President Thompson called the meeting to order at 7:00 AM this morning. He enjoyed watching a stirring performance of the playing of our national anthem. Art Ayers offered a heartfelt and soulful invocation, including prayers for Mike Livovich as he undergoes cancer treatment. Unfortunately Art’s prayers for better listening powers during the national anthem not only went unanswered, but we lost our ability to see it performed also. Our guests include potential member Angelica Gallegos, Jeffrey Dick and our speakers David Moore, Tom Wolff and Peter Everts. Announcements: You will need a password to join our meetings from now on so pay attention to the invitation to join the meeting you get via email to find the password. The District 6360 Raffle will begin this week. “tickets” are $25 each. We have a record of 100% participation in the raffle and we have a history of an outstanding rate of return on our investment, having secures thousands of dollars in grants from the district foundation. You can secure your ticket(s) by sending in your donation to Bob Straits at our post office box (#24). Bill Roberts let us know that our September programs should be all set and work continues on October presentations. If you need help finding a program, contact Bill Roberts or Dan. Rotary International is pleased to announce the continent of Africa is now Polio free! Bob Copping reminded us what a strange world we live in with a variety of unusual realities.  |
50/50 and Fines
Kaileigh Eddy was the big winner this morning while Jean Stein continued her winning ways, this week
capturing the $2 prize. Stu Comiskey has been assigned the duty of distributing prize money.
Fines were charged to:
Bob Copping and his lovely wife Jane are celebrating their 65 th anniversary. Wow!!
Art Ayers’s son Adam is 40 this week.
Jim Bradford’s son reached his 42 nd birthday this week.
Nick Tuit celebrated the birthday of his son Steve this week, #49
Tom Renner’s namesake grandson turns 15 this week.
Bob Copping’s brother turns 98 this week in Rockford, Michigan.
Also:
We serenaded the celebrants by singing a Ludington version of the birthday song, vigorously led
by our own Larry Wittkop. Fortunately, Dan kept us all on mute during the song.
Art Ayers’s son Adam is 40 this week.
Jim Bradford’s son reached his 42 nd birthday this week.
Nick Tuit celebrated the birthday of his son Steve this week, #49
Tom Renner’s namesake grandson turns 15 this week.
Bob Copping’s brother turns 98 this week in Rockford, Michigan.
Also:
We serenaded the celebrants by singing a Ludington version of the birthday song, vigorously led
by our own Larry Wittkop. Fortunately, Dan kept us all on mute during the song.
Rosalie Plechaty introduced our program this morning, David Moore, Tom Wolff and Peter Everts
and the Braver Angels organization.
and the Braver Angels organization.
Tom Wolff began with a brief introduction that included the basic belief of the organization: That we
have more in common that we have differences. He played a short video that highlighted the work of
the Braver Angels. The video highlighted the work the organization is doing to get people from both
sides of the political spectrum together in a number of different ways to examine our similarities.
The organization is nationwide and began just a few short years ago.
According to David Moore, It is important that we see the best in the other side and the Braver Angels
has a number of workshops and projects that help people get to that situation. The organization really
focuses on “Patriotic Empathy” which puts love of country above any political party.
They want people to recognize their polarization within, especially how they talk about “the other
side” and discover how the use of stereotyping, ridiculing and even contempt for others is not useful.
Their workshops focus on four areas: Examining ourselves, Tone Setting, Listening Skills and Speaking
skills.
One of their most interesting workshops is called a Red-Blue Workshop, bringing together an equal
number of Democrats and Republicans and leading them through the process of developing their skills
in the four areas above. Not to change them politically but to change how they view the other side.
Their workshops also include topics including families and politics and on line debates, held weekly
that are student focused. They are currently working on a post-election series of workshops called
“With Malice Towards None”.
The website for Braver Angels is www.braverangels.org
If you have questions of an interest in this organization, please contact David Moore -
davidmooredo@gmail.com, Tom Wolff - twolff23@msn.com and Peter Everts - petereverts@outlook.com
President Thompson thanked Rosalie for securing this interesting and informative presentation and
presented each of our presenters with gift certificates to local eateries.
Incidentally, Rosalie is interested to know what you thought of this presentation. If you get a chance,
drop her a line, plechatyrm@gmail.com
presented each of our presenters with gift certificates to local eateries.
Incidentally, Rosalie is interested to know what you thought of this presentation. If you get a chance,
drop her a line, plechatyrm@gmail.com
We closed the meeting with the Four Way Test
NEXT WEEK: Tony Martorano will introduce a presentation by the Boy Scouts of America.
Editarian: Dene Hadden