President Millbrook pulled everyone in from their small group conversations and called the meeting to order.
Andy Earl provided the moment of reflection. The patriotic song was The National Anthem led by Mark Hooper.
After reciting the 4-Way Test, Pres. Millbrook invited Rotarians to introduce their guests. They included: Parker Sessa was handling the microphone for Nick Heriford who introduced his two guests, Jeff Hicks and John Blossie. Heidi McNaughton introduced Chaz Charillo who will be placing an application. Chris Holman introduced Justin Stojsih and Audrey Dahlgren from WLNS, who will be speaking in April. Chris Swope introduced Sarah Kingsley, who will also be emailing an application.
President Millbrook reported on the health of the club--all is well!
Announcements included:
- Kevin Schumacher, your favorite Rotary Sherpa, gave an update on membership numbers and explained the Rotary mentorship program.
- Red Badges were presented to Nicholas Horstman, Nicole Szymczak, Judi Harris, Steve Grant, Corey Grant and Dan Wyant
- John Person gave an update on Rotary Foundation International grants. In total, nearly $40,000 has been awarded for this cycle. Additionally, Rotary Foundation grantee, Alfred Koala from Feeding Nations through Education (FNTE) joined the Club via Zoom. FNTE offers programs in villages in West Africa.
Special music featured our host, Steve Robinson, performing School House Rock on his new rosewood guitar. We now know how to describe a noun as a “person, place or thing,” and a little bit about the magic of math. Rotary continues to educate!
Thanks to our Chair of the Month/Day, Jeff Crippen, who introduced Joe and Linda Pulver who spoke on the topic, “Hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2022.”
Highlights include:
- They started in Springer Mountain in Georgia and estimated a 6-month trip up to Mt. Katahdin, Maine. After 4.5 months and over 2,000 miles, they completed what an average of 20 percent of hikers attempt, but do not finish.
- With minimal nights spent in sheltered structures like hostels, humble hotels and boarding spaces, they enjoyed sleeping in their tents most of all. After carrying 30-33 pounds on an average of 22 miles a day, you need a comfortable place to sleep!
- Meals mostly consisted of dried goods and dehydrated foods. You have to get creative on the trail! New York was their favorite, which offered more choices and more calories to keep them going.
- Packing is crucial when you have to carry everything you “need” on the mountain. A winter pack is significantly heavier than a summer pack. Water, gathered from rivers, was filtered and added significantly to their pack weight. Friends were thankfully available to ship items to them to keep them going.
- They hiked up and over more than 300 mountains! That makes for some amazing views which they shared with the Club.
Pres. Millbrook shared that in lieu of a speaker’s gift, we will make a donation in Joe and Linda’s honor to a local organization through our Lansing Rotary Foundation which has, over the history of our club, given in excess of $2,000,000 to local organizations and projects.
NEXT WEEK: We will meet on Thursday, Jan. 26, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. for our Social Gathering at Lansing Brewing Company.
Meghan Martin's email is: Meghan@lansingarts.org