I always begin my new year with thanks for the old and it is a pleasure to continue this tradition in 2015. My personal year was full of wonderful memories of fun and fellowship with family, friends and Rotary and I thank each and every one of you for your contribution to a truly memorable year.
 
We accomplished great things over the past six months. During the first 182 days of the 2014/15 year, RCAAN made contributions to the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts, Perry Nursery and through a matching grant, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
 
We supported our Rotary ‘kids’ at Ann Arbor West through sponsorship of their second annual International Festival and co-sponsorship of our Youth Exchange student from France.
 
We made our final payments to cover the cost of storing furnishings and personal belongings to families displaced by fire at Green Baxter Court and renewed friendships through our annual trip to Three Cedars with our Pumpkin Patch Pals.  We ended the year  by fulfilling Santa’s wish list for the children from two GBC families.
 
Through the leadership of Rotarians Scott Nelson, Sofia Franciscus and Eric Tindall, we tended to our beautiful Butterfly Garden at Gallup Park and much to our delight, we  welcomed new friends from the Good Thyme Garden Club and students from Emerson School for volunteer work days.
 
We worked one of the last charity Poker nights in Ann Arbor before our profitable fundraising endeavor was curtailed due to legislative changes in Lansing. We regrouped and devised a new strategy to address the shortfall in 2015 so that we can continue supporting our local community.
 
We supported our District following the untimely death of our District Governor, George Hedgespeth. While saying good-bye to our dear friend we said thanks to PDG/DG Don Riddell and PDG/Vice Governor Jim Gilmore for stepping up to assume leadership so that we could continue our good work. We gathered with other district Rotarians at a picnic at Kensington Metropark, went wild at our first Rotary Day at the Detroit Zoo, attended the District Governor’s reception and the Foundation Gala and in addition to serving as a wine sponsor for a December dinner honoring Rotary International President Gary C.K. Huang at EMU. Our members generously supported End Polio Day and #GivingTuesday.
 
This lunch bunch heard from 20 interesting and diverse guests who addressed our group on a broad range of issues and I thank Phil Zepeda for his tireless efforts to bring great speakers to our club. We hosted our annual meeting in the Butterfly Garden on a crisp fall day, welcomed the District Governor for an official visit, held one club assembly and rocked the latest looks in ugly sweaters at our annual Christmas holiday dinner.
 
We Facebooked, we Tweeted, updated our website and sent out weekly newsletters. We welcomed new member Utibe Effiong in September and our Rotary baby Adelynn Maci Oliver in November. We’re looking forward to adding new members in 2015 along with some Rotary grandbabies and maybe a granddog or two.

 

While making a significant impression upon our local community, we made an even larger impact globally. Through the tireless leadership of Manish Mehta and in partnership with domestic and international clubs, we were awarded our first global grant for 2014/15 for an educational project to eliminate Tuberculosis through direct outreach and utilization of local media in Central India. Presently, we are waiting for approval for our second global grant application in this Rotary year for an additional $85 - $100k to provide 200 in-home sanitation facilities in rural India. Through the installation of toilets in family homes, our goal is to empower women by minimizing their risks of disease and personal injury presented by communal toileting in shared water sources. Rotarians from District 6380 will visit our project sites in India in late 2015.
 
But wait – there’s more: stay tuned for future announcements regarding a new 1,000 toilet project in partnership with Rotary clubs in Singapore and renewal of our commitment to micro-financing along with our friends in Nigeria. There is also a project in New Mexico in the not-too-distant future.

 

We’re anticipating great things in the next 174 days. First, there’s the annual FUNdraising ‘Lost in Space’ dinner dance on March 28 and the first annual Phil Zepeda Invitational Golf Tournament on May 30. We’re also looking forward to the District Conference in Detroit in April and supporting President-Elect Bryan Schindel as he attends pre-PETS, PETS and prepares for his installation as President for 2015/16.
 
Speaking of Presidents, I would like to thank you for your support of this President. I truly appreciate your kind words of encouragement, your patience, generosity and attendance at our activities and events. I am proud to serve with a wonderful group of Rotarians.
 
Counting our blessings and wishing you more,
I hope that you enjoy the New Year in store.
For peace and prosperity and service we strive
To share friendship and fellowship in 2015.
 
Yours in service,
Tamra