June 3 Meeting Highlights

Today's Club  Assembly included an induction ceremony for Marty Van Dussen. Marty was raised in Fairport, where he lost his dad when he was 14, his mom when he was 30 and his wife when he was 53. These tragedies have taught him to learn to quickly rebound, including embarking on a new career at 56. He opened a Farmers Insurance agency working on both personal and commercial insurance. Marty adopted two children from Korea. His son is currently working for the Air Force in North Dakota. He is engaged to be married on October 11.

 

The Rotary Club of Pittsford Foundation awarded a Paul Harris Fellow to Benjamin Lawrance.  Benjamin applied for a Global Grant to build 7 water wells in Ghana.  He already completed the final reports last month.  Benjamin also visited Ghana a couple of times to oversee some of the wells that were under construction.

 

Peter Crooker took the podium to remind us of our obligations as members of the Rotary Club.  This will include keeping 50% or more attendance.  He urged everyone to be proud of Rotary and "recruit" new members by inviting friends, neighbors, people we meet and family to attend a meeting or better, to join the Club.  Tomorrow night is our evening fellowship at Mario's and would be a great opportunity to invite prospective members.  Pete also calculated the amount hours we devote to Club Service projects.  Although they may seem overwhelming, in retrospect, it isn't.  For example, the Bike Drop needs 12 volunteers for 2-3 hours once a year.  That's collectively only 24-36 hours a year.

 

Today was a beautiful day, so we gathered at the garden adjacent to the library (next to the memorial that we built) for a photo opportunity.

(l-r seated) Bob Vukosic, Grace Soong, Lynn Freshmann, Sharon Garofanello, Steve Wilterdink, and Pete Crooker (photographer).

(l-r standing) Jim Cameron, Luke Stewart, Craig Kunkle, Bill Pieper, Bruce Spector, Matt O'Connor, Marty Van Dussen, Bill Taylor, Charlie Turner, Matt Wahl, Harold McAuliffe, Jack Pickering and Jim Murphy.