SPOKES VOL. LXIV NO. 13                                                                               October 3, 2017
 
 
Our greeters this morning were Jean Stein and Tony Martorano
 
We opened our meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, and Art Ayers offered our invocation with special intentions to the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.
 
Guests:
Our guests today included our speakers from SHAES, Ron Wise, Ron Ridley and Tony Marsala.
 
Spotlight:
Our spotlight was on our own Mark Odland who, along with President Renner, attended the Rotary District 6360 “one Rotary Summit” in Kalamazoo last weekend.  The summit focuses on three areas: Membership; Service, especially humanitarian service opportunities; and Telling Our Story.  Mark heard lots of ideas and especially likes what we do as a club in all of these areas and all in all felt like it was an enlightening experience.
 
Music:
Larry Wittkop was our guest conductor this week.  We stumbled a bit with the Heidelburg Quintet’s 1914 hit “By the Beautiful Sea” but recovered very nicely with the Polish/Czech/MSU fight song “Stodola Pumpa”.  We finished with “Rotary, My Rotary”, sung to the tune of the 16th century German folk song and later Christmas song, “O Tannenbaum”.
 
Announcements:
  • Don’t forget the Club Runner App for your phones, it’s a great resource! It now features member birthday and anniversaries.  Hopefully consistent use of Club Runner will keep members aware of their anniversaries and save much grief.  Spokes can also be assessed through this app.
  • Jeremy Burleson’s membership application will be voted on at next week’s Board meeting.
  • Snowbirds are reminded to let Bob Straits and Rhonda know when you will be gone and to take care of your financial arrangements prior to leaving.
  • Members are encouraged to move around each week so you get to know your fellow Rotarians, especially new members.
  • Our first Blessings in a Backpack work session is scheduled for November 3rd.  Let Rhonda know if you will be able to help.
  • We will be manning a beer tent at the Haven Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 21st.  More information later, but put it on your calendar, either to work or to enjoy a beverage or two.
50/50
Bob Boerma had the lucky ticket for the first time in many years, but he was unable to find the “4” or the “2” so went home empty-handed.  He did draw a $2 winning ticket for Jerry Gruber, however.
 
Fines:
  • Deb Davidson is celebrating her 20th anniversary to husband John and reminded us that grandson Sean’s birthday is Friday.  We sang a pretty good “Happy Birthday” to Sean.
  • Dan Leihr found his dad’s WWII check stub from the UA Army and a letter describing how the Army got volunteers.
  • Tom Fleming reminded everyone that it is Big Ten Tuesday for an extra discount on your Fuel Rewards card.
  • Jeff Melvin reminded us all that there will be a blood drive at the Wellness Center next Tuesday afternoon.
  • Dene Hadden invited everyone to this Thursday’s SHHS Varsity Volleyball match featuring undefeated teams from South Haven and Vicksburg and to see the newly remodeled high school gym.  Varsity match starts about 6:15 – 6:30 PM
  • Jerry Gruber paid extra as he will be wandering streams next week in search of the elusive trout.
  • Bob Boerma told us about a combined band performance at the MSU/U of M football game this weekend when both bands will be together performing a joint halftime show.  His son Scott wrote the music for the show!
  • We passed the basket around to collect money for the District Raffle.  We collected $500 to purchase tickets.  If we win – and we are trying to get them to let Ted Weber do the draw – the money will go to the Rotary’s Polio Plus campaign.
 
Bob Stickland introduced our speakers, Ron Wise, Ron Ridley and Tony Marsala from South Haven Area Emergency Services.
 
Ron, who often manages to be the first on scene at fires and accidents, including spotting a fire at the Blueberry Festival celebration dinner a week ago, presented most of the program, with an assist from Tony and Ron.
 
When Ron started at SHAES a number of years ago, they handled about 1200 calls a year, including medical transfers, which they stopped doing.They now handle 2200 calls a year, including lots of out of town transportations.Heart attack and stroke victims are automatically transported to Holland, Benton Harbor or Kalamazoo, as are emergency birth situation.Trauma cases are immediately transported to the trauma unit at Bronson in Kalamazoo if they are not flown out.He credited the advanced training of EMT’s for the ability to make those transportations safely.
 
Ron also talked about our insurance rates and the effort they are making to continue to lower our rating.He recently hired an employee who will be responsible for inspecting businesses and preplans for the roughly 451 buildings occupied by businesses in our town.Their goal is simply to help make these buildings safe.
 
Fire Prevention week begins October 9th.The firefighters will be going to schools to talk about fire prevention and showing the kids fire trucks and other equipment.The will have gifts for kids that include fire prevention and safety hints.At the end of the week they host a Fire Safety Fun Fair that includes games and prizes and ends with exciting fire prevention demonstrations and lessons.
 
Ron also talked about the new ladder truck that they have just received.The truck was designed by Ron, Tony and firefighter Keith Bierhalter and built at Spencer Manufacturing here in South Haven.It has a 1200 gallon water tank and 500 feet of 5” hose and a foam tank.It has an all poly body and has a life expectancy of more than 35 years.
 
Ron answered questions from Rotarians including how they deal with “frequent flyers” who use emergency services at a high rate – they work with the person’s case worker or other services to try and solve the problem.He told us they sold our old ladder truck to Ganges Township for $15,000.Generally they do not charge for services except for water rescue, which is $500 per person.He had an interesting story about a couple of guys who ventured out into the lake when they shouldn’t have.They paid the fee but asked that their insurance companies and wives not be told.
 
President Renner thanked Ron, Ron and Tony for their presentation and presented them with our speaker’s gift.
 
We closed the meeting with the Four Way Test.
 
After the meeting we all had the opportunity for an up close look at the new ladder truck and our three guests provided guided tours and explained the workings of this amazing piece of equipment.
 
Next week’s program: Our two mayoral candidates will have a chance to do short presentations each of the next two weeks.
 
Next week’s Greeters:  Scott Mark and Bob McAlear
 
Editarian:  Dene Hadden