South Haven Rotary SPOKES
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
 
The meeting was held at Peace Lutheran Church beginning at 8 a.m.
 
Our greeter today was Ted Weber.
 
President Mary Sue Lyons called us to order.
 
Instead of the Pledge of Allegiance, we began by singing My Country Tis of Thee led by Bob Boerma.
 
Today we were joined by perhaps a record number of Rotarians via ZOOM (post COVID) and from places scattered around the country -- Bob Brickman, Dave Campbell, Emily Gruber, Clark Gruber, Amy Nichols, John Meilein, Brandon Hina, Griffin Graham, Melinda Gruber, Dan Thompson
 
Our guests today included prospective member Mathias DeJonge and speaker Maria Hampton of the Al Van Humane Society.
 
We also welcomed back Barry Winkel who acknowledged with appreciation of well-wishes and cards he received during his convalescence.
 
Bob Boerma directed us in singing New York, New York and a hearty rendition of Sing a Song of Rotary.
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
* Membership application received from Shelly Ammerman.
* Reminder of Island Sit fund raiser this coming Saturday to We Care (2-3 p.m.)
* Board member todaY after our meeting.
* A reminder to take advantage of the newly created business cards for recruiting new Rotarians.
* Updated directory pages remain available.
* Nomination are being accepted for Rotarian of the Year and Citizen of the Year per Dan Thompson.
 
Bob Copping delighted us with another of his jokes compliments of Mark Odland.
 
Art brought us up-to-date on his pending surgery; postponed while doctors in Ann Arbor consider a new path.
 
As luck would have it, Art won the 50-50, but he drew the "7" which allowed the pot to grow. Stu won the $2 draw and returned it to the kitty.
 
BIRTHDAY/ANNIVERSARIES
* Art has a daughter celebrating #24
* Anna has a niece celebrating #4
 
 
HAPPY DOLLARS
* More than  one "Go Blue" cheers
* Tom Ruesink with help from Jerry Gruber did the weekly collection of food for We Care from Aldis -- 100 loaves of bread!
* Larry pined over the fact that grandson Jake and Ben are nearing the end of their high school swimming careers.
* Barry thanked the membership for the many well-wishes he received in recent months.
* "Suffering" in 90 degree Florida temps, Dan shared his fishing excursion on Monday -- "only" caught one tuna.
* Todd brought a message from Don Hodgman thanking members for their expressions of care and concern during his health emergency in recent weeks. Don is home!
* Mary Sue was thanked for hosting the new member reception in her home on Monday night.
 
PROGRAM
Dan Liehr introduced Maria Hampton who gave a very informative on the work of the Al Van Humane Society, now in its 55th year of serving the community. Al Van has been a no-kill refuge since 2012. Last year they adopted-out nearly 500 dogs and cats.
 
We concluded with the Four Way Test.
 
Reported by Tom Renner for Editarian Sandra Reno.