Posted by Kevin V. B. Schumacher
Our Friday meeting was called to order by President Darwin Brewster (note, we’re coming up on the annual June roast and Darwin is on the menu, let me know if you have a dish to pass). Glenn Granger succinctly called on the powers that be in his invocation. I left my notes at the office so the rest of this is going to be sewn from whole cloth. We sang a glorious rendition of La Marseillaise accompanied by Madeleine LeBeau (if you’re going to make something up, go big or go home).
 
Kurt Guter spoke to us about the masterful inverted pyramid scheme engineered by the Paul Harris fellowship. We give the money locally, it filters up through our District and then to International Rotary, sits there for about 2 years (income earned covers Rotary Int’l admin costs) and then the principal is returned to be used for international, district and local clubs to fund great Rotary projects. We really want 100% club participation this year, even if you give $1, $10 or whatever fits your budget and whatever you give is matched dollar for dollar by the Gates Foundation! Bonus!
 
As is our custom, we had special music and in introducing it, Ken Beachler paid special tribute to Ed McRee, under whose presidency special music was made an official part of our weekly meeting. Ed McRee is in hospice care and regrettably, likely to soon meet the powers that be mentioned by Glenn Granger in his invocation. Godspeed. Our singer today was another Haslett High School student, Adam Krause.  I don't remember the name of the song, but I do remember him singing about a river.  His voice was incredibly low and the tonal quality remarkably consistent and the emotional content made you feel it as he sang it. Cudos to John Dale Smith for his stellar accompaniment.
 
Our speaker of the day, Father Francis Limo Riwa, was introduced by Barb Lezotte. Father Francis told us of his work in Kenya, including 3 schools (one for orphaned boys, one for orphaned girls and one for those afflicted with AIDS). There’s probably more in last week’s Rotogram about the programs he’s developed than I can remember here, so feel free to go back a week for more details. Father Francis was in Michigan to attend a college graduation of one three female students who attended his St. Clare Centre for Girls, attended and completed her undergrad at Adrian and secured work at Deloitte. When asked about the sustainability of his programs, he heaped praise on the US as making a difference with its generosity. He went on to emphasize that he holds his students accountable and essentially asks them to tithe and pay it forward. One success story was that of a former student who returned and serves as a doctor for the St. Clare community. Many questions were asked by curious Rotarians (inquisitive, not weird Rotarians). President Brewster thanked our speaker and sent us on our way.
 
Kevin Schumacher's email is:  Schumacher@glassenrhead.com