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So, there we were, at the Lansing Center, again. President Lisa Smith called us to order for our last meeting of 2015. The older we get, the faster time flies. Sue Mills invoked the high and the mighty powers that be to make our world a better place. We sang My Country Tis of Thee with the help of John Dale Smith on the piano. Pat Munshaw was MIA for the remembrance report, but Sue Mills was able to report the health of the club is good, including a warm welcome back for Jack Draper. Manny Garcia had mic duty and a number of guests were introduced.
Missy Lilje announced the December birthdays. Her question of the month was “What do you look like when you dance?” Answers ranged from James Brown to “Please call EMS, I think this guy’s having a seizure.” Don’t forget, no meeting this week as we’ll be having a non-denominational “Holiday Cheer” party from 4 to 7 at the hotel formerly known as the Sheraton on Creyts Road. Entertainment will be by the artist formerly known as Prince. There was a misguided mention of free drinks which caused everyone to pull out their calendars.
 Special music today was Cantor Pamela Schiffer and pianist Joan Gochberg. Schiffer sang three Jewish holiday numbers, none of which were written by Irving Berlin, but one of which was written by Joan Gochberg. The three numbers involved rebels, the legend of a jar of oil lasting 8 days (in your face climate change) and Hanukkah. So very proud that Rotary, and our club in particular, believes that the world tent is big enough that allowing others to practice their faith, or no faith at all, does not diminish one’s own (for an interesting read, check out: www.skepticmoney.com/is-rotary-a-christian-organization).
Our program of the day was chaired by Lisa Smith, who repeatedly promised this was going to be the most titillating annual meeting ever. I was so excited, I had to look that word up. Melissa Nay (PR Committee) reported that we’ll keep advancing the club’s image through advertising, promotion, social media training and Service above Selfie! Susan Angel (New Member Committee) reported that despite public perception that Rotary is a boring bunch of elite, elderly, white males, she has found us to be wonderfully diverse. She then reported that the club average was white and 59. Her committee’s goal is to get the average to 50. The audience immediately recognized this means getting a lot of new younger members. The 59 and over crowd voted against roving death squads. Tobi Lyon Moore (Rotary Floats) provided a compare and contrast view of float building then and now (Toby: drilling and nailing, 10,000 Lites, hilarious, I bow to the master of innuendo). Curt Sonnenberg was last on the schedule and as ignominious as the 80's were, he did them justice in five minutes or less. President Lisa then re-took the podium, announced the slate of candidates and as quick as you could say “Election Fraud in Chicago,” our new candidates were elected. Darwin Brewster for the office of President Elect for the term beginning July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017. Secondly, the club accepted Julie Pingston, Dave Trumpie and Jenn Dubey on the board of directors for the Rotary Club of Lansing for a 3 year term. No free sand filters this week for lack of a titillating guest speaker (just kidding you were all titillating). Our meeting closed, pleasantries were exchanged and we all looked wistfully at 2015 and hopefully towards 2016.
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We will have a Rotary Holiday Cheer party on Friday, December 18th from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. This will be at the Crowne Plaza, 925 S. Creyts Road, with appetizers and a cash bar. Our own John Dale Smith will be providing music, perhaps with some surprise performances. This is a great opportunity to bring your spouse or significant other to meet fellow Rotarians. If you are planning on attending, please R.S.V.P. to cathy@lansingrotary.com Thank you!