WELCOME to the newsletter of the Rotary Club of Livonia AM. Our club meets weekly to socialize, discuss the needs of our community and the world around us, and take action to address those needs. Please consider visiting our club or joining us on a service project.

All Are Welcome!

Stevenson HS Interact Club Formation Update

March 15, 2025

Friends, What a great noon meeting we had today at Panera Bread. 8 of us were present - 3 from the forming Stevenson Interact, 3 from the Churchill Interact, Drew Buatti from the Livonia Rotary (Noon) Club and myself from the LAMR. Claude Kendrick was out of town, but Claude met with Drew and me in a prior meeting. Claude drew up a really nice agenda, which Drew did a great job of following. The meeting was done in an hour.  

I was so proud of the 3 Interacters from Churchill High School, led by Co-President Emily. After I encouraged the young people to introduce themselves, they then interacted (sic!) magnificently. The three young ladies from Stevenson - Yara, Liliana, and Lana - who will serve as Co-Presidents and Secretary, respectively, asked lots of good questions. They submitted their Constitution to Drew, with the Bylaws to follow. Much was done preliminarily to this meeting, with the young people started telling of their many positive experiences and sharing ideas.

 (I was the old coot "grandpa" who offered some perspective and lots of praise and encouragement.)  

We can all be proud of the six young women. Their brain-storming was significant, and Drew got us through all the points we needed to cover. A Treasurer (a young man) will soon be appointed, according to the Stevenson students. They are considering the possibility of their first meeting being on either Monday or (more likely) Tuesday, March 31st or April 1st, following Spring Break at both schools. When asked how they would get male students to come to the first meeting - in addition to multi-faceted advertising - they wisely said the key word: PIZZA. So that first meeting will be a pizza party, probably around 2:30 p.m. They have a sponsor in our LAMR member, Dave Burton (Soccer Coach) and a classroom available and were approved by the school governing authorities. Emily and I shared our Rotary business cards, and the Stevenson ladies were quick to ask if they could get some. They have also been invited to join us for the LAMR's first Road Clean Up on Saturday, April 5th, and the Livonia Rotary's annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 19th.

In joyful Rotary service,

Rev. Dave Stechholz

Member Spotlight Featuring Greg Greene and Mike Ladwig

March 12, 2025

Pres. Dave Stechholz opened the meeting and gave the Invocation. Sharon Pommerville took charge of Happy Bucks, and returning visitors were recognized and reintroduced: Marlene Katafias, Jackie Graham, Wayne Kinney, and Guy Whittington- welcome back!

Bob Carris talked briefly about the club’s continued involvement in the Central African country of Cameroon, one of the club’s areas for International projects, once led by the now-deceased Dr. Stanley.

Bob reported that the ultrasound machine is on its way to Cameroon to be used in the clinic that was set up by Dr. Stanley.

Bob recounted fondly the visit he made to Cameroon and how he was treated “Like a King.” He stated that the next Cameroon proposed project is to build a water tower, a project that may take several years before fruition.

Congratulations to Bill Friske on his new position as 6400’s Assistant Governor, beginning July 01, 2025, until July 01, 2028. We are also proud and lucky to have had Erin Dobbins and Tammy Bonifield as Assistant Governors - what a legacy for our club. 

Bob Carris, Nancy Darga, and Dave Stechholz will be attending the grants seminar.

Nancy, Dave, Bob, and Bill will be attending the Presidents-Elect Training Seminar (PETS) in Kalamazoo to help prepare Nancy for her 2025-26 Presidency year. They will also be selling our 4-Way-Test soccer balls at the seminar. 

Greg Greene reminded us that April 5th at 8:20 am is our first Road Clean-up event for this year and that afterward, we will meet for breakfast at Sam’s Place restaurant, which is next to the Senior Center. This event includes the Interact Club. 

Just a reminder to invite guests to our meetings, especially the last one of each month. 

Today’s speakers were part of our Member Spotlight program and were Rotarians Mike Ladwig and Greg Greene. 

Mike Ladwig is originally from Grand Rapids. He has one son, Eric, who is also a club member and owns a UPS Store, just like his father did. Mike currently serves as Chairman of our Membership Committee and is in charge of scheduling speakers for our meetings.

Mike does a terrific job in both positions and we thank him for all his efforts. Mike was invited to join Rotary by our club members, Pat Zucal and Bill Friske. Mike has been our club President in the past. 

Mike shared a difficult challenge that he experienced at 8 years of age. While playing baseball, Mike was hit in the left eye by the ball. After several months of treatment, he still suffered the loss of vision in his left eye. Mike attended college in applied management and eventually owned several UPS stores. He has been involved with the United Way and Toys for Tots programs. Mike and Greg both attended the same High School but didn’t know each other at the time. Mike believes that “the more you give, the more you get” and tries to live his life in a giving way. 

Greg Greene says his Mother named him after the actor Gregory Peck. Greg has been married for 28 years and has one son, one grandchild, one great-grandchild, and two dogs. He is 73 years old. Greg grew up in what he describes as “a segregated community of Detroit” and attended Cooley HS (same as Rotarian Mike) and Lawrence Institute of Technology. He is a retired insurance underwriter for AAA. Greg was a former Lion but was persuaded to join Rotary. He has been President three times and is a Paul Harris Fellow. His Father was the Deputy Mayor of Detroit and a Rotarian. In 2002, 

Greg was recognized as Canton’s Business Person of the Year. As a Rotarian with the Livonia AM Club, Greg has been instrumental in orchestrating the club adopting a portion of 5 Mile Road as part of Livonia’s Adopt a Highway Program and establishing

regular Clean-up events for club members and our Interact members to participate in. The first one for this year will be April 5th. This year, Greg was instrumental in establishing and setting up the club’s Volunteer Corps Program and has taken charge of keeping our volunteers in the know about activities and events they can participate in. Greg’s brother Trey, a Detroit Rotarian, often comes to our meetings, and we get to fondly observe the sibling banter between them. Greg loves to golf, exercises 6 days a week, and wrote an exercise book.

Greg listens to R&B and Smooth Jazz. His greatest claim to fame in our club is being our resident joketeller. Our meetings end with Greg telling us some good and some really corny jokes, but they always send us off in a good mood for the day. Thanks, Greg, for being You!

Victoria Haltom

VISIT OUR CLUB IN PERSON

We meet at the

Livonia Senior Center Complex

15218 Farmington Road

Livonia, MI 48154

Every Wednesday, 7:30 AM - 8:30 AM

All Are Welcome!