A wonderful interview with our new president, Judy Masserang.
Service Above Self
We meet Wednesdays at 5:30 PM
Grosse Pointe Yacht Club
Grosse Pointe Yacht Club
788 Lake Shore Road
Grosse Pointe Shores, MI 48236
United States of America
Grosse Pointe Shores, MI 48236
United States of America
Venue Map
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Meetings are in
The Venetian Room (June - August)
The Forecastle Room (September - May)
Visiting Rotarians and Guests are Welcome!
Susan Mozena passed it to Liz Vogel for doing such a great time as our Program Chair while obtaining her Masters in Business Administration and working full time.
Our presenters on Wednesday were Past Bayview Commodore (1994) Brian Geraghty and Bob Nutter, Chair of the 2019 Bell's Beer Bayview Mackinac Race
The race started in 1925 and is the world’s longest continuously run long distance fresh water yacht race. The actual route has changed periodically over the years to its current two route format, one for slower and one for faster boats so they can reach the finish line about the same time.
Both of our speakers are proud of their “old goat” status which signifies they have participated in at least 25 races and Mr. Nutter is a double “old goat” as he also has over 25 Chicago to Mackinac races under his belt.
This year’s race takes place on July 20th and there are 205 boats registered. Mr. Nutter’s says the strategy of his committee is to keep it continuous, organized, and fun. For a history of the race and firsthand accounts, go to www.byc.com.
George McMullen recognized two Interact officers who were unable to attend the meeting run by their Club. Junior Lloyd Dennis (Secretary) and Wyatt Dennis (Treasurer), who will be attending U of M next year and is the recipient of this year’s GP Rotary Interact scholarship.
Our speaker on Wednesday was Fred Pearson, a Detroit Rotarian and Wayne State Professor as well as a panel of four Muslim students from WSU and U of M Dearborn. (Pictured (starting back left): Fred Pearson, Gay Niehaus, Robert Duker, Mohammedhassan Alsheraa, Lauren Linderman, Ali Alqaragholi, and Sarah Imnan, )
Dr. Pearson is a Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies. He described the areas that he is working in and showed a video of Rotary Peace Fellows in action. Primarily, they are forming non-profits to make the world a better place to live. Dr. Pearson served as a moderator for the panel.
The panel consisted of two men and two women. The men’s nationality were Iraqi, while one woman’s was Syrian and the other was raised Baptist in Dearborn and converted to Islam last year.
Q&A format:
-- Lauren Linderman, who converted was asked to explain her motivating factors? She said that growing up with nice Muslim friends, she didn’t understand why Baptists believed that were damned to hell because they didn’t believe in Jesus. She also found the Quran to be more fact based and less faith based than the bible.
-- When asked about the impact extremists have on their religion, they replied that there are over 1.5 billion Muslims in the world and there will always be those who are bad people. The Koran doesn’t preach violence and the students believe that being better educated about their faith would bring a better understanding.
-- When asked about the fighting in the Middle East between the Shia and Sunni Muslims, they explained that the tensions are not centered around their religious differences but are more about politics and power in the area.
The prominent message expressed by one of the students is that we should all be tolerant and get to know one another and that people need to learn how to express their disagreements in a learning manner.
Dr. Pearson closed with a reminder of a Rotary event on October 25th & 26th called Peace in the Streets. It is a cross border Rotary peace symposium.
(A very informative meeting. Thank you to George McMullen for setting it up).
Our last meeting was a long over due joint meeting between the Grosse Pointe Rotary Club and the Grosse Pointe Sunrise Rotary Club. Both President Gay Niehaus and President Robert Duker shared running the meeting. It was a great turnout and here are a few pictures of the event.
Kristy Schena is the founder and executive director of Kids On The Go.
Kids On The Go (KOTG) is a pediatric non-profit designed to provide special needs children (3-17 years) with physical, occupational and speech therapy during the summer months. Its mission is to recognize and facilitate the goals of children with special needs and to further develop their skills through therapeutic and wellness programs for the children and their families.
Now in its 21st year, KOTG has progressed from 13 scholarships in 1999 to 350 this year. Each scholarship is worth $500. It now operates with other non-profits out of a former school in the Southlake District.
Ms. Schena has talked to our Club many times over the years about all of the great KOTG programs. In addition to the multidisciplinary summer camp, it also offers golf, flag football, baseball, tennis, cheer, music, art, and theatre. For the older children, it has a teen to work program where they learn how to fill out an application and take part in an interview. They are also able to attend occupational and speech therapy work stations and participate in job shadowing. KOTG has recently partnered with the Special Olympics Health and Wellness Program where the children exercise and learn about nutrition.
Wesley Berry – Author of Big Things Have Small Beginnings.
Mr. Berry took his family’s florist business from a $60,000/year business to a $60 million dollar company. He franchised locations and took early advantage of the internet and began delivering internationally.
With a talk focusing on leadership, Mr. Berry believes that those willing to take risks, are not afraid to fail, and willing to take radical steps to make a mark will be successful and leaders in their business. Early in his career, he did this by calling local radio and TV stations on the first of each month to barter flowers for advertising. This bartered advertising increased profits by a tremendous amount in less than a year.
Mr. Berry handed out business cards that asked for the holder of the card to put a short, “workable” wish on the back of it and then place in your wallet/purse. He believes that your subconscious will remember this and will find you examples of the wish coming true when you are not even looking for it.
Finally, Mr. Berry asked that everyone consider being a mentor as some point in their life. As a teenager, he was fortunate to have one who, although he was providing similar advice that he received from his father, made more of an impact because he was not someone he saw on a daily basis.