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Today’s lunch menu reflected a meatless Friday to help those who practice the age-old custom of abstinence from meat during Lent to NOT forget! (Thank you, Cathy.) It also nourished anyone else who just happened to show up to Rotary today. Pres. Nick called the meeting to order with the 4-way test, which approximately half of of the room can now actually recite by heart. In a nutshell, this test is about truth, fairness, goodwill, better friendships and being beneficial to all. The reflection was given by Casey Thompson followed by My Country Tis of Thee. John Dale woefully neglected his weekly Rotary gig, therefore we had no special (or even nonspecial) music to speak of. Raeanne Mardigian successfully passed the blue box microphone for the introduction of guests and visiting Rotarians. Health of the Club: Sarah Garcia is at home recovering after outpatient surgery. Dave O’Leary is in residence at the Red Cedar Lodge. Three new members were orientated to the club before today’s lunch meeting and then were introduced to everyone: Denise Donahue, Phyllis Riley and Ernscie Augustin. [Applause! Applause!] Pres. Nick announced the foundation will begin its grant application process for signature grants of $50,000, but don’t attempt to submit your application a minute before Feb. 19 nor after March 11. Local grants will be accepted between March 11 and April 5 on something called “SlideRoom,” which sounds like a cross between toddler play time and a reality TV series. Watch for the link in the Rotogram. And for those of you party animals, next week’s meeting is happy hour at Lansing Brewing Company on Thursday, Feb. 22, 4:30-6:00. BRING FRIENDS to keep our club growing! After many months of attending Rotary with that infectious smile, Casey Thompson delivered her blue badge presentation…where she announced she’s a pretty boring person! She grew up in Charlotte and was a middle child, went to LCC and CMU, and is president/CEO of the YMCA of Lansing. She claims to be a horrible travel companion, is vegan, has been married for 20 years and loves coffee. Chair of the Month and of the Day Matthew McGaughey introduced our speaker, Macaela Balzer, director of Innovation and Learning at Impression 5 Sci  ence Center, who presented “Our Identity in STEM: Youth Action Council.” A lot of focus today is centered on diversity and inclusion and incorporating youth in rethinking ways to present the sciences to today’s kids. One example is the redesign of the iconic mouth into nearly two dozen different skin colors representing the variety of children in the region. She stated that 30,000 kids come on busses each year to I-5 from every county in the state, except for one in the U.P. (There’s always that one!) She also stated that today’s kids want a hands-on-approach and are interested in different parts of sciences than in the past, such as coding, electricity and robotics. Pres. Nick closed the meeting by reminding everyone (again) that next week’s meeting will be the after-hours party on Thursday. I think we all know who is excited about that one. Everybody say SOCIAL! Email for Michelle Lantz: michelle@glfoodbank.org |
