On board were members of Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact.
An amazing boat trip happened this week. On board were Rotarians John and Bonnie Gronberg as well as Howard Fink, Rotaractor Charles Elwood (ชาลี), and 13 Interact students. John and Howard are leading a water safety education effort to prevent drownings at our lakeshore. The Holland Michigan public beach is next to a pier structure. When a northwest wind blows, rip currents pull people out along the pier into dangerous water. Rotarians of all types want to better educate the public, both in Holland and beyond, about hazards like this.
The Interact students, some wearing the AI-designed Interact T-shirts (yellow arrows), are raising funds to support this project.
Students want to be beach ambassadors for water education in Holland next summer. Charles remarked, "Michigan has such a large coastline…This is noble work that Rotarians, Rotaractors and Interactors have pulled together to resolve. I’m a proud Rotaractor! This fills my heart with purpose." Charles connected students with Rotary Clubs in Hua Hin Thailand and American Samoa that are combating drownings, too.
 | One student, Annie, told us that when she was 14, she was boogie boarding in the cove when rip currents suddenly pulled her into deep water. Her father jumped in to pull her out. That same day, he pulled two brothers out right near there. They were in shock, pulling each other down trying to grasp for air. Annie wrote a police report to document the situation. She also said later that same day her mother pulled a young girl out from the rocky area and possibly saved her life, too. |
