Message from the President: Making a Difference, Together
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As President of the Rotary Club of Clarkston, it’s my honor to share this message of gratitude and hope with our community. Each year, our Rotary newspaper fundraiser is a testament to the compassion and generosity of the people of Clarkston, Independence and surrounding communities. This year is no exception. Together, we come forward to lend a helping hand and to show that even the smallest acts of kindness can bring joy. It is because of you that we are able to carry out our mission of service to those that need it most.
Our mission as Rotarians is simple but powerful: “Service Above Self.” Through our projects, we strive to make a difference in Clarkston and beyond, supporting families, empowering youth, and fostering a spirit of unity. The funds raised by our paper sale allow us to expand our reach and deepen our impact. From providing scholarships and supporting local charities to ensuring a happier holiday season for struggling families, your donations directly transform lives.
I have named the Clarkston Community Garden restoration as the 2024-2025 Presidential Project. As such, the Rotary Club of Clarkston has made financial and volunteer commitments toward restoring this once thriving community asset.
But this work cannot be done alone. We rely on each of you—our friends, neighbors, and community partners—to join us. When you support our paper drive, you’re contributing to a legacy of giving that keeps Clarkston strong and resilient. Every dollar you give stays right here, helping the children, families, and seniors who need it most.
This year, as we gather for the fundraiser, I encourage you to join us in whatever way you can. Whether through a donation, volunteering your time, or simply spreading the word, you’re making a meaningful impact. Together, we can make sure that the holiday season is brighter for all and that the spirit of goodwill and generosity thrives here in Clarkston.
On behalf of the Rotary Club of Clarkston, thank you for your support, your kindness, and your commitment to service. Let’s continue to make a difference, together.
Warm regards, Jim Tedder President, Rotary Club of Clarkston
Our first fundraiser of the Rotary year, and the Taste of Clarkston lived up to expectations. The storm stayed south, the crowd on the street was big, and the Rotary team had a lot of fun at our beer and wine tent. We're off to a good start. Now we're gearing up for our wine and whiskey party on October 24 at Bordine's.
Tonight, we celebrated the long-honored tradition of the passing of the gavel. As Stephanie’s term is coming to an end, we welcomed Jim Tedder as our upcoming 2024-2025 club President. After the ceremony, Jim provided us with a sneak peak of what he is planning for the next year; his (and our) focus will be on elevating community awareness of the Rotary Club of Clarkston, a greater effort on collaboration with other community impact groups, reviving the Clarkston Community Garden, and many more ideas yet to come. It is sure to be a fun year, so stay tuned for more happenings as Jim gets things underway.
On the last Friday in June, the Clarkston Rotary club "sold" concessions at the concert in Depot Park in downtown Clarkston. It was a great opportunity to greet residents, bring some visibility to our club and listen to great music with friends, all while providing hot dogs and chips for donations.
For the Memorial Day Weekend, Clarkston Rotarians Donna Michalski, Cassie and Matt Senter and their two children, joined other volunteers who placed American flags at the grave sites in the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, MI. Hundreds of volunteers from various organizations came out to Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly on Friday, May 28, to place flags on the graves of veterans in advance of Memorial Day. The following Tuesday, Clarkston Rotarians joined those removing the flags.
The volunteers spread out across the cemetery at 4200 Belford Road ensuring that every grave received a flag.
On March 22nd and 23rd of 2023, the Clarkston High School Interact Club put on a bake sale during the school days. Over the course of two days, our committed high schoolers made baked goods consisting of handmade cookies, brownies, and cupcakes. All of those items were sold for $1 each, but the most sold items were donuts from Tim Hortons and Dunkin’ donuts, which were sold for $2 each. This bake sale was put on to raise money for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, with a total of more than $900. Dolly Parton founded this organization in 1995 and began her mission of giving books to children ages one through five free of charge.
The Rotary Club of Clarkston is proud to have been awarded the title Non-Profit of the Year by the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce. The award is given to a "not-for-profit organization whose strategic vision, passion and perseverance has led to extraordinary outcomes for the community." Our club was recognized for its two biggest projects; the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and Shoes for Kids. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is providing a book a month to 640 preschoolers in the three Clarkston zip codes, and Shoes for Kids invited 396 kids to receive new shoes, boots, hats and gloves in 2022.
Members Mary Sloan and Jeff Lichty (back row center) joined Rotarians and eye doctors from the US and Canada to work on an eye care mission in Egypt. They provided exams and eye glasses to more than 3000 patients in five days of clinics in three cities. Afterward, they were able to relax and visit the amazing tombs and temples we usually only get to read about.
As Santa was relaxing after a hectic season, he paid a visit to our club to talk about some "Santa Secrets," or just plain old fun experiences he's had over the past 20 years. Santa, or A. Michael Deller, shared some of the things he learned at Santa School, and relayed some stories of his visits with children and their parents. Thank you, Mike!
The Rotary Club of Clarkston celebrated the holidays with the Rotary clubs of Bloomfield Hills, Pontiac and Waterford. As part of the festivity, we all donated gift cards, with the amount totaling $805, to be distributed among Lighthouse families to enhance their holiday celebrations. We also raised $165 which will be donated to Rotary International in our ongoing effort to eradicate polio worldwide.
This year 400 Clarkston School children were invited to receive new shoes, winter boots, hats and gloves from the Rotary Club. Each child showed their enthusiasm when picking out a certain style, color or character shoe. Volunteers will attest to seeing the smiles and laughter all day long.
THANK YOU CLARKSTON FOR MAKING 2022 SHOES FOR KIDS ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR!!!!
For the past 82 years the Rotary Club of Clarkston has proudly sold a published newspaper for donations on the streets of Clarkston. The first 38 years were primarily focused on providing Clarkston families with Holiday food baskets, Christmas gifts and funds for medical issues, heating and lights. During the past 43 years our club's "Shoes for Kids" program has focused on providing new shoes, winter boots, hats and gloves to Clarkston school children.
Over the past 20 years over 11,000 children have participated in the program, thousands of volunteers have committed their time and the Clarkston community has generously donated over $300,000 to help make "Shoes for Kids" a reality for Clarkston school children. The Clarkston Rotary would like to sincerely thank everyone involved for their trust and dedication.
For more information regarding Rotary Club of Clarkston, the programs or the volunteer positions please call Joel or Mindy DeLong at 248-625-9741 or e-mail mindyjoel@aol.com.
Our new officers were inducted at an outdoor dinner at the home of new president Mary Sloan and husband Jeff Lichty.
The officers are, from left, Stephanie Banks, president elect, Jeff Lichty, treasurer, Matt Senter, past president, Mary Sloan, president and Kayla Haddad, Interact co-president.
Rotarians spent a Monday evening at DRAW (Disaster Relief at Work) packing buckets with cleaning supplies, latex gloves, work gloves, safety googles, baths and hand towels. The buckets were sealed and placed along with others on warehouse shelves to be sent to communities around the US hit by natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes and tornadoes.
In January, Clarkston Rotarians joined hundred of volunteers to help the Holly National Veterans Memorial Cemetery clean up their Wreaths Across America Project! Volunteers cleaned up thousands of gravesites by removing and hauling away the many wreaths left as part of the project.
Great Lakes National Cemetery is the second national cemetery built in Michigan and the 122nd in the national cemetery system. Our club had never participated before, but it will definitely become an annual project. It was below zero wind chill, and next year we’ll have to make plans for some hot chocolate and coffee for a warm up break.
All community members are welcome to join the effort.
As the President of the Rotary Club of Clarkston, I’m excited to announce that the Rotary Club of Clarkston is sponsoring a Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library for Clarkston! This initiative allows each child from ages 0 – 5 to register for a FREE book each month in the three zip codes of Clarkston: 48346 – 48347 – 48348.
Each year, the President of the Rotary Club of Clarkston, along with its members, decides on a “Presidential Project”. These projects aim to give back to the community in unique ways and are something the club takes great pride in. Past projects have included assisting the Clarkston Lighthouse with a new vehicle and a storage shed, Christmas lights for downtown Clarkston and many, many others. During the early stages of COVID, while meeting virtually, the members of the Rotary Club of Clarkston came up with the idea of sponsoring the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library for the children in the local community. While I’m proud to call this my presidential project, it was, and will continue to be, an effort by every member of our club and our community to ensure that every child is able to enjoy this program to the fullest extent possible.
The Lakeview Cemetery Restoration Project provided the perfect opportunity for the Clarkston Rotary and its sponsored Clarkston High School Interact Club members to join forces on Saturday, May 8th in helping to clean and preserve gravestones. Over twenty members helped to scrape away years of moss and grime. Afterwards, everyone could take pride in their completed efforts and planned on returning for future scheduled activities.
The Clarkston Interact Club presented a check for $350 to the Daughters of the American Revolution, Sashabaw Plains Chapter to help clean gravestones. They held a can and bottle drive and donated fifty percent of their proceeds to the restoration project.
The Lakeview Cemetery Project is a multi-year effort to restore and repair gravestones of many of the people who helped to settle and establish Clarkston.
It is with heavy hearts that we say "good-bye" to our friend, John Priebe.
John joined the Clarkston Rotary Club October 4, 1976. He served as club president in 1987-88, which was the first year women were allowed in Rotary. He described that as a very volatile time, as many male members didn't want women in their club. He weathered the storm and pulled the Clarkston Rotary ship into calmer waters.
Instead of "Happy Bucks" at our last meeting, we shared some of our favorite memories of John; timekeeper for Clarkston High School football games, organizing the annual SCAMP picnic for students and their families, directing families at the annual Shoes for Kids event, top sales person for our wine party fund raiser. He liked to complain that he "never won the 50-50 raffle," which we showed many times wasn't true. He liked to contradict the other members, and no one paid any attention as they knew he wasn't serious. He kept perfect attendance in Rotary for 40+ years, until Covid made it hard to meet.
He will be missed by many. It's hard to say "good-bye."
Clarkston's new Interact club is up and running! Their first two projects were decorating gift boxes for a project at Pine Knob Elementary and their second was planting crocuses in downtown Clarkston and at Pine Knob Elementary. Their most recent project is described by their president, Annabelle, in the following exuberant paragraph.
The Interact Winter Drive went perfectly. Starting with the marketing for our event, my communication officers did a flawless job spreading the word. Savannah and Aj reached out to just about every part of Clarkston to ensure that we'd get maximum donations. And that we did! We ended up with an abundance of donations shown in the pictures attached. Included in these donations were brand new toys/clothes, and lightly used books, clothes, coats, toys, and miscellaneous items.
Over the weekend, we were visited by some of Clarkston's own Rotarians, and by some of the parents of the volunteers. The volunteers consisted of primarily my Interactors (which is what we call club members), and by two CHS students.
A great turnout of Interactors and donators! Everybody was happy to be volunteering and donating. We loved all the smiles and words of encouragement. While we weren't promoting donations to our club, we managed to get $50 cash. Our next project is to raise money so we can do more projects and we're working on getting a checking account for Interact under Rotary. Our club is solid! My service coordinators, Jake and Quincy basically set the entire event up from getting a volunteer schedule together to contacting Grace center of Hope and just figuring everything out. I'm beyond excited for what's to come! Thank you, Clarkston!
Sadly, we lost another former Rotary member. For many years Ken was our favorite Rotary paper seller as he dressed up in his wonderful Santa Claus outfit and collected donations at the corner of Washington and Main Streets in downtown Clarkston. He will be missed!
For those who knew Rotarian Lu Hewko, I'm sad to report that he passed away December 2 at 91 years of age. At the time of his death, he was surrounded by his children. Lu was a great and devoted Rotarian having served as Clarkston Rotary's president in 1992-93. He was very active in Ukranian Boy Scouts and involved our club, along with two other international clubs, in a major medical equipment shipment after the Chernobyl disaster. He helped found the Rotary Club of Kiev.
Lu came to the United States after WWII. He had to survive crossing both the Eastern Front at the beginning of the war and the Western Front toward the end of the war. His stories of his life were fascinating!
You may have known him through his wife Natalie, who was a very popular teacher in Clarkston for years.
For obvious reasons, we won't be able to hold our fall wine party this year, but that doesn't mean we're not still working hard. We want to be sure we are supporting the restaurants that have been so generous to us by providing the fabulous food for our wine parties over the years, so our club members are ordering meals or gift cards from those establishments and letting them know it is Clarkston Rotary's "Thank You" for their ongoing help.
We encourage others to join us and to tell the restaurants how grateful we are. If you've had a favorite at the party, please patronize them and say "thanks" from Rotary. If you go, please take a picture and send it to me at marymsloan@comcast.net.
Well, we couldn't do it in person, but Cassie welcomed Chad to the presidency virtually. Last year he welcomed her as the 2019-20 president, now she would love to hand him the gavel in person. Although the big party will have to wait until a safer time, we're all behind our new president as we move into the new Rotary year. Congratulations Chad!
Last week we got back into action at the Clarkston Lighthouse. We will once again be partnering with this great organization to help improve the flow of resources to those in need in the Clarkston community. Rotarian's gathered (safely!) to assist with the cleanup of an overgrown parking space in the preparation of new shed that will be installed this summer. Keep on the look out for more on this project as the weeks go on!
If you would like to hear what's going on with the Clarkston Chamber activities during this social distancing time, join us at a virtual meeting on Monday, June 15 at 6:00 PM. Contact president Cassie for a link to the meeting.
Our club is meeting virtually on Monday evenings at 6:00. If you would like to join us, please let our president Cassie know so she can send you an invitation. We'd love to have you!
Clarkston Rotarians Mary Sloan and Jeff Lichty teamed up with 15 others from Michigan, Ontario, Virginia and Colorado to accompany 5000 pairs of eye glasses to Kenya. The team saw 2198 patients in five clinics north of Nairobi to perform eye exams and dispense glasses to those found to need them.
Our meeting day has been changed. Please join us on our new meeting day, Mondays, 6:30PM at Buck Shot's Bar and Grill to enjoy Rotary fellowship, interesting speakers and planning Rotary "business."
Thank you to everyone who attended our fundraising party at Bordine's Nursery. And thank you to all the restaurants who donated their time and great selection of food as well as the individuals and businesses that donated raffle and auction prizes. You all made the evening a real success! Your donations allow us to do a lot of good work!
Last evening, several Clarkston Rotarians helped cook dinner at Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac. They also helped the kitchen crew get ahead on some meal prep for the week by hand shredding about a dozen cooked turkeys. What a great place to do some good in the world!!
Team RUSH joined us during our meeting this evening and gave us an update on their many successes over the past school year. Team RUSH is a high school robotics team out of Clarkston High School, located in Clarkston Michigan. The Clarkston Rotary is a proud sponsor of this fantastic group of bright minds and we were honored to present them with this years donation!
Last week we heard from District 6330 AG Terry Bennett on the topic of passport clubs. I believe we all left with a much clearer picture of how they work. If you missed the discussion, please see the link below for the video recording.
President Cassie Driscoll holds the gavel as she begins her year of leadership. Her parents and grandmother were on hand to help us celebrate! It promises to be a great year. "Clarkston Rotary is the Place to Be."
The Clarkston Rotary welcomed two new members, Laura Naglik and Diane Pierce to our family on May 29th. Laura and Diane were both searching for ways to enrich their community and have found that through Rotary. Could you be the next piece of the puzzle?
Thank you to everyone who was able to enjoy the Spring Wine Party on May 14 at Andiamo's! It was a great evening of fellowship, and helped raise money for the many projects, local and international, that the Clarkston Rotary supports! We really appreciate the local businesses that donated raffle prizes. Thanks to our wonderful community for your continued support.
President Mary Sloan welcomes our newest member, Sara Hennig, to our Rotary family. Sara has long been a supporter of our Rotary Youth Exchange program and is a most welcome new Rotarian! It's great to have her aboard.
Beginning in January, the Clarkston Rotary will be moving its meetings to Wednesday evenings. Same place. Please check the meeting schedule on the right hand column. Join us for dinner and fellowship as we work to make our community an even better place to live.
October 25th was the evening of our biggest fundraiser, our wine, beer and spirits party, and it was very successful. The crowd was large, the food was delicious, the added spirits were a hit with those people who don't drink beer or wine, the auction tables were active. Thanks to all who attended and those who worked the party with us. If you weren't able to attend this year, please make a note to watch for the party next year. Your generosity makes it possible for us to do all the great things Rotary does, locally and internationally. Clarkston Rotary allows us to make changes in our local community, in the world and in ourselves.
We held our meeting at Clarkston Lighthouse where we sorted and packed donations that the football team had collected at their food drive. We packed 3500 pounds of food, or 39 pounds per minute! And we had a great time doing it. Talk about organizations working together to create change!
Now that you had so much fun at the Spring Wine Tasting, it's time to plan for the Fall Wine, Beer, Spirits and Food Tasting at
Bordine Nursery on October 25 from 6:30-8:30. You'll be able to enjoy foods from these restaurants: Via Bologna, MacPhee's, Neimans Family Market, Pita Way, Kruse's Deer Lake Inn, Hamlin Pub, O'Malley's Galley, LA Cafe, Buffalo Wild Wings, Hilltop Brewery, Shepherd's Hollow Golf Club. While you're eating and tasting, you'll be able to bid on great raffle items and try your luck at 50-50. Contact any Rotarian or go to
We heard a fantastic presentation by representatives of Team RUSH, our high school US CHAMPIONSHIP ROBOTICS TEAM. What energetic young people! We are proud to help them achieve their goals.
Tonight's Rotary meeting was held at the home of Rotarian Dan and his wife Carol. A great meal, Rotary fellowship, some serious Rotary business and boat ride on beautiful Dixie Lake. Aaaah, Rotary!
We said "Good-Bye" to Louis, and he's on his way back to France. The party was a great success with talks by Louis, his host families, his counselor, and returned YE students Miranda Moore and Sara Banks. Now we're looking forward to meeting our three incoming students from Switzerland, Thailand and Ecuador.
At Monday’s meeting we enjoyed a video of a Rotary trip Rotarians Mary Sloan and Jeff Lichty took to Kenya to provide eye care to about 1200 people. Working with Rotary clubs in Nairobi and Nakuru, the team of 10 traveled with eye doctors from VOSH (Volunteer Optometrists Servicing Humanity), and the movie documenting the trip was enlightening and entertaining.
The 2018 Clarkston Rotary Spring Wine Tasting date has been set. The event will take place on May 10th beginning at 6:30 pm at Fountains Golf and Banquet in Clarkston. As always, you can get your tickets from any Clarkston Rotarian for $40.00 ($50.00 at the door). The event will feature wines from Michigan Wineries along with a silent auction, 50/50 tickets and great food from Fountains! More information to come.
On Monday evening, January 29, Clarkston Rotarians gathered to assemble goody bags and craft kits for the the upcoming Valentines Dance being held by the Children's Leukemia Foundation of Michigan. Member Brad Evans serves on the Foundation's Board and is very supportive of their work. If you'd like to read more about CLF or ways to donate, please visit their website http://leukemiamichigan.org/about-us/
The Clarkston Rotary Club would like to sincerely thank all of those who so generously donated during the recent newspaper sales on local streets and holiday activities. The spirit of the donors was encouragement for those volunteers collecting, not only for their contributions but also for the appreciation of their efforts.
“Shoes for Kids” has been the Clarkston Rotary’s signature community service project for the past 39 years. It takes the collaborative efforts of not only club members but the many friends of Rotary and family members to bring each year’s project to fruition. The Clarkston Rotary has been proudly involved in a Goodfellow type newspaper sales and subsequent service project for the past 77 years.
On December 9th 320 Clarkston community school children were hosted at Oakland Woods Baptist Church and provided with new winter boots, shoes, hats, and gloves.
The Clarkston Rotary Club and all of the many volunteers would like to say thank you to the Clarkston community as collectively, ‘We Can Make a Difference in a Child’s Life’.
The Clarkston Rotary would like to express its gratitude and appreciation by acknowledging the following groups, organizations and businesses for the success of this year’s program:
● A special thank you to The Clarkston News, Jim Sherman and Don Rush, Publisher and their staff for preparation and publication of the special Goodfellow edition, as well as the efforts of Rotarian Mary Sloan in bringing the paper to print.
● We are truly grateful to Oakland Woods Baptist Church, Pastor Sheridan and their congregation for hosting the annual shoe distribution day. To their church members for volunteering their time to help insure that both projects are an absolute success.
● To Boy Scout Troop #199 and their troop leaders for organizing troop members in collecting donations at three holiday event locations. They exemplify everything a community looks for from its future leaders. Troop #199 has provided continuous support to this community service project for the past 19 years.
● To Cub Scout Pack #499 for participating in their fifth year of selling newspapers at Neiman’s Family Market. The enthusiasm and efforts of the scouts did not go unnoticed.
● To the Clarkston Optimists for their continued support with the Opti-Socks program.
● To the Clarkston Area Lions Club for providing free eye exams to all of the families attending.
● To the City of the Village of Clarkston for providing their warm DPW garage for use as a newspaper headquarters.
● To Lighthouse of Oakland County, and the Clarkston Community School administration, Social Workers, teachers and staff for their efforts and support of the “Shoes for Kids” program.
● To MPK Photo and Mark Kelly for building family memories through the family portraits and photos taken with Santa throughout the day.
● To Jim Jacques for spending the entire day in a warm red suit making kids laugh and smile as they tell Santa what they want for Christmas.
● To Neiman’s Family Market for permitting Cub Scouts to learn community service by selling newspapers at their Clarkston store and their continued support of the Clarkston Rotary’s many community service projects.
● To Union Joints (Woodshop and Clarkston Union), Hamlin Pub, Brioni’s Café and Deli, and the Tim Horton’s on Maybee for their commitment and dedication in supporting the many volunteers involved over the two weekends.
● A special thank you to the Clarkston elementary schools who hosted their annual Hat, Mitten and Glove Tree collections. Their continued support provides variety for the attending children as well as extending the program further into the community.
● To all of the volunteers, friends, and family members of the Clarkston Rotary Club who gave so generously of their time, energy, and donations to make this year’s events a true gift. It is the dedication and commitment of the almost 300 volunteers over the two weekends that ultimately benefits so many Clarkston children.
From the Clarkston Rotary Club & Joel DeLong “Shoes for Kids” Chair
Nice crowd at tonight's meeting! 10 members and 6 guests. Our speaker was Chelsea O'Brien of the Clarkston Family Farm. Chelsea enthusiastically engaged us in what sounds like an energetic undertaking and a real positive experience for the students of Clarkston Community Schools.The community has been very supportive of the farm on the corner of Hubbard Road and M15. Many of us didn't even know it was there! Some of us knew it was there but only knew bits and pieces of what goes on there. Chelsea explained that the property adjacent to the Independence Elementary School was originally being used by the District for storage. She learned about it and three years later she and Doctor Rock worked together to make it a wonderful opportunity for the children here in Independence Township. "It's a win-win for all of us. A perfect fit for a non-profit educational farm to be on an educationally-zoned property that used to be a horse farm " Chelsea said. She also mentioned that the soil is rich for gardening, thanks to the horses.
For more information about it and to learn some of the opportunities for children, go to http://www.clarkstonfamilyfarm.com or to the Clarkston Family Farm Facebook page.
The Opioid Epidemic has become a national emergency and impacts every community in Michigan.
On November 15th the Clarkston Rotary and Clarkston Inependence District Library present a program to explore this critical topic. Rony Fournia, an expert on opioid addiction will lead the discussion on the causes, risk factors, protective strategies, warning signs of addiction and how to find help.
Mr. Foumia, Pharmacist and Regional Manager for Rite Aid, is a nationally recognized speaker on opioid addiction and was recently appointed to the Michigan Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee by Governor Snyder. Rony feels passionately about the importance of educating the public and has presented numerous lectures on public health issues.
The opioid program will be held at the Clarkston Independence District Library, 6495 Clarkston Road on November 15th beginning at 6:30 PM. To reserve your seat see the CIDL's event clendar at www.cidlibrary.org or call the library at 248-625-2212.
The Clarkston Rotary, providing service to the community for 77 years.
To all those who attended last Thursday's 'A Taste of the Holidays' wine, beer & food extravaganza at Bordine Nursery - THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING AND SUPPORTING THE CLARKSTON ROTARY CLUB.
This event allows our club to fulfill its commitment of community service, both locally in Clarkston as well as internationally.
We especially want to thank the great local restaurants and eateries that take time out of the busy, hectic schedules to prepare a virtual palate of taste, textures and colors to the almost 500 patrons that night. Please be sure and tell them what a great job they did the next time you visit them or even better like them on Facebook.
The variety of wines of the world and beers sourced from local breweries only added to the intrigue of the night.
We hope to see you again next year and ask that you tell your family, friends, neighbors and business associates about the Clarkston event.
The Clarkston Rotary Club.
A Taste for the Holidays: A THANK YOU FROM THE CLARKSTON ROTARY
Our guests for the evening were Alese Hardy and our speaker, Michael Gall.
Since the wine party, our major fundraiser, is coming up in just 10 days, we heard a lot about the plans and how things are shaping up. We are in pretty good shape for workers. Chad reported on the auction items, and it sounds like we will have some great and varied prizes. The auction committee will meet again later this week to begin wrapping and organizing the prizes. Al repeated the need for ads to be sold and sent to him ASAP. And of course, all are encouraged to SELL, SELL, SELL tickets. Next week we will take a count of how many are sold and predicted to be sold additionally. The wine and beer are ordered. Next week's meeting will be devoted to finalizing plans, so hopefully will be in attendance for the final push.
Our speaker for the evening was Michael Gall, Peace Corps volunteer who told us of his experience in Micronesia. He was on the island of Ta, which means "small island," one of hundreds of islands making up Micronesia. It really is a small island measuring about 200 yards by 4 miles. He explained his role there as a teacher of English, but what the islanders really wanted was a basketball court, so he arranged to build that along with other school improvements. When his two -year stint was up, he hadn't quite finished the project, but the islanders were so motivated and equipped by this time that they were able to finish the project after he left.
Michael is currently a Peace Corp recruiter whose job it is to raise awareness of the Peace Corp. He certainly did that well tonight!
AND he won the 50-50 raffle for the evening. Great job, Michael.
The Foundation Drawing yielded two winners, Jeff Reddy and Al Avery , who finally isn't drawn last!
The Clarkston Rotary Club has elected to discontinue its sponsorship and running of the Clarkston Labor Day Parade. I
The club has enjoyed its 76 years of sponsorship and operating the parade. The club has decided to focus our efforts on the multiple projects and services we provide in and around Clarkston.
If another group or organization is interested in taking over the Labor Day Parade sponsorship and running it in the future please contact the Clarkston Rotary. We would be more than happy to assist them with the transition and organizing.
We look forward to our continued support for Clarkson and its citizens and want to thank each and everyone who have contributed their time and efforts throughout the years with the Labor Day Parade.
On July 10 we welcomed our newest member Karrie Marsh! Welcome, Karrie!! We're glad to have you aboard.
If you are interested in joining our club along with all the wonderful things we do for our community, please contact one of our board members listed at our website: www.clarkstonrotary.com
The Clarkston Rotary would like to again thank the Clarkston Community for helping to make the 38th annual "Shoes for Kids" program an absolute success.
Those who truly benefited were the Clarkston children who left Oakland Woods Baptist Church on December 10th with large smiles and warm boots and gloves.
The donations received during our club's Goodfellow newspaper sales the first weekend in December provide the financial means to hold the annual event. The efforts of the volunteers hitting the Clarkston streets is greatly appreciated and they make it all possible.
Forty volunteers gave up a Friday night to help set up and prepare for the distribution on Saturday. Their efforts allowed for the fastest setup ever.
On Saturday, December 10th one hundred and forty volunteers participated throughout the day in various activities assisting the three hundred and sixty five children attending the event.
Thank you as collectively we have helped make a difference in a child's life.
A Special Thank You to following groups for helping to make it all possible:
- The Clarkston News and Don Rush
- The City of the Village of Clarkston
- Oakland Woods Baptist Church
- Clarkston Area Lions Club
- Clarkston Optimist Club
- Boy Scout Troop #199
- Cub Scout Pack #499
- Friends of the Clarkston Independence Township Library
- Clarkston Community School & their Social Workers
Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself...
President Joel Delong did a great job with the club and had a great 2015-16. Joel welcomed the clubs new president, David Boersma, at a festive affair at beautiful Fountains Golf Course. Outgoing president, Joel Delong, and the past presidents lined up for the traditional passing of the gavel...
The Labor Day parade in Clarkston, has been going 74 years and counting.....
Labor Day celebrates the creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country......
Our club welcomed this past years host families and outbound youth exchange students Sara Banks and Claire Schleusner to bid a fond farewell to Garfare as she returns back to Thailand.
Visit us tonight, June 24th at Depot Park for "concerts in the Park" make a donation and get dinner!!! All proceeds go towards our club service projects.
Tonight's Blues Rock Performances by Randy Brock......
We had another great Rotary event last night at The Fountains to raise money for our local and international projects. If you missed the fun - come to our Taste of the Holiday's the end of October featuring wines from around the world and food from area chefs.
One of my earliest recollection of my mother is at the age of 4. I don’t remember when I realized that scars were the result of a healed wound rather than an injury, but the summer of 1974 I noticed pronounced scars on my mother’s leg. Oblivious to the fact that they were already healed, I said to her “mommy, your leg is hurt and I’m going to take care of you”...
The Clarkston Rotary greatly appreciates the community support and efforts of almost three hundred and fifty volunteers recently in two of our largest community service projects...
For many years the Clarkston Rotary has ushered in the fall with its annual Labor Day Parade downtown. This year was no exception. Bands! Classic cars! Even a juggling unicyclist! And beautiful weather as a bonus. What a day.
Depot Park in Clarkston was a beehive of activity on Saturday as Cub Scout Pack #499 buzzed around the park raking and filling bags of leaves and twigs.
Supported by their parents and Clarkston Rotarians the park was officially declared ready for spring and summer park activities. A record 84 bags were filled eclipsing last year's count of 76 bags. This is the 6th year for the activity and is greatly welcomed and appreciated by the City of the Village of Clarkston.
For their efforts the Cub Scouts were treated to pizza, pop and candy after the cleanup.
A JOB WELL DONE !!!
Depot Park Spring Cleanup with Cub Scout Pack #499
Welcome Jeff Reddy! On April 13, Clarkston Rotary welcomed a new member to the club. We're happy to have him aboard. Pictured from left are Al Avery, John Halleran, Jeff Reddy and Bart Clark
Tonight’s speakers were Travis, Meagan, Nykeyriah, Kylie, and Skyla. These young adults are participating in AmeriCorp NCCC (North Central Region Cedar Six). AmeriCorp was founded out of the Civilian Conservation Corp and is made up of 18-24 year olds. The program runs 6-8 weeks with teams consisting of 8-12 young adults focusing on community based projects. Each participant is trained in CPR, first aid, leadership skills, etc. Projects range from home repairs to clean up of public lands and re-establishment of infrastructures (boardwalks, parks, and shelters). If you would like more information on AmeriCorp, please contact J.J. Trotta (319) 472-9664 ext 20, jtrotta@CNS.gov
Tonight’s speaker was Joe Gorz, a Clarkston High School Graduate and a graduate from Michigan State University College of Ostheopathic Medicine in 2013. He spoke to us about the Peru Osteopathic Health Initiative. Joe is one of 32 MSU students working on this program. Joe is working with the Traverse City Rotary as they are seeking matching funds to be used for medicines and supplies for the underserved patients in Peru. Pictured Jeff Lichty and Joe Gorz.
Welcome John Ransom! On March 31, Clarkston Rotary welcomed a new member to the club. John Ransom was previously a member of the Fenton and Birmingham Rotary clubs. He works for Fifth Third Bank. We're happy to have him aboard. Pictured from left are Al Avery, John Ransom, John Halleran and President Janet Thomas.
Tonight’s speaker was Jim Tedder, recently elected Michigan House Representative. He spoke to us about what it’s like to be a freshman legislator. He showed us a sample schedule of his week, both for his days in his District and his Lansing days. He serves on the Education Committee, the committee for Workforce and Talent Development, as well as committees for Communication and Technology and Health policy. He gave us a lot of background, non-political information like the swearing in ceremony, how his seat location was determined and how he was assigned his parking spot. He described his special appointment to the Committee on Committees, one of 5 commissioners on the Midwest Higher Education Compact. We learned a lot about things we don’t think much about, and we are very anxious to have him talk to us again in a few months as he becomes more familiar with his new position.
Outbound Rotary Youth Exchange Student Miranda Moore left on Sunday, August 26, for her year abroad. She will be studying in St Maixent L'Ecole, France, where she will be hosted by the St Maixent l'Ecole Rotary club and live with three different host families. The Clarkston Club has gotten to know her very well as she has attended the meetings ever since she applied to go. She's excited about the adventure and promises to keep in touch frequently. The day before she left she wrote," I have been excited since the day I was accepted into the program, and I am so thankful to have an opportunity like this. It is finally starting to sink in that I really am doing this, and it seems a little crazy. But I really am just too excited to be feeling anything else and I can not wait to arrive in France!" We're anxious to follow her on her year abroad!
President Bart says "Au Revoir" to RYE Student Miranda
Twenty years ago, six clubs (three in the U.S., two in Canada and one in Scotland) helped charter the Rotary Club of Kiev, the first in Ukraine. The Clarkston Rotary club, under the leadership of Lu Hewko, was instrumental in its founding. Now the country has more than 40 clubs and many Rotaractors. At a recent event, Rotarians instrumental in bringing Rotary to Ukraine celebrated. Clarkston Rotarian Lu was among the revelers.
Opportunity for high school students to study overseas for a year.
If you would like the opportunity to spend an academic year learning another language and culture under the auspices of Rotary, contact Jeff lichty at jlichty11@earthlink.net or 248-625-4244. Read what one student had to say.
It may have been 40 degrees, windy and snowing, but it didn't stop Clarkston Rotary members and Cub Scout pack 499 scouts and parents from cleaning up Depot Park. Dave Boersma, Cub Scout den leader and Clarkston Rotarian, arranged for the collaboration, and due to the combined efforts, the park looks great and can be enjoyed now that spring finally arrived!
Rotary
International is a volunteer organization of business and professional
leaders who provide humanitarian service, and help to build goodwill and
peace in the world. There are approximately 1.2 million Rotary club
members belonging to 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and
geographical areas. Founded in Chicago in 1905, Rotary celebrated 100
years of service in 2005. The Rotary Foundation has awarded more than
US$2.1 billion in grants, which are administered at the local level by
Rotary clubs.
What is the purpose of Rotary? Rotary
clubs exist to improve communities through a range of humanitarian,
intercultural and educational activities. Clubs advance international
understanding by partnering with clubs in other countries. Rotary also
encourages high ethical standards in all vocations.
The Clarkston Rotary has recently funded two Shelter Boxes and they arrived in Haiti this earlier month. Each Shelter Box contains a tent, sleeping bags and cooking equipment to provide shelter and feed a family of ten.
Clarkston Rotary welcomed its new president, Brad Evans, at a festive affair at beautiful Shepherd's Hollow Golf Course. Outgoing president, Jason Webster, pinned the president's pin onto Brad's lapel.
In November, two Clarkston Rotarians went to Africa to help Rotary keep it’s promise to the children of the world to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. Mary Sloan and Jeff Lichty of the Clarkston Rotary Club traveled with a team to Ethiopia to deliver polio drops in response to the recent outbreak of the virus in the Horn of Africa. Global efforts to eradicate polio have made impressive progress over the past decade. When Rotary began the fight in 1985, polio affected 350,000 people, mostly children, in 125 countries every year. Since then, polio has been reduced by more than 99 percent. In 2012 there were only 223 cases anywhere in the world.....
On Saturday, April 19 Depot Park was buzzing with the sound of rakes as members of Cub Scout Pack 499 were joined by their parents and members of their sponsoring Clarkston Rotary Club to ready the park for spring.
Our inbound youth exchange student from the Philippines had her first pumpkin carving experience. She and her host mother shared this" mother-daughter first." Joy reported that it was great fun and she was about to start on her second pumpkin.
A Community Thank You for supporting the recent Clarkston Labor Day Parade !!
The Clarkston Rotary Club sponsors of the Clarkston Labor Day Parade for the past 72 years was very thankful for the weather cooperating during the parade and for those participants that join us in an annual fun-filled community event. The traditional end of summer parade consisting of floats, classic cars, community service organizations, musical groups, local businesses, political candidates, and families seemed to be enjoyed by all.
A special thank you to the American Legion Campbell Richmond Post #63 and the military veterans for again leading the parade as they have every year since the the very first Labor Day parade. Karen Newman, voice of the Detroit Red Wings and spokesperson for Bowman Chevrolet is well appreciated for her singing of the National Anthem to begin the parade
If you are interested joining in the fun of being in next year's Clarkston Rotary Labor Day Parade on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 please be sure to look for the entry application on the clarkstonrotary.org web site (under downloads) or by contacting Clarkston Rotarian, Joel DeLong at joeldelong@aol.com or 248-625-9741.
I want to thank you again for all your support of ShelterBox. I am attaching a link to an 8 minute update of the good work your donations did in 2013. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or requests.
Please continue to keep ShelterBox in mind as you watch the news and see how people are suffering from conflict and natural disasters in the world.
If you weren't at the Clarkston Rotary Fall Wine Tasting Fundraiser, you missed a great evening. Ten wine tables, two beer tables and 15 restaurants provided plenty of tasting and feasting. Planning has already started for next year's party. If you came this year, we're hoping you'll come again. If you didn't, plan on it for next fall.
The Clarkston Rotary Club often takes advantage of the warm summer evenings to hold the meeting at the home of one of our members. A meeting in July was no exception. The district Governor was the speaker, and the club met at the home of immediate past president Bart Clark. Read on to hear the governor's impression of the Clarkston club.
Last Monday’s downpour couldn’t dampen the spirit of SCAMP goers and their families as they enjoyed the annual picnic put on by the Clarkston Rotary Club. For years, the first event of the new Rotary year, which begins July 1, has been providing an evening picnic at Independence Oaks Twin Chimneys. Along with the hot dogs, potato salad, coleslaw, watermelon, and cookies, the students and their families were treated to the antics of Bingo the Clown, a face painter, and music by The Men Of Grace. “It’s a chance for the families to get to know the other SCAMP goers and their families. We really look forward to it,” one mother said of the picnic. It’s a favorite of the Clarkston Rotary members, too.
Clarkston Rotarians and partners participated in Clarkston's Relay for Life May 18-19 at Clarkston Junior High School. Two day event raised $74.463.94 in the fight to end that dreaded disease, cancer.
Saturday, April 20, didn't feel like spring, but that didn't stop Cub Scouts from Pine Knob Elementary Pack 499, their parents and Clarkston Rotary members from getting Depot Park ready for the warm weather . Rotarian and Pack 499 parent Dave Boersma organized the "4th Annual Depot Park Cleanup" as an effort for the scouts to work together with their Charting Organization on one of their mutual interests of "Community Service". The Cub Scouts brought their families to rake and then bag the twigs, leaves and debris that had gathered over the winter. It wasn't all work though - all shared in a morning hot choloate break followed by pizza and soda for lunch. The park looks great and is ready for us all to enjoy. We knew the warm weather couldn't be too far away!
Clarkston Rotarian Jeff Lichty was honored with Rotary International's highest recognition, the Service Above Self award.
As Rotary’s highest honor for individual Rotarians, this award recognizes up to 150 Rotarians annually, worldwide, who have demonstrated exemplary humanitarian service, with an emphasis on personal volunteer efforts and active involvement in helping others through Rotary.
Jeff has held multiple Rotary offices at the club, District and Zone levels. He has practiced humanitarian service by participating in National Polio Immunization Days in India, on eyeglass medical missions to Grenada and Peru and by visiting a Rotary-USAID water and sanitation project in Ghana, West Africa, in order to help raises funds to complete the collaboration project.
Congratulations Jeff! We already knew you live Rotary, and now Rotary International has said it knows it too.
Clarkston Rotary held it's annual spring wine party on May 23. The crowd enjoyed tasting Michigan wines, hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, and bidding on raffle items. The proceeds will go to our local and international projects. A good time was had by all!
After 25 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating this tenacious disease, but a strong push is needed now to root it out once and for all. It is a window of opportunity of historic proportions.
Reaching the ultimate goal of a polio-free world presents ongoing challenges, not the least of which is a hundreds of million dollar funding gap. Of course, Rotary alone can't fill this gap, but continued Rotarian advocacy for government support can help enormously.
As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere remain at risk. The stakes are that high.
Clarkston High School’s robotics team, Team RUSH (Respect Unity Spirit Heart), unveiled its latest robot at the 2013 Team RUSH Open House, held on Monday, February 18 at 6:00 PM at the Clarkston High School, in the CSMTech (Clarkston Science, Math and Technology) Academy. Joe Liu, our Youth Exchange student from Taiwan, is a part of the team. In the photo he is shown on the right working on the robot with fellow team members (from left) Jason Markesino, Andrew McLatcher, Kristijian Dodik.
Since its initial charter in 1940, the Clarkston Rotary Club has been actively involved in downtown Clarkston’s Christmas decorations. Initially, it was the lighting of a single pine tree in front of what was then its township hall. Over time it progressed to the business area on Main Street with the lighting and decorating of an even larger tree on the corner. Over the years, the decorations on the lampposts have been updated several times. Beginning in 2011, the Clarkston Rotary undertook a three year visionary program, “Illuminate Clarkston’s Downtown for the Holiday’s”. Working with Bronner’s of Frankenmuth, it was envisioned that LED Snowflake decorations with lighted garlands would be used to decorate each of the 34 lampposts along Main St. In November 2013, Clarkston’s downtown will be entirely decorated with snowflakes and in 2014 the Clarkston Rotary will be able to celebrate 75 years of community service.
On Friday and Saturday, November 30 and December 1, members and friends of the Clarkston Rotary club were on Clarkston street corners selling the Goodfellow edition of the Rotary newspaper to raise funds for the children of Clarkston. 100% of the donations raised were then spent to provide Clarkston area school children with new winter boots and shoes, hats, mittens or gloves the following weekend. More than 100 volunteers devoted time and energy to the Clarkston Rotary Club’s Goodfellow newspaper sales and “Shoes for Kids.”
The donations collected from the two days on the streets, as well as donations from the Clarkston Women’s Club, has helped 425 Clarkston schoolchildren this year. We at Rotary are thankful for the groups involved. Oakland Woods Baptist Church provides support and use of their church on the day of the distribution. The Clarkston Lions provide Project Kidsight, a free pre-school eye examination. The Clarkston Area Optimist Club have joined with their Opti-Socks program.
— Boy Scout troop No. 199 helped with the sale of papers. Clarkston schools and local churches support the program by collecting new hat and glove donations.
As we've heard many times, Rotary's main focus is to eliminate polio worldwide. Since 1979 Rotary has been trying to accomplish this feat. In Vancouver, British Columbia iOctober, Mary Sloan and Jeff Lichty joined other Rotarians from Canada and the Eastern US on a walk to call attention to our efforts.
On the evening of September 21, some Clarkston Rotarians took part in a 5K twilight river front Walk for Peace along the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The event, held to coincide with the United Nations World Peace Day, was designed to spread the word about world peace. “The walk was designed to attract attention from regional and international media and to assist Rotary in enhancing its reputation as a world leader in the furtherance of world peace and conflict resolution.,” explained Joyce Jones, Windsor Rotary president and event organizer . Rotary International Past President Ray Klinginsmith and Rotary Foundation Chairman Wilf Wilkenson were among the honored guests. After the walk, the walkers attended a barbecue and a Peace concert featuring local artists including Jody Raffoul, Maria Connel and The Music Express. As many in the community may recall, Windsor was also the site of the successful 2008 Rotary World Peace Summit. This event is being hosted by the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland in conjunction with District 6400 and District 6380.
To quote annarbor.com, “One Rotarian can change a community. Connect more than a million, and we can change the world.”
Twelve of this year's newly-arrived Rotary Youth Exchange students got together for the first time for their inbound orientation on Saturday, Sept 8 and 9. It's so energizing to be around these young people. Some have English that is better than others', some are nervous, but all are excited to be here and are looking forward to an exciting year learning our culture and sharing theirs. Hopefully, you'll all get a chance to spend some time with them. We all will meet them at the District Conference in April. Welcome to the USA!
Again, Clarkston Rotary entertained the community with it's Labor Day parade. The effects of Hurricane Isaac held off, and the weather was perfect for an "end of summer" celebration in downtown Clarkston. Thanks Rotary for another wonderful parade!
No sooner had we said "Au Revoir" to Miranda than we said "Welcome" to our inbound student from Taiwan, Yu-Heng LIU, or Joe as he wants to be called. He met with his host mom, Sara Hennig, at the home of Rotary counsellor Jeff Lichty. We're all looking forward to sharing our culture with Joe and learning about his. Welcome, Joe
On July 16, the Clarkston Rotary Club again entertained students and their families from Clarkston SCAMP at a cookout and picnic at Independence Oaks. The Rotarians cooked the hot dogs and set out the potato salad, coleslaw and watermelon, while the students and their families enjoyed the bouncing house, face painter and Bingo the clown. This year The Men of Grace from Pontiac’s Grace Centers of Hope entertained the crowd during dinner. The SCAMP picnic is always the first Rotary activity of the Rotary year, which begins on July 1. It’s a favorite for all involved.
On July first, 2012, Bart Clark will take over the reins of Clarkston Rotary president for the 2012-2013 Rotary year. Rotary changes all of its officers, including the Rotary International president, on July first, and they each serve for one year. Here Bart is given the President’s pin by outgoing president, Al Avery. Bart, in turn, gives Al, a past president’s pin during the formal induction dinner held this year at Mesquite Creek.
The new board of Directors is made up of Frank Rivers, Janet Thomas, Rick Miller, Mary Sloan, Al Avery, Harold Sutherland, Lisa Troschinetz, Joel DeLong and Bart Clark.
On November first, the club held its annual fall wine tasting fund raiser. The event is a favorite in the community and helps us do all we do for our neighbors around the corner and around the world. Thank You Clarkston for your support!
On June 29, the Clarkston Rotary was a host at the Concerts in the Park. While Clarkston Rotarians served food and water, donated by Qdoba and Culligan, concert goers enjoyed music by the local group Solid Rockers and the main band, Bugs Beddow.
Led by President Al Avery, Clarkston Rotarians joined
Rotarians around the world in celebrating their successful efforts to raise
$200 million dollars in order to meet the Bill and Melinda Gates challenge of
eliminating polio worldwide.Rotary International began planning in the early 1980’s for one of the
most ambitious humanitarian programs ever undertaken by a private entity.In 1985, it launched PolioPlus, a
multimillion dollar initiative to immunize all the world’s children against
polio.Rotary’s commitment was so
great that the World Health Assembly resolved in 1988 to wipe out the disease
that had killed and paralyzed for 5000 years.Clarkston Rotary enthusiastically joined in the battle.
Since 1985, more than two billion children have received the
oral polio vaccine.Reported polio
cases have dropped 99.8 %, from 350,000 a year in 1988 to fewer than 2000 a
year today.Clarkston Rotarians
Mary Sloan and Jeff Lichty participated in the effort by personally delivering
the polio drops to children in northern India in 2005.
Since 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has
awarded $355 million to Rotary International in the global effort to eradicate
polio, issuing the challenge that Rotarians worldwide would raise $200 million
by June 2012.That goal has been
reached, and Clarkston Rotarians celebrated on Monday with a cake and a talk
from District polio co-chair Virginia Barrons.The fight is not over.Polio is still endemic in four countries; India, Pakistan, Nigeria and
Afghanistan, although India just completed its first year without a new case
reported.We can’t quit until the
job is done and no new cases have been reported in the world for three years.
We have completed this round of funding, but the fight goes
on and fundraising must continue.
As long as polio threatens even
one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere, including the United
States, remain at risk. The stakes are that high.
that the original idea for a Clarkston Historical Museum came from the Clarkston Rotary Club? And that the museum was a joint venture between Clarkston Rotary and the Clarkston Historical Society?
On Monday, April 6, our newest Rotarian was welcomed into the club by President Bart and Rotarian John Halleran.
Welcome,local businessman, Buck Kopietz!!