Regular Meeting, August 25, 2010

(Pictured below is Truman Obermeyer, our speaker, who spoke on the need and solution for a new Justice Center in Houghton)

Attendance: 24 members and guests.

Guests were Houghton County Sheriff Brian McLean, Truman Obermeyer, Houghton County Justice Center Committee, and Sherry Ala, representing the District Court. Also Heidi and Nelson Vitso, Rotarians from Ann Arbor MI. Heidi is Phil Smythe’s sister in law.

President Tim called the meeting to order and promptly paid his fines that were assessed last week. Specifically, he was fined for not wearing his Rotary shirt to the Tammies and not fulfilling the presidential duties of introducing them in the Theatre prior to the show.

A number of members paid Happy dollars for announcements. You had to be there to hear Sue Dana’s announcement about kilts!

Amy Roberts announced a vacancy in one of the 5x5 Foundation clubs. Any interested CLK Rotary member should contact Amy direct. A 5x5 club is consists of five Rotarians who pledge $50 per quarter or $200 per year for 5 years. Each year one of the 5 names is drawn and that member receives a Paul Harris Fellowship. Accordingly, at the end of the 5-year period, each member will have donated $1000 to the Foundation and each will have received a Paul Harris Fellowship. Our Club has two of the 5x5 clubs.

Truman Obermeyer, a member of the Houghton County Justice Center Committee presented information about the current county jail and the proposed Justice Center. He showed a variety of photos of the jail, the “confidential” McDonald’s bench used when prisoners and attorney’s talk, the lack of appropriate facilities for segregating men and women as well as monitoring prisoner activities.

Most importantly, he pointed out that state & federal laws mandate requirements for jails and that the current facility is out of compliance.

(Below: Sherry Ala of the District Court with her Uncle Andy. Sherry is Marilyn's niece.)

Truman also showed pictures of the Sheriff Department's combined armory/evidence room/processing & training center/conference room that was in reality an old bedroom, one the sheriff actually lived in when he stayed in the jail. His last set of photos showed the 97^th district court room and office space. It was small, crowded and provided no separation between prisoners and visitors.

In short, the photos illustrating the poor facilities were pretty convincing evidence for the need for a new Justice Center in Houghton.

The second part of his presentation was a discussion of the proposed facility. It is hoped to build a new facility that will hold the Sheriff Dept and jail (140 beds) as well as the District Court. Locations are limited inasmuch as state law requires that the Sheriff Department and District Court be located in the County Seat. That eliminates all locations other than the city of Houghton. Another consideration is the cost of transporting prisoners to and from the court. It is a requirement that two officers must attend the transportation thereby creating an additional expense as well as making those officers unavailable for ordinary police work such as patrolling the streets.

The recommended location is the old Houghton High school lot which is immediately west of the current courthouse. Transport of prisoners is easy as the court will be in the same building. The old space in the Courthouse will be used for expansion by other departments. Moreover, the old jail would be used for much-needed storage.

Truman said that the needed millage request will be on the November ballot and that approving the millage will only increase the taxes on a $100,000-valued home by approximately $34 per year.

(The other evening, we captured a picture of the rising moon and Copper Harbor light casting their beam across the water.)

Regular Meeting, August 18, 2010

(CLK Schools Superintendent, Darryl Pearce, poses with our flag and banner after his interesting talk.)

Attendance at this weekly regular meeting was twenty-six including guests Dave & Linda Grahek and their granddaughter Chloe, Jerry Bowersox (Guest of Tom Tikkanen), and Darryl Pearce, Superintendent, CLK Schools.

President Tim called the meeting to order. Guest Jerry Bowersox gave a thorough description of the upcoming Highland Games.

Tamburitzans Report: total ticket sales were 566 with the Theater selling 360 and CLK Rotary selling 206. Our project budget had an overall sales goal of 600, so good job everyone! Our estimated net should be approx $2500. We do not have final costs from the printer, hotel, and Pizza Works.

In addition, Tom offered a big "Thank You" to all the Rotarians and others who hosted Tammies cast members at their homes on Saturday night. President Tim said his family really enjoyed meeting and talking with the performers who stayed with them.

Program: Darryl Pearce gave an update on several projects at the CLK schools. He thanked CLK Rotary for providing and conducting the CHOICES program and said he has received positive feedback on the program.

The schools staffs have been busy with building projects and updating technology. The roof replacement process is very close to complete. The contractor gave his crew the week off due to the extreme winds and rain. Darryl explained the bidding process and why no local contractors were able to bid. He did say the contractor hired some local workers and those from out of the area were housed at the AmericInn and spent money in the community.

The technology upgrades should be ready for the start of this school year. In addition to the high-tech white boards, each student grade 4- 12 will receive a “one-to-one” computing device. This device will replace textbooks, allow for easy updating, and reduce the demand for computer labs.

Energy: the CLK school buildings are receiving more efficient lighting and control systems. Installing auto on/off lights in bathrooms, controls that reduced the classroom light as daylight enters the room, and more efficient light fixtures will all help reduce the energy bills.

Darryl's presentation was followed by questions and answers and other comments from members.

President Tim announced that CLK School System will become a Rotary member.

(Last week, one of our guests was the distinguished Scott Dianda who is the Democratic candidate for the Michigan House of Representatives from our district.)

Regular Meeting, August 11, 2010

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Our last meeting before the Tammie’s Performance!

Attendance = 20. Guests included Scott Dianda – candidate for 110 District seat, Mark Rusensil – Scott’s campaign manager, Dave & Linda Grahek and their granddaughter Chloe.

Thank You: Thanks to Andy, Tim, Capt Don, Rich Shaefer & Dan for representing CLK Rotary at the Copperman Triathlon. Our station was the Esery Park Bike Turnaround.

A number of Happy $$ were collected today by our Sergeant at Arms – Phil Smythe. Welcome back Phil!

Tammies Announcements: 1. Ushers are needed at the Theatre. Joe E, Jim L, Dan D and Tom T all helped. 2. Tom T distributed the housing assignments. 3. Ticket sales to date are CLK Rotary = 141 and the Theatre 279 for total of 424. More sales were received at the meeting. A final tally will be at the Aug 18 meeting along with the sales prizes. 4. A reminder to all Rotarians to wear their blue Rotary shirts at the concert on Sat 8/14.

Scott Dianda – candidate for the 110 District seat, presented his platform at the meeting. Many of his views and solutions can be found at his web site: www.votedianda.com Interested Rotarians can go to the website for detailed information.

He is conducting a fund-raising social at the Ramada Inn in Hancock on Thursday evening August 19 from 6 to 8 p.m. His special guest will be Senator Carl Levin.

Scott did have several Rotarians address questions & comments to him both during his presentation and after the meeting adjourned.

See you next week for the Tammies' wrap up.

Business Meeting, August 4, 2010

(Dan Dalquist exhorting the troops to sell, sell, sell! so that we can make a few dollars to sprinkle around to the community.)


Monthly Business Meeting. 19 Rotarians attended and 1 guest: Past President Eve Syzlargy.

President Tim announced the following August birthdays: George Kiiskila, Chuck Nelson and Dan Dalquist.

President Tim is looking for program ideas. Any CLK Rotary member who has a suggestion(s) should send them to Tim via email.

July Attendance – perfect attendance included: Jim Lowell, Patsi Bastian, Dan Dalquist, Tim Baroni, Joel Keranen and Amy Roberts.

Board meetings will be the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m. at the Range Bank conference room. All officers and club members are invited.

Tammies Report: Total ticket sales as of Wednesday at 11 a.m. were 218 – Theatre and Rotary sales combined. Several Rotary members turned in sales forms at that meeting. WE NEED TO SELL A LOT OF TICKETS THIS WEEK FOR THE EVENT TO BE A FINANCIAL SUCCESS! Each Rotary member was sent a list of businesses to contact. Contact them before Wed. Lets get the total sales up over 600!

Tom Tikkanen reported that all the Tammies have been housed. A BIG THANK YOU to all Rotarians housing the performers.

President Tim announced the Board will have a budget to present in September.

Dan Dalquist reminded the Rotary Group helping at the Copperman to be at Esery Park by 9 a.m. That group includes Rich Schaefer, Andy Murtagh, Tim Baroni, Capt Don Kilpela and Dan Dalquist.

Hope to see everyone at the meeting on Wednesday, August 11, with tickets to report as sold!



(Your photographer caught Andy and James locked in earnest discussion after the meeting.)

Regular Meeting, June 28, 2010

(Left: Aaron & Dan show off their treasured Rotary mugs after their interesting presentation.)

Today’s attendance = 18.

Guests included Aaron Rogers and Dan Kauppi of the Copper Harbor Trails Club.

President Tim made several announcements including reminding the Club about the monthly Board meeting held at Range Bank in the conference room.

Tammies Announcement: Total of 73 tickets sold by CLK Rotary and 64 by the Theatre = 137. Goal is 600 ticket w/400 sold by CLK Rotary! Sponsor list will be sent to the membership again – Rotarians need to contact the appropriate businesses for ticket sales.

Jim Lowell has sent out a sales script – please use it!!

Tom Tikkanen has been working hard on housing for the Tammies. If you can help house 2 or more – please let Tom know.

Program: the Copper Harbor Trails club focuses upon non-motorized use trails in the Copper Harbor area. Recently, the Copper Harbor Mountain Bike Trails were named an EPIC RIDE by the IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association. It is 1 of 48 EPIC RIDE trails in the world.

The CHTC has over 200 members from a wide range of states. They support the trail-building effort and help with the publicity for the Club. Aaron Rogers is the primary trail-builder and Dan Kauppi is in charge of marketing the trails. Several questions/comments were raised about the need to collect data for use in documenting the economic impact of the trails.

Businesses in the Copper Harbor area have noticed the effect of the bicycling public. The cyclists use the trails and spend dollars for food and drink afterward. In addition, they stay in the local motels. Most important, however, is that cyclists who ride the CH trails are happy about their experiences and telling others to head North.

Plans include adding a trail to Hunter’s Point separate from the current walking trail and developing a 30 mile single track trail around the north end of the Keweenaw. Cyclists say "that would be marvelous."

Aaron and Dan's final words were to encourage Rotarians to come up and try the trails.

(Dan, pushing sales, sales and more sales!)





















Oops! Caught Pastor Pete taking a brief nap just as many of his parishioners.

Regular Meeting, June 21, 2010

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Guests today included our program presenters Dorothy & Jay Ruohonen (Welcome back Jay!), Linda & Dave Grahek, and Bob Sharkey .

We were happy to see both Phil and Andy attending today however we missed the Cookie Inspector (Rich Schaefer) and Capt Don Kilpela (family reunion).

President Tim reminded the Club of the Board meetings and said he would have a report at the next business meeting. Several members had announcements.

Tammies Announcement: (1) Sales Contest – no new tickets were sold as reported by the Theatre. We need to sell 400 tickets. Total as of wed July 14 = 36. (2) A list of businesses for Rotarians to contact has been sent by email to our membership. Tickets sold to sponsors will be included in the weekly sales contest. (4) Tom Tikkanen will be contacting each Rotarian asking for housing for the Tammies. This is a great opportunity for your household to learn about the Tammies and the kids. Please say "Yes" when Tom calls you. (5) Tammies Ticket Sales forms are available on our Club website: www.clkrotary.org (6)Jim Lowell is writing a document on the history of the Tammies and the Calumet area. This will be routed to each Rotarian.

Jay Ruohonen, President of Talon Research, presented a program on their proprietary product Bridgeguard.. This system uses infra-red technology to “see: delamination cracks in concrete bridge decks.

The key is the technology. Up to this point, a bridge lane would be closed while workers dragged a chain across the deck and listened for hollow sounds indicating a possible delamination. The Bridgeguard system is used from a moving vehicle so bridges do not need to be closed and workers need not walk the bridge.

A vehicle with the infrared system on it, drives across at a constant speed while filing the bridge The data is processed thru the software developed by Talon Research to identify the delaminations. Jay said there were over 600,000 bridges in the US that need to be inspected every 2 years. Michigan has over 10800 bridges! A very interesting presentation.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Copper Man Triathlon on Saturday August 7. If you can help, please let Phil or Dan know. Great Deer Chase – traffic control volunteers needed for start of race. Contact Marc Norton at Copper Island printing or Dan Dalquist