Christie Bacon grew up in Ann Arbor (Go Blue! Go Rats!), then moved to Chicago to begin her professional career, where she earned an MS in Public Service Management from DePaul University. She lived in Chicago for ten years, working for several organizations, including Business Partners: The Chamber for Uptown and the American Bar Association.

She moved back to Ann Arbor three years ago. She put her professional career on hold briefly while starting a family with John U. Bacon, well-known author and frequent speaker at our meetings. It took a while to get settled—a business, a baby, and a new house will do that—but she never lost the desire to reconnect with her home town. That’s where the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor comes in.

According to Christie, the motto of Rotary—Service above Self—really resonates with her, and she has found our club warm and welcoming. She attended our meetings several times as a guest when her husband spoke and those meetings sparked her interest in joining our club. She also notes that she feels good about investing her time and money with Rotary, and with our club in particular, and she wanted to be a part of an organization that’s having such a positive impact on so many people and communities. And, of course, there is the singing.

As far as her Rotary interests go, she’s still exploring the possibilities. “There are so many worthy projects to jump into,” she says. She really loves helping others achieve their goals and sees herslef getting involved in committees focused on youth development and achievement. And, she’s already been recruited as a mic runner for 2018!

In her spare time, Christie works out at the YMCA a few days a week and loves to read, travel, and eat (Ann Arbor’s restaurant scene is so good right now!). When she has more time, she likes to take drawing and painting classes. An annual tradition at this time of year is making pierogis from scratch. Her great grandma Plusczczynski taught her grandmother, who taught her mom, who taught her. It isn’t Christmas without homemade potato and cheese dumplings, fried in butter and onions, and served with sour cream!