|
President Mike stumbled a bit with his opening remarks after missing last week's meeting. He did thank President-elect John Racine for filling in admirably. Gary Houge gave our invocation and encouraged us to use our motto of "SERVICE ABOVE SELF" as a way of life. Allison Beers led us in song with a Beatles favorite, "Can't Buy Me Love". Bob Stow introduced five guests of Rotarians along with three exchange students. There were no visiting Rotarians today.
Autumn Soltysiak introduced our students of the week. They both came from Grand Traverse Academy. Christian Turner is currently President of his class. He has played baseball and runs cross country. He intends to go to the University of Michigan in neuro-science and eventually become a Neurosurgeon. Upon "retiring' from medicine, he'd like to return to high school as a biology teacher. Allison Brooks came to Rotary for the second time this school year. She was honored previously by the Career Tech Center as a student of the week. Ally has been an honor student since her sophomore year. She currently has a 4.0-grade point average in her senior year. Ally is dual enrolled at NMC and Ferris State University as well as being at Grand Traverse Academy. She intends to get her degree in Graphic Design at Ferris State. She'd like to have her own graphic design company.
Allison Beers introduced our newest Rotarian, Jamie Keillor. Jamie was born and raised in Escanaba. She is a graduate of Ferris State University. Jamie currently works as a financial advisor with Edward Jones. She and her husband have three kids and enjoy skiing, hiking and all that Northern Michigan has to offer. Welcome to Rotary, Jamie!!!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. Susan Kraus said the After-Glow following the end of the Rotary Show Saturday night will be held at Sorellina Restaurant on Park St. Contact Kathy or Bob Stow for reservations.
2. Daniel Murray, an outbound student from Traverse City West, announced there will be an "outbound fundraiser " at the Boathouse Restaurant Tuesday, April 18 @6:00 pm. The price is $50 per person. This is a nice way to help these kids out and it's a great meal.
3. Ramona read a letter she recently received from our former exchange student
Felipe. He's currently in Cairo, Egypt. He described his experience working in a refugee camp with people from Sudan, Ethiopia, etc. Life can be very difficult! We do have two new exchange students coming soon. Please sign up if you'd like to host one of these youngsters and give them a taste of life in America.
4. Mark Eckhoff said approximately 30 tickets have been sold to the President's dinner reception on the first night of the Show. He has maybe 20 tickets remaining. The tickets are $50. This buys you one ticket to the Show, which can be used on any night, and one ticket to the reception, which must be used Wednesday night – the opening night of the show. Mark HAS LOTS OF SHOW TICKETS REMAINING!!!!! Please get yours on- line or at the State Theater.
5. Commander Greg Matyas won $36 in this week's 50/50.
Phil Ellis introduced Lena Wilson who is the interim executive director of Child and Family Services of Northwest Michigan. She has 25 years of background in child welfare. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and her Law Degree at the University of Detroit Mercy. Lena gave us some background on how Safe Haven came about. She then presented Erin House who is a domestic violence and sexual assault prosecuting attorney. Erin said she's been working in this field since the 1990's. She came to Traverse City in 2004 and was very excited by the fact there was a Safe Haven program available. Safe Haven is a supervised visitation and safe exchange program for families affected by domestic violence or heavy conflict. It's the only program of its kind in northern Michigan.
Safe Haven is designed to provide a safe, supervised, age-appropriate, and friendly environment for children to visit with their non-custodial parent or exchange between parents for visits.
When relationship problems between parents escalate into confrontations and violence that the children may witness, the effect can be devastating, with-long term effects on the child. Safe Haven provides a safe and secure setting for children to visit with their parents.
3.3 million children witness domestic violence each year. Studies show the younger the child, the more severely they are affected. The brain of a child mirrors what he or she has been exposed to. Domestic violence has no place in a child's formative years!
Anyone can refer to Safe Haven – the sooner the better.
NEXT WEEK'S MEETING IS AT THE TRAVERSE CITY GOLF and COUNTRY CLUB.   |
.jpg)
