May 17, 2022 Meeting Report

At today's meeting, we celebrated the rich history of the Rotary Club at Two Rivers thanks to a "time capsule" presented by Betty Bittner.

May is Youth Service Month

Announcements

Junior Rotarian A week in the life of a stellar student. Eleanor reported that this year’s prom was hypnotic, literally. A hypnotist entertained the attendees. End of year field trips are among the highlights for the students.
 
Sister City Celebration/Events were shared with an acknowledgement of our Club’s monetary contribution. The June 1st concert presents yet another concession opportunity for our Club.  Apparently, Czech’s like beer!  Jean A. will lead a cohort of Club members in providing this essential service for our guests and community.

Today's Program

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A time capsule history of the Rotary Club of Two Rivers

Our program chair, Tim Schroder, arranged for Betty B. to present a “time capsule” highlighting the history of Rotary in Two Rivers.
 
In the centennial (1936) edition of the Two Rivers Reporter, the early history of our Club’s principles, programs and principle founders read like a who’s who of our community’s leaders at the time. In fact, membership was intended to reflect the cream of the crop, drawing from a vibrant business and manufacturing pool.
 
Of note is the pioneering program for youth. Our Club and this youth program spearheaded future programs for all of Rotary with the goal to guide and mentor youth in vocational selection. Early aspects of the program included student educational loans and support for our Parks and Recreation department. The loan program, now our scholarship program, is winding up with the recent awarding of the final two scholarships in 2022.

Members were then invited to share, with each other and our Junior Rotarian, their initial career aspirations and the ensuing path taken.
 
While the times have changed since 1936, it is clear than our members have continued the time honored Rotary traditions of excellence in their respective field.   Truly the circle (or should we say, Rotary Wheel) of life!

Club Operations

📰  Check the program schedule for your next chance to contribute to meeting programming. You can find the program schedule on the home page of the website in the downloads section toward the bottom of the page. (Direct link to the program schedule)

📀 Rotary Club digital repository. The Club received an update about options for centralizing the storage of/access to Club documents. The strategy selected will use Google Drive to facilitate the storage and ready retrieval of documents.

Club Secretary opportunity. After many years of service as Club Secretary, Colleen Inman has announced plans to step down from this role. Detailed instructions and mentorship is available. Deb B. has declared her intent to partner with another member in this role. Deb and Colleen have been meeting to ensure a smooth transition of power.  However, we still need one more volunteer to work with Deb. Please consider the opportunity to express the Rotary ideal of service in the above role, soon!

Club Events / Service Opportunities

🍽 🚗  Meals on Wheels, May 16-20 Thanks to all of those who have stepped up to serve our community’s most vulnerable citizens

💰 District Grant (2022-23) It is now confirmed that our Club is able to apply for the 22-23 Grants. Planning Meeting (5/10) feedback for the Sensory Trauma Room(s) has resulted in the realization that this concept, while needed and worthy, cannot be completed within the budget and time constraints imposed by the 2022-23 grant program.
 
Our Plan “B” concept is for a Peace Pole project at the Two Rivers High School.  Upon completion, this will allow students to gather, reflect, and find peace and will be part of a larger Rotary peace initiative. Rotary funds, Club labor and student artistic contributions will be needed to complete this project. A planning meeting was scheduled for May 18th to finalize the concept in advance of the June 1st grant application deadline.
 
🧺 Lakeshore Club President’s Meeting Following a meeting this past Monday, the desire for additional social interaction between area Rotary Clubs was articulated.  First up, a Joint Picnic scheduled for June 29th.  Michael D. answered the bell to help our Club join in this social gathering.
 
🎸 🏖 Bands on the Beach 2022 will be using a new concession format. Now under control of the Two Rivers Parks and Recreation staff, the revenue will be shared with area organizations at a much reduced level (10% of the take). The Club will therefore participate at just one event and will instead explore other revenue opportunities. This limited participation will serve to show support of the event as well as exposure for our Club. The new process and schedule remain to be defined. Update: The new process and schedule remain to be defined.  We continue in the waiting game.
 
🍎 Applefest 2022 and beyond. The TRivers Lions Club wishes to transfer “ownership” and control of this annual event to another community organization. Recognizing the learning curve needed to conduct this event, our Club would like to partner with the Lions Club leadership this year to be followed by full Rotary ownership going forward. The annual event is an important fixture of our community and offers opportunities to build on its history while providing needed Club revenue to support its program. 
  • The Two Rivers Lions Club is receptive to working with us in transitioning the event to Rotary control.  
  • Construction on the Central Park West project will have an impact on Applefest logistics. The City has indicated that construction will commence this fall. However, access to Central Park East (the City Hall side) is planned, along with use of the Community House.
  • Gerald Schmidt, from the Lions Club, has agreed to serve as our Club’s tutor as well as providing access to the needed equipment. 
  • Erin G. has stepped up to provide leadership for our Club … Thank you!
  • This year’s event is scheduled for October 8th with big plans for future growth going forward.
Update:  Erin G. has called a meeting for May 17th to start the planning process. Interested members are encouraged to engage to make this a success in 2022 and beyond!

Looking Ahead...

🌎 World Affairs Seminar Reimagining Global Health and Wellness: Contagious Ideas will be held on Saturday, June 18 – Friday, June 24, 2022  Promote World Affairs Seminar information at the high school. There is one student with interest at this time. A members suggested that we reach out to the returning Europe trip kids as a natural fit for this Seminar.
 
🎓 Promote the Rotary Club of Two Rivers Scholarship at the high school.  Our intent is to offer multiple scholarships for technical college education to phase out this program’s funding. Update: Two (2) worthy recipients have been awarded $1000 scholarships. One was seeking EMT training and the other training in cybersecurity. Appreciation was extended to our esteemed panel of judges
 
And, looking way ahead. Interest was expressed in resurrecting the idea of a Rotary Float as a highlight of the 2022 Christmas Parade. This would be a fine idea to kick off our Club’s Centennial Year! We can check and see if the Rotary Rose Parade float is available for our local use 🎅🏻 🎄

District Activities

💵. Happy Bucks gives us the opportunity for each member to share their personal “quips and quotes” of experiences over the past week.
 
Birthday and Anniversary Report
Betty Bittner (5/16)  🎂
 
  Next week’s program chair is Dennis Swetlik
 
2021-22 Board Members:
President: Steve Denzien
President-Elect: Michael Ditmer
Secretary: Colleen Inman
Treasurer: Jeff Zimmerlee
Past President: Betty Bittner
Members at large: Betty Bittner, Jeff Zimmerlee, Steve Romero
 
(Today's Image source is from the Lester Public Library)