President Larry Neal called the meeting to order promptly at 12:15 p.m.
Scott Chabot, who was formally inducted into the club later in the meeting, led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of the national anthem.
.jpg)
Piano Man Gary had the pleasure of playing on the center’s grand piano, left in the room from a previous event. That also meant the house crew avoided hauling and setting up our own music machine.
Jeff Furest, selected by President Larry as the Rotarian of the Week, started us off on “The Four-Way Test.” The invocation was then given by Tom Davies, who mentioned how important it is for all members to “spread the word of Rotary.”
Our guests, introduced by Doc Ryan Murphy, included Lori Dunn, from the Metropolitan Chorale, guest of Kris Howell; Cara Ciraulo and Frank Marella, both guests of Dorie Vasquez-Nola; and Patti Courtney, the coordinator of the Rotary District Youth Exchange Inbound and our speaker.
Our tasty lunch was roasted potatoes, rolls, mixed vegetables, tossed salad and sausages with peppers and onions. Cake was available for dessert.
President Larry’s announcements included
- Thanking Nancy Dedenbach for leading Rotary efforts at the Trunk or Treat event in downtown Mount Clemens.
- The event was well attended despite the rain.
- Ellen Lysik was also recognized for locating a third trailer for the upcoming Santa Claus Parade in Mount Clemens.
- President Larry announced we are seeking candidates for the club’s board of directors, with the election set for Dec. 20. We will need a president nominee and two directors-at-large who will serve two-year terms. The current board hopes that Julie and Val will continue as treasurer and secretary.
It’s always a pleasure to bring new members into the club. Scott Chabot, sponsored by Bob Cannon, is a contract engineer. He is a Clinton Township resident (another vote for Supervisor Bob), a graduate of Sterling Heights High School and Lawrence Tech. He is married and has two daughters. During the introduction, Cannon mentioned that all the members he has sponsored have died, which got a laugh from everyone except Scott (only joking).
Also brought in as corporate members from CARE were Cara Ciraulo and Frank Marella. Welcome aboard!
We had a slew of birthdays and anniversaries, which made selling flowers a little easier. Although not all were present: member birthdays: Ryan Murphy and Art Niederkohr; partner birthday, Dorie Vazquez-Nolan for husband Michael; wedding anniversaries; Bill and Carey Furest (57), Ken and Diane Kish (41), Susan and Thomas Styf (17).
Additional flowers went to Julie Miller from Ken Steele, Julie Huttenlocher to Doc Ryan, Patti Kaufman to Mary Ann Hosey and three for our new members.
Glenn Burton was the song leader and he selected “Que Sera, Sera,” in honor of Al Zuccaro who is somewhere in Florida enjoying better weather, and “Roll Rotary.”
Goodwill included Kris Howell presenting a flag from the Rotary Club in Stroud, England, and Glenn Burton noting that we are loaning our Rotary roll-up banner to the Clawson Rotary Club.
In receiving the Rotarian of the Week award, Jeff Furest mentioned his 24 years as a member and how important it is to live by the motto “service above self.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Volunteers are needed to help decorate our Santa Parade float, contact Val; the annual holiday party is Dec. 13 at Gowanie Golf Club.
RECOGNITION
Tom Davies, the king of recognition, was a last-minute sub but that didn’t stop him from hitting hard on fines while being entertaining.
He got Gary for his “grand” playing of the house piano. Nancy D. paid for a hilarious story about how she once dressed her pre-teen kids for Halloween. Forgetting to buy costumes, Nancy put them in black garage bags, painted a white stripe and sent them off as roads. It’s a wonder they weren’t run over.
All those who ate some of the Halloween candy were hit for $1 and MSU grads who missed the last meeting were also fined for losing to U of M.
Sarah Lee was fined for trips to Alaska, Europe and Canada. She then announced she’s getting married with a Star Wars song to be played at the ceremony.
Don Carnaghi paid $5 for his new Maserati. Glenn and Jeff contributed the maximum for managing to knock off about a dozen ducks. Val paid for cell phone calls and Frank Marella contributed $3 for being at a doctor’s office at the same tim
e as Tom – in 1967. How many of us can remember an appointment that long ago?
SPEAKER/PROGRAM
Our speaker Pattie Courtney has been with the Youth Exchange program for three years and previously worked with the Livingston Sunrise Rotary Club.
Her interest in the youth programs began 30 years ago when she served as a youth director for her church and in 2012 was ordained as a pastor in the Free Methodist Church.
The Rotary exchange program processes 9,000 youngsters a year, offering them experience in different cultures.
The program offers long-term student exchanges that last a full academic year in a foreign country and short-term programs that are three months. The students do not have to be children of Rotarians but they must go through a series of interviews and are required to pay travel and insurance costs.
The exchange program is also in need of host families to take in either long-term or short-term students from other countries.
Ms. Courtney said that hosting exchange students and allowing her son to go abroad was “one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.”
* * *
The 50/50 was won by new member Scott abot. A good way to start off.
* * *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)