Eighty-nine Rotarians and guests met in person or via Zoom to see our Club’s history come alive. Thanks to the magic of a skit, we heard how local Ann Arbor physician Theron Langford initially learned about Rotary from seeing a paperweight in a colleague’s office. He then shared the concept of Rotary with friends Harlon Johnson (aka Steve Schram), UM Vice President Shirley Smith (aka Norman Herbert), Charles Sink (aka Dave Keosian) and the Rev. Lloyd Douglas (aka Collier Smith). They agreed to meet weekly to hear a distinguished speaker and together with the other 27,000 national members aspire to take a major role in Rotary’s mission for global peace, health, and youth service. The actors were joined in a boffo cameo performance of Mrs. Langford, portrayed by Ingrid Sheldon. It’s good to know that the potential 3-Way test of “Is it fun? Will I get hurt? Will anybody find out?” was quickly and categorically changed to reflect our current 4-Way test.
President Roy More rang the bell and pianist extraordinaire Jody Tull de Salis led us in our National Anthem. New member Elizabeth Jahn inspired us with the words of Henry Melvill “We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men. …” so appropriate for today’s keynote topic on the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
Song leader Dave Keosian led our Club in the singing of O Canada, the Canadian National Anthem, thereby connecting the two countries in our District just as the Gordie Howe Bridge physically connects us.
Announcements
President Roy thanked today’s meeting crew: Dennis Burke, Jim Egerdal, Larry Gray, Elizabeth Jahn, Dave Keosian, Carolyn Leopard, Mary Steffek Blaske and Jody Tull de Salis. Humongous slices of birthday cake go to Rick Sheridan and Deanna Relyea. Pop the champagne corks to JoAnn Barrett, Nancy Harrison, and Glenna Miller, all celebrating 16 years as Rotarians!
Mark Ouimet quizzed the Club to identify today’s distinguished Club member: Bob Mull. Mull’s accomplishments include being Volunteer of the Year, a UM basketball and baseball player, Ford Motor Company Executive Director of Vehicle Evaluation and Verification, a Combat Engineering Officer in the US Army, and an ace VITA tax preparer! Thank you Bob for all you do for Rotary!
Attend the free-to-the-public debut screening of The Coalition, a 20-minute documentary nature/environmental film at the historic Michigan Theater on Monday, Sept. 28 at 4:30 p.m. This film covers the interplay of drug safety and ecosystem stability, along with organizations partnering to further their shared environmental Sustainability and climate actions.
President Roy asked for members to sign a condolence card to Rotarian Jamie York whose brother Tommy York died on Sept. 6.
Consider volunteering as a Club captain for the Gala Fundraiser for the Rotary Foundation on Nov. 5 to be held in Sterling Heights, MI.
Heather Grodin, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority: Gordie Howe Bridge
Club member Susan Shipman introduced speaker Heather Grondin. Grondin has served as the Chief Relations Officer at Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) since 2015.
After eight years of construction, the 1.5 mile-long Gordie Howe International Bridge opened on July 27, 2026. Within the first 12 hours of its opening, 8,000 vehicles crossed this graceful six-lane connector between Windsor and Detroit.
Grondin noted that the Gordie Howe International Bridge was based is on the preliminary Detroit River International Crossing Study (DRIC). Twenty-five percent of all Canadian-US trade takes place between these two cities. This new bridge gives a safe and much-needed link that supports the economies of Ontario, Michigan, Canada, and the U.S. The DRIC also pointed out the need for redundancy along the Windsor-Detroit corridor, a need to increase the speed of border processing, a plan for the traffic increasing here in the future, and a better way to connect the highways to each side of the Bridge.
She cited the importance of the bridge’s public-private partnerships that:
1) improve connections – easy link ups to Canadian Highway 401 and to I-75 in Michigan.
2) boost neighborhood infrastructure strategies.
3) develop workforce development strategies – 15,000+ individuals worked on this Bridge and 41% of those workers were Windsor or Detroit residents. There were 875 apprentices learning their trade.
4) engage the community – including enhancements in both Windsor and Detroit
5) feature a multi-use plan –see below.
6) feature visual art – the Bridge includes detailed reliefs on the facade of the buildings, and outdoor sculpture. There were large-scale paintings on the towers as they were being built, and neighborhood art exhibits established.
7) create local road improvements – new Bridge accesses eliminate trucks from area side streets.
8) create landscaping and esthetics.
There are six lanes of traffic, with the ability to use dynamic signing to expedite traffic based on real-time use. There are also a dedicated lanes for trucks and over-sized loads, and even a 12-foot toll-free, multi-use pedestrian/bicycle lane protected from vehicular traffic. There are 16 tolling stations and 60 inspection lanes. Tolls can be prepaid through a “Breakaway” pass or app, or paid in the moment with cash, debit or credit cards, or a Nexus pass.
It is the future goal of the Bridge to connect with the Trans-Canada Trail, the Great Lakes Way, the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail, and the Iron Belle Trail.
The Club gave Grondin a warm round of applause, and President Roy rang the bell to close the meeting.
