A tryst with RC of AA

Rtn. S. K. Mitra visits Rotary Clubs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, during a trip to USA

I have just spent over a month with my daughter, Srimoyee (Director, Stamps Gallery) and her family in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. I have been here before but this was a longish stay as Srimoyee delivered her second child a few weeks
back. I therefore had time to look up Rotary Clubs in this area. Ann Arbor is a beautiful, friendly, University town with amazing India connections. As expected in this height of cold weather I received warm welcome from the RCs here.

I first attended the meeting of RCAA North on January 3. PP Rtn. Manish Mehta offered to pick me up. This club meets on Thursdays at noon at the Holiday Inn, Plymouth Road. This is a small club. It was chartered by RCAA in 1967, but the way they conduct the meetings and take up various social projects is remarkable. Manish himself has led projects in Sunderbans in West Bengal, Africa etc. He is now planning a sanitation project in Nepal. His network is impressive. I was warmly received by the members and the President Joyce Williams.

I then attended a meeting of the hundred-year-old RCAA on January 16. Here, again, PP Ashish D. Sarkar and his wife Norma were very warm in welcoming and introducing me to the members and President Greg Stejskal, Resident Nominee Rosemarie Rooney. This is a much bigger club with many activities. They meet at Weber’s Inn at noon.

Membership at RCAA stands over 325 and out of 34500 Rotary Clubs, only 32 are larger than RCAA.

I did take the opportunity in both the Clubs to mention that ours is one of the biggest and oldest in India and in the world, with a large number of wonderful projects.

My experience in AA now motivates me to visit clubs in other cities during my frequent trips, which I have not tried in the past.