Andre Hutson is the owner of Conquest Fitness which now has two locations in East Lansing and DeWitt. Andre, his wife Morgan and their 2 kids live in East Lansing and have been residents there for 9 years.

 

Born and raised in Trotwood, Ohio, Andre accepted a full ride athletic scholarship to play basketball for Michigan State University in 1997. While at MSU, Andre accomplished many things including 4 Big Ten titles, 3 Final Four appearances and 1 National Championship in 2000. Andre graduated from MSU in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in Finance.

 

After his time at MSU, Andre went on to play basketball professionally overseas for 9 years. He played in Italy, Greece, Russia, and Turkey and traveled all over Europe. His time overseas taught him many life lessons and allowed him to build a financial foundation which gave him the opportunity to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams.

 

Since moving back to the Lansing area, Andre has shown a deep interest in the business community and takes pride in giving back in numerous ways. Some examples include Co-Chairing the Capitol Area United Way campaign, serving on boards such as the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Governor’s Council for Physical Fitness, and starting his own non-profit organization, the Conquest Health and Fitness Foundation.

Andre also runs an AAU travel basketball club called Quest Basketball and offers numerous basketball camps and clinics throughout the year.

The club’s board is pleased to announce the selection of two individuals to receive Rotary District 6360’s Rotary Hero Award, given annually to a Rotarian from each club in the District who exemplifies “Service Above Self” in everything they think, say and do, and/or who has given many years of service. After reviewing the nominations submitted by club members, the board selected two outstanding Rotarians to receive this award. Helen Pratt Mickens will receive the award this year, and Mark Hooper will receive the award next year. The award will be formally presented at the annual District Conference, which this year will be held in May on Mackinac Island.

 

Helen Pratt Mickens was one of the first women in our club, as well as our first woman club president. She also served as President of the Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation. She has been an outstanding role model, not only for club members, but for all Lansing area citizens. She is generous with both her time and her expertise, and always conducts herself with quiet dignity that speaks to her strong sense of purpose and self-confidence. At a time when voices are strident and polarizing, Helen stands for a humility and forthrightness of spirit that is truly refreshing.

 

Mark Hooper has been a Rotarian for over 40 years, during which time he has served as president of the Haslett/Okemos Rotary Club, president of the Rotary Club of Lansing, and president of the Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation. He has held numerous other club leadership positions, including chair of the Rotary Club of Lansing’s Centennial Celebration Steering Committee, which successfully raised $250,000 for a 100th year anniversary gift to support a new water exhibit at Impression Five Science Center. Mark currently serves as Chair of the club’s audit committee, and co-chair of the Membership Engagement Committee. His commitment to “Service Above Self” is also demonstrated by his generous philanthropy and his extensive community volunteerism, which the Greater Lansing Chamber recognized by awarding him its 2016 Community Service Award.

 

Prior Rotary Hero Award recipients from our club are Jack Draper, Jack Bates, Duane Vernon, Irv Nichols and Ken Beachler. Congratulations to both Helen and Mark for being recognized with this prestigious award, and thank you for all you do to make our club – and our community – better in so many ways.

Attending May District Conference? If you are planning to (or even thinking about) attending the District Conference at the Mission Point Resort on Mackinac Island May 16-19, would you please let Cathy know? We are trying to determine who might be able to represent the club at the annual dinner. Thank you!

On this beautiful sunshiny Friday, President Dennis Fliehman called the meeting of the Rotary Club of Lansing to order at 12:24pm. Amazing what a little sunshine can do. After announcing that Saturday is the 114th birthday of Rotary International, the meeting moved forward, but first it seems only fitting to say…Happy Birthday Rotary!!

 

The invocation was presented by Hari Kern followed by a rousing rendition of ‘My Country Tis of Thee’. Lisa Smith delivered the Rotary microphone to our visiting Rotarians and guests. Sue Mills declared the health of the club good, but then we learned from John Grettenberger Jr. that his dad and fellow Rotarian John Sr. had a stroke earlier this week. This news took our collective breaths away. John shared John Sr. is doing better at Sparrow but is not accepting visitors. Our prayers for a full recovery are all with John Sr.

 

Special Music was moved up on the agenda and on cue, Ken Beachler introduced Blue Light Players member Catherine McCauley who entertained us with wonderful songs from Jersey Boys and Newsies. John Dale Smith let us know that his 5- piece band will be playing all the music for the upcoming play Newsies. He then gave us all a preview of upcoming plays that just by chance, his band will be supporting. Sure is nice having all this talent in our community!

 

February birthdays were celebrated with Nancy Yeadon sharing responses to her question “how can I tell someone is a nerd?” The responses left us all chuckling. February birthday Rotarians donated $700 with 70% participation. Expectations are high for the rest of our February birthday Rotarians to contribute.

 

President Dennis reminded Rotarians that there will be a dinner at St. John Catholic Church & Student Center for MSU Rotaract on March 14. Tickets can be purchased on line or contact Cathy. Dennis next introduced not one but two Lansing Rotary Club Heroes. With the intent of recognizing a member of the club who exemplifies our moto – service above self, excellent nominations were received and taken to the Board. Two deserving Rotarians were identified, and the Board determined that they would become our Lansing Rotary Heroes for this year and next. This year’s Hero is Helen Mickens, the first woman president of our club and a role model and hero for us all. Next year’s Hero will be Mark Hooper, a Rotarian for more than 40 years, serving in many leadership roles within our club. Both of our Heroes are excellent examples of the Rotary moto. Congrats to you both and thanks for all you do.

 

Chair of the Month and Chair of the Day Barb Whitney than stepped to the podium to introduce our guest speaker. A writer, poet, instructor and academic, Barb shared that meeting our speaker was a dream come true for her. Our speaker, Lansing Poet Laureate Dennis Hinrichsen than stepped forward and began his talk.

 

Beginning with a history of poet laureates, Dennis spoke of past laureates for our state and some of the municipalities. The nomination of Dennis to step into the state position never moved forward in the State legislature. Grand Rapids, the Upper Peninsula and Detroit all have poet laureates, but our State does not. So, with the help of LEAP, Dennis became the first Poet Laureate of our city. Serving a two- year term in this role, our speaker shared stories of his visits to schools, workshops, libraries and more, all creating in his words, “an amazing adventure.” Why do we have a poet laureate? In his own words, he is “affordable” and “portable”. Dennis assured us that we all already have so much poetry within us. Music, nursery rhymes, Dr. Seuss all prepare us for poetry. Sharing narratives of his interactions with area children, we began to understand the role of the poet laureate. Poetry creates openness and curiosity, synthesizing all the craziness in our lives. Poetry allows us to listen, speak to and hear each other. Poetry also has the power of healing. Concluding his remarks with comments about his role in the inauguration of Mayor Schor and the process to develop his inaugural poem, Dennis shared that poetry allows us to explore who we are, where we are and where we are going. It can uplift our lives. He then shared a poem from one of his student interactions. Questions and comments were then shared with Lansing’s Poet Laureate, Dennis Hinrichsen. We were left with a better feeling of the ability of poetry to be transformative. We also learned that President Dennis is named after Dennis the Menace.  Yes, this was truly an informative meeting for all Lansing Rotarians.

 

We meet next week back at the Lansing Center where our speaker will be Andre Hutson, Founder and President of Conquest Fitness.

 

Joe Wald's email is:  jwald71@gmail.com