Spotlight 12-03-13, Vol. 75, No. 45

Brighton Rotary Spotlight

Mark Marker, President

December 3, 2013, Vol.75, No. 45

Guests:     Joe Petrucci, wk1; Steve Shipley, Howell Rotary Club Member; Kim Leugers, former Lyon Rotary Club Member; Michelle Ounanian, speaker.

Announcements:

George Kudla’s wife, Ruth, is having heart surgery tomorrow (Wednesday, December 4).  Please keep Ruth and George in your thoughts and prayers.

The Rotary theme for this year is “Engage Rotary: Change Lives” so President Mark would like to recognize the number of lives that Rotary and our Club Members affect/change the lives of others.  Don’t forget to donate your change to our Pennies for Polio jug.  We helped 64 families with our Thanksgiving dinners!  Thank you to all of the drivers, cooks and food preparers.  Thank you to Tony Gelardi for donating two large bags of potatoes.  Mike McManus and Jane McManus helped families in Grand Rapids for Thanksgiving. 

Rotarians doing nice things for other Rotarians:  LuAnn Loy thanked Katherine Lawrence-Copp for helping her family pet.  Peggi Mintz thanked Tony Gelardi for helping her with the food for a business event.  Thank you to Jeannie McMillan for all of her hard work organizing the Thanksgiving dinners.  Good job, Dave Pothier on chairing the Howell Fantasy of Lights event.  Katherine Lawrence-Copp thanked our exchange student, Camilla, for teaching her grandchildren about Brazil and Portuguese.

“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.  This week’s Rotarian was Ed Bottum.  Ed was asked about the refrigerator museum in his basement.  He has many items, including an ice box from the late 1800s.  Ed was also asked about his dad’s 1904 Stanley Steamer, which he still has.  Finally, Ed was asked if he has any plans for his dad’s house, located at Spencer Road and I-96.  He does not have any plans for it at this time.

Good Deed Doers team captains Lori Lalama, Lee Gough, Adrienne Knack, and Kory Leppek are working on choosing the Club’s next project.  Currently, they are eyeing working with Judge Geddis regarding a program for criminal offenders suffering with mental health issues.

Jane McManus announced that the Brighton Rotary Club Foundation donated $1,000 to send shelter boxes to the Philippines. 

Melanie Moses & George Moses will be performing the roles of grandparents in “The Nutcracker” performances on December 7th (7pm) and 8th (2pm) at the Jane Tasch Theater in Pinckney.  Seating information at www.tututix.com

Our Christmas party is next Tuesday, December 10 at 6pm.  We will not be meeting for lunch.

Derek Smith announced that they need volunteers tomorrow, December 4, at 4:00 PM to help repair the ice rink at the Meijer Skate Park.

April Dertian passed around a signup sheet for Salvation Army bell ringers on December 6 and December 18.  If you want to volunteer, contact April, or sign up online at www.registertoring.com

Gleaners is this Saturday!

All Rotarians are invited to the Brighton Chamber Annual Hollyday Celebration.  It will be Friday, December 6 from 6-9:00 PM at the Chamber.

Our meeting on December 16 will feature the a capella choirs from BHS.  If you plan to bring a guest, please let President Mark know so that we can be sure to have enough food.

We are not meeting on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve.

Our exchange student, Camilla, would like to take two of the exchange student trips.  If anyone has any odd jobs for her to do to earn money, please let Michelle Bouhana know.

Upcoming Events:

12/10/13          6:00-8:30pm    Rotary Holiday Party, Johnson Center. NO LUNCH MEETING.

12/24/13                                  NO LUNCH MEETING.

12/31/13                                  NO LUNCH MEETING.

Program:  Hunger Exists in Livingston County

Program host, Fred Arthur, introduced Michelle Ounanian, a member of the Livingston County Hunger Council.  The Council was founded in 2009 after a report was produced indicating that there was a 51% gap in meals needed in Livingston County.  The Council was started with the goal of ensuring food security to everyone in Livingston County.  They began their focus on four areas:  1) government food programs; 2) OLSA and shared harvest pantry; 3) emergency food programs; and 4) nutrition food programs.  Over 17,850 individuals are faced with food insecurity, meaning they struggle to put enough nutritious food on the table.  7,190 of these individuals are children and only 45% of these children qualify for government food assistance.  Recently, Livingston County was declared the first food secure county in the state of Michigan!  Their plan moving forward includes the Council remaining secure, continuous focus on nutrition, localizing our food future, continually getting the word out, and to continue supporting programs that already exist.  Visit www.livingstonhunger.com to become a part of the solution.

50/50 drawing:  Tom Zizka, Bob Murray, and Fred Arthur were all unsuccessful at finding the Ace of Spades.