, we couldn’t resist sharing with you this little excerpt from this very date in history, 99 years ago!
On Friday evening, 11/4/1921, following dinner at Braun’s, the Rotary Club of Petoskey was made a permanent organization. District Governor Representative, Glen W. Power, and 16 Traverse City Rotarians attended the meeting. The Constitution was adopted and the following men were nominated for directors, Beese, Curtis, Danser, Halstead, McCabe, Wells, and Sly. The first set of officers were elected and installed. President - Homer Sly, Vice President - George McCabe, Secretary - Norman Wells, Treasurer - Morgan Curtis, and Sergeant at Arms - Henry Beese.
We can only imagine that night. Maybe they talked about the events of the summer – which included the end of WWI and the first radio broadcast of a baseball game. Maybe they knew that in the next week, President Warrant Harding would dedicate the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery. Maybe they wondered if the Club would still be around 99 years later.
So, as we think about our own efforts today, let us take our invocation inspiration from Pericles:
"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."
Calendar Winners: Read off by Bob Metzger
Calendar Winners November 4, 2020
Prize | Cal# | Calendar Winner | City | Sold By |
$50 | 582 | Kathryn Penfold | Leland | Petoskey |
$50 | 504 | Lisa Blanchard | Petoskey | Petoskey |
$50 | 3095 | Marine Corp League | Petoskey | Petoskey |
$50 | 981 | Michael Parker | Petoskey | Petoskey |
$50 | 1724 | Mariah Ginop | Petoskey | Petoskey |
$50 | 1566 | Don Cochonour | Casey, IL | Petoskey |
$50 | 2426 | Richard Cox | Spanish Fort, AL | Dowagiac |
Visiting Rotarians: Gary Voison, Cheboygan
Guests: None
Life Events:
Rotary Care List:
Howard Richards led us in singing Smile
Birthdays: None
Anniversaries:
Justin Blohm – 3 Years
Mike Landi – 5 Years
Tim Kaufman – 6 Years
Chris Hammond – 10 Years
Steve Brummeler – 20 Years
Joe Blachy – 42 Years
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PERSONAL UPDATES
Congratulations to Rotarians Jean Frentz and Angela Lasher, both of whom won electoral races last night! Thank you both for your public service.
Help spread positivity this Friday, Nov. 6: Our board of directors recently came across this news article about a Petoskey man who has been standing in the new 'People's Park' holding a sign that simply says "Smile" for folks driving by. Nothing political, nothing controversial, nothing negative....just good vibes! Inspired by his actions, we'd like to try it for ourselves! Join fellow Rotarians in People's Park (across from Family Video) this Friday, November 6, anytime between 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. You may bring a handmade sign with a positive message, or hold up some Rotary-themed signs we had designed for this event. Please contact Jeff Wynder to sign up for this (jeffwynder@aol.com).
Program Committee seeking suggestions: Do you have an idea for a speaker at one of our upcoming meetings? Or would YOU like to give a presentation to our club about something? The Program Committee is now booking speakers for mid-November and beyond. Please talk with Stuart Fenton, Sharon Schappacher, Chuck Hayes or Ben Slocum if you have any suggestions.
Help needed with Zoom meetings: Do you consider yourself a Zoom expert these days? If so, please consider volunteering to be the 'Zoom master' for our club in the new year! Ashley Whitney has been doing a fabulous job managing Zoom for us during the pandemic, but on January 1 she begins her new role as President. Ashley will not be able to manage Zoom and President duties at the same time. If you consistently attend Rotary and are comfortable with Zoom technology, please consider taking over this critical function. Contact Ashley if interested!
Club elections happening soon: The Nominating Committee recently met and put together a slate of candidates for the club to vote on. The club's election will be on December 9th. The committee is also putting together bylaw amendment language to allow for electronic voting, which our club will also need to vote on.
The slate of officers includes:
President Nominee: Reg Smith
Board of Directors: Christian Smith; Lisa Hammond; Justin Blohm
We are still accepting nominations! If you would like to be considered for a position on the board, or would like to nominate another Rotarian, please contact Terry Newton (club secretary) by November 18 to be added to the ballot.
Club bylaws update: Ashley Whitney noted that there's a lot of things (like the inability to vote electronically) that are outdated in the bylaws. Our centennial year is a good time to revise the bylaws and modernize some of our operations. If anyone is interested in helping with this in the coming year, please let Ashley know.
Letter writing drive: Thrive 45, a local young professionals networking group, is organizing 'Heartfelt Holidays,' a letter-writing drive for local senior citizens who may be experiencing isolation and loneliness in nursing homes and senior living communities. To participate, all you have to do is write a generic note with kind sentiments, and drop it off at the Petoskey Chamber before November 13. Thrive 45 is hoping to collect 1,000 letters.
Calendar sales: As you sell your calendars, you may drop off your calendar money to three locations: (1) Mail it to our club at PO Box 61, Petoskey, MI 49770. (2) Drop it off at Harbor/Brenn office, across the street from Culver's. There is a mail slot in the front door to slide your money through. (3) Drop it off at Karen Ragland's home. Please contact her first!
PolioPlus is a Signature Program of The Rotary Foundation: PolioPlus is Rotary’s priority program which supports global efforts to eradicate polio. It was launched in 1985, with the help of Dr. Albert Sabin, developer of the oral polio vaccine, as a worldwide program to protect children from the cruel and fatal consequences of polio.
As of 2018-19, The Rotary Foundation has raised over US$1.6 billion for polio eradication. By the time the world is certified polio-free, our contributions will make Rotary the largest non-governmental financial contributor to the global polio eradication effort.
You can help end polio by making a gift to the PolioPlus Fund at endpolio.org
Letter writing drive: Thrive 45, a local young professionals networking group, is organizing 'Heartfelt Holidays,' a letter-writing drive for local senior citizens who may be experiencing isolation and loneliness in nursing homes and senior living communities. To participate, all you have to do is write a generic note with kind sentiments, and drop it off at the Petoskey Chamber before November 13. Thrive 45 is hoping to collect 1,000 letters.
PROGRAM
Liz Eddington, Branch Director of YMCA of Northern Michigan
Liz provided a great overview of the Y, both nationally and locally. For example, did you know that the Y:
Is where basketball and volleyball were invented
Ran America's first summer camp in 1872
Led the charge to teach everyone who to swim, believing it to be an important skill
Started offering childcare in the 1960's as women entered the workforce
Rebranded itself from 'YMCA' to 'the Y' in 2010
Locally, and despite the pandemic this year, our local Y stayed busy providing important services to youth and families. This year they ran 2 day camps:
Camp daybreak -- served 40 campers, 551 days of camp, allowed to sign up on a per-day basis
Camp Minogi -- served 64 campers, 278 weeks of camp
