Past President Mark Ouimet reclaimed the podium for this meeting and rang the opening bell at 12:30. Jody Tull deSalis accompanied us in “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. Carolyn Hiatt shared her thoughts on why THIS Club is so special. She celebrated the individual kindnesses and inclusiveness she sees every week , and the dedication to our community as special features of our club.

Downs Herold reminded us of the glory days of summer camp, leading us in the nostalgic “Smile”, and then “Tell Me Why”. We could almost smell the smoke and burning marshmallows,

Past President Mark announced the passing of Ray Detter, and we observed a moment of silence remembering him. He then welcomed guests and visiting Rotarians, and announced Birthdays.

Kate VanHorn invited us all to volunteer for the Golf and Pickleball Outing on Monday, September 16. This is our only fundraiser and all proceeds go to local projects that Help Kids Succeed. Seventy-nine volunteers are needed to staff the event and there are many positions available requiring a variety of time commitments.  Kate will be available to take signups after the meetings or you can sign up on the GPO website.

The GPO includes a cocktail party and dinner, with guest speaker Barbara McQuade, now a professor at UM Law School and formerly U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. She will be signing her book, Attack from Within. Early Bird pricing is available for this dinner through August 15, but don’t Wait!

Kate also announced that donations to the Silent Auction are requested. She introduced a very special – and suave – guest to tell us more about that – James Bond. (OK, it was actually Joe Deiderich, but he looked very much the part.)

James, errrr Joe, was attired in a summer dinner jacket and kit, and brandishing a martini glass as he announced that one of the prizes on offer is a trip to his favorite haunts. This trip is one of seven that will be auctioned off at the GPO dinner. More details of the trips will be announced.

Eva Rosenwald told us about an innovative exhibit at the University of Michigan Art Museum where she works in civic engagement and outreach. The project brings people of different backgrounds, political and educational leanings, to share a meal and discuss what a community needs to flourish. Anyone interested in participating can find more information on the UMAA.edu website.

Notes from the Program

Dallas Dort introduced out speaker, Joanne Shu, Director of the Surveys of Consumers and a Research Associate Professor at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. She is in charge of assembling and circulating the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers.

Dr. Shu noted that the survey was started in 1946 and has grown from 500 households surveyed to 800 currently. A preliminary  survey is published in the middle of a month with final and more detail at the end of every month. It is the most widely respected and referenced survey in the world. It asks detailed questions about what participants expect will happen on a wide variety of economic variables. Dr. Shu showed graphs about how closely those expectations predicted the consumer  behaviors and economic conditions that followed.

Dr. Shu addressed the conundrum of consumer sentiment being below average, although the current strength of the US economy,  the reality that inflation is coming down and wages are rising and employment is steady, would seem to boost consumer sentiment. She thinks this is not that consumers have lost touch , but that with persistent high prices, and differences across the many income distributions that make up the economy, there is an undercurrent of stress, and the feeling that the American Dream goals are much harder to reach.

Past President Mark led us in reciting the Four Way Test, and rang the closing bell.

•  Well, OK – it was Joe Diederich, but he looked very much the part.