Arc Annual Meeting

On Thursday, October 26, The Arc of Midland held its Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony.  The event was held at Blessed Sacrament Church in Midland.  Members and friends of The Arc of Midland joined together for a delicious potluck dinner.  After dinner, outgoing President of The Arc of Midland Board of Directors, Ric Bergstein opened the event and the new Board of Directors was nominated and voted on.  Robert Messmer was approved to be the Treasurer through 2008 and Vice President elect is Deb Craig for a 2006-2008 term.  Three Directors, Jeff Dyer, Rose Rickard, and David Rosenstock were elected for the 2006-2008 term.

The meeting then turned to the awards ceremony.  The Community Builder Award was presented to Joy Russell and Scott Strouse.  Joy Russell is an Ayre Rhinehart realtor who has been a wonderful assistance to individuals with disabilities desiring to purchase their own homes.  Scott Strouse of CTX mortgage has been instrumental in finding ways to finance homes for individuals who wanted to purchase their own home.

The Outstanding Professional Award was presented to Sandy Turk and Lori Raymond, both employees of the Chemical Bank.  These ladies assist The Arc of Midland daily with the financial needs of those individuals we help.  They were also instrumental during the time of the many guardianship changes that occurred in helping to many several new bank accounts.

Elaine White of the Social Security Administration was also awarded the Outstanding Professional Award.  Elaine has assisted us for several years with social security issues that affect those we support and has truly gone above and beyond her duties to help individuals with developmental disabilities.  Unfortunately, Elaine was unable to be present at the awards ceremony because she was hospitalized due to her fight with cancer, however her daughter accepted the award on her behalf.

The Direct Support Professional Award was presented to Ligita Wendt for her outstanding support of Brenda Bell and her business.

James House was honored with the Innovator Award.  James works for CMHCM and has assisted individuals with his creativity, flexibility, and encouragement along with his willingness to use system resources in new and innovative ways.

The Educator of the Year Awards were presented to Betsy Rau and Kristin Koski.  These teachers were recognized for their outstanding support and inclusion of Amanda Brown, an individual with a developmental disability and a student at Dow High School.  Community Builder Awards were also presented to Rachel Evans and Katlyn Rowe, both peers of Amanda Brown and students at Dow High School for their support and inclusion of Amanda in her duties on the school photography staff.

The final award, The President’s Award, is presented each year by the outgoing President of The Arc of Midland Board of Directors to an individual of his/her choice.  This year, Ric Bergstein presented the award to Donna Bedford.

The meeting was then concluded by the incoming Board of Directors President, Kathy Dolan.

The Arc of Midland would like to thank everyone who made this evening a wonderful success.  A special thank you to everyone who helped set up the hall for the evening and to the youth of Blessed Sacrament church who did the clean up after the event.