SPOKES VOL. LXVIII NO. 17                                                                                                 November 16,
 
 
President Bill Roberts called the meeting to order promptly at 7:00 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
The invocation today was by Pastor Jeffry Dick, praying for the membership and all of the community service projects.
Welcome to our guest this week, Executive Director/Chief of the South Haven Area Emergency Services Authority, Brandon Hinz!
 Announcements
We had a good turnout for Blessings in a backpack. Those participating were Mark and LaRae Odland, Art Ayers, Bob Straits, Deb Davidson, Mary Sue Lyons, Tom Renner, and Bill Roberts.
 Those Rotarians that helped with the South Haven Bridge Lighting were Dan Thompson, Pete Swanson, Tom Ruesink, Karen Ruesink, Mark Odland, LaRae Odland, Tom Renner and Mary Sue Lyon.
 I got a thankyou from Richard Ray, the co-director of the Hope Western Prison Education Program for our $500.00 donation. He reported that our gift was matched by another generous donor.
 Jeffrey Dick has some information about supporting the Holiday Train Display and Christmas Tree Silent Auction. The event runs from December 2, 2021 till January 2, 2022, Thursdays and Fridays from 4:00 pm till 7:30 pm, Saturdays 12:00 pm till 7:30pm and Sundays from 2:00pm till 6:00 pm. Toy donations accepted for Project Christmas Hope. To volunteer at the Holiday Train Display and silent auction go to WWW.VOLUNTEERSIGNUP.ORG/MA748
The Holiday Train display will be found in the Basement of City Hall. Admission is free for families. This year the display has expanded to include:  A Lego Model Train Set, Modular Model Trains and 2 other new sets of trains. As stated above, greeters are needed for the upstairs to guide people to the display and downstairs to help with flow of traffic.
 
At the last board meeting we acknowledged the application of Brandon Hinz. Brandon is the Executive Director/Chief of the South Haven Area Emergency Services Authority.
 Rhonda sent in and confirmed that Mark Odland’s District Governor club resolution was received by the District (Teresa Brandell).  
 The board approved a grant request for $500.00 for the local boy scouts troop #188.
 The board approved a $100.00 donation for the 2022 Rose Bowl Rotary float. Our club has traditionally contributed this amount for this project.
 The board approved $3225.00 dollars in grants for this Rotary year.
 Our Club Christmas Party will be held on Tuesday, December 7, 2021. The event will be held at the South Haven Moose Lodge. Invitations were distributed today to members in attendance. Invitations will be mailed to those who were not in attendance at today's meeting. Attendees need to RSVP to Rhonda by November 30th.
 The board approved the Rotary 2021-2022 slate of officers and directors. This slate will be voted on at the December 14th regular meeting which will be a club assembly.
Plans are advancing for the educational fundraiser on Saturday, April 30, 2022.
 Our Club will be hosting a pancake breakfast on Sunday, July 3, 2022 at the downtown Pavilion. Deb Davidson will request the use of the Pavilion, with the City of South Haven, for this date.
 Plans for the Airport Fly in are in place. Our Club will also be planning for a pancake breakfast fundraiser at the South Haven Airport on Sunday, August 14, 2022.
 I have entered the full schedule of Blessings in a Backpack on the Rotary Website calendar. The next two dates are December 2 and December 9th.
 No Meeting next week on Tuesday November 21st.  November 30th will be the next meeting.
Tuesday, December 7th will be the Holiday Party. And we will not meet that morning.
Saturday, December 11th will be the Salvation Army Bell Ringing. Don’t forget to sign up!!
Tuesday, December 14th will be a club assembly where we vote on the next Rotary Year (July 2022-June 2023) slate of officers, and will be the last meeting of the year.
 January 2022 will begin with a full schedule of meetings, as will February and March, etc.
 Now we have kind of settled in to our new location we’ve created some new responsibilities associated with setting up and running regular meetings. These responsibilities include setting up the tables, chairs, flags and banners, making coffee, bringing donuts or rolls, setting up the microphone and speaker systems, and setting up the televisions and computer for hosting the Hybrid meetings. I’m looking for someone to organize a few or many people to take on these responsibilities and from time to time assure that each upcoming meeting we’ll have someone assigned to cover these jobs.
 Coffee – Come in about 6:30 to make coffee. Barry Winkel has purchased many supplies and has mastered the process,but will not be available at this time for every meeting to make coffee.
 Bringing Donuts or Rolls, etc. Someone needs to make or order, pick-up and bring in donuts or rolls at about 6:45 am for selected meetings. Any costs associated with this activity is reimbursed by our treasurer. Rhonda and Mark volunteered early on to do this each once and I’ve been getting well known at the Meijers bakery.
 Microphones and Speakers – Come in between 6:30 and 6:45 to plug in and turn on the amplifier, check the microphones and volume settings.
 Hybrid meeting – Bring in the TV from the sanctuary, and hook up the computer to both TV’s via HDMI cables; hook up the camera/ microphone USB connection to the computer; and hook up the headphone jack from the computer to the amplifier; then log-in to the predetermined Zoom meeting. Most times that is all that is needed to be done except if an in person presenter has slides to show we’ll have to load them on our computer so that they can show them and we might possibly be the ones who moves the slides from frame to frame. But when we have a Zoom presenter, a person will need to monitor the zoom call to make sure that the presenter has free access through the chat function and mute participants who may have not muted for the presentation to avoid the barking dog scenario. I made a tutorial with pictures to show how the electronics are set up and Barry has the secret formula for coffee.
 We need to have the membership step up to complete these weekly functions because Barry and I cannot be the only ones who know how to do this set-up. Barry has been grooming a couple or Barista’s for coffee-making but we need to make these meetings responsibilities a little more formal to assure that we’re covered for every meeting.
Art Ayers reported that the Global Grant has been approved. The Rotary Funds have been initiated and Construction is due to begin this weekend.
50/50 and Birthday’s
Stew Komisky filled in this week to be the ticket salesman and Happy Buck and Fine Collector!  Thank you Stew!
The most honest Brandon Hinz drew the winner this week!
Richard Swanson was the lucky ticket!  He did not win the pot.
Nick Tuit won the $2.00 consolation prize.
Melinda Gruber’s husband will celebrate a Birthday Wednesday.
Tom Fleming’s granddaughter turns 13 this week!
Who Knew? Larry Witkop forgot his cell phone! This week Happy Birthday was noisily sung Acapulco better known as A Capela /Ludington Style.
Happy Bucks
Happy Bucks were donated throughout the room.
People were excited about the snow.
GO BLUE and other sports teams were mentioned.
Dene Hadding.gets to watch his Granddaughter play in the State Quarter Finals of Volleyball. Also happy that he gets to work the Volley Ball State Finals in Battle Creek this week!
Humor
Bob Copping gave us this weeks humor.  A conversation between George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill. “Bring a friend if you have one!” Thanks Bob! Great to have you back!
Fellow Rotarian Jeremy Burleson introduced himself
Jeremy is the Lake Michigan Community College Director of Regional Campuses for both South Haven and Niles,
He is in South Haven Monday/Wednesday/Friday and in Niles Tuesday and Thursday
Impact of COVID-19
• New Types of Classes:
Face-to-Face
Attend scheduled class sessions in person. You may also be expected to attend some class sessions remotely via Zoom.
 Flexible Learning Environment  (FLE)
Choose to attend each scheduled class session in-person or remotely via Zoom, or watch recorded class sessions online.
 Online
 Complete the course entirely online with no scheduled class sessions required.
 Remote
 Attend scheduled class sessions remotely via Zoom
 • Mask mandate
Students/ Staff/ Instructors/ visitors
 • Class schedules for Fall 2019/2020- 2021/2022
 • Pre COVID 60 Online 48 Face To Face
 • Post COVID 157 Online 23 Face To Face
*FLE Environment is the Most Popular
* Face to Face learning has declined
Campus Numbers
New Data Report
          Problems with Numbers
          South Haven Campus
577 Total Students in the South Haven Area according to Zip Code
Overall LMC numbers 
          3,173 this Fall  2,498 last Fall =675 student increase (27%)
          1.5 Million dollars worth of financial support has been given out.         
Free Tuition
Frontliners- Michiganders who worked in essential industries during the height of the COVID-19pandemic shutdown. It covers the cost of associate degrees, certificates and high school Equivalency exams, without a college degree or high school equivalency who worked at east half-time in 11 of 13 weeks from April 1 through June 30 are eligible for the program.
Michigan Reconnect- Michigan Reconnect covers community college tuition and fees for adults who want to earn an associate degree or skills certificate. To be eligible, you must: Be at least 25 years old when you apply/ Have lived in Michigan for a year or more/ Have a high school diploma or equivalent/ Have not yet completed an associate or bachelor’s degree/ Be eligible to complete a FAFSA.
LMC Free Tuition- Last dollar in program. Cares Act federal funds from the Government, LMC decided the best way to have the largest impact on students and communities was to offer free tuition.
 
Programming
Michigan Transfer-Gen Ed classes that are completed as a whole will transfer to a 4 year college.                                                                                                                                      
Current
          CNA
          Phlebotomy
Pearson Assessment
PHED
Michigan Transfer Agreement
Introduction to Farm Management- Taught in Spanish
Trucking
 
Future Hopes
Physical Therapy Assistant-2024 – Associates in PT Assistant , Top 10 growing professsions.
          Breing/Hospitality/Culinary
Drone
Campus Renovations
New Technology-Smart Board with Touch Screen Technology
Parking Lot -has been redone.
Community Room-Was originally 2 Rooms, has been made into 3 classrooms.
Community Involvement
Kiwanis, Speaker Series, Wight Watchers, Chamber of Commerce, EZ Way Drivers Training, Land Conservation Group, Liberty Hyde Valley museum, AAUW, VB Conservation District, South Haven Public Schools WAY Program, KRESA, US Tarp, Community Education Sailing Classes, Kidzone, south Haven Visitor’s Bureau, Ward One Conference, Seed of Hope Scholarship, Fleming Brothers Oil, Parenting Coalition, City of South Haven, SH Board of Education, Black River Preserve, Al Van Humane Society, Aging Mastery, Diversity Coalition, InterCare, Maritime Museum, Pilgrim Haven WeCare, Foundry Hall
 
Rotary’s Impact on LMC Students
Rotary Club of South Haven Scholarship
  • Since 2005 70 Students have received almost 70,000.00 in Scholarships
Emergency Funds
  • Since 2016, 24 students have received 5,285.84. Without this money those 24 students might have had to stop taking classes.
    • Books
    • Course packs/access codes
    • Courses not being covered by Financial aid
    • Living Expenses
    • Transportation
  • Emergency funds can be paid back you do not have to pay back
 
ALL THANKS TO SOUTH HAVEN ROTARIANS!!!
One last announcement:  Evening with Teddy Roosevelt at the Listiak Auditorium Saturday @ 7:30 tickets are $15.00. Part of the Theatre Series!
Bill  adjourned the meeting at 8:00  a.m. with the Four Way Test
  • NO MEETING NEXT WEEK !! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! 
 
  • NEXT MEETING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30,2021, Dave Krzycki, Van Buren County Veteran Services