The Spokesperson for April 15, 2021 (Apr 15, 2021)

OPENING ACTIVITIES

President Valerie Miller led our April 15 meeting that started at 12:15 p.m. Don Carnaghi was selected to give the Pledge. One of our newest Rotarians, Kathleen Best, led fellow Rotarians in “The Four-Way Test.” Sarah Lee did the invocation and reinforced the Rotarian motto of “Service Above Self” into this coming spring/summer. Our family-served lunch menu included green salad, dinner rolls, chicken breast with marinara sauce, baked potato wedges and green beans. Rotarians and guests were served cake for dessert.

PRESIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

President Valerie Miller recognized guests, Kristin & Zach Blevins, for opening their doors approximately two years ago for a South Korean exchange student. Kristin and Zack were presented with a gift card from the Mount Clemens Rotary for their efforts and their “Rotarian Heart” in the sponsorship of foreign exchange students through Rotary International.

President Val also spoke with inspiration that despite going through a lot of COVID-19-related challenges over the past year, club members were encouraged to stay strong. The ability to conduct meetings safely through these trying times keeps our club strong.

President Val turned over the announcements to Julie Huttenlocher for Paul Harris award recipients for this year. She noted that Rotary is more than just the Mount Clemens Rotary Club. Rotary International has helped many people over the world and have give over $4 billion in donations since its inception. Those within Rotary that seek a bigger call to help this internationally recognized organization are presented with a Paul Harris Fellowship Award. Donations and efforts from individuals that equate to $1,000 to the Rotary International organization are criteria for the Paul Harris fellowship.

This year, the following recipients received the Paul Harris Award: Kristin Blevins (first); Jim and Jill Johnson (first); and Chuck Dib (third and fourth.) All awardees were given awards and pins for this honor. Awardees that have been awarded on multiple occasions are given additional gems for their pin.

GUESTS & VISITORS

Steve Krankota announced guests and visitors. Kristin & Zach Blevins were guests invited by Julie Huttenlocher. Jim & Jill Johnson were guests invited by the Mount Clemens Rotary Club. Gregg Shipman, Mount Clemens Fire Chief, was the meeting’s guest presenter.

BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES

Kim Jarvis announced Rotarians with birthdays & anniversaries for the week. However, we had none to report! Light week… All flowers were sold for the club at our lunch as noted below.

FLOWERS

Louise Rallis passed out flowers for the meeting. Steve Krankota to Jim & Jill Johnson as Paul Harris awardees; Karan Bates-Gasior to Mount Clemens Fire Chief, Gregg Shipman, as the meeting’s presenter; Paul Woodring to Kristin & Zach Blevins for their efforts on the student exchange program; Valerie Miller to Chuck Dib (two flowers) for his Paul Harris awards; Larry Neal to Julie Huttenlocher on her successful presentation of the Paul Harris awards; and Louise Rallis to Eric Pierson.

MUSIC

No music at this time due to COVID-19 restrictions.

SUNSHINE
None

GOODWILL
None

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Julie Huttenlocher announced that invitational flyers for the Presidential Party will be in the mail as of 4/15. This will be at Sun Sport Marine on Thursday, May 13, 2021, starting at 5 p.m. This will be an open-air venue. Meeting attendees will be able to go on boats on display with proper footwear.

President-Elect Jeff Furest encouraged club members to sign up for volunteer efforts needed for the upcoming “Party of the Century” gala event. A few more slots are available for chairs and assistants to coordinate the planning for this event. The first coordination meeting is scheduled at 10:45 a.m. on April 22 at the IACS for all volunteers. We will also be looking at some tradeoffs on a few activities is volunteers ok so there is enough coverage for each needed activity.

Eric Pierson announced that the annual Dick Pierson Rotary Golf outing will be held on

September 16, 2021.

RECOGNITION

Eric Pierson continued the honors of doing recognition in the month of April. Bob Lee was fined $4 for a “petty” phone call and for a stain Eric saw on his shirt. Steve Krankota asked Eric to move from his seat after he got comfortable for a better photo opportunity and was fined $3. Julie Huttenlocher and Glenn Burton enjoyed spring break vacation in Cabo, Mexico last week with their respective friends and families. Julie was fined $3 and Glenn was fined $5 for the “unofficial” Rotary club meeting. Jeff Furest was asked about his Paul Harris pin for the day’s prior event. The settled fine was $4. April 15 is the usual Tax Day; however, we do have extension due to COVID-19. Anyone who had not finished their taxes to this date were fined a $1. Anyone who lives and works in Mount Clemens were fined $1. Kim Jarvis swore she was not scared of Jeff with his clipboard for recognition. Jeff attested he was not trying to be scare and fined her $2.

SPEAKER/PROGRAM

Mount Clemens Fire Chief, Gregg Shipman, was the speaker for the meeting. Due to prior budget cuts in the city, Chief Shipman is the first Fire Chief in Mount Clemens in 20 years. Chief Shipman has been with the Mount Clemens Fire Department for the last 25 years and has served many positions, including member of the Macomb County HAZMAT team. Prior to being Fire Chief, he was Senior Captain.

Chief Shipman noted that in the last few years, the number of fatalities in fires is increasing while the number of fires is decreasing. At first glance, this trend does not make sense. He noted this anomaly will not become an official national issue until five years of this pattern continues to repeat. This is a growing problem and was the focal point of the presentation.

The number of fatalities can be attributed to the following factors:

Lack of working smoke detectors in homes.
New building materials and furnishings are synthetic materials. Those materials burn faster and hotter when compared to products used 30 years ago. These new products are also more caustic when they burn. The time to escape a typical fire now is only 2-3 minutes, while it was 14-17 minutes with the older furnishings.
Fire prevention and inspection activities are typically the first programs cut from Fire Department budgets.

A number of statistics were presented. The most interesting, key statistics included:

35% of fires had smoke detectors
47% of victims were found in same room as where fire started
81% of fires occurred in apartments/commercial or homes valued below Michigan’s $150,000 average
25% of victims died in multi-fatal fires
The top three fatal fire causes were from smoking, cooking and heating
The top three fatal fire origins were from the living room, bedroom and kitchen

Chief Shipman also presented an informative demonstration video showing the comparison of homes with furnishings using materials used today and materials used 30+ years ago. The video clearly showed how much faster and hotter the demonstration room with today’s synthetic materials will burn vs. traditional wood & organic materials. The need for smoke detectors on every level of a residence is even more crucial to save lives.

A few questions were presented by the attendees.

One inquiry was related to more people being at home due to COVID-19. Since this data is newer and the full effect is yet to be determined, any impact will be reported more in the future on this impact. Chief Shipman did note that the fatalities were going up even before COVID-19.

With the quicker response times needed, there needs an immediate plan of action. If on a multiple story building, safety ladders are an option. In order to be effective, the resident(s) need to have a set plan in action to act quickly, especially due to the nature of today’s domestic fires.

An interesting statistic shows that more firefighters die by suicide than by on-the-job hazards. Currently, there are approximately 100 firefighters that die per year nationally. Long-term effects from this job, including cancer from caustic smoke exposure, is another cause of death for firefighters. More research needs to go into this to help firefighters cope with the emotional stresses of their job.

Chief Shipman thanked the Mount Clemens Rotary for the opportunity to speak and helped with the raffle drawing.

Doug Norris was this week’s the 50/50 raffle winner of $45.

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CALENDAR of EVENTS

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April 22
Diane Banks / Phil Gilchrist

Project at Shadyside Park in Mount Clemens

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April 29
Larry Neal, Library Director - Let’s Build a Library

Clinton-Macomb Public Library Director,

design, construction and opening plans for the

new North Branch at 54100 Broughton Road, Macomb

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May 6
Jack Johns - Project Manager

Macomb County Dept. of Planning & Economic Development

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May 13

PRESIDENTIAL BALL

Party of the Century target sales date

Party of the Century Target date flier and website completion

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May 20

Rocky Pinheiro

WAVE Project Welcoming All Valuing Everyone

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June 10

Brian Manninen

Pierson Scholarship

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June 17

Lea Wojaechowski & Alejandra Correa

Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Party of the Century advertising deadline July 19

Party of the Century program completion July 20
Party of the Century volunteers secured July 5
Party of the Century volunteer training night August 11

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AUGUST 14

THE PARTY of the CENTURY

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SEPTEMBER 16

Dick Pierson Memorial Golf Outing

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