february 12th, 2026 meeting minutes

​Present: Tim Root, Hal Hultman, Cheryl VanVliet, Maureen Posler, Elijah Canfield, Hetty Tarplay, Diana Bolton, Sue Meisner, and Theresa Furget.
Elijah called the meeting to order at 6:31 PM.

1. Additions & Corrections: None.
2. January 8th, 2026, Minutes: Hal made a motion and Mauren seconded it to approve the minutes of January 8th, 2026. Motion Passed.
3. Treasurer’s Report: Dan was not in attendance. Theresa reported that he has paid Civitan International (CI) quarterly dues and will provide a February financial statement at the next business meeting in March.
4. Correspondence: Elijah reported that he received a letter from Michael Morgan CI President (2024-2025) thanking the club for its passion, commitment to the mission of Civitan and for recruiting three new club members for the 2024-2025 year. A recruitment award was received and Cheryl will attach it to the KVCC banner. Diana reported that she received notification from Active Faith concerning the Strike- Out -Hunger event scheduled for Sunday March 8th, 2026, at Pinz Bowling Center located at 700 N. Lafayette St. St. Lyon, 48178. The event goes from 3-5 PM and includes 2 slices of pizza and unlimited pop/lemonade. It also includes the bowling shoes. There are 2 levels of sponsorship: Event sponsorship at a cost of $300 or Lane sponsor at a cost of $150. Can have up to 6 bowlers per lane at a cost of $30 per bowler. Members decided to be a lane sponsor. Diana made a motion and Hetty seconded it to spend $150 out of the MP account to be a lane sponsor and to spend $180 out of the general account for at least 6 bowlers (and more if needed) to participate in the event. Motion passed. Dan will take care of the lane sponsorship and write a check to Active Faith for $150. Theresa will take care of purchasing the online tickets for bowlers. (Note: Theresa went online concerning the bowler tickets and there’s a $3.85 service fee per ticket. She’ll go ahead and purchase tickets for at least 6 bowlers for now at a cost of $203.10. If additional tickets are needed, she’ll take care of it.)
5. MRR (Members Retention/Recruitment Committee: Diana mentioned about the club paying dues for former members that can’t afford it but really want to participate in club events. Members thought this was a great idea and could be done for a year as needed. Maureen made a motion and Tim seconded it, to pay dues for 1 year for former members who aren’t able to afford it currently to come out of the general account. Motion passed. Maureen will contact the individual that this pertains to and let them know. (Note: Theresa will do the paperwork with CI at the next quarter, which is April 1st.)
6. Open Discussion:
   1. Member Health Updates: Cheryl reported that Vivian is doing well. Cheryl stated she has recovered from her pneumonia. Maureen is currently doing much better too.
   2. Business Meeting Change of Location: Theresa explained that the Lyon Twp. Library has told her that they need the club to move to another location starting in March and not in May as originally planned. She has contacted Kathy Merucci at the Salem-S. Lyon District Library (located at 9800 Pontiac Trail, S. Lyon, 48178). She asked for bigger meeting rooms and this will depend upon the librarians and what events they may have planned. She also asked for the room that has the kitchen for the December Christmas/Wrapping party, this too will depend upon what programs the librarians will be scheduling. In the meantime, the club is on a waiting list for the December date and should know some time by the end of July the availability for the requested room. Since the club is scheduled for different rooms within the library for the remainder of the year, she won’t confuse you with all of the different rooms. For the March 12th business meeting the club will be in the Fireplace Area, which is an open area and will be shared with patrons of the library. Kathy indicated this is a fairly quiet area (and it’s the only meeting that is not in an enclosed area). Theresa is going to set up a meeting with Kathy for a tour of the library and all of the meeting rooms. This will be done prior to the March 12th business meeting and will let members know if they’re interested in joining her. Unfortunately, it will be during the daytime.
   3. Club Tee Shirts: Cheryl passed out the tee shirts and will take second orders now. Must let her know by February 26th, 2026 (the dinner meeting at Teresita’s) whether you want to order more tee shirts.
   4. Region 6 Focused Philanthropy: Elijah went over the handout concerning Region 6 Civitan Focused Philanthropy. A brief summary is to refocus on improving the lives of people with intellectual and developments disabilities (IDD) through direct service and strong community partnerships. Club should do one IDD project a year at a level that fits. (Levels range from lowest time commitment, moderate commitment, and higher commitment.) No matter what level, make sure to do it right and well. This led to a discussion of what the club could do. When the club was first chartered, Cheryl reached out (numerous times) to the Special Olympics group to see how the club could get involved. Unfortunately, this was not successful. Thad also reached out (for a couple of years) in trying to get the Special Ed department within the school system to participate in the Inspire Movement Project to no avail. Just need to get the club’s foot into these groups. CI is now affiliated with ARC. There was discussion of contacting ARC in Oakland, and Washtenaw counties. Cheryl will contact CI about how the club can get involved with ARC. Camp Civitan (which does focus on the IDD community) was discussed about more counselors and volunteers are needed during camp both day and night, (camp is June 4th-7th this year). Also getting an individual with IDD within the community to attend camp was discussed and sponsoring a scholarship ($230) for a camper to attend. The Plymouth-Canton Civitan Club has had Ken Britton, a coach for a wheelchair soccer group, who spoke to them last year. This might be a group that the club can help out. The Region 6 Focused Philanthropy will continue to be discussed at future meetings.
   5. Lyon Twp. Library Donation: Tabled until March 12th, 2026.
   6. Youth Entrepreneur Market (YEM) (5/8, 6/13, 7/11, 8/8, 9/12)-Elijah: Pontiac Trail Rd. will be under construction this year from April to November and will go from 9 Mile Rd. to just north of the downtown area. This will impact the downtown area and YEM. Discussion was whether to move YEM to another location, not have it this year, or have it in the same location as always (Biggby 22729 Pontiac Trail, S. Lyon, 48178). It was decided to keep it at the Biggby Store and it’ll run from 10 AM to 3 PM with set up starting around 8:45 AM. Will need to do more marketing for the event (as sales will be down do to the road construction). Continuation of using Civitan Bucks was discussed, just not sure whether this will be continued as there was some issues with the use of them last year. Application (cost $100) needs to be made to the City Council for YEM. Diana made a motion and Hetty seconded it, to pay the $100 application fee out of the general account. Motion passed.
   7. High School Scholarships-Maureen: Generally, one scholarship is given to each high School (S. Lyon HS and S. Lyon East HS). Have given two out to each school in the past. The scholarship amount is $1,000. Discussion was whether to stay with one scholarship per school or make it two per school. While there’s currently sufficient funds in the MP account to cover the cost of four scholarships, the Charity Poker fundraising events (2 per year) barely takes in enough money to cover four scholarships to be given every year. Funding may be a potential issue in the future. Also, don’t want the schools to know how many scholarships are being given out each year as it can change. Essays are usually due in April, winning essays are determined in May and the scholarships are awarded in June. Essays must discuss the individual’s leadership and community service with details of what they’ve done and how it has changed their lives. The committee usually consists of Cheryl, Paulina, Paige, and Maureen. Maureen will contact Paulina and Paige to see if they still want to serve on the committee. Anyone wanting to serve can also contact Maureen. Maureen made a motion, and Diana seconded it, to award at least one scholarship each to S. Lyon HS and S. Lyon East HS, and up to two per school (if warranted by the quality of the essays), with each scholarship being $1,000 a piece (2 Scholarships-$2,000; 4 Scholarships-$4,000) to come out of the MP account. Motion passed.
   8. Lyon Twp. Kitefest-Elijah: This will be held June 6th-7th, 2026 at the Atchison Memorial Park located at 58000 Grand Rive, New Hudson, 48165. Karissa and Mark are on the Kitefest committee and they need more members to join, as current members are retiring. Volunteers are needed to work the Kitefest. Need individuals to work the information desk-Maureen stated she was interested. They also need individuals to work the kite making booth. More details to follow.
7. Project Updates:
   1. Group Home Greeting Card Program: None.
8. Upcoming Events:
   1. Region 6 Convention March 13th-14th Clarksville TN: Karissa and Elijah are driving down to it. Friday the 13th activities go from 6-9PM and Saturday the 14th goes from 8 AM to 2 PM, this includes lunch. Registration is $25 and rooms at the Double Tree by Hilton Riverview Inn in Clarksville are $139 per night.
   2. Poker 2026 Dates:

i.March 19th-22nd: Thurs/Fri Days (9:30 AM-6 PM); Sat/Sun Nights (6:15 PM-2 AM): Elijah will send Theresa the Signup Genius link and she’ll send it out to members. Location is Vision Lanes, located at 38250 Ford Rd. Westland, 48185.
ii.June 25th-28th: Thurs/Fri Nights; Sat/Sun Nights.
iii.The poker vendor Krazy Kopz has a second venue-Ivory Room (this is a pool hall) in Westland, just down the street from Vision Lanes that they’re trying to get established. This is running on Mon-Wed from 10 AM to Midnight. It’s a much slower venue, only one table and no tournaments. The Plymouth Canton Civitan Club has worked just finished their second event there and not sure of the actual profit yet. Elijah indicated that Krazy Kopz keeps contacting him when there’s an opening at this location.

1. Adopt-A-Road-Spring Cleanup: The April dates are April 11th-19th. Member’s decided to do the clean up on Sat April 11th, with the April 12th being the make-up date if needed. The club will not do a July cleanup but will do the fall cleanup on Saturday September 19th with the makeup date of September 20th. On April 11th meet in the New Hudson Biggby parking lot at 10 AM. This Biggby is located at 30771 Milford Rd., New Hudson 48165.

1. Next Meetings:
   1. February 26th Dinner Meeting at Teresita’s Mexican Grill, 6:30 PM.
   2. March 12th, Business Meeting at the Salem-S. Lyon District Library at 6:30 PM. Located at 9800 Pontiac Trail, S. Lyon, 48178. Meeting will be in the Fireplace area.
2. Adjournment: Maureen made a motion and Hal seconded it to adjourn the meeting at 8:05 PM. Motion passed.

Minutes taken by Theresa Furget on February 12th, 2026, and respectfully submitted on February 14th, 2026.