President Hanes called the meeting to order as Rotarians and guests enjoyed lunch on the beautiful Michigan Princess for a mid-day fall color cruise. Dick Ammons provided a reflective invocation and singing of a patriotic song ensued. Jason Brunette led the introductions of guests and visiting Rotarians; Diane Sanborn reported the health of the club is excellent.
Casey Jacobsen announced that 74% of October Birthday Rotarians have contributed a total of $1,389 to-date and shared a few of the bucket list items they are dreaming of. Remember, 100% giving is our membership expectation. Speaking of expectations, President Hanes encouraged everyone to try sitting with someone different versus the same people every week (who know all your jokes and stories by now anyway).
Reflecting on good news and happenings, President Hanes gave a shout out to John Collins for publishing a crime-related book and Athena WIN for putting on an excellent Evening of Empowerment with speakers Suzy Merchant and Lisa Corless - hosted by Bill Dubois and company at the Crowne Plaza. Berl Schwartz (flanked by family) reported that Eugene Gil Wanger has been recognized as “Abolitionist of the Century” by The Journey of Hope for his work as a young attorney in 1962 to write a death penalty prohibition in the Michigan Constitution.
President Hanes, Tracy Anderson, Bob McCarthy and Linda Lynch (on a rockin’ red bass guitar) treated us to their Tuesday group stylings of two country songs, “Someday Soon” and “Your’re Drunk”, which is most certainly the backstory of many a country song.
Courtney Milbrook waived her 60-seconds of microphone fame away, as Captain Christopher Chamberlain stepped to the microphone as our speaker for the day. Reminder: the river is only 6’ deep and the boat is 30’ tall, meaning if the boat ever started to sink, we’d be pretty A-OK. Livin’ life on the river, Captain Chris learned to navigate via his father’s instructions (there’s a rock there, etc.) but today Chris has a bit more technology in his hands that he’s used to map the river. He’s also a strong advocate for increasing the recreational use of the River. FYI: The Grand River is 252 miles long, and the section we were on goes about 15 miles up to Dimondale or down a bit to the Moores River Dam. Chris reflected on the aging infrastructure of the Dams, options for replacing/changing them up, and even talked about flood plains, water quality, river cleanup, and more. The MSU Ski Team and the Lansing Boat Club love the river; more people really ought to spend some time on it. New accessible canoe and kayak launches in several places along the river are making that possible for more people all the time.
Visit www.michiganprincess.com for options if you don’t have your own boat or visit www.guitarcenter.com to buy a guitar and join President Pat and Linda Ronstadt/Lynch for a jam session on the 2nd Tuesday of the month.
Captain Chamberlain certainly appreciates that a gift to support clean water will be made in his name. Join us next week at the Lansing Center to hear Dr. Wolfgang Bauer, Associate VP for Administration and University Distinguished Professor; Janet Lillie will be Chair of the Month.
Michelle Reynaert's email is: michellereynaert@yahoo.com