Rotary Informer

Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER

February 9, 2022

1921 – 2021          100 Years of Service Above Self

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Petoskey via Zoom on the world wide web and in-person from here on out if God willing and the creek don’t rise. President Ashley Whitney officiated the meeting. If you did not get the chance to attend, you can watch it from this:  Recording

Pledge/Anthem:  Andre Strydom led us in; “Oh Beautiful”

4-Way Test:  Nikki Devitt

Invocation:  Jean Frentz

Valentine/Love Inspiration

We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have.

Spread love to those around you; remember that not only today but each day you can make a difference in someone’s life, you don’t need an excuse or Valentine’s day to show someone that you care.

Calendar Winners:  Read off by Bill Hicklen

Calendar Winners February 9, 2022

Visiting Rotarians:  None

Guests:  Will Hicklen, Bill Borus, Deanna Klosinski, Lisa Hicklen, Nancy Topham, Lynn Van Etten, Carolyne Stolzenfels and Craig Stolzenfels, Inducting Member

Life Events:  Rotary Care List:  None

Birthdays: 

Bill Hicklen

Verne Osterlund

Anniversaries:  

Kendall Klingelsmith – 12 Years

Verne Osterlund – 20 Years

Singing/Song:  Andre Strydom led us in Smile and Happy Birthday

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Calendars - Temporary Volunteers Needed:  Karen Ragland seeks two volunteers to help with the calendar raffle over the next two months. All you must do is arrive at 11:30 before our weekly meeting. One person draws the names from the raffle, and the other person records the names. Please contact Karen if you are willing to help with this. Thank you! 

Rotary Park Fund:  This year we have $88,394 to grant from the Rotary Park Fund. The deadline for nonprofits to apply is March 31. We hope to have volunteers on subcommittees to help vet the applications that come in. Contact Ashley Whitney if interested. We want to vet and approve applications by the May board meeting.

Rotary Foundation Raffle Drawing:  Tickets are $20 each and are being sold until the end of February. Half of the raffle money will be donated to the Rotary Foundation and the other half will be raffle cash prizes. Please see Chris Etienne or Jane Millar if you'd like to buy tickets.

PAUL HARRIS FELLOWSHIP DESIGNATION

This week we experienced a touching Paul Harris Fellowship designation ceremony. Lisa Hicklen gave an emotional tribute to Bill Hicklen, thanking him for all that he does to support her--cooking, shopping, taking them to church, helping with her arm therapy and so much more. To honor Bill for this -- and because this week was also his birthday -- Lisa donated $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation, designating Bill as a Paul Harris Fellow +8. Several of Bill and Lisa's family members were also in attendance. It was lovely to witness! 

NEW MEMBER INDUCTION

This week we also had a new member induction. Welcome, Craig Stolzenfels!!

Craig is originally from Grafton, West Virginia. He studied engineering at West Virgina University.  

Craig has been working in the hospitality industry since the 90's and has managed serveral hotels. He joined the Bay Harbor team four years ago, where he manages Bay Harbor's condo and home rentals. Craig also runs a few Bay Harbor events, like Balloon Over Bay Harbor each September.

Craig is on the board of the Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau. He loves to ski and golf.

PROGRAM

This week we had a presentation from Club Treasurer Jim Wibby and Club President Ashley Whitney. They spoke about club financials -- specifically the charitable revenue we generate each year and where all that money goes.

Jim and Ashley teed up this conversation because the club is about to begin a new strategic planning process, which will be led by Jeff Wynder and Nikki LaDeur sometime in April. Part of that process will be putting values/principles in place to guide our decision-making on what events and activities our club should keep doing / start doing / stop doing.

Jim then ran through some numbers on our club's charitable giving:

We spend about $4,500 each year for Community Service. These are often "mini-grants" to organizations that seek contributions (ex: Wreaths Across America, CROP Hunger Walk, Manna Food Project, Camp Daggett, etc.)

We spend about $3,000 each year for International Service.

We spend about $2,000 each year for Vocational Service. This covers a $1,000 stipend for our Teacher of the Year and an additional $1,000 stipend for that teacher's classroom.

We spend about $10,500 each year for New Generations. This includes our many scholarship opportunities (NCMC nursing scholarships, NCMC healthcare scholarships, high school scholarships, Service Above Self Awards, etc.)

Lastly, we allocate about $10,000 each tear to the President's Fund / major projects. For example, the last several presidents allocated their amounts to the Winter Sports Park Centennial Project.

Overall our annual charitable giving amounts to about $33,000 per year -- so how do we fund that?? Mainly through our calendar sales and spaghetti dinner. For the last several years Diamonds & Denim proceeds have been an important funding source as well. In the absence of D&D these last few years -- and the decision to not hold D&D in 2022 -- we have about a $6,000 deficit.

That being said, we want to be thoughtful about our fundraising, and not overwhelm members with a bunch of different things. We want club input on this.  If you were building your ideal Rotary Club, how would you raise money and how would you spend it?

Ashley then led members through a brainstorm process. They were asked to write down answers to the following questions:

What have we done that you really like?

What have we done that you don't like?

Are there changes you would like to see to our charitable giving?

Are there things we should absolutely keep doing?

What have we done in the past that you miss?

What ideas do you have for the future?

If you weren't in attendance at the meeting, please feel free to email your thoughts directly to Ashley at ashley@harborbrenn.com

Next Week’s Program:  Dave Thomas – Why I am a Rotarian