Club Meeting Recap--March 7, 2016

Club President Terri Rickel rang the bell calling to order the March 7th meeting of the Elkhart Rotary Club.

Scott Puckett opened and led in the pledge and four way test.

Student guests from Elkhart Memorial: Daniel Weld, Steven Mittadam, Alexis Wilson

Announcements:

There will be a Taste of the Garden committee meeting next Monday at 11:00. If you have been contacted or are interested in helping, please try to be there.

Tom Shoff talked about the Elkhart River Queen. It had been in continuous service since 1956 but in 2005 due to corrosion issues it was going to be scrapped. A committee was convened to save her and a 501c3 was formed. All donations are tax deductible. There will be a benefit next Sunday, March 13^th from 4:00 to 8:00 at Sports Time on CR 17. For more information, go to www.savethequeen.org

Upcoming programs and activities:

Mayor Tim Neese

James Taylor from the Boys and Girls club

Jeff White from the RV/MH Hall of fame.

There will be a board meeting this Friday, March 11^th at Perkins at 7:00 AM

Thursday, March 17^th is 505 @ 5:05 at the Artisan downtown Elkhart.

Sergeant for the day was Sherri Wuischpard, who extracted fines via Peyton Manning trivia.

The speaker for the day was Kelby Rose, the director of the Elkhart County Historical museum. He has been with the museum since June, 2015 and holds a PHD in anthropology.

The museum began in 1968 and has over 30,000 objects and 100,000 documents. In 1966 when the Bristol High School was closed, Howard Rush purchased the building and donated it to the Elkhart County Historical Society. In the 1990's the museum got it's first paid employees and in 2009 an additional 5300 square feet was added for storage.

One example of the stories on display is the tale of Elkhart resident Jack Cooper, a WWII vet. He was part of squadron 15 on the USS Essex. Jack's plane, with a 3 man crew, was hit by anti aircraft fire and was forced to make an emergency water landing. The artifacts at the museum recount the harrowing days at sea of the 3 men who escaped the plane but unfortunately did not survive the days at sea. This is just one of many examples of the things you will see at the museum.

The Elkhart County Historical Museum tells the story of Elkhart County, transforming the way the community engages with history.

For more information go to www.elkhartcountyhistory.org