Club Meeting, Featuring: Ashley Flintoff, Executive Director, Friends of the Rouge

Our meeting was opened by President Nancy Darga by the sounding of the bell.

Members recited the Pledge of Allegiance. The Invocation was given by Bob Carris. Happy Bucks were collected by Sharon Pommerville.

President Nancy spoke about a movie that is currently at the theatre, which she went to see, named “Breathe”. Nancy joined numerous Rotarians from around our district at the Capitol Theatre in Windsor. It’s the story of Robin Cavendish, who, in the 1950s, was stricken with polio at age 28 but went on to live a rich life, full of adventure and advocacy despite being paralyzed and requiring a respirator. Nancy recounted how it brought back memories of her battle with polio as a child.

Several items that Nancy discussed with the members: 

• Councilman Robb Donovic gave $500.00 to the club towards the Rotary Pavilion.

  

• The Spaghetti Dinner grossed approximately $8,792.25.

  

• The club’s first meeting at the new Senior Center will be on November 19th.

• A reminder to members that our meeting on November 26 will be held at George’s Senate Coney Island on Haggerty between 5 and 6 Mile.

Our speaker today was Ashley Flintoff, Executive Director of Friends of the 

Rouge, for one and a half years. The non-profit was established in 1986 to restore and protect the Rouge River and the Watershed it forms. 

To understand how important it is, the Watershed contains 467 acres of land encompassing 3 counties and 48 communities. The Rouge River empties into the Detroit River which is also where our drinking water comes from.

In 1948 all of the industrial waste that had been going into the Rouge reached new heights causing so much pollution that most of the fish, frogs and bugs that were a normal part of a clean river were gone. In 1969, it was so bad that the Rouge river caught file and flames rose 55 feet into the air. The Water Act was passed in 1972, in part due to the fire in the Rouge.

The Friends of the Rouge are now planning and building Rain Gardens to help contain water runoff. They also constantly monitor the river for trash, industrial waste, and take periodic counts of fish, frogs, toads, and a variety of bugs, such as the stone fly, which all tell them how healthy the river is. There are even Sturgeon appearing back in the river.

The Friends of the Rouge recently received a grant from the LCF to help with their ongoing work to keep the Rouge River Watershed clean and healthy. The also have education programs for kids, and there are walking paths, one of which is 29 miles all the way to the Detroit River. There are also water trails for kayaking and a Greenway. Friends of the Rouge are celebrating their 40th Anniversary next year.

President Darga then presented Ashley with the Rotary Soccer Ball.

Marlene Katafias