President Joyce Hunter rang the bell to open the October 16, 2024 meeting. Jody Tull deSalis played America the Beautiful. David Prentiss-Hyers-recalled Ernest Hemingway’s thoughts on planting seeds, noting that there is beauty in brokenness and strength in weakness. Downs Herold led us in Smile and the World Smiles with You, and in a musical tribute to Millie Danielson, our beloved member who died at 101 the week prior. That song is included below.
President Joyce regained the podium, introduced guests and thanked the people who made the meeting run smoothly. She shared news of our member Ugur Cetin, who has graduated from Navy Reserve training. He stopped by to celebrate graduation and his fortieth birthday with Rotarians on his way to a station in Texas.
Past President Ashish Sarkar gave a moving tribute to Rob Northrup. Rob had a long and distinguished career in international public health, serving in many parts of the world and contributing to the science of public health. He was a warm and gentle man, and his legacy is memorialized by our club with the annually awarded Rob Northrup Humanitarian Award.
Dave Keren is looking for members to mentor STRIVE students. This is a program that pairs Rotarians with students who are juggling life responsibilities with the imperative of graduating from high school. These relationships, that can be a challenge to establish, have resulted in lifelong friendships between the mentor and mentee. The time commitment is totally flexible, depending on what the pairs decide. Contact Dave for more information: dkeren@umich.edu.
Margaret Needham told us about the upcoming Rotaract year and encouraged us to Rent A Rotaractor for those pesky Fall clean up jobs, and anything else that needs young strong backs, and eyes!
Kathy Waugh announced that our November 20 meeting will be held at Zingermans RoadHouse. The meal will be a sumptuous buffet and we will have a regular meeting. The program will be an engaging interview-style discussion with Zingerman’s founder, Ari Weinzweig conducted by our own Rich Sheridan. Reservations are required. Registration links were circulated last Wednesday evening and will be published until capacity is reached. To prioritize our members, please limit guests to one.
Notes on the Program
Wendy Palms, Development Director, told us about the Huron River Watershed Council. The Huron River watershed includes seven counties and sixty eight local governments. It includes ten state parks and ten metro parks. It is important to the wildlife and critical to the drinking water in all its communities. Its preservation and management are complicated by its critical role as a working river. Pollution is a big problem, especially now with pfas and microplastics (get a filter for your washing machines!!). And climate change is contributing to flooding.
The Council’s four areas of focus include Study, Protection, Restoration, and Connection. The Council does a lot of scientific data collection and monitoring of water and wildlife. They monitor chemistry and flow of the waters and work on natural area assessment and protection. Policy and advocacy, habitat restoration, and encouraging green stormwater infrastructure are also key activities. They support river friendly policies and promote recreation on the river.
Wendy gave us some tips for protecting water at home. Plant native plants, establish a rain garden, pick up pet waste and dispose of it properly, not leaving it on the street or dropping it in the storm drains. use less salt in winter, and volunteer on preservation projects and donate! She closed her presentation with a video on a mussel collection project. And she was glad to tell us that the Peninsula Dam will be removed.
President Joyce closed the meeting, leading us in reciting the Four Way Test.
Musical Tribute to Millie Danielson, by Downs Herold
(Tune is “If You Knew Susie”)
If you knew Millie, Like we knew Millie, Oh, Oh Oh what a gal!
There were few as Classy as our dear Millie,
Oh, Oh, Holy Moses, What a Classic!
She tried weaving, She didn’t stop,
We’re the ones who could only gawk,
If you knew Millie, like we loved Millie,
Oh, Oh, What a Reward!
