Our meeting was called to order at 12:30pm by President Mark Ouimet, and Tom Strode provided our national anthem for today’s patriotic song.
Our inspirational message today was provided by Ryan Peterson. Ryan spoke about ‘sitting’ in the tension of the near and the far. Today, here in Ann Arbor (the near) we are comfortable; while in Florida (the far) they prepare for a powerful storm coming their way. There are universal needs both near and far, and we as citizens and Rotarians, get the opportunity to serve both. We are able to live near and serve near, but also to travel and serve far. ‘Don’t wait for good things to happen to you.’ Look for ways to serve and impact both.
President Mark took a moment to mention that we all are sending positive thoughts to our friends and family in Florida as they prepare for a difficult situation.
Rick Ingram introduced our musical selection today – the University’s Life Sciences Orchestra. We watched a brief video about this group of faculty, staff and students who come together as not only individuals in the Life Sciences, but as talented musicians. Their first concert is in a few months, January 20, 2023 and it’s a group that worth hearing. And it’s free!
This upcoming week’s birthdays were announced: Deanna Relyea, Anne Glendon, Janet Torno, Eldon Beery, Fred Beutler and Jennine Buchanan.
Announcements and upcoming events:
Don Deatrick: Rotary received the Patriot Award from the Fisher House Michigan, recognizing our club’s efforts in supporting the quality of life for our greatest national treasure – our military service women and men. Congrats to Don for continued efforts with this special group. The club paused to applaud Don!
Tom Millard offered a bit of ‘trash talk’, peppered with some fun puns. The Fall service project, Adopt-A-Highway, is this Saturday, October 1, 2022.
John White, decked out in a very stylish food-service hair net, provided information about the upcoming Send Hunger Packing event, scheduled for November 5 at Pioneer HS. All 3 local Rotary Clubs are participating. Sign up to help pack and/or donate – it’s a small amount of your time with a HUGE impact in the greater community. Check out www.a2rotary.org/sendhungerpacking for more information.
Unfortunately, our Speaker for today, Dr. Richard Ohye, had a last minute and urgent change to his schedule and was unable to attend our meeting today.
In lieu of extra time in the schedule, President Mark offered the podium to Don Duquette to talk about a new committee recently approved by the Board: Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG). One priority of the group is to further the Ann Arbor goal of zero carbon by 2030. The committee looked at a range of projects and distilled that down to three to focus on:
- Trees and tree planting. Our club can partner with other groups to make a bigger impact.
- Promote a circular economy. Many items that we throw away or end up in a landfill could be recycled or upcycled. Let’s reduce solid waste!
- Aging in place. Create infrastructure in services that allow for people to age in place.
The committee will have a core group (sustaining members) and then ‘action’ members, ie. boots-on-the-ground. Conversations have already begun with groups such as Rotaract. Stay tuned for more information in future meetings.
Before mentioning the Quotes of the Day, President Mark offered that he had received many great comments and positive feedback on our recent GTO event – great job!
Two quotes today:
“24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.” – Paul Newman
“Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person.” – Fred Rogers
Ring the Bell at 1:22pm.
Respectfully submitted – Pattie Katcher (Photography by Steve Pierce)
