skies 439 have been there since 6/26 meeting: tbd rotarian
TRANSCRIPT
IMPORTANT DATES❖ 6/12 Meeting: Bob McFeeter &
Kerry Wright, Harbor Village at Harbor Shores
❖ 6/19: NO MEETING // Installation Dinner at Stonegate Manor
❖ 6/26 Meeting: TBD❖ 7/3: NO MEETING // 4TH OF JULY
HOLIDAY❖ 7/10 Meeting: TBD
It was a beautiful summery day for our first meeting in June so it was fitting that we kicked things off by singing Oh, beautiful for spacious
skies… Those skies have been treating us kindly lately--let’s hope that lasts all summer!
GETTING IN THE GAME
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JUNE 5, 2017
Rotarian Dave Peterson played
double duty this week performing
the roles of both chair-of-the-day
and presenter...which was especially
entertaining at the end when he
presented himself with a certificate
stating the donation in his name to
the Dominican Clean Water project.
The real topic of the day was taking
a deeper look at Indian Gaming in
our community. As we learned in a
presentation back in October, Dave
serves as a judge for the Pokagon
Band of Potawatomi Indians. The
Pokagons own gaming casinos in
four local locations: Hartford, New
Buffalo, Dowagiac and coming soon
to South Bend.
Dave shared some impressive stats
about the New Buffalo location:
● 130,000 square feet of
gaming space
● 3,000 slot machines
● 415 hotel rooms
● 2,200 parking spots in the
garage with another 1,000
spots in the lot
● 1,800 employees of which
439 have been there since
they opened
Equally impressive is the $91 million
annual payroll number across all
three locations and $78 million paid
to vendors for outside services.
So, how did it all start? In February
of 1983, the Cabazon Band of
Mission Indians were operating the
“Cabazon Card Casino” in Riverside
County, California when the
California Sheriff’s Department
issued 30 citations.
Continued on pages 5
JOKE OF THE WEEK
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ROTARIANS WITH
GUESTSSteve Banyon brought Rich Burling
Mike Huie brought Robin and Lihn Vi
ROTARIANS WITH JUNE BIRTHDAYS!6/2 - Mike Kinney6/5 - Jack Keller6/6 - Rick Villa
6/9 - Chris Newland6/10 - Art Fenrick6/13 - Jack Kinney6/20 - Steve Ross
6/21 - Jerry Alberts & Steve Townsend6/22 - Brian Sauer6/23 - Bill Downey
10+ YEAR ROTARY ANNIVERSARIES12 Years - Millicent Huminsky
16 Years - Rae German19 Years - Dixon Bieri23 Years - Jackie Huie
25 Years - Kurt Marzke & ill Benner28 Years - Bob Dolson33 Years - Bill Johnson
37 Years - David Peterson43 Years - Charles Duncan
49 Years - Steve Upton44 Years - Mike Cook
53 Years - William Rahn & Jack Porritt54 Years - Jack Kinney55 Years - Bob Starks
ROTARY STUDENT PROGRAMWe were joined this week by Bryan Vi, a junior at St. Joseph High School and recent participant in the Rotary Student Program. Brian has an interest in marketing and was able to participate in a reverse interview at JohnsonRauhoff and had the opportunity to job shadow a member of the KitchenAid brand team at Whirlpool Corporation. Brian expressed his appreciation to Jackie Huie for introducing him to the Rotary Student Program and to Rotarians for providing this opportunity to youth in our community.
OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHIES TO THE WUERFEL FAMILYFrom the Starks Family Funeral Homes & Cremation Services website
Kenneth WuerfelApril 25, 1961 - May 28, 2017
Kenneth Alan Wuerfel, 56, of St. Joseph, MI, passed away, peacefully on Sunday, May 28 at the Merlin and Carolyn Hanson Hospice Center in Stevensville, MI surrounded by family and friends.
Ken was born on April 25, 1961 in Grand Rapids, MI to Clarence and Joann (DenBraber) Wuerfel. He graduated from Greenville High School in 1979. Then from Ferris State College with a B.S. in Printing Management in 1984. After various jobs with printing companies in Chicago and Indiana Ken found employment in St. Joseph, MI with Imperial Printing Company in 1991, and has made his life here ever since. In 2008, he joined his wife as an entrepreneur in their Cleaning Authority business. In 2011, they opened the first (award winning) Mosquito Squad franchise in Michigan.
In 1998, Ken married the love of his life, Julie Martin, and together they raised their daughter Rosie. As a family they enjoyed camping, golfing, vacations, gymnastics & cheer events, church gatherings and
community activities. Ken was a member of the St. Joseph/Benton Harbor Rotary Club, Gideon’s, various golf leagues, and First Church of God in St. Joe.
Ken is survived by his wife, Julie, their daughter, Theresa Rose (Rosie), his parents, Clarence and Joann Wuerfel of Orlando, FL; and three sisters, Karen (Mitch) Hays of Orlando, FL; Barbara Steele of Raleigh, NC; Sandra (Morgan) Young of Kokomo, IN and several nieces and nephews.
INSTALLATION DINNERWe sincerely hope that each of you will save the date of June 19 to honor Steve Smith as our outgoing President and to welcome Rick Villa as our incoming President. Dress attire is casual (picnic style) clothes and we hope you will join in and enjoy lawn games, fellowship, good food and music. The location will be at Stonegate Manor, 2251 Riverside Road in Benton Harbor. There will NOT be a noon meeting on June 19. The cost is a reasonable $30 per person. Sign up now by emailing Debra Trapikas at [email protected].
We’ve heard a few recurring questions about the event. Here are some answers to FAQs:● Spouses or significant others are welcome to
attend the event as well● The facility is fully handicapped accessible
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Congrats to all the Class of 2017 Graduates!!!
INDUCTION CEREMONYWe’ve added another new member to our ranks! This week, we welcomed Ron Goos into the club. Ron has been in the area since 2006. He is the son-in-law of Rotarian Les Miller and is a realtor with Re/max by the Lake.
HELP NEEDED!Two committees are in search of additional members. If you are not currently serving on any committees orare new to the club and looking to get more involved, please consider participation on one of the following committees.
Sergeant at ArmsResponsibilities include:● Room set-up (arriving at 11:15 AM)
○ Two people bring the cabinet and computer case○ Bell and gavel go on table near piano○ Display Club pop-up banners in the front of the room○ Turn on the laptop & projector for speaker presentations○ Distribute song books on all tables○ Greet people at the front with 50/50 table as time allows
● Podium (5 minutes max)○ Introduce visiting Rotarians○ Fines - $1-$5 - Good clean fun and keeping in mind the four-way test.
● Clean-up○ Return Banners, Bell, Gavel and Song Books○ Lock cabinet and return to storage room
If you have any questions or are interested, contact Matt Hanley at 724-249-4540 or [email protected].
CommunicationsThe communications committee is looking for backup or ongoing help in the following areas. No regular meeting requirements (outside of regular Rotary meetings) and training can be provided in all areas.● eWheel - Consists of two work streams: content and layout. Content providers are always welcome but layout
help is critically needed, even if it’s just on a back-up basis. Your eWheel editor will be on her honeymoon for the first 2 weeks in October and there is currently no back-up help for eWheel layout.○ CONTENT: Write eWheel content including a summary of the feature presentation, Student Program
presentations, Induction Ceremony details, monthly Birthdays and Rotary Anniversaries (info from DacDb), Visiting Rotarians and Rotarians with Guests (sign-in sheets from meetings) other announcements by special request
○ LAYOUT: Prepare layout of eWheel based on provided content. The eWheel is produced using Google Slides for layout. Training is provided but it’s very easy--drag and drop, insert images and text boxes. No graphic design experience needed but familiarity with the Google suite is preferred.
● Digital Presence - Website and Facebook are currently underutilized. There’s a great opportunity to amplify our messages through our digital presence if we can add a committee member to be dedicated to these areas.
If you have questions or are interested, please contact Emily Hosinski at [email protected].
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Connect with the Rotary Club of St.
Joseph-Benton Harbor
online at www.sjbhrotary.org Like us on Facebook!
WANT TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE eWHEEL?Your weekly email is brought to you by Emily Hosinski, Brandi Smith-Gordon and Lisa Cripps-Downey with
photography by Jen Cole. If you have an announcement, a bit of news you wish to share, or a story you wish
to see featured, please write to [email protected].
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GETTING IN THE GAME (CONTINUED)
By February of 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in
favor of the tribe which led to the 1988 Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act. This Act stated that sovereign tribes
could offer the same kind of gaming approved in the
state where they were located. Today, in order to own
a casino under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, you
must be a federally recognized tribe operating on
federal trust land and have state and local approval.
A few “fast facts” about Indian Tribes:
● 567 Federally Recognized Tribes
● 326 Indian Reservations
● 493 Indian Gaming Operations
● 244 Tribes have Gaming Operations
● 28 States have Gaming Operations
● $30 Billion generated from Indian Gaming
● 43% of Casino Gaming is Indian Affiliated
As part of the state and local approval, tribes who own
gaming facilities agree to compact distributions or
payouts. For the Four Winds, these include:
● Michigan Oversight Fee
○ $50,000 or .05% of the net win**,
whichever is greater
● Michigan
○ 6% of net win from New Buffalo
○ 8% of net win from Hartford or
Dowagiac
● Local Units of Government
○ 2% to Local Revenue Sharing Board
■ New Buffalo 2007-2016:
$44,828,461.44
● Pokagon Fund
○ Started at 2% of net win now down to
.75% ($24,536,784)
**Net Win - Total amount wagered on each electronic game of
chance, minus total amount paid out.
Dave also shared a very long list containing the history of the
grants made by the Pokagon Fund. He also shared some
headlines of other Indian Casino contributions within their local
communities. In addition to grants to nonprofit organizations,
there are a number of scholarships provided both to graduating
high school students and to adult learners.