The May 24, 2023 meeting opened on Zoom and in person.
At 12:30, President Ouimet called the meeting to order. Tom Strode strode into the room to a round of applause and lead us in “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Inspiration was provided by Kathy Waugh shared a reading by Rudyard Kipling “Glory of the Garden” in honor of today’s speaker. https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_glorygarden.htm Downs Herold led us in “Smile, Sing A Song” and “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover”.
President Ouimet put a call out for volunteers for Wednesday meeting set-up. Dues are also due – 33% of members have currently paid. Laura, U-M employee who has assisted with tech support will be leaving U-M and has taken a new position and was appreciated for all the assistance she has provided to the Club. New member, Sam Kottamasu attended today’s meeting and was mistaken for a guest. We’re glad he’s official! Andrea Scampa was Linda Kentes’ guest. Andrea is the Program Manager at U-M’s International House. Wayne Colquitt introduced his wife Melinda who was his guest. Appreciation to today’s meeting coordinators. Birthdays for the week were recognized by Mark Foster. Mark also provided a brief update from last Wednesday’s board retreat and announced that the meetings will continue as hybrid through September. A survey will be sent to members and input is extremely valuable so please respond when the survey is sent.
Barbara Eichmuller announced that tickets are still available for” The Only Man in Town” on Sunday, June 11 at 3:00 pm at Chelsea Auditorium and presented by the Chelsea Area Players. Please contact Barbara to reserve your tickets at barbara@eichmuller.com. Tickets are only $10 (regular price is $20).
The District is holding a Rotary Weekend of Service & Fun coming up the weekend of June 9-11. Events include a dinner on Friday, June 9 in Troy at 2600 W. Big Beaver (no charge, but attendees must register). The Day of Service is on Saturday, June 10 at Apple Ridge Farms in Ypsilanti from 8 am – noon. A dinner and leadership follow Saturday evening at the MSU Education Center at 811 W. Square Lake Road in Troy. $65 pp includes appetizers & dinner beginning at 5 pm with check-in and appetizer (cash bar), 6:00 pm – Leadership Panel, 7:15 pm – strolling dinner, 8:45 pm is networking. Registration is required for the panel and dinner. Register for the events here: https://rotary6380.org/event/day-of-service-with-ri-president-jennifer-jones/
Tom Millard introduced today’s emeritus award recipient – Wayne Colquitt. Here is Tom’s introduction of Wayne:
“It is my honor and privilege today to share with you some background information about the next recipient of the Club’s emeritus status.
Wayne Colquitt was born in Detroit, Michigan. He attended Cass Tech before graduating from Royal Oak Kimball High School. He received his A.B., D.D.S., and M.S. degrees from the University of Michigan in 1964, 1968, and 1975, respectively. He joined the faculty as a clinical instructor in 1970. He was appointed assistant professor of dentistry in 1975 and was promoted to associate professor in 1982. He was an active participant in the school’s teaching and clinical activity having served on several committees. He served as director of the Patient Admitting and Emergency Services Clinic in 1990. He was a member of the American and Michigan Dental Associations, the Washtenaw District Dental Society, the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, the Organization of Teachers of Oral Radiology, and the American College of Dentists. He was treasurer for the Washtenaw District Dental Society and served on both the peer review and local arrangements committees. He contributed several articles to dental literature on dental radiography and radiographic interpretation. He has advocated for affordable dental care for the less fortunate by serving as board chairman of the Ann Arbor Community Dental Center. The University of Michigan named him associate professor emeritus of dentistry in June of 1997.
Upon graduation from dental school Wayne enlisted in the military and taught general dentistry and oral surgery in Aberdeen, Maryland from 1968 to 1970. On a leave of absence from the dental school from 1975 to 1976 he taught Oral Diagnosis and Radiology in Cairo, Egypt for Project Hope, and from 1982 to 1983 he served as external examiner in oral diagnosis and periodontics in Lagos, Nigeria. He accomplished all this while maintaining a part time private practice of general dentistry in Ann Arbor, and raising two children with Melinda, his wife of 57 years who is with us today.
Clearly, Wayne’s life has epitomized the Rotary ideal of “Service Above Self.” He has been a valuable member of the Club since he was asked to join in January of 1991 with Carl Gingles and my father Dean Millard serving as his sponsors. He has served on the Youth Development Committee, the International Humanitarian Committee, the Centennial Committee (and was a major donor for the Universal Access Playground), the Audiovisual Committee, has been a board member, is a multiple Paul Harris fellow, a member of the Sustainers society, and has participated in tree planting and Touch-a-Truck.
Wayne has pursued a variety of hobbies such as being an avid downhill skier for over 50 years, skiing the slopes of Vail, Aspen, Steamboat Springs, Vermont and Canada. He has restored old BMW motorcycles and toured Europe by motorcycle 8 times. He beautifully restored and enjoyed beating gears in a 1956 Jaguar roadster, as well as owning 3 Porche roadsters. You can still find him on the first Saturday morning of the month hanging out in Bill Milliken’s garage talking shop with other car enthusiasts.
Wayne asked me to recognize him for emeritus status because of the unique legacy we share with my father acting as his sponsor, and Wayne and my father, along with Joan Knoertzer, sponsoring me for membership in the Club.
Along with other distinguished Rotarians, Wayne has been a valued mentor for me in all things Rotary, and it is my personal pleasure and honor to recognize him today as the next Rotary Club of Ann Arbor emeritus status recipient.”
Dennis Powers introduced today’s speaker, Susan Bryan, Rain Garden Coordinator with Washtenaw Water Resources Department. She has been designing rain gardens for over 10 years and developed the Master Rain Gardener program which has been served as a model and been shared with other municipalities. Bryan has a link to Rotary as her father was a Rotarian and she served as a Rotary exchange student in Japan.
Bryan provided an overview of the Water Resources Department. One area of focus on the department is the home toxics program which allows residents to drop off toxics to a specific location during a set date. However, you don’t need to wait until the drop-off event. There is a Home Toxics Center at Washtenaw County that accepts household hazardous waste. https://www.washtenaw.org/287/Home-Toxics-Center-Dispose-of-paint-oil-
The purpose of rain gardens is to capture pollution which is filtered by the plants – using nature to clean. Rain gardens attract pollinators, birds, and butterflies and is beautiful. Rain gardens assist to solve environmental problems including toxic algae and cyanobacteria. Pollution washes into the river. Contaminants and water combine to form “hydro filth in the storm drain and flows into the river. Rain gardens prevent this from happening. There are more than 1,900 rain gardens in Washtenaw County. Rain gardens put plants to work for clean water. During the past year, the Rain Garden program has built 91 rain gardens, trained 411 rain garden ambassadors. Rain gardens safely collects our water resource and absorbs and filters the water rather than running off into the street. Rain gardens also prevents roof runoff from reaching driveway and street drain. Rain gardens also solve ice building up on sidewalks during the winter. Rain gardens solve lawn issues. For example, a wet spot on a lawn can become a beautiful and beneficial rain garden. At one house, drains were trenched-in to a pop-up. The lawn around the pop-up was saturated leaving ruts in the lawn. The rain garden solved this problem. Ann Arbor residents who build rain gardens on their property may qualify for a credit on their stormwater bill. Information can be found at www.a2gov.org/storm.
According to the EPA’s US Great Lakes Program Report from June 2012, “The biggest remaining water quality problem is polluted runoff that carries pollutants from many diverse sources into our streams, lakes, and rivers. Source area include farm fields, urban streets and parking lots, suburban lawns, gold courses, construction sites, and atmospheric deposition.”
The Washtenaw County Rain Garden Program provides: 1) Design Advice, 2) Master Rain Gardener Certification by providing in-person training to design your own (takes place in April) or online training to design your own (the online program is free), and 3) Volunteer opportunities. Rules for building a rain garden include: 1) more than 10 feet from house, 2) measure roof area that drains to RG. 20% of that is RG area (30% for clay), 3) water pool 3-6” deep (no deeper!), 4) mix in compost. Mulch. 5) a safe overflow, 6) right plant, right place. There are many beautiful plants that can be used in rain gardens including New England Aster, Switch Grass, Purple Cone flower, Swamp Milkweed, Prairie Dock, and many more. Shrubs that can be used include Red Twig Dogwood, Elderberry, Potentilla, Arrowwood Viburnum among others.
How to Start? See if water escapes your property. Use the water that collects on your house. Teach how to design rain garden. There are many volunteers that make the rain garden program a success. You don’t need to be an Ann Arbor resident – just a resident of Washtenaw County to participate in the program. Putting in a rain garden is not much cheaper than mowing. What about mosquitos? It takes 7 days for mosquito eggs to hatch, if the water in the rain garden is gone before 7 days mosquito eggs will not hatch. Bryan showed how rain gardens are both beautiful and a benefit to the environment.
Quote for the Day:
“A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.”- Bob Dylan
President Ouimet adjourned the meeting at 1:27.
Respectfully submitted by,
Jennifer Fike
