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President Davis called the meeting to order in the Pub of the Lansing Center, where a large group of hopeful Rotarians awaited the first pour of the day. Alas, that decanter of decadent red never made its way to our table, nor did the carefully curated crisp white that my table-mate was dreaming of. Instead, we reflected on the invocation thoughtfully provided by John Pence, dutifully sang a patriotic song, clapped politely for the guests and visiting Rotarians, and marveled at the miracle of the minor injuries sustained by David O'Leary and his family while filming a PSA for seatbelt usage. Our thoughts went out to John Stephenson, who fell on May 19th and broke his arm. John is at the Ingham County Medical Care Facility, 3860 Dobie Road, Okemos, Room 305. And still we patiently waited. Reminders were shared about the International Conference June 10-14 that we can all drive to (but should FlyLansing), the new Williamston Theater production, and the upcoming performance of Fun Home at the Wharton, which was written by a talented woman originally from our community. A quartet from the East Lansing Summer Solstice Jazz Festival - coming up June 23rd- played some fabulously jazzy tunes that would have been even better with a glass of wine in-hand (and no afternoon meetings scheduled). Laurie Baumer, Chair of the month & day, introduced the man we all were waiting to hear from - Jim Cash - who spent years in commercial construction at Christman with his buddies Jay and Steve, who hopefully get the friends and family discount when they call Revel Cellars. Jim led off his talk by stating that the truth is stranger than fiction. Since the truth is that we were all present for a wine cellar talk that featured no wine, it does not get any stranger than that. Weirder still is the many references to wine being the star of the show...the focus of Revel Cellars' entire existence...the #inspo behind the vision. Yet, still no wine appeared. But let’s start at the beginning. It was not being able to see the labels on his wine bottles in storage that began Jim Cash's research and ultimate engineering craftiness that led to what Revel Cellars is today; the most highly-rated and revered custom wine-cellar creator in the world. Don't believe me? Just run a quick Google search on Revel Cellars and Jim Cash. Or go straight to www.Revelcellars.com to start the discovery design process for your own crafted cellar to contain that collection of wines you are hiding from your family while serving them Two-Buck-Chuck at holidays. I'm not judging, I promise. Still, Jim Cash has come a long way from simply finding a functional solution to an initial annoyance. He's learned from challenges along the way; today, his portfolio of patents doesn't even compare to the portfolio of accolades and awards he has accumulated from publications including Forbes, Michigan Blue, CRAVE, Wine Spectator (more than once), and the list goes on. Revel installations can be found in Napa Valley at Cardinale Estate, a residence in Atlantic Beach in Florida, and one of the homes that Brad/Angelina are likely still fighting over. Revel is deep in the export business, with 90% of cellars they make shipping outside of Michigan. Still, the revenues are coming back to our mitten, with Benchmark Wood Studio in Holland, MI, serving as the manufacturing partner that Jim Cash raves about. Revel isn't trying to be the biggest, just the best. And he's doing pretty good at that. Rotarians, lets raise a glass to another mid-Michigander we can all be proud of, while visions of custom wine cellars dance in our heads.  President Davis closed out the program with a coin carrying the four-way-test for Mr. Cash and a reminder that a gift to support clean water will be made in his name. Join us next week at the Lansing Center when Staci Bakkegard and Dr. Jim Herman will speak about the new Cancer Center at Sparrow. P.S. There won't be any wine then, either. |
Staci has been with Sparrow for nearly five years, previously serving as a Architectural Planner at Beaumont Health System, a Designer with Hobbs+Black Architects, and a Project Assistant with Perkins+Will in Minneapolis. She is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Dr. Herman, board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology and radiation oncology, received his medical degree from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He completed an internal medicine internship at the University of Michigan and an internal medicine residency at McGill University Hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He completed a residency in medical oncology and a residency and fellowship in radiation oncology at the University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Hospital. Dr. Herman has been a member of the oncology team at the Sparrow Regional Cancer Center since 1983. He currently serves as Medical Director of the cancer program and chairman of the health system's Cancer Committee. He is also an assistant professor at both Wayne State University and Michigan State University. Dr. Herman treats all cancer types and has been instrumental in developing and implementing multidisciplinary oncology clinics. His greatest ability is his communication skills with patients and their families..jpg)