SPOKES VOL. LXV NO. 10 September 4, 2018
Art Ayers and Tom Renner were our greeters this morning.
President Mark Odland opened today’s meeting with “America the Beautiful” and Art provided the invocation. Art added our prayers for Missy Thompson and Don Hixson as they face medical situations.
Guests:
President Odland introduced guests Jill Brickman from the Glenview Sunrise Rotary Club, our speaker Paula Manley and her husband Ken.
Spotlight:
There was no spotlight this morning.
Music:
Bob Boerma led us in "The Band Played On", also known (by its refrain) as "Casey Would Waltz with a Strawberry Blonde", was a popular song written in 1895 with lyrics by John F. Palmer and music by Charles B. Ward (1865–1917). Our second selection, "Hello! Ma Baby" is a Tin Pan Alley song written in 1899 by the songwriting team of Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson, known as "Howard and Emerson".[1] Its subject is a man who has a girlfriend he knows only through the telephone. At the time, telephones were relatively novel, present in fewer than 10% of U.S. households, and this was the first well-known song to refer to the device.[2] Additionally, the word "Hello" itself was primarily associated with telephone use—"Hello Girl" was slang for a telephone operator even through the first world war—though it later became a general greeting for all situations. We finished with the traditional Rotary song, “Roll Rotary”.
Announcements:
- On September 18th any candidate for public office will be able to present their program to the club. The time will be divided into equal segments so each candidate/proposal will have equal time. Please let Bob Straits know if you know a candidate who wants to appear in front of our group.
- We have collected enough money to purchase all of the District Foundation raffle tickets. No to see if we are winners!
- We have a box available to collect old eye glasses for distribution to those in need – a long held passion of Lions clubs worldwide.
- Bob Straits asked that anyone who has ideas for Haven Fest get them to Bob, Rhonda or Paul Hemmeter before their September 11th meeting.
- We have three Rotary shirts available for sale.
- We had three members who suffered losses recently. Jim France had a garage fire as they were preparing for a family vacation, losing his motorcycle, his wife’s Mustang, their motorhome and suffering smoke and water damage to most of their home. Most importantly, everyone is safe. Tom Ruesink had lightning strike a walnut tree next to his house, causing loss of a TV, many cable TV connection parts and a whole bunch of fired up squirrels. Paul Hix is awaiting a report on his roof which was embraced by a nearby tree during a storm this weekend.
50/50
Mark Odland, who purchased the last ticket, had his ticket drawn from the top of the pile but then chose the 10 rather than the more profitable 2 or 4. This earned a thank you from our next winner, Ted Weber. Jill Brickman won our $2 prize.
Fines:
- Bob Copping’s lovely wife Jane is celebrating her 63rd anniversary this week. Happy anniversary to wonderful couple!
- Bob Straits and the lovely Kathy are celebrating their Golden Anniversary this week.
- Nick and Nancy Tuit are also celebrating an anniversary, their 47th.
- Nick Tuit relayed the news that his son celebrated a birthday.
- Jim France and his wife are celebrating their 21st anniversary this week.
- Dene Hadden’s daughter Lori has a birthday tomorrow.
- Bill Roberts celebrated the birthday of grandson Will this week.
- Bob Brickman announced that our guest, Jill, will be celebrating a birthday on September 11th.
- Art Ayers’ son has a birthday this week.
- Tom Renner’s namesake grandson is turning 13 this week.
- The Reverend Jeff Melvin, officiated his other son’s wedding this weekend.
- Bob Stickland is looking forward to this weekend’s football game in Ann Arbor when one of his alma maters is likely to win.
- Bob Copping provided us with a strenuous exercise routine involving potatoes.
- Richard Swanson offered a well-received RIP for war hero and Senator John McCain.
- Larry Wittkop offered a heartfelt RIP to former Rotarian John Wagoner who passed away last week.
- Jean Stein celebrated her granddaughter’s graduation from college and engagement.
- Glenn Pietenpol, with a huge smile, simply said “Go Irish” and is looking forward to a Packer win on Sunday.
- Deb Davidson was really pleased by the performance of the Purdue band this past weekend.
Bill Roberts introduced our speaker, Paula Manley, from the league of Women Voters.
Paula, a graduate of Drake University, spent most of her working career as a clinical social worker in Grand Rapids.
She has held many positions in the League of Women Voters and currently serves on the state board of that organization and as an adviser to the Grand Rapids League.
The league of Women Voters was formed nationally in 1920 once the vote for women was secured. It is a nonpartisan organization that is dedicated to expanding voter participation, informing voters and registering voters. She spoke briefly about efforts at local colleges to get those students appropriately registered and of efforts in local high schools to stress the importance of registering and voting.
September 25th is National Voter Registration Day. You must be registered by October 9th to vote in November. She indicated that while 90% of eligible Michigan voters are registered, voter turnout is nowhere near that level, sometimes falling lower than 20% in local elections and only about 60% in national elections. The League has a huge focus on getting people to the polls on Election Day.
The League make a huge effort to inform voters, including putting together a candidate guide with bio’s, answers to critical questions and research on proposals. All of this is online at vote411.org . You can also check your voter registration status at this site or by going to the Michigan Secretary of State/voter site.
Concerns for the League include voting rights, money in politics and redistricting with the goal of making democracy work.
She expects five proposals to appear on the ballot in November, one dealing with marijuana, one with redistricting, one about voting rights, one raising the minimum wage and one about sick leave. The legislature could usurp citizen’s opportunity to vote on these issues this week and is talking about passing legislation about the minimum wage and sick leave proposals, which would allow them to change these laws in the future with a simple majority vote.
Anyone, men or women, can join the League if they are over the age of 16.
Bill thanked Paula for her informative presentation and presented her with our speaker’s gift.
We closed our meeting with the Four Way Test.
Next week’s program: After Breakfast at the Wellness Center, we will be traveling to Red McFadden’s car barn to see his collection of classic automobiles.
Next week’s Greeters: Bob Stickland and Bob Copping
Editarian: Dene Hadden