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he survivors of Thursday’s snowpocalypse dug themselves out of the snowbank and made it to Rotary where President Lisa Smith promptly called us to order. Irv Nichols reminded us that as we start picking our leaders for the upcoming election, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep in mind some of the principles upon which our country was founded. A lot of those principles can be found in the four way test, but have been curiously absent in most of the debates to date. We stood up and sang God Bless America which is always good to get the juices flowing.
Dave Trumpie ran the mic around the room for visiting guests and Rotarians and we had a moment of silence and the ringing of the bell for the passing of Pete Hasbrook. We were reminded about the East Lansing Club’s Weekend Survival Kit Friendraiser on Monday March 21 from 11:00 to 1:00 p.m. at the University Club. Bring in $5.00, help stuff some back packs, get a free lunch and make a friend. McKenna Long announced the February Birthdays: question of the month: What was the worst VD gift you ever gave or received (Valentine’s Day, that is). Answers ranged from “ooooooh baby red candles” to cheap jewelry (make sure you include a gift receipt Uma) to a prized vanity princess slipper chair (I don’t even know what that means). $608.00 was given to the Club Foundation by the birthtarians.
Mark Hooper, whose family has an affinity for twins, got two more spoons for twin granddaughters born in Texas. For those of you who love to spoon, if you have some good news to share with the club, make a donation, and get a Rotary Spoon. Ken Beachler and John Dale Smith apparently thought the music died on February 26, although the day the music actually died was February 3, 1959. No special music today, major bummer, but hey, a lot of musicians have day jobs, so they probably couldn’t get off work.
Joe Wald continued with the food theme for the month with guest speaker Alex Christopher Bryan. I know what you’re thinking, a garden guy with three first names, he must be a vegan assassin. Not so, Alex has been given free range to head up the Greater Lansing Food Bank’s Garden Project. Alex got the job because he knows how to handle a hoe and probably a bunch of other garden tools. President Lisa even noticed his colorful beets and carrot tatoo. Our own Irv Nichols was there when the Garden Project was created (Adam and Eve were there too). The Garden Project has 130 community gardens cultivating approximately 30 acres of garden plots. The goal of the Garden Project is to improve food security through 3 types of gardens: (1) Grow your own 20' x 20'; (2) Donation gardens typically operated by a church or pantry for the benefit of others, and (3) Youth gardens, which are part of after school and nutrition education programs. The Garden Project provides the land, seed packets (15,000), starter plants (25,000), compost, tools, tilling, educational materials and programs. Participants gain in food security and a sense of self-worth. Participation is not limited to lower income levels which propagates a more balanced sense of community. Alex guesstimates that the Garden Project produces 1,000,000# of produce, benefitting 7,000 people on an annual budget of $220,000.
Check them out at: www.greaterlansingfoodbank.org/programs/programs-home/the-garden-project The Food Bank also operates Lansing Roots, which is a farm business incubator project aimed at job creation and economic development. The project is on 13 acres located at 1084 S. Hagadorn road. Alex invited us all to go there and check it out. According to the secretary of Agriculture, we need 100,000 new farmers, yet our agricultural schools are only generating 600 new farmers per year and family farms are a dying breed. Lansing Roots is a national cutting edge program. Finally, don’t forget, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) where you can have the produce from these programs delivered to your home or to your business. There’s a ton more information and opportunities for you to learn, participate and help with food security on the website.
The speaker answered a lot of questions and President Lisa thanked him and closed the meeting in the usual fashion. Have a great week Rotarians!
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Ron serves as principal in charge of both Christman's Southeast Michigan business unit and the company's historic preservation unit, having returned to Michigan after establishing Christman's Washington, D. C. operations in 2003. Joining Christman as a project manager in 1985, Ron was promoted to Christman vice president in 1990, and to Christman's board of directors in 1995. .jpg)
We received this letter from Impression 5
Mark your Calendar! As part of the Centennial Celebration, we will be taking a group photo of the Club as part of our meeting on March 11 at the Lansing Center. Bring your best smile! Thanks!