by Ingrid Nova | Mar 28, 2012 | Awards
Every year our club gives an award to one or several people in order to recognize the work they’re doing in our community. Here is some information on the this year’s recipients:
Dr. Fred Tinning, Ph.D.
Dr. Tinning holds 3 degrees from Michigan State University a BA in Business/Marketing/Economics; an MA in Rehabilitation Counseling and Counseling Psychology; and a Doctorate in Philosophy for Education and Rehabilitative Counseling Psychology. His list of accomplishments cover 16 pages of awards, recognition and accomplishments. Dr. Tinning is also a Board Member of the Nyaka AIDS Orphan School in Uganda, a project spearheaded by Jackson Kaguri (past EL club president) and supported by the East Lansing Rotary.
(Kaguri & Tinney)
Jack Ebling
Ebling is a 40 year resident of the Greater Lansing area, has two degrees from Michigan State University and spent 25 years of service to the community as a beat writer and sports columnist for the Lansing State Journal. Over the years Ebling has received 21 state and national writing awards and is a three time recipient of the Michigan Sportswriter of the Year award. Ebling has authored five books and two more on the way this spring. Ebling has taken his knowledge of sports to the airwaves on a local sports talk show and he is the co-founder of the Greater Lansing Sport magazine. Ebling has also broadened his reach by making a service trip three years ago to the Nyaka AIDS Orphans school in Uganda. He describes his experiences in Uganda as life-changing.
(Kaguri, Ebling & Pat Boog)
by Ingrid Nova | Mar 9, 2012 | Playground in the Park
East Lansing, MI – The final community design meeting, open to the general public, is scheduled for Saturday morning, at the Hannah Community Center, in East Lansing. The meeting is for all interested people (especially kids) so that their preferences can be included in the design process for the new play structure slated for completion next year. The meeting is scheduled to start at 10am and will last an hour.
The replacement project is called Playground-in-the-Park, Re-Imagined, and is a joint project of the City of East Lansing and the East Lansing Rotary Club. Head Coach, Suzy Merchant, of the MSU Women’s Basketball team is the Honorary Chairperson and is an avid supporter of the park project.
The East Lansing Rotary Club took the lead in 1995 to bring the original wooden play structure to the community, and is stepping in again to assist with fund-raising and community organizing, to deliver a new state of the art play space that will last at least 30 years.
“We wanted to see a play structure that would delight the families and children that love to come to Patriarche Park,” said East Lansing Rotary Committee Chairperson, John Saltzgaber. “The East Lansing Rotary Club is ‘all-in’ on this project and has asked the City of East Lansing to specify a new play structure that would honor the original and new play structure supporters and sponsors, be eco-friendly, meet the most current safety standards, present a physically challenging environment for children of all ages and abilities, be accessible for persons with disabilities or mobility problems … and most important -be a play place where imaginative play is encouraged.”
Sinclair Recreation is the selected vendor for this project and is facilitating the community design input sessions. In addition to the general community input meetings, Sinclair will also be presenting to groups of children in after-school programs in East Lansing schools and gathering input from the persons with disabilities community.
Funding for the park playground project is expected to be in the range of $300,000 to $500,000 depending on the final design and available funds. The City of East Lansing is pursuing a major grant opportunity and the East Lansing Rotary Club is crafting sponsorship opportunities for sponsors with naming rights to individual sponsors. The East Lansing Rotary Club has already received pledges amounting to $50,000 from individual members of the club and will be pursuing other Rotary grant opportunities for the project.
by Ingrid Nova | Mar 6, 2012 | Playground in the Park
The Community Relations Coalition has written a nice piece about their choice to support us in the upcoming Taste of East Lansing event. You can read more about it here.
“The Taste of East Lansing is very excited to be working with the Rotary Club of East Lansing. As our charity partner, the Rotary will be receiving 25% of ticket sale proceeds and 50% of all raffle and silent auction proceeds from the Taste of East Lansing event. These funds will go toward the Playground in the Park Re-Imagined project, which is a fundraising drive to raise money to rebuild the playground in East Lansing’s Patriarche Park.”
by Ingrid Nova | Mar 1, 2012 | Speakers for the Month
MARCH 2012 PROGRAMS for East Lansing Rotary are as follows:
March 5 – Mike Bills, President of MB Strategies, speaking on everyday leadership and how it plays a role in our lives.
March 12 – Tom Rico, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, speaking about the new Michigan Economic Gardening Project and its effect on the state and business.
March 19 – Randy Dean, President of Randall Dean Consulting and author of the book “Taming the Email Beast,” speaking about increasing productivity by controlling how we use email.
March 26 – Vocational Awards Presentation by Jim Bonfiglio and the Community Service Committee.
March 2012 Program Chair:
Tom Conway
by Ingrid Nova | Feb 2, 2012 | Events, Foundation and Fund Raising, Playground in the Park
MSU Women’s Basketball coach Suzy Merchant announced her role as Honorary Chairperson of our Playground in the Park: Re-Imagined project yesterday. You can read all of press, and our original press release by clicking the links (they appear below the pictures from the event).
(East Lansing Rotary President Tim McCaffrey, MSU Women’s Basketball Coach Suzy Merchant, and EL Rotary President Elect Nathan Triplett)
(EL Rotary Members and Suzy Merchant, L to R: Gary Danbrook, Katie Donovan, Susan Schmidt, Past President John Saltzgaber, Suzy Merchant, Past President Kevin Gray, Past President Jackson Kaguri, and James Folkening)
Read about the project below!
