SPOKES
SPOKES VOL. LXIV NO. 7 August 22, 2017
President Renner opened our meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance due to a malfunction in Bob McAlear’s attempt to play “God Bless America” and an Art Ayers invocation.
Guests:
We welcomed prospective members Jeff Melvin, Joe Reeser and Jeremy Burleson along with Assistant Governor Terry Allen and our District Governor Teresa Brandell. We were also joined by Laura Jager, Clark Carmichael and Jeanne VanZoren from Friends of the Blue Star Trail.
Music:
Jim Davis was our song leader today. He led us in three classics – old classics, but classics. We began with the 1905 highly sentimental hit “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree”. We followed that with “Mary’s a Grand Old Name” from the 1906 Broadway play “Forty-five Minutes from Broadway”. Our final song was the Rotary version of “When the Saints Go Marching In”.
Spotlight:
Our Spotlight today was on the Friends of the Blue Star Trail. Jeanne VanZoeren spoke for the group, explaining that they had completed 1.1 miles of the trail this year. She reminded us that one of their fundraisers, the Lakeshore Harvest Ride, will take place on Saturday, September 6th. Most of their budget comes from grants, both from the state and federal governments. Their goal is to build at least 1.1 miles of trail each year. They have the entire trail plotted and look forward to completing the trail in the next decade at a cost of 11.1 million dollars. We presented her organization with our donation to their project.
Announcements:
- Don’t forget the Club Runner App for your phones, it’s a great resource!
- Dorothy Lockwood and Rhonda Wendzel are working with the visitor’s bureau on Haven Harvest, scheduled for October 21st.
- The sign up list for the next pancake breakfast on September 3rd is being passed around.
- We served 1,773 breakfasts at the Fly-in breakfast. Don Hodgman thanked all those who helped make the breakfast a success.
- With much regret, President Renner accepted the resignation of Barbara Craig from our club as her work duties have changed.
- Bob Straits indicated that we have four spots left on our team for the Senior PGA next May. Contact him if you know someone who might be interested.
- The next Performance Series is scheduled for this Friday, August 25th at the First United Methodist Church at 7:30 PM.
50/50
Don Hodgman had the lucky ticket this week. The second week in a row a “Don” had the ticket, and like the Don before him, Mr. Hodgman won half of the pot. We generously allowed District Assistant Governor Terry Allen to win the $2 prize.
Fines:
- Jerry Portman celebrated his 76th birthday this week.
- Bob Stickland and his lovely wife Delores are celebrating their 60th anniversary.
- Nick and Nancy Tuit are celebrating their 51st anniversary.
- Tom and Karen Ruesink celebrated their 54th anniversary.
- Richard Swanson celebrated the 42nd birthday of his son.
- Dene Hadden announced that his oldest grandson will turn 16 this week.
- All of the birthday celebrants asked for the silent treatment, but we sang our famous Ludington style birthday song in spite of their wishes.
- Marty Graber offered profound apologies for wearing a Lion’s club shirt to the pancake breakfast.
President Renner introduced our District Governor, Teresa Brandell, who is the daughter of a Rotarian.
Teresa was inspired about Rotary by her father who worked tirelessly for our organization.
She spoke about the Rotary Theme this year, “Making a Difference”.She let us know that the goal of our Rotary president this year if for each Rotarian to plant at least one tree to make a difference on our planet.
She asked us to consider how each of us can “Make a Difference” in our lives away from Rotary, in our club, in our community and in the world.
She mentioned the Rotary Foundation and its annual Fund, indicating that half of the money we donate goes to International projects and half is returned to districts.The goal is to get every Rotarian to donate every year.
She also mentioned Polio Plus and the “We are this close” campaign and the beginning of the “Drop to Zero” campaign to finally eradicate polio.
She also said the district is starting an international project for those clubs without an international project to join.
Lastly, she reminded us of the District Conference scheduled for April 20 – 22, 2018 in Grand Haven.
President Renner presented Teresa our speaker’s gift and a special “South Haven Blueberry Basket” to remind her of our club.
Next week’s program: Art Bolt will introduce Scott Smith who will talk about Wellness Center Programing.
Next week’s Greeters: Melinda Gruber and Steve Larsen
Editarian: Dene Hadden