Max Anderson donned his sparkly “Four Bottoms” jacket before he sang “Build Me Buttercup” and encouraged the rest of us to sing the chorus. 

 Ruth Blick introduced our guests for the day.

Allison Beers updated us on Rotary Charities with a slide show. 

Kurt Rivard celebrated our Club’s 108 Paul Harris Fellows. A short video “Doing Good” was shown, and a photo was taken of the crowd. 

Dale Chilcote put out the request for assistance and donations for Christmas Baskets. By far the most emotionally exhilarating and rewarding services we do as a Club! Please see the flyer in the bulletin telling how to sign up to adopt a family. Also, note that donations to the fund are matched. 

Allison Beers announced that June 27 will be our Club’s 100th Anniversary celebration. Stay tuned for more information.

Vern Gauthier applauded the great number of sign-ups for bell ringing (Dec 9-14) 

Don’t forget the Holiday Party on 12/10. Susan Kraus announced that an invitation to all has been emailed. Please respond soon. 

Sharron Zimmerman gave an update on World Community Service. Our club partnered with the Elk Rapids club to procure more matching grants. A check from the ER club of $2000 was presented. 

DeAnna Hess introduced the club to the new Interact Club for 12-17-year-olds. The next meeting is at the Discovery Center on December 8 at 7 pm. Contact her if you would like information to pass on to a prospective student. 

Tony Anderson won the 50/50.

Kat Paye introduced Ben LaCross who spoke of the cherry industry in the U.S. Ben is a second-generation cherry farmer and his wife is a former Cherry Festival Queen. He spoke of industry optimism in the face of adversity: import pressure from other countries, inclement weather, and pests. Tart cherries are king in Northern Michigan with 2/3 of all acreage in tart cherries. The uses for both tart and sweet cherries were explained, along with the statistics that confirm Michigan is the cherry capital of the country. 

Ben also taught us about tart cherry dumping from Turkey (and now other countries). Turkey is selling tart cherries in the US for a price that American farmers can’t beat. This has driven down the price of cherries and cherry juice concentrate to far below the price of production. This causes TC cherry farmers to dump their cherries instead of being able to sell them. 

Ben asked what TC will look like in 10-15 years without cherries? There will be 15-18 thousand acres not being used for cherry growing. 

The Cherry Industry has spent $1.7 million in less than a year defending local cherries. Soon a 600-800% duty will be added to the import cost of Turkish dried cherries. The Industry also is working on finding new markets and products to use their cherries. Right now diversion (or dumping) is necessary.

The National Cherry Festival is important to the industry. It’s not held when the local fruit is ripe, because the Festival’s goal is to bring tourists to TC, and July 4th week is the best time to do that. 

Ben awarded two Cherry Fruitcakes to Al Long and Paul LaPorte when they answered quiz questions correctly. 

Kat Paye presented the wheelchair certificate to Ben. 

Allison rang the bell and adjourned the meeting.