Colin McCaleb, a former Albion resident and Rotary member,
was the speaker for the day at the Rotary Club of Albion on May 24, 2019. Colin now resides in Hastings and brought the
members up to date with what’s been going on with him since he left
Albion. He has written a book with the
title of “Androids of the State” under the pen name of Stoughton Bourdieu, PhD.
The book is available on Amazon. He also has recorded a musical album that
features music he has written. The album is “Eros Thanatos.” He talked about the expansion of the KCC
Eastern Academic Center. He had two
guests, Alex Lane and Kathy Doud. Kathy
talked about the early college program and the success of that program. This year there are six graduating from the
program and expectation is that there might be 25 next year. In the photo are: left to right – Brandy Eggleston, President
of the Rotary Club of Albion; Colin McCaleb; Alex Lane, Vivian Davis (who
introduced the speaker); and Kathy Doud.
Teri Nelson was the guest speaker at the Rotary Club of
Albion on May 9. She was introduced by
member, John Williams. Teri (second from
right in the photo) is working on a year-long project in Albion honoring MFK
Fisher, an author who has written many books about eating. In early years, MLK Fisher lived in Albion,
hence the interest in her writings. She
did not write recipe books, but rather interesting things about food. Teri shared the “Foreword” from MFK’s book “The Gastronomical Me” that talked about
why she wrote about hunger. Her writings create an atmosphere that is humorous
and tells her experiences with food and hunger. Two of Fisher’s good friends
were Julia Childs and Maya Angelou. Teri’s reason for honoring Fisher came from
her fascination of the author. Several
events have already been held during this “year of MFK Fisher” and several more
are planned. In the near future, there will be a display at the Albion Library;
a Whitehouse Oven Demo and Pizza Party will be held at the Whitehouse Nature
Center on May 19; and there will be a booth at the French Market in June. Albion businesses will mark MFK’s 111th
birthday on July 3 with To Be Determined specials. On August 1, there will be a cookbook exchange
at the Albion Library. Stay tuned for
details on all these events and more.
She also displayed many of MFK’s books for review.
Albion Rotary Club
welcomed Julie Clawson (left I the photo) as program speaker on Thursday, May
2, 2019. She was introduced by Carol
Yeomans-Phelan (right in the photo).
Raised in Springport, she married her high school sweetheart, Lonnie
Clawson, 38 years ago. They live in
Albion and have 2 happily married daughters and six grandchildren.
Brandy Eggleston, President of the Rotary Club of Albion,
introduced the speaker for the day on 4/25/2019. The speaker was Edward A. Schaadt. He is a
member and secretary of the Gull Lake Rotary Club and secretary for Rotary’s
District 6360, which includes 53 Rotary Clubs.
His presentation was about his work with the Children’s Safe Water
project – a Rotary project to provide water sanitation hygiene (WASH) in the
Dominican Republic. In keeping with the
Rotary slogan “Be the Inspiration,” this team has gone to the Dominican and
worked with Rotary clubs there to help provide water filtering systems, latrine
construction and handwashing education to the residents in one of the provinces
of Dominican – Santiago Rodriguez. Their
team has been there and talked with the residents about their needs and then
working to help satisfy those needs. He presented an interesting slide show of
their 2017 trip to the Dominican. The goal for the next phase of the project is
to raise $18,000 to provide a number of latrines for families there. Donations are being accepted for this project
by sending checks to “Rotary District 6360 Foundation, c/o f Jansen Valk
Thompson Reahm PC, 7171 Stadium Drive, Kalamazoo 49009. Designate the Children’s Safe Water
Project.
Speakers at the Rotary Club of Albion on 4/11/19 were Mary
Slater, Chair of the Board of the Bohm Theatre, and Nancy Doyle, Executive
Director of the Bohm Theatre. The
speakers were introduced by Vivian Davis, Rotary member. Mary spoke about the
history of the Bohm and its restoration efforts and successes. It officially re-opened in October 2014 and
has become a real community gathering place.
In 2015, the Bohm received a Governor’s Prize for historic
preservation. The total cost of
renovation is about $4 million. Of
ticket sales at the Bohm, approximately 65% goes to the studios providing the
movies. Money is taken in from
concessions, advertising, and sponsors.
Nancy then talked about the programming and told us that 23,892
individuals attended showings at the theatre in 2018. Black Panther was the biggest for the year
and Avengers came in second. Without the
addition of Bohm 2, Albion would have missed out on many movies. In the next 46 weeks, 182 films will be
released and Nancy is anticipating a good year in 2019. Kids Free Fridays will
again continue all summer. It has been a
very successful program with about 120 kids at each showing. The Bohm has also been the venue for many
community events, including Blues at the Bohm.
Also at the meeting, Gerald Boehlke presented a certificate
from Meals on Wheels that was received for the service provided by Rotary
members.
Brandy Eggleston, President of the Rotary Club of Albion,
introduced the speaker for the day. The speaker was Dave Huber to tell about
the history of work on the Mt. Washington, New Hampshire, Cog Railroad. He
talked about the beginnings of the railroad, including the person, Alexander
Marsh, who received the original charter to start the railroad, and Walter
Aiken, the inventor of the railroad.
This cog rail was the first mountain climbing railroad in the
world. Construction began in 1866 and
was completed in 1869. The supplies were moved up the mountain by oxen and
horse drawn wagons. He described in
detail the progression of the railroad and how it changed from burning wood to
using coal and the mechanics of the steam engine. A small hotel was built early on but in the
1980’s a new very modern hotel has been built at the summit of the mountain. Dave
worked on this railroad as a young man and described the work – and the pay -
which included room and board. It was a
very informative presentation.
John Kondelik (left in the photo), member of the Rotary Club
of Albion, introduced the speakers for the day on March 7. He first detailed
some of the history of the ordinance in Albion and the official naming of the
“Friends of Albion’s Animals” organization. The “Friends” is a donor-funded
non-profit organization working to humanely manage the free-roaming cat
population and promote responsible pet ownership in Albion. The speakers were Cindy Stanczak (second from
right in the photo), President of the “Friends” and Jason Strong (second from
left in the photo). They provided
information on the differences between Feral, Stray, and Abandoned cats and how
each category is handled by the organization.
The goal is to maintain a healthy population of cats in the area. Arrangements are made with veterinarians to
spay/neuter cats to keep the population at a minimum. It is also possible for those who cannot
afford the veterinarian charge to notify the “Friends” to have their pet/house
cats spayed/neutered. There are cats/kittens available for adoption or for
fostering. These can be found by going
to Adopt-a-Pet.com or PetFinder.com or the facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Friendsofalbionsanimals. Memberships in the organization are available
and donations are always welcome. This
is a completely donor-funded group and receives no city/government assistance.
Jacob Rowzee, an Eagle Scout and Unit Support Staff for this
area, was the speaker for the day.
Accompanying him was Melissa Stricherz, CFRE, Field Service Scout
Executive/CEO, for the Southern Shores Field Service Council. Jacob talked about the scout program
preparing youth to become good citizens and developing leadership skills. One goal that is emphasized is “do a good
turn daily.” He is working with Dave
Huber here in Albion to build the scouting program. He talked about the importance of the Scout
uniform and how that demonstrates their commitment to scouting and lets others
know that they are working toward the scouting goals. He was introduced at Rotary by Dave Farley,
who has been involved with the scouting program in Albion for several
years. There were three Eagle Scouts in
attendance and family members of Rotarians were noted as Eagle Scouts.
The Rotary Club of Albion welcomed Michelle Mueller (left in
the photo) as the speaker for the day.
She was introduced by Dolores Manthei (second from left in the
photo). Michelle is the author of a book
that is the biography of Harry Bonner, a longtime Albion resident. It is a
story of one man’s mentoring journey. Harry came in Albion in the 50’s, graduated
from Albion High School and worked at the Dow plant in past years. The biography includes stories/interviews
with a few of the thousands of students he has mentored over the years in
Albion. The young people he has mentored
are considered his “godchildren” and all have stories of how Harry led hem
through struggles and helped give them hope for their futures. The book is broken down into decades, i.e.
1980’s including mentoring, 1990’s including challenges and the 2000’s
including struggling to serve. There are
15 interviews in the book with real time stories of his “godchildren” and their
successes. A “Go Fund Me” account has been set up to help with publishing of the book which
will be ready in November. Go to
“gofundme.com/harry-bonner-albion039s-mentor” to help support this effort.
Jim Seidl introduced the speaker for the Rotary Club of
Albion on January 24. The speaker was
Jennifer Wood (second from left in the photo).
Jennifer is the Local History Archivist at the Albion District
Library. She manages the Library’s Local
History Room. In addition to managing
the Local History Room’s collection, which documents the heritage of Albion and
its people, she provides historical outreach and programming to the local
community. The collections include
artifacts of Albion’s history, newspaper, records of organizations and
businesses, along with other interesting and historical information that forms
the history of our community. She shared
interesting stories of visitors to the History Room as well as interesting
stories of the many artifacts that are stored at the Library. The hours are listed on the Library website
and Jennifer is willing to take historical information, share historical
information, and store those items that are relative to Albion’s history.
Kelly Rice, Albion Insurance Agency, introduced the speaker
of the day for the Rotary Club of Albion. The speaker was Tim Krause, Executive
Director of the Albion Community Foundation. Tim announced that the Albion
Community Foundation (ACF) in 2018 distributed $200,000 in grants that were
solely from the endowments. The ACF has
developed a strategic plan with four particular areas of focus. They are: (1)
youth and education, (2) workforce development, (3) leadership development, and
(4) community vitality. He also
announced that is the 50-year anniversary of the Foundation. It was officially
founded on March 17, 1969, During this year there will be a celebration of that
anniversary. The celebration will be coordinated with the Albion Library,
celebrating it’s 100th anniversary.
In May there will be a gala celebration also commemorating these
anniversaries. Watch for more
information. The ACF is doing great work
in the Albion area and appreciates the continued support. Tim also reminded us that grant applications
for the new round are due March 1, 2019.
Joe Verbeke (second from left in the photo), from ACE
Investment Properties, presented the program at the Rotary Club of Albion on
November 16. He was introduced by Dr.
Ralph Cram (left in the photo), a member of Rotary. Joe’s topic was to bring us up to date on the
new Peabody Block Lofts. The lofts are
luxury apartments located on the second level of Peabody Square. The apartments feature stainless steel
appliances, high speed internet, individually controlled heating, cooling, etc,
and lots of other amenities. He also
talked about the history of the Peabody Block building and showed visuals of
the “before” and “after” of the lofts.
The goal was, and is, for the changes to “let the building tell the
story.”
The Rotary Club of Albion hosted the Marshall Rotary Club at its meeting on November 1. The topic of discussion of Interact Rotary clubs was led by Albion President Brandy Eggleston and Marshall President Beth Martin. Interact is a Rotary Club within a high school and is led by high school students. The Marshall and Albion Rotary clubs co-sponsor an Interact group at Marshall High School. There are currently 22 students involved. They have created bylaws, created goals and are diligently working on projects. The Albion Rotary representative for the high school Interact is Vivian Davis and the Marshall representative is Aaron Cope. The Marshall High School advisor is Audra Granger.
Albion Rotary
President Brandy Eggleston on the left and Marshall Rotary President Beth
Martin on the right.
Gerald Boehlke (pictured) introduced Paige Young (pictured
with Brandy Eggleston, President of Rotary) as the speaker for the day at the
Rotary Club of Albion on Thursday, October 25. Paige owns the EBMY Farm near
Albion where she cooks and bakes items for sale and is the person who will be
baking for the upcoming bakery in the Peabody Building. She currently is
working with the owners on kitchen design, layout, recipes for the brewery, for
the new bakery and for Albion College.
Her items include several kinds of chutney which can be purchased online
from the Farm. The website is EBMYFarm.com.
When the bakery opens, the plan is to have a line of sandwiches,
doughnuts, homemade breads, cakes scones, muffins, and of course coffee to go
with those. Paige has a degree in Marine
Biology and in Horticulture and then went to Culinary School. Her husband, Steve, is an instructor at
Jackson College.
John Williams introduced Jane Bradley(pictured on the right),
Treasurer of the Albion Interfaith Ministries (AIM), as the speaker of the
day. Jane talked about the 20 years that
AIM has been in existence in Albion.
They came together to meet the needs in Albion. The mission statement is “seeing to it that we feed as many people
as possible, get clothing to people whose resources are limited, helping the
people in our community—especially those in real need.” It Is a faith-based organization with the
goal to reach out and help people in need.
The kinds of assistance offered are: family assistance, utility help,
travel (if needed), temporary housing, food, and clothing for school children.
Vivian Davis (on the right) introduced Richard Lindsay,
Executive Director and Legal Community Affairs for Oaklawn Hospital, as the
speaker of the day.
Joelle Abbotts (on the right in the photo), Fund Development
Specialist for the Girl Scout Heart of Michigan office was the speaker for the
day. She informed us of the many
programs for girls in the Girl Scouts, including the emphasis on STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Math), Life Skills, Outdoors, and
Entrepreneurship. Girls as young as
kindergarten and through high school are assisted in various levels of
involvement and training. Girls are taught good values and business skills to
make them more successful as adults.
Girl Scouts gives them the tools to become great leaders. There are two girl scout troops in
Albion. Joelle would like to have more
and she is working with Harrington School to attain that goal. Volunteers are needed in the Albion area in
order to accommodate more girls into the Girl Scouts.
Also attending as a guest was Lyse Gaultier (left in the photo), visiting
from our sister city in France. She was
introduced by Vivian Davis (right in the photo).
Cliff Harris, President, Walk the Beat, and a professor of
Chemistry at Albion College was the featured speaker at the Rotary Club of
Albion on September 6. He started out by
thanking the Rotary Club on behalf of the hundreds of volunteers, venue owner,
employees, musicians and sponsor who make Walk the Beat Albion possible.
The Rotary Club of Albion had the privilege of hearing from
two local Boy Scouts, Ian Lee and Jack McClure.
Both are nearly completed with the requirements to become Eagle Scouts.
Both spoke about the opportunities they have encountered as boy scouts and the
impact it has had on their lives. Ian
particularly talked about the leadership opportunities, the friendships and
just personal experiences he has experienced in boy scout experiences Jack especially mentioned the leadership
opportunities he has had and that he was especially proud of his “senior patrol
leader” patch. Both will have their
Eagle Scout projects completed this fall.
Sarah Wasil, Director of Advancement and Development for
Starr-Commonwealth, was introduced by Barb Frederick as the speaker for the
day. Sarah is a graduate of Albion
College and holds a Masters degree from Western Michigan University. Sarah brought the Rotary Club members up to
date on services that Starr-Commonwealth provides in addition to the young
people who are housed there. Some of the programs include a summer reading
program, training to teachers and school districts in order for them to better
meet the social and emotional needs of students The Albion Marshall Resilient Communities
Project (AMRCP) theme of “Common Thread” is an attempt to connect Albion and
Marshall. Over the past two months, Albion and Marshall individuals have been
interviewed to hear their truths about the past, present, and future, and to
identify any common threads. To view the first “clip” head to YouTube and complete a search for
“Community and the Common Thread – An AMRCP Clip.” Starr will be celebrating 105 years with an
event at the Detroit Zoo on Saturday, October 6, from 6-9 P.M.
Eryn Lewis and Victory Stovall were the honored guests and
speakers at the Rotary Club of Albion on August 9, 2018. They were introduced by Vivian Davis. Eryn and Victory are seniors at Western and
Marshall High Schools, respectively.
Both were sponsored by the Rotary Club of Albion to attend the 2018
Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA) at the Battle Creek Outdoor Education
Center in July. Both told us about themselves and then about their experiences
at RYLA. Both are outstanding students
at their respective high schools and both are athletes, as well. Eryn Lewis along with her sister participated
in a Junior Olympics event recently and excelled in a few of the track
events. Part of their experience at RYLA
was an introduction to Rotary. As a result, Victory is expecting to start a
Rotoract (student Rotary group) at her high school. Their experience at RYLA included working on
projects where they selected a problem facing the world today and figuring out
a solution to that problem. Both were very enthused and thankful for their
opportunity to attend the Academy.
The keynote speaker at the Rotary Club of Albion on August 2
was Lynda Zeller (left in photo), Deputy Director of Behavioral Health and
Developmental Disabilities, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. She
provides policy leadership for public behavioral health and developmental
disabilities services and provides oversight for operations through the Bureau
of Community Based Services, Bureau of Hospitals and Administrative Operations
and the Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders Section. Lynda talked in detail about the three levels
of work that the state is doing to deal with these issues – treatment, early
intervention, and prevention. She was
introduced to Rotary by Shirley Zeller (second from left in photo). Brandy Eggleston, President, of the Rotary
Club of Albion is at the right in the photo.
Amy Reimann, Vice President of the Rotary Club of Albion,
introduced the speaker for the day. The
speaker was Richard Lindsey, Executive Director of Legal and Community Affairs
for Oaklawn Hospital.