Braving a bitterly cold wind from the south, a full Anderson Room of Rotarians met to share stories, lunch, and friendship. President Joyce Hunter called our meeting to order and sensational pianist Jody Tull de Salis played as we all sang America the Beautiful.
Barbara Eichmuller came to the podium to share that today would have been Lou Callaway’s 86th birthday and reminded us of his philosophy “be who you are on a daily basis.” She continued by sharing a moving poem by Steve Garnaas-Holmes about Martin Luther King Jr., in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Between a president who recently died
and one about to begin
we remember a man who was never president.
(We notice the harmonies, and the dissonances.)
See how our choices matter –
not our position, nor our power, but our character.
We remember Martin, who was famous,
and in his name thousands more who were not,
but just as brave and merciful and mighty.
We remember all those who were peacemakers,
the nonviolent seekers of justice who have gone before,
and those who are now among us, without office.
We give thanks for those who stood against injustice,
who faced violence, hatred and anger with gentle courage,
and we pray for that spirit as well:
that we will not walk with the haughty and the cruel,
that we will be truthful and kind,
that we confront the power to exclude with the power to love.
With blessed leaders showing us the way,
we pray that we will choose love over fear,
generosity over selfishness, service over supremacy.
We give thanks for the saints who have gone before,
link arms with the saints who risk even now,
and with their song in our throats, we carry on.
Joey D returns
The Club cheered to see the return of Joey D in his black leather jacket to lead his Dipchicks and Dipsticks in an Everly Brothers classic, Bye Bye Love. Special thanks to Kurt Waugh who rocked out the melody on his guitar and sang harmony with song leader Joe Diederich.
President Joyce returned to the podium to introduce many guests including Pam and Nelson Edwards, and the Nelson’s guest, Ava, an exchange student from Argentina. Nelson Edwards is a previous Northrup Humanitarian Award Winner. Ava will be accompanying Edwards on a humanitarian trip Kenya next month. Ava solicited fund-raising help asking for sponsors to purchase new soccer balls to go to kids in Kenya.
President Joyce also thanked today’s set up team: Dennis Burke, Marsha Chamberlin, Larry Gray, Melissa Foster, Shirlee Kipp, Rob Schiff, and Mary Steffek Blaske.
Happy Birthday greetings to Cat Meyer, Norman Herbert, Chris Taylor, Fernando Leon, Kate Van Horn, Jim Irvin, Michael Field, and Becky Pazkowski!
Collyer Smith’s Health Update and Membership Matters
President Joyce provided an update on Past President/Past District Governor Collyer Smith’s health. His treatments will end on February 3. He plans to attend our meeting on January 30 to discuss mental health issues. President Joyce also announced that the membership roundup, featuring Rotary International President Stephanie Urchick, will be held virtually on January 28. The leadership class has started, with the first session focusing on our club’s and our foundation’s budgets. Lastly, President Joyce reminded the Club to work on their elevator speeches and encouraged them to share their pitches at a later date.
Tribute to Beth Nissen
Susan Froelich, a Pioneer High School classmate of Rotarian Beth Nissen, gave a touching presentation highlighting Beth’s professional achievements as a world-class journalist and educator as well as Beth’s compelling personal qualities. Beth will be missed in our Club.
Nominations for the 2025 Robert S. Northrup Humanitarian Award
Norma Sarkar came to the podium inviting the Club to submit nominations for the 2025 Robert S. Northrup Humanitarian Award. Nominations can be submitted for an individual who has demonstrated longtime humanitarian efforts. Rotarians may email Norma at nsarkar@umich.edu to assist with short-term tasks to help administer the Northrup Award, such as emailing nomination forms, serving on the selection committee, or coordinating lunch reservations. The Award will be presented on April 30. Past recipients include Robert S. Northrup, Irene Butter, John Drake, Henry Maki, Manish Mehta, Nelson Edwards, and Robert Gilman.
Saving Lives: Making Ceramic Water Filters in Nepal
Mary Avrakotos introduced speaker John Leyland, a fellow potter at the Ann Arbor Pottery Guild as well as well-respected professor of ceramics at UM’s Stamps School of Art, and at EMU.
Leyland began with the wisdom that “Safe water is a right, not a privilege.” For the past five years, Leyland has been active in bringing that wisdom into reality in Nepal with ceramic filters. The filter system provides the poorest of the poor in Kathmandu and Bharatnagar with not only a clean water filter system, but the knowledge of how to make and produce these life-saving units. This filter program also provides resources for the individuals to continue to have replacement filters and the on-going testing to guarantee that the filters are 99.9% effective in purifying e coli and other bacteria from drinking water.
Leyland, a potter for peace, showed how a combination of locally sourced clay, sawdust and sand could be combined to make these portable water filters. The crucial bacterial testing checks both the quality of the water from the communal or family and the water quality of the ceramic home water filter. Successful water filters are durable, provide two- to four-liters of water/hour and have a 99.9% efficacy rate for removing bacteria.
The filters are distributed by CDO Nepal Care and Development Organization. CDO Nepal also implements a three-year program where filters are replaced. Filters are free during times of earthquake or flood relief.
The Rotarians gave Leyland a warm round of applause for his presentation.
The meeting ended with President Joyce leading us in reciting the 4-Way Test:
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
- Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
