Blog

Ron Renz has been flying for 46 years, getting started in college when his boss paid for his first flight. Ron is an aerospace engineer and an experimental test pilot and operates an aircraft management business at Lawrence Municipal Airport. He provides all aspects of operating and maintaining aircraft, including consulting services. Ron related in detail a flight over the North Atlantic made in March 2020 to deliver a Mitsubishi MU-2B turbo prop to Germany. The aircraft buyer and two other passengers were also aboard. Fueling stops were made in Maine, Iceland, Greenland and Scotland. The threat of bad weather, terrible visibility and great distances made such a flight particularly challenging. Careful preparation and an understanding of the plane’s requirements and limitations are essential. The trip was made just as countries were closing their borders due to Covid. However, the flight was a success. Ron Renz is clearly a man who loves his job.

Amanda Sellet appreciates a good story, be it in print or on film. She studied cinema at NYU and aspired to be a journalist. Unfortunately, it was at the moment newspapers began to fail or sharply cut staff. She and her husband moved to Kansas, had a daughter and Amanda began to freelance her work. It seemed natural to give fiction writing a try and her first books were Young Adult novels. “Belittled Women” was a retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”, a playful remix of the original. Her Young Adult novels have been popular and well reviewed. “Hate to Fake it to You” is her most recent adult novel and a retelling of the classic holiday film, “Christmas in Connecticut.” It involves a popular online influencer who fakes her credentials. Amanda shared her frustration and humor regarding her experience with the publishing industry. Her books are available from many sources, including the Raven Book Store.

Steven Davis, President of Harvesters International, runs a food bank that does major work in Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas. Harvesters International is located in Lawrence and provides food and related household items to more than 900 nonprofit agencies. The organization works with food pantries, community kitchens, homeless shelters, and children’s homes in a 27 county service area. Harvesters International also has a mission to address hunger education, advocacy and public policy. A coalition of business, faith community and social services leaders in the Kansas City area came together in 1979 to work on food waste and hunger. A non profit was formed that has grown steadily and now serves 340,000 people and distributed 61 million pounds of food last year. Steven indicated that twelve per cent of the population are food insecure and only about half the need is being met. He noted that Harvesters International works closely with organizations serving the food insecure in Douglas County.

In the spirit of getting new club members and long time members up to speed on Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio, a Lawrence Central trio updated members on this critical commitment. Janice Bunker provided background on the impact of the disease and the international efforts to fight it. Polio is a highly contagious and crippling disease that caused world wide misery. Jonas Salk discovered a vaccine in 1955 that successfully provided protection from the disease. The United States experienced the last case in 1979, but the disease still raged in other parts of the world. In 1985 Rotary joined with the Gates Foundation and the Center for Disease Control to form a Global Initiative to eradicate polio. By 1988 world wide cases were reduced by 99.9 per cent. Melissa Sieben described how climate change, geography and war can set back efforts to vaccinate. Presently, there are only seventy some active cases in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, the disease can be quickly reintroduced to a population not fully vaccinated. Bob Rademacher shared personal stories of family members who were afflicted and disabled by the disease. The Global Initiative is on the verge of eliminating polio, providing every last case is accounted for. Rotary support is more important than ever and donations are matched by the Gates Foundation.

Club member Daniel Palen is a frequent flyer, which is truly an understatement. When Daniel is not working his regular job as a City of Lawrence police officer, there is a good chance he is on a trip somewhere, logging credit card points for a future trip. Daniel has logged 1.6 million lifetime miles and visited 47 states, 37 countries, and 5 continents. Daniel became fascinated with travel at an early age and did travel writing and reviews for a number of years. Daniel relies on a couple of travel sites for information that help him travel with minimal out-of-pocket expense. Flyertalk is an expert frequent flyer community site that provides a forum for travel and points. He also recommends Google Flights for booking and general travel information. Daniel reviewed several of the best credit cards and the merits of their points systems. However, he maintains the best part of his travels is meeting new people and making new friends.