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A TOAST TO US! Via Downs Herold, received Feb. 18, 2010

Dear J Downs Herold.

As a part of Rotary’s objective of advancing international understanding, the Rotary Club of West Wollongong, NSW, Australia, at each of its weekly meetings, recognises another member Club from the world of Rotary. On 10th February 2010 our Club formally recognised the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor Michigan USA. For your information I am forwarding a copy of the toast proposed in recognition of your Rotary Club.

The Rotary Club of West Wollongong is in District 9750, Australia, which is centered on the southern part of city of Sydney, NSW, and extends south to Wollongong and Kiama and also includes some of the south western suburbs of Sydney. The Club was formed in 1964 and has 32 members. We have a strong interest in International Service and have participated in Rotary Youth Exchange for thirty years. We are also involved in Group Study Exchange and the Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship program.

We hope that this is of interest to your members.

Regards Patrick Roberts, Secretary

 

Rotary Club of West Wollongong Inc., Rotary International District 9750, Email pcr1@bigpond.com Wollongong NSW 2520

 
INTERNATIONAL TOAST   10 FEBRUARY 2010
ROTARY CLUB OF ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, USA
 
The toast tonight is to the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
 
Ann Arbor is the home of the University of Michigan, the alma mater of Arthur Miller, the American playwright who died on this date, 10 February, in 2005.
 
Arthur Miller was born in 1915 in New York. He graduated with a BA from the University of Michigan in 1938 and moved into the world of the theatre. All My Sons was a success on Broadway in 1946. Perhaps his best known play, Death of a Salesman, was written in 1948. It received its premiere in 1949 to great acclaim. Death of a Salesman won a Tony Award for Best Author, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Circle Critics’ Award – the first play to do so in the one year. In 1952, Miller came up against Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee, at one stage being denied a passport to attend the London opening of The Crucible. This play, nominally about the witch trials in Salem, was an allegorical statement about McCarthyism. Arthur Miller married Marilyn Monroe in 1956. They divorced in 1961. Miller maintained a strong association with the University of Michigan throughout his life establishing Awards for Drama and lending his name to the Arthur Miller Theatre at Ann Arbor.
 
The Rotary Club of Ann Arbor was formed in 1916 with 15 charter members. It met originally at the Catalpa Inn. The Club moved to the Michigan Union when it opened and still meets there. It now has 319 members and meets on Wednesday. The Club President is Louis M Callaway and the Secretary is J Downs Herold.
 

February closing of the John Leidy Shop will mark end to an Ann Arbor tradition

John Leidy owner Liz Arsenault and long-time employee Lyn Sleator stand at the front counter of the store located on E. Liberty St. in downtown Ann Arbor.  Story and photos from Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com, Jan. 17, 2010

The holiday season can be overwhelming for an independent retailer.But it’s the weeks after the holiday that fit that description right now at the John Leidy Shop.

The store - a fixture on East Liberty for nearly 50 years - will close by the end of February.
 
The decision was difficult for the family, said Liz Leidy, daughter of the store’s founder and namesake.
 
“We’ve had a really hard time deciding to close the store,” she said. “It’s been very emotional. None of us Leidys have a memory of Ann Arbor without the store.”
 
Many people who have spent years in the city can say the same thing.
 
The emotional connections felt by long-time customers and residents remain strong. Lifelong Ann Arborites remember shopping at the store, receiving gifts from the store and even working at it.
 
The store once sat among one of the city’s busiest retail districts, which for years served as the primary shopping area for Washtenaw County.
 
The John Leidy store “was extremely popular,” recalled Max Goldman, whose family-owned the Marti Walker clothing store on South State Street in the building now occupied by Sava’s Restaurant.
 
At one time, Marti Walker was among 26 clothing retailers near South State. And in those years, the John Leidy Shop was the leading high-end gift store in town,
complementing the offerings at Jacobson’s, Wilkinson Leather on Main Street and Artisan on South University. All already have closed.
 
“When you gave a gift from Leidy’s, the recipient knew very well what the store was, so it was considered a very nice gift,” Goldman said.
 
John Leidy opened the store in 1951 with his late wife, who died in 1955. He married Ann Leidy in 1959, after meeting her at a trade show and persuading her to move from New York, where she worked for an importer.
 
The shop occupied two storefronts, on either side of the Michigan Theater, at that time.
 
One side sold fine china. The other stocked the everyday dinnerware. Today, those lines are merged into a single space after a decision four years ago to consolidate.
 
John Leidy died in 1993, but it’s still family-run store. Ann Leidy still works there. So does Lupe Leidy, who is married to John Leidy Jr. And Liz - who still uses the Leidy name along with her married name, Arsenault - returned to Michigan in 1990 after four years in California to work in the store.
 
Today, three other siblings live out of state - Ellen is in Vermont; Mary is in North Carolina; and Peter is in Wisconsin.
 
But all shared in the decision to close the store, Liz said.
 
The conversations, she said, started over recent years as the economics of running a traditional independent store in a changing retail environment eroded.
 
The consolidation signaled the first response to the changes. And there was hope that the store could survive.
 
“But this time we said (closing) might just be inevitable,” Liz said.
 
As the family and the store’s 6 employees move toward the late February closing date, they’re dealing with selling off the inventory. As the store clears, the fixtures will be sold.
 
But the family and staff also are saying goodbye. They’re close to each other. “We’ve known each other a long time,” Liz said.
 
They’re also close to customers, many of whom have shopped for their best tableware and most special gifts, like Georg Jensen jewelry, in the store.
 
Many come in as they hear that the store will close. But they’re not finding sadness. It’s an emotional time, Liz said, “but its’ been very, very nice. … It’s been overwhelming. And very busy. People want to linger.”
 
The Leidy closing signals the ongoing evolution of Ann Arbor’s retail district, Goldman said. It’s still vital, but the mix is changing toward a campus-oriented clientele and an entertainment district. Many retailers follow more contemporary trends, leaving a challenge for traditional stores amid the corresponding higher rental rates.
 
And the high-end tabletop business has changed, with mass-market merchants like Williams Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, and Ikea pushing more casual styles on all segments of the price spectrum. Manufacturers also are selling directly to customers. Liz recalls losing the popular Georg Jensen jewelry and tableware lines when the company decided to sell exclusively in their own stores.
 
Those types of changes pressured the John Leidy Shop, and the pressures continue for the remaining long-time businesses in town.
 
“We’re very sad about it,” said Bud VanDeWege Jr., second-generation owner of Moe’s Sport Shop on North University. “Even if you understand how it came to be.”
 
He hopes Ann Arbor holds onto its memories of the store.
 
“It’s vital to remember that the John Leidy Shop and Liz Leidy’s tenure there was a success,” he said. “… Just remember how long they were in business and how long they did very well.”
 
Liz won’t be alone by the last day the store is open. Staff, customers and family already are planning to join her there.
 
But as of now, she can’t say when that last day will come. The lease runs through the end of February, and she plans to stay open as long as it takes to clear the store.
 
Some days, it seems like it could come sooner. Other days, she’s convinced she’ll need all of February.
 
But for now, she’s thankful to her staff and customers. And she’s thankful that the weeks spend preparing to close so far have been uplifting and positive. She’s been in the store as much as possible.
 
“I really don’t want to take a day off,” she said. “I’ve wanted to see everyone who’s come in. I’ve wanted to thank everyone.”
 
There’s even a renewed connection to her father through the process.
 
She knows that he’d be greeting their customers by name, and thanking them, too.
 
She also thinks he’d be proud of the family’s tough decision. And that he’d be supporting them as they wind down the store that together they built into an Ann Arbor institution.
 
If John Leidy were still around, Liz said, “I think he’d be helping us.”
 
leidy-historic.jpg

Dave Felbeck in USA Today!

The following letter by Dave Felbeck was published on January 12 on USAToday’s online edition, as well as in the national print edition. Since they get 900 letters per week, getting one published is something of an accomplishment! Congratulations, Dave!

Drop in crime
David K. Felbeck - Ann Arbor, Mich.
USA TODAY's editorial regarding the possible causes of the drop in crime since the 1990s neglected one of the most likely causes: armed citizens ("As crime keeps dropping, it's no time for backsliding," Our view, public safety debate, Thursday).
Beginning in 1987, when Florida passed "shall issue" legislation that allowed any honest person to carry a concealed pistol, other states have passed similar legislation. A total of 40 are right-to-carry states. The presence of several million armed honest citizens could be a reason for marked reduction in crime. Criminals are reluctant to prey on people who may be armed.
Posted at 12:07 AM/ET, January 12, 2010 in Criminal Justice - Letters, Letter to the editor

Don Faber's book wins award!

Don Faber's book, "The Toledo War," now in its third printing, has just won the Historical Society of Michigan's first place award in history writing. Congratulations, Don!

Dec. 2, 2009--from Joe Marr

The Results are in! $50,000 Raised for Polio Plus by NC Rotary – Joe Marr of Sandler Training - Ann Arbor Assists

 
Our member Joe Marr of Sandler Training – Ann Arbor traveled to assist the Crescent Rotary with a fund raiser called ‘Grow Your Business and Help a Great Cause’ in October. It was a unique fundraising campaign, Sandler Training donating a day of sales and sales management training conducted by Joe and 3 other trainers for 200 business people to eradicate polio, one of Rotary International’s top focus areas.
 
“The day of professional development drew an excellent response!” said Abby Donnelly, a past president of Crescent Rotary, District Membership Chair and RLI Chair. ‘When business professionals improve their leadership, management and sales skills, everyone wins!” Joe Marr added “It’s a real value-added approach to fundraising; businesses actually learn practical skills for building their businesses– while we raised a lot of money to eradicate polio.’ 
 
With sponsorship support from local businesses, including presenting sponsor Sandler Training, the day netted over $50,000. When combined with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation match, it will provide funding to vaccinate over 276,845 children from polio. Since more than 70% of the participants were not Rotarians (yet!), it also broadened Rotary’s visibility in the district and provided membership growth potential. 
 
District Governor Mike Conrad says, “The program is an example of creative ways to involve the community in the world-wide campaign to eradicate polio and to tell the story of what Rotary is doing outside our own area”. Crescent Rotary is already planning another day of Professional Development to ‘Grow Your Business, and Help a Great Cause’ for October 18, 2010, because of this year’s success.