Mack Beers called the meeting to order and led the pledge.
Sakura Takano offered thoughts of gratitude and reflection.
Alexis Juett reminded everyone that IM Rotary sessions are coming up on Oct. 20, Nov. 17 and Dec. 15.
Ramona Pleva encouraged everyone to SAVE A LIFE, STARVE A VAMPIRE on Oct. 30 at a blood drive at Kirkbride Hall. Too squeamish to donate? You could bake cookies or other snacks to help donors recover CLICK HERE to sign up
Ben Marentette gave an update for the Rotary Charities board. The board is in the middle of its fall grant cycle and plans to decide on a series of grants on Nov. 5.
Pat Parker announced the granting of Paul Harris fellowships to Cliff and Lottie Wagner, longtime caretakers and great stewards of the former Camp Greilick (now GOREC).
Terry Beamsley introduced the speaker, David Bosch.
David is president and CEO of Ann Arbor-based Eversight, a non-profit eye bank working to help bring and restore vision to people with eye damage or illness. With offices in the U.S. and South Korea, Eversight has provided tissue to dozens of locations across the world. The organization is also heavily involved in research for cures for blindness and other eye problems. More than 5,500 donors have provided more than 8,000 tissue samples for patients and for research.
Eversight was not immune to the ravages of the COVID pandemic, as revenue was lost and many non-essential eye procedures were put on hold in the early months. Bosch said the goal was to keep the organization viable and to keep employees safe and employed, with benefits. Those goals were ultimately met after some early bumps in the road, and the organization is charging ahead with its important mission.
You can help by spreading the word about Eversight's important work, donating money and/or registering to donate tissue. For more info, visit www.eversightvision.org
By way of our weekly words of gratitude, Tom Petzold recited John Gillespie Magee's inspiring High Flight.
For those Rotarians with a surplus of blood, Dr. Ramona Pleava is planning another blood drive. Stay tuned.
Candidates for the Club Board will be announced on our October 13th meeting and elections will be held on our October 27th meeting.
Our speaker for the afternoon, TCAPS Superintendent Dr. John VanWagoner, was introduced by TBAISD Superintendent Dr. Nick Ceglarek. We were also joined by a newly liberated and serenely sweater-vested former TCAPS Interim Superintendent Jim Pavelka.
Dr. VanWagoner proceeded to articulate the importance of the upcoming TCAPS operating mileage, which will be put before a vote on November 3rd. The mileage will support the Hedley Rollback Prevention effort.
I found myself drifting off around minute three of his lecture, drawn instead to remembrances of just how darn good the late Harvey Korman was as Hedley Lamarr in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles.
Fortunately, Dr. VanWagonrer's slides were very detailed. Herein are the details for those interested: The Headlee Amendment, which was passed in 1978, requires the school district to reduce its millage when annual growth on existing property exceeds the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 5%, whichever is less. Therefore, the millage rate gets “rolled back” so that the resulting growth in property tax revenue is no more than the rate of inflation.
Annually, the district must apply a Headlee rollback factor. The annual factor is then added to prior years to determine the cumulative Headlee rollback factor or the “millage reduction fraction”. The total “millage reduction factor” is then applied to the millage originally authorized by a vote of the district’s taxpayers. The actual mills available to be levied by the district is the result of the authorized millage rate times the total millage reduction factor.
By law, TCAPS cannot levy more than 18 mills. (Author's note: A mill is a technical term for the process by which local governments often turns taxpayer dough into stale bread.) This is the amount 18 mills the district is required to levy in order to receive the full per-pupil foundation allowance. This tax does not apply to primary residences and other exempt property, it is only levied against properties considered “non-primary residence”, which are essentially businesses, industrial property, and second homes located in our school district
Further, funding is based on a state determined “per-pupil” amount, for fiscal year 2020, that amount was $8,111. Local non-homestead taxes make up one portion of the per pupil amount (fiscal year 2020 was 47%) and the state covers the difference. In order to receive the state determined per-pupil amount, the state requires the district to levy 18 mills on non-homestead property.
Ultimately, this Operating Millage Proposal will allow the school district to levy the statutory rate of not to exceed 18 mills on all property, except principal residence and other property exempted by law, required for the school district to receive its revenue per pupil foundation allowance.
(And if you can follow all that, you're a better, more engaged citizen than I.)
During the customary Q&A portion of our lunch presentation, Dr. VanWagonrer answered several audience questions and praised his team for their flexibility and dedication in the face of COVID.
President Mack concluded the meeting with another reminder regarding our upcoming October 13th and 27th meetings and club board election.
Please Note: The 14th Annual Jim 'Van' Work Bee has been rescheduled due to rain and will now be held on Friday, October 9, 2020 from 1-5pm. Bring your friends, family, work clothes, work gloves, and boots to the Canterbury Woods property entrance--off of Garfield just south of Lardie Road. We'll wrap up our work with a 4pm social hour of fellowship, a campfire, and treats!
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Cindy Ruzak gave a moment of reflection celebrating love in the time of the pandemic.
Marlene Bevan called a Special Meeting of the Noon Club’s Corporate Membership for the purpose of electing Board Members for Rotary Charities and Rotary Camps & Services.
The nomination for Rotary Charities Trustees:
Jeff Hickman (Incumbent)
Dan Buron
Randy Kamps
Ben Marentette
Homer Nye
In nomination For Camps & Services Trustees:
Pat Parker (Incumbent)
Sharron Zimmerman (Incumbent)
Jim McWilliams
Closed the meeting.
Becky Ewing for Chris DeGood announced the Jim Van Inanam Annual Work Bee on October 9th at Canterbury Woods. Kathy will send a signup.
Andrew Colemen announced the upcoming Stream Sampling in partnership with the Watershed Center aka “The Bug Count” being planned for a weekend in October. Reach out to Andrew for date and time().
President Mack announced another election coming up on October 13th (nominations) and election on the 27th for new Club Board Trustees.
Steve Wade introduced the week’s program speaker, his boss and fellow Rotarian Dave Mengebier, President/CEO of the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation.
Mengebier spoke to current activities and strategy at the GTRCF. At the top he reminded us of the function of Community Foundations ad GTRCF in particular including Grantmaking within the area served of 5 counties with the clear goal of improving lives; bringing together financial resources to support local non-profits; and an express focus on endowments.
Their Board has committed to the Community Vision of envisioning health, resilient, thriving communities supported by a culture of generosity.
The traditional roles the GTRCF takes on are Donor Stewardship (Long term investment), Community Impact (Grants/Scholarship), and Collaborative Leadership (Partnerships generating community vibrancy). He continued to review the data of the past year before looking forward.
With that in mind the GTRCF has begun a process:
Under the guise of Community Coalition, they are looking to
Identify and reach consensus on key developments and goals
Coordinate communication, policy, resources and support amidst the coalition
Track and report on progress
To aid this process they are developing a Community Scorecard, establishing a framework of measurement to track success by economic, environmental and societal goals. It will also serve as their communication tool.
The Coalition design will bring cross-sector representation to the larger table comprising of government, education, public health among many more.
Working together across 10+ counties, to achieve transformational change for Northwest Michigan.
Northwest Michigan is full of vibrant leaders and organizations who are striving for positive engagement and investment in the future of our region. Harnessing the power of intentional connection and focused engagement, the Community Development Coalition of Northwest Michigan was formed in 2019. We whole-heartedly believe in embracing interdependent strategies and shared accountability to drive favorable outcomes for our community.
Please join us and sign up, friends and family are also welcome to join in (We only have a few sign ups so far)
DATE: Friday, October 9, 2020
Time: 1 pm – 5 pm (Your welcome to join the work bee anytime from 1-4 and for as long as you would like)
Location: Canterbury Woods property entrance off Garfield just south of Lardie Road
Dress: Work clothes, work gloves & work boots. (Extra gloves will be available)
Social Hour 4:00 PM -: We’ll wrap up with fellowship, a campfire, and treats!
Please RSVP by emailing tcrotary2822@gmail.com or calling Kathy (231)-313-0253, you're welcome to leave a message if I miss your call.
Please include your cell phone and email address – in the event, we have a rain delay
Activity Co-Sponsors
Rotary Club of Traverse City
Rotary Camps and Services
Grand Traverse Conservation District
In memory of long-time Rotarian and devoted steward of East Creek Reserve, Julius “Jim” VanEenenaam (1929-2008)
A Series of Initiatives to Improve, Protect and Maintain Freshwater
Let’s plan to meet at the property entrance off Garfield just south of Lardie Road. We’ll have it marked with the “Rotarians at Work” sign. At 4:00 pm we’ll head over to the East Creek Reserve (approximately 3-miles by road) for a quick campfire and toast to Jim Van and the Shuckra’s.
Here’s a little history on how the two properties are tied together: East Creek Reserve. Rotarian Jim VanEenenaam (Jim Van) met Howard Edwards who owned a large amount of property in the Boardman River Valley near Mayfield and soon earned his trust. With Howard’s permission, Jim Van hunted the 720-acres now known as Rotary’s East Creek Reserve. Howard and his wife, Mary Dunn-Edwards obtained the property from her side of the family. Howard and Mary spent a great deal of time bird watching and just enjoying the natural beauty and peacefulness that the property offered. East Creek, a high-quality trout stream and major tributary to the Boardman River flow through the heart of the property. Mary passed away in 1964 from cancer. Mary and Howard never had children. After Mary’s death, Howard continued to enjoy the property until his health began to decline in the late 80’s. Howard & Jim Van spent hours talking, often about Rotary. Knowing Rotary owned the Scout Camp property and not trusting any of his relatives (nieces & nephews) to do the right thing, Howard, upon his death in the early 90’s, bequeathed over 800-acres of land to Rotary to manage as a “Wilderness Park”. A majority (720-acres) of this property makes up the East Creek Reserve, an absolutely beautiful, wild, and critical piece of land in the Boardman River Valley.
Canterbury Woods The State of Michigan owned a 120-acre parcel adjacent to the Canterbury Woods Subdivision off Garfield. The state parcel was a satellite parcel, not connected to any other state land, so the state decided to put it up for sale. The property features a high, prominent ridge that looks south over the Boardman River Valley. The undeveloped ridge is beautiful and greats travelers heading north on Garfield Road. This beautiful view could have been compromised if improperly developed so Rotary Executive Director Marsha Smith led the charge on working a deal with the state to trade 160 acres of the East Creek Reserve immediately adjacent to state land for the 120 acre state land parcel next to Canterbury Woods. To even the trade, 160 acres for 160 acres, the state included a 40-acre parcel next to Mayfield Pond Park that was later deeded over to Paradise Township to add to the park. Rotary continued to allow public use of the Canterbury Woods parcel as if it were still state land with the vision that they would eventually sell the property to support future Rotary initiatives. Before putting the property up for sale, Rotary put restrictions to protect the ridgeline and viewshed. A developer submitted an offer to build over 50 houses on the property but backed out when they realized the extent of an old dump on the property and other reasons. This is when Steve and Carol Shuckra and their son stepped in. The Shuckra’s own and live on a 40-acre parcel immediately west and adjacent to the Canterbury parcel. They had placed a conservation easement on their property many years ago. Not wanting to see this property developed, they negotiated a deal with Rotary (through Doug Meteyer and Becky Ewing) and the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy to purchase the property with a conservation easement. Another condition of the sale was that the old dump was to be cleaned up to the extent possible to protect humans, pets, and wildlife.
Jim Van Memorial Outing 2020. It’s very fitting that this year’s Jim Van Memorial Outing be spent helping put the finishing touches on the clean-up of the old dumpsite. This includes picking up any remaining surface trash, spreading top-soil, seeding, and installing fencing…then a toast!
I M Rotary is a 6-month orientation program to the Rotary Club of Traverse City, Michigan.
We want your experience with our club to be fun and rewarding, so it is an expectation of all new members that you participate in this program. New members should plan to attend all 6 sessions. The program is ongoing, so you can start as soon as you join and if you miss a session you can make-up later in the year when that topic is presented again.
Members who attend all six meetings will be awarded 500 points (valued at $500.00) from the Club, which is ½ way toward one of Rotary's highest honors: The Paul Harris Fellowship CLICK HERE to learn more. If you choose to donate to the Rotary International (RI) Foundation all donations will be added to your total donation.
We will typically meet on the third Tuesdays of each month, starting right after the regular Rotary Club Zoom meeting. Please just stay online or on the Zoom call.
The following dates are currently set (but subject to change). You will be notified of changes via email, and announcements at the general meetings and in the club e-bulletin.
Meeting #1: Club Service - February 16, 2021
Rotary of Traverse City overview
District 6290 & Rotary International
Fellowship Opportunities, ClubRunner
Meeting #2: Community Service -September 15, 2020 / March 2021
Bell Ringing, Christmas Baskets, Friends of the Boardman Watershed Dinner, Munson Manor, JJ Beckett Access-ABILITY Committee/Tag Day
Canterbury Woods The State of Michigan owned a 120-acre parcel adjacent to the Canterbury Woods Subdivision off Garfield. The state parcel was a satellite parcel, not connected to any other state land, so the state decided to put it up for sale. The property features a high, prominent ridge that looks south over the Boardman River Valley. The undeveloped ridge is beautiful and greats travelers heading north on Garfield Road. This beautiful view could have been compromised if improperly developed so Rotary Executive Director Marsha Smith led the charge on working a deal with the state to trade 160 acres of the East Creek Reserve immediately adjacent to state land for the 120 acre state land parcel next to Canterbury Woods. To even the trade, 160 acres for 160 acres, the state included a 40-acre parcel next to Mayfield Pond Park that was later deeded over to Paradise Township to add to the park. Rotary continued to allow public use of the Canterbury Woods parcel as if it were still state land with the vision that they would eventually sell the property to support future Rotary initiatives. Before putting the property up for sale, Rotary put restrictions to protect the ridgeline and viewshed. A developer submitted an offer to build over 50 houses on the property but backed out when they realized the extent of an old dump on the property and other reasons. This is when Steve and Carol Shuckra and their son stepped in. The Shuckra’s own and live on a 40-acre parcel immediately west and adjacent to the Canterbury parcel. They had placed a conservation easement on their property many years ago. Not wanting to see this property developed, they negotiated a deal with Rotary (through Doug Meteyer and Becky Ewing) and the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy to purchase the property with a conservation easement. Another condition of the sale was that the old dump was to be cleaned up to the extent possible to protect humans, pets, and wildlife. 
