May 7, 2026
By Lee Brumitt
President Jared Campbell welcomed all to the meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. After saying the Pledge of Allegiance, Wade Freeman delivered a thoughtful invocation. Three guests of our members were then introduced and welcomed.
President Jared gave a District Conference recap, including an announcement that on the 25th anniversary year of the Shoes for Orphan Souls project, 29,417 shoes were collected. Brad Kleindl was given the 25th Anniversary Challenge Coin for Shoes for Orphan Souls that was presented to each club at the Shoes Roll Call, and Marc Horner received the Avenue of Service award for his service as District Foundation Chair and work with international projects and visitors. Scott Holsman then announced the annual Dragon Boat Festival will take place on June 20 on the Plaza and asked for volunteers to help paddle the Club 13 boat. President Jared gave the good news that Club 13 bowlers met their St. Louis competition in Columbia and brought home the annual trophy! The “8 for 8” raffle winner, Sally Bibb, was awarded a $200 gift card. Sally was chosen from those who brought guests to a meeting during the District-wide membership drive. Marc Horner made a special “+4” Paul Harris Fellow recognition to Matt Meyer. More recognitions then followed with Lee Brumitt recognizing three new Kansas City Rotary Club Foundation fellows, Mike Sanders, Larry Dolci (husband of Barbara), and Leland Shurin, by virtue of their generous $1,000 donations to the Foundation. President Jared then welcomed Kandi Kos as the Club’s new Club Coordinator, and Kandi introduced herself from the podium. Kandi is well known as the District 6040 Administrator and is a member of the Waldo-Brookside Club. Welcome to Club 13, Kandi!
Lee Brumitt then introduced our speaker, Kelsyn Rooks, the founder and driving force behind the Center for Recorded Music, a not for profit, which operates the Lystening Room, a curated record listening event. The Center has events Wednesday through Saturday each week at the NBKC Bank building on 95th Street, just east of Mission Road. A list of events and registration is available at centerforrecordedmusic.org. Kelsyn has had a unique exposure to music and the components which deliver recorded music to our ears beginning with being raised among millions of pieces of music in his parent's record shop, The Music Exchange, together with his extensive travels to 77 countries and 6 continents and 30 years of corporate experience developing, marketing, and managing consumer and technology products. The first informal event was launched in 2015 at Waldo Pizza. Last year, the Center hosted 238 listening parties, and over 15,000 people have attended an event since the Center was formed in 2020. The events are based around recordings, performance, and social interaction, and the overall mission is to build a community of music lovers. While most people own recorded music in some form, hearing it on a premium sound system is likely to change the way one values and consumes music. Kelsyn wants to expand programming to envelop intergenerational events, disabled youth, and senior citizens in assisted living and memory care programs and is working on developing opportunities for women in the music industry, be it in production, engineering, or manufacturing. The Center has many partners who donate funds, volunteer time, high-end audio equipment, valuable recordings, knowledge, and experience in the music industry. The Center’s Board of Directors is composed of a cast of impressive experts in music production, technology, and history. At the present time, the Center is actively looking for a permanent home to further its expansive vision.
President Jared announced upcoming meetings and then revealed this week’s Act of Kindness – send a thoughtful care package to someone special to make his or her day. We then said the Four Way Test before the meeting was adjourned.
