Volunteering
Plymouth High School Robotics Competition
Because of my position on the Marshall County Community Foundation (MCCF) Grants Committee, I was fortunate enough to see the beginnings of the Robotics Club at Plymouth High School. I knew Principal Jim Condon as a fellow Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) Board Member. He introduced me to Josh Kuhn and Kennedy Schneider, two Plymouth High School students who, without the knowledge of the school, entered and won the State Vex Robotics Competition. (I found this article discussing the original team in the South Bend Tribune. I’ve embedded a link to them winning the State Championship below.) The School then helped them move on to the World competition in California. The school then applied for a grant from MCCF to start a formal robotics club the following year. I vetted the school’s grant application for a robotics program and was pleased to champion it with the MCCF Grants Committee. MCCF awarded them a significant grant to begin the program.
Coming full circle, Principal Condon told me last Friday that three years after that start-up, Plymouth High School’s Robotics Club would be hosting a northern Indiana competition on Saturday and would be fielding six teams. The event ran from 9 until 4. Due to other commitments I could only go for the afternoon. Becky and I got there about 1:30 and as it turned out, that was about right as we were in time for the to see the team selection process and the beginning of the elimination rounds.
Principal Condon was kind enough to take a few minutes to sit with us and update me on the status of the program as well as tell us a little about what we were seeing. The teams were ranked and then through a school yard pick, divided up into teams of three. The teams then competed head to head for two out of three wins in competition matches to advance to the finals.
I don’t think I could do justice to a description of the competition here. Suffice it to say it was a combination of driving skill, defense, ball collection and ball shooting skill as they collected balls around the arena and attempted to get them into the goal net. The robots shot the balls using impellers, catapults and paddles. The students were given specifications and a parts list they could use last summer and then they spent months developing CAD models of their robots. They are required to provide a detailed manual describing the design process and the construction process which is part of the judging process. At competitions they are judged on not only their competence in the arena, but on style and presentation.
I’m probably unjustified in being proud of the very small part I played in helping with this. But seeing the enthusiasm of the kids and the obvious pride they have in their efforts was heartwarming. I’ll have no problem going back to MCCF and telling them that the grant money invested in the program was well spent.
Marshall County Vision meeting in Culver
Last week MCEDC had a Marshall County Vision Meeting in Culver with a select group of Culver representatives. Those representatives helped refine the message and selected a date for a Town-wide meeting. MCEDC hopes those representatives will also help get the word out to assure a good turn out. The message we’re sharing is a call to action. The more people that hear this directly from the source, the more clearly the message will be recommunicated. Invite you friends and neighbors. This is important to us all.
Thank you to Rich West and the Culver Cove for hosting!
Bobetta Ruhnow
I lost another good friend at the end of last month. Bobetta (Bobbie) Ruhnow passed away on October 31st. You can read her impressive obituary here. But that obituary hardly does her justice…
I first became acquainted with Bobbie as a friend in the early nineties shortly after I moved back to Culver. Dad said that part of the business was public service and soon after attending a few Chamber of Commerce meetings as Easterday’s representative I was asked to join the board. Bobbie’s involvement there led us to work together on many Culver projects including the inception of the Second Century Committee, the Mary Means Study, the Osborn Square Study, the Ratio Charrette and the Ratio Comprehensive Plan. Eventually we were involved with so many things together she quipped, “If you show up for Thanksgiving Dinner next week, I won’t even bat an eye. I see you enough that you’re like part of the family.” There were many times she joked about wanting to adopt me… I felt honored that she felt that way about me.