What a weekend! Pontiac Rotary partnered with Oakland Co Parks, We Love Lit, Bloomfield Rotary and the Rotary Club of Time and Talent to host ten Pontiac families for an overnite camping trip at beautiful Groveland Oaks! (see photos in the Photo Library, column to your left.)
This week, District Governor Lee Halstead and Assistant Governor Janet Haas joined us as guest speakers. Lee shared his history with Rotary and talked about the upcoming district conference at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth, October as Polio Month (complete with purple pinky nail polish), and the hundred’s Rotary clubs around the world. He also told a joke about banquets and eating chicken. Another guest, President-elect Jose Guzman of Bloomfield Rotary, stopped by to go over the details of the Oakland County Parks camping trip. Jose will play guitar and sing campfire songs while roughing it overnight in a tent. It was a busy meeting because we also had an induction of our newest member Mary Broadus. Welcome, Mary! We look forward to working with you!
This week we had a field trip to City Hall to meet with Community & Economic Development Director, Michael Hansen. Michael spoke to us about the 4 Divisions that he oversees: Building Safety, Economic Vitality, Housing Vitality and Planning & Zoning. He spoke about how renaming the divisions was a way to focus on certain aspects of the city, instead of grouping them all together, and how they have hired 81 new to achieve those goals. Another topic was the education of business owners; creating business programs like Oakland Thrive to teach and give the tools needed to make them successful
Your Help is Needed!!!!
As many of you know, we have sponsored a Camping Trip to Groveland Oaks in the fall for the last three years. It is one of our signature events!
Three members of the leadership team of this year's Notre Dame Prep Interact Club joined the Pontiac Rotary Board meeting in August. In the photo, Sam (club president) and David (Interact Liaison) are joined by Mateo Vargas, Interact President, Sofia Monahan, VP, and Paula Ceular, Treasurer. These three impressive young people shared their "Why Rotary" and helped us understand how an Interact Club works in the busy high school environment. We emphasized our interest in their activities, and willingness to support them as needed. The lines of communication are open; let's make a difference in Pontiac together!
Rick & Kathy's set out on a big adventure to Grand Haven on Saturday, August 29, 2026 . This adventure happened in the form of a one-day road trip to Grand Haven.
If you note, on the right, in the back, we definitely had an Eddie sighting at our last Summer Eating of the summer of 2026.
Well, as they say, another one bites the (Walton Blvd) dust. We are in Lions' pre-season!
Despite the rain in the morning, it turned out to be a lovely day! (And no that is not Kaj's deck!)
If you want to get out on a Friday evening... There is the opening reception for 1st Annual "Brook Does Pontiac Car Art Show" is at the Pontiac Creative Arts Center on Friday August 7, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Mission Impossible to Dogwood's Kitchen and Bar, it was NOT...unless you came down Walton Blvd from the west.
Well, we had one interesting evening! It was full of surprises!
This week we traveled through the smoke and haze and found ourselves at M1 Grill, where the air conditioning and filtering system was working just fine!
We visited Lemon Grass Thai Restaurant located at Centerpoint Parkway and Opdyke roads. And we, definitely not the only ones! It is a very popular lunch spot.
This week we celebrated 250 years of independence, and we also celebrated the World Cup by going to Ghost Modern Mexican!
This week, we visited the Webster Community Center, formerly Webster Elementary. We last toured the site in May 2022, when the school was barely recognizable. What a transformation it has undergone since our last visit. We got a tour from Katie Romska, the Operations Director, who explained that there are Twenty-six classrooms that are almost completely renovated and rented, with only four still available. The center will include a coffee shop with street access serving Plain & Fancy Coffee, Honor Community Health Pediatrics, Head Start, Webster Community Market with a full line of groceries, Pontiac Theatre IV, A Courageous Voice, a robotics program, and an indoor bus stop with bathrooms and vending machines.
This week, we heard from Lisa Varnier, a retired attorney from Blue Cross Blue Shield, a former assistant Oakland County prosecutor, and a current board member of El Centro Multicultural/La Familia. For the past 15 years, she has been supporting Pontiac’s immigrant community and sharing “red cards,” along with explaining what they are and how they are used. She also talked about the several types of green cards and visas, the difference between naturalized and birthright citizenship, the status of DACA, and the sensitive issues surrounding ICE.
This week we took a field trip to the Jay Shop in Pontiac and met with Brian Wright, the Director of New Product Development. The Jay Shop is a nonprofit vocational rehabilitation organization where real industrial work creates purpose, stability, and opportunity. Brian explained the history of the Jay Shop, which was established in 1966. Today, they employ 106 people, which include management and line employees, which work on spring assembly kit trays for Ford Motor Company’s F-150. They work one daily shift and meet deadlines of 14,014 trays a day, it is an amazing job opportunity for people with barriers to work in this environment verses other types of employment. Brian’s dream would be to see the Jay Shop grow enough to bring on a second shift. We all hope that dream comes to fruition.
conference room on the right of entrance
Pontiac, MI 48341
United States of America