Congratulations to our own Mark Henne (l) for his leadership at this weekend’s Rotary District 6360 Conference in Grand Rapids, held jointly with our neighbors from District 6290.
Mark turns over the duties of District 6360 Governor to Terry Allen (r) at the end of June. Terry and his wife Liz have big shoes to fill!
Every week East Lansing Rotary offers compelling speakers on a variety of issues. Coming up…
April 22 – Dr. Marsha Rappley, Dean of MSU’s College of Human Medicine
Michigan State University’s response to the projected shortage of medical professionals
April 29 – Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing)
Legislative update: the budget, taxes, education funding
May 6 – Jim Hidlay, Vice President of Global Marketing, TechSmith
The software revolution in our classrooms
May 13 – Rich Robinson, Executive Director, Michigan Campaign Finance Network
Campaign finance and gerrymandering: taking ‘representative’ out of our representative democracy?
May 20 – Amy Hodgson, Superintendent of Dansville Schools
Dansville’s pilot “iPad in the Classroom” project
May 27 – Memorial Day (no meeting)
All East Lansing Rotary meetings are open to the general public. Meetings are noon at the University Club of MSU. The $15 meeting charge includes an excellent buffet luncheon, complete with the University Club’s famous dessert table!
Very exciting news! The state has approved a $300,000 appropriation for the Patriarche Park project. This means we can plan our build date and work at raising the remainder of funds needed for an awesome new, safe, accessible play structure. Thanks to Representatives Sam Singh, Andy Schor and Tom Cochran for their support!
East Lansing Rotary annually honors members of our community who, through their professional and personal lives, make a lasting contribution to our community. This year we recognized three outstanding individuals: the late Gary Olson, Dr. John Dunn and Professor John Seita.
Recently our community lost a great leader, big thinker and Rotarian, Gary Olson – a member of the Lansing Rotary Club. The East Lansing Rotary chose to honor Olson posthumously with a Vocational Excellence Award.
Gary Olson held a Masters in Economics from MSU and was the Director of the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency. Yearly visits from Olson to the East Lansing Rotary Club were always a highlight as Olson helped us understand the current economic situation.
We are proud to count Gary Olson as a friend and fellow Rotarian!
The Albert White Community Service Award goes to one of our own: Dr. John Dunn. A long time member and a semi-retired ophthalmologist Dunn talked about his philosophy of service. “It is a simple phrase that propels me into service —May I help you?,” said Dunn. That phrase, taken from his father, highlighted the compact that we make when we provide service. We ask permission to help and we help only until we are no longer needed.
Dunn shared a story about Red Cedar Elementary student, a young boy from Southern Sudan that he was helping to learn to read. “Samir was 7 years old and struggling with English. For almost a year we worked together, taking turns writing out answers to problems. One day Samir kept on going –because he could. He no longer needed me,” claimed Dunn triumphantly and tearfully.
At East Lansing Rotary Club we are moved by John Dunn’s quiet generosity, a true leader by example.
Professor John Seita was also a recipient of a Vocational Excellence Award. Professor Seita teaches in the School of Social Work and has created a very special program called FAME which helps college students that have come out of the Foster Care system adjust to college life. Seita himself is a graduate from the Foster Care system. He gave credit for his success to his team of colleagues. “I believe in the importance of making a difference one by one,” said Seita.
Congratulations to John Seita and thank you for being such a great role model!