President “Awesome” Allison Beers kicked off Tuesday’s meeting with the usual sterling rendition of “God Bless America” and the Pledge of Allegiance before turning it over to Rev. Gary Hogue the day’s prayerful moment of Gratitude and Reflection.
Greg Luyt and his nefarious band of singers (also known as the Kingsley Trio) drew us all into the song “All You Need Is Love”, kazoos and all, just in time for Valentine’s Day!
The ever-lovely Jody Lundquist introduced our visiting Rotarians and guest for the day, and Bruce Byl introduced our newest member Lowell Gruman. Everyone take a moment to say hello to Lowell over these next few weeks and make him feel welcome to the club.
The great Al Olson was deservedly honored with the Red Rose presented by Paul LaPorte.
The Students of the Week both hailed from NMC and certainly embodied the “outstanding” aspect in their efforts both as students and community members. Kathryn ‘Katy’ Rogers has overcome many odds and made numerous moves to find herself a mother of four completing her college work and doing work that will serve both her and the community. Adam Steuer is a returned veteran who has overcome significant challenges to find a pathway that enables him to continue to proudly serve his community and fellow vets. We were all honored by his fortitude and strength and fairly stood to recognize him.
The FUN Committee was active for the meeting once again with Jamie Keillor taking in and handing out Valentines to club members. Neat idea!
President Allison gave an update of Community Foundation Rotary Endowment Match for the individual giving of our Club members for the 2nd Quarter = $ 19,627.
Warren Call updated us on Rotary Charities activity for the Month.
Max Anderson gave an update and motivational moment for ad sales for the Show – ONE MONTH LEFT FOR SALES! Everyone in the club needs to sell about $290 worth to put us over… that’s one average size ad…you can do it!
While we’re on the show: Production Meeting – FEB 16th SATURDAY, 9 AM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE!
Al Bonney promoted the 50/50 Raffle for the Rotary Foundation – 2 more weeks through the 26th! See Miriam Owsley. She can fix you right up!
There’s a Dinner coming up at Amical next Tuesday 2/19 – Pre-fixe meal for $19 - Limited seating. Contact Susan Kraus.
Thank you for your years of Service as Treasurer Al Olson, this Red Rose is well deserved!
Matt McCauley of Networks Northwest, our speaker introduced by Warren Call, actually called it the “Silver Tsunami” as a metaphor for what we are seeing happening not-only here in the 5 county region, but also in the entire State of Michigan, which ranks 11 oldest in the nation. It is a growing phenomenon that over the next decade will increase the graying population by an estimated 10%, and it is imperative that we here in the region position ourselves to manage that growth economically.
Additionally, we must build the infrastructure to enable and manage the necessary workforce; to find the appropriate balance that will keep that vital workforce in place to support the aging population and to revitalize that same population and keep them as active and productive for as long as possible.
Housing and educational needs will change. Healthcare needs are changing constantly and more robust systems are required. We are fortunate that we have that here. Though we are not an outlier here, it is the pace of change that we must keep focused on.
On the positive side, there are a great many new business opportunities that are created within this environment, and we will see a proliferation of entrepreneurial spirit in the face of these changes and there will be those who will thrive in these environments. There is also greater wealth with many of the retirees that are brought by this demographic into the region. Nonetheless, we must balance all of this with the new, younger workforce and support them as well, making certain that their needs, too are well met so there is a strong and welcoming future for them as well.
Networks Northwest covers an area the size of Connecticut embodying 10 counties of Northern Michigan. They are an Economic Development Organization that is the confluence of talent, business and community within their sphere of influence; a partner with business throughout the region.
Let's try one more time to schedule a winter activity and hope the weather cooperates.
On Tuesday, February 19th, we will have a special Rotary dinner at Amical, one of our favorite downtown restaurants. The back of the room will be reserved for us. We will gather between 5:30 and 6:00.
Amical will do a prix fixe meal with five or six options, including a glass of wine, for $19 per person. Additional beverages and gratuity will be extra.
Thanks to Bruce Byl who arranged this for us. We had a great time when we did it a few years ago, and I'm sure the food and the ambience will be just as wonderful as ever.
This event will be limited to the first 24 people who sign up. RSVP to me with this email or smk2000@earthlink.net.
Rotary Charities is offering an 8-month Leadership Learning Lab designed for business, government and nonprofit professionals to come together to explore adaptive leadership, time management and collaborative skills. Course content will be tailored to the background and experience of the cohort. Click here to learn more about the program and here for registration information! The lab runs from April-December with July off. Applications are due by February 21.
Leaders from business, government and nonprofit sectors are all working in different ways to address the complex problems of our region. What could be possible if we were better able to work across sectors and address these problems together?
Some of us remember getting Green Stamps from the grocery store when went shopping with our mom. Remember licking them and sticking them into a special book so Mom could turn in the books full of stamps to get a new toaster, flat iron or some other household item she wanted replaced.
That was back in the 1940s and 50s. Fade out to 2019 when you and I save up airline points to get money off or upgrade on our next flight to somewhere fun.
Rotary Foundation has a similar scheme called Rotary Foundation Recognition points. For every dollar you donate to the Annual Fund or Polio Eradication you get a TRF Recognition point. Most Rotarians don’t know much about these points and what you can do with them. Turns out you can do a LOT of things with them in your effort as a good Rotarian to “do good in the world”. (Click HERE for more information on TRF Recognition Points and what you can do with YOUR’s.)
But this is a story about TRF Recognition points that our club owns. You will see that they are exactly the same as our points. First, a little back story you may not be aware of.
In 2015 Rotary Charities donated $250,000 to Eradicate Polio. It was a spectacular gift, demonstrating our collective commitment to rid the world of this dreaded childhood disease. Rotary Charities was awarded 250,000 TRF Recognition points. These points sat in the Rotary Charities points account until last January (2018) when I requested that some points be transferred to District 6290 to facilitate a spring program to encourage more donations to the Rotary Foundation. At this point, Marsha Smith transferred the entire account of 250,000 points to our club for use as our board saw fit. I moved my request from Rotary Charities to our club board and they agreed to give the District up to 50,000 points as I requested.
You will be interested in the power of my request. Every spring for the past 8-ish years District 6290 has run a promotion awarding 500 TRF points to any Rotarian in 6290 who donates $500 to The Annual Fund or to Eradicate Polio between April 1 and May 15. The 2018 gift of 50,000 points enabled donations of $42,000 in donations that never would have happened had this promotion not been funded by points from the TC Rotary Club. All $42,000 of those donations (along with all your donations throughout the year) will come into the Rotary Matching Grant program that turns good club projects into GREAT club projects each year. Our club benefits from matching grant funds every year, sometimes exceeding $50,000 on top of the funds we put into these projects ourselves. You already know that matching grant funds are a big deal, and our gift of 50,000 Rotary Foundation Recognition Points leveraged district giving by some 15% last year so more matching grant funds were available for club projects.
On the strength of this success, I visited with the Board on Monday, February 4 with the same request as last year. Pleased with the impact our Recognition Points had in 2018 to do good in the world, the Board quickly granted another 50,000 points for the same promotional program for this spring.
Rotary Foundation Recognition Points are a little-known benefit of donating to our Rotary Foundation every year. I thought you would be interested to know how our Board’s wisdom is enabling our remarkable pot of points to continue Traverse City Rotarian’s work of doing good in the world, changing lives in communities here and around the world, one community at a time.
“The Rotarians of Sault Ste. Marie Ontario are diligently working together on a fantastic District 6290 Conference to celebrate our district’s Rotary year. Between snowblowing their driveways and shoveling away the 80+ inches of snow that’s fallen since the beginning of winter, the “629-0h Canada” Conference Committee has been brainstorming, researching, and planning a truly Canuck experience for our American friends. We can’t wait to see you all at our conference May 2nd to 4
th, and to show you some true north hospitality. Our conference website iswww.6290hCanada.comwhich we are keeping updated as soon as information is available.
- The Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie [ON] District Conference Committee”
