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.

A New Clarkston Rotary Service Project

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. 

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. 

Celebrating 20 years of Rotary in Ukraine from Rotary International on Vimeo.

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. 

WHAT’S ROTARY?

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.

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.....

The Hills Were Alive….

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. 

Hello All,

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.

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.

"If we all have the fortitude to see this effort through to the end, then we will eradicate polio." - Bill Gates

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.

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.

A Walk for Peace

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.”

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!

Rotarians Celebrate at Monday’s Meeting

 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.