With 46 of us gathering via zoom and 46 of us meeting in person at the Anderson Room at the Michigan Union, President Susan rang the bell. We all sang the Star-Spangled Banner as Tom Strode played the piano.

Bob Buchanan gave our welcoming inspiration message by saying:
“All of us are distraught, disgusted over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian people have done nothing wrong.

As Rotarians, how can we find strength and peace as we watch a war develop under our eyes?
First, you are awesome, real champions. Our humanitarian committee and President Susan set a goal of $5,000 for our Club to donate to Rotary International for Ukrainian relief. We roared past that goal, now are at $6,000 and likely still rising. Bob Mull has described how to receive a tax benefit for those of us over 72. Your donation should also give credit toward a Paul Harris fellowship. Rotary International works directly with local clubs to provide relief so we know that it is specifically targeted.

Next, find strength through the arts. Jeannine and I got away last Friday and drove to the Toledo Museum of Art, an easy drive. We let Monet, Degas, and others speak to us for two hours. With thanks to Dawn Johnson, parking is free; she will explain. Admission to the Detroit Art Institute is also free.

Come to Rotary here in the Anderson Room. The warmth of greeting good friends, the Rotary spirit are present in our time together here. The late beloved past-president, Dr. Al Burdi described Rotary as a ‘90-minute sabbatical in the middle of the week.’

I hope these comments will help through the days ahead.”

Marlena Studer Zoomed in from Santa Monica, CA as her in-person boyband of Steve Pierce, Richard Ingram and Joe Diederich led us in singing “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing in Perfect Harmony.”

President Susan welcomed members, including new member Larry Marentette and guest Nancy Peel from Glacier Hills.
* April 30 is the last day to contribute to the Ukrainian Disaster Response Fund.
* Yolanda Whiten invites you to recommend a luncheon speaker. It’s easy to do on our Club’s website (under “Membership Resources” click “Recommend a Speaker” from the dropdown menu — or click here.)
* Mark Saturday, April 23 for Club activities:
1) Highway cleanup on “our” portion of I-94 by State Street. Tom Millard will have more details at next week’s club meeting;
2) District 6380 Environmental Cleanup near Vestergaard Farms (Wagner Road).
* Mark May 20-21 for the District Conference in nearby Novi. Register at ROTARY6380.org or contact Norma Sarkar (nsarkar@umich.edu) or 734-276-5718.

Rob Shiff took the podium to announce that the Club’s Nominating Committee nominates Dave Keren, UM professor of pathology and Club member since 2006, to serve as a Director of Club Outreach. There will be a special election for this position on April 6. Thank you, Dave, for stepping forward to be nominated, for your service over self through our Club’s activities like STRIVE, as well as Ozone House.

In the continuing series of our Club’s women president’s speaking on their term of presidency, Past President Rosemary Rowney, who joined our Club in 2013 and served as president in 2019-20 inspired us with three of her leadership guidelines:
1) Always Be Yourself;
2) Have Goals… but be flexible. She reminded us of how during her term we went from Weber’s, to celebrating being back at the Union – only to change gears because of Covid, to meeting via Zoom; the exceptional opportunity we all enjoyed hearing John Hewko, Rotary’s CEO and General Secretary speak at our reunion.
3) Empower Your Team. She spoke of the many, many Rotary programs and the dynamic club members who helped serve our community through programs like building the Eberwhite playground, tutoring, raising significant financial support for Polio Plus, humanitarian support after Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas and for Covid relief.

She concluded by saying, “It was an honor and a privilege to serve. Don’t wait to be asked to serve.”

Shelley MacMillan invited us to the ever-delightful Wine Women and Song Event on April 21 at Kerrytown Concert House. This is a private preview show just for our Club (so you won’t see it advertised or available on the KCH website). Come at 7:30 for wine (personally poured by Shelley!) and be ready for the fun to start at 8 p.m Tickets are $35. (From today’s meeting scribe – When Tom and I have attended, we were engaged and smiling at the singing, acting and fun. Best of all everyone in the audience felt cocooned in the love that radiated from the stage. This is a winner of a program! – Mary Steffek Blaske.) To reserve your seat, please contact Kathy Waugh at kathywaugh@gmail.com .

Dennis Powers introduced today’s speaker, Eli Savit giving our Club’s “One Year Update: Building a More Sustainable Criminal Justice System.”

Newly elected a year ago, Eli Savit began by saying that as soon as he was elected, “the real work began” to build new, equitable justice systems made in partnerships with other internal County and City units as well as external organizations. These new partnerships have helped vulnerable victims who historically have been prosecuted without recourse. He noted that many offenders – especially first-time offenders – are in critical need of mentorship, mental health and legal support.

Savit described the Economic Justice Unit which is responsible for: scam / consumer protection; worker protection; and labor trafficking where victims have been forced/threatened to work because of their immigration status, debts. He described victim advocates for the LGBTQIA+ community through the Prosecutor’s Office in partnership with internal and external community organizations.

He spoke about the US having the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world and that Black Americans pay the highest cost of incarceration.

One of the innovations Savit’s office is doing for first-time offenders is to provide community mental health, a problem-solving court, and a pre-plea court – all of which as hold the charge while the individual is treated and their issues that triggered the criminal activity successfully resolved. This means that the individual can have support from professionals to resolve the issues, heal, find a mentor, and keep their job. Savit noted that there is an extremely high rate of success for these partnerships and the recidivism rate lowers by 20%.

Savit noted that 6% of those serving time in prison are innocent. Savit’s office has created a Conviction Integrity and Expungement Unit (CIEU), committed to correcting and preventing wrongful convictions. It investigates wrongful conviction claims by looking for new evidence (previous faulty forensic science, for example) that supports the claim. With its partners, the CIEU helps eligible people “clear” their old criminal records arising out of Washtenaw County. He told a poignant story of an older woman who, upon learning that a non-violent, victimless crime 40 years ago had been weighing on her, and how “the weight of the world” was lifted from her shoulders when she learned that her record could be clean again.

In conclusion, Savit said he was pleased with the internal and external partnerships that set standards to keep us safe, and make a fair, equitable and long-term healthy community.

Next week we look forward to seeing you at the Michigan Union, or via zoom, to hear Club member Ken Fischer and Kendra Whitlock Ingram (daughter-in-law of President Susan and member Richard Ingram) speak on “The Challenges and Opportunities of Performing Arts Presenting Today.”

President Susan closed the meeting with the Quote of the Day: “Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.” – Mary Lou Retton

Respectfully submitted,
Mary Steffek Blaske

Photography by FRED BEUTLER