Tuesday’s meeting was “one for the books”,  breaking all kinds of Rotary records, as President Mike orchestrated a record amount of business conducted in an hour (or close to it), making sure there was sufficient and an appropriate amount of time for the presentation of a Paul Harris award to Liz Sayre King AND to watch a wonderful tribute to Howard King shown at the Big House several weeks ago, AND for a terrifically informative presentation by Greg Weykamp on design plan possibilities for Discovery Pier.

  An unprecedented, thus record, number of Rotarians were nominated for the boards of Rotary Charities and Camps and Services. Announcements were speedily accomplished primarily as “shout outs” from the floor with even the normally verbose Cindy Ruzak keeping it to 10 seconds. Keeping with this spirit of brevity the students of the week, Tyler Moreno and Taylor Hammond, kept their award acceptance “speeches” to just minutes, a welcomed reversal of the previous week. Paul Morris led a rousing rendition of Anchors Aweigh recreated with words appropriate to the Discovery Pier, and set a record for how long an instrument sat dormant in a garage as he resurrected his horn for the song after some 60 years he claimed, and he still played beautifully!

  While not perhaps a record there were quite a few visitors introduced, including our visiting foreign exchange students Lana Saric (Croatia, hosted by the Morning Club), Joao Ameno Farinelli (Brazil, hosted by the Noon Club), and Beatriz Gaya Sesmes (Spain, hosted by Twilight Club). And Dan Bodamer won close to a record $55 in the 50/50, but likely after buying a record number of tickets over the year if that had actually been tracked in some way.

 

 The members voted to accept changes to Article VIII on Attendance which basically removed a specific percentage of acceptable attendance; and to Article IV on Meetings, the gist (and record short version) of which was to allow the board to change the meeting day time and place, and to cancel a meeting for justifiable causes up to four times per year, and requiring written minutes to be available within 60 days.

 

Gregg Smith, Chair of Rotary Charities opened a special meeting under Article 3 section 4B to present the Governance and Nominating Committee candidates for Rotary Charities and Rotary Camps and Services with the election to be held on September 27^th during the noon meeting of the Rotary Club at the Park Place.  The nominees for Rotary Charities are Elaine Wood (incumbent), Mark Eckhoff, Marilyn Fitzgerald, John Hall, Denny Lauterbach, Kurt Rivard, and Ken Weaver. For Rotary Camps and Services they are Bob Stow (incumbent), Phil Ellis, Randy Kamps, Mark Newhouse, Dan Rickard, Cindy Ruzak, and Lee Torrey. Short biographies for the candidates are included elsewhere in this newsletter.

 

 Gregg added some comments for members consideration that were so eloquent and relevant that they are included here verbatim: “ A slate of this size is unprecedented. We are encouraged by the interest and support demonstrated by all 14 of the candidates.

 

Both Charities and Camps & Services are at pivotal and exciting times in our history. Now more than ever it is important that we elect board members that can lead our important community service work forward. Here are the key characteristics that we think need to be present in our board members:

On the Camps & Service Board we are seeking members with expertise, interest and experience to help guide one of our 3 major projects:

  And to finish the record pace of the meeting, our speaker Greg Weykamp from Edgewater Design was a self-proclaimed fast speaker especially when passionate about what he does for a living; so his portion of the meeting was equally information packed about the design possibilities for the Discovery Pier. He showed fascinating slides of previous projects such as 31^st Street Marina in Chicago utilizing private revenue generated from the slip fees to help pay for an adjacent improved park and underground parking. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Marina project is part of a larger plan to create a more attractive and accessible waterfront in New York, and this project contributes a percentage of revenues to partners promoting boating in the area. Greg emphasized the company’s design principals of leveraging private dollars, providing waterfront access to everyone, and authenticity. Authenticity accounts for their focus in being true to the space being designed, what makes that place special. For example, using a particular local stone from which the nearby lighthouse was built to line a wall in the marina to visually tie together those Rochester, NY structures, and including a promenade so all can walk along the waterfront. Another project at Harbor Shores in St. Joseph serves as a beginning piece to linking St. Joseph and Benton Harbor together physically along the waterfront in both towns.

At the Annual  Meeting on September 27th you will have the responsibility to elect board members. There are 3 seats up for election on both Charities and Camps with an unprecedented

field of 7 candidates for each board. In an attempt to inform you before the election we are presenting you with information on the candidates and the key characteristics the boards believe are most crucial in their fellow members.

 

Please note that our bylaws do not permit absentee voting. You must be at the meeting on 9/27 to cast your vote.

 

Key characteristics for Rotary Charities and Camps & Services Board members:

On the Rotary Camps & Service Board we are seeking members with  expertise, interest and experience to help guide one of our 3 major projects:

    Please click here to view candidates 

CURRENT CAREER – National Marketing Director for The Juice Plus Company.

 

EDUCATION – Undergraduate at NMC and the University of GA system In nursing.

   

FAMILY- I have two daughters: Nicole, 30, lives in Collierville, TN near Memphis;

Melissa, 28, lives in Perth, Australia. 

 

FAVORITE DESSERT -  I LOVE raspberries!!!  Not a big dessert person but fresh fruit always hits the spot! 

 

FAVORITE ACTIVITY - Rowing On Lake Leelanau. Last fall I started a rowing group with my friend Nancy Reye MD, that had some wonderful breast cancer survivors in her practice. I thought I would just be a supporter for the women, however was diagnosed with breast cancer June 22^nd. So, I officially became part of Recovery On Lake Leelanau ( R.O.L.L.). I was in such great shape from rowing that I breezed through my three surgeries and am cancer free!!

 

The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer.

 

 Field of Dreams---nothing else compares!

 

Good Time by Carly Rae Jepsen.

 It's our family's theme song We don't even have to try, It's always a good time! 

 

LIKELY KNOWS – I was 1976 Bass Queen in Mancelona! LOL

 

LIFE ROLE MODEL – My Mom. She taught me the power of kindness to others and also there is nothing I couldn't do.  She was the best role model a young woman growing up in the 70's could ask for. She always verbally complimented people "You have such a pretty smile", she would say and people just smiled in appreciation. I loved that about her and I try to follow her lead on that! 

 

My two daughters and becoming an RN.

 

PROUDEST MOMENT -  Making it to the top position in my company in two years.  I felt so independent and knew I'd be okay alone, financially. 

 

Lost my bathing suit top at The Great Wolf Lodge after the huge bucket of water dropped from above and 10-year-old boys eyes popping out of their heads! 

Ha ha! Those poor kids. I've never laughed so hard as thinking of their faces. Sorry boys! :) 

 

SECRET AMBITION -     I live my ambition. 

 

I'd love to be one of the disciples of Jesus. For instance, like Peter, to experience life with Jesus and spend time with him. I always feel like I'm Mary of Mary and Martha because I'd rather be part of the experience then to be cooking and miss what people are talking about.

 

Tiger Woods when I was in Valderrama, Spain for The Ryder Cup. And

President Carter when he came to visit our neonatal intensive care unit where I worked as an RN in Atlanta in the 1990's. 

 

I want people to know that the company I'm with, Juice Plus, is fruits and veggies in a capsule. It's not a juice.  It's an 11 billion dollar company and does business in 23 countries. I'm so proud to be part of this mission driven company. I left my job as a nurse 18 years ago to pursue this career with beautiful success. I feel like I came through this recent cancer event so well because I've had this great nutrition in my blood stream for 20 years. 

Rotary Charities Vice President, Elaine Wood, and Executive Director, Marsha Smith, shared with the Club how Rotary Charities is evolving to meet the changing needs of the region. They would like to hear from you. What do you think about the change? Click on the link below to share your anonymous thoughts. If you choose to share your name, someone from Rotary Charities will follow up with you.    

 

Link to Listening Box: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WeAreListening2016