Speaker: Club Member and U.S.Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City's
Commander Charles E. Webb
The breakout sessions were a big hit!
President Mack opened the meeting and led the Pledge of Allegiance. He also reminded us that Veterans Day is tomorrow.
Randy Kamps offered the words of gratitude and reflected upon our election. He suggests we focus on Service Above Self.
Bob Stow updated us on Rotary Camps and Services and said that the Canterbury Woods parcel has been sold to the neighbors who will allow it to be used for hiking, please see the include note from the new owners. The proceeds will be used to pay down the loan on Discovery Center.
Steve Wade kicked off Christmas Basket season. We will be going forward with it as in past years. There are more families than ever who need assistance, and we will help. You can contribute financially and by shopping. First-year Rotarians have been required to shop for a family in the past, but it is optional this year. Use the form Kathy will send out after the meeting.
Kathy Bussell announced new members’ IM Rotary Youth Services meeting after next week’s meeting.
Katy McCain shared the DDA’s plan for a Light Parade on November 21, Rotary Club is sponsoring a site at State Street Marketplace. The theme is 10 Lords A Leaping. Katy@downtowntc.com Reach out to her if you can help. They need Lords to Leap and decorations and helpers in general.
Jeff Hickman announced for Rotary Charities $334,000 will be donated to local charities and nonprofits, please see the press release included below.
Ken Musson introduced Commander Charles Webb. Chuck came to TC with his family two years ago and is the 42nd Commanding Officer of the Traverse City Station. He comes from Muskegon originally and this is his 28th year of service and was just promoted to Captain.
Chuck thanked Ken and expressed his regret that we aren’t meeting at the Coast Guard Station. He started his slideshow saying that Covid didn’t slow them down, but they did figure out how to make all the training happen. Chuck showed slides explaining their training on water and off. They did 190 rescues this year, which was up from last year. Most of them were on the water. Many cases involved a Good Samaritan who helped and rescued people. This is a great sign that people are willing to help people.
The Coast Guard was deployed five times to help with hurricane rescues. Luckily, they didn’t have to do much – which is a good thing. The crews receive 12 hours of notice before they are expected to be there. It’s good for the younger pilots to practice flying long distances. They did 24 POTUS and VPOTUS missions this year. It is counter-surveillance which involves protecting a bubble around the dignitaries. The campaign stops around TC were provided air support. Marine One was kept at the station for three days.
Chuck explained that the service people’s salaries do not cover their housing needs adequately. It affects the junior enlisted guys the most. He is working within the Coast Guard channels to help. The lack of housing and high living prices up here cause the people to live too far away to be able to respond quickly. The type of housing they find up here is not what the government suggests for service people. TC is still a very attractive posting.
Sunday is the Air Station’s 75th Anniversary. Covid is not allowing for appropriate celebrations. 1945 is when TC began being a Coast Guard Air Station. We are in the 10th year of being a Coast Guard City and it has been renewed for another five years. The City gives the Coast Guard lots of support. There was a cool flyover of the city in May. The Coast Guard is injecting millions of dollars into the community and lots of great talent with the members and their family members. There are 10,000 hours of volunteer service hours to give back to the community.
Several questions were asked and answered.
Ken Musson thanked Chuck by presenting him with a certificate for being part of Wheels of Hope.
Mack reminded us of IM Rotary. And he adjourned the meeting.
60 families from across our region have turned to our club for help this Christmas. They aren’t seeking extras just some basic things to help their family have a Christmas filled with joy, not despair. By shopping for a family you are not only buying them some things that will make Christmas Day brighter but more importantly showing them someone cares enough to help.
We need 9 more shoppers – please consider being one.
Your gift of time is the perfect example of service above self.
If you would, please take the time right now to CLICK HEREto go to the Rotary Club of Traverse City "Christmas Basket" Donation & Sign Up form.
All the details are included in the form above, but of course please reach out to Kathy if you have any extra questions about the program.
Traverse City, Mich. - Rotary Charities of Traverse City is pleased to announce the recipients of our fall grants, totaling $434,000. This year we have adapted to our grantmaking to be more responsive to the needs of nonprofits and the people they serve during the uncertainty and shifting conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will open our next grant cycle in January 2021.
Our Assets for Thriving Communities grant program supports the development of community assets that are available to everyone, or projects that target a population that is underserved by the current system. This cycle we are partnering with the following nonprofits:
Hospice of Michigan, $40,000 for NorthStar Navigation and Palliative Care. The last 6-8 months of someone’s life is easily the most challenging and frightening. Hospice of Michigan understands there needs to be a bridge of support to guide people along this final journey. To address that need in our region, HOM created NorthStar Navigation and NorthStar Palliative Care to work collaboratively with the patient’s healthcare team and community organizations who specialize in coordinating care in the home. The additional layer of support will serve to decrease caregiver burnout, improve patient quality of life, and increase hospice utilization.
Human Nature School, $44,000 for construction of a Timber Frame Barn on their 143-acre Leelanau County property. The construction will enable HNS to expand 10 years of Nature Connection Programming to include Regenerative Agriculture for the purpose of healing nature, our communities and ourselves and bringing both tangible skills and a greater sense of hope to both current and future generations.
Traverse Symphony Orchestra, $25,000 for Community Engagement Expansion. Traverse Symphony will radically reinvent, re-imagine and realign of the 20-21 concert season and education programs in response to emergent community outreach needs resulting from COVID 19. These adaptations will not only continue to deepen engagement with current TSO patrons and subscribers, but also expand awareness of, and access to the Symphony to more members of the Northern Michigan region, by removing potential barriers to participation, including cost, accessibility, and perception of exclusivity.
Our Systems Change Accelerator grant program supports innovations targeting the root causes of complex community problems. This cycle we are partnering with the following initiatives:
Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness, $125,000 for the Homeless Youth Initiative. The Homeless Youth Initiative works to reduce youth homelessness by making it rare, brief and one-time. The initiative is taking a deeper dive into the intersections between youth systems of care to enhance cross-collaboration; braiding together community assets and resources to expand the circle of influence of youth; and being actionable and accountable around what youth tell us they need. Meanwhile, they are working with partners to increase housing options for youth to exit homelessness.
SEEDS, $75,000 for the Organic Diversion Systems Accelerator. SEEDS and a number of collaborative partners are helping our region reduce organic waste by researching and developing a sustainable social enterprise to provide access to organic diversion services; creating a cross-sectoral digital resource hub to better leverage resources and allies and improve open access to organic diversion knowledge; building and pursuing an advocacy plan that promotes local government policies and collaboration; and employing coordinated communication tools tailored to the needs of specific stakeholder groups which can improve regional diversion.
Housing North, $125,000 for Housing North 2.0. This grant will continue to support the momentum of focused work to address the housing system in our region by coordinating communication, advocacy and capacity around housing in our 10-county region. This grant will build sustainable capacity, continue outreach and education efforts and policy initiatives while building Housing Conservancy tools in coordination with many partners.
About Rotary Charities of Traverse City: Rotary Charities is a place-based foundation providing funding, connections and learning opportunities to changemakers across Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Kalkaska counties. The public foundation was formed following the 1976 discovery of oil and natural gas reserves on property owned by the Traverse City Noon Rotary Club. The interest income generated from oil and gas royalties is distributed to community projects. To date, over $63 million in grants and investments has been put to work by area organizations. Guided by a vision of a fair, thriving and resilient region, Rotary Charities helps changemakers work better together to address our region's complex problems and create community assets for all. #########
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, as with most things in 2020). 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 - March 16, 2021
Bell Ringing, Christmas Baskets, Friends of the Boardman Watershed Dinner, Munson Manor, JJ Beckett Access-ABILITY Committee/Tag Day
We are writing this note to let our neighbors know our family has purchased the 80 acre Rotary property for the purposes of saving the land from any future development and protecting the environment. This land, along with our existing 40 acres, protects forever 120 acres of woods and pristine wooded ridgeline above the Boardman River. Yes, this means there will never be a 55 home development with its 55 septic systems on this land. Yes, this means, as our neighbors, you will continue to enjoy the 120 acres for quiet activities such as walking, jogging, biking, dog walks, cross country skiing, bird watching, etc. As with our existing 40 acres, no hunting and no motorized vehicles will be permitted.
We must thank Rotary Camps & Services, The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy (GTRLC), The Grand Traverse Conservation District, and our whole immediate family. These four groups were all of a single mind to make this deal happen. The group’s sole focus was to preserve the woods into perpetuity, we all “stretched”, and working together towards the goal, we all made it happen. You, as our neighbors, hopefully are as thankful as we are to have these wonderful community and environmentally concerned organizations close by and doing good things for us and the planet.
Longer Version
History
In 1938 Carol’s Dad and 9 other hunters bought our existing 40 acres, each contributing $20 for a total of $200 to buy the 40 acres as a hunting camp. Dad loved the woods, especially this 40, obtaining sole ownership in the late 1980’s. It was his desire to preserve the 40 acres, just as it was when they bought it in 1938. Steve Franke of Wright’s, fondly nicknamed Dad, The Ridge Runner. Carol, her sister, Ellen, and her brother, Jim, all wanted to honor Dad’s wishes. They worked with the GTRLC because they so admired their commitment to the mantra,
“Love the Land … Pass it on”
Signing an easement with GTRLC is a written legal promise to preserve land into perpetuity. GTRLC will make sure it will always be so. We very much enjoy working with GTRLC. We count on the protection provided through the written agreement within the easement restrictions. The beauty of this easement means that the property will not be developed (with the exception that one house may someday be built on the 80 acres). We have no plans to build, but the easement allows for one home in the future years. Hey, it sure beats having 55 homes being built on the 80! We still own the property and pay the taxes. But even after we die or sell, the rules remain steadfast … no development, period! Annually, a staff member from GTRLC walks the property with us to ensure that we, as well as neighbors are abiding with the written agreement. We look forward to these walks with our GTRLC friends.
Please also understand the easement does not provide for, nor guarantee, public and neighborhood use of the property. It is our family’s choice to follow Dad’s lead of allowing others to enjoy the land as long as it is a respectful enjoyment. Also realize that ownership of the property may change; nothing will happen while we are living, however future owners will have control of the land and the ability to limit the public and neighborhood access if they so choose.
We also want you to know that we are not financially wealthy people. We measure our wealth in our family and friends. We were not able to make an acceptable $$ offer on our own, so a son matched our offer. He told us, ”Dad and Mom, you need to do this because they’re not making beautiful ridges above the Boardman River Valley anymore”.
We approached Rotary Camps & Services and Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy and they did everything to help us make it happen.
We wanted to put an easement on the land for the betterment of the environment. They worked with us and collaboratively we made it happen.
We will always be grateful for Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy and Rotary Camps & Services … along with ongoing encouragement from GT Conservation District. These three environmental groups worked collaboratively and the 80 acres are preserved throughout perpetuity for the betterment of the environment.
Our heartfelt thanks for their tireless efforts to preserve and care for the natural resources of our region.
Yay, for the environment and for the neighborhood! We hope you are as pleased and excited as we are.
In closing, we invite you to continue enjoying the beauty of the woods and trails, asking only, you quietly respect the land.
Carol & Steve
Carol & Steve Shuckra at the 2020 Jim 'Van' Workbee
ADDENDUM
Here is contact information for the organizations and people that made this transaction happen. We are sure they would welcome a note of thanks and appreciation.
Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy – Glen Chown, Executive Director Our make it happen contact is – Chris Sullivan, Director of Land Protection, was the guy who guided this entire process. With special appreciation to Mike Okma. We enjoy our annual easement compliance monitoring visits, with Mike. He will now be spending more time assuring proper compliance.
Rotary Camps & Services – Becky Ewing, Executive Director
Our make it happen contacts are – Becky Ewing and the Boards of both Rotary Camps & Services and Rotary Charities, along with Doug Meteyer, the realtor, whom so well, represented Rotary Camps & Services
