The Foghorn - July 9, 2020
The Rotary Club of
Michigan City Indiana
 
Chartered 1916
Club Information
Welcome to our club
Michigan City
People of Action
Thursdays at 11:45 AM
Patrick's Grille
4125 Franklin St,
Michigan City, IN 46360
United States of America
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On July 16th we will be back at Patrick's Grille in the main dining room.  We will be practicing social distancing. Please wear a mask until you are served.
 
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Stories
Our July 16th speaker was
Ed Merrion
Vice president of the Interfaith Community PADS board of directors
 
Ed shared the status of the new year-round emergency homeless shelter in Michigan City at Sacred Heart Church, set to open in July.
 
 
Great Time, Great Speaker at the Annual Garden Party
On July 9th we had a wonderful time enjoying the Friendship Botanic Gardens and listening to a very dynamic talk by Dion Campbell the Michigan City Police Chief.  The weather was hot but a beautiful breeze kept us all cool inside the pavilion overlooking the Rotary garden and the fountain in Lake Lucerne.
 
Tom Cipares ran a fun Sarge program asking questions about the origins of the Friendship Gardens.  Suzy Vance stole the show by answering most of Tom's questions.
 
Chief Dion talked about his background and path to becoming the Chief of Police.  Dion enjoyed is 20 years as School Resource Officer  Just when he was ready to retire circumstances in Michigan City changed and he was summoned to take on the position of Police Chief.  Initially his wife and family were not in favor of him taking on that position but eventually after praying over it and discussing it they said it was time for him to take on the leadership of the department.
 
In establishing the goals and directions of the MCPD Dion referenced Sir Robert Peel's Policing Principles from 1829 which in part were "The key to preventing crime is earning public support. Every community member must share the responsibility of preventing crime, as if they were all volunteer members of the force. They will only accept this responsibility if the community supports and trusts the police." and "The police earn public support by respecting community principles. Winning public approval requires hard work to build reputation: enforcing the laws impartially, hiring officers who represent and understand the community, and using force only as a last resort."
 
Dion demonstrated the value of these principles during the demonstrations held recently in Michigan City.
 
The demonstrations were initially reported as a gathering of 600 people between the hours of 6:30 and 8:30. Message wishing evolved into a gathering over 1000 people lasting almost done till midnight. The turning point of the demonstrations began when Chief Dion went to the lighthouse place and defused aggressive actions by young people by explaining he didn't take sides he only wanted what was good.
 
The result of Chief Dion's actions were that Michigan City only suffered a few broken windows and some minor damage do some businesses As opposed to major damage, fires and looting that other cities encountered during these types of demonstrations.  The chief thanked all of his officers who worked tirelessly and professionally during the demonstrations as well as the Indiana State police, the La Porte County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement departments from around the area.
 
All members of the Rotary Club thanked Chief Dion for protecting the city of Michigan City and its inhabitants.
 
Unfortunately the recording of this meeting got lost due to lack of Internet capabilities.
Our July 2nd speaker was
Tony Rodriguez, director
La Porte County Office of Community and Economic Development.
 
Tony spoke on the development of La Porte County including the Northwest Indiana Alliance.
 
During Jim Welborne's first meeting as president he presented outgoing president Jessica O'Brien with a plaque and a Paul Harris Fellowship.
 
Matt Kubik conducted the Sarge program during his first meeting as Boss Sarge.  Matt had a quiz on US Independence and read the preamble to the Declaration of Independence.
 
Due to technical issues this meeting's recording is not available.
 
President's Message
Jim Welborne
member photo
Katelyn Wisser and Jenilee Haynes are heading up the project committee.  They can use your help to manage our projects for this year.  You can see there presentation at our last meeting here.  Please be a Person of Action and contact Katelyn or Jenilee and let them know how you will help.
 
Due to the continuing pandemic we are not able to meet in person as much as we would like.  Please join us online at https://bit.ly/rotary3376mtg every Thursday at Noon.  Also, since we are not meeting in person we are not getting the funds for the eyeglasses program or the "Feed the Pig" funds for the Thanksgiving Turkeys and Hams.  I am suggesting that you keep track of what you would have donated if we were meeting in person and once a month send Deb Varnak our treasurer a check indicating how much is for the eyeglass and "Feed the Pig" funding.  You can mail the check to:
The Rotary Club of Michigan City
P.O. Box 9372
Michigan City, IN  46361-9372
 
Speaking of suggestions, the website now has a link to a suggestion box on the home page menu.  Feel free to use it to let us know how we can improve or club.
 
Hope to see you online at our next meeting.
Photo Albums
2020-07-02 Meeting
Duty Roster
Greeter
Welborne, Jim
 
Invocation
Carroll, Dennis
 
Sergeant at Arms
Bensz, Rod
 
Executives & Directors
President
 
President Elect
 
Secretary
 
Treasurer
 
Public Relations Chair
 
Immediate Past President
 
Sergeant-at-Arms
 
Membership Chair
 
Program Chair
 
Rotary Foundation Chair
 
2019-2021 Board Member
 
2019-2021 Board Member
 
2019-2021 Board Member
 
2019-2021 Board Member
 
2020-2022 Board Member
 
2020-2022 Board Member
 
2020-2022 Board Member
 
2020-2022 Board Member
 
Webmaster
 
Upcoming Events
Board Meeting
Online
Jul 29, 2020 12:00 PM
 
Board Meeting
TBD
Aug 26, 2020
 
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Russell Hampton
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