Please join us at the Holiday Inn near the University of Michigan this Thursday, July 2 for the inaugural meeting of 2015 - 16 President Bryan Schindel. The best way to start a year is in the company of friends and our New Year Celebration would not be complete without YOU in attendance.

I always begin and end my year with thanks for the experiences that I have shared, the people that I’ve met and the friends that I keep. My Rotary year was full of fun and fellowship and I would like to thank you for a truly memorable year.

 

At the start of the Tamra Administration, I made a few promises.  Here’s a recap of the promises we kept:

This past year we welcomed over 40 speakers on a variety of topics ranging from First Amendment Rights to the War Dog Memorial. We would like to thank Phil Zepeda for his work as Program Chair.

 

We supported the families from Green Baxter Court by covering the costs of storage for the personal belongings of families displaced by fire at GBC. We also honored our tradition of our annual Pumpkin Patch trip and fulfilling Santa’s Wish list for four children at GBC.

 

New members – we had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Utibe Effiong and Bob Specht to our Rotary Family and I would like to thank Laura Van Steenis for serving as Membership Chair. I would also like to thank Treasurer Stephanie Oliver for delighting us with the arrival of our Rotary Baby:  Adelynn Maci Oliver.

 

You were promised a party and we all got Lost in Space on March 28. Through the generous support of our sponsors and your attendance, we raised a smidge over $10,000 for local programs. While working on this project, I had the steadfast support of our Foundation Treasurer Lisa Hudy. I had the honor of acknowledging her service, her knowledge and those famous Lisa Hudy motivational speeches.

 

We were delighted when our own Manish Mehta was recognized with the District’s Terry Youlton International Service Award at this year’s conference in Detroit. It was an honor and a privilege to present Manish with a token of appreciation for his service here and throughout the world.

 

Also at the District Conference, Rotary International Annual Giving Director Amanda Runge presented our own Gail Scott with flowers as a tribute to her leadership. We wanted to make sure that Gail knows we appreciate you here at home and sent her home with our own tribute bouquet.

 

We truly enjoyed ourselves at our first golf outing, thanks to the outstanding work of committee co-chairs Keith Krings and Matt Copeland. We were also very successful – these two almost doubled their goal of $5k and raised $9300 so that we can continue our support of local and international projects. 

 

Matt Copeland graciously continued his service this year despite the fact that he was looking to enjoy a more relaxed Rotary role after last year’s President’s Night. In addition, Matt stepped up to chair the golf outing in addition to his board service. In appreciation, we presented Matt with a Rotary Service award and my heartfelt thanks for his commitment to our club.

 

Finally, there is one man in attendance at President’s Night who had us singing every week in addition to providing audio-visual support to our speakers.  This gentleman continues to tend to our Butterfly Garden on an almost weekly basis and usually he is there alone.  Our garden would be weeds, our speakers would be frustrated and we would never be able to pursue our dream of nailing the acoustic version of Take Me Out to the Ball Game with our distinctive percussion accompaniment. Our Rotarian of the Year award was presented to Scott Nelson.

 

This was a memorable year, made possible with the support of understanding board.  I woud like to thank President Elect Bryan Schindel, Past President Keith Krings, Secretary Tammy Broderick, Treasurer Stephanie Oliver, International Service Director Manish Mehta, Membership Chair Laura Van Steenis, Community Outreach Director Matt Copeland and last but not least, our Foundation Chair Gail Scott.

 

Throughout my term, I frequently noted the exact number of days that I had left to serve. Most assumed that I counted down the days because I couldn’t wait for my term to end and I must admit that there were some days that was the case. However, my work has taught me that the greatest treasure that we share are the days we spend together and I thank you for sharing the last 365 days with me. It was a wonderful, memorable year!

"Here we are, at the close of this great Rotary year. 
Our TEAM 6.3.8.0 Rotarians certainly know how to Light Up Rotary! 
Amazing Rotarians have demonstrated time and time again that when they have a Rotary dream, and create a Rotary vision, they can put their feet in motion and create a path of Rotary footprints to help so many less fortunate than us.  
 
From our start under such humbling circumstances last July, the loss of our Governor George Hedgespeth, all of you have responded.  Our membership is up, our membership is more diverse, 
literacy is front and center in many more clubs, and we will end up the year with increased giving to our Rotary International Foundation.  
 
Hats off to all of you for being such great Rotarians! 
 
Take care, and please reach out to me if there is anything I can ever do for any of you. 
 
"Coach Don, District Governor" 

At our June 16 meeting, your board of directors voted to accept credit card payment for dues, events, meals and any club fees with the exception of raffle tickets. This represents a major change in the way that we do business and we would like to thank Treasurer Stephanie Oliver for researching and negotiating reasonable bank fees that will allow our members to take advantage of the convenience of credit cards. This change will be effective with our next event - President's Night on June 24 - and with this next round of dues invoices.