Elmer Sult, a longtime member of the LaPorte Rotary Club who now lives in Cape Canaveral, FL, was presented with his Paul Harris Fellow Pin and Certificate recently.
The Rotary Club of LaPorte met Aug. 26, 2013, at Best Western in LaPorte. President Tyler Smith called the meeting to order and led members in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four-Way Test of Rotary. Dale Wratchford offered the invocation. Leigh Morris led in singing “All Hail to Rotary.”
Sergeant-at-Arms
Mitch Feikes raised money for the club (with the help of Neil Mangus wielding the collection basket) with questions about Labor Day including: the date of the first celebration (1882), the date of the first labor strike (1636), and the other event Labor Day celebrates (beginning of football season!).
Announcements
President Smith called members’ attention to the listing of members and their classifications, which was available on each table. He reminded members that there were over 200 classifications not represented in the club, including realtors, car dealers, and athletic and fitness organizations. He encouraged Rotarians to seek out possible members using this listing. He also reminded members that one of the annual goals is for each Rotarian to bring a guest/potential member to a meeting.
Smith also announced the Foundation Dinner will be held Oct. 4 in South Bend. The Smiths, the Varnaks and the Morrises plan to attend. Part of the cost for the evening goes to the Rotary Foundation. If you are interested in attending, contact Tyler for more information.
Mike Seitz, chair of Rotary’s corn roast booth at Sunflower Fair in downtown LaPorte on Saturday, Sept. 21, encouraged Rotarians to sign up for work shifts on that date. Set-up is from 7 to 9 a.m., cleanup is from 2 to 4 p.m., and selling shifts are from 9a.m. to noon and noon to 2 p.m. Contact Mike to volunteer.
Program – Steve Laue, Maple City Chess Club
Deb Varnak introduced Steve Laue, a well known individual from his past role as chaplain at IU Health LaPorte Hospital and from his weekly newspaper column. He discussed the newly formed Maple City Chess Club in his usual gentle and thoughtful way. He said there were three key guidelines: Have fun, stretch your mind, and help the community. He began his presentation by using a chessboard covered in quarters to invite Rotarians to support the club with an immediate financial contribution. He also spoke of his vision for the future of the club by advocating a weeklong session next summer in which adult volunteers would mentor and teach chess to 16 at-risk children in the park. He invited all who are interested in learning or playing chess to attend a session on the second Thursday of the month at Karmel Coffee House, and the fourth Thursday of the month at El Bracero. Among volunteers for the Chess Club are Rotarians Dale Wratchford and Christina Dougherty, as well as Doug Busby, Frank Aerts, and retired teacher Mike Powers. While he was giving his presentation, Laue was also playing a game of chess with President Tyler Smith, who graciously conceded the game in order to adjourn.
Rotarians in attendance were: Mike Arnett, Gene Burrows, Ron Cmiel, Dave Dykstra, Mitch Feikes, Ron Gigliotti, Judy Hamilton, Bill Hedge, Norm Juday, Neil Mangus, Leigh Morris, Dale Parkison, Mike Rosenbaum, Mike Seitz, Vern Sikora, Tyler Smith, Dale Wratchford. Guest: Randy Thorpe, LaPorte Community School Corporation.
Upcoming speakers
Sept. 9: Kurt Mikel, Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund; Sept. 16, Carrie Kosac, 1st Source Bank, “SBA Veterans’ Pledge and Patriot Express”; Sept. 30, Mark Maassal, “NWI Forum and its Role in Economic Development”; Oct. 7, Cynthia Hedge, “Creative Ways to Engage Club Members.”
For more information about the club, visit www.rotaryoflaporte.org.