The November 3, 2021 meeting opened on Zoom & in person at the Michigan Union with social time. Sara Maddock provided Zoom etiquette guidelines to the virtual attendees.
At 12:30, President Susan Froelich started the meeting by ringing the bell. Tom Strode led us in a “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
Inspiration was provided by Marlena Studer who talked about losing her mother at a young age and yet being grateful for lessons that she learned from her especially the gift of imagination. Don Duquette led us in “It’s a Great Day to be a Rotarian” with words and music by Jim Irwin and in recognition of his Emeritus award.
President Susan welcomed the attendees – 43 on zoom and approx. 40 at the Michigan Union. She thanked the set-up team, the photographer, reporter, and attendance taker. Birthdays for the week include Ed Wier on Nov 4, and Dave Schmidt & Peg Talburtt on Nov 5.
Next up was the presentation of Emeritus Status to James Irwin by Rosemarie Rowney. Jim is a successful businessman, author (penning a book about baseball legend Don Lund), and a songwriter (see above). His company, Wolverine Technical Staffing, is one of the oldest and strongest staffing firms in Michigan. Jim has been a proud Rotarian for more than 50 years. His first 9 years was with the Monroe Club, where he served as Secretary, Treasurer, Bulletin Editor and President during their Golden Anniversary year. They awarded him an honorary Paul Harris fellowship. In 1979, Jim was recruited to the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor by John Eman and George Hay. He was immediately recruited as Harpoon Editor, which he did for 10 years. Then-President Frank Kennedy asked him to lead songs which he’s still doing. Jim served for many years on the RCAA Board, was awarded an honorary Paul Harris fellowship and served as President in 1983-84.
Jim has been a working Board member and Chair of many local charitable organizations Here are a few highlights from Jim’s life: At 14, Jim became the youngest Eagle Scout in Detroit; he chaired WCC’s first and most successful capital campaign; he chaired Glacier Hills board for 5 years, bringing it from near bankruptcy to solid footing with no layoffs; he chaired the Clements Library Board of Governors; Prof. Dennis Wilson of UM’s Jazz Department composed a s song for him called “This One’s for Jim” which was premiered by the Count Basie Orchestra and is still being performed today. The Jim and Millie Irwin Performance Award scholarship has so far been given to 35 UM theater students. The Jim and Millie Irwin Student Aid Fund has given hundreds of WCC students extra cash for meeting expenses. Jim and Millie provided the seed money for Wayne State University’s Debate and Forensic fund. Jim has actively supported Michigan football, basketball and baseball programs, plus every women’s sport on campus. Jim recently donated his 34 oil paintings of 19th century Ann Arbor to Concordia University. Upon accepting today’s award, Jim said the most successful thing he did was marry Millie and they’ve been married for almost 58 years. He also referenced his participation in the Scouts and how the Scout’s ideals are the same as Rotary’s so it was easy to make a transition to serve as a Rotarian.
Agnes Reading introduced new member Carlos Valderrama who transferred from the Bogota, Columbia club. He is the Senior Vice President for Global Customer Success at LlamaSoft and has been in Ann Arbor for 6 years.
Leo Shedden introduced new member, Eric Macke who has been in Ann Arbor for 40 years. He recently retired from Ford in manufacturing and holds 4 patents. He has participated in a number of recent Rotary events (GTO and highway clean-up), has volunteered for many Ann Arbor Public Schools initiatives. During retirement he has taken up options trading, golf, and is involved in sailing regattas.
President Susan’s announcements about upcoming events included a reminder about the District virtual gala on Tuesday, November 9. Stories of Service, an evening with veterans is scheduled for 7:00 on Wednesday, November 10 at Rackham Auditorium with an engaging evening of story-telling — the VIP reception is at 5:30 with proceeds benefitting the Fisher House. Volunteers are needed for the 7th Annual Veteran Hiring Event on Saturday, November 13. If you need fall chores completed don’t forget to Rent-a-Rotaractor.
Dennis Powers introduced Ann Arbor Summer Festival (A2SF) Executive Director, Michael Michelon. Before joining the A2SF, Mike worked for UMS under Ken Fischer on the production side of arts presenting.
Mike recapped what has happened with the A2SF since June 2020. They pivoted to salvage existing programming which occurred in phases involving interactive and visual activities and Tiny TOPs where private performances were occurring at residences, along with music hikes. and other concerts called “Not too Close”. After much reflecting and planning for the 2021 season and keeping abreast of the constant fluctuations with the pandemic, the A2SF decided to go where people are and presented performances in many formats while recognizing different levels of comfort. They opted for having many different activities involving many partners, since it’s easier to do together what we can’t do alone. Some of the season’s successes included the presentation of “Temping” which was an immersive piece in which an audience member participates in temping Another highlight was “Theater in Quarantine” in which the artist turned his NYC apartment into a performance space with a local artist providing the soundtrack. This piece had hundreds of attendees.
The A2SF envisioned an “on the road” type of event for 2021 to go where people are. They visited over 20 parks in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti serving over 9000 people over the course of the season and collected 1500 valid email addresses. Another great success. Live Here Now truck traveled to various locations and there were performances that took place throughout the community.
The A2SF worked with Peace Neighborhood Center providing meals at one of the events along with another event featuring an immersive dance experience. Another successful venue was Fuller Park for free performances. The A2SF also partnered with the Ark in presenting nationally touring artists including 3 concerts that were originally to be presented outdoors but were rained out and became virtual performances.
A current upcoming event is “A Thousand Ways” by 600 Highwaymen which is being presented by UMMA and A2SF. It’s an immersive piece running from November 9-14 with Part One and Part Two from March 8 – April 24.
Plans for the 2022 are currently in the works which include the Live Here Now truck remaining, an increase in A2SF’s presence throughout the year, and a return to TOP from June 10-July 3, 2022.
You can watch recap videos from the last 2 years here:
2021 Recap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCnUS3dgeCo
2020 Recap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8UTAJC2h-8
Dr. Ginny Creasman, Director of the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System will be the presenter at next week’s meeting on “Growth of Healthcare Services.”
Quote of the Day: “Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible” by Frank Zappa.
President Susan adjourned the meeting at 1:27.
Respectfully submitted by,
Jennifer Fike
