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President Sue called the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. Jennifer Marsh dedicated her Reflection to our speaker from the YMCA. She prayed for a special blessing as Rotary commits to being a real service organization to help humankind. She prayed that each of us, in our daily routine, will come to know the joys of caring and sharing with those less fortunate; that the Rotary model of serving, caring and sharing will prepare us for a life of service. The Patriotic Song was The Star Spangled Banner, accompanied on piano by Hari Kern. Katie Krick did a yeoman’s job handling the mic for visiting Rotarians and guests. Brava, Katie! Student Rotarians from Everett High School were introduced. They will present our meeting next Friday. They included: • Max, who has committed to attend Michigan State University in the fall. He will study pre-med or political science. • Paw is also going to MSU to be a neurosurgeon or a physician’s assistant – something in the medical field. • Winn will study business at the University of Michigan – she starts on June 25 in Ann Arbor. Ken Beachler introduced one of his best friends, David Brower. David retired from Michigan State University as Assistant Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Controller. He is also a past president of the YMCA of Greater Lansing. Georgiana “George” Gormley is a visiting Rotarian from Harbor Country Rotary, which is the New Buffalo, Lakeside, Three Oaks area. She distributed flyers on tables to recruit volunteers to help with a pollinator project. Julie Pingston introduced Heather Cooper Kim. They worked together at the Convention & Visitors Bureau for a number of years. Heather is now at the Rathbun Insurance Agency. She serves as Chair of the Board for the YMCA. Sandy Draggoo introduced her lifelong best friend Charlotte Dear from Hillsdale, Mich. They have been best friends since kindergarten. They raised their children together and have gone through all of life’s ups and downs together. President Sue welcomed everyone and led Rotarians in the recitation of the Four-Way Test, representing the things we think, say and do. For the Health of the Club, Cathy Zell reported that COVID-19 is in Pam Miklavcic’s household. We wish her family well. Otherwise, the Health of the Club is good. Jon Horford received his Red Badge – welcome, Jon! John Shaski reported that April birthdays resulted in 16 of 17 respondents (96 percent). He asked for sympathy for the 17th person, because he is not letting go. John’s question for the month was, “What is your ideal birthday dessert that is not a birthday cake?” George Nugent said, “Roy’s Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle from Roy’s Restaurant in Bonita Springs, Fla. It is a flourless chocolate cake with a molten-hot center, raspberry coulis and vanilla-bean ice cream.” Sam Tucker said, “Oliva Serie V Melanio or Ashton Cabinet VSG, which is a very good cigar.” Dave Trumpie said his favorite dessert of all time is Pavlova. He loves fresh fruit, and it reminds him of being with his close friends in Australia. Doug Weisner said his wife’s oatmeal raisin cookies, made with his mother’s recipe, is way better than chocolate-chip. Bill Guerre said, “Chocolate-fudge brownie.” Linda Lynch said she likes so many desserts, but warm pecan pie with vanilla-bean ice cream is her favorite. John Cauley, Jr., said his favorite dessert is a ride in his red Corvette, which he received as a surprise birthday gift from Anne several years ago and is zero points on Weight Watcher’s. Rebecca Bahar-Cook said, because her birthday, which is April Fool’s Day, often falls on Passover when flour is forbidden, her favorite alternative birthday dessert is something like a chocolate cornet. Her mother found the recipe in a 1970s Good Housekeeping magazine. “It’s a cross between a cheesecake and a mousse. It’s served frozen like ice cream.” Now, Rebecca’s husband Todd makes it for her annually, even if her birthday doesn’t fall on a holiday. Julie Pingston said her favorite dessert every day truly is birthday cake. White cake, white frosting. She’s known to stop by Bake N’ Cakes to get a piece every now and then. Chris Chamberlain said his favorite dessert is ice cream, specifically chocolate soda from Tasty Twist in East Lansing. Dick Ammons prefers a Hawaiian Furry. George Goodell said, “Key-Lime Pie.” Tim Salisbury said, “Strawberry Shortcake.” Rocco Rucinski surprised John, who thought he’d say Tiramisu, but instead, Rocco said, “Sherri’s homemade brownies.” John said, “Chocolate mousse, but I’m with Linda, I could eat anything.” Rotarians sang Happy Birthday to all who celebrated a birthday in April. Mark Hooper said he was asked by Heidi to talk about why he contributes to the Paul Harris fund. He said that one of the phrases he heard as a new Rotarian back in 1977 was “Service above self.” Since that time, his understanding of the phrase has grown substantially. A major leap forward for him was when he attended the 1983 International Convention in Toronto. He learned more about service there – how Rotary was doing on an international basis. When he joined the Lansing Club in 1987, he gained an understanding that service is delivered by us through community leadership and by providing fuel through hands-on work – our financial support. He connected the dots between contributions to Rotary International and the service that Rotary provides across the globe. He made three key points: 1) He knows our international efforts make a difference, particularly when we apply the concept of peace through understanding. The projects we conduct lead us to understanding about others in international settings; 2) He likes the approach where our contributions are received by Rotary International and then held for three years. The earnings from those investments are what pays for administrative costs for the Foundation, and this boosts his confidence in the dollars he contributes, because he knows they are being used – not for administrative purposes. They go directly to international activities; and 3) When he joined the club, he committed to contribute three times a year: once at Christmas, once for his birthday and once to the Paul Harris Fund. His Paul Harris contribution simply fulfills his commitment. To date, our club’s membership has committed $19,065 from 43 percent of the membership. That means 57 percent have today to complete their commitment. If you haven’t yet made your contribution to Paul Harris, please do so. Mark invited Cathy to provide the mechanism for us to submit our contribution. Mark closed by saying, it is a worthwhile effort that helps the club succeed with its campaign during Paul Harris Month. President Sue reported that each year, we have the ability to recognize someone from the club as a Rotary Hero. The honor is presented to the named individual the weekend of the District meeting, which is May 20 – 21. Our Rotary Hero this year is Sue Mills. Congratulations, Sue! President Sue thanked our hero for everything she’s done: making phone calls during COVID, driving people every week. “Thank you. You are a great member,” President Sue said. As chair of this year’s Nominating Committee, Julie Pingston reported that the committee met in December 2021 and has since encountered an obstacle. Dean Sienko is no longer able to serve as President Elect, due to personal family issues. The Nominating Committee returned to the drawing board and is excited to announce that Nick Heriford from PNC Bank will be President Elect, starting July 1. Board unanimously approved his position at last week’s Board meeting. Nick has served on the Foundation Board in his prior Rotary service. He has good stability and will lead us forward. Julie thanked the Nominating Committee for their service and for their thoughtful input. Congratulations, Nick! Georgiana Gormley, an Operation Pollination Ambassador, presented on the Rotary Pollinator Garden, which comes from the Rotary International level. They are working on a new pollinator garden at R.E. Olds Transportation Museum, and need volunteers to help plant and lay mulch on May 20. President Sue recognized Inverve Marketing for being named one of 50 Michigan companies to watch. Congratulations, Lisa Smith, for a well-deserved honor. Ken Beachler introduced Hari Kern, who would accompany on piano her good friend and colleague, Professor Emeritus of Trumpet at MSU, Mr. Rich Illman. They played two lovely tango selections for our enjoyment. As Chair of the Month and Chair of the Day, Scott Duimstra said the most stressful part of being chair was presenting immediately after our musical guests. He said our guests play beautifully but make him all the more aware of his “monotone, librarian voice.” He actually has a very engaging voice that draws listeners is, which is one of the things I love about his CADLcast recordings. Scott warmly introduced Casey Thompson, President & CEO of YMCA Metropolitan Lansing. Her topic was “YMCA’s Past, Present and Future.”  Casey talked about the history of the YMCA, which opened in 1877. The YMCA has served the Lansing community for 145 years. The pandemic took its toll, and prompted so much change. The YMCA is recovering, which is expected to be a multi-year journey. Pay raises will occur in May, and there’s an effort to staff up. The downtown YMCA closed, and the DeWitt branch will close at the end of May. The Oak Park, Westside and Parkwood YMCAs, as well as a resident camp in Williamston, will remain to serve our community. The YMCA will focus on areas of the greatest impact: membership, camps, early learning, preschool, and before-and-after school care. Additionally, an evidence-based health intervention program will provide blood-pressure monitoring, LIVEstrong cancer-survivor resources, and enhanced fitness for seniors. The YMCA’s fundraising goal for 2022 is $395,000 – all of which will stay in our community. Casey committed to collaboration, lifting up YMCA’s mission, fundraising so that money is not a barrier to membership, putting time and energy into facilities, state-of-the-art equipment and thriving. Next week we will meet at the Lansing Center and it will be the Student's Presentation on May 6, 2022. Lolo Robison's email is: lrobison@cata.org |
