Posted by Michelle Reynaert
President Julie Pingston pulled everyone in from their small group conversations and called the meeting to order. The invocation was provided by Barb Whitney (provided at the end of this report), and the patriotic song was My Country Tis of Thee by John Dale Smith.
 
President Julie unmuted Rebecca Bahar Cook to introduce her guest (Ann Burns, a visiting Rotarian), and Michelle Reynaert, with guest Mitch Cook, Store Director of the new Capital City Market. Diane Sanborn shared the health of the club is well.
 
Announcements included:
 
• Gathering at Rotary Park on August 28 – open to all who want some outdoor, responsible socializing.
• Loftus Day is Sept. 11th; John Grettenberger, Sr., Jack Davis, John Stevenson and Jack Draper will be honored.
  •  Sept 8- Sept 11 will be flower delivery days to support scheduling and social distancing. Group leaders will be sending more information soon; contact Jennifer Marsh, Cathy Andrews or Rich Schaberg with questions.
• Dave Trumpie, Scott Duimstra and Kevin Schumacher invite anyone interested in joining a socially distanced bike ride, of any duration, of any speed, to join them on an adventure. Professional cycling outfits optional, free beer at the end.
 
Rotarians Doing Great Things - Shout out to Tyler Parsons & the Lansing Lugnuts for their work on the 20-game season of the Lemonade League, featuring teams made up from college players from around the state who lost their baseball season this year. They had 100 fans per game and sold out!
 
Special music featured Rachael Cupples, who is studying vocal music education at EMU and performs at professional theaters in mid-Michigan. She sang “All I’ve Ever Known” from the musical Hadestown, accompanied by Steven Cupples on guitar.
 
Thanks to our Chair of the Month, Ryan Moore and Chair of the Day, Cindy Kangas, who provided the introduction of Paul Schmidt, Owner of UnoDeuce Multimedia, a Lansing-based production company that provides media and video support for small businesses and non-profits.
 
Paul shared his personal story of being a small business owner, referencing a pivotal Goldman Sachs program he was a part of in 2018 that included a risk audit - assessing risk and developing a plan to overcome situations that could be devastating to a small business. In 2019 he faced many such challenges, including losing a key employee, his sister’s breast cancer, and his own health after he suffered a stroke while on the phone with a client. Paul reflected on lessons learned from the business perspective, including the importance of shared files, calendars, connected communication and more. Project management may seem like a simple thing, particularly with a small team, but ensuring that others can step in and know exactly where things were and move projects forward is truly instrumental in carrying on during these crisis moments. A strong administration team was also critical, both on the business and family side. Paul acknowledge his gratitude for the people in his life who stepped up to take care of critical details and be a strong support system. He admitted he didn’t take his health as seriously as he should have. Paul encourages preventative check-ups, listening to health professionals, taking medication as directed/needed and being responsible for managing your stress, which only exacerbates any health issues you might be facing. He’s learning to be patient with himself, noting that recovery takes time and cannot be rushed. His physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy took about three-four months after his stroke. He’s still in the healing process; numbness on right side, reduced energy, etc., but accepts the limitations he faces. He embraces the opportunities to eat healthy, work out and be present for those around him, who have been so supportive of him. Paul’s message on being comfortable asking for help and allowing people to help should be the KEY takeaway for all Rotarians. When you start to feel overwhelmed, you are already overwhelmed. Today, Paul continues to engage his team in robust feedback on roles, tasks and more, to ensure plans and strategies that develop people who can help. His team has two short staff meetings per week now rather than one longer meeting, splitting topics to have focused conversations and have ideas flow as they come.
 
Q & A included several Rotarians noting the professional work of UnoDeuce Multimedia – producing awesome videos for organizations such as Hospice of Lansing and The Davies Project.
 
President Pingston shared that in lieu of a speaker’s gift, we will make a donation in Paul’s honor to a local organization through our Lansing Rotary Foundation which has, over the history of our club, given in excess of $2,000,000 to local organizations and projects.
 
NEXT WEEK: We will meet on Zoom at noon on August 21, our speaker will be Phillip McKinney, Author and International Speaker on “No Ego Coaching”.
 
Invocation that Barb Whitney created in honor of Paul:
Blessing for a Recovering Patient
You have suffered days and nights of being unwell.
You have been supported with love and prayers through your pain.
As you recognize your recovery, waves of gratitude begin to break in your mind.
The world that was once shut down opens again for you to discover.
As you step out into new ground, and continue your recovery, we pray:
May your body find rest and strength to heal;
May your spirit lift any burdens that afflict you;
May your heart find peace in the support of others;
And may you once again, find the path you’ve been called to follow.
Amen.
 
Michelle Reynaert's email is:  michelle.reynaert@sparrow.org