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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!

Meeting Notice and Club News

Coming Up This Week



President David Stechholz invites you to a Hybrid Zoom meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 29, 2024, at 7:30 AM.


Our speaker will be Veronica Cruz, Executive Director, Breaking Barriers for Kids and Families, Invocation by Bob Carris.

Breaking Barriers MI is a dedicated non-profit organization, recognized as a 501(c)(3), committed to enriching the lives of children and families in our community. We bring together civic-minded business and educational leaders to support families in need within Wayne and Oakland Counties, particularly those qualifying under Title One or ALICE. Our efforts are channeled through six food pantries, ensuring vital resources reach those who need them most.

In·vo·ca·tion


During our last meeting, Rev. David Stechholz gave the Invocation. Thank you, Dave!


WE ARE ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR VOLUNTEERS TO GIVE THE INVOCATION AT THE START OF OUR MEETINGS.


Please inform Mike Ladwig if you want to lead us with a spiritual or inspiring message to start our meeting.

4th Annual Livonia All-Stars vs Red Wings Alumni Game

January 26, 2025

Our club stepped up and helped the organizers of the 4th Annual Livonia All-Stars vs The Red Wings Alumni Game for Charity.


Club member Eric Ladwig said, "The enthusiasm for this year's event matched last year's. It was just so joyous to see how many young kids were just coming in and smiling with their parents and grandparents. This truly was a family event."

More Photos

Member News

Club Assembly Breakfast Meeting at The Senate Coney Island

January 22, 2025

Our meeting last week was a Club Assembly. The location was at the Senate Coney Island on Haggerty because the Senior Center was closed due to extremely frigid winter temperatures. The meeting was led by President-Elect Nancy Darga since our President, Dave Stechholz, was on vacation.



There were two important items on the agenda; voting on accepting a new member, Tom Martin, and voting on going forward with an endorsement, by our club, to challenge the nominating committee’s selection for District Governor, Scott Collier, to serve in 2027-2028. There was much discussion at our last Board Meeting and at today’s meeting, as to the history of challenging a committee’s selection, what it means to challenge and why someone may feel it necessary to challenge the committee’s selection. In this case, several club members felt that another candidate should have been nominated. That candidate is Therese Maggioncalda. The process of challenging requires that there are a total of ten Rotary Clubs that challenge the committee’s current selection. When that occurs, there will be a revote to redetermine the choice between Scott and Therese. A vote of our members was taken and resulted in 7 people in agreement to challenge and 4 people against. Therefore, Secretary Victoria Haltom signed and dated the letter that was drafted by District Governor Nick Krayacich, which endorses challenging the committee’s selection of Scott Collier for District Governor. Assistant District Governor Erin Dobbins emailed the letter to Nick at today’s meeting in compliance with meeting the required due date of January 24, 2025.


Tom Martin, retired and a former member of the Rotary Noon Cub, having met the qualifications for membership, received a unanimous vote to be a new Livonia AM Rotary Club member. Congratulations Tom!


Bill Friske presented a grant request by the Livonia Civic Ballet, requesting a grant in the amount of $1,500. Our club has regularly supported this organization in the past. Discussion was on what the ballet company intended to use the grant funds for and it was decided by a unanimous vote to grant them $750. This vote opened up a discussion about how to handle the criteria and process for allocating grants in the future. Concern was expressed about our club’s financial health, how to get beneficial feedback from grantees as to how they used the grant, how to enhance Rotary’s community connection through grant giving, and how to increase the support of Rotary can provide to those in our community who need assistance, not just through money but in other ways.


Further discussion resulted in these suggestions and ideas:

  1. Nancy Darga suggested that our club create testimonial videos that can be placed on our website.
  2. Bill Friske said he encourages grantees to submit a brief memo and pictures of how they used their grant money.
  3. Victoria Haltom stated that members include Rotary events on their personal social media pages to show the diversity of our club’s projects.
  4. Dawn Magretta stated that she would share the template used for grant applicants at Schoolcraft College.
  5. Tammy Bonifield and Nancy intend to create a detailed accounting of what, where, and how our club’s income and expenditures are obtained and used.
  6. Bob Carris, Pat Zucal, and Tammy are expecting to go to the bank to investigate putting a reserve amount of the club’s money into a Money Market account.


The food was good, the atmosphere was warm and cozy, and the ideas were flowing -making it a wonderful gathering and productive meeting.


Victoria Haltom

Forgotten Harvest Volunteer Opportunity

February 08, 2025


Our club has committed to volunteering at Forgotten Harvest (15000 Eight Mile, in Oak Park) on March 8th, 1:00 - 4:00 PM. This is an excellent opportunity to help others and is always an enjoyable experience. Please consider volunteering. A Signup Genius will be sent out soon so members can sign up.


Upcoming Club Meetings


01/29/2025 - Veronica Cruz, Executive Director, Breaking Barriers for Kids and Families, Invocation by Bob Carris, Board Meeting to Follow.


02/05/2024 - Club Assembly, Invocation by Victoria Haltom.


02/12/2025 - Deanna Gaffney, Livonia Rotary (Noon) Club, The Story of Livonia AM's Charter Night, Invocation by Nancy Darga.


02/19/2025 -  Kathy Bilger, Livonia's Historic Cemeteries, Invocation by Greg Greene.


02/26/2025 - Maureen Miller Brosnan, Mayor City of Livonia, Invocation by Rev. David Stechholz, Board Meeting to Follow.

Upcoming Events


01/30/2025 - Non-Profit Networking at the Bennett Civic Center Library, 32777 Five Mile Road, Livonia, 9:00 AM, RSVP Kristen Edson, kedson@LivoniaPublicLibrary.org


02/08/2025 - Forgotten Harvest Volunteer Opportunity, 15000 Eight Mile Road, Oak Park, MI, 1:00 - 4:00 PM, Details to Follow.


02/28/2025 - Westland Rotary Club Trivia Night, 6:00 PM, Joy Manor, Event Details HERE.


09/09/2025 - Rotary & Schoolcraft College Night at Comerica Park, Go Tigers! Details to Follow.

Join Us

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!

Past Meetings and Events

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