Stories

Phil Power, founder of The Center for Michigan, a "think and do" tank whose objective is to make Michigan a better place to live was our guest speaker today at Rotary. He spoke about the three objectives - Engage - Inform - Achieve- to inform citizens about social and political changes in Michigan. 
L. to R.  Jim Rynberg, Mayor of Fremont, Phil Power, Chairman of Center of Michigan, Kathy Power, Vice President of Center of Michigan and Julie Dykman, Fremont Rotary President

Our old High School (built 1926) will now be the 'Gateway'...Our guest speakers Rick Ballard and Gary Scheuren from Home Renewal Systems from Lansing, MI gave a great presentation on creating magic by transferring our old Fremont High School into a state of the art home for senior citizens.
L. to R.  Rhonda Thompson, Jim Rynberg, Mayor of Fremont, Rick Ballard, Gary Scheuren, Debra Kelley, and Julie Dykman, President of Fremont Rotary.

On Tuesday 3/24, three students from the Fremont Middle School were honored by the Fremont Rotarians.These students were nominated by their teachers for leaders in the classrooms.
Students - L.to R.   6th grade Tommy Sparks, 7th grade  Makenna Hoppa  8th grade  Taylor Crowley with Rotarian  Eric Bengston ​and president Julie Dykman.

Dennis Denno from Denno-Research L.L.C (ddenno@dennoresearch.com) was our guest speaker on Tuesday March 17th. He gave the Rotarians the in's and out's of Poll taking in Michigan. 

Godfrey Omony, Director of Entrepreneur Training, from Uganda Country Dairy was our special speaker today. He spoke about an 11 month program that includes practical teaching and hands-on training in Business management, Dairy production and Crop production in a modern dairy farm in the heart of Northern Uganda.

L. to R. Dick Dunning, Al Wilson, Godfrey Onomy and Julie Dykman, president of Fremont Rotary

Yolanda Lewis, (Yolanda.Lewis@cmsenergy.com) from Consumers Energy, spoke on the future of energy in Michigan. The map shows all the coal producing plants that will be discontinued in the future.

 L. to R. Julie Dykman, president of Fremont Rotary, Yolanda Lewis, and James Rynberg, Mayor of Fremont.

Today at our Rotary meeting, Kendra Wills from MSU Extension at the Grand Rapids Downtown Farmers Market, gave us an overview of the dynamics of farmers markets in Michigan. It is a $101 Billion dollar industry in fruits and vegetables. She has invited all Rotarians to come to the market in GR and she would be most happy to give us tour.    

Kendra Wills    willsk@anr.msu.edu

Chocolates, gift baskets and a wonderful guest speaker. Peter Fries,son of Rotarian Bill Fries spoke to us on the lost island of Haiti, LaGonave. He is with the WISH (West Indies Self Help) a group dedicated to "Break the Cycle of Poverty" In conjunction a mini fundraiser added to our goal of purchasing 4 new benches for our downtown city center. Candy and baskets were the 'gifts'.

A very informative speaker today...Frank P. Marczak Ed.D., Associate Director of the USS Silversides Submarine Museum. He spoke about life on a submarine with a video taken on the inside of the submarine. It is now used as a educational tool especially for school children.

At our Fremont Rotary meeting today, Tues. January 27th, Dennis McKee from Consumer Energy was our guest. He spoke on the new smart meter program that will be coming to all of Newaygo County. It was a extremly informative presentation with many questions answered for the audience.

On February 10th at our Rotary Luncheon, a drawing for homemade chocolates, 2 baskets donated by the Fremont Chamber of Commerce and some items donated by fellow Rotarians will take place at the Dogwood. The money collected will be for the following benches (4) to be placed in downtown Fremont. Please come and help support our cause.

Last Tuesday we had as our speaker Stu Sanders,our new Register of Deeds, who gave a great presentation on the Why, Where, When, Whatfor, etc. of what a Register of Deeds does. Also on our program we honored three outbound students who will spent the next school year in a foreign country.

On Tuesday November 11th, a small contingent from Fremont had the honor and privilege to attend the Cadillac Rotary Club. Nathan Reynolds, a Global Scholarship participate, was the speaker. He gave an overview of the year he spent in Jerusalem going to school courtesy of the Rotary Foundation Global Scholarship program. Those  who attended were Thomas Schmidt, Governor-elect, Denise Schmidt, Bob Erber and ADG Bonnie Erber.

Shari Paulsen, James Kelly and Bonnie Erber were at the craft fair (Jingle Mingle) selling 'The Blue King' book .These books were donated to many Rotary clubs to use as either a fund-raiser or to give away by Rotarians to special groups of students or libraries. 

Marie-Aliz de la Bretesche, from Vannes -France gave a special presentation on Mobilteen. This program offers a unique human, linguistic and cultural experience for students 9 to 12 to visit another country for a short stay of up to 8 weeks or to a long stay of 3 - 10 months.The student is challenged to integrate him/herself to the best of their ability, to accept the foreign lifestyle habits and make the most of their exchange.

We had the honor today of recognizing 3 special students from the Fremont Middle School, Jackson Fair (6th grade), Jaxx Miller (7th grade), Marguerite Degen (8th grade). They received the Student of the Month award given by our Rotary club. They are nominated by their teacher as students of excellence.

Tim Cusack, our guest speaker, spoke about staying uplifted by remembering...What are you grateful for?....What do you appreciate?....What is good in your life?. The talk was filled with very insightful information and much humor.

On Tuesday August 26, Bob Johnson, Scott Sherman(pictured), Phil Deur, Cathy Obits, Shari Paulsen, Julie Dykman,Dave Brynes, Bob Erber and Bonnie Erber helped some of the staff members at the Middle School to spruce up the grounds before school starts. Looks great!

Susan Harrison Wolfiss from the Muskegon Chronicle gave a very thought provoking talk on PEACE in Muskegon. How her church Temple Methodist are feeding and giving children a SAFE place to go after school and during the summer.

On Tuesday July 22, Zak Krebs, from the American Red Cross, addressed our Rotary.

From Left to Right:  Julie Dykman, Fremont Rotary President, Zak Krebs, American Red Cross, and James Rynberg, Mayor of Fremont...

Today Tuesday July 15th, four members of our Rotary club attended the installation of Al Bonney as our newest District Governor for District 6290 in Traverse City. Present were Tom Schmidt, Jeff Coil, Bob Erber and Bonnie Erber.

Rotarian Jim Rynberg, Fremont Mayor, dedicated our newest Art piece on May 22nd. Lee Brown, the sculptorer, was on hand to speak on the 'Waves of Grain'. A very welcomed addition to our city of Art. Fremont Rotary was amoung the contributors.

Father Peter Omoga, from Nigeria now pastor of St. James in Montague MI., gave an update on the wells that were installed in 15 villages in Nigeria. The wells were financed by Rotarians and families of Fremont and White Cloud Mi. It was a special THANK YOU to all for helping his people to fresh water. And to help the children return to school instead of walking for miles with their Mothers to get water.

Four students from the Fremont High School were honored with Rotary scholarships last evening at the Dogwood Center for the Arts. James Kelly, club president, presented the checks.

17 Top NCRESA students were honored at a special Rotary luncheon for their achivements in all areas of vocational excellence. The students are:  Amy Bartley,Kevin Boluyt, Craig Buter, Gabrielle Cygeirt, Kristine Dean, Savannah Dunham, Kelsey Ensing, Daniel Geeting, Chris Gingerich, Brendan Gray, Jasmine Herrera, Katlyn Knuver, Taylor Longcore, Violet Osemlak, Pedro Ponce, Rebecca Potts and Brandon Snippe.

Ramesh Ferris, a polio survivor from India now living in Canada, gave an overview what is life now for those who had contracted Polio....A reason to END POLIO NOW!

Bill McKendry, an Advertising and Marketing expert, gave an overview of 'Building Brands that really Matter'. He spoke about creating an investment for success in which every 'Brand' contact counts. Some of his statements.....'Be a 'Brand' not an organization'.....'Marketing is an investment not an expense'....'Create an investment for success'

The Student of the Month is a joint effort between the Fremont Mildde School and the Fremont Rotary Club. The following students were recognized by a teacher for the characteristic's of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.  6th grade is Samatha Maddox, 7th grade is Preston Osterhart, 8th grade is Ali Dronchi. Last month's 7th grade is Maz Fritz.

On Tuesday September 15th, Lynn Thomas from the Fremont Middle School, gave a presentation on the Rain Forest near Lima Peru. She explained what the Middle School Students would experience and gave a visual tour of where they would be staying.

Lisa Beard has been inducted into to our Fremont Rotary club as our newest Rotarian. Welcome Lisa..

On Tuesday April 1st, Colleen Lynema, Executive Director River Country Chamber of Commerce, gave a talk on 'What Members of the Chamber of Commerce are looking For'. And on the how, when and where to help serve the 280 chamber members.

Pictured is the LONG completed hallway the Rotarians painted at the Fremont Recreational Authority Center in the old High School. Our Rotarians did it in under 3 hours! Thank You Todd Blake, Dean Morehouse, Shari Paulsen, Nancy Hornacek, Michele Ribant, James Kelly and Bonnie Erber.

Chris Etienne, District Rotary Foundation Chair, was our guest speaker. She presented an overview of the how the Rotary Foundation makes it possible to advance world goodwill and peace by supporting Rotary projects that improve health, support education, and help alleviate poverty. Chris also presented Paul Harris Fellowships to Julie Dykman, Nancy Hornacek and James Kelly.

Please help Support the White Cloud Rotary Jazz Band Concert on March 21st. Fremont, Newaygo and Grant bands are participating.

For the last couple of years our Rotarians have been helping at our local Community Center (Tru North) This picture is of the group that helped bag 150 lbs. of sugar and 100 lbs. of flour.

A popular series was continued with the updates and visions of their prospective cities shared by the current city managers of Newaygo and Grant. Jon Schneider of Newaygo and Doug LaFave of Grant reported on the current state of affairs in their communities and what they wish to accomplish in the near future.

On December 17th, James Kelly, Fremont Rotary President, had the honor of presenting Thomas Schmidt, District Governor Nominee, the Paul Harris Award +7. Congratulations to Tom for being such an inspiration to all Rotarians!

Rotarians not only become involved in help others, they also have fun! First pictures is taken at Tru-North for the Community Christmas for Chidren. Rotarians helping were Ken Hoersten, Dave White, Lora Stevens, Jeff Coil, Bonnie Erber and Chuck Whitman

 The second picture was taken at the Tailgate party put on by Dean Morehouse and Chuck Whitman for the upcoming college football games

On Tuesday November 19th a fundraiser helped to raise funds for the 'Shop with a Cop', a program that unites a child with a policeman to shop for Christmas. An amount of $315.00 was raised by the generosity of the Rotarians. Officer Curtis Franks and chief of police Randy Wright accepted the funds. Rotary president James Kelly presented the gift.

On Tuesday November 5th our Rotarians had James Kelly's father Bryan from Australia helping carry, sort and hang coats and warm items at Tru-North Community Service for 'Coats for Kids'. Also fellow Rotarians James Kelly, Dave Byrnes, Shari Paulsen, Dave White, Bonnie Erber, Ken Hoersten, Tom Schmidt, Todd Blake and Lora Stevens helped with this project.

Thank you Bryan Kelly.

On Saturday September 28th a small group of Rotarians helped 'dig' a trench for a glass river to be installed. It will be part of a memorial garden on the grounds of the Bellwether property. The Rotarians were Chuck Whitman, Dani Merrill, Andy Lofgren, Cathy Obits and Bonnie Erber. It was a beautiful fall day and very enjoyable.

On Tuesday October 15th our District Governor Jim White visited our club and gave a rousing speech about helping our Rotary Foundation. He stressed the importance of monetary giving in a very unique way. Helping to cut our energy bills and using some of the savings for the Foundation. He also installed our newest Rotarian Lora Stevens. Volunteer Resource Center Director.

Susan Harrison Wolfiss, a retired reporter from the Muskegon Chronicle was our very delightful guest speaker on Tues. 9/3/13. Her message stressed the importance of being involved in our communities, our families, our churches and our friends. She spoke of the love of Newaygo Country and all the wonderful people she has encountered over the years in our community.

Left to Right:   James Kelly, Fremont Rotary President, Susan Harrison Wolfiss, Jim Rynberg, Fremont Mayor

On Saturday 8/10 a group of Rotarians helped scrape and paint a couple of rooms at the old Fremont H.S. to help get the rooms ready for the new Fremont Recreation Authority open house. Thanks goes to everyone who was able to lend a hand!

Saturday August 3rd a saying that was accomplished.....

Together Each Accomplishes More.....

A group of Fremont and Newaygo Satillite Rotarians constructed and assembled three more GA GA courts. One went to the Fremont Middle School, one to the Fremont Christian Elementary School and one to the Newaygo Middle  School. 

What an experience! A quick trip across the "pond" to celebrate the diversity and power of Rotary International with 20,000 Rotarians from all around the world. One hundred and ninety countries celebrating service above self, unity, peace, and  launching a new year for Rotary with the theme of "Engage Rotary, Change Lives".

I write this as an encouragement to get involved in Rotary, at any level you can. If it is just serving at a local level with youth leadership, or local service projects, great! If it is getting involved with district leadership or projects, excellent! If it is experiencing Rotary on on international level through a world service project or conference, sensational! The key is to get engaged, so that you can experience the positive power that comes from service to others.

As your President for 2013-2014, let me know if I can help you find your place in the Rotary family. There are so many ways that you can make a difference if you chose to, so I challenge you to make that choice!

Rain or shine, you can count on Rotary to deliver! Thanks to Chuck Whitman, Shari Paulsen, Dean Morehouse, Bob and Bonnie Erber for braving the elements to put in the ga ga court at Pathfinder Elementary. Although the weather was about 50 degrees warmer than what we experienced two weeks ago, the pop-up thunder storms and monster rain drops provided yet another challenge. 

Look at the size of those rain drops!

Accessible entry for the vertically challenged.

Saturday April 20th some dedicated Rotarians braved the COLD day to start contruction on the GA GA courts which will be placed at two elementary schools in Fremont. These are some of the pictures taken first thing in the morning. Other pictures will be forthcoming...

If you were unable to join us for the club meeting this week, please take the time to watch the video below. Father Peter from All Saints Catholic Church in Fremont came in to report on his trip to Nigeria to oversee the digging of 15 wells. The project was a great collaboration between Rotary, the Catholic Church, and the communities of Fremont and White Cloud.

Thanks to everyone who made this project a reality.

As a result of your support, these 15 wells are having a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people.

On Tuesday March 19th at our club assembly each table of Rotarians were asked to complete a Rotary Survey. The 5 questions were:

1.  What suggestions would you make to help our Fremont Rotary Club grow and prosper?

2.  What should we do more of or less of activity wise?

3.  What opportunities can we use to increase our goals as Rotarians (eg. fundraising, community service etc.) and what would you recommend?

4.  What would motivate our club to become a better stronger club?

5.  Do you have prospective members in mind for our Rotary Club?

The results were tabulated and given to each Board member. The answers will be given at the next club assembly. Meanwhile please keep these questions in mind for any additional ideas.  The prospective members mentioned were Shoreline Vision. Dave's Auto Clinic. If you know of any other members that could add to our Rotary please let any Board member know.

On Tuesday March 12th our guest speaker was Rick Albin from WOOD TV Channel 8. He gave a short summary on the political picture of 'news' versus 'opinions' on the 24 hour channels. He also gave an overview on some of the future happenings in congress. He talked about medicare and medicaid He hopes to come back some day to see how the future has treated our expectations of what we have been told today.

On Tuesday February 12th, Jeff Coil was installed as our newest Rotarian. He was sponsored by Thomas Schmidt. Welcome Jeff !!!

Some more snap-shots form the big event in October, attended by over one thousand community members.

Rotary and the Fremont Packers, teaming up for the community.

Pre-game anthem sung by the Providence Christian High School choir.

After the game, autographs were in high demand.

Where Rotary and basketball come together for the good of the community.

And don't forget the dancing...!

Our fund raiser for 2012 was a great success!!!! 
Many thanks to Erik Benston,our leader, and Dean Morehouse,our coach, who put many hours and energy into helping making our fund raiser a great family fest. Our committee, Shari Paulsen, James Kelly, Holly Potenge, Julie Dykman, John Buckley, and Bonnie Erber, also put much time and effort into making our fund raiser successful. Many thanks also to our Fremont High School and Fremont Middle School,Fremont Music Boosters, Providence Choir and Packer Backers for all their help...

Three of the new members will help anchor the Newaygo satellite club as interest picks up in that community. 

(Pictured: left to right for the Rotary Inductee-palooza – Club President Rob Zeldenrust,  realtor Rob Pope (Newaygo) with his wife and sponsor Kathy Pope, attorney Nancy Hornacek (Fremont) with her sponsor Russ Price, Bob Jordan who sponsored foundation program officer Amy Moore (Fremont), Sandy Siegel who sponsored hospital administrative assistant Travis Kroll (Newaygo) and Andy Lofgren who sponsored city manager  Jon Schneider (Newaygo).

Representative Bill Huizenga (R) made a stop at the Fremont Rotary Club in March to share his observations, insights and continuing budget woes swirling in Washington, D.C.  Huizenga expressed the honor it is to represent our district and the many friends and connections he has in Fremont.  His presentation at the Rotary Club followed a stop at Fremont High School.

(L to R – Rotarian John Buckley, Rep. Bill Huizenga and Bonnie Erber,  Fremont Rotary President-Elect pose for a photo before the weekly Fremont Rotary meeting in the Black Box of the Dogwood Center for the Performing Arts.)

Every once in a while - you will hear a Rotarian talk about a "make-up." For some who are new to the club (and even those who have been around a while) it is good to be reminded about a "make-up."

For a Rotarian, a Make-up is one of the great opportunities in our Rotary lives.  When you make up a missed meeting by going to another club anywhere in the world (where you will be welcomed warmly and without reservation), you have the chance to mix and mingle with like-minded people for whom service is paramount.  Even though they might not speak your language, you will be surprised at the level of understanding that you can reach just by showing your Rotary wheel. 

You will have the opportunity to hear marvelous stories, tell your own, share a banner from Fremont and bring one back to our club (adding to the color of our meeting space!) and make new friends from the four corners of the globe.  All of the banners on display in the Black Box came from Fremont Rotarians making up somewhere in the world!  Making up when on vacation is another great way to make new friends, especially if it is in an area where you will be visiting again and again.  Step up and Make Up for Rotary! 

 Chief Phil Deur receiving his second Paul Harris in November for contributing an additional $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation.

Five lucky Rotarians walked away with the goods while the rest of the club had to settle for some tasty samples. 

The Paul Harris Fellow award is given to a Rotarian who contributes $1,000 to the International Rotary Foundation.  This Foundation is instrumental in providing funds for medicine and volunteers to travel to countries that still have outbreaks of polio.  Rotary is a service organization with the Fremont Club participating in local as well as international service projects.

Thompson was awarded his second Paul Harris in October for contributing an additional $1,000 to the foundation. Thompson’s RE/MAX River Valley co-workers Shari Meyer and Karen O’Neal, both Paul Harris Fellows, were in attendance to celebrate this accomplishment.

 “Cool Change” delighted the audience that included several members of the Gulf Shores Michigan Club.  The quartet demonstrated their close harmony, down home style and humor performing such hits as “Please Come to Boston”, “The City of New Orleans”, “Deep River Woman” and many others.  

 "Cool Change" pleases the audience with their smooth, close harmonies.

Special Thanks to Chuck Whitman for organizing the concert!

 The Fremont Rotary Club is helping bring clean water to parts of Honduras as part of a World Community Service project.  Our club partnered with four other Rotary clubs in our District (Traverse City, Grand Haven, Spring Lake and Lowell) to purchase Rotary One, a vehicle for working on water projects in the mountains of Honduras. The truck is now one year old and has 18,000 miles on it, -- most of these have been accumulated over rocky terrain at 15-20 miles per hour.  The project is in collaboration with the Santa Rosa de Copan Rotary Club in Honduras.  Over the years Rotary has completed water distribution projects in 20 mountain village projects plus the well for the hospital. With an average of 100 homes in each village, it’s estimated that the clean water project is responsible for providing  water to 16,000 people, plus the 5,000 per year who are treated at the hospital. 

Nato, the Honduran project supervisor, on the left, and Rotarian Gernot Runschke on the right, take a break from checking on potential water sites in Honduras in their vehicle provided by Rotary Clubs of West Michigan.

2-for-1 Recognition 

During the week of 24-28 October 2011, donors will receive 2- for-1 recognition for every online contribution of US$100 or more made to PolioPlus on www.rotary.org/contribute.  We need your help to  make this promotion a success. You must be registered with Rotary’s Member Access prior to making an online contribution. To register for Member Access, please visit www.rotary.org/memberaccess.

The promotion will begin on 6 a.m., Central Standard Time (CST), on Monday, 24 October, and end at 12 noon sharp (CST), on Friday, 28 October. Please note that contributions on www.rotary.org/contribute are in US dollars and 11 other Rotary supported currencies, including AUD, CAD, CHF, DKK, EUR, GBP, JPY, NZD, NOK, SEK, ZAR. Also, online contributions cannot be made on behalf of another individual, club, or district.  We expect to have a high volume of online traffic associated with this promotion. Please allow 4-6 weeks for the promotional recognition to appear on your account and to request recognition materials. Click here for more information on the 2-for-1 recognition promotion.

"This Close"

 Please help spread the word to friends and family to participate in this exciting online campaign.  To encourage widespread support for the effort to eradicate polio, Rotary has recruited a select group of notables for a “This Close” public awareness campaign. These public service announcements emphasize that Rotary is 99 percent toward its goal to eradicate this disease.

A Rotary fund raiser concert is planned at the Dogwood Center. 

“Cool Change”, a musical group from Alabama, will be performing.  The group has delighted audiences over the years with their close harmony, down home style and humor performing such hits as “Please Come to Boston”, “The City of New Orleans”, “Deep River Woman” and many others.   Tickets are $12.50 and can be purchased at the Dogwood box office. 

All proceeds will help fund much-needed soccer shelters. The Fremont Rotary Club has identified the local project of building shelters for the Fremont soccer teams (school and community teams) that play on the Varsity field just west of the Middle School.  While soccer players are used to playing in the cold and rain, Fremont field is one of a very few fields in the district without a shelter for those who are injured, not playing or during half-time.

Come enjoy some fine music and support our local athletes at the same time! 

Fremont Rotarian and Assistant District Governor, Tom Schmidt, receives his Paul Harris recognition pin from Club President Rob Zeldenrust.  Schmidt was honored for donating an accumulated $5000 to Rotary International.

The Fremont Rotary Club recently built and installed benches and shelves in the dugouts at Branstrom Park. The service ‘team’ consisted of (left to right) Bryan Gruesbeck, Bob Erber, Dean Morehouse, Chuck Whitman, Phil Deur, James Kelly and Bonnie Erber. (Construction team members not shown: Cathy Obits and Sandy Siegel)

Bonnie Erber, President-Elect of the Fremont Rotary Club, receives the Spirit Award from Past President, John Buckley.  The Spirit Award is given to the Fremont Rotarian who  embodies Rotary’s Four-Way Test and demonstrates Service Above Self to our community.

Each year, the Rotary Club has the privilege of inducting a new president for the year. Immediate Past President of the Fremont Rotary Club,  John Buckley (right) , congratulates and welcomes incoming Fremont Rotary President Rob Zeldenrust at the July 5th Club Meeting.  Rob Zeldenrust will preside over club matters from July of 2011 through June of 2012.

Girl Scouts Sidney Baird, Catie Norman and Brianna Blamer are seen with Girl Scout Troop 20340 Leader Bev Blamerat a recent Fremont Rotary Club meeting.  The girls explained  their Gold Award project which is comparable to the Boy Scouts Eagle Award.  Their project is the Walking Art Tour that took place July 28 in collaboration with the Newaygo County Council of the Arts. Copies of the troop’s self-guided art booklet are available at various Fremont businesses.

The Fremont Rotary Club hosted a booth on Thursday, July 21st at the Fremont Marketplace during National Baby Food Festival. All money raised went to Polio Plus - $76 and awareness were raised during the event. People were encouraged to donate and "show their purple pinkie" Many thanks to those who donated and to those who manned the booth throughout the day. Shown below are Bob and Bonnie Erber taking a shift. Other Rotarians who staffed the booth during the festival included Tom and Denise Schmidt, James Kelly and John Buckley .

August 9, 2011 - Service Project at Branstrom Park

October 4, 2011 - Club Assembly

October 25, 2011 - District Governor Visit

May 18 - 20, 2012 - Rotary District Conference

 Welcome back!

After an amazing year as outbound exchange students, Kathleen Buckley and Sarah McGinn officially became rebounds. Their families and the Rotary Club of Fremont were very happy to welcome them back. At the Rotary Club meeting of Tuesday, July 12th, both Kathleen and Sarah presented banners from their host clubs. Everyone is looking forward to their presentations to the club about their experiences.

Each year, the Fremont Rotary Club awards a scholarship to a graduating senior within the Fremont area that exemplifies the Rotary ideal of "Service above Self"

Scholarship winners are selected based upon exemplary citizenship and character expressed through community activity, personal and academic achievement, and service above self. Service above self can be described as service to your community or others for the pure joy of providing assistance. Service above self is not providing service simply because you are a member of a group or have a requirement to complete community service.

It's official! Congratulations to Juli Dykman on assuming the role of Club President!

 Fremont Harvest Festival parade. Thanks for representing the club so well!

What a day! As you can see hundreds of supporters showed up for the dedication of the West Michigan Miracle League in Rockford. Fremont Rotary played a small but important piece in supporting this project through a financial contribution that combined with other area Rotary clubs and some potential matching funds will result in a $17,000 gift towards the project.

The field itself provides an opportunity for special needs children to experience the joys of baseball, for most likely the first time, on a fully accessible field. So kudos to the West Michigan Miracle League, to their board of directors, and to the many, many donors who made this possible!

Last fall two soccer shelters were constructed by the ROtary Club at the varsity soccer field for Fremont Public schools. I am proud to report that the final piece to the project is on place, the plaques. Thanks again to all involved with the soccer project. I have heard they were a much welcomed addition to the facilities at the middle school.

Special thanks to Chuck Whitman and Jeff Coil for their hands on approach with this project. We especially appreciated the heated workshop that Chuck offered for use! Thanks to Sandy Siegel for the coffee and donuts, and to Bonnie Erber for bringing the needs of the elementary school to the service committee's attention.