Club Meeting Featuring Maria Dismondy, Making Spirits Bright

Reverend Dave Stechholz opened the meeting with the “Pledge of Allegiance.” Twenty people were in attendance in person, and one by Zoom. Reverend Dave followed the pledge with a prayer.

Guests were welcomed to the meeting, Trey and Colleen Dolan Greene were in attendance to help their brother Greg Greene celebrate his birthday. Deanna and Ron Gaffney from the noon Rotary Club of Livonia were sitting in the meeting so they could coordinate actions on the “Rebuild Rotary Park Project,” and upcoming events. Maria Dismondy was also introduced as the guest speaker.

Members cheered seeing Susan Paluchniak on Zoom, who fell during the Five Mile Road Clean Up Project on Saturday. She looked like Rocky Balboa after he lost the fight, but her smile let us know she was recuperating. The club sang “For She is a Jolly Good Fellow,” enthusiastically. Susan thanked all the members who came to her aid, got her to the hospital, and sat with her in the ER. She was discharged yesterday.

Announcements:

Dave Burton, Claude Kendrick, and Bob Carris announced that students from Stevenson High School will host the first meeting on April 14, 2025 at 2:30 to form an Interact Club. These club members will serve as liaisons to the Stevenson Interact Club on behalf of LAMR. Dillon Breen, PE of the Livonia Noon Rotary Club and a Stevenson graduate who championed the formation of the Interact Club, will serve as liaison for the noon Club. Mrs. Ware, a teacher at the school, will serve as the sponsor. Several members of the Churchill High School Interact Club are working with the Stevenson students for support.

Rebuild Rotary Park Project:

Nancy Darga from the Livonia AM Rotary Club and Deanna Gaffney from the noon club announced that today the two Rotary Clubs of Livonia were launching their fundraising campaign to “Rebuild Rotary Park.” Several members took flyers of the project to hand out at the Mayor's State of the City Event that afternoon. It was decided that flyers should be handed out at the Easter Egg Hunt at the park on Saturday, April 19th. Members are to meet on the ball diamond at 8:00 am. It was pointed out that the Rotaract Club of Wayne State will not be helping this year, so volunteers from the Livonia Rotary Clubs are greatly needed. Steve Alexander wants to plant 10 trees at the park in conjunction with rebuilding the comfort station.

Club Meeting Venue Change: There will be no meeting on April 23, 2025, at the Senior Center. LAMR club members are attending the Mayor’s Ambassador Breakfast at Laurel Manor at 8:00 AM, club members must RSVP.

District Governor Golf Outing: Erin Dobbins and Bill Friske reported that

the first planning meeting for the District Governor's Golf Outing was held at Lakes of Taylor. This year, four Rotary Clubs offered to join in organizing and promoting the event it. Bill and Erin are looking forward to the support.

Happy Bucks:

A joyful chorus of Happy Birthday was sung for member Greg Greene. The song was led by his brother Trey Greene and his wife Colleen, both from the Detroit Rotary Club. Dave Burton shared with the group a quote from Oscar Wilde,

“Some Cause Happiness Wherever They Go, Some Cause Happiness Whenever They Go.”

Guest Speaker Maria Dismondy from “Making Spirits Bright,” shared that she was a former schoolteacher. Reverend Dave pointed out that she is a celebrated author who has published more than 10 books in the “Realistic Fiction” genre. While publishing her books, she discovered that books that are not sold are “pulped,” destroyed. She also learned that cities have book banks where books are collected. She got the idea of collecting these books and distributing them in areas referred to as “Book Deserts.” She showed a map delineating these areas in red. These collected books are now being distributed at “Free Book Fairs.”

Maria's organization also sets up book fairs in schools, allowing kids to take up to five books. Her organization is partnered with “Brilliant Detroit.” Making Spirits Bright is also partnered with Storehouse Community in Grand Rapids. Books are given for distribution to teachers working at Title One Schools.

The Livonia Education Association held a “Donate a Book Program.” Originally, she stored books in her garage. Now she uses a donated storage facility. Books that are too damaged are recycled through GLS. They have distributed more than 100,000 books. Volunteers are needed to sort the books.

If interested, contact support@Makingspiritsbright.org.

Greg Greene shared a few good jokes with the group.

Nancy Darga