From the photos of the summer social event, it looks like it was a fabulous Thursday night at the Clark’s beautiful home on Lake Bella Vista.  I am so happy many of our members were able to enjoy it!  Thank you again to Dan and Ellen Clark for hosting the evening and I understand that Liz and Fritz Wahlfield worked hard grilling your steaks to perfection! A big thank you to both of them!  I hope you all felt the fellowship and camaraderie of the wonderful club that we enjoy membership in and look forward to all that we will accomplish throughout the rest of the year. In September alone the club will be selling pronto pups during the Gus Macker tournament at Kenowa Hills High School and kicking off our Winter Wear Drive. 

September’s Rotary theme is basic education and literacy.  Rotary International’s goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.  Some facts from Proliteracy  (https://www.proliteracy.org/) show that more than 43 million adults in the U.S. cannot read, write or do basic math above a third grade level.  By bringing all adults to the equivalent of a sixth grade reading level, we would generate an additional $2.2 trillion annual income for the country.  The U.S. has the world’s largest immigrant population and only half are proficient English speakers.  Seventy five percent of state incarcerated people did not complete high school or are classified as illiterate.  A mother’s reading skill is the greatest determinant of her children’s future academic success outweighing neighborhood and family income.  How can we advance literacy in our community?  We have great resources in our club from Comstock Park Public Schools, Kenowa Hills Public Schools and Kent District Library to name a few. 

Diane Van Epps, President