SPOKES VOL. LXVII1 NO. 1
http://www.southhavenrotary.
SPECIAL EDITION: Change of Officers Picnic
For the first time in more than a year, we gathered in person, this time at the pavilion in Stanley Johnston Park. Members and their families enjoyed face to face conversation and the opportunity to see friends in person.
President Thomson began his last meeting and first in-person meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Pastor Jeffrey Dick offered our invocation with prayers for our club, our service and our new leaders.
President Dan called upon Sergeant at Arms Tom Ruesink to assess all necessary fines. There were a few birthdays and Kaleigh Eddy and her husband Mark are celebrating an anniversary. Tom reminded everyone that fines assessed during virtual meetings are still payable and had a jar ready to collect them.
President Thompson took a few minutes to review the club’s accomplishments over the last year, not the least of which was 49 Zoom meetings with outstanding presenters and excellent attendance.
We also had a virtual fundraiser, raising $12,000 - $8,000 from club members.
Provided labor for several activities, including the Dykman Bridge Holliday lights and summer flowers, a legacy of Bob and Jane Copping continued by Mark and LaRae Odland; the Arbor Day tree planting, organized by Tom Renner in honor of Rotary founder Paul Harris; the community Christmas Dinner organized by Jerry Gruber and the Thursday night community dinners at the Congregational Church.
We funded just under $40,000 in grants from our club and from grants we received from the District Foundation.
We continue to work on funding Marty Graber’s legacy, the Ngoswani Community Maternal and Child Care Hospital and the rainwater harvesting project there.
Our signature project for the year was the Telemedicine Initiative spearheaded by our own Dr. Richard Swanson which allows access to state of the art health care when transportation is not available or access is not possible.
Our club has been recognized by Rotary International and our District for our work. Rotary International presented us with the Rotary GOLD award, an award that very few Rotary Clubs earn.
We were recently awarded the South Haven Chamber of Commerce Community Investment Business Excellence Award.
Both of these awards were accomplished under the leadership of Mark Odland and his team but were presented to the club this year.
We are looking forward to embarking on a unique opportunity to work with the Kiwanis Club to put on a Pancake Breakfast in August.
Membership continues to be a priority for our club as we inducted four new members this year.
Sadly, we said goodbye to three long time Rotarians: Dick Averill, Dale Lewis and Bob Stickland.
One of Bob’s legacies is the Thursday morning social hours, now led by Tom Ruesink.
Thanks to the efforts of Tom Renner, our club continued to receive tons of publicly for the things we accomplish locally and worldwide.
Dan continued his list of thank you’s, mentioning Steve Miles and his technological help, Bill Roberts for keeping our program schedule up to date, Club Secretary Rhonda Wendzel for her work keeping us straight, Bob Straits as our treasurer – with help from Tom Rummel, Past President Mark Odland for his guidance and the club’s board.
Dan then introduced our two newest officers, Mary Sue Lyons who will serve as President Elect and Bill Roberts, our new president.
Dan then turned over the administration of our club, and the meeting, to President Bill Roberts.
Bill began his term by presenting a thank you to Dan for his service and the cherished “Past President” pin.
Bill thanked the club for his election and introduced the new club officers and Board. Rhonda will continue as our Secretary, Mike Livovich takes over as our new Treasurer and Melinda Gruber is our new Vice President.
Bill’s first official act as president was the induction of new member Emily Gruber. Emily’s sponsor is her grandfather, Jerry Gruber, who provided her introduction to the club and helped President Roberts present her with her hat, shirt, badge and pin.
Bill then asked Dene Hadden to present the Rotary Educator of the Year Award. Dene Introduced South Haven High School Math teacher Madelynne Bettis and talked about her dedication and accomplishments as a great teacher.
President Roberts then asked President Elect Mary Sue Lyons to introduce our Citizen of the Year, The Marcoux family. Mary Sue took this opportunity to reflect on the support this family has shown to our community, through their businesses and work with a huge variety of non-profits, including Jim Marcoux role in establishing the Greater South Haven Area Community Foundation which now has endowments totaling more than four million dollars. She emphasized the work of each of the members of the family and their contributions to our community.
Bill then asked Mark Odland to the podium to announce the winner of our Rotarian of the Year. Mark reviewed the year we had with only virtual meetings, no face to face meetings, no real life fund raising and the resulting budget discussions, the difficulty of recruiting new members in this situation and all of the technological things that our club had to work through to stay vibrant.
Given the success we had in getting through all of these obstacles and more, our choice for Rotarian of the Year is Dan Thompson! Dan was presented with a plaque and the traditional Paul Harris Fellow Award.
Dan was very grateful for his selection and thanked all of those who had supported him, and our club over the last year.
President Roberts rang the bell for the first time, followed by a strong signal from a vessel in the harbor, and we adjourned to cake and coffee to continue our celebration and conversation.
NEXT WEEK: Return to Zoom meetings
Editarian: Dene Hadden