banner
Winter club; 20 strong!

President Eds' message:

Let’s talk membership. Rotary members and the Rotary Club do many great things for our community. Much of what we do is subtle and under the radar but essential to a thriving community. I would suggest the quality of life in Elk Rapids is second to nowhere. This doesn’t just happen by accident. Our members, individually and collectively, contributes to the vibrancy of our community. Maintaining or building our membership will assure our clubs vitality and maintain our relevance.

Winter is over. Our club has done a great job of maintaining our membership numbers. As always we lose a few but we continue to gain a few.

We can do better.  It’s time to take action.

Were some members of Rotary our friends before we joined Rotary or have they become friends through Rotary? Hopefully some of both. Every one of you have friends that are potential good members. We need to approach these friends, these potential members. Just invite them to have a coffee with friends on a Tuesday morning. Surprisingly, many will say yes. From this visit we hope that many of your friends will then join us as members.

Hopefully our meetings help keep you informed of the needs within our community, both locally and internationally, and what is being done to help meet these needs. We are a prominent group. We aren’t the only group doing positive things but we are a group that attempts to have a broad perspective of peoples needs and activities.

There are some definite misconceptions as to the rules for our members. It’s OK to leave town during the winter. It’s OK to miss a meeting now and then. If you want to improve your community, help your fellow man, assist in some international projects, Rotary is a great vehicle to do these things. The demands are few, the opportunities are great and the rewards are greater. Obviously the more involved you become the greater the rewards.

Have a coffee with friends, learn about your community, find a way that you can make a difference and then make a difference. That’s what being a Rotarian is and how can anyone not want to be a part of this.

APRIL 7 MORNING MEETING

Our presenter for our April 7 meeting was unable to attend due to a personal situation so we decided to have our scheduled ER Rotary Charities meeting. For your information below is a draft of the minutes of that meeting:

        Elk Rapids Rotary Charities, Inc. Annual Meeting Minutes:  April 7, 2026 at the Dam Shop, Elk Rapids, MI 49629            DRAFT                                                  DRAFT

President Ed Boettcher called the second annual meeting of the Elk Rapids Rotary Charities, Inc  to order at 8:22am.  (meeting started early because the scheduled speaker didn’t arrive). Club members attending in person: Tony Anderson, Ed Boettcher, Blaine Campbell, Camille Campbell, Bob Chaphalkar, Paul Fitzpatrick, Dale Gehman, Jim Hockin, Carol Hockin, Dick Hults, Amanda Macaluso, Jim Nothoff, Julia Pollister Amos, Jim Porter, Laura Savoie, Tom Stephenson, Bob Strehl, Pam Williams and Nancy Wonch. George Seifried and Sherry Steffen attended via phone.

Nancy Wonch passed out an agenda and a copy of the April 8, 2025 minutes.

MOTION: by C. Campbell/ Gehman to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously.

Minutes of previous annual meeting:   There was a discussion about approval of these minutes.  Several things need to be clarified.  Members who attended the 2025 annual meeting shared their memories of what was discussed.  Who are the directors? (There was no motion to approve names listed). What are the directors and officers responsibilities?

Gehman stated that “The 501(c) (3) is a tool to allow donations to be tax deductible. Let’s keep it simple”.

Steffen echoed her recollection of what was discussed per her notes regarding names.

Nothoff suggested that the Good Works committee members would follow the same procedure that they have used for a long time to make recommendations.

MOTION: by Nothoff/Stephenson to approve the minutes of the April 8, 2025 annual meeting as presented.

Motion carried unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report: Savoie distributed a July 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026 QuickBooks report showing  revenue of $34,625.00, expenses of $135.65 with a balance of net revenue of $34,489.35.

MOTION: by Nothoff/Fitzpatrick to accept the treasurer’s report as presented.

Motion carried unanimously.

Clarification of Directors and terms of office: discussion about who would be the directors.

MOTION: by Pollister Amos/Stephenson that the directors of the Elk Rapids Rotary Charities, Inc should be same as the members of the Good Works Committee changing as the members of the committee change. (sidebar to the motion: Staggered terms per the bylaws to be discussed and decided by that committee with notification to Wonch for record keeping.)

Motion carried unanimously.

Fiscal year:

MOTION: by Nothoff/Hockin to approve the fiscal year as January 1 to December 31st

Motion carried unanimously.

Annual meetings:

MOTION: by Fitzpatrick/C. Campbell that the annual meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of April each year.

Motion carried unanimously.

MOTION: to adjourn by  Stephenson, adjourned by the order of the chair at 9:02am
Meeting Duties 
Morning Meeting Chair:
Ed Boettcher
Greeter:
TBD
Sergeant At Arms:
TBD
Reflection Quote
Pam Forton
Happy Dollars:
Ed Boettcher
April Meeting Schedule
Apr 21: TBD
Apr 29: Club Social at Cellar 231
May 5:  MI Youth in Govt.
May 12: Peg Whisteler,                              Communities In schools                NW MI
May 19: Dick Gray, Milton                          Township
May 26: Curt McGee, Member                    Forum.
Elk Rapids HS Robotics coach Tim Hibbard. Coaches and mentors are not allowed on the Competition field.

April 14 morning meeting

We had a short update on the Elk Rapids Robotics team competitions from coach Tim Hibbard. It appears the Elk Rapids Robotics Program is strong and the participants are benefiting from their involvement.
Elk Rapids HS robot (2026). Please notice our Club logo on the top right side.
Elk Rapids HS Robotics in action. Our robot is #5110.
Sheri Reid Grant spoke about her foundation: Art and Connection

April 14 morning meeting

After Tim's presentation, Sheri Reid Grant made a presentation describing the Art and Connection organization. This organization is much more than a cool looking building on the south end of Elk Rapids. They offer programs for young and old at no charge to the participant. They make their building available to worthwhile community organizations at no cost. Sheri gave some examples of previous programs they had presented and some testimonials as to the positive influence these programs have had on peoples lives. Please check the website artandconnection.org. A lot of really cool stuff happening in Elk Rapids by a very generous family. Art and Connection is funded through The Reid Family Foundation. I look forward to possible collaboration between this entity and Rotary.
Local Community Groups that are welcome at Art & connection.