SPOKES VOL.LXVIII NO.28 January 30,2018
Our greeters this morning were Jeff Melvin and Stuart Comiskey.
This morning’s meeting was held at the historic Scott Club, located at 652 Phoenix Street, South Haven.
President Renner called the meeting to order at 7am; we opened with “The Pledge of Allegiance”, and Art Ayers offered the invocation. We were asked to keep the Whale family in our thoughts and prayers, as they, and we,mourn Tom’s passing. We were also asked to celebrate the news from Marty Graber that the drought had ended in Ngoswani.
Guests:
Our hostesses this morning were Rosalie Plechaty, Cherie McCloughan, Carole Hodgman, Anna Krajecki, Lynn Lyon
Music:
Our singing did not “make the cut” today…Something had to be eliminated to grant more time to our program; as a result, our voices, fully rested, should be in great form next week!
Announcements:
-Many thanks to Matt Shafer for catering our breakfast at the Scott Club this morning. Excellent, as usual, Matt!!
-Blessings in a Backpack will be held on Friday, February 2nd, at Lincoln Elementary…The fun begins at 1:30pm.
50/50
-Sergeant-at Arms, Stuart Comiskey, found “honest and reliable” Carole Hodgman to draw the first ticket.
-Dorothy Lockwood had the winner; however, the jackpot was “not to be” this morning, as Dorothy drew the #7 card.
-Jean Stein had the next winning ticket and collected the $2 prize.
Fines
-Bob Boerma’s daughter, Janet, celebrated her 50th birthday, AND Bob and Karen celebrated their 57th anniversary!
-Stuart Comiskey will be celebrating his granddaughter’s 5th birthday on February 4th.
-The basket was then passed around the room, prior to heading upstairs for our program.
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Program Chair, Bob Copping, introduced Cherie McCloughan, who promised to provide a very comprehensive look at the Scott Club: its building, history, membership, programs, mission and vision.
When asked how many Rotarians had never been inside the Scott Club, it looked to be a majority.
Cherie began by thanking our Rotary club for supporting them throughout the years; our Board recently awarded them a $500 grant.
The Scott Club Mission Statement
“The Scott Club fosters inclusive community engagement, by providing a historically significant South Haven landmark, as a center for the advancement of culture, the arts, education and fellowship.”
The Scott Club Vision Statement
“The membership’s vision is to be good stewards of the Scott Club and its mission, by being fiscally sustainable, offering relevant programming, increasing diverse and involved membership and extending charitable partnerships.”
Highlights of the presentation:
-In 1883, eight ladies, who had been meeting informally from time to time to read together, met in the home of Mrs. A.S. Dyckman and formed a reading club.
-The building was built in 1893. It was designed by John Cornelius Randall, and is in the Queen Anne style.
-The club is named for Sir Walter Scott. In 1896, the library consisted of 126 books. James H. Bates contributed 71 volumes of Sir Walter Scott’s novels and poems, and some miscellaneous travel books.
-The club has over one hundred members, both men and women, and the annual dues are $35.
-The cost of upkeep and repair of the building often reduces the number charitable contributions they have planned; however, the club has an impressive list of organizations which they support.
-The club has provided our local library with a copy of the South Haven High School yearbook every year, for decades.
-Programs are offered that “are as diverse as our members and include authors, artists, entertainers, and historians”.
-$24,000 has been invested for a new roof; hopefully construction can begin the second week of February.
-The Scott Club is the 2nd oldest continuous literary club in the state of Michigan.
-It was brought to our attention that the Scott Club has smoke detectors, but nothing more extensive. Perhaps a Rotary Project just waiting to happen!
The Scott Club begins their meetings with “The Pledge of Allegiance” and closes with a Collect, which is a brief prayer often used in Western churches.
Their Collect, by Mary Stewart, is as follows:
“Keep us, O God, from pettiness; let us be large in thought, in word, in deed.
Let us be done with fault-finding and leave off self-seeking.
May we put away all pretenses and meet each other, face to face, without self-pity and without prejudice.
My we never be hasty in judgment and always generous.
Let us take time for all things; make us grow calm, serene, and gentle.
Teach us to put into action our better impulses, straightforward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize it is the little things that create differences, that in the big things in life, we are at one.
And may we strive to touch and to know the great, common heart of us all, and O Lord God, let us not forget to be kind.”
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Next week, February 6th, our greeters will be Jeremy Burleson and Paul Hix.
Our Program Chair will be Jeremy Burleson, and our speaker will be Dr. Trevor Kubatzke, President of Lake Michigan College, who will provide an update on higher education opportunities in the South Haven area.
We concluded today’s meeting with the Four Way Test.
Art Ayers, Apprentice Editarian