Kevin Marti and Frank Dick took time today to share their unique experiences visiting the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C.as part of the Honor Flight on Flag Day which honors the brave men and women of our military who served during that time! Kevin took the podium first and said that prior to taking the trip, he participated in over 3 hours of training in Findlay to prepare to be Frank’s “Guardian” during the trip.
He proceeded to show a number of great slides of himself and Frank taken throughout the trip. He said that the day started at the Toledo Grand Air Express terminal at 6am sharp where everyone assembled. They flew direct to the Balltimore/Washington Airport where some 1,000 people greeted them. Among the greeters was Congressman Jordan of Ohio, Kevin said, but Congressman Wahlberg, unfortunately, was not able to attend.
While in D.C. Kevin and Frank visited the Korean War, Iwo Jima and the Viet Nam Memorials. At the Viet Nam Memorial they found the name of the brother of former Gleaner director Bill Warner who was killed in that war.
Frank began his segment of the presentation by telling us that he was just 18 years old when he joined the military. Actually, it was his sophomore year that he went to the draft board to tell them he was ready to enlist yet his parents were not at all happy so were able to convince the board to agree to wait 2 more years. The very day after graduation he was at the armory in Bowling Green to begin his military career! His experiences at this young age, he said, were amazing.
He went through 15 weeks of basic training and from there boarded a ship with 10,000 other soldiers on a 7-day trip to Camp Miles Standish. He spent 3 days in Hampton, England before heading to France where he said he rode the 40 & 8 Box Car! December of 1944, Frank said, marked the start of the infamous Battle of the Bulge and there he was, Frank said, at 18 years old assigned the position of a mortar specialist.
In February of the following year, Frank said he was wounded and treated with sulfa drugs and penicillin. His wounds were so severe that they sent Frank back to England for surgery on his arm. Shortly thereafter, Frank was on his way back to the states to Newton Baker Hospital in West Virginia and then sent home for 3 months before he had to return to the hospital for a checkup.
Once Frank was on his feet, he returned home and started working at REA Electric at 19 as a meter reader. When he met with officers to be officially discharged from the military, they advised him not to go to work because he was going to get a pension and working would reduce the amount he would be getting from the military. Frank did not think this was the greatest advice so decided instead to enroll at Bowling Green State University. Consequently, it was the government through the GI Bill that paid for Frank’s education. He took 17 credit hours each semester he was there allowing him to graduate in just two years and eleven months! His portion of the entire bill, he said, was only $72!
Frank closed by saying that two things in particular stand out as being truly memorable in his lifetime: Number one, of course, was his wife, Shirley, the love of his life for encouraging him to pursue a college degree! Number two was the opportunity to serve 32 years as a public school superintendent. “What a life I’ve had”, he said. Frank closed by thanking Kevin for traveling with him on the Honor Flight saying “it must have been a chore for him”! He encouraged each of us to make things happen for our children and grandchildren while we have the opportunity. He said that Rotary was a great organization. He’s been a member for 59 years! He closed with these very significant words of wisdom: “Do all the good you can; in all the ways that you can; to all the people you can; as long as you ever can!”
Thanks Frank and Kevin for one truly outstanding presentation!
Sandy Keener – Please keep her in your prayers. She is at Hospice and Mark reported that her family requested a limited number of visitors and also that they have cards we could leave messages on and sign that Sandy will see and know that we are thinking about her.
Greg Dumars – Gerry B. announced that Greg is scheduled to have hip surgery next week. Please keep him in your prayers.
Cookies – Susan T. mentioned that the leftover cookies from last week went to the Adrian Township firefighters. Thanks Susan for this “act of kindness” even though it wasn’t “random” – or, maybe it was!!
Comstock River Walk Project – Mark once again encouraged members to do what they could to find buyers for our trees this year. We simply need to get people or organizations to purchase a tree for just $50 they will be free to decorate. The City of Adrian will erect the trees and put on the lights. Forms are available so be sure and get some and encourage people/organizations you know to purchase one or two or three even!! Let’s all get out there and continue to sell a ton of trees. The official lighting of the trees will take place on December 2nd. Our own Patty Clark has purchased 5 of them and asked members to identify anyone who is a 501C3 organization who might want a free tree to decorate to call her! She has 3 left to donate. Thanks, Patty.
Wreath Sales – Nate announced that we are one week away from the deadline. The club is doing this jointly with the Morning Club. Nate was polling members today for their individual count on orders thus far. You may still solicit sales between now and the 26th. Kevin Marti is still in the lead with 81 orders followed closely by Ray Maxe with 57 and Nate with over 40!
Share the Warmth - Kathy Williams announced that WLEN is assisting again this year with the Keep Lenawee Warm program and encouraged those who have lightly warn winter coats to drop them off at Adrian Dry Cleaners, Bell Ford in Adrian or Knapp Motors in Blissfield which will then go to Associated Charities to be donated to those in need.
Fluency Friends Training – AG Mary thanked those who participated in the training last night at Michener. The program will start this coming Monday. Mary said that Kathy Sielsky will be sending all volunteers an e-mail with the schedule and the names of the children that they will be working with this year. Readers will be in Room 8 this year at Michener. Thanks Mary for all you’ve done to coordinate this again this year!
Membership Committee – Kathy then mentioned that on November 1 will be a club event for the purpose of educating our newest members about Rotary as well as a social for all who want to attend afterwards. Everyone is invited! New members will arrive at 5pm and all others come at around 5:30pm for appetizers and libations left over from Art-A-Licious. Hope you can all come!! It will be at Kathy’s house in the Birch Run subdivision just south of MJR Theaters on North Main here in Adrian. Will be a fun time!
Youth Exchange –AG Mary announced that Nancy and Mike Herr from the Morning Club are hosting the newest Exchange Student, Andrea (On-dray-ah) from Mexico who attends Madison HS and they would be grateful if anyone of us could keep her in mind when doing something she might want to be involved in during her stay here in this country. She is having a bit of difficulty adjusting and the more exposure she could have with others, the better. Please let Mary know if and when you might have time to include Andrea in any of your family plans. Thank you.
Adrian College Rotaract Club – Amanda, their president, was on hand today and told members that they held their big event this past Monday. They made pasta, salad with bread and butter and cookies for the local police department which went over very well. Amanda and other members are looking forward to attending a training conference this weekend.
Thank a Vet Day – Kathy Williams announced this Veteran’s Day event sponsored again by WLEN from 6am-6pm that Friday. She encouraged members to take up collections at their own organization if they were so inclined to do so and give to WLEN towards their goal. All proceeds go to the Veteran’s Dire Need Fund to assist vets in Lenawee County.
Random Acts of Kindness – Whether you’re out and about or at work, do something kind for someone before next week's meeting! For more info, go to www.rotary6400kindness.com
Bottle Cap Program – As a reminder, Mike Olsaver would still like all bottle caps as you have them to turn in at each meeting. They will be recycle to provide plastic benches at Michener Elementary.
RYLA – Thanks to Lisa Wilkie and Kevin Keller, we’ll be sponsoring 2 high school students to attend this important leadership event in Livonia next month. The Morning Club will also be sponsoring 2 as well. We will be looking for volunteers to drive them to and back from this event.
District 6400 Newsletter - A great district newsletter available at: http://rotary6400.org/?page_id=301 . All members should be receiving this automatically every month. If not, it might be a problem with the member’s information on DACdb. For assistance accessing your info, please contact Yours Truly.
Passport Program –Still looking for members who would like to visit another club within driving distance as part of the district’s Passport Program. A minimum of 4 members are required.
Child Advocacy Center – Chair, Dave Maxwell, from the Morning Club sent an e-mail thanking everyone who helped with the project recently. Here's what has been accomplished thus far:
1) painted the upstairs (all but two rooms that will not be used, for now)
2) landscaped the grounds
3) painted the bathroom, kitchen, and small adjoining hallway downstairs
4) contributed two grants: $8,500 and $1,500 (latter a joint District 6400 grant with the Adrian Noon Club, totaling $5,000).
The construction of the interview rooms downstairs is coming right along. Framing and drywall up; next is the one-way glass and wall prep.....we have decided that the remaining part of the CAC will be painted by a professional painter. The CAC is expected to open sometime in January. Once all renovations are complete, the remaining task is to staff it and move in, ready for clients. Please accept my thanks and congratulations for helping get this worthy project launched! If you have questions about it, please let me know.
DATES TO REMEMBER
November 1 – New Member Orientation & Social - at Kathy William’s home in the Burch Run subdivision just south of the MJR Theaters on M52. EVERYONE is invited. New members will need to be there at 5pm while all others should be there by 5:30pm. Leftovers from Art-A-Licious need to be consumed. Should be a great time! Plan to attend!!
November 10 - Million Dollar Legacy Dinner - The Rotary Foundation will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year and District 6400 will celebrate in style with a Legacy Dinner on Thursday, November 10th, 2016 at the Inn at St. Johns in Plymouth, MI. The honored guests at this event will be Rotary International President John Germ and Rotary International Vice President Jennifer Jones. You can get involved and join in our celebration by pledging a gift to the Rotary Foundation over the next 3 years. It can be an Annual gift, Bequest Society Gift or other areas. They are asking you to consider an increase in your current level and if you are close to a major donor level or to a next one, get there during this special celebration! Contact PDG Neil McBeth (nrmcbeth@gmail.com) and PDG Donna Schmidt (drdonna@wowway.com) to learn how you can participate in this awesome event while also helping Humanity through gifts to the Foundation.
November 11 - Membership Luncheon with RI President John Germ – Thus far 11 members have signed up to attend. The club will pay for all new members who’ll be attending. Sponsors who will be attending will need to pay the nominal $20 for their lunch. It is scheduled for Friday, November 11th at 12 noon at the Fox Hills Country Club. We will need to take 2-3 cars which we will coordinate and let everyone know. We should leave Adrian at 10:15pm.
December 31 - New Year's Eve Gala Event 2016. - Susan reminded members that this year’s gala event is a “themed” event and we’re calling it the Adrian Noon Rotary Club’s ROCK & ROLL New Year’s Celebration! You should see the decorations the committee has purchased! Very festive and colorful to say the least! Tickets are $40 per person or $75 a couple. The band, Bill Lewis and the Soul Backs have signed a contract with us and will be playing the entire evening. He has, of course, a huge following and has agreed to promote this event on his Facebook page. It will again be at Benincasa Hall at SHU. Members who solicited sponsors last year were given the names to call on again for another donation this year.
As far as fundraising - We’re asking all members to come up with at least one new prospective donor they can call on for a monetary donation. Did you just purchase a car from someone that you could call? How about insurance coverage? They are all great prospects.
All new printed materials will be ready next week. Instead of tickets, we will be mailing out full color postcards with all of the details they will need to mail back in with their checks to reserve their spot. Full color sponsor sheets have been made up for members approaching previous and new donors alike soliciting a contribution. Posters are being made up to stick in windows of businesses to promote this event. WE NEED EVERYONE’S HELP CONTACTING EVERYONE THEY KNOW TO JOIN US THAT EVENING.
Upcoming Programs
October 27 – Monica Mercer – The Buoy Shop
November 3 – Keith Trost, Executive Director Goodwill
November 10 -
November 17 – Anna Mortimer – County National Bank
November 23 – Joint luncheon with Kiwanis (LCS)
Dec 1 - Joann Hartmeyer from new drug court
Dec 8 - Lenawee Community Chorus
Dec 15 - Sister Peg
GUESTS: Visiting Plymouth Rotarian Bill Morrison; Junior Rotarians Tayla and Janessa who introduced their replacements: Jarod Pender and John Gamel; Amanda, president of Adrian College’s Rotaract Club.
Rod Pender did the honors and fined: Wagley, Chase (2), Bendes, Herrera, Mary M., Smith (2), Slater, Nelson, Mortimer, Salazar, Sack, Maxe, John B., Moore, Mark M., S. Tobey and M. Tobey.
Happy Bucks – Marti, Bendes, Sielsky, Herrera, Pender, and Moore.
Kevin Marti and Frank Dick took time today to share their unique experiences visiting the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C.as part of the Honor Flight on Flag Day which honors the brave men and women of our military who served during that time! Kevin took the podium first and said that prior to taking the trip, he participated in over 3 hours of training in Findlay to prepare to be Frank’s “Guardian” during the trip.
Comstock River Walk Project – 
Wreath Sales – 
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Passport Program –Still looking for members who would like to visit another club within driving distance as part of the district’s Passport Program. A minimum of 4 members are required.
December 31 - New Year's Eve Gala Event 2016. - 
