Harpoon for the Week of July 19, 2010

July is New Rotary Year Month on the Rotary Calendar 

No Meeting – Enjoy the Art Fairs – and Volunteer to Help!

Upcoming Events:

July 28 - Luncheon speaker: Rich Rodriquez, U-M Football Coach
September 13 - Golf & Tennis Outing

Notes from the Meeting of July 14:

President Beth opened the meeting with a Rotary rendition of “America/My Country ‘Tis of Thee” followed by the Invocation by Doug Moffat who, in light of the baseball hoopla going on and the rejuvenation of the national campaign to recognize individuals serving their communities, talked about the real All Stars among us. He read “The Corner”, a poem about possibilities at the meeting of Michigan and Trumbull in Detroit and its Tiger Stadium. You can create memories and passionately discuss baseball with an 8 year old girl - the wonderful statistics about it and the larger than life players who adorn its history. And even if there are many things of an adult nature that you cannot discuss with her, she will always remember and be able to recite Tiger records, her memories of being there, of hot chocolate at early Spring games, and being overshadowed by the looming upper deck. And that while you can’t talk about a lot of things with her, you can always talk baseball. Doug closed the invocation noting that Rotary is filled with "All Stars" who serve the community in countless and quiet ways.

The singing was led by the indefatigable Joanne Pierson, accompanied so well by Deanna Relyea, first with “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” and then especially for the new Rotarians, “The Four-Way Test.”

The visitor of the day was David Dow, of Waco, Texas. Our guests included two sponsored by Steve Postema: his high school senior son, Jacob Postema, who is off to Harvard in the Fall, and Clare Ziegler, who is the granddaughter of Ted McLogan. Ann Schriber introduced her guest, Pam Wood, who is also the mother-in-law of one of our new Rotarians. Art Holst introduced his guest Leo Shedden. President Beth also welcomed back Rotarians Al Burdi, Bob Livingston and Barb Hiltz, who is the first Rotarian in quite some time returning from maternity leave. 

President Beth noted that dues envelopes were being distributed that described member financial obligations. Those not handed out on the way into lunch would be available on the way out.

President Beth’s “Did You Know” for today reveals that our Maurita Holland is a Master Gardener, and volunteers locally every week to answer questions about gardening.

President Beth announced that it was now time for the previously new members to take off their ribbons and join in the usual search for badges on the board. She reiterated the invitation to the Rotary Picnic and Beach Party in Pinkney on August 22d, which is limited to 75 lucky participants, urging members to contact Susan Smith Gray to sign up. It was noted that the limitation might well be related to bathroom capacity.

Finally, President Beth called on John Sepp to describe the work of the “Doers of Good,” ne DOGS, who go out in the community to find things that need be done on a one time basis. The DOG need right now is to find “Ambassadors” who can be of service during the Art Fair: to provide advice, directions, and other assistance to visitors as they get off busses.

Notes from the Program of July 14:

The presentation of new members was conducted by Charlie Crone and Todd Kephart. The following new Rotarians were introduced by their sponsors, pinned and certified, and welcomed by the applause of all members:

Bob Donnellan, sponsored by Tom Conlin, Pat Pooley, Gerry Prescott and Ann Schriber. Ann provided Bob’s background and history as a litigator for Ford Motor Company, his family, and also his role as The Godfather for Ann and Tom’s son.

Karen Gladney, sponsored by Charlie Crone and Bruce Duncan. She has been a visitor many times from Lansing Rotary, has three children, and is with Comerica.

Tom Millard, sponsored by Wayne Colquitt, Joan Knoertzer and Dean Millard. Wayne noted that Tom served as the Director of Bands for 30 years at Clague Middle School and is now retired. No stranger to Rotary, Tom’s father is an Emeritus member for former President of Ann Arbor Rotary.

Bruce Stone, sponsored by Rob Boehnke, Ian Glassford and Paul Glendon. Bruce is with J.P. Morgan, practiced as an attorney in the Trusts and Estates area, and served as an Adjunct Professor at Ave Maria Law School.

Deb Vandenbroek, sponsored by Lou Callaway, Patricia Garcia, Heidi Grix, and Norman Herbert. Deb is a health care executive with nursing and health services degrees from the University of Michigan and served as the CEO and other positions with St. Joseph’s in Pontiac, and in Sioux City, Iowa, where she was a Rotarian.

Kathy Wood, sponsored by Bill Dunifon, Joanne Pierson, Agnes Reading and Ann Schriber. Kathy is with Kapnick Insurance, coming to Ann Arbor from her previous executive position with Wells Fargo in San Francisco and Ann Arbor.

Bob Livingston has rejoined us after a break.  Welcome Back, Bob!

More information about our new member class of July 14, 2010 may be found on our website. 

President Beth thanked Charlie and Todd and the Committee for their work. She noted that there will be no meeting next week because of the Art Fair, and that Rotarians should volunteer to be Ambassadors during the event via the DOGS. The meeting on July 28th will feature Rich Rodriquez who, per President Beth with a twinkle in her eye, coaches a sport.

Thought for the Day: "There can be no better introduction to the life of a community than one that comes through the local Rotary Club." - Paul Harris

Notes by Tony Derezinski, Cub Reporter       Photographs by Fred Beutler

Notes of Interest:

D.O.G.S. First Foray: Our new Club project, Doers Of Good, has its first short term project serving as Ann Arbor Ambassadors to Art Fair patrons. The Ann Arbor Art Fairs are seeking helpful, friendly volunteers to assist at trolley stops to answer questions and to enhance the experience for visitors. Ambassadors sign up for three-hour shifts between 9 am and10 pm, Wednesday - Friday, July 21 - 23 and 9 am and 7 pm on Saturday, July 22. Training is not required – just bring a smile. Contact Phil Weiss (734) 660-8187 or Nicole McKay: (734) 662-3382 ext 101.

Golf and Outing Shirts: Show your true Rotary colors! Once again, we will have the official shirt for the Golf and Tennis outing available for sale. The shirts are attractive, comfortable and a great value at $35 each. Order deadline is August 15 so hurry! The brochure and order form for this year’s shirt may be found here.

Dues Bills are Out: Everyone should have their 1-2-3-4 bills by now. The #1 invoice is for dues. They are to be paid by the end of the month. The other obligations and "opportunities" can be addressed later. Please contact John White if you have questions about your bill. Thanks to these five "early bird" check writers for setting a good example in the dues collection process: Nishta Bhatia, Norman Herbert, David Herzig, Bob Livingston and Ingrid Sheldon. Each submitted their check before the July 14 meeting was over!

Lost and Found: We still have a woman's lightweight overcoat that was left behind at a meeting several weeks ago. It is black, has a hood and is marked as a "petite small." Please claim it at the Rotary Shares table on the 28th.

Meeting Statistics: The meeting was attended by 123 members. We had one visiting Rotarian (David Dow of Waco TX) and four guests. We were also honored by the attendance of Emeritus member and past president Dean Millard, father of new member Tom Millard. Just before lunch, 23 members participated in meetings of the Program and Social Committees while another 23 members attended the orientation of our new members

Makeup Cards from Roving Rotarians: Bill Stegath (Escanaba on July 6)

Birthdays: July 21 – Barbara Eichmueller, Roy More; July 22 – Michael Cole; July 23 – Hank Amble

Links of Interest:  Websites of interest to Rotarians.

Rotary International: The RI home page has links to About Rotary, The Rotary Foundation, Club Locator and Member Access.  Our Club is in Zone 29. The zone has 17 districts and covers portions of Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. District 6380: Our district's website includes 53 clubs in the counties of Washtenaw, Livingston, Oakland and Macomb in Michigan and Kent in Ontario. The district’s monthly newsletter and articles of district-wide interest are posted there.

Rotary Club of Ann Arbor: Our Club’s website provides background material and information including the current Annual Report, Strategic Plan, New Member Nomination Form, Committee Descriptions, Club and Golf Outing brochures, synopses of upcoming programs and an archive of Harpoons. Find us on Facebook. Also, find meeting podcasts on our website.

Submit news, committee meetings, and announcements to the Harpoon, the newsletter of the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor. Contact the Club to subscribe by email.

Our Club also sponsors the following Rotaract and Interact Clubs:

U-M Rotaract Club: http://www.uofmrotaract.wordpress.com.
Huron High Interact Club: http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/huron.interact/home.
Pioneer High Interact Club: http://www.pioneerinteract.blogspot.com.

“Building Communities - Bridging Continents”