President Mack called our Zoom meeting to order and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Wendy Irvin offered a Spirit of Kindness as part of the Gratitude and Reflection moment. 

Al Bonney asked us to keep our Nigerian Rotarian friends in our thoughts and prayers as some of their family members have “the virus”.

Ramona updated the club on the Blood Drive Event!

Date: August 20 

Time: 11-5

Place: Kirkbride Hall at the Grand Traverse Commons

Link to sign up:

https://donate.michigan.versiti.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/134392

We are teaming up with Versiti Blood of Michigan (formerly known as Michigan Blood), Kirkbride Hall and Precision Plumbing and Heating for this event! Our goal is to have 60 donors. Blood supplies are very low right now in Northern Michigan so donations are crucial at this time. Please consider being a donor if you are able to!

Another way to serve is to bring homemade cookies to the event! We will be having a Cookie Competition and donors can vote for their favorite cookie. Please drop off cookies by 10:45 on August 20 and 5-7 dozen should be a sufficient supply. Volunteers and Versiti staff will be eligible for voting. 

If you have any questions on the event, please contact Ramona at 231.510.8682 or drpleva1109@gmail.com. This has also been posted on our club’s Facebook page.

Donors are asked to eat iron-rich foods for up to two weeks prior to a donation. This includes spinach, liver, red meat, seafood, pork, poultry, lentils, and even dark chocolate. If you are new to being a blood donor and have questions, here’s a link with great info:

https://www.versiti.org/faq/blood-donation-faq

Jen Casey made the difficult decision to change our 9/11 Honor Run to a virtual run but you can still participate, donate and support our First Responders!!! There will be two options for the event. You can sign up online to do a 5K (3.1 miles) on your own or opt for an 11 mile run! You have the flexibility to do it anytime between right now and September 11. Click here!

https://runsignup.com/Race/MI/TraverseCity/911HonorRun

Remember with the 9/11 Honor Run, we are able to support our First Responders with providing services for emotional wellness. If you would like to donate but not participate in the run, you are welcome to do so as well.

President Mac announced that a New Member Orientation meeting was going to be held after the regular club meeting.

President Mac announced that a New Member Orientation meeting was going to be held after the regular club meeting. 

Our speaker today was the esteemed District Governor Jon Catlin from Cadillac. DG Jon’s first exposure to Rotary was as an exchange student to Finland in 1985! He became a paying member of  Rotary in 1994 and has been active as a Rotary exchange host family and has attended two international conventions. 

His presentation entitled “A Year for Making Lemonade” communicated the goals of Rotary during this lemonade making season!

Rotary Goals include:

• Making Membership Memorable!

• We have challenges with: less connection, less time, information overload and maintaining the status quo.

• What is needed is: involved and engaged Rotarians, focus on caused based activities (like a Blood Drive and 9/11 Honor Run!)

• Satellite clubs are forming as: e-clubs, passport clubs, 

• Innovation: the time is now to be innovative with how we do Rotary

Telling your Rotary Story?

• Does the community know what we do? (We like to think they do, I mean we are kind of a big deal!)

• How do we communicate that? Social media, website?? A champion is needed.

Successful clubs are:

• Diverse

• Accepting 

• Innovative

• Active

Rotary Foundation has donated millions recently for food, ventilators, PPE and masks over the last several months. 

While the goal of Every Rotarian Every Year continues to be a theme for Rotary International, there is a new 7th area of focus: Supporting the Environment.  The Four-Way Test has now added a 5th component: Is it Fun? (Seriously, I think we wrote the book on “Is it Fun”!!)

Other challenges with Rotary during the current state of making lemonade affect our young people. Rotary Youth Exchange and the Rotary Life Leadership weekend are halted at this time. Interact and Rotaract programs present new challenges with engagement due to the uncertainty of what our educational process will evolve into. 

Despite the lemonade we are currently making, District Governor Jon is challenging us to: 

• Visit another club 

• Attend a district event 

• Find ways to showcase our club

• Mark April 16-18 on your calendar for a district event at Crystal Mountain. 

And with that, the meeting for the first week of August is a wrap!

TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City’s new civic gathering space, Rotary Square, will bring big changes to the southeast corner of State and Union streets.

Big changes are nothing new to this intersection.

Over the last 150 years this area has been home to a lumberyard, a wagon works factory, gas stations, an early version of a farmers’ market, and numerous commercial enterprises...