Like a fine time piece, at exactly the stroke of 12:30 pm, President Darwin Brewster called the meeting of the Rotary Club of Lansing to order…and we all listened. Meeting at the River Street Pub at the Lansing Center, the invocation was delivered by John Pence followed by a strong rendition of God Bless America. Sue Angel adeptly assisted with the introduction of visiting Rotarians and guests, and for me personally, an old friend, Dr. Dele Davies, after whom the Davies Project is named, and a very special person from my days at Sparrow, was one of our guests. Michelle Reynaert proclaimed the health of the club was good, and President Darwin took this opportunity to publicly congratulate Michelle for her recent promotion as the new Vice President of the Sparrow Foundation. I vaguely remember I once held that position. Can’t think of a better choice. Congrats to our friend Michelle. We know you are the right person for this position!! Deb Mikula announced the October Birthdays, reminding us how special these Libras and Scorpios are, but of course we already knew that. After sharing some of the more innovative Halloween costumes, we learned that our generous colleagues had donated $2,075 in honor of their birthdays. Good opportunity to remind everyone that this is an expectation of membership…not 1, not 2, but 3 Rotary donations a year. Hope everyone will remember this. It really is little to ask to belong to this very special Lansing Rotary Club. Additional announcements were shared next by President Darwin. (He really does have this job down.) Ken Beachler then introduced our special music of this Friday, introducing Leah Gerstel and Josh Martin, who shared two songs from their upcoming play at the Peppermint Creek Theatre, Falsettos, a Tony winning musical. What can I say, but another first rate set of voices. Thanks to Ken and of course our own John Dale Smythe (or is it Smith) – he challenged me to spell his name right. How very fortunate we are to have this talent week after week. Keep up the good work gentlemen! Julie Pingston, our Chair of the Day, introduced our visitors from the Potter Park Zoo. Having served (or maybe she still serves) on the Board of the Potter Park Zoological Society, Julie reminded us how fortunate we all are to have a great zoo in our community. Amy Morris-Hall, the Executive Director of the Zoo, and Dennis Laidler, Education Curator of the Zoo, proceeded to deliver quite a tag-team presentation (I think that is an old wrestling term?). Amy, bringing a background including the State Legislature, strategic communications and public relations, began by proclaiming that the Zoo is just one of the most fantastic assets in our community. The mission of the Zoo is to inspire people to conserve animals in the natural world. In 2020, the Zoo will celebrate its centennial anniversary. Originally set up as an entertainment venue, this treasure in our community now strives to be a center for education and conservation, while trying to create an excellent environment for animals and a meaningful opportunity for guests to visit. She shared that across our nation, more visitors go to zoos in total than to major sporting events. With only 232 accredited zoos in the nation (and Potter Park Zoo has this distinction), this really is an elite group that our Zoo is a part of. Sharing the many benefits of accreditation, we all learned much more about our Zoo than we ever imagined. Focusing significant attention on the survival of endangered species of animals from across the globe, the Potter Park Zoo is one of the accredited few that focuses on creating genetic diversity and survival, as well as animal welfare. Creating a healthy and comfortable environment for the animals in the Zoo, the intent is to keep their animals well- nourished and safe. Dennis also shared significant information about the conservation efforts of the Zoo and the many partners they have around the nation. With more than 30 years of actively participating in this fascinating profession, Dennis, coordinating his presentation with Amy, shared several areas they work on at the Zoo. Of the many areas of focus at the Zoo, some that they shared included deciding on which animals to bring to Lansing, and the many questions they address including animal welfare, space, which animals will thrive in cold weather climates (and we do have that), educational value, visitor interest, breeding recommendations, increasing public awareness and actions targeting conservation concerns, preservation, outreach, research and more. We learned that more than 20,000 students visited this asset last year, with underserved populations a major target, including special programs for autistic children and other children with unique challenges. Programs for release were also discussed, explaining how some species are bred and when appropriate, released back to their natural habitat, working to reestablish populations of at risk species. Research projects have included the rhinoceros, rattlesnakes, falcons, frogs and more. The Zoo also works with everyday citizens in what is referred to as ‘citizen science’, where individuals and families are enlisted to create observations and collect data. In 2016, the Potter Park Zoo had more than 172,000 visitors and more than 3500 members. The economic impact of our Zoo is significant. Zoos help us to better understand and appreciate the many other life forms around us. Zoos also are important parts of communities as we view what makes up the type of community that we want to live, work and raise are families in. To conclude their Rotary presentation, we were introduced to Oslo, a wise old Eurasian Eagle-Owl. Not your usual presentation, but that’s what makes Lansing Rotary so unique. There are so many new and interesting aspects of our community, and the talent all around us never ceases to amaze me. Together, it is what makes mid-Michigan such a wonderful place. Before I close this Editarian report, I must once again mention what a special group of people we have the opportunity to interact with each week at Lansing Rotary. I walk into the meeting on Friday (when I make it), and there are countless interesting people that I see and can lunch with. On this Friday, it was my pleasure to dine with Jack Draper and many others. Thanks for each of these days. At the conclusion of this Potter Park Zoo talk, President Darwin adjourned the meeting, reminding us to cheer for our Spartans and return to the Lansing Center next week for another special speaker, our own Mayor Virg Bernero. Best wishes to all. |