President Dawn Johnson opened our meeting with the ringing of the bell and pianist Jody Tull de Salis accompanied the 63 Club members, guests and Zoomers in singing our National Anthem. As a group, we recited the Rotary 4-way Test. Jody moved from the piano bench to the podium to highlight several Ann Arbor cultural organizations and their legacy leaders: Ann Arbor Junior Theater, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Artrain, Kerrytown Concert House, Marquee Arts, University Musical Society. Together with the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, all these cultural gems join to make Ann Arbor a great place to live. She read a poem by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook to inspire us to “enjoy what is great and to find delight in what is truly precious.”
Song Leader Ingrid Sheldon provided Jim Irwin’s parody of Take Me Out to the Ball Game, apropos to today’s guest speaker from the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair. Here are the lyrics to Take Me Out to the Art Fair:
Take me out to the Art Fair,
Let me stroll with the crowd.
Pottery, paintings, and papier maché;
Everything’s beautiful, all is okay!
And we’ll root, root, root through our wallets,
If we can find cash to spare,
Then it’s friends, fun, frolicking here
At our own Art Fair!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
President Dawn welcomed members – including newest Club member Wendy Turner – and guests. She thanked today’s meeting team of Daniel Earle, Larry Gray, Ed Johnson, Fernando Leon, Ingrid Sheldon, Ronald Slagel, Mary Steffek Blaske, Marlena Studer, and Jody Tull de Salis.
Birthday confetti wishes to Norma Sarkar, Rosemarie Rowney, Terry Linden, Brian Schrag, Laurie Atwood, and Karen Wasco!
Thanks to the grant-writing Rotarians for succeeding in completing the District Grant Reports in a timely fashion, ahead of the May 15 deadline.
Nishta Bhatia, Dennis Burke and Dawn Johnson participated in the EPIC Day of Service cleaning up nearby parkland and river venues. President Dawn thanked Dennis for his help in organizing the event.
Time and Talent will continue their drive to collect your reusable canvas tote bags now through June 30. Please cull your burgeoning pile of canvas or cloth totes and bring them to the Rotary Shares table outside the entrance to the Anderson Room.
There is still time to register for the 3rd Annual Yoga Retreat to be held on June 14 at the Kensington Hotel.
Bust out the cigars for Club Member Derek Jankowski on the birth of his 8 pound, 12 ounce son, Henry Astor!
BUSINESS
President Dawn announced that the Board voted and approved the newly honed Policies – done to make a massive document more succinct and usable. The Policies will be distributed to Club members shortly. Policies have been separated from Procedures so that each is easier to access. Procedures will focus on committees’ operational clarity including purpose, job descriptions and to-do lists. Johnson thanked the hard-working Committee who has labored on this project: Larry Gray, Bill McPherson, Roy More, Rob Schiff, Leo Shedden, Susan Shipman, and Kathy Waugh. Barbara Eichmuller then acknowledged the outstanding leadership given by President Dawn in spearheading this intensive and important work during her term.
President Dawn also reported on a positive meeting with the City of Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation Department for the purpose of creating a resilient relationship. There may be seasonal and back-of-house volunteer opportunities for our Club to work with Parks & Rec mirroring Rotary’s pillar of Environmental Service.
SPEAKER ANGELA KLINE on the ANN ARBOR STREET ART FAIR
Dennis Burke introduced Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (AASAF) Angela Kline, and Dante Scott, its Operations & Communications Coordinator.
Kline took the podium and stated that the AASAF is the 2nd oldest, continuously running, juried art fair in the United States. It began in 1960 with 99 local artists and 33 from around Michigan all displaying their art on South University Street. Today, located on Ingalls Mall, it features 200 artists and generates $2.5M in artist sales. This year’s fair will be July 16-18.
Kline is especially proud of the many educational and outreach projects enabled through “Dart for Art,” a one-mile race around downtown. Programs funded through Dart for Art include NANA (New Art, New Artist College Student Mentoring Program), the Art Activity Zone at the Art Fair, the Demo Zone (live artist demonstrations from Ann Arbor’s Potter’s Guild), and the Youth Art Fair (for youngsters in grades 4-12 to sell their artwork and keep all the sales proceeds). Kline noted that through Dart for Art, 1,300 Ann Arbor Public School high school art students receive backpacks filled with curriculum-aligned art supplies which can be used for either school-based art creation, or for their independent art making.Kline proudly acknowledged past AASAF Executive Director, our own Club member Susan Froelich who served from 1986 – 97. This year she will be honored with an Award in her name.
Also part of the AASAF is the Fountain Stage, a hopping place for live bands and great listening. This will be Mr. B’s 46th year boogie-woogie-ing at the piano keyboard with his signature fast-walking bass.
Kline advised taking the Park and Ride shuttles from Briarwood or Huron High School to the AASAF because of limited central campus-area parking.
When asked, Kline said that her wish list for AASAF is to grow its educational support so that any artist can make art through supplies and mentorship.
She welcomed volunteers for Dart for Art as well as during the Art Fair itself. Please see the AASAF website for volunteer information and sign up. This is also a great opportunity to host an artist while they are in town. This helps reduce artists’ costs and gives you an inside view of the creative and entrepreneurial life of today’s artists. She also invited Club members to vote for the AASAF in the USA Today’s rankings to help achieve the #1 spot for 2026.
