On June 25, 2020, President Karan Bates-Gasior rang the bell opening her last meeting as president. Joe Casasanta led the Pledge and Doug Norris “The Four-Way Test.” Sarah Lee quickly improvised a prayer asking to keep our Rotarians safe from Covid. Tina and her crew served us cavatapi pasta, green beans (!), chicken Siciliano with amogio sauce, green salad, homemade pasta salad and pound cake dredged in strawberry syrup for dessert.
PRESIDENT'S ANNOUNCEMENTS
- There will be no meeting next week, July 2. We meet again July 9, marking the new fiscal year. We will welcome our next president, Valerie Miller, and her board.
- President Karan summarized her year. She first thanked the club for supporting her presidency. Valerie Miller, Stephanie Mirabile and Julie Huttenlocher were individually thanked for their efforts in keeping the club operating.
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- A huge thank-you to Larry Neal, as Foundation chairperson, for setting up so much work in advance, allowing an easy transition for Karan. Karan appreciated the great work and support from her board. It was an interesting year, made challenging when Covid arrived on our shores.
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- Nonetheless, Rotarians soldiered on, as we have for 110 years. The Party of the Century and Rotary Park project have survived. "Thank you for making this year special for me," Karan concluded.
GUESTS AND VISITORS
Donald "Digger" Odell from the Wertz Warriors, Stephen Peters, Lynette Holmes from the Interfaith Center for Racial Justice, Jeff Oldham from Comprehensive Youth Services and Eneida Hajiou of MCREST.
BIRTHDAY, ANNIVERSARIES
Someone forgot to pick up the flowers or tell someone to pick them up, so no flowers today. No one celebrating a birthday or anniversary this week was present, anyway. (C'mon, Rotarians, are you just on vacation or afraid of the virus?) Eric Pierson went back a few weeks to find Rotarians present. He found Kelly Dedenbach had a birthday June 12 and club anniversary June 15, Joe Casasanta for his club anniversary on June 16 and Stephanie for her June 15 wedding anniversary.
JULY 16 BIRTHDAY/ANNIVERSARY PARTY
We will be celebrating all the birthdays and anniversaries that were missed during the Covid shutdown. Wear your party hats!
MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Steve Krankota is posting every week about our meetings on FACEBOOK. He also has created Events for our upcoming social and charitable activities.
PRESIDENT'S PARTY
Valerie announced her president's party will be Thursday, August 27, at SkipperBud's Belle Maer Harbor, from 6 to 10 p.m. If SkipperBud's cancels again, the party will still go forth, just at a different venue. It replaces the regular Rotary meeting that week. Let us have a great turnout for Val, our resident social butterfly.
RECOGNITION Nancy Dedenbach
- Nancy recognized Val for going to "No. 45's Birthday Boat Outing" (Trump) and it cost her $5. Stephanie was fined $2 for wrongly guessing Trump's age. Everyone not wearing a pin and a badge contributed one dollar.
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- Sarah's phone went off which she quietly used the F-word, knowing what a phone ring meant. Nancy pounced right on the opportunity which Larry then outed Sarah for the F-word (only heard by Larry, sitting next to Sarah). Sarah got two fines: $1 for the phone and $1 for the F-bomb. Note to Larry: Sarah has recognition next month.
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- But Larry wasn't left alone either by the Great Recognizer. Nancy asked him why do we need another library, referring to a recent article about the construction of the north branch. Them's fighting words to Larry and he quickly rattled several excellent reasons – like raising the literacy rate in Macomb County. Left Nancy speechless. He volunteered his $5 fine. What a guy! Steve Krankota was recognized but I don't know for what and how much his fine. Finally, Nancy got after her own daughter for appearing in a Macomb Daily photo, wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt during Vice President Mike Pence's lunch date in Mount Clemens. Was she fined? My notes are silent. Nepotism?
AWARDS
The following Rotarians were honored for their perfect attendance: Ken Steele, Larry Neal (2), Gloria Murphy (2), Ryan Murphy (1), Cecilia Moloney (1), Stephanie Mirabile (1), Val Miller (9), Julie Miller (1), Steve Krankota (1), Jeff Furest (1), Dana Camphous-Peterson (1) and Karan Bates-Gasior (2).
BENEFICIARIES
With the gala pushed back a year, the board decided to advance each beneficiary $1,000. The checks had already been mailed. Each beneficiary present gave a short recap about their organization.
Comprehensive Youth Services: Celebrating their 50th anniversary, CYS provides services to runaway and homeless youth, substance abuse treatment in the jail and an outpatient mental health clinic. The check will be used for PPEs to allow CYS to bring clients back into the office.
Interfaith Center for Racial Justice: Also celebrating their 50th year, ICRJ came about in the aftermath of the 1967-68 riots. Their Martin Luther King birthday event has been successful.
YMCA: Steve noted their branch opened 50 years ago. They serve 1,000 meals a week outside as well as support a day camp.
McLaren Foundation: The money goes to their outreach clinic. This year a new 45-foot RV will be introduced that will include dental care. They also partner with the Mount Clemens Food Bank.
MCREST: This organization was founded 32 years ago as a day camp for the homeless. They managed to place their clients in housing, keeping them safe from Covid. $1,000 goes a long with this group. They are currently building a facility for homeless women and children to stay in one place that will be ready next year.
Wertz Warriors: Vic Wertz overcame polio as a child and went on to be a great ball player. This year the Warriors raised $350,000. They have been doing the snowmobile ride for 38 years. Once you go, you get hooked, said Digger Odell.
Turning Point: Forty years in existence, this group was greatly challenged by Covid. Domestic calls were up 25 percent as people were ordered to shelter in place. The crisis workers had to break their shifts into four hours, down from eight, due to the call intensity. "We are helping people in ways we don't even know," said a very grateful and tearful Karan.
Rotary International: The Mount Clemens club is famous in District 6380 for its generosity. Every year we have donated $10,000 to RI. With the gala postponed, the board decided to give $6,100 to Polio Relief, $100 for every member (Every Rotarian Every Year program).
As Foundation president, Larry explained we had asked potential beneficiaries to submit proposals what their group would do with a big windfall. Larry was blown away by the responses and wanted to give money to every one of them. Valerie then announced we have given away over $800,000 in the last few years. One can see how vital our club is to Mount Clemens.
50/50: Digger Odell won $30 and donated the money back to the club.
