You may have heard me talk about the health of the club on Friday and in this context health of the club means overall health of our membership. I’d like to ask that each and every Club member put their thinking caps on and think of someone you think already lives by the 4 way test and might enjoy joining us for lunch and possibly being a member. Maybe you’re too shy to ask them to come, I’m not and neither is Chris Holman! The membership committee is committed to maintaining the robustness of our club through new members that live by the 4 way test and reflect the people of our community so please, forward a name or several names to Kevin Schumacher schumacher@glassenrhead.com or Chris Swope (chris.swope@lansingmi.gov) and we’ll assign a Rotarian to reach out to prospective invitees.

Thousands of young people in Lansing were mentored, encouraged, and inspired by Rev. Dr. Clyde Carnegie, who died on May 11th surrounded by his family. Dr. Carnegie, the oldest of four children, was born on December 4, 1942 in Benton Harbor, Michigan. After graduating from Benton Harbor High School in 1961, he was accepted to Michigan State University. There he went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological and Physical Sciences, a Masters degree in School Administration, and a Doctoral degree in Administration and Higher Education.

 

It was at Michigan State that he was initiated in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and met the woman who he would marry, Cynthia in 1964 and moved to Lansing in 1965.  Dr. Carnegie was an educator for 36 years.  His first job was teaching science at West Junior High School.  Later he served as an assistant principal at Dwight Rich Junior High and as principal at Walter French Junior High School.  He became the youngest principal of J.W. Sexton High School in 1980 where he worked for 22 years.

 

At the time of his death, he was serving on the Lansing Police Board of Commissioners.  He was a chaplain for the Lansing Police Department and The Fire Department.  He joined Lansing Rotary in 1982 and served as President in 1990-1991 and was appointed the District Governor for 6360 from 1994-1995.  A former member of the Board of Directors of The American Red Cross, WKAR, and United Way, to name a few.

 

He was a member for 56 years of Friendship Baptist Church, during those years he was a Deacon, Associate Minister, and finally Pastor.  His faith, belief and the word of God was paramount in his life.  He lead by example.

 

Surviving to cherish his memories are his wife:  Cynthia; two daughters, Alexis Carnegie-Dunham (Marvin) and Sheridan Hill (Warren); and the "Magnificent Seven" he referred to as his grandchildren.

 

There will be a visitation on Monday, May 22, 2023 from 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. at Riley Funeral Home, 426 West St. Joseph Street, Lansing with a Family Hour from 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.

 

The Funeral Service will be Tuesday, May 23, 2023 with a Family Hour at Friendship Baptist Church, 2912 Pleasant Grove Road, Lansing from 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.  The funeral service will begin at 11:00 a.m. with interment at Deepdale Memorial Park located at 4108 Old Lansing Road, Lansing.

 

 

President Courtney called us to order at 12:30 with the ringing of the bell and led us in reciting the Rotary 4 Way Test. Nicole Baumer’s inspiring reflection was followed by Hari Kern accompanying the club in our patriotic song, the Star-Spangled Banner.

 

Steve Grant circulated the microphone for the introduction of guest, which included upcoming speaker, Rawley Van Fossen and recent Chamber of Commerce 10 over 10 Awardee, Aurelius Christian, among others. Several Rotarians brought family members, which was great to have.

 

The Club observed a moment of silence in memory of longtime member, Dr. Clyde Carnegie, who recently passed away.

 

Julie Pingston announced the April birthday donation results with 100% participation and around $2000 raised for the foundation. She shared what the celebrants would do with an unexpected tax refund; no one said they would give the extra money to Rotary.

 

We were graced with two new member presentations on this day. First Saeed Jafaei spoke about his life journey and his beautiful family Saeed was born in Afghanistan and also lived in Canada before moving to the Lansing area. He is a Commercial Advisor with the RE/MAX Commercial Group in East Lansing.

 

Our next new member presentation was Nicole Szymczak. She told us of her family and the path that brought her to the Lansing area. She also spoke of many inspirations in her life, including former LCC President, Dr. Brent Knight as well as a very special Rotarian that we all miss, Kelly Rossman-McKinney.

 

The Special Music was fantastic. Heidi McNaughton introduced Joey DiMenno and her accompanist, Jeff. Ms. DiMenno went from showtunes to opera with I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady and Habenera from Carmen.

 

Janet Lillie, wearing green as always, introduced Zachary Constan, PhD, who is the Outreach Coordinator at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at MSU. Mr Constan gave a down to earth and understandable presentation about the FRIB (pronounced F-RIB in 2 syllables he noted). He gave the history of the former Cyclotron at MSU which the FRIB replaced, and pointed out that it is a unique facility. He discussed some of the research that is being done, including cancer treatments. He related how the facility is used to observe the unseeable, and compared it to us seeing trees move as our way of determining wind conditions. He did mention that tours of the FRIB are available, and answered several questions from the group.

 

President Courtney thanked Mr. Constan for his presentation and noted that the Club will donate to the Foundation in his honor. She reminded us that next week is a social at Lansing Brewing Company featuring music of Pat Hanes and Lisa Smith in addition to our guest group – Suits and the City. There will be no meeting on May 26 due to Memorial Day.

 

Posted by Chris Swope chris.swope@lansingmi.gov