Kentland Rotary Annual Meeting and December 12

The Kentland Rotary Club held its annual meeting at Hazelden Country Club on Tuesday December 6.  Highlights of the evening included a delicious meal, musical entertainment, election of officers, and a brief program on the Rotary Foundation and its work around the world.  Prior to the meal members had an opportunity to visit with other Rotarians and meet their spouses.  Darrell Fredrickson welcomed the members and guests and conducted a brief business meeting to elect officers and approve the constitution and by-laws of the club. The following officers were elected: Kirby Drey President, Dave Asher President Elect, Greg Hall Secretary, and John Frischie Treasurer.  They will take office on July 1 of 2012. 

 Jay Brinkman, Chris Knochel, Ron Norris, and Steve Portteus sang several Christmas songs and involved the crowd in some sing along fun.   Jay Brinkman shared a video of Rotary Projects around the world that included polio eradication, clean water, and medical treatment projects. 

December 12 Meeting

 The December 12^th meeting brought Dr. Bert Rockman renowned Presidential History expert and Department Head of the Political Science Department at Purdue University.   Dr. Rockman shared his thoughts on presidential politics.  He broke down the segments into the party nomination, general election, and service as President.   Dr. Rockman reviewed changes that take place from one segment to another.  He shared that the potential party nominee must appeal to his party’s roots during the nomination period prior to the primaries.  Then the candidate must seek to encourage independent voters support during the election because very few candidates have been elected with party support only in our history.    The picture changes again after the election because the President must interact with the public, congress, and even the judicial branch to make changes.  The process is interesting because a candidate can’t just say if elected I will tinker with solutions to the issues.

Dr. Rockman was the guest of Kevin Wiley.