SPOKES January 9, 2018

SPOKES VOL. LXV NO. 25                                      January 9, 2018
We were greeted by Bill Roberts and Dan Thompson.
President Renner opened our meeting with the “Pledge of Allegiance”, and Art Ayers offered the invocation.
 
Guests:
Our guest was John Gillette, who was assisting Stuart Comiskey with his presentation.
 
Music:
Sorry to say, we were not graced with our Rotary voices this morning. The CD player has issues…
 
Announcements:
  • President Renner shared a few cards of thanks, received within the last few weeks. They were from:
Pastor Ginny of the First United Methodist Church, regarding our Christmas Dinner
The We Care Staff
The Lake Michigan College Foundation
South Haven Center for the Arts
Junior Achievement
Bronson Health Foundation
 
  • Blessings in a Backpack will be on th, at 1:30, at Lincoln Elementary.
  • On th, the Diversity Coalition is sponsoring the Martin Luther King, Jr. activity at South Haven High School. This is usually no more than an hour commitment, and all volunteers should arrive at 10am.
  • Our Salvation Army bell ringing collected $2650.78, more than $1000 above last year’s total! Many thanks to our 22 Rotarians who participated!
  • Our District newsletter should have been received in your mail.
  • Marty Graber is due to return from Kenya in February. He will be available for a program in March or April.
  • A Board Meeting will follow our regular meeting this morning.
  • Jerry Gruber reported that 176 individuals were served at the Open Door Christmas Dinner, and because of all of the donations, it only cost our club $129! Thanks to all who helped, and a SPECIAL THANK YOU to Jerry!
  • Speaking of the dinner, don’t forget to visit the photo gallery on our website.
 
50/50
Jerry Portman filled in admirably for our Assistant Sergeant-at Arms, Stuart Comiskey…John Gillette was “charged” with selecting the first ticket, and Don Hodgman had the lucky ticket. Don, however, drew the number 2, which didn’t generate much of a prize for Dan Thompson ($2).
 
Fines
  • Rhonda Wendzel celebrated Harold McColl’s birthday.
  • Larry Wittkop celebrated granddaughter Caroline’s 17th birthday, and hopes that the Spartans “rebound”.
  • Congratulations to Stu Comiskey, who announced that his son and daughter-in-law would be welcoming twins, due to arrive on th!
  • Art Ayers celebrated his wife Kris’ birthday and also their 44th anniversary.
  • Jerry Gruber celebrated his granddaughter Audrey’s birthday.
  • Dorothy Lockwood reported that, on the 10th of January, it will have been 2 years since she has had chemo pulsing through her body!!
  • Don Hixson and Marian celebrated having all 8 grandsons, and many others, with them over the holidays.
  • Dan Liehr celebrated having a wonderful holiday in the Bahamas.
  • Bob Copping reflected on the large number of overweight individuals in the country. Whatever the final figures were, he said, they were bound to be “round”.
  • Dan Thompson hoped that everyone would “be safe”.
  • Bob McAlear hopes that we all “enjoy the winter”.
  • Nick Tuit celebrated a wonderful holiday with family, and also reported that he and Nancy have moved from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids.
  • Tom Fleming reminded us about Big Ten at Shell stations, indicating that gold members save 10 cents/gallon, and add a car wash to save 20 cents/gallon. Tom lost me with his mention of Wild Hog , but perhaps that’s best!
  • Bob Stickland mentioned that he’s glad to be here to “enjoy the snow”.
  • Some friendly banter regarding Paul Hix’s facial hair brought this segment to a close…
 
Stuart Comiskey had our program this morning. He and John and Sue Gillette went on a Roads Scholar tour to Southeastern Kentucky last spring, and Stuart and John shared pictures and information from their trip.
It was mentioned that there are 3 components to Roads Scholar tours: Geography, Culture and Industry.
Highlights included:
  • A stop at Union College in Barberville, KY, Stu’s alma mater, which he had not visited in 50 years. Knox County had always been a dry county; however, on this visit, they all found it odd that not many students were in evidence. Apparently, a law had recently been passed allowing alcohol sales. Where might they have been?
  • College, a school that charges no tuition, room or board…The students work!
  • Dupont Lodge- where they stayed
  • The Cumberland River
  • Hiking through Cumberland State Park
  • Predominantly Baptist, by many different names
  • In 1871, 3 square miles of Chicago burned to the ground, as did the city of Holland. The subsequent search for lumber in southeastern Kentucky and the surrounding area led to the discovery of coal.
  • The heyday of coal mining occurred during and between World Wars I and II.
  • Blue Heron Coal Mine closed in 1962-Oral histories on audio tapes have greatly helped preserve this storied history. One can only imagine the working conditions… One of their labor strikes occurred because the workers demanded showers!
 
President Renner, as well as those in attendance, thanked Stuart and John for their informative presentation.
 
Greeters for next Tuesday, January 16th, are Jerry Portman and Bob Herrera.
 
Next week’s program: Our guest will be Todd Gustafson, who works with Kinexus. His presentation will be “Integrating Workforce Economic and Community Development”. Tom Renner is the Program Chair.
 
We concluded our meeting with the Four Way Test.
Submitted by Editarian Art Ayers