Spotlight 09-30-14, Vol. 76, No. 37

Brighton Rotary Spotlight

Peggi Mintz, President

September 30, 2014, Vol. 76. No. 37

GUESTS:       Fred Bodnar, wk2; Suzy Lewis, wk4; Julia McBride, wk2; Tom Barrett, State Bank; Shawn Dennany, Boy Scouts of America; Maureen Elliott, Edward Jones

MEET, GREET & LEARN: Mike Bourke and Leslie Kohler were this week’s presenters. Mike spoke about how Leslie spent the day yesterday supporting a friend who was being fitted with a pacemaker.  Leslie is very proud of and involved with her family: her son lives on Gallagher Lake and has a granddaughter at WMU, her daughter lives in Howell and manages the Brighton Travel office and has two granddaughters.  Both Leslie and Mike have relatives from Baraga in the Upper Peninsula and both have driven across the Mackinaw Bridge several times. Leslie spoke about Mike’s move to Brighton in the early 1990s and how he came to speak at the Brighton Rotary when we met in the firehouse about Year2K.  Mike has a long-standing goal to be a college professor.  He has three sons.  Next week: Dave Hartsook & Bill Metz.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

GLEANERS this Saturday—hope you can help!

Member MariBeth Regnier is recovering at home and hoping to return to meetings in a few weeks.  She asked Donna Craig to thank members for the get well wishes and support!

Mike Hatty thanked President Peggi and the Club members for making the Troy Rotarians that presented a program on water projects a few weeks ago feel so welcome.

The Brighton Rotary returned triumphant from The Livingston County Rotary Golf Challenge of last Thursday, September 25^th, beating the other Rotary Clubs by 20 strokes, 333 to 353 when the top five scores from each team were counted. Golfers Jim Barnas & Kevin Brady tied with Beth Walker & Mitch Zoldowski at 73s while Bill Anderson & Tom Janego shot a 75. Thank you to John Nagel for leading the charge!

Michele Bouhana reported that 24 donors participated in the Doris Longfellow Memorial Blood drive on Monday, September 29^th.  Thank you to all who helped save a life!

The Practice ACT test held on Saturday, September 27^th, attracted a record 147 participants, including 9 walk-in students to raise over $5,000 for our scholarship endowment fund. Beth Walker thanked all helpers and proctors, including Jane & Darlene McManus, Michele Bouhana, and Nancy B. Johnson.

George Moses will be riding in the October 12^th Howell Rotary Tour De Livingston. If you want to help the Howell Rotary raise money for the Livingston County United Way and support George in his efforts, you can go to https://org.grouprev.com/georgemoses2014

Don’t Forget! Family of Rotary gathering on October 2^nd at Stan Schafer’s Main Crossing restaurant beginning at 4pm serves as a fundraiser for the Club.  Bring one of the flyers distributed at the meeting or printed from the website, to donate 10% of your food and beverage bill to the Club. Next year’s District Governor is rumored to be attending…

Carole Bullion-Mincy reminded members about our support for the Humane Society of Livingston County by donating items for the shelter--especially needed are cat food, copy paper and paper towels.

 Upcoming projects for Rotary Raiders include two indoor garage ramps:  one for a mother with 11 children, four have special needs, and the other for a 73-year-old woman caring for her 90-year-old mother.  Since it is bird season, will probably be a Wednesday-Thursday build.  Also, the Homeless Continuum of Care will be placing black silhouettes in a display at the County Courthouse Lawn and needs additional cut-outs.  If interested in helping, contact Piet.

Cathy Riesterer announced that the addition of Board of Directors minutes to the ClubRunner website is in process and that minutes will only be posted after they are approved by the Board.  Members are always encouraged to attend Board meetings, too:  next one is scheduled for October 14^th, the second Tuesday of the month.

Portia Davis-Mann spoke about the WSC Academy seniors who are finishing their internships as part of their studies.  She is looking for volunteers that would allow students to either shadow professionals in a business or allow students to work in a business for a few weeks.  Fred Arthur said that he has been very pleased with the students that have been at his location.

Livingston Sunrise Rotarian and Undersheriff Mike Murphy asked for members to be made aware of an October 11^th fundraising dinner and silent auction at the Howell American Legion, 2pm-close, in support of Deputy Adam Hart who has been diagnosed with cardiac sarcoidosis. Admission is $10 per person

The Ann Arbor West Rotary is hosting a Michigan International Festival at the Michigan Theater on Saturday, October 18^th from 5-9pm to help continue District Governor’s George Hudspath’s vision.  Performances and food from around the world will fill your senses and you will have the opportunity to participate in a silent auction of items from across the world.  The McManus’s are planning to attend and invite other Brighton Rotarians to join them. Tickets are $15/person in advance, $20 at the door, and are available at TicketWeb.com or by contacting Info@RotaryAnnArbor.org or 734-931-0501.

Save the Date of December 19^th to meet RI President Gary Huang when he is in town to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater Eastern Michigan University.  District #6380 is looking to host an event in his honor and needs a tentative count of the number of Rotarians interested in attending.  See Jane McManus if you can join the celebration.

Upcoming Events:

10/02/14    4pm-?              Family of Rotary Gathering at Main Crossing

10/07/14                            District Governor Don Riddell visits

11/06/14    11am-2pm       “Do-Gooders” Humane Society Fundraiser

12/19/14                            Rotary International President Gary Huang visit to the District

04/24-26/15                       District Conference at Motor City Casino

06/20/15                            Top of the Mountain Dash or Crash 5K run at Mt. Brighton

PROGRAM:

Program Host Dennis Kalio introduced.Shawn Dennany, the Boy Scout Unit Serving Executive for Livingston County.  Shawn serves as liaison between the troop leaders and the national Scouting organization while supporting all volunteers in Livingston County.  Currently there are 738 Cub Scouts, 519 Boy Scouts, and 28 Venturers for a total of 1285 students involved in Scouting within Livingston County.  There are 26 cub scout packs, and they are expecting about 158 new scouts this fall.  Our charter group, Troop 350 is very active with 35 students attending the Ann Arbor Pioneer summer camp, and many traveling to the Florida Sea Base over spring break.  Troop 350 sponsors at Weblos rendezvous at Brighton State Recreation Area to help graduating weblos select a scout troop through learning about the activities of the different troops. Some upcoming events include an October 25^th Haunted Woods at Camp Munhacke in Gregory or Camp Rota-Kiwan in Kalamazoo in which area Boy Scouts prepare a walk through the woods for the Cub Scout families.  Cost is $10 per person and runs from 5-8pm.  More information can be found at www.MichiganScouting.org/Southernshores/03HauntedWoods. There will also be a Fall Color Hike at Camp Munhacke on October 11-12 from 9am-2pm. In May 15-17, 2015 at the Monroe County Fairgrounds, a celebration of the 150^th Anniversary of the End of the Civil War, will be presented at the 2015 Scout-O-Rama.

50/50 Progressive Drawing:  LuAnn Loy, Julia McBride, and Tom Zizka were unsuccessful at finding the Ace of Spades.