JROTC Program
Major McGrath serves as Senior Marine Instructor at Michigan City HS, for the JROTC program. He described the JROTC program not as a military program—but as a leadership program, focusing on leadership traits. Some of the classes discussed are financial planning, debate and history. The MCAS JROTC program typically provides hundreds of hours of service to the community each year, including participation in many patriotic events. The current JROTC program has over fifty students enrolled. Major McGrath summed up the objectives of the JROTC as: being respectful of people, being prompt, and a person of integrity/a person of their word.
Major Dale Simmons
Major Dale Simmons from the Salvation Army updated the club on a current projects. Dale talked about the twenty-eight recent graduates from the Bridges program. The program is designed to lift participants out of Poverty. Often, this means helping people get back on their feet with a job. He also commented on the homeless in the city—where many times the root cause is mental illness. The Salvation Army is helping. Major Simmons concluded his remarks by thanking the Club and the community for their support. The Salvation Army provides hot meals to the public on Mondays and as well as providing turkeys to families at Thanksgiving and hams at Christmas
Jeremy Sobecki, Laporte County Parks Department
Jim Eriksson introduced today’s speaker: LaPorte County Parks Department Jeremy Sobecki Superintendent, Laporte County Parks Department. Jeremy is responsible for the five County Parks that make up the LaPorte County Parks system. This includes supervising eight full-time employees and ten seasonal employees. The Park system operates on a budget of approximately $570,000/yr. Last year it is estimated that close to 400,000 people visited the LaPorte County Park system. Jeremy reminded club members that the Parks are no charge to visit, however if you want to, for example, rent a Park Shelter for an event there is a nominal charge. The Parks Department also had over sixty events last year as part of its in-school program. There were an additional ninety-eight public programs offered to the public last year as well. The Parks Department also keeps the public up to date on any events/programs that are scheduled in the near future with its Website. Just go to
www. laportcountyarks.org/events.
Ms.Dale Cooper, LaPorte County Visitors Bureau
Ms Dale Cooper, General Manager, LaPorte County Visitors Bureau, - "Visit Michigan City LaPorte" discussed how the group is funded by hotels in the area. Five percent of hotel stay goes to Visit Michigan City LaPorte. Promoting LaPorte County creates opportunities that will allow people to visit and hopefully stay at a hotel in LaPorte County, Dale discussed her volunteering background in our community, and she recognized several of our members in the audience since she volunteers for many of the same groups our members’ support. Dale reminded members of the upcoming wintry weather season and that the Visit Michigan City LaPorte Office is accepting gently used coats to help people in the community who made need a winter coat but are not able to afford one. They are primarily seeking coats for young people between the ages of 6-18 years old. Dale also talked about som events that are scheduled for the county next year including the exciting Boat Races which will be back in Michigan City as the major teams will receive points unlike last year when the race held in Michigan City did not reward race teams with the points that they really need. Dale ended her presentation by taking questions from club members.
Terry Greetham, Michigan City Director of Special Events
Program Speaker: Phil Freese, Speaker Chairman for the month introduced his guest Terry Greetham, MC Director of Special Events. Terry has generated a lot of money for Michigan City while operating with a small budget. In 2023, His department raised approximately $50K. In 2024, Terry has been able to raise $70K. So, for 2025 the city is looking to generate $100K in revenue.
Terry commented how much the St. Patrick’s Day Parade has grown over the years—last year there were over sixty units participating in the parade up from fifty-five units in 2023. Not to be out done the Annual Easter Egg hunt involved over 18,000 eggs last year—that were picked up by over 1,500 kids! Terry also commented on the Great Lakes Grand Prix Boat Races. This year there were forty-five boats participating, the event featured great racing and great attendance. Both the Block Party and the Board Parade had the streets full as these events were very well attended. The MC Boat Races are thought of amongst the racing teams as one of the best on the racing circuit.
Carl Clavelli, Attorney at Law, Retired
Exchange Club member, Carl Clavelli gave an enlightening talk on his life in the legal world. His story begins with exposure to the legal profession while in the army, leading to night school to study law, and employment with the General Security Agency, followed by work in the Attorney Generals Office of the DOJ. He went on to private practice to take on criminal defence, handling several high profile cases, including appearances before the Supreme Court. He is now "retired" and residing in the Michigan City area.
Mike Noland, President/General Manager of NICTD
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