Rotary Club of Pinconning and Standish Michigan

06/02/2026

This Thursday's Rotary meeting will be the monthly social gathering held at Sporty's Wing Shack, starting at 6:00 pm.

On Saturday, June 6th, the Arenac Conservation District will host the second annual "Casting for Conservation" program at Oasis Lake County Park along M-76, north of Sterling. This event replaces the Rotary Club's "Take-a-Kid Fishing" event as part of the Nature Festival. The program runs from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

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05/30/2026

Dacy Willard, Managing Librarian at the Pinconning Branch Library, and Kristin Freeman, Marketing Manager for the Bay County Library System [BCLS], presented information on services of the library system, in general, and the summer reading program, in particular. The library system operates four libraries, Wirt and Sage in Bay City, branches in Auburn and Pinconning, along with the Bookmobile. The Bookmobile averages 45 stops per month at locations in the county that are remote from one of the branch libraries, including places like childcare centers and nursing homes.



This year’s summer reading program is titled “Reading is Dino-Mite,” and runs from June 8th through August 8th. Children are invited to track 8 hours of reading or listening to audio books. Time spent reading can be logged on forms available at all libraries. Time can also be entered online. At the end of the program, readers are eligible to receive prizes. The kick-off for the Pinconning reading program will take place in Doc Letchfield Park on Wednesday, June 17th, from 5 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Many kid-friendly activities will be available and community organizations will be present to distribute information to visitors. Last year, 400 people attended the reading program kick-off in Pinconning.



Other services provided by the library system include:

---The BCLS Seed Library at the Wirt Library. Library card holders are welcome to “check-out” up to 10 packets of seeds for herbs, fruits, and flowers. Participants are requested to return a portion of the seeds produced in their garden in the fall.

---Tech Troubleshooting at Pinconning Branch Library. Bring an electronic device, like a phone, laptop, or tablet, to the library and receive one-on-one tech help from a tech nerd. The program will take place on Tuesday/June 16, Wednesday/July 15, and Thursday/August 13, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

---The Friends of the Libraries annual used book sale will be held Thursday, July 30, through Saturday, August 1, at the Civic Ice Arena on Shresta Drive, off Wilder Road, in Bangor Twp.



Information on many other services too numerous to present in this report can be found online at www.baycountylibrary.org, programs such as a joint project with Studio 23 called Public Sculpture & Word Art Gardens, the Film and Video Conversion program at the Wirt Library, the Pups & Pages program [reading to dogs]; Book Club Connection Bags to help local reading clubs get started, Storytimes & Family Reading programs, and the 250th birthday [United States semi-quincentennial] celebration to be held at branch libraries on Wednesday, July 1st.

-Kristin Freeman [left] and Dacy Willard-

05/23/2026

Great way to support our firefighters. We will be helping to serve food, come and say hello!

Mark your calendars for June 13 Garfield Township Fire Days! Bring the family and don't miss out on Sporty's Wing Shack Chicken Dinners!

05/13/2026

05/02/2026

On April 30, 2026, members of the Rotary Club of Pinconning & Standish heard a presentation by Andy Kowalczyk, Superintendent of Pinconning Area Schools, on the recent community survey done to solicit input from school district residents on a proposed bond issue that may go on the November ballot. Two options are being considered. First, to consolidate the two 70-year-old elementary schools into one school on the site with the present high school and middle school in Pinconning and add a cafetorium at the new elementary. Second, to construct the new elementary school and cafetorium, plus construct a fieldhouse on school grounds. Last year, the school board hired a consultant called School Perceptions to gather and organize data collected from local residents with the objective of helping the board make strategic decisions regarding its buildings. The response to the recent community service was very good. The Pinconning survey generated more than twice the number of responses compared to survey results from another school district in the region that is much larger than Pinconning. Data will be compiled based on the age of respondents, where they live [in or out of the district], in which township or city they reside, and whether or not they have children in the district. Data for residents is further broken down between PASD staff, parents, and non-staff/non-parents. The survey will also provide preliminary information on the amount of support the two bond issues currently have.

Once the survey summary has been compiled by the consultant, the results will be shared with the school board at its meeting on May 11th. A series of community and township meetings will follow to discuss survey results and to address issues raised by survey respondents. Once that process is complete, the school board will be in a position to decide which option, if any, it wishes to place on the November ballot.

04/29/2026

Thank you SBLC!

04/25/2026

On April 23, 2026, members of the Rotary Club of Pinconning & Standish heard a presentation by Tara Marczak, Manager of the Independent Bank branches in Standish and Pinconning, and President of the Pinconning & Linwood Chamber of Commerce, concerning the Chamber’s 2026 activities. Community awards were presented at the Annual Awards program in January. Awardees included Brian Saha [President’s Award], Lewis Matijega [Citizen of the Year], and Rotary’s own Ellen Charlebois [Leadership Award].



A well-attended Easter Egg Hunt was held on a chilly day in March, while Pinconning’s new ladder fire truck was on display. On Wednesday, May 13th, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m., the Chamber’s first “community impact day” will be held where volunteers are invited to engage in an important community activity. The Chamber is partnering this year with the Pinconning Arts Council to spruce up Doc Letchfield Park to prepare it for the many activities that will take place there this summer. The fall Pumpkin Festival will be held in the park again in October.



The Pinconning CheeseTown Race & Festival will be held June 19th to the 21st. The festival has been expanded this year and will see the return of the Midway/Carnival along with the ever-popular fireworks display. The weekend festival is expected to attract 40 to 50 vendors as well.



The Linwood Pickle Festival will return this year, from August 13th to the 16th. Although the Chamber of Commerce is not the sponsor of the festival, it will be supporting the event. One of the Chamber’s roles is to support local businesses and events. Some of this is done using the Chamber’s page. The page currently has 1,800 followers and is expected to grow to 2,000 followers by June. During the last 90 days, 16,000 comments have been posted on the site. Club members congratulated Tara Marczak on the recent progress that has been made at the Pinconning & Linwood Chamber of Commerce, a strictly volunteer-driven organization.

Right - photo of Tara Marczak who presented the program.
The second photo shows the quilt created by Tina Bauer. She has donated the quilt to the Rotary Club to offer as part of its nature festival raffle.

04/22/2026

Our Rotary Saginaw Bay Nature Festival is in full swing. We are excited to share all of the great art work that was submitted for the art contest by area students! We hope you will join us at the Nature Festival Reception to view it all, plus you can vote for a "people's choice" winner in each age group.