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Bay Arts Council and New Zealand are Topics at Rotary

July 31, 2012       Leave a Comment
By: Stephen Kent

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Matt Reid
Matt Reid, Director of the Bay Arts Council, talked to the club about the activities and programs of the group. Matt is also a high school English teacher in Bay County.

The Bay Arts Council was started in 1978 to promote the arts in the Great Lakes Bay Region. The volunteers were instrumental in the development of Wenonah park and the band shell.

The council is known for its Summer Concert Series held Wednesday evenings in the shell at Wenonah Park. Two years ago Matt helped change the 20 year policy of paid admission and returned to the free concerts of the early days. Since then the attendance has increased dramatically.

The Council, with offices in Studio 23 in the Jennison Tower, has also sponsored the "Hells Half Mile Film and Music Festival" each fall for the last seven years. For the fifth year the council will sponsor the "Haunted Masonic Temple". The council owns that building, acting as caretaker until it can be put to other uses.

For more information visit www.bayartscouncil.org.



Jim Lewis
As the second half of the program, member Frank Janca and his neighbor from New Zealand Jim Lewis presented a slide show about their corner of New Zealand.

Frank traveled to New Zealand after he and his wife gave a ride to a stranger. That ride lasted for several days and resulted in a friendship that lead to an invitation. After visiting New Zealand Frank and his wife Kerry bought a home there.

The Jancas have taken the last few years and spent the Michigan winter In New Zealand and the New Zealand winter up here. It turns out that the 45th parallel south latitude runs through their place in New Zealand and the 45th north runs through Michigan. That makes each place half way from equator to pole in their respective hemispheres. When it's winter in Michigan it's summer in New Zealand, and vice versa.

Frank introduced his neighbor Jim Lewis, who is visiting Michigan. Jim spoke about the geography and demography of the country and narrated some of the slide show the two presented.

The country's two main islands have a population of about 4.5 million, most living on the North Island. Frank and Jim are in the rural South of the South Island. The native Maori people are about 10% of the population.


Frank Janca
The country's economy is based on tourism first then agriculture. Dairy, sheep, and wine production are important.

Jim lives in Lake Wanaka. Frank is a few miles away in Luggate. (After the meeting Frank showed us his place on a smart phone map and was thrilled to get a satellite view.)

The two talked about the fishing and hunting in the area. Most travel is by helicopter due to the terrain. They showed a picture of a trout stream where the copter flew them in one morning, then came back for them in the evening. They were catching fish as soon as they reached the stream.

Jim planned to head home the next day. He said that you have to plan for a couple of days travel to get there from here. It's a 12 hour flight from LA to Auckland alone. Overall, there will be five changes of aircraft on the way. It's not an easy trip, but it's well worth the time it takes.



CLUB NEWS and ANNOUNCEMENTS

Welcome former President Anne Trahan, who stood in for Kim Prime to run the meeting.

The club sends condolences to long time member Tom Tabor in Florida on the loss of his wife Sally. Tom's address is in the on-line directory under honorary members. Cards and notes from the club would be appreciated.

Rob Clark spoke about International Night to be held on Thursday, October 11 this year, from 5:30 to 9:00 pm at the Doubletree. This is the 20th Annual International Night and the theme will be Sea to Shining Sea.

Rob introduced a new concept designed to get every one's participation in the Silent Auction. Rather than just ask for items to be donated, the committee has formed eleven teams, each with a captain and a theme, to collect items to auction off. Each team will gather general auction items but will also make up a "theme bucket" to be auctioned off.

The club will be sent an e-mail announcement, but you can also find details on the club's International Night web page.

Rotary welcomes new member Mike Dewey, new CEO of the United Way of Bay County. Previously Mike was the superintendent at the Bay Area ISD. He spent many years in public education as a teacher, principal and superintendent.

Standing in for President Kim, Anne Trahan reminded everyone about how to contribute to the clean water campaign and contest:
Put SILVER in OUR JUG --- PUT BILLS in the MORNING JUG

Tim Holsworth provided an update on the Golf Tournament coming up on September 17. He read the various sponsors including the Title Sponsor Covenant Health Care, and Wildfire Credit Union, which is providing the flat screen TV as a special prize. If you have questions LINK to the Golf page on the club web site.

Tim also mentioned the new Paul Harris Challenge for Rotary Teams. Tim asked for volunteers to take one of the four trophies to other clubs and promote the event. See Tim if you can volunteer.

The district is looking for a Rotarian to act as Team Leader for the Group Study Exchange (GSE)team that will go to South Korea March 29 to April 30, 2013. This is a great opportunity. If you're available and interested, please contact Kim.

July through December dues are past due. If you haven't made your payment please see Secretary Steve Kent.


DATES TO REMEMBER


Next month's board meeting will be on August 21 (one week late) to coincide with the District Governor's visit to the club.

The Annual Golf Outing will be held September 17. See the announcement and info page at RotaryBayCity.org or see Tim Holsworth for details.

International Night is scheduled for October 11, 2012.

MEMBER PHOTOS: If you missed the opportunity to have Anne Trahan take a new picture for the Rotary Directory, don't fret. Give her a call or see her at the meeting to work out a sitting. The directory picture is free. Retouched digital photos and portraits for your own use are available for a small charge.


Upcoming Programs

(See the official schedule at RotaryBayCity.org )

July 31, 2012: Matt Reid updates the club on the activities of the Bay Arts Council

Aug 7, 2012: Camp Rotary. High School Students will tell us about their experiences at Camp Rotary this summer.

Aug 14, 2012: MAGIC! Western High student Cameron Zvara, aka "Crazy Cam the Magician", will entertain Rotary with his amazing magic tricks.


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Stephen Kent

Steve Kent and his family have lived in Bay City for 40 years. He is VP of Technical Services at MMCC which produces MyBayCity.Com. Kent is active in many Bay City civic organizations.

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