December 16, 2025 (Dec. 16, 2025)

INVOCATION

Jerry Carvey gave today’s invocation.

FIFTEENTH HANDSHAKE

This week’s greeter, Kay Ellen Wilkins, declared Annette Werner the lucky member to go fine-free!

WHO AM I?

I joined Rotary to be involved in the community and to live by the motto "Service Above Self." My favorite memories are of the Rotary Park fall clean-up. I studied for a semester in the Caribbean.
I found Rotary because it was needed in my life. My favorite memory is singing songs with friends. I played club volleyball in college.

ROTARIAN OF THE WEEK

Greg Schaefer passed it on to newish member Brian Griffin for jumping on the Rotary bandwagon.

HAPPY BUCKS

🎄 Holiday RotoScoop — served with extra sass and cheer! 🎄

Joyce Joyce was positively glowing as she proudly sat with her friend, Eileen Heasley, from Troy Rotary today. Rotary friendships = the real gift

🎾 Game, set, WOW! Rotarian Jerry Murphy, a Rochester High School tennis coach for an impressive 54 years, had one of his students crowned Michigan's 2025 Mr. Tennis. The City of Rochester Hills even celebrated the young man with a street sign reading Mr. Tennis 2025 — talk about leaving your mark! Talent, dedication, and legendary coaching clearly pay off

🌍 Visiting Assistant Governor Mahendra Kenkre shared some joyful news: his daughter is moving back to the area. Nothing says Christmas cheer like family coming home.

On their drive back from Traverse City, Linda and Jay Eastman listened to an audiobook of A Christmas Carol and found a whole new appreciation for its theme of redemption.

🤔 Tom DelPup wondered how the Eastmans managed to listen to an entire book on one drive. Linda clarified it was unabridged… but only 3 hours and 20 minutes. Apparently, Dickens is road-trip friendly after all.

Meanwhile, Tami Salsbury traveled to the Michigan Thespian Festival with her son Brody, who casually walked away with over $120,000 in musical theater college scholarships. Standing ovation, please! 🎭🎉

Kay Ellen Wilkins is on the mend after surgery to repair a stubborn meniscus tear. She’s not 100% yet, but she’s far more comfortable — and very happy that chapter is closed. Healing vibes and cozy socks all around 💪

🎓 Jeff Duperon is officially in the college admissions glow-up phase. His two kids received acceptances from 9 out of 10 schools (Santa, take notes 🎅). His son is headed to the University of Detroit for engineering, while his daughter — clearly inspired by her Rotary summer abroad — was accepted to the American University of Paris. Jeff is now negotiating with Santa about tuition…

🧥And finally, David Archbold has been working in his OU office since Thanksgiving without heat and has fully embraced the multi-layer fashion trend. Good news: OU is still cold, which means David doesn’t have to return until 2026. Silver linings, people. Silver linings ❄️

🎄✨ Wishing everyone a warm (or at least well-layered), joyful, and delightful Christmas! 🎄

BIRTHDAYS 🎂

And one more festive shout-out! Maggie Bobitz will be celebrating her birthday with Santa himself on Christmas Day — talk about having the ultimate VIP guest at your party! 🎅🎄

CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS

Who am I? 🤔

Our Caribbean student is Ryan Deel, and our volleyball player is Brian Griffin 🏐

🗳️ Election Results — with a BIG thank you to the following Rotarians who have generously agreed to serve. All will take office on July 1, 2026.

2026–2027 Club Board

President: Tami Salisbury
President-Elect: Blake McLellan
President Nominee: Juliane Morian
Secretary: Carol Franciosi
Treasurer: Tom Neveau
Past President: Rachel Aviles
Assistant Treasurer: Eric Whipple
Directors: Stu Siegner, Ethan Hoffman, Greg Schaefer, Brian Griffin

2026–2027 Charities Board

President: Kyle Johnson
President-Elect: Christine Hage
Past President: Tim Duncan
Directors: Karen Joyce, Roger Roller, Kay Ellen Wilkins, Tom DelPup

Charities President Tim Duncan presented a $2,500 check $2,500 to Rev. Faith Fowler of Cass Community Services to support the purchase of strollers and cribs.

SONG LEADER

Bob Lytle led us in singing "What Child Is This," followed by "White Christmas."

SHERIFF'S REPORT

Sheriff David Blair was clearly feeling the Christmas spirit today — mainly because, miracle of miracles, the songs were on the same page—the season of wonders.
Riding that festive high, he promptly informed Reverand Fowler of Cass Community Services that they would, in fact, need to cash the giant check. No regifting allowed.
Sheriff Blair suggested that Jerry Murphy team up with A. Net Werner to serve a little extra help with his tennis coaching — because apparently even the pros know when it’s time to call in backup. 🎾😉
Then Sheriff David slipped into full generic mode, fining anyone wearing red $5 and anyone not wearing red $5. Equality has never been so expensive.
David Archbold tried, and failed, to escape justice while sporting a Christmas sweater featuring a llama. The verdict was swift and merciless. “Yo mama’s no llama”, David. Five dollars. Pay up.
While doing some Christmas shopping at Lytle Pharmacy, Sheriff Blair was horrified to discover a chess set made entirely of full pill bottles. This inspired an immediate medical-danger fine for any Rotarian currently taking pills. Shockingly, no one remained fine-free.
Back in clubwide fine mode, he turned his attention to Linda Eastman, asking if she now spoke with an English accent after listening to A Christmas Carol. Slipping into a very light British tone, he then asked the room what the British call Christmas ornaments. Everyone stared intensely at the tree, hoping for divine intervention. Silence. The correct answer: baubles.
Picking up speed, Sheriff Blair went full bulk-fine mode, issuing $5 penalties to:
- Last-minute shoppers
- Anyone who believes it’s possible to “keep the holidays simple”,
- And especially anyone who reused gift bags with old names still attached, or bags barely holding it together at the seams

Thanks to Sheriff Blair's creative enforcement, we raised $200. This week's fines were pooled with a special collection for tips to our caterer. That came to $1,078. These tips are distributed to the servers, cooks, and other staff at Cass Catering. Remember, these “fines” are all in good fun and serve a great purpose: building camaraderie and raising funds for our charitable efforts, especially scholarships. Let’s continue living out the Rotary motto, "Service Above Self," with enthusiasm, punctuality, and a healthy dose of Rochester pride and humor!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Remember, the Sheriff is always watching.

SPEAKER

Our scheduled speaker, Sienna Nguyen, a student at Detroit Country Day, was ill and unable to join us today. Stepping in on short notice was Eileen Heasley from the Troy Rotary Club. Eileen is the co-founder of A Vision for Clean Water, where she served as Executive Director for 20 years. She is retired from Detroit Public Schools, where she taught preschool, and has been a member of the Troy Rotary Club since 2004. Eileen is a past president of Troy Rotary and has also served as an Assistant Governor for District 6380.

While vacationing in Nepal, Eileen and her husband, John, were struck by the poor water and sanitation conditions they observed. This experience led them to form A Vision for Clean Water, which has built a global network of Rotarians and partner organizations dedicated to improving sanitation and access to clean water in underserved communities.

Eileen shared sobering global statistics: approximately 3 billion people worldwide lack access to water and basic sanitation services. The consequences are devastating, with hundreds of thousands of deaths each year linked to inadequate water, sanitation, or hygiene. Diarrhea remains a leading cause of death for children under the age of five.

Eileen then highlighted the project of our original speaker, Sienna Nguyen. Sienna is establishing a nonprofit to provide toilets for 10 families in remote areas of Cambodia. Each toilet costs $600 to build and install. These toilets resemble standard household toilets but do not use running water; instead, water is manually added to create the pressure needed to flush waste into a septic tank. Each toilet brings improved sanitation, privacy, dignity, and comfort to families in need. Sienna has already secured funding for four toilets.

There are many ways to help support this effort. 100% of donations go directly toward the goal of bringing toilets to families in need. Donations can be made through the A Vision for Clean Water website via the provided link to support this mission.

Alternatively, checks may be made payable to A Vision for Clean Water (with “Sienna’s Project” in the memo line) and mailed to:
AVFCW, c/o Nicole Beetsch, 2323 Baker Rd, Dexter, MI 48130.

It is an extraordinary and inspiring undertaking for a high school student, and we look forward to hearing directly from Sienna when she can join us.