On a brilliant day, the club was called to order by President Larry Neal at precisely 12:15 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance recital was lead by Karan Bates-Gasior. The club then sang the national anthem. Bill Patterson gave us a prayer of thanksgiving. Valerie Miller read “The Four-Way Test,” which is now displayed on a new banner. Lunch was chicken kabobs with roasted potatoes, asparagus, salad, rolls and a variety of desserts.
PRESIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
• President Larry reminded us the August 30 meeting is at the main branch of the Clinton Macomb Public Library. A splendid lunch is guaranteed. The new library building coming in 2020 will be discussed.
• Honorary Rotarian: Luca Dedenbach celebrated her 11th birthday by becoming an honorary member. She no longer will be serenaded as a visitor, but the club sang Happy Birthday to her.
• Mount Clemens Team Rotary: Members of the Penhorwood family came up to the podium to receive decals for the soap box racer that will be driven by young Soren Penhorwood. The racer will have the Mount Clemens' Rotary emblem on it. It will carry the number 88. Soren’s car is our club’s entry in the Mount Clemens Grand Prix Soapbox Derby. Soren liked the reddish orange color of his race details. The club gave a rousing rah rah rah for the lad. The race is September 8. I believe Soren is five and a half years old. Go Soren go!
GUESTS
Karan Bates-Gasior introduced our guests: past district governor Don Riddell from Troy Rotary was here. So was the Penhorwood family - Rebekah, Soren, Rachel, and Donna, all guests of Sam D’Angelo, as was our speaker, George Murphy. We serenaded them with our own WE ARE GLAD TO SEE YOU song.
BIRTHDAYS AND FLOWERS
Ken Steele announced we had no birthdays or anniversaries, so he proceeded to sell flowers. Julie Miller bought one for Luca’s 11th birthday. Valerie bought one for Stephanie Mirabile. Ted DeVantier bought one for Rebekah Penhorwood. Gary the piano player bought a flower for Sal. Mary Ann Hosey gave a flower to Al Zuccaro for a Chamber of Commerce award.
SUNSHINE REPORT
• Art Niederkohr says we gave away 40 backpacks to young school children. We will continue to collect money for supplies and backpacks. Several club members, led by Sal, began handing in money for the cause.
• The annual Dick Pierson golf outing will be September 20 at Gowanie Golf Course. Both lunch and dinner options will be available.
RECOGNITION
Nancy Dedenbach was fined $3 for mixing up the name of Julie Miller with Kelly Allen. I guess all these young members start to look alike. Nancy was fined an additional $1.99 for sparkles on her hair.
Steve Krankota was fined $4 for an article on YMCA and their golf outing.
Patty Kaufman was fined $4 for an article on the new dental clinic at Baker College. Val was fined again for photos from last month’s boat outing. $3 this time. All members who have not “liked” the club’s Facebook page were fined $2. Al Zuccaro was fined $3 for the recognition award that the Macomb County Chamber of Commerce is giving him. Quizzes were given to each table. The first five tables flubbed their questions. They did not know that Teddy Roosevelt, Justin Trudeau, John Glenn and Elon Musk were never Rotarians. Franklin Roosevelt’s son was. $1 fines were handed out. My table knew the agenda our club president has proclaimed. Of course, the president sat at our table.
LECTURE
George Murphy of the Mount Clemens Grand Prix Soapbox Derby spoke about the upcoming soap box derby race. Based on the Akron Ohio national races, our local youth take racer carts to the high point on the Crocker Avenue bridge. They race the gravity powered carts downhill twice in the qualifying rounds, then at least three times in the divisional races. There are 64 racers entered in the contest, divided into eight divisions. Each child gets weighed before they race downhill. Note that they have to push their own cart uphill.
The race is designed to give each child at least five runs downhill. The carts are purchased from the National Association of Soapbox Racers, so everyone has basically the same cart. They are allowed to put any design on the cart. There is a special reward for the best looking cart.
The event was started 27 years ago by Fred Fox, the owner of the Rec Bowl. It now has several sponsors. About $17,000 gets raised for local charities, primarily the Mount Clemens High School teams.
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FROM NANCY DEDENBACH
Saturday, Sept. 7 is the soap box derby in front of the Rec Bowl on Crocker Blvd. in Mount Clemens. We at Rotary have committed to sponsoring a soap box and Sam has provided us with an 8 year old driver. With this commitment comes a list of “needs”.
1. Committee for soap box hauling back and forth up the hill.
2. Tent committee for put up and take down of Rotary tent.
3. Food committee for Rotarian hospitality within our pit.
This event runs from 7am until 4pm. It is a fun event with hundreds of watchers. All other Mount Clemens service clubs have been doing this for years. Please name the committee or committees you will volunteer for, and sign up for either one of those committees by time slots.
7am - 10am
10am - 1pm
1pm - 4pm
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50/50
Paul Woodring won $24.
Meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.
Happy Birthday!
8/23 Mellisa (Eric) Pierson
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