Kathy joined the Rotary Club of Battle Creek in 2005. She served as Club President in 2017-2018 after serving as Club Secretary for nearly ten years. She continues to chair the Public Image committee and serves on the Membership committee.

 

Kathy served on the Centennial Celebration committee for her Rotary Club and chaired the 2017 District Conference planning committee. Her district leadership positions include serving as an assistant governor and as the chair of The Rotary Foundation Committee.

 

Kathy graduated from Michigan State University having earned her undergraduate degree in Social Work. She was a medical social worker prior to taking time off to raise the family. Kathy primarily worked in Hemodialysis, the intensive care and emergency care units.

 

Throughout their sons’ school-aged years, Kathy served on the Battle Creek Area Catholic School board as its secretary and also as a trustee on the Battle Creek Area Catholic Schools Foundation Board.

 

In 1997, she began a career in development, serving as the Development Director for the BCACS Foundation. She was a member of the Grand Rapids Chapter of American Fundraising Professionals serving as the board secretary during that time.

 

Kathy retired in 2013, after helping to raise nearly $20 million for the Catholic schools in Battle Creek.

 

Kathy’s volunteerism includes serving on the Gull Lake Quality Organization Board, Ladies of the Lake (a local philanthropic organization) and the Michigan Lakes and Streams Association. Kathy is married to Mike who is a member of the Gull Lake Area Rotary Club. They have two married sons and five grandchildren. Family is the love of Kathy’s life! Kathy and Mike enjoy travelling, RV’ing, boating and gardening.

Please join Mayor Andy Schor, parks director Brett Kaschinske, the Friends of Durant Park and Diane Sanborn Friday October 14th at 3:00 p.m. for the ribbon cutting/dedication for the permanent stage in the SE corner of the park!!

 

The Lansing Rotary Foundation granted $5,000 towards the building of this wonderful addition to Durant Park and the City of Lansing!! 

Bob Hoffman with Wharton Center’s next Inspiring Conversation is with Jorge Gomez, Music Director of Tiempo Libre, tonight (Tuesday, October 11) at 6:30 pm.

To register for the event, please follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/43c7zsku

 

Tiempo Libre is a three-time Grammy-nominated Afro-Caribbean music group and is one of the hottest Latin bands today. Classically trained at Cuba’s premier conservatories, the members of three-time Grammy award-nominated Tiempo Libre are true modern heirs to the rich musical tradition of their native Cuba with their infectious dance rhythms.

 

We’re getting the hang of our new digs at LCC. So far, the transition is going well. Food is good, parking is easy (no stairmaster to get to the meeting), but no view of the river unless you make an extra effort. President Courtney called us to order. We started out with the 4 way test and I must say, we’re having fewer mumblers on this each week. A reasonable Club goal would be for a full throated, all hands on deck recitation of the 4 way test with no cheat sheets by the end of Courtney’s presidency. It could happen.

 

Today’s reflection was by yours truly. Part of Canto 8 of Pablo Neruda’s Alturas de Macchu Picchu was read in Spanish to reflect on the natural beauty of the Americas. Although we had no special music this week, we were treated to the piano playing of Hari Kern for a little pre-meeting mood music and the singing of America the Beautiful. Even with our new locale, guests are finding their way to our meeting. An expert in junk removal (not Marie Condo), a granddaughter, a Michigan Hospital Association possible future member and a possible transfer from Williamston rounded out our guests. No news is good news was the health of the club report. Diane Sanborn reported that on Friday the 14th tat 3:30 there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for the improvements to Durant Park that were partially funded by our club’s foundation. All are welcome to attend. You can walk there from the LCC parking lot. Our own election expert and talking head TV expert wannabe? Chris Swope reminded all of the upcoming election. You can vote absentee, you can early vote at the township/city offices pre-election or you can vote in person on election day. Chris, who is very active in the running of elections, expressed great confidence in the people in charge of running elections across Michigan and that they are to a person, committed to safe, secure and accurate elections. If you are interested in working on election day, Chris said you can participate by checking out democracy MVP: https://www.michigan.gov/sos/resources/initiatives/democracy-mvp You can also get election information from the League of Women’s voter site at: https://www.vote411.org/

 

President Courtney reminded all bring a friend or family member to chill with fellow Rotarians at our next “Social Gathering” on Thursday, October 27th at Lansing Brewing from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Those who attended the last one found it quite enjoyable to just be in the moment with other Rotarians. Food was good, beer was cold and it was beneficial to all concerned.

 

Diane Sanborn introduced our virtual speaker, a first for our in person meetings. LCC’s tech department was on the stick to iron out a few wrinkles and we were up and running with speaker Joe Berninger, the executive director of the Guatemala Literacy Project. https://www.guatemalaliteracy.org/ This project was featured in an 8 page article in the most recent Rotary magazine.

 

Joe presented on the huge LCC screens and rolled through a slide show of fact, figures and pictures of Guatemala and the importance of improving literacy to alleviate poverty. The project has been going on for 25 years and has cut in half the illiteracy rate in Guatemala. More than 700 Rotary Clubs (including ours) and 90 districts have supported this project over its last 25 years. It is the biggest single cause (literacy) project in Rotary. Their focus is in 3 areas: reading, computer skills and high school graduation. Joe showcased specific examples of individuals transitioning from families with a history of not reading to the next generation not only reading but completing high school and college and out earning their previous generation. Education is transformative and all in attendance were reminded of the collective power of Rotary and how it can change the world. We ran over on time, but nobody seemed to mind. We only had time for one question (they have a $3 million dollar annual budge with 42 FTE in Guatemala and 15 in the US). President Courtney thanked our speaker and sent us on our way and all was right with the world, if only for a moment.

 

Kevin Schumacher's email is:  schumacher@glassenrhead.com