This year's Saginaw On Stage has been postponed. For details find us at http://www.saginawonstage.com/
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Welcome to our Club!
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.
Our annual Saginaw on Stage megaconcert took place March 1, 2019 on three stages at Apple Mountain. The fundraiser featured 12 bands performing along with 16 singer/songwriters. Pictured here is a young attendee participating in a song with performer Pablo Mundo, who calls himself The Human Jukebox.
This year proceeds will benefit All Music Is Power, music performances for special needs students; Major Chords for Minors, a free music instruction program for youths, and Scouts BSA Troop 366, the first all-female Boy Scouts troop in Saginaw County.
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.
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
This summer our club proudly sponsored a Hoyt Park Summer Baseball League team, age 11 and under. We paid for their shirts, hats and Gatorade. The12-member team was coached by Willie Irvin and played 10 games. They were one of six teams in their division.
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.
Held the day before Thanksgiving, it features a turkey dinner with all the fixings and has served upwards of 500 walk-in people annually. That translates to 26 turkeys and 60 home-baked pumpkin pies.
The award included a certificate, a large window decal and a $500 check. -- Photos by Janet I. Martineau
February 21, 2018
Today we presented a check for $5,000 to the Saginaw City Police Department! This will help fund new night goggles and body cameras for our city police officers. Way to go Downtown Rotary Club!
For those of you who help with and participate in our fundraisers, this is a result of your continued support! Thank you!
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. --.jpeg)
Photo by Janet I. Martineau
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d the 52 elves of our club to help fill the Christmas wishes of a mother and her four children under the care of the Underground Railroad of Saginaw. The gifts were delivered in December ...not by sleigh but an SUV.
d the 52 elves of our club to help fill the Christmas wishes of a mother and her four children under the care of the Underground Railroad of Saginaw. The gifts were delivered in December ...not by sleigh but an SUV.Among the students enrolled at Saginaw Valley State University this year are 900 international students from 23 countries. Saudi Arabia, China and Nepal are the leading representatives.
One of our club members, Pat Shelley (far right), has an "in" with this foreign enrollment. He is the International Student Advisor in SVSU's Office of International and Advanced Studies and active with the 50-member International Student Club on campus.
So it was that at an October Rotary Club of Saginaw meeting he brought five of those students to talk about themselves and their countries.
-- Saher Ali from Pakistan (second from left) came dressed in native garb and brought several show and tell items. Her name means early morning.
-- Ashwini Pokharel (fourth from left) from Nepal is a political science major. She is from Kathmandu, known for its its temples.
-- Izabella Ismailova (third from left) from Khazakhstan is a general business major. She is a top-ranked singles and doubles tennis player.
-- Asma Ben Amor (fifth from left) from Tunisia is in a scholarship program for engineering and loves the courses she is taking.
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-- Paul Boursinhac (far left) from France is attending SVSU for just this semester, as a mechanical engineering student. He is already employed by a company back home that designs and crafts airplane seats. He was born in Paris and is a bicycling athlete.One of our club's favorite annual programs is when the students we have sent to the annual leadership program at Camp Rotary speak about their experience.
This year we sent eight students to the four-day session serving 80 students in Michigan. Six of them spoke during our Sept. 23 meeting.
-- Robin Pruitt, a global studies senior at the Saginaw Arts and Sciences (SASA) who plans to attend Western Michigan University and study physical therapy.
-- Cherish Joe, in the art program at SASA who has applied to attend the University of Michigan art school as well as some foreign schools.
-- Theondre Peoples, a theater major at SASA who plans to enter law or medical school but has not yet chosen a college.
-- Ranika Pierson, a senior at Saginaw High School who wants to become a nurse practitioner and plans to attend SVSU.
-- Audreeanna Ramsey, who attends Saginaw High School and would like to become a judge. She plans to attend SVSU.
-- James Hax, a math and science student at SASA who plans to attend Michigan Tech.
The typical day found a motivational speaker in the morning, team building in the afternoon like ropes and obstacle courses, and recreation in the evening like campfires and skits.
It is our club that established, and leases for $1 a year to the Boy Scouts, the 1100 acres of Camp Rotary.
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The students are pictured with club member Pat Shellley, who oversees the selection process.Tom Trombley, the Castle Museum deputy director at left, was awarded an honorary Paul Harris Fellow by our club's Centennial Project Sub-Committee of Evelyn Mudd, Bill Koepke.and Tom Cline, right, during a recent meeting.
It was given in recognition of his service on the project -- researching the copy and photographs for the history of Saginaw mural on display in the lobby of TheDow Event Center. The award was funded by Rotary Foundation Paul Harris Fellow credits from the membership of the subcommittee. -- Photo by Ricardo Verdoni.jpeg)
It was given in recognition of his service on the project -- researching the copy and photographs for the history of Saginaw mural on display in the lobby of TheDow Event Center. The award was funded by Rotary Foundation Paul Harris Fellow credits from the membership of the subcommittee. -- Photo by Ricardo Verdoni
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r club's members achieved perfect attendance during the 2014-2015 year. From left are Melissa Spranger, Ken Santa, Janet Boes, Rod Bieber, Jim Mitchell, Tom Cline and David Oppermann. Missing from the picture is the photographer Janet Martineau, Jim Hayes, Carl Hubinger and Bill Priest.
r club's members achieved perfect attendance during the 2014-2015 year. From left are Melissa Spranger, Ken Santa, Janet Boes, Rod Bieber, Jim Mitchell, Tom Cline and David Oppermann. Missing from the picture is the photographer Janet Martineau, Jim Hayes, Carl Hubinger and Bill Priest.
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
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We recently inducted three new members to our club. From left: Sponsor Ken Santa, new member Jayme Grzegorczyk (in marketing), new member Shiela Little (a life coach), inductor Evelyn Mudd, new member David Gamez (retired from health services) and sponsor Ricardo Verdoni. -- Photo by Janet Boes.
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...jpg)
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
Each year, as winter turns into spring, members of the Rotary Club of Saginaw deliver paperback dictionaries/mini-encyclopedias to third graders in Saginaw County. We are in the process now of delivering 703 copies to 12 public and parochial scchools in Saginaw, Saginaw Township, Shields and Hemlock.
Our members introduce what is in the book to the students, lead them on a brief tour through it, ask a few questions for them to tackle and tell them a little bit about Rotary.
Rotary Club of Saginaw members Bill Mitchell and Bill Priest visited two schools on this day, resulting in this photo. More pictures are on our Facebook page. . -- Photos by Janet I. Martineau
Our club inducted five new members on Wednesday, Feb. 18. From left, accompanied by their sponsors, are Scott Lindenberg, a minister; Jill Lindenberg, an insurance agent; their sponsor Ken Santa; Kathryn Crockett, a banker, sponsored by Santa; club member Evelyn Mudd; Rod Bieber, who sponsored Thom Moffitt, a Salvation Army captain; Sam Merrill, a television news anchor and his sponsor Gary Fahndrich. -- photo by Cameron Brady
A pair of Santa's Rotarian elves paid a pre-Christmas visit to a Saginaw home to deliver our club's adopt-a-family gifts to a mom and her two sons.
Among the nearly 20 gifts are clothing and boots for all three; a vacuum, microwave, silverware, sheets, radio/CD player, kitchen items, and Kroger and Meijer gift cards for mom; a wagon, dump truck toy and games for the two kids.
Oh, and one club member donated this Christmas tree, with all of its lights and decorations included.
The three recipients recently lost just about everything they owned and mom is recovering from a stroke.
Those two elves in the picture also wrapped most of the gifts for club members who are less gifted at that task.
As has been the custom for several years now, on Saturday (Dec. 6) 10 members of our club volunteered as bell ringers for the Salvation Army – filling up an entire day's shift at the north door of Macy's.
Pictured in their Christmas finery are Cathy Tafel, left, and Dayna Neef. Also volunteering were Ken Santa, Cameron Brady, Bill Priest, Gary Fahndrich, David Oppermann, Pat Shelley, Carl Hubinger and Marc Kaeckmeister.
At our Nov. 19 meeting, we drew the winning name for our $5,000 fund-raising raffle. Tickets were $50 each, nearly 200 were sold, and the winner took home a nice check. Doing duty in rotating all the entries was none other than Saginaw Mayor Dennis Browning, who also drew the winning ticket. 
And the winner was.....well, were are keeping it secret so he/she is not pestered by "friends." -- Photos by Janet I. Martineau
Service Above Self
Saginaw, MI
United States of America