Notes from Rotary Meeting of April 8, 2013
President Deb Varnak called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four-Way Test of Rotary. Marv Goad offered the invocation for the meeting.
Leigh Morris and Christina Dougherty led singing of “April Showers”.
Happy Birthday– Jon Salisbury, Beth Irwin, Christina Dougherty, Kregg Van Meter, Ron Gigliotti, Mitch Feikes, Scott West, and Vern Sikora.
Sergeant-at-Arms – Mitch Feikes (assisted by Vern Sikora with the basket) raised money for the club with questions about Rotary International.
Hands-On Work Day in La Porte – May 18 is the date designated by the La Porte Ministerial Association as a Day of Sharing. The day begins at 8am with a short prayer service on the steps of city hall. Work will be done from 8:30 until noon. Tyler Smith is chairing Rotary’s participation and is working with Tiffany Bley, Downtown La Porte director, to identify a project for Rotary to work on that day.
Antwan Wordlaw, a student at La Porte High School, will represent La Porte Rotary at the RYLA conference from April 19 to 21.
The Board of Directors applied for a grant through Rotary District 6540 to refurbish the Gazebo and the Veterans’ Monuments at Soldier’s Memorial Park. Expect a work day in July.
The Board also approved donations to Arts in the Park and Junior Achievement. Rotary has also budgeted participation in the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign.
New Member Induction – Fran Milo, Milo Enterprises, and Cindy Preston, Wells Fargo Bank, were inducted into membership by Marv Goad.
Projects – Mike Arnett is putting together the Rotary Ramble Grocery Scramble Committee. Mike Sutton is assembling the Fishing Derby Committee. A Chili Dinner chairperson is needed for that portion of the fishing derby event. Each Rotarian should plan to be on at least one of these Committees as they are the club’s primary fundraisers.
Executive Spelling Bee – May 2 (note new date) – Silver Palace – 6:30 PM
Stacey Moody, Rotary’s liaison to the La Porte County Literacy Council, is seeking additional volunteers for the team. Team members to date are Yvonne Lindborg, Captain, Leigh Morris and Christina Dougherty.
June 17 – Annual Picnic – 5:30 PM at the picnic shelter at Legacy Hills Golf Club – catering by Spire Restaurant. $15.00 per adult and $10.00 per child. The evening will include the
Family Picnic; Installation of officers and board for 2013/2014; Scholarship Awards; as well as the Installation of La Porte Rotary’s Christina Dougherty as District Governor and installation of the District Board.
District 6540 will hold its annual conference on April 26 and 27 at the Radisson Hotel in Merrillville. Pricing has been revised to reduce the cost for attending portions of the event. Leigh Morris and Christina Dougherty will be performing with the District singers at the Friday evening dinner.
District Rotary request – “I Need a Hug/Reading Buddies” Project invites Rotarians to donate your favorite children’s book for ages 6-8 and a new 12-14 inch stuffed animal to be distributed as reading buddies for 1st and 2nd grade classrooms in Northwest Indiana as motivation to read.
Polio Plus Update – Rotary International continues its efforts to eradicate polio world wide. To date in 2013 just 16 cases have been reported in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria. Contact Norm Juday if you would like to be on the distribution list for the weekly email update.
Speaker – Rick Soria, Vice Chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College
Rick Soria, a member of the Michigan City Rotary Club, highlighted the college’s 50th anniversary. Formed in 1963 by action of the Indiana Legislative Assembly, Ivy Tech became a community college in 2006 offering 60 degrees and technical certifications. It has 24 campuses and more than 200,000 students statewide. The northwest region has campuses in East Chicago, Gary, Michigan City, and Valparaiso. The Michigan City campus opened in 2010 and just announced a renovation which will be supervised by La Porte Rotary’s Vern Sikora, as assistant facilities manager.
Rotarians in attendance were: Mike Arnett, Bert Cook, Christina Dougherty, Mitch Feikes, Ron Gigliotti, Marv Goad, Judy Hamilton, Bill Hedge, Beth Ingram, Fran Milo, Glade Montgomery, Leigh Morris, Cindy Preston, Jon Salisbury, Vern Sikora, Mike Sutton, Kregg Van Meter, Deb Varnak, Scott West. Visiting Rotarians: Roger Sims (Munster) and Rick Soria (Michigan City). Guests: Taylor Beima and Adrian Pink, La Porte High School women’s softball team.