From Saginaw with Love … to appropriately rework the title of a famed James Bond movie from 1964. 

Thirty-four individual members of the Rotary Club of Saginaw and some cool friends recently helped fund FIVE ShelterBoxes to aid the beleaguered country of Ukraine. 

Each box cost $1000 and contains a family-size tent and other aid items such as mosquito nets, water filters, water carriers, solar lights, cooking sets, tools, blankets, mats and activities for children, all packed in a sturdy green box.

We know that is but a drop in the bucket on what is needed in that country nearly 5,000 miles from Saginaw, thanks to an unprovoked invasion by Russia.  But we so desperately wanted to do something as a part of the internationally-focused Rotary, and anything is better than nothing.

The 34 people who donated include16 current members of our Rotary club. But even more heartwarming is that three former members of our club chipped in AND 15 members of the Saginaw Branch of the Woman's National Farm & Garden Association. 

In a ripple effect, one of our club members is a member of the garden club, and when she told them what we were doing they asked if they could join in our effort and began donating to us.

And actually that ripple effect began when one of our club members heard about the ShelterBox for Ukraine effort by attending a Rotary Club of Saginaw Sunrise meeting and watched as its members quickly raised enough money for three of the boxes.

She took her experience to our board, and they said let’s see what WE can do. The  Rotary Club of  Saginaw board voted to take $1,000 from our savings to fund the first ShelterBox and then challenged members to individually raise enough money for a second box.
 

It just kept growing. The checks from the 34 donors ranged from $10 to $500.

So that is eight boxes from tiny Saginaw.

We have $21 extra we will donate to somewhere needy.

ShelterBox was founded in 2000 by the small Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard in Cornwall, England, as a project to mark the Millenium. It has since become an independent 501 (c) (3) but remains closely allied with Rotary International.

The boxes are sent to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tropical cyclones, tsunamis, floods and volcanic eruptions, and also provide emergency aid to families displaced by war or conflict.

Since 2000, ShelterBox staff and volunteers have helped to shelter more than 1.5 million people in more than 100 countries around the world.

The aid provided is tailored to the nature of each location and therefore it is not always the same. ShelterBox Response Teams distribute aid on the ground, working closely with local organizations, local and international aid agencies, and Rotary club worldwide. 

Charity Navigator rates this charity's score as 92.41, earning it a 4-Star rating. Donors can "Give with Confidence" to this charity.

To those confused by the reference regarding the James Bond movie, that movie was titled “From Russia with Love.”

You know that old adage that “it takes a village”?

Well, all you village people involved in the April 29 Saginaw on Stage fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Saginaw….WOW, just WOW!

Through your generous collective efforts we raised nearly $11,000 to share among our 2022 designated beneficiaries — percussion instruments for the Saginaw Bay Youth Orchestra , an amp and instructor pay for Major Chords for Minors, and scholarships for the Pit and Balcony Class Act summer youth workshops.

… Thank you to our 16 sponsors. We know economic times are really tough and you are coming off dealing with Covid, but you came through.

… Thank you to The  Saginaw Club for not charging us rent in using your facility, all three floors in every nook and cranny. Rental fees in our past 16 years had really cut into our profits. And did your staff ever work hard that day and night. 

… Thank you to the more than 100 performers who donated their time. Bands, singer/songwriters, actors, even a dance instructor. You too are trying to resurrect careers after a two-year Covid shut down, but still volunteered your time to Saginaw on Stage. And shared information about it on your Facebook pages.

… Thank you to our 181 attendees who purchased tickets to attend as well those who bought 50-50 raffle tickets. We were hoping for 250 but we know also that many of you are still nervous about attending public events.

… Thank you to the six radio stations, two newspapers and one television station who did interviews with our committee members.

… And thank you to The Saginaw Art Museum who loaned us a set of risers for band equipment, saving us a rental fee.

We did it, this village.

An unusual partnership celebrated five years of success on May 4 during a luncheon at The Saginaw Club.

The Rotary Club of Saginaw, Rotary Club of Saginaw Sunrise and Rotary Club of Saginaw Valley established back then a special scholarship foundation with the Central Michigan University College of Medicine, located in Mount Pleasant and Saginaw.

Through it they award a $10,000  “Thanks for Staying”  grant annually to a school graduate who agrees who agrees to do his or her  residency in the Great Lakes Bay and Thumb area. $50,000 so far. The money is applied to the student’s loan.

Various fundraisers over these five years and donations from the three clubs and others, the foundation keeps growing. It has a goal of $1 million, which would allow for two  scholarships annually, and is 30% of the way.

Those attending the luncheon were told the average debt for a medical school graduate is $250,000. And studies indicate that where a doctor serves his or her residency tends to be where they stay and establish a practice.

The keynote speaker on May 4  was Dr. Steven Vance, an emergency medicine specialist at Covenant Healthcare and since 2016  associate dean of clinical education at the CMU School of Medicine. He received his medical degree in 2001 from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

Dr. Vance (pictured) recalled that during Covid he lived in a borrowed travel trailer parked outside his home because he didn’t want to jeopardize his family’s health due to so many deaths where he worked. He said medical students from the school delivered thousands of vaccines to the community during Covid. And he recalls Rotary members asking during the pandemic how they could help.

Michigan still does not have enough primary care physicians for its population, he said, and the CMU College of Medicine was founded to provide physicians for Michigan. And he also called on Rotary clubs to help the CMU Medical School get recruits and train them in our community.

The school recently celebrated its first 500 graduates, starting from its inaugural class in 2017. 80% of its students come from Michigan and 50% of its graduates were matched to Michigan residency programs. 78% of those graduates chose primary care specialties.

In 2015, District 6310 started a Rotary Hero of the Year honor, acknowledged at the April district convention and receiving a certificate.

Each club nominates its Rotary Hero based on his or her longtime service to the club and to his or her community.

The 2022 winner from the Rotary Club of Saginaw is Janet I. Martineau.

She joined the club in 2009. Paul Harris +1. Secretary: 2010-2017,  2020-2024. Committees: Centennial (oversaw creation of new club logo and customized badges), golf scramble, Saginaw on Stage concerts, Friday Night Live hot dog booth, grant writing. 

Began club’s Facebook page in 2011: Write and post stories about our speakers and activities; have taken and posted upwards of 900 photos of our speakers and activities; in 2022 began live Facebook broadcasts of some of our speakers. 

Administrator of club webpage: researched and wrote eight site pages on home page (club history, our legacy of giving, bios on charter members, Camp Rotary development, etc.); write homepage stories with photos; maintain membership roster with member photos. Write press releases for club. 

Perfect attendance: 2014-2016.

Community service: served on boards of Riverside Saginaw Film Festival, Creative 360, Roethke Home Museum, Friends of Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, Saginaw Hall of Fame, Chippewa Nature Center. 

Have volunteered and/or served on committees/special events for Saginaw Bay Symphony, Saginaw Choral Society, Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw Habitat for Humanity, Junior Achievement, East Side Soup Kitchen, Saginaw Arts and Enrichment Commission, Midland Center for the Arts, Saginaw Children’s Zoo, Art Serve Michigan, READ Association, Saginaw County Spelling Bee, Great Lakes Bay Great Read (book dealt with bullying). Was a big sister in the Big Sister/Little Sister program.

Retired from 40 years of working at The Saginaw News.

After a two-year absence due to Covid, WE’RE BACK.

17th Saginaw on Stage Music Festival, Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Saginaw

Friday, April 29, at The Saginaw Club, 219 N. Washington

Doors open at 5:30pm, performances 6-11pm. 13 bands (among them 23 North, a German polka band, Lucky Nows,  Sensory Overload, Catfish Sandwich, Haley & The Sound Poets, Sarah Schingeck & The Hope Dreams), a singer/songwriters room, other performers throughout three floors. Dance floor on third floor, two brief dance lessons during the night, cash bars on all three floors.

Tickets $30. On sale electronically through our website: saginawonstage.com. Also available at: Isabella Bank, 4975 Bay Road; Health Advantage Federal Credit Union, 4550 State; Tafel Insurance Agency, 30 N. Center/Suite 1.

Beneficiaries: Saginaw Bay Youth Orchestra (percussion equipment), Major Chords for Minors (an amp and scholarships)!, Pit & Balcony Class Act workshops for youths.

For more information check out our website.

This year we entered, for the first time, a cookie house competition sponsored by the Positive Results Downtown Saginaw organization for its Holidays in the Heart of the City celebration. And we won the first place prize in our category of clubs and organizations.

The creation was a replica of a  Centennial family home and barn in Saginaw Township owned by past club president Ursula Steckert, who died of Covid this year. She had also been a Rotary exchange student when she was in high school.

It was designed and decorated by Cathy Tafel with assistance from Linda Hegenauer, Melissa Spranger and Tom Brubaker.

On Dec. 1 we awarded  $6,000 in unrestricted money divided evenly between the Underground Railroad of Saginaw, Hidden Harvest, City Rescue Mission of Saginaw, and East Side Soup Kitchen.

All of them nonprofit agencies collectively sheltering the homeless and victims of domestic violence, feeding the needy, and rescuing and repurposing prepared food from restaurants and receptions.

The  money was raised from our Spring Into Action golf scramble and Win-Win raffle.

From left are Dan Streeter of City Rescue Mission, Samantha McKenzie of Hidden Harvest, Diane Keenan of East Side Soup Kitchen and Allie Martinez of Underground Railroad.

Club members Melissa Spranger and Jonathan Webb (standing at back) recently delivering special dictionaries/encyclopedias to a third grade classroom in Saginaw Township.

An annual program sponsored for our club, this year we will distribute nearly 700 of the books to 12 Saginaw County schools.

In April 2018, we presented AMP (All Music is Power) performers Laurie Middlebrook & Donny Brown (second and third from right) +with a check for $5,000 — raised by  our Saginaw on Stage fundraiser. AMP provides an interactive music experience for students with special needs. Check them out at allmusicispower.com

Saginaw citizens trapped in fires hopefully now have a better chance of surviving.

In January 2019, the Rotary Club of Saginaw -- Downtown presented the City of Saginaw Fire Department a check for $4,500 to purchase four thermal imaging cameras.

Fire Department Chief Chris VanLoo (pictured, center) called the frontline apparatus a wand-like device with a small screen that upon arriving on the fire scene can be used to scan and locate any people trapped inside.

So far this year alone the department of 38 firefighters has been called to 16 fires. And it is under severe budgetary struggles as well. VanLoo said when he began 28 years ago there were 100 firefighters on duty.

The money for the donation was raised by our club's annual golf scramble fundraiser ....so again thanks to all who participated in that September event.

At left is club secretary Laura Crase and at right club president elect Cathy Tafel.

In October 2018, on World Polio Day, a special event raised  $3,141 for Rotary International's ongoing PolioPlus campaign to eradicate polio from the world.

The Rotary Club of Saginaw-Downtown and Riverside Saginaw Film Festival teamed up to show the 2017 movie "Breathe" -- based on a true story about a man's battle with the disease in the late 1950s.

Nearly 100 people attended the fund-raiser at the Court Street Theatre and donated $1,047 in freewill donations. That amount was matched 2 to 1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, amounting to $3,141 headed to Rotary International.

Since 1985, Rotary International and its clubs worldwide have contributed more than $1.8 billion, including matching funds from the Gates Foundation, to fight the disease.

Today (June 27) several members of our club stopped by the Savoy Bar and Grill, 127 S. Franklin in Saginaw, to present its co-owners with our first annual Ethics in Business Award. 

The newly created honor, a first for a Michigan-based Rotary Club, honors a local business exemplifying our famed Four Way Test pledge and a commitment to the community.

Since opening the Savoy in 2007, owners Steven Jeffrey West Jr. and Jim Atwood -- and a crew of volunteers -- have hosted a free Thanksgiving dinner for needy citizens at the eatery.

At our Jan. 27 meeting, Covenant Kids Foundation was presented with a $3,000 check from money raised through our 2015 Saginaw on Stage concert. 

At left is club member Dave Oppermann, a Saginaw on Stage committee member, presenting the check to Heather Appold, the Covenant Kids coordinator.

Covenant Kids is a fund component of Covenant HealthCare. It helps supply equipment and other needs for pediatric services covering youths from birth to 18 -- emergency care, trauma center, intensive care, neonatal intensive care, surgery, neurosurgery, cardiology, diabetes and enderinology care, and rehabilitation. -- Photo by Janet I. Martineau

It was a battle of wills Wednesday during the 10th Annual Altrusa Bee for Literacy -- when 12 three-member adult teams competed and went through more than 300 words before a winner was declared -- and that winner was our club’s team, called the Rotary Spellarz.

Team members Melissa Spranger, Sam Merrill and Catherine McMichael won with the word hematite (a mineral) during a long, long “final two” battle with The Word Slingers, a team from The Saginaw News.

The money raised benefits a program for second graders at the Mid-Michigan Children’s Museum. Pictured are members of the Rotary team (seated to right of banner) and their noisy supporters (other Rotary Club of Saginaw members) -- Photos by Janet I. Martineau

He's our official Rotary Club of Saginaw Hero -- CARL HUBINGER.

The District 6310 governor of Rotary International inaugurated a "Rotary Hero" initiative at this month’s district convention, with each club submitting a member to honor. He is show at left, receiving his award..

Here are some facts about our Carl Hubinger, who lives in Hemlock and is a retired prosthetic dentist.

-- Became a Rotary member in 1974. 

-- Is a Past President (1981-1982), a Paul Harris Fellow (twice) and a Sustaining Member of Rotary.

-- His father, Dr. Herm Hubinger, was also a Saginaw Rotarian.

-- Camp Rotary, founded by our club in 1925, has been a big part of Carl’s Rotary experience. He served as the contractor and on-site supervisor of the building of the Nature Interactive Center at the 1,000-acre camp near Clare, and is currently a Camp Rotary Foundation Trustee. 

-- Hosted Group Study Exchange guests on a number of occasions.

-- Traveled to the Dominican Republican in conjunction with our water project there and oversees our contributions to it.

-- Every single year, stands out in the freezing cold and rings the bell in order to garner contributions for the Salvation Army. 

-- Cooked hot dogs at our Friday Night Live concert series food booth.

-- Annually helps deliver dictionaries to third grade classrooms in Saginaw County.

-- Helped research and compile information for our club's 100th anniversary in 2014.

-- Has maintained a perfect attendance record for Rotary for several years.

-- Heads the nomination committee for our club officers.

-- Photo by Janet Boes