INVOCATION
Tom Townsend gave the invocation, offering a heartfelt prayer for the healing and recovery of our fellow member, Jeff Whitbey.
We received an update from Dawn, Jeff Whitbey's wife, around 6 pm on Wednesday. Jeff is in comfort care now and semi-conscious. He will be moved into a hospice facility next to Traverse City's Munson Medical Center on Thursday.
ATTENDANCE
Several guests were in attendance, including Paul Licker, Candidate for Membership; Kay Wilkens, Candidate for Membership; Patricia Griffth, Chair of District 6380's Short-Term Youth Exchange Committee; Shiang Yun Chen (Vivian), Speaker; Anaya Potts, Speaker; and her sister Samaya Potts.
BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES
While there are no upcoming birthdays, we celebrated a significant milestone-Alan McLellan's 16th year of dedicated service to Rotary.
FIFTEENTH HANDSHAKE
Yolanda Udell was today’s 15th handshake and is fine-free today.
ROTARIAN OF THE WEEK
Bree Clawson was last week’s Rotarian of the Week but wanted to keep the coveted award for another week, her fourth week! She drives around town with the treasure in her back seat. It is a little hard to see in this picture, but she can still pay another $5, please 🎶
HAPPY BUCKS
Ayana Knox-Potts was glad her daughter Anaya was home from a short-term Youth Exchange to Taipei, Taiwan. This is the third exchange the Knox-Potts household has participated in.
David Archbold encourages everyone to attend the Dream Cruise on Saturday, August 17th. He will drive his red 1965 Ford Mustang convertible with a white top and white GT racing stripes on the side.
Yolanda Udell mentioned that Meadowbrook Center for Learning is holding a Dress Into A Dream - Homecoming Dresses sale on August 30th. The dresses will be $10 each. Everyone is invited. For more details, visit.
https://sparklenetwork.org/prom-closet-project/
Christine Hage was pleased that Mike Dreon could format our speakers' presentation so we could share it with those in attendance today.
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS
Carol Franciosi has organized a Saturday, August 17th, 9 a.m. bike ride along the Paint Creek Trail. Friends and family members are welcome to meet at the trail parking lot on Tienken between Rochester Road and Livernois to pedal to the Farmers' Market in downtown Rochester. The ride will be followed by breakfast at Recipes on University Drive. If you don't want to ride, feel free to join the group at either the Farmers' Market or the restaurant. In case of rain, the event will be rescheduled in September.
A special thank you to Shirley Gofrank for coordinating the Blast Off 2 School work session. Tamara Tazzia, Renee Cortright, Tami Salisbury, and her son helped Shirley pack school supplies. Neighborhood House will distribute over 400 backpacks with age-appropriate school supplies to K-12 students on Saturday, August 17th.
Ron Lichtle was happy to present Neighborhood House with a check for $10,000 for its Food Pantry and Clothes Closet services. Rotarian Michael Dreon, Executive Director of NH, accepted the check and expressed their appreciation for the support. This check represented two grant requests from last year that the Charities Board approved.
SONG LEADER
Bob Lytle led the club in singing It's a Small World, and It's a Long Way to Tipperary. He selected the songs to honor today's speakers and their travel experience.
SHERIFF’S REPORT
Sheriff Peter Stuhlreyer collected $193 in fines. Since it was International Lefthanders Day, all right-handed people were fined. Approximately 12% of the population is left-handed.
President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935. Anyone receiving benefits from Social Security was fined.
John Gaber, aka the Smartest Man in the Room, was fined for not knowing that a Portuguese Man o' War has long, thin tendrils that can extend 165 feet in length below the surface, although 30 feet is the average. They are covered in venom-filled cells that paralyze and kill fish and other small creatures. For humans, a man o' war sting is excruciatingly painful but rarely deadly. This is probably more than you wanted to know about the Man o' War.
Peter then moved on to waive fines for all people associated with education, including Dave Archbold, Juliane Morian, and Phil Lowman, who reportedly was a school bus driver (this is not true).
Peter fined Bob Lytle for selecting a song whose lyrics needed to be clearer in our songbooks.
He also reminded everyone that the Club's annual golf outing will be on September 17. The Golf Outing Committee will hold a meeting next week at 11:30. Anyone interested in helping is invited to attend.
SPEAKER
Shiang Yun Chen (Vivian) and Anaya Potts shared their pictures and experiences as short-term exchange students this summer. The young ladies enjoyed traveling around Taiwan, visiting night markets, a pineapple cake factory, the Chiang Kai-shek Museum, and trying new foods. Anaya loved all the new tastes, especially items cooked by Vivian's grandmother.
On the other hand, Vivian seems to enjoy shopping at Great Lakes Crossing, the Village of Rochester Hills, the Nike Outlet, and downtown Rochester. The girls also visited Stoney Creek Metropark, which has paddle boats and a giant slide. They took in a movie at Emagine, and Vivian was amazed at the size of the theater and the comfortable seating. While in downtown Detroit, they visited the River Walk and the Renaissance Center, looked over at Canada, and rode the People Mover. Other sites included the Rochester Hills Public Library, Cranbrook Art Museum, Top Golf, Red Oaks Waterpark, and Addison Oaks.
Vivian speaks some English; however, Anaya served as the translator. Her five years of Chinese lessons helped!
