Spotlight 10-22-13, Vol. 75, No. 39

Brighton Rotary Spotlight

Mark Marker, President,

October 22, 2013, Vol.75, No. 39

Guests:     Rich Perlberg, wk3; Dan Danosky, LESA Superintendent; Karen & Jim Timmons, returning Brighton residents after 20 years in Florida; Joe Regnier, Maribeth’s husband.

Announcements:

Melanie Moses mentioned that former members Bob Banashak and Hank Aprahanian were spotted in a restaurant last week before they each travelled to their respective winter homes.  Both send greetings to our members!

Peggi Mintz mentioned that Stan Schafer and Mike Archinal ran in a 3.5K marathon this past weekend.  Also please keep Michael Bourke’s father in your thoughts—he is recovering from knee surgery completed this morning.

The theme “”Engage Rotary: Change Lives” is translated into the following ways that Club Members have affected the lives of others: The Club’s $5,000 contribution to the United Way has been split as $2500 for the Livingston Promise and $2500 for the Literacy Coalition; Not only was $10,000 received for the Veteran’s fundraiser, Mike McManus reminded members that our contacts in Rotary can open doors for others, such as the UM graduate student in automotive engineering that received the opportunity to meet Ken Ligenfelter.  Julie Smith said her life was changed through hearing the Pledge of Allegiance recited at Howell High School this morning.  Tom Zizka thanked Rachel Evers for sharing her knowledge as speaker today, and Rachel thanked Terry Gill for getting her lunch while she got her presentation in order today.  Peggi Mintz thanked Steve Bellanger for offering to be her sponsor when she joins St. Patrick Church, and Piet Lindhout thanked Brian Donovan for cleaning five birds for him this weekend.

“Ask A Rotarian” is a new feature that President Mark has begun in which a Rotarian is selected and members can ask one question about almost anything of that member.  President Mark volunteered to go first, and Julie Smith asked “What is your middle name? “  Pres Mark replied “Jonathan.”  Derek Smith was asked, “What did you do for your wife on Sweetest Day?”  Derek replied that both he and his wife forgot about the date, and as a family went to the children’s rainy soccer game and took a nap afterwards.

Good Deed Doers team captains Terry Gill, Tony Gilardi, Julie Smith, and Jeff Toole have selected helping the Howell Teen Connection as their project.  A list of items needed is being generated and donations are being accepted.  A LED table lamp was auctioned—Piet Lindhout was the winning bidder with $35.  A total of $137 was raised this week.

Jeannie McMillan circulated volunteer sign-up sheets for the Thanksgiving meal delivery project on Wednesday, November 27^th (NOTE that the incorrect date was announced at the meeting).  Last year about 450 people were fed from 120 families.

The Oktoberfest celebration at the Ligenfelter Car Collection on October 17^th was a success!  Thank you to event chair Jane McManus, ticket and miscellaneous coordinator Lori Lalama and their team for a fantastic event!  Approximately $10,000 was raised at the event, including the $2500 grant from Rotary International, with 175-180 tickets sold.  The 40 bottles of wine and beer donated by members raised almost $600.  Great job!  Please hold November 9^th on your calendar for the Veterans Memorial Dedication ceremony.

John Nagle is coordinating the Rotary Golf Challenge for our Club, to be held next Monday, October 28^th at the Majestic.  Shotgun start at 12:27pm (so everyone needs to be at their hole by that time), cost is $30 and includes a box lunch.  See John if you can play.

Pam McConeghy shared information about the Livingston County Hunger Council’s “A Place At The Table” film viewing on November 12^th at 6pm at 2/42 Church.  Admission is free, and you may RSVP by 11/5 to 810-494-3000 or tdudansky@lcunitedway.org.

VINA Dental Clinic’s Michigan vs Michigan State Tailgate Fundraiser is scheduled for Thursday, October 24^th from 5:30-8:30pm at the Johnson Center at Cleary University.  A $35 ticket includes ten raffle tickets, and can be purchased at www.vinadental.org.  Only about 25 tickets remain, so see Cathy Riesterer if interested.

Don’t Forget the “Pennies for Polio” campaign.  Sixty-two cents purchases one dose of polio vaccine!

Upcoming Events:

10/28/13          12:27pm          Rotary Golf Challenge, The Majestic Golf course

10/29/13          12:15pm          Speaker Will Young will discuss his role as “”Ernie”

11/27/13                                  Thanksgiving Dinner Meal Delivery

Program:

Program host Tom Zizka introduced Club Member Rachel Evers, Emerging Solutions Consultant for Verizon Wireless.  For the last decade, Verizon Wireless has operated the largest wireless network in the country and is now working to maximize their network to help businesses.  One example of how they are using the network to facilitate machine-to-machine communications is with Tony Gelardi’s fleet of six trucks that deliver food to restaurants.  He is connected to those trucks while they are on the road through a device that can indicate the truck’s location, whether or not the driver is speeding (he receives a text message), and other useful information that he determines.  This type of technology can make his customer’s happier and can help control costs.  Derek Smith advises that after analyzing your costs of doing business, you will probably find that using the technology is cheaper than doing things wastefully or incorrect.  Rachel’s role is to connect customers’ needs with various Verizon associated vendors to find solutions.

50/50 drawing: No one won the jackpot, and Dennis Kallio, Bill Metz, and Jeff Toole were unsuccessful in their search to locate the Ace of Spades.