Today's meeting was held at Great Wolf Lodge. PRES. JOHN called the meeting to order, and we sang God Bless America and said The Pledge of Allegiance. Gary Hogue gave our INVOCATION. Ramona Pleva led us in song with the Christmas carol ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE. Hopefully, this will bring us some snow. There were no VISITING ROTARIANS, but we did have 4 GUESTS.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. PRES. JOHN announced that Jennifer Casey has just welcomed a new baby to their home – HARPER. Congratulations!
2. Sid Van Slyke gave the "almost final" tabulation for the "FRIENDS OF THE BOARDMAN DINNER. He said it looks like the DINNER raised $12,000+ for THE RIVER. Thanks to the COMMITTEE and everyone who attended for making the evening such a GREAT SUCCESS.
3. Steve Wade said today is the last day we can contribute to the CHRISTMAS BASKET program. He said they currently have 79 families and over 320 people who are seeking assistance. We currently have $3400 to work with. Hopefully, this number will be much higher after today.
4. Susan Kraus reminded us that our annual ROTARY CHRISTMAS PARTY is tonight at THE GRAND TRAVERSE YACHT CLUB. (I was there. IT WAS A FANTASTIC EVENING!!!)
5. PRES. JOHN said the ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION is scheduled for TORONTO from June 23-27, 2018. The Registration Fee goes up to $75 after Dec. 14. Register NOW for the best deal.
There was $700 in the 50/50 drawing today. Tim Tate was the lucky winner. However, he had already left the meeting. His "good friend" Mark Newhouse came to Tim's rescue and picked it up for him. Be sure to count it Tim. Sorry, Mark, I'm only teasing.
Allison Beers introduced our speaker for the day, our own Elaine Wood. Elaine came to Traverse City in 1975. She became a member of Rotary on January 21, 1997. Elaine has been very active in Rotary. She has served on the Rotary Charities Board for the past 4-5 years now. She has spent multiple years in education management and strategic leadership in both public and private roles. She has also received several prestigious leadership awards both locally and thru the State. Her resume is incredibly distinguished. Elaine's talk today is entitled "The Long View". She wants to discuss aspects of change. She says "change" is like a two-sided coin. We have to understand the good and bad associated with both. She discussed our urban sprawl over the past few years along with the pros and cons. She talked about neighborhoods, about N.M.C., about the development of the University Center, how Rotary Charities has left its imprint on both Grand Traverse County and the surrounding counties, how communities are going thru a renaissance, and how each generation brings improvement. The identity of the region has broadened significantly over the past few decades. For years Traverse City was known mostly as a "vacation spot". It still is! But now it's also recognized for its high-quality Restaurants, its variety of Arts, and Munson Health Center. T.C. has also become a TECH hub. Elaine said she has a neighbor who owns a business in the Netherlands and recently moved to Traverse City to run her business from her house. The Internet has made this possible. Elaine stressed how Leaders make things happen. Her parting comment - "IT'S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS."
