12:00-12:28 Attendees assigned to chat rooms 12:30 CALL TO ORDER by President Julie Pingston (we started on the dot!) INVOCATION: Clyde Carnegie Mr. Carnegie served as the Lansing police commissioner, principal at Walter French Academy and numerous other ways during his years in Lansing. “Thank you for this beautiful day and for the fellowship of Rotary. Keep us mindful of our commitment to service above self. Bless this District governor and may the spirit of Rotary continue as we work towards peace and understanding among all people and in the time to come. Let us show our reverence oh Lord, in the name of Jesus. Amen." PATRIOTIC SONG: God Bless America Played by John Dale Smith INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS AND VISITING ROTARIANS: Julie Pingston Rita La Moreaux was today’s only guest. HEALTH OF THE CLUB: Diane Sanborn Nothing to report, thankfully. After a difficult year, and the loss of several Rotarians, it is nice to report that the health of the club is good. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Julie Pingston Rotarians Doing Great Things—Update from Bob Hoffman on ePIFanyNow It was a big week and Bob had a big announcement. Eleven years ago, ePIFanyNow began. Today Bob announced this year’s Youth ePIFanyNow winner. She was chosen from among ten finalists who raised close to $6000 for their various causes. This year’s winner is Asia Jones, a student at Mason High School. Four years ago, Asia started an organization called Garden of Hope that helps young girls in the 8th-12th grades. They are assisted with basic needs and opportunities to grow into the people they want to be. According to the website (gardenofhopescholarship.org), young women must have at least a 2.5 GPA to participate and must be willing to commit to the program itself, the workshops it provides, community service and excellence in all they do. Everything is geared towards helping young women show themselves in their best light. Bob is always looking for good news to share on his FB Live program. Please reach out if you have good news to share. We definitely need it these days! SPECIAL MUSIC: “Something’s Coming” from Sondheim featuring Adam Woolsey, Rachael Cupples, Travis Williams, and Meghan Eldred-Woolsey, John Dale Smith (piano) and “Make Them Hear You” from Ragtime featuring Sean Holland II and Amanda Tollstam, John Dale Smith (piano). PAUL HARRIS AWARDS (54 recipients): Donna Gardner The Paul Harris award was established in the 1950’s to recognize and encourage folks who support the Rotary International Foundation. Paul Harris was the founder of Rotary in Chicago, IL. The Paul Harris award acknowledges individuals who have contributed $1000 to Rotary International. Gifts accrue over time. Our members who donated are listed above. A percentage of the Paul Harris funds come back to the district in the form of funds available for grants. This year, $5000 was made available for Irv Nichols’ school project in Sudan. Donna thanked the district for affording our club the opportunity for match points. Thanks to Patrick Hanes for allowing her to start this campaign last November. Thanks to Teresa Brandell for keeping track of all the points. Last, thanks to Cathy Andrews for whom the points made her job twenty times harder than normal. Everybody should keep in mind that it’s not about the money that’s donated but what the money does. Every penny makes our world a better and safer place. through improvements in maternal health, clean water, literacy, local economies and now, addressing COVID-19. This year, our club raised a total of $21,800 this year. This year’s gifts ranged from $25 to $1000 and 54 members received Paul Harris awards, a real mile marker for us. In closing, Julie thanked Donna for her hard work and presented her with a certificate. INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKER: Julie Pingston SPEAKER: Nathan Triplett, District Governor District 6360 TOPIC: “Rotary Opens Opportunities” In her introduction, Julie stated that the district governor comes to our club every July. Nathan, however, is no stranger to our club. His involvement in the Lansing area is extensive and if he commits to do something, he really commits. Nathan is the Chair of CATA, the Vice President of the ACLU, serves on the Arts Council, was the past mayor of East Lansing, and has countless other accomplishments under his belt. Nathan Triplett consistently gives away his time, talent, and treasure. After saying how great it is to be with the Lansing Club where he has so many friends, Nathan made the following points. 1. This club made a tremendous contribution to Paul Harris this year. The matching points challenge clearly helped. Altogether, the district generated just shy of $40,000. Of that amount, $17,000 came from 51 members of the Lansing club. This is incredible and the downstream effects from this money are tremendous. 2. Usually, the DG talks about the Rotary theme of the year, followed by a Q and A session. But this year is unique and not at all the year we thought it would be. Our ongoing use of Zoom is proof that things are different. 3. This year’s theme is Rotary Opens Opportunities, proposed by President Holger. Think of this presentation as divided in two parts—pre and post COVID-19. 4. Pre-COVID-19 goals: a. Focus on developing innovative club models, including the start of new clubs, satellite clubs, and eClubs. Rejuvenate old clubs, making sure that what’s offered meets the needs of new members while pioneering new ways to include young people. b. Focus on one strategic planning session per club during the next year, to compensate for the fact that leadership turns over every year. Strategic planning will help mitigate some of those transitional challenges. Strategic planning usually gets kicked down the road because of the urgency of NOW. Let’s put a stop to that. c. Elect members of Rotary clubs carefully. We don’t want to be exclusionary but we want to pick right Rotarians to create the ‘right’ experience. Unfortunately, we leave a lot of Rotarians behind by not addressing their preferences. How can we do a better job of recruitment? d. Keep our promise to the children of the world by staying committed to eradicating polio. Continued investment is still needed in two countries where polio continues to be a scourge. 5. The above four goals are an excellent match our district’s goals, too. We are hoping to reach $100/capita giving while at $73 now. The Lansing Club’s giving rate is $118/capita. 6. Post-COVID-19 has raised important questions about Rotary. To date, in our district, we had shed about 5% of our Rotarians due to the pandemic. There are many reasons for this, including financial and health reasons. We must not downplay the significance of this moment—6000 dead in MI, 130,000 infected. 7. We all are facing lots of stress, uncertainty and crisis individually and professionally. We must recognize the trauma of the present moment. But we must also be thinking about how to move forward. 8. Rotarians have been incredible across the district, snapping into action to figure out how to continue our important work during the pandemic. Rotarians every where are learning that they CAN adapt to rapid change. For example, COVID has spurred us on to adapt to Zoom meetings. We are capable of responding to moments of crisis. This is good to know about ourselves. 9. We are still hoping fro have the district conference in Lansing next spring (fingers crossed). But district staff meetings will be done online from now on, saving the district money. This would not have happened without the pandemic. 10. Keep in mind that Rotary is well situated and made for the current moment! P Our organization’s polio experience is proof of that. We know how to address public health issues and invest our resources. We have done it before and have already started doing it again, thanks to $25,000 made available through emergency funds for COVID-19 relief in our district. 11. Being a Rotarian means acting responsibly to get through this crisis together. MASKS MATTER and Rotarians can lead the way by wearing masks themselves. 12. Our organization’s values are especially primed for this moment. Just look at the 4-way test: Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? 13. We are NOT all in the same boat—everybody is experiencing this pandemic differently. So be careful about assuming we are all in the same boat. 14. It is misplaced, and perhaps wrong, to say we are eager for things to get back to normal. Let’s not strive to get back to where things were before the pandemic. Rather, let’s create a better new normal. 15. Let’s be sure to focus on service above self. Let’s not just survive, but thrive in the current moment. 16. The district is here to support you. Just reach out for the resources you need. 17. Nathan looks forward to greeting us in person someday. QUESTIONS: Due to the thoroughness of his remarks, any questions cited in the chat box were already answered in Nathan’s remarks. LAST ANNOUNCEMENTS: All Paul Harris awards were mailed although some were back ordered. Nathan Triplett was told that, in lieu of a gift, a donation has been made in his name to our foundation to do great work here locally in our community. MEETING ADJOURNMENT: President Julie President Julie adjourned the meeting at 1:28pm. NEXT MEETING: July 24th, Zoom meeting at noon. Speaker will be Chris Swope, Lansing City Clerk. His topic: "Elections - My How Things Have Changed. Voting Under a Pandemic and Proposal 3 of 2018." Stay well, Everyone!! |