SPOKES                                              VOL. LXX NO. 31      February 12,2019                                     

 

We were warmly greeted this morning by Scott Mark and Bob Boerma

President Odland opened our meeting, followed by our singing of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. Art Ayers offered the invocation, with specific mention of our “mourning the passing of our dear friend, long-time Rotarian, and faithful servant, Glenn Pietenpol. May Your love, Your peace, and Your comfort, envelop Glenn, Mary, and their family”.

 

GUESTS:

Pete Swanson- prospective member and guest of Don Hodgman

Don Dobbin- prospective member and guest of Nick Tuit

Sue Duvall-guest of Scott Mark

Lynn Bullard-our guest speaker from the Van Buren County Court


ANNOUNCEMENTS:

On February 14th, at 6pm, at Listiak Auditorium, there will be a presentation dealing with “Lake Michigan Shoreline Dynamics”.

On Thursday, February 21st, Thursday Night Supper at the First Congregational Church

Our Rotary Educational Fundraiser, benefitting the SH Public Schools Foundation and the Lake Michigan College Scholarship Fund, will be held on April 27th, at The Beeches Golf Club.

President Odland, in the absence of Club Recognition Chair Dan Thompson, spent a few moments highlighting our upcoming recognition awards: Education Service Award, Rotarian of the Year, Community Service Award, and Club Hero Award. Information regarding all of these, as well as nomination forms, may be found on our club’s website www.southhavenrotary.org.

 

SONGS:

Jim Davis had the “baton” this morning for our songs:

“Together”, “When You’re Smiling”, “Rotary, My Rotary”. Even though attendance was a bit reduced due to the ice this morning, our voices seemed in “fine” shape.

 

50/50

Sergeant-at-Arms Stuart Comiskey chose our guest speaker, Lynn Bullard, to draw the first winning ticket, which belonged to Art Ayers. Art immediately chose the #10 card, guaranteeing a meager prize for the next person chosen-Steve Miles. Steve returned the $2 to the club.


BIRTHDAYS and ANNIVERSARIES:

Rhonda Wendzel celebrated her birthday on February 4th.

Rosalie Plechaty’s grandson celebrated his 1st birthday.

The singing of the traditional version of Happy Birthday followed these announcements.

 

FINES:

We began with numerous “happy bucks” before Bob Copping “graced” us with one of his tales: It seems that a lion, given the option of eating a reader or a writer, would much prefer the reader… Why, you ask? Well, readers DIGEST, while writers CRAMP😊

Larry Wittkop was disappointed that Wisconsin fan Don Kitchin was not in attendance, given tonight’s game with Michigan State.

Don Hodgman gave his dollar in memory of Glenn Pietenpol. Don mentioned that Glenn’s absence creates some “big shoes to fill”, especially in terms of the pancake breakfast. Anyone who is interested in helping to fill that void, please contact Don.

Tom Renner inquired as to how many of us would be watching the finals of the Westminster Dog Show tonight…When the laughter finally died down, there was some mention of “dogs” related to tonight’s MSU-Wisconsin game.

 

PROGRAM:

Program Chair Kathleen Brickley introduced our speaker, Lynn Bullard, who is the Administrator of the “Specialty Courts” at the Van Buren County Court. Since Lynn was coming to us from Kalamazoo, and because of the ominous weather outlook, she had the foresight to travel here last evening and stay in a hotel. MUCH APPRECIATED, Lynn!

Lynn has been with the county court for 26 years and is primarily involved in the “Specialty Courts”- Friend of the Court and Juvenile Court.

Friend of the Court deals with custody issues, establishing paternity, establishing child support for children, initiating court orders, and offering informal mediation to parents.

They have added some new, innovative programs, one of which is called 24/7 Dad. This class meets once a week for 12 weeks and is free of charge. Every week a different subject is presented, and for those who complete the program, the evidence indicates that these dads do much better within their families/relationships than do those who haven’t been in a program such as this.  

Some dads come voluntarily, some are ordered; however, most are thankful to have gone through the program.

A class for moms is also available. This program is offered in 2 locations- The Van Buren County Jail and a church in Paw Paw.

Juvenile Court deals with child abuse and neglect cases as well as juvenile delinquency.

Lynn indicated that there has been an “uptick” in sexting cases, while other delinquency issues relate to destruction of property, driving offenses, and assault.

A Diversion Program has begun which offers programs and/or services- an effort to truly understand what brought about such behavior.

If an individual successfully completes the program, it is entirely possible for them to have their record expunged.

A Youth Diversion Officer has been hired who has identified some services for helping.

A HUGE element of all of this is that parents need to be involved and part of the solution.

Lynn entertained a number of questions from the group but, before finishing, she let us know that there is a DESPERATE need for foster care homes in our county. If anyone has an interest in helping, please contact the court.

We thanked Lynn for her informative presentation, and President Odland presented her with our traditional Rotary pen.

President Odland thanked all of our guests in attendance.

 

NEXT WEEK: February 19, 2019

Greeters-Tom Fleming and Tom Rummel

Program- “The South Haven Sesquicentennial”, with Tom Renner

        Program Chair-Bob Copping

We concluded our meeting with the Four-Way Test.

 

Art Ayers, Seasonal Editarian