Genuine camaraderie and the anticipation of an interesting featured speaker (plus the satisfaction of not only making our way through Ann Arbor’s myriad of road repairs and scoring a nearby parking place), made for a full and energized Rotary gathering.

Dawn Johnson gave our 17 zoomers the etiquette guidelines just before President Mark rang the bell to officially begin our meeting. Tom Strode, our pianist extraordinaire (today not sporting his trademark bow tie), led us in our National Anthem.

Joanne Pierson gave our welcoming inspiration based on an 1896 poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, “Two Kinds of People.” There are two types of people – those who LIFT and those who LEAN. Wilcox and Pierson urged us all to be those who lift – personifying the Rotary 4-way Test – and not be those who simply lean and drag.

Ingrid Sheldon led us in a rousing edition of In the Good Old Summertime, with Tom Strode on piano.  Strode gave a sweeping flourish at the final refrain which propelled Ingrid and the audience into a heartfelt reprise of the Tin Pan Alley classic.

President Mark welcomed members and guests, then regaled us with several “pun-ishments.” How you know you are a Michigander?
* when summer means three months of hard sledding,
* when you think Alkaline is a Tiger right fielder,
* when you can identify an Ohio accent,
* when a 7-course meal is a bucket of smelt and a six-pack of beer,
* when Vernors means ginger ale,
* when “down south,” means Toledo,
* when Big Mac means a magnificent bridge and not a fast food, and
* when the “thumb” means a part of Michigan and not a body part.

President Mark thanked each who helped to make today’s meeting run smoothly: Linda Kentes, Jim Egerdal and Steve Kelser, UM Union Rep Alex, Pat Murphy, Shirlee Kipp, Joanne Pierson, Susan Froelich, Sam Kottamasu, Dawn Johnson, Mary Steffek Blaske and Fred Beutler. He announced happy birthday greetings.

Foster noted that starting in August, club members will be assigned to meeting set-up duties. We will be receiving the spreadsheet of duties (greeters, mic runners, set up) which will specify which task we will be doing. If we are unable to do that week’s duty, it will be your responsibility to fill it by securing another Rotary member. After many years of Rotarians voluntarily signing up to fulfill these duties, we are going back to assigning set up duties.

Joe Diederich came to the podium to promote and save the date for our Sept. 11, Golf and Pickleball Outing. We celebrate the 20th anniversary of the GPO (formerly GTO) on Sept. 11 at the prestigious Barton Hills Country Club. There will be great prizes and trophies for the golf winners. A pickleball pro will be there to give tips before the pickleball competition.

Diederich emphasized that in order for our club to make the important gifts of support to area nonprofits whose goal is to help kids succeed, we need to support our only club-wide fundraiser. We need volunteers. We need players. We need diners. We want you to help this fundraiser succeed. Peg Talburtt then took the podium to ask our members to donate experiential items for the all-important auction. Donate your Up North cabin or time share for a week. Perhaps you want to donate a great bottle of wine or give a wine tasting? Remember, Coach Hutch will be the guest speaker at dinner. There is an early bird registration discount.

District Governor Collyer Smith, dressed in full UM coach regalia and mien, called the recruiting class of Rotarians to order with a rousing “Rotarians are people of ACTION!” The special start to Smith’s year as DG takes place on July 13 at the UM football stadium and more than 200 people are planning to attend. (Prayers answered by Collyer’s mom and dad.) DG Smith thanked all who helped to make the event possible including Bank of Ann Arbor, Old National Bank, Nishta Bhatia, Norm Herbert, Kim and Phil Hughes, Mark Ouimet, Sally Hart Peterson, Ashish and Norma Sarkar, Bonnie Patel and John Sepp, Marianne and Rob Schiff, Greg and Pat Stejskal, and most of all, his wife of 36 years, Annie.

Dennis Powers introduced speaker Kelly O’Mara, Program Manager of the Maize & Blue Cupboard on the UM campus.

The Maize & Blue Cupboard began in 2011 as part of the Office of Student Services with the mission to ensure members of the University of Michigan community, whether on a tight budget or physically restrained from getting to a grocery store, receive equitable access to healthy, nutritious, and nourishing food and the ability to prepare it for themselves or others.

The goal is to provide food access, especially to those who have food insecurity and feel stigmatized.

The Cupboard’s permanent space is in the lower level of Betsy Barbour Residence Hall, near the Michigan Union. It provides fresh food (dairy, fruits and vegetables, protein, dry goods), personal hygiene products, kitchen and cooking tools, household supplies and support to navigate everything from SNAP to connecting help to other UM departments. It is open 3-7 p.m. daily.

Their shelves are stocked through 65% purchased food from Food Gatherers, 20% free donation from Food Gatherers, 10% free food from the USDA, 3% donated from UM’s own Food Gardens, and 2% free from community donations. Funding originally came from UM and now the Cupboard is in a $5M endowment campaign.

The student simply shows his or her M Card, completes a USDA form and then grabs a basket and shops. The philosophy is to “need what you take, and only take what you need.” There are no price tags, and there is occasionally a limit on the quantity of items (i.e., eggs) when that item is in short supply. It feels like a grocery store where up to 11 can shop at one time.

The Maize & Blue Cupboard provides 5,000 pounds of food each week. There are about 700 students who use this service each week during the school year. 51.5% of the users are graduate students. 80% walk to the Cupboard which informs O’Mara that the goods she supplies must be in carryable weights and quantities. Most students visit once a month for groceries. O’Mara has noted that there are more UM staff members starting to use the Cupboard.

O’Mara concluded with what jazzes her about the Cupboard: distribution to North Campus locations, free emergency food bags at 10 locations around campus (including in the Hatcher Graduate Library), a learning series including on cooking basics and balcony gardening, SNAP assistance, holiday meal kits, cooking demonstrations, and focus group dinners.

Rotarians who wish to help the Cupboard can donate personal care items, household items, spices, treats, brand-name products; monetary contributions go 10 times further because of the Cupboard’s USDA subsidies.

You can contact the Cupboard by calling O’Mara at (734) 936-2794, email: kaomara@umich.edu, maize.blue.cupboard@umich.edu (734) 936-2794 or mbc.studentlife.umich.edu .

There is no meeting on July 19 because of Art Fair.

President Mark closed the meeting with a quote from Mother Teresa, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

Respectfully submitted,
Mary Steffek Blaske
Cub Reporter
(Photos by Fred Beutler)