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Our meeting was called to order at 12:34, with comments from President Darwin about a clock on the dais that was apparently incorrect. The invocations was given by Michelle Reynaert and was appropriate focused on new Rotarians and new friends. Mark Hooper led us in singing The Star Spangled Banner. Lisa Smith ably worked the microphone, including dealing with technical issues as twelve guests were introduced. During the introductions we were assured that all of the animals at Potter Park Zoo are fine, even though it isn’t currently possible to visit any of them. We also welcomed Stephen Brokaw, a Marketing Manager with Google who will be working on the upcoming Grow with Google event here in Lansing. (Visit https://events.withgoogle.com/join-google-in-lansing/ for more information on the event.) Pat Munshaw reminded us that as we age, we think more about quality of life. Frank Tegge is scheduled for knee surgery on March 5th, which will hopefully improve the quality of his life. Other than that, the health of our club was reported as good. Pat Hanes stood in for Kevin Schumacher to reveal the author of this week’s mystery story – none other than John Grettenberger Sr, who had the privilege of delivering Presidential limos to both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Prizes for correctly identifying the author went to David O’Leary and Jeff Crippen. John spent a few minutes reliving these deliveries. Reagan’s limos were delivered while he was still recovering from the shooting outside the Washington Hilton. Nancy Reagan was the first to inspect the limos and she had many questions about the safety features of the automobiles. Ronald Reagan was much more concerned about how he was going to look in the back seat. To get an idea, he asked John to sit in the back seat while he walked around it to see how John looked. While this was underway, it began to rain. When Reagan became aware of the rain, he quickly ushered the Cadillac delegation into the White House to complete the transfer so that the Secret Service wouldn’t have to stand outside in the yard. Clinton’s limos were actually ordered by President Bush. During delivery, he was very relaxed and took the time to talk with every Cadillac engineer who was on hand. Everyone was able to have a photo with him as well.  John also explained a bit about the process. Cadillac had to win the bid, but did not make any money on these sales. Three limos are built and delivered – one is with the President, one is where the President will be travelling next, and on is on standby. They are built individually by hand and the exact details are top secret. They are totally different from street models – high tech and high performance. The Secret Service oversees the assembly process and the facility is locked and sealed when no one is working. Justin Sheehan is coordinating student visits to our club this year. These visits will begin soon and will continue over the next two months. Hosts are needed to sit with and introduce the students during our meetings. If you are interested in hosting one of the students, let Justin know. You can email him at sheehan@lansingpromise.org or call him at 203-5020. Diane Sanborn reported on behalf of the February birthday Rotarians. February has a small number of birthdays, but achieved 100% participation and raised $715. After a moment of confusion (we miss you John Dale Smith), the club wished everyone a happy birthday in song. True to his word, Bob Hoffman was on hand with a special prize for the winners of this week’s social media contest. Scott Watkins and Chris Chamberlain both received CDs from recent Wharton shows AND a gift card to Biggby. Remember to use #lansingrotary in your social media posts. Although Anne Cauley was not present, President Darwin thanked her for the great job as Chair of the Month. Today’s program consisted of presentations from some of our newest members. First up was Scott Duimstra, Executive Director of Capital Area District Library. Scott chose to deliver his presentation as a very entertaining book. Chapter 1 – What’s in a Name? – Scott was born in Grand Rapids and was the youngest of 6 children. He spent a lot of time with his Grandmother, who spent days in the library with him. She shared what the library had meant to her as a young girl. She had immigrated from the Netherlands in 1922 and was picked on by the other students at school due to her name. The library became a safe place for her, and she used her time there to research a new name that allowed her to fit in her new country. Scott went on to work in the Grand Rapids library. Chapter 2 – A Load of BS – Scott was the first in his family to attend college. He knew he would need a Masters in Library Science, but figured his Bachelors degree could be in anything. His parents urged him to get a degree that could be put to use. So what did he come up with? A BS in Philosophy – specifically the Philosophy of Science. His parents thought he would never leave home. He earned his Masters Degree from U of M just after 9/11 and jobs in libraries were scarce. He attended a library conference in Philadelphia in hopes that he could find a job. He was successful and soon found himself on his way to Los Angeles. Chapter 3 – Things Are Not What They Seem – On his way to LA, Scott envisioned himself as Librarian to the Stars. His first assignment was in Sherman Oaks, a wealthy area where the patrons were at least trying to be stars. But after his probation, Scott found himself reassigned to a new branch where training on how to recognize gang activity was important. One day, a patron entered his branch who fit the gang profile to a T – his shirt was open revealing lots of tattoos, some obviously gang related. He even had tattoos on his face that identified the street controlled by his gang. Scott was very nervous as he offered to help the man. It turned out that the patron had recently been released from prison and was trying to get back into the work force. Scott was able to help him develop his skills and couldn’t help but draw parallels between this patron and his grandmother’s experience so many years ago. Scott made his way back to Michigan, where the economy still wasn’t good, found a job at the GM design library, and met his wife. They made their way to the Lansing area, where Scott took a job in the Haslett branch of CADL and worked his way up to his current position. Epilogue – Scott is married with 2 children – a 6 year old daughter and a 3 year old son. He is very happy to be a Rotarian. Maria Lenz is a mortgage loan officer at Eaton Federal and is involved in the Women’s Council of Realtors. She was raised in Higgins Lake, but attended Houghton Lake schools. She describes her childhood as being the stuff that makes a Dr. Phil episode, that resulted in PTSD for all three daughters. She has been married for 15 years and had a miracle daughter who is 7 going on 16. She suffered two ectopic pregnancies which were followed by 11 months of undiagnosed sickness. A stay at the Mayo Clinic ended with a diagnosis of bad posture. That was followed up by a referral to a headache clinic in Chicago, where she was finally correctly diagnosed as suffering from progressively worse strains of the flu. She remembers nothing about her stay in Chicago, but after 5 days and 36 injections, she was on the road to recovery. Although they had given up on a pregnancy, her husband gave her a hug one day, and felt that she was pregnant. Testing revealed that she was indeed pregnant and had been before she was treated in Chicago. In spite of those 36 injections, she delivered a beautiful baby girl – Olivia Grace. Originally trained as a paramedic, Maria went back to school and earned an Associates degree in Business. That led to a 24 year (and counting) career in the mortgage field. She has worked with the Center for Financial Health providing education to clients who want to qualify for down payment assistance. She claims to have lots of stories, but shared just one. She met with a client who had cuts all over her legs. When Maria asked about the cuts, the client said that she had gotten up during the night, ran into and broke a mirror, which cut her legs. Further discussion revealed that she was blind in one eye, which had contributed to the incident with the mirror. She was in a hurry to complete the process for down payment assistance because her doctor had told her that if she didn’t stop drinking, she was going to lose the sight in her other eye. She made it very clear that she didn’t want to stop drinking and thought that was a crazy suggestion. Maria considers our club to be her extended family. In the limited time left, Shari Montgomery shared her story. Shari is originally from Traverse City and was not happy when she moved to Lansing. She vowed not to stay, but eventually grew to love Lansing. She became involved in her step-father’s business – Polack Glass, eventually purchasing it from him in the 1980’s. The independent glass business was tough and she successfully rebuilt the business twice after foreign competition and economic downturns threatened to put the company out of business. She didn’t plan to sell the business, but another independent company kept upping the ante until she could no longer refuse their offer. After selling the business, she developed new passions, becoming involved in the fight against human trafficking. In 2012, she started a 501(c)3 to provide a home for girls and adults who have been involved in human trafficking. She has purchased a home, and has a goal of house 100 survivors, accepting residents from across the country. The first residents will be arriving in the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and Julie Thomasma was not able to introduce herself. Her introduction will be scheduled for a later meeting. President Darwin announced that next week we will be meeting at the Country Club of Lansing on Moores River Drive. Christopher Sell, Executive Director of Lanisng’s 5;01, “Connecting Young Talent to the Community" will be our speaker.
The meeting was adjourned just a few minutes late.
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When I was about 10, my family travelled to Alaska to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins who were living in Juneau. One day, we decided to hike up a nearby mountain. The mountain had a cross above the timberline and the plan was to carry a lunch and eat it at the foot of the cross. As we started up the mountain, my cousin, brother and I, ages 8-10 forged on ahead of our parents and younger sisters. My cousin had hiked this trail before and I am sure we thought they were just too slow for us. When we reached the timberline, the path became a series of switchbacks with brush on either side. The brush was plenty tall to block the view of three kids. We raced on to the cross and sat down to wait for the others..jpg)
