Home Page | Rotary Club of South Haven

South Haven Rotarians were pleased to attend the 100-years celebration of the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor Rotary club on Saturday, June 16. Guest speaker Ian Riseley, Rotary International President, 2017-2018, is pictured with LaRae and Mark Odland and Gail and Bob Brickman. Bob is a former Rotary International Vice President.

A Job Well Done

South Haven Rotarians were proud to attend the Court of Honor in which Elian Garcia became an Eagle Scout on Saturday, June 9. Our club supported Elian as he successfully raised funds to acquire AEDs for the libraries in Bangor and South Haven. Rotarian Art Ayers received special recognition for mentoring Elian during this process.

Blessings

South Haven Rotarians concluded their school-year-long service project commitment to Blessings in a Backpack at Lincoln School on Friday, June 8. Thank you Rhonda Wendzel for coordinating our participation in this project. We are grateful to several Rotarians and friends for their "perfect" attendance on Fridays throughout the school year.

Community Servants

Congratulations to Rotarians Rhonda Wendzel and Tom Rummel who were among community leaders honored by the South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, June 7. Tom's firm, Hardt Insurance, was recognized as the Established Business of the Year while Rhonda was honored as the Chamber's Volunteer of the Year. Rhonda is our club's secretary while Tom serves as assistant treasurer. Two amazing Rotarians!

High School Historians

South Haven Rotary on June 5 was pleased to honor members of the South Haven High School History Club who will be going to a national competition for the NINTH consecutive year! We are helping support their trip to Washington, D.C. Pictured with Rotarian Art Ayers are students Avery Daugherty, Maddox Uckle and Jesse Ford and their sponsor Julie Sheppard. Their research project this year has been on the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Faithful Volunteers

South Haven Rotarians and friends endured all types of weather conditions while serving as marshals on the second hole at the Senior PGA held May 24-27 at the Golf Club at Harbor Shores. Our Club has already signed-up to serve again when the Senior PGA Championships return in 2020! See photos from this year's tournament.

Red Noses for a Cause

South Haven Rotarians got into the spirit of Red Nose Day at their May 22nd meeting. The entire assemblage donned a Red Nose! Rotary's "End Polio Now" is one of the beneficiaries of the international initiative to raise funds to end child poverty, "one nose at a time". Walgreens is the corporate sponsor of Red Nose Day which over the past three years has raised more than $100 million in the United States. Our program focused on the good works of We Care. Last year South Haven Rotary at its annual holiday dinner raised over $2,000 from members for the food and personal care pantries of We Care.

A Tree Grows in South Haven

South Haven Rotarians gathered at the city's Black River Park on Thursday, May 10, to plant a tree. The planting honored the request of Rotary International President Ian Riseley that each of the organization's 33,000 clubs worldwide plant a tree. Working with arborist Aaron Priebe, the Rotarians chose a stately London Planetree, a hybrid between the American sycamore and oriental planetree. The Black River Park was chosen because of its wet soil conditions. Nine Rotarians were joined by city manager Brian Dissette in preparing the site for the planting of the five-year-old tree.

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Outstanding Educator

A South Haven teacher committed to her students and who is active in the community has been presented the Education and Service Award by the Rotary Club of South Haven.

Andrea Jeiger was honored during the Rotary club’s South Haven Future fundraiser on Saturday, April 28.

The Rotarians, in collaboration with the South Haven Public Schools Educational Foundation and the South Haven campus of Lake Michigan College, annually recognizes an educator who exemplifies the attributes of quality teaching and is an active volunteer in the South Haven community.

Rotarian Scott Mark, chair of the club’s recognition committee, presented to the Public School’s Educational Foundation a $250 contribution in Andrea’s name.

After teaching in South Haven’s summer migrant program, Andrea joined in the South Haven school system in 2014, first in the first grade and most recently as the K-5 English Language teacher. She is also president of the South Haven Education Association.

Jeiger and her husband through the car club Team Thunder and Lightning are involved in numerous community projects including highway cleanup, Toys for Tots and Hunt for a Cure. She has helped organize the annual Festival of Cars and Kruisin for Kylie car show in South Haven.

The Rotary club has raised nearly $200,000 since the event’s inception 14 years ago. The funds that are raised provide financial aid for students attending classes at the South Haven campus of Lake Michigan College and benefits programmatic initiatives with the South Haven public schools system.

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Congratulations to the South Haven High School Robotics team for competing the World Championships in Detroit. Tom Rummel is pictured presenting members of Team Ramageddon a $500 check in support of their venture.

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Our Rotary "Club Hero"

A South Haven Rotarian who exemplifies the club’s motto, “Service Above Self”, was honored during the Rotary District 6360 conference in Grand Haven on April 21.

Art Ayers was been chosen South Haven Rotary’s 2017 “Club Hero”. Each of the Rotary clubs in the District selects an honoree for recognition based on their service during the past year.

“When Art’s term as our president concluded a year ago, he could easily have taken a step back to catch his breath, but not Art. His year as immediate past president has been chock-full of "Service Beyond Self",” said current president Tom Renner.

He delivers a thoughtful invocation before every meeting and chairs the club's busy Grants Committee. He doesn’t miss an opportunity to be involved in the club's many service projects, including the community dinners served at his church. He was also one of the mentors of an Eagle Scout candidate and when one of club’s snowbird Rotarians sought a volunteer to write the weekly newsletter, Art raised his hand.

“He is an amazing example of the servant leader,” said Renner.

Ayers and his wife, Kristin, have been fulltime residents of South Haven since 2011. They are retired from long careers as educators in the Three Rivers and Mendon communities. Art also held managerial positions at companies in those communities. He has provided a popular DJ service for events since 1989. A native of Detroit, he received the BA degree from Central Michigan University and the MA from Western Michigan University.

Art joined South Haven Rotary in 2013. The Ayers belong to the First Congregational Church. They have five grown children.

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Proud to Support Education

At Rotary's April 17 meeting South Haven Public Schools Foundation President Fred Leavitt and Treasurer Barry Skuza, along with Kim Cross, Principal of Maple Grove Elementary School joined us to make two special presentations. South Haven Rotary holds an annual education fundraising event (this year to be held Saturday, April 28) with half of the proceeds going into an endowment fund held by the South Haven Community Foundation. A portion of that endowment’s earnings is used to fund teacher grants for innovative strategies and supplies to be used in their classrooms. The SHPS Foundation presented two grant checks at our meeting. The first was to Andrea Jeiger (top photo) for implementing a take home library for English as a second language families. The second was to Heather Chalupa for a Songs and Stories on the Beach program newly named the Rotary Grant and is funded by the earnings from the Rotary endowment. Rotarian Dene Hadden is a member of the SHPS Foundation Board and co-chair with Deb Davidson of this year's fundraiser.

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Proud Blueberry Festival Boosters

Rotary was pleased to host National Blueberry Festival Executive Director Megan Cairns at our April 17 meeting. Megan gave us an update on the 55th year of the festival. Rotary's Fly-in Breakfast (to be held August 13 this year) is one of the longest running Festival events. Rotarian Art Ayers is pictured presenting Megan a grant in support of the Festival.

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Summer Program Receives Support
South Haven Rotary is pleased to be a sponsor of the Summer Children's Program, "Bailey's Budding Naturalist", of the Libert Hyde Bailey Museum. Grant chair Art Ayers is pictured presenting our grant to Anne Long, President of the museum's Board of Directors, at our April 3 meeting.

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In Support of Community

South Haven Rotary is pleased to support American Legion Post 49 in its efforts to reduce the debt on the beautiful wall constructed along Black River street for bluff protection. Grants Chair Art Ayers is pictured presenting our donation to Legion representatives Stan Wakild and Tom Breen during our March 27 meeting.

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Future Leaders

South Haven Rotary is a proud supporter of Team Ramageddon, the South Haven High School Robotics team! We were pleased to host the students and their mentors at our March 13 meeting.

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Helping Community

South Haven Rotary is excited for Eagle-scout candidate Elian Garcia who saw a dream-come-true Monday, Jan. 15, when Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) were installed at the community libraries in South Haven and Bangor. Elian raised the funds needed to purchase the AEDs and has organized sessions on their proper use. SH Rotary was pleased to provide financial help. Some of our members served as mentors. Follow Elian's Project in Photos

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Service to the Community

South Haven Rotarians happily participated in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day service project sponsored by the Diversity Alliance on Monday, Jan. 15. Our Rotarians are also pleased to be a financial contributor. Many packets of rice were packaged for community food pantries. See photos