Spotlight 04-05-11, Vol. 73, No. 12

Brighton Rotary Spotlight

Jeremy Jones, President

April 5, 2011, Vol. 73, No.12

Guests:           Kory Leppak, wk3; Donna Gehringer, Liv. Sunrise Rotary; Luanne Gibbes, Liv. Sunrise Rotary; Paulina Devlin, President of BHS Interact; Bert Herzog, Executive Financial Services; ; Kathleen McKay, Kathleen’s Cookies, Jane Schafer, Stan’s wife.

Announcements: President-elect Jane McManus conducted today’s meeting.

A moment of silence was held in memory of Joe Mike, our longtime colleague and Brighton Rotarian, who passed on April 1^st. Visitation will be on Thursday from 12-8pm at Keehn Funeral Home, and the Mass of Resurrection will occur on Friday at 10:30am at St. Patrick Catholic Parish. 

Welcome back to Melanie Moses recovering from a broken femur, and Cathy Riesterer who’s husband Matt is recovering from a broken neck!  Melanie gave a public Thank You to Tom Coates who constructed a handrail for their staircase to the second story of their home.

Tom Coates proudly announced that his son has returned safely from Afghanistan and will be coming home for a visit mid-April.

Brighton High School Interact President Paulina Devlin presented President-elect Jane with a $3,000 check to assist in funding Rotary Scholarships.  The students raised the money through their Practice ACT Saturday’s held in conjunction with Sylvan Learning Center.

Scholarship Committee Chair Cathy Riesterer announced that scholarship applications are due from Brighton HS students on April 15^th.  All Rotarians interested in joining this committee to select the 2011 scholarship recipients should contact Cathy.

Nancy Johnson shared a brochure about Business Resources at the Brighton District Library that some Members may have missed from last week’s presentation.

Bill Anderson spoke the Thank you we all feel toward Rotarians Stan Schafer and family, Michele Bouhana, Mike Bourke, and Rebecca Cook for volunteer efforts this past Saturday at Gleaner’s Food Bank.

“Bras for a Cause” participant Terry Gill circulated a donation/pledge sheet to help fight Breast Cancer at the upcoming event.

Rotary Raiders Update:  Brian Donovan announced that the ramp build and repairs at Don’s house in Howell is proceeding very quickly: ramp has been installed along with raising the floor in a back room 2 feet, building a new shower and floor, and installing tile and drywall. A volunteer sheet for Thursday afternoon and Saturday help was circulated.  See Brian for more information. The ramp build on April 30^th for the Labor of Love day is confirmed.

The next Family of Rotary event is scheduled for Thursday, April 21^st from 5:30pm at Chilis restaurant in Brighton.  Ten percent of all sales will be contributed to our Rotary Foundation.  Don’t forget to bring the flyer, with contributions counting from 11am to 11pm!

Final fundraising tally from the “Evening with Jeff Daniels” is $20,00 net.  Thank you to Mark Sweatman and his wonderful team who made this fun event possible!

Our Club and Rotary District 6380 is collecting funds to provide ShelterBoxes for Japan relief.  Each ShelterBox costs $1000 and provides a temporary home for up to ten people.  The Good Deed Doers bucket was passed these last two weeks and close to $1,000 was raised, so our Brighton Rotary Foundation will match the $1000 to send a second ShelterBox.  Members can access http://www.shelterboxusa.org/index.php for more info about this form of assistance for victims of the earthquakes in Japan.

The March of Dimes Walk for Children will be held on 5/1/11 at Kensington MetroPark.  Our Club will once again sponsor Checkpoint 4 with ice cream.  Peggi’s son Steven Tuggle will be speaking at the opening ceremonies and will be coming to our Club as a speaker on 4/12/11.

President-elect Jane distributed flyers for the District conference & reminded Members that the Board of Director’s will pay the $225 registration fee (includes food) for any Members who decide to attend the upcoming District 6380 conference in Traverse City on April 29-May 1.  Lodging, transportation and guest fees will need to be self-funded.  To register visit www.BrightonRotary.com and access the District 6380 link.

Upcoming Events:

04/21/11    5:30pm            Family of Rotary Fundraiser at Chili’s Restaurant

04/29/11-05/01/11             District 6380 Conference in Traverse City

05/01/11                            March of Dimes Walk for Children at Kensington Metropark

06/28/11                            President’s Night

Program:

In the continuing celebration of March as National Reading Month, Program Host Bill Gartley introduced Donna Gehringer, who discussed Literacy in Livingston County.  Donna shared a host of statistics about literacy challenges in our country and county, including that 42 million Americans can’t read and 50 million only read at the 5^th grade level or below.  50% of children of illiterate parents will also be illiterate.  In Michigan, 18% of the adult population is estimated to be illiterate, and Livingston Couty has approximately 12,400 people with this issue, and approximately 1 in 5 women are functionally illiterate. Donna shared flyers for members to post in their businesses or in the community to help combat illiteracy.  Despite boasting a population that is ranked as the third most highly educated county in Michigan, this problem affects us all because each high school dropout costs the state of Michigan $3,269/year, while each hs graduate contributes more than $4,000 in taxes..   I

Progressive 50/50 Drawing:  $645 pot and 35 cards remain.  Aanne Belser drew a Nine of diamonds, Jim Barnes drew a Jack of clubs, and Brian Parsons’ proxy Mike Bourke drew the Seven of hearts.