I am thankful. I can’t believe this is November and 4 months are over in this Rotary year. I don’t know how this year is flying by so quickly.
The past four months have had a flurry of activity. As I type this I am watching the snow flurries outside my window. The change of season from fall to winter is happening here in Northern Michigan and it is beautiful (although I am ready for spring!). Through this past month, I have visited clubs 54 of 57 clubs in our Districts. I have 3 left that I am hoping to get to in November.
Ruth has brought consistency and dedication in the performance of her duties as Secretary and Treasurer of our club. Ruth has outstanding attendance, community commitment (reading in school, bike race support, golf outing support, planters, etc…) and consistently publishes our weekly minutes keeps track of everything and everyone.
Ruth is a “Wonder Women”! Over the past several years she has stepped up to fill the positions of secretary and treasurer. She is always present and participates in most of our club events. She provides strong leadership, always has a pleasant smile, and great disposition and has that “service above self” attitude. There would be a huge void in our Rotary Club of Reed City without Ruth Sajnenkoff.
John Gronberg is a life-long resident of the Holland area and his family has ties to the Macatawa area going back to the 1890’s when his grandfather built one of the first cottages in Macatawa on Lake Michigan. For decades, John has been a passionate leader and hard worker at the local, state, national, and international levels to improve the lives of others. Former Rotarian and Past District Governor Tom Bos stated “John is selfless and tireless in his service to our community, the world, and to his friends”.
For the past 47 years, John has been an active member and involved leader of the Holland Rotary Club and Rotary District 6290. John’s volunteer work with Rotary International has significantly improved the quality of life for thousands of people at the local, state, national, and international levels.
John has been President of the local Holland Rotary, District Assistant Governor, Macatawa Region, and District Assistant Governor Coordinator for Rotary District 6290. John has chaired numerous Committees at both a local and District level. He has led dozens of local projects. John (and his wife Bonnie) have been driving forces in building and placing neighborhood “lending libraries” around the Holland area. These are the little houses that shelter donated books. This is just one example of literally dozens of local projects that John has been involved in through Holland Rotary over the past five decades.
On a regional level, John has provided leadership in the Health, Humanitarian, Outreach Project (HHOP) which is a collaboration of several Rotary Clubs, including Holland, Grand Haven, Spring Lake, and Muskegon Rotary Clubs, and others. With John’s leadership and involvement, HHOP has provided water and filters to thousands of families in the Dominican Republic and Honduras. These filters are manufactured in West Michigan and shipped and installed at no charge to families in dire need of clean water.
John has served on the Rotary International Service Committee for many years and traveled extensively around the world to improve living conditions for many in third world countries. To do this John has invested significant personal time and money, and assumed leadership positions in many “for profit” and “non-profit” organizations.
John lives each day following the Rotary 4-Way Test. We have documented just a few examples of John’s contributions to improve the quality of life in Holland and the world. He leads in many ways in the pursuit of helping others and exemplifies the Rotary theme of “service above self”.
John has been just as involved providing action and leadership in many additional areas outside of Rotary. He is the President of the Macatawa Park Cottagers’ Association. John is the “resident historian” of the Macatawa area and an important contributor to the Macatawa Historical Society. Many who have visited the Macatawa area of Holland know of the “Big Red” lighthouse. John became passionately involved in saving the “Big Red” lighthouse over the years and is President of the Holland Harbor Lighthouse Historical Commission “HHLHC”. John and the “HHLHC” have been written up in articles in the Washington Times, USA TODAY, Lighthouse Digest, M-live.com, and several other publications. John is involved with the Great Lakes Lighthouse Alliance and is currently President of the Michigan Lighthouse Alliance. Park Township, Ottawa County recognized John as a 2020 member of the Park Township Spotlight Ward. Park Township created the Spotlight Ward to recognize outstanding achievement and a commitment to the Park Township Community, and represents the highest degrees of honor, integrity, and demonstrated leadership to improve Park Township, our region, and the lives of our residents.
Representing District 6290 at The Council on Legislation in Singapore in January 1989, where women were voted into Rotary membership worldwide for the first time in history. The A-ha moment was when, after a secret ballot, it was announced that the motion had passed 72% for and 28% against when it had to pass with at least 67% to become official. I voted for it, and it made me feel that we had changed Rotary for the better.
What are you most proud of in your Rotary career?
A couple of things. First was being called on from RI headquarters to replace two district governors who couldn’t carry out a portion of their assigned years. One died in office, and the other suffered a heart attack, which left him incapacitated for three months during his governor’s year. Rotary International had the confidence that I could do the job for a 2nd and 3rd time after serving as District Governor during my year of 1980-81 made me feel good. The second was being selected by the RI President to represent him at two district conferences in Sweden as he knew I spoke fluent Swedish. After his year as RI President was over, he let me know that representing him in Sweden was the one thing he was most proud of during his year in office as it showed that an American could speak more than just the English language!
Since November is The Rotary Foundation month – what is your favorite TRF moment that you took part in or heard about?
As District 6290 Foundation Chair, I invited past RI President Wilhelm Stenhammar, from Sweden, to be my Foundation banquet speaker here in Grand Rapids. He agreed and flew over from Gothenburg, Sweden, to participate. That evening he pinned sixty- four Paul Harris fellows. A fitting climax to a memorable evening.
Why did you join Rotary, and why are you still a Rotarian? How long have you been a Rotarian?
I had to join Rotary whether I liked it or not. I was still a fairly new employee of the bank when I was called into the office of the Vice President of Human Resources and told I was to join the local Rotary club. I didn’t know what Rotary was, so I declined the invitation. I was told, “join Rotary or look for a new job”! So with that ultimatum, I came into Rotary “kicking and screaming.” My first meeting was on April 8, 1969. I am now in my 49th year of perfect attendance. Rotary has been such a big part of my life. My wife and I have traveled to Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean on Rotary assignments. We have made friends the world over.
How can clubs encourage people to join the best service club in the world?
Good question! Showing prospective members the many great things Rotary has done around the world including our ongoing eradication of polio, providing clean water filters in third world countries and other projects too numerous to mention. There is so much diversity. My wife and I were fortunate to have been invited to the graduation ceremony of Peace Scholars at a European university a few years ago. What amazing young people they were! They were all on two year scholarships funded by The Rotary Foundation donations from Rotarians around the world. These are just a few examples of the best service club to be sure.
The meeting ID is 98338629106 and password is 666095.
K.R. Ravindran
Chair, The Rotary Foundation 2020-21 Trustee, The Rotary Foundation 2017-21 Rotary Club of Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka
K.R. “Ravi” Ravindran is a third-generation Rotarian, joining Rotary at age 21. As RI president in 2015-16, he introduced the Rotary Global Rewards program and led a delegation of about 9,000 Rotarians to the Vatican for an audience with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square.
Ravindran was the first president of the Sri Lanka Anti-Narcotics Association, which today is the leading agency fighting drug addiction in Sri Lanka. He headed a national committee consisting of Rotary, his country’s health ministry, and UNICEF for the eradication of polio, and worked closely with UNICEF to negotiate a cease-fire in the ongoing civil war with the northern militants to facilitate National Immunization Days. Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to become polio-free. He also headed a Rotary project to build 25 modern schools across the country to replace those destroyed by the 2004 tsunami at a cost of over $12 million.
Ravindran is the CEO and founder of a publicly listed company engaged in the print and packaging industry with a worldwide clientele. His company, Printcare PLC, is a winner of national and international awards of excellence. He is the recipient of The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service, Distinguished Service Award, and Service Award for a Polio-Free World. His country conferred on him the title of “Jewel of Sri Lanka” and released a postage stamp in his honor.
Following the very successful lead of Houghton Lake Rotary over the last few years, Muskegon Rotary partnered with its five Rotary Interact clubs early this summer and fall to collect returnables that each club could cash in for building their fund balances to start the school year.
Since normal fundraising venues have been compromised for most all Rotary Interact clubs due to the Covid pandemic, with the solid help of Meijer, Inc. and using proper distancing, face masks, and hand washing, Interactors were able to safely cash in nearly $3000 in returnables as of this writing.
Rotarians and friends and local businesses contributed and helped to store the accumulating bags of bottles and cans. Bottles and cans were either picked up by Rotary volunteers or were dropped off at one of two volunteer sites. Working with all five clubs, Rotarians transported trailer and van loads to Meijer stores at various times to be unloaded and cashed in by Interactors who assembled in the parking lot.
New Rotarian, Blake Cramer, an employee of Morgan Stanley Muskegon Branch, helped to spearhead the effort and also engineered a 25 per cent rebate offer challenge to each club from his employer which was a great incentive to get motivated. An additional approximate $750 rebate will now be split among the five Interact clubs, so each of the five Rotary Interact clubs will have needed funds to help support their chosen service projects.
Rotarians and friends have now grown accustomed to saving their returnables for our Rotary sponsored Interact Clubs. By continuing this partner project, Muskegon Rotary is better able to stay in touch with our Rotary Interactors throughout the Covid year. It is so nice to be able to assure each person who donates returnables that these funds will be plowed back into the community and the world through Rotary Interact clubs and the great work they are doing.
Please contact John Noling at 231 670 3740 or Blake Cramer at 231 557 9992 for more information.
When I departed the Grayling Restaurant at 8:00 AM yesterday I anticipated a long but uneventful day of riding along the tip of the mitt of Michigan. How wrong I was.
I was hoping to test out a few things like satellite tracking, on-the-route updates, the BMW 310 GS and electronic riding gear. I wanted to see what works and fix what didn’t. Furthermore, I wanted to do something that only took a day. Do it and get it done.
The temperature in Grayling was 35 degrees and dipped to 31 degrees on McKinley Rd where you had to look at those corners and wonder if it was just wet or was it something more slippery. Riding into the sun was a bit of a problem, too.
Heading west out of Glennie, the bike coughed twice and quit. I rolled into the driveway of Chris Loveless, longtime Marathon Volunteer, Veteran and former aircraft mechanic. We determined the battery was toast and my wife Marcia was called who arrived 90 minutes later with a replacement.
On I went to Oscoda and then north to Alpena for some gas.
In Alpena the bike would not start after refueling. Either the electronics I was running or the electric jacket and grips were dragging down the charging system. Further, I guessed the charging system was failing or I had two bum batteries. I carry jumper cables with me so we got it started and I headed for Mackinaw City.
I took a wrong turn leaving Cheboygan and ended up doing a couple miles on I-75 north to Mackinaw City, right into what appeared from a distance to be fog. It turned out to be a sleet storm. I made it through in one piece but one car was not as fortunate. He was upside down near the tree line on I-75.
I warmed up at Dan and Jackie House’s House. Jackie is an artist and Dan is a musician and former BMW rider. Jackie worked with my wife Marcia at the Main Branch Gallery before they moved north. I remembered I needed to look out for their son on the way out of town. He works for the city where they call him Officer House. Then Officer House stopped at the house. He had been at one of the multiple weather related accidents. I tried to update everyone from the House’s house but the Microsoft Mothership informed me that I had already sent out too many e-mails for the day. They offered to remedy if I would just enroll in a premium program. I got back on my bike.
After a couple cups of coffee and a Kegel hot dog I headed to Cross Village. It was starting to get dark as I rode the Tunnel of Trees on my way to Cross Village and then south along the coast.
The next Tuesday's with Kathy will be held via Zoom on November 17th at 7:00 pm. We are going to do things a bit differently and I need your help. Please send me ideas on what you would like to cover. ClubRunner, My Rotary, Rotary Club Central, you name it, we will cover it! All Rotarians are invited to join!
Email me your ideas at: kathyh@ridistrict6290.org or call my office 616-935-9559 and we can chat!
