Stories
January 12, 2021 Club Meeting Notes
The meeting began with a stirring moment of reverential gratitude from the eloquent Jen Casey.
 
This was followed immediately by a very irreverent prescription from our resident Rotarian physician  Dr. P LaPorté. Long story short, our beloved comrade Art Bukowski is the most recent recipient of the dreaded smart pills, owning to an honest, yet ill-timed outburst at a previous meeting.
 
In an exciting update, last year thanks to our club matching program $26,716 was donated to area nonprofits.
 
In other news, Stacey Foster has just celebrated her 31st anniversary with Rotary! (Please free to send her a congratulatory note using the address Rotary C/O Stacey Foster 202 E. Grandview Parkway, Suite 200 TC 49684
 
Jen Casey returned to the screen to introduce our speaker of the afternoon Shoreline Fruit CEO Jason Warren. A lifetime TC resident, Jason comes from a fifth-generation cherry farming family.
 
During his presentation, Jason elucidated our membership on the recent history of Shoreline, which currently produces 12 million pounds of dried fruit annually.  Their team of around 800 employees also helps produce 220,000 gallons of concentrated juice each year.
 
The Shoreline Group is led by two farming families, the Veliquettes and the Montagues (okay not, really; the second family are the Gregorys). The group also produces a number of other fruit offerings and concentrates.
Per Jason, due to their adherence to rigorous health standards, Shoreline was already well-positioned to deal with the additional challenges of COVID. However, he said they have brought on additional leadership and experts to help improve their safety standards even further. Despite these precautions, the virus still led to a brief, but dramatic reduction in staff following an outbreak.
 
 
 
Jason said increased demand due to consumers stocking up on canned goods has greatly benefited their company and our region's growers. Among other positive impacts, this has allowed Shoreline to temporarily increase worker wages to help families deal with these challenging times. On the other hand Shoreline PPE and transportation cost have greatly increased, and labor challenges persist. But overall, Jason anticipates COVID markets will be a considerable boon to Shoreline.
 
Jason wrapped up by providing detailed answers to club member questions on weather conditions, foreign cherry concentrate being dumped into US markets, and distribution to Florida. 
 
 

January 19, 2021 Club Meeting Notes

President Mack asked for guest introductions and Mark Eckhoff introduced Kurt Nyberg who is also a new member. 

President Mack started the Pledge of Allegiance. Thoughts of Gratitude and Reflections were shared by Wendy Irvin. She read from Margaret Whitley’s “Turning to One Another.” (shared in the stories listed below)

Mark Eckhoff introduced Kurt Nieberg. He recently moved to TC and is in plastics processing. He is a Rotarian from Winchester, VA, and was very involved there. He is a Paul Harris Fellow. He was warmly welcomed with Zoom applause. yes

Sakura Takano introduced another new member, Gaia Klotz, who is a recently returned Rotary Fellow. She’s just graduated with a degree in International Management. She also won an award for her dissertation. She is employed by Arrowhead Incubator to help Native and non-Native businesses. She was also warmly welcomed by the club. yes

Announcements included Alexis Jewett inviting new members to IM Rotary about the Rotary Show and Good Works Committee. Becky Ewing announced that Rotary Charities has hired Miriam Owsley as the Director of Communications. Everyone was pleased! 

The program was introduced by Ken Weaver. He told us about Todd Neibauer of Northwestern Michigan College. Todd told us all about the Frontliners and Michigan Tuition Program. The state wants to see 60% of people in Michigan holding at least a two year certification/degree by 2030. The Reconnect program will be announced in February. These programs are patterned after similar ones in Tennessee. Michigan is offering in-district tuition and fees at a community college for those students enrolling at least half time. Frontliners are eligible for associates’ and four year programs and occupational certificates. NMC had 1500 applicants from the state who indicated they were interested in the program. 723 ended up being eligible. 395 have enrolled. The FAFSA has to be filled out to ensure eligibility. The state had to approve lots of the applicants. Reconnect Program allows people who didn’t’ quality for the Frontliners Program. This program is for those 25 years and older and meet the FAFSA requirements. But they are allowing people to come back to school if they’d tried college before and it didn’t work out for whatever reason. NMC is trying to be sensitive to the challenges these students will have and ensuring that the college can address the help that is needed.  They offer tutoring before the students take placements tests, scholarships, counseling tailored to older students, and flexible course offerings. 

Todd accepted questions and fleshed out his presentation with more information. Ken Weaver thanked Todd by presenting him with a Wheels of Hope certificate. 

President Mack adjourned the meeting.

 
Rotary Club's Tuesday Meeting Details
 
The Next Rotary Club Meeting is on Tuesday, March 9, 2021
 
You're welcome to join Zoom by 11:45 am to be placed in a breakout room with 
a small number of other members to socialize. 
 
(Same Meeting ID & Password) this will be the same every week at least until we meet in person.
 
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81727589532?pwd=bzVFTVg1TWxBN0VOTFUwRmdPaTFuZz09

Meeting ID: 817 2758 9532
Passcode: 42
 
Program
 
Speaker: Jillian Manning
 
Program: National Writers Series 
 
Still time to sign up!
Sip, Sip, Hooray! It's A Wine Tasting Party!
Hello Rotarians!
 
The Social Events Committee, working with the Blue Goat wine shop, has organized a Rotary wine tasting party for February 18th, starting at 5:30 on Zoom.  Our hosts that evening will be Blue Goat owner and wine connoisseur Sebastian Garbsch, and Barry O’Brien, owner of wine distributor Select Fine Wines and of his own small vineyard on Old Mission Peninsula.  Barry will be guiding us through our tasting of two special O’Brien Vineyards wines – a 2016 Dry Riesling and a 2019 Pinot Noir – giving us the background on the wine and the highlights of his wine-making journey.  
 
Sebastian has provided us with a highly discounted price of just $40 (tax included) for both bottles of wine.  Participants will need to purchase and pick up their wine at the Blue Goat -- just identify yourself as a Rotary wine tasting participant and they will have your wine ready for you.  Wines are available now.  Must pay there, no charging to your Rotary account.  Blue Goat is at 875 Front St. at the start of Peninsula Drive.
 
At our request, the Blue Goat has also identified a few cheeses from their collection to pair with the wines, and they will be available as OPTIONAL add-ons.  They have chosen Idyll Farms goat cheese (local -- $4.99) as well as Plymouth Black Truffle artisanal cheddar cheese (from Vermont -- $10.99).  These are recommendations only, to complement the wines we will be tasting.  Scroll down for the photo. 
 
Depending on the number of participants, we’ll be offering some breakout rooms so that everyone has a chance to mingle and chat with each other.  It is a party, after all!
 
And, please, let us know if you’re planning to attend, just so that we can advise the wine shop and they have enough inventory for all of us.  Contact Kathy Bussell at 231-941-5421 or email her at TCRotary2822@gmail.com.  Feel free to contact either George or Susan if you have questions. 
 
We will send a Zoom number to you as it gets closer.  Join us as we eat, drink and make merry!  
 
     George Powell                                                      Susan Kraus
     (231) 218-5000                                                     (231) 946-4658
 
 
 
 
Rotary Blood Drive, 2/12/2021
Shared, 1/19/21 Club Meeting - Gratitude and Reflection 
Turning to One Another
There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about.
Ask “What’s possible?” not “What’s wrong?” Keep asking.
Notice what you care about.
Assume that many others share your dreams.
Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.
Talk to people you know.
Talk to people you don’t know.
Talk to people you never talk to.
Be intrigued by the differences you hear.
Expect to be surprised.
Treasure curiosity more than certainty.
Invite in everybody who cares to work on what’s possible.
Acknowledge that everyone is an expert about something.
Know that creative solutions come from new connections.
Remember, you don’t fear people whose story you know.
Real listening always brings people closer together.
Trust that meaningful conversations can change your world.
Rely on human goodness. Stay together.

—Margaret Wheatley, “Turning to One Another,” 2002
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