Weekly Review Feb 2, 2026

Creating Partnerships

by Don Jung

Priscila Kasha led the flag salute and gave the thought for the day to start the meeting. President Cedric Tuck-Sherman asked for the guests for the meeting that included honorees from VetFest. Don Whinfrey brought his wife Ginger and daughter Emily Bourassa as his guests, and Kathleen Terry brought Gordon Cook for his second visit.
 
Tim Hageman brought Dan Graham, Mark Maruyama and Keith Sultemeier to the floor for their work on VetFest and announced the recipients of event profits that included Leah Brown and Dr. Jo Sornborger from Operation Mend as well as Vic Brown from Team Rubicon, plus representatives from Pin-Ups for Vets and the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation.
 
Ken Deemer talked about our future projects regarding the Capacity Expansion Project, where we will partner with Restoration Diversion Services, iACT and Culture Club.
 
Richard Montgomery introduced his board for next year that featured Kelly Stroman as our President-Elect. 
 
Paul Rudy introduced Don Whinfrey, a Cornell graduate, to talk about blindness and the history of eye issues that has progressed over the years. He is on the board of the Braille Institute and Helen Keller International and spoke about how modern science is improving the ways to correct eyesight issues. He talked about how Artificial Intelligence is working in this area and how Meta and other tech companies are making an impact on eyesight research.
 
President Cedric thanked Steve DeBaets for his shoes donation project in Long Beach, Norm Levin for his work with Pin-Up for Vets and Val Pagett for visiting a Rotary Club in the Canary Islands. Barbara Matles announced her retirement and President Cedric and his wife Gretchen attended Ponies for Polio, a Rotary District event.
 
Jim McFarland won the wine, and Dick Chase did not win the cash raffle.
 
For more meeting photos, go to SmugMug.

Donn Ennis - You Are My Hero!
by Sue Vogl, Bulletin Editor

I want to thank Donn Ennis for his contributions to MB Rotary for so many years! He's the man behind the camera at our weekly meetings, at our social events and at our community service events. Every week he downloads those photos on SmugMug for all of us to see. In addition, he helps me gather news for the Bulletin in countless ways -- sending me news stories about members, lists of Rotary awards winners and more. He put together a composite photo showing all the women of Rotary, which I was proud to publish in the Bulletin. He also posts photos on our Facebook page.

Donn, I could not do this weekly job without you! When we surveyed our members about the ways they get information about our club, the Bulletin topped the list. But those members had a request -- more photos! That is a tribute to your excellent photography!

I also want to thank the rest of the Bulletin team -- Bob Lanahan, co-editor and Webmaster; Jim McFarland and Don Jung, notes writers; and Walt Kasha, photographer. Once again, we would not have a Bulletin without you.

The next time you see Donn, please thank him for chronicling our club's meetings and activities for all these years!