Sgt Ryan Hayne and Cooper, Livonia Police Department

The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and a meditative thought by Mike Ladwig.

President Dave reported that the Stevenson HS Interact club formation is well underway.

Nancy Darga, Bill Friske, Bob Carris, and Dave Stechholz will be attending PETS in Kalamazoo March 20th – 22nd. Nancy will attend her President-Elect training classes, while the rest will be manning our 4-Way-Test soccer ball booth.

Reminder: Please invite guests to next week’s meeting on ShelterBox.

Steve Alexander reported on the Trivia Night Fundraiser at One Under on April 3rd to benefit The Livonia Symphony. We already have one table but could get another if there is interest. Contact Steve Alexander.

An update on the Rotary Park Pavilion was given by Nancy Darga:

The City has asked the two Livonia Clubs to help rebuild the two Pavilions and restrooms destroyed by the tornado. The insurance settlement is $250,000 which leaves a shortfall of $300,000 that the city wants us to raise.

The City has offered to help us raise the funds by offering us the opportunity to man two events during the Spree, The Beer Tent and The Wine Pull on Friday June 27th, from 5 - 7 PM. The wine tasting would be at the Eddie Edgar Arena. We would be able to keep all the tip money to use toward rebuilding the pavilions. The city has also offered us the ability to work these events next year as well. There is a lot of work involved, plus many people will be needed to work the events. More information will be provided as the plans are formalized.

Today's program is Sergeant Ryan Hayne, Livonia Police Department, and his dog, Cooper, a therapy dog. Livonia was the first department in Wayne County to have a Crisis Prevention Program. Cooper is a Goldendoodle and loves to work with people.

Sergeant Ryan told the story about an event that occurred at Clarenceville HS where an adult was helping with the setup for a play. He fell from a ladder and died. Sergeant Ryan and Cooper were invited to the school to talk to the students involved with the incident. When Cooper and Sergeant Ryan came into the room assigned to them, all the students were crying. As the students were talking to Sergeant Ryan about their emotions, Cooper was walking among the kids, being petted. The attitude of the kids was slowly changing during the interaction with Cooper and Sergeant Ryan. Smiles appeared on faces, and tears disappeared.

Cooper is also involved with Lunch with a Cop where they spend lunch time eating with students. Cooper has been called in to be with a child being interviewed by the police. The Livonia police department also has two tracking dogs.

Sergeant Ryan reports that the city has pill disposal sites at each police department. Citizens bring their pills to the Police Department where you will be given a bag that you empty the unwanted pills into and give the bag back to police. They do not accept syringes or gels. CVS does accept syringes.

Passport to Safety program was presented by Cheryl Bowker from Allstate Insurance. Our club helped with this event last year, and we intend to do so again this year. The date is June 7th at the police and fire departments from 10 to 2 PM. This event started 26 years ago and has grown in size. There are anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 people in attendance. This year, they have several new stations: a blow-up smokehouse for kids to go through, railroad safety, and school bus safety, where kids can get on a school bus.

Susan Paluchniak