SPOKES -- November 10, 2020

SOUTH HAVEN ROTARY SPOKES    VOL.LXVXVII NO.18  November 10, 2020

President Thompson welcomed everyone, and we opened with the “Pledge of Allegiance", followed by Art Ayers’ invocation.

GUESTS: Soon to be member Bill Hunter, and today’s speaker, Brent Nichols.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
President Thompson provided a “shout-out” to Mark and LaRae Odland for their efforts in organizing and securing enough volunteers to hang garlands and lights from the Dyckman Bridge. MANY THANKS to those who helped!

Rotary’s turn to serve the Thursday Night Supper at the First Congregational Church is November 19. Due to the virus, the dinners will be of the take-out variety, and will be “served” from the parking lot. There are enough volunteers for this month; however, feel free to let President Thompson know of your willingness to help next month. Volunteers need to arrive at the church by 5:45pm.

A Board meeting is scheduled to follow today’s regular meeting.

Dene Hadden reported that checks from our Educational Fundraiser have been delivered. A check for $1200.00 was delivered to the Lake Michigan College South Haven Campus Scholarship Fund, and one for the same amount deposited in the South Haven Public Schools' Foundation Endowment Fund.

The total money held by each of these funds is:
South Haven Public Schools’ Foundation Endowment: slightly more than $48,200.00
Lake Michigan College South Haven Campus Scholarship Fund:
Regular Scholarship Endowment Fund: $171,000.00
Student Success Fund: $3,000.00
Restricted Scholarship Fund: $500.00

The two smaller funds are for emergency scholarships or loans. Almost all these funds were raised by the South Haven Rotary Club via fund raisers and donations over the past 18+ years!

Mark Odland reported that he received a call from Julie Portman late last week, indicating that Jerry fell at their home in Wheaton, Illinois, and he, once again, has fractured some vertebrae. They are currently back at their home here in South Haven. It was not very long ago that Jerry was recovering from fractured vertebrae he incurred in a skiing accident last winter. We’ll certainly be offering healing prayers for you, Jerry!

Today’s comedy photo featured Jack Benny, born Benjamin Kubelsky, (1894-1974). Jack transitioned from modest success playing the violin on the vaudeville circuit, to a highly popular comedic career in radio, television, and film. He was known for his comic timing, and the ability to elicit laughter with a pregnant pause or single expression-such as his signature, exasperating “Well!”.

Bob began by thanking Don Hodgman for a deer hunting anecdote. Apparently, Don went “hunting” for some camouflage gear but couldn’t find any trousers. Hope he could find an outlet that could assist him!

Bob’s “Tale”: Two Eskimos were awfully cold and paddling in a kayak, when they decided to light a fire. It didn’t take long before the kayak sank.

Moral of the story: You can’t have your kayak and heat it too!

HAPPY BUCKS- Tom Ruesink
Pastor Dick’s birthday was celebrated on November 4th.
Dene Hadden’s grandson will celebrate his 13th birthday on Thursday. Dene also mentioned that he fully expects to be paying a fine, since his picture was in the paper this week.
Pete Swanson indicated that his son will soon be celebrating a birthday.
Deb Davidson reported that her grandson, Cade Graham Patterson, celebrated his very 1st birthday on October 29th
Jean Stein’s son, Ross, has a birthday TODAY!
Bob Copping celebrated two family birthdays (daughter Robin, and granddaughter Lauren, who continues to be in Bali. You may recall that Lauren was stranded in Bali at the time of the shutdowns due to the virus).
Dan Thompson, begrudgingly, accepted his fate of having been pictured in TWO recent publications ($$).
Before Larry Wittkop directed us in our “Happy Birthday” serenade, he took us to task for not singing with him. Seems he has noticed that most of our mouths have not been moving when we should be “singing”. He finished by saying, “Yawning doesn’t count”! Either we weren’t singing, OR a good number of us have developed a real passion for ventriloquism. Who’s to say, Larry?

DRAWINGS:
Tom selected our speaker, Brent Nichols, to pick the winning numbers. The first number chosen was 17 (Marty Graber), and the second was 32 (Tom Nouverr). Enjoy your “winnings”!! If you fail to receive them, see Stuart!

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Stuart Comiskey

Stuart is a native of New Jersey. He was born in 1944 and made his way to South Haven, via Kentucky, as a result of a teaching vacancy in the South Haven Public Schools. He taught in South Haven’s schools for 39 years, as a 5th grade and science teacher.

The summers provided other employment experiences over the years, such as a chicken cutter at A&P, roofing, and teaching Drivers Education. He and a friend also started and operated Little Oscar’s Tee Shirt Shop.

In 1970, he and Bob Lindeman started Boy Scout Troop 188, and he was heavily involved with the scouts for many years.

Stuart and Ruth Ann were married in 1980, and Ruth Ann worked as an x-ray technician at South Haven Hospital. Sadly, she passed away in 1997. Stuart and Ruth Ann were blessed with 4 children, who have since provided 6 grandchildren. His daughter, Elizabeth, has been in South Korea for several years teaching English.

Stuart has enjoyed many travels over the years, including Europe, Asia, and extensively throughout the United States. Many of the trips in the U.S. involved the Boy Scouts and were funded by the paper truck proceeds. He has also participated in 5 mission trips (Haiti twice, New Orleans, Biloxi, and Joplin, MO) which, I BELIEVE, were all sponsored by the First Congregational Church.

Stuart joined Rotary in 2006, and his sponsor was Tom Ruesink. He enjoyed working with Habitat for Humanity and has been the “Chief” dishwasher for us at the Thursday Night Suppers for several years. He also loves to bike and play pickleball.

Speaker- Brent Nichols
Program Chair- Ross Woodhams

Ross provided some background information on Brent, which included him having had his first airplane flight at the age of three, and at the age of sixteen, he received his pilot’s license. He attended Florida Institute of Technology and Ferris State University and became a Captain with United Airlines in September of 1997. He is married with two daughters, and they reside in South Haven. He flies out of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

Brent provided a PowerPoint presentation, which covered many aspects related to flying in a COVID World:

NEXT WEEK’S PROGRAM: “The Criminal Justice System”

Speaker: Susan Zuiderveen, newly elected Van Buren County Prosecutor

Program Chair: Kathy Brickley

Respectfully submitted,
Art Ayers, substitute Editarian