Coral Gables RotaryGram: Vol. 66 No. 3 Notes from the Podium

President's Time

President Debbie reported that the Board met on Monday, July 18th and there are several items of interest to all of our members. First of all, the Board approved a $20 price for lunch for any children attending the meeting under the age of 18. This is the actual cost of the lunches that we pay to the Country Club under our contract. They have not granted us a reduced price for children, thus the best we can do is to charge our cost when you bring young people to the meeting. In the future, should the Country Club give us a reduced price for children's lunches, you can be sure we will pass that on to our members.

CIVIC & CHARITY GRANTS Kelly Sastre, Chair of the Civic & Charity Committee reported that the Board awarded a $1,000 grant to Camp Boogey Creek, this is an organization that sets up camps for children who are critically ill and they run as many as 17 camps throughout the summer. The second grant was $500 for the annual Coastal Cleanup in September. Our Club has participated in this event for many years. Our donation gets us in their advertising and allows us to put up our banner on the day when we help to clean up 40 miles of South Florida coastline.

DUES ARE DUE and if it seems as if we're nagging you - we are! Pay before August 1, 2011 to receive a 15% discount on the price of lunch for the year. ALSO, when you pay your dues, why not include your $100 contribution to The Rotary Foundation for your Sustaining Membership for this year. It's only $2 a week.

Community Service Update

Deena Bell, Chair of the Community Avenue of Service for 2011-2012, is having the first Community Service Committee Meeting on Friday, July 22 at her house. BYOB and all the energy and plans and projects that you can muster for our Club's Service for this year.

Contact Deena for directions to the social/meeting tomorrow. Get involved! Help us to all get involved. Service and fellowship is what Rotary is all about.

Speaking of Fellowship ...

Bill, Julia and Woody Beckham Update
Margarita and Rick Tonkinson visited Bill and his son on Tuesday on behalf of the Club to learn about Woody's progress after his accident and how the family is adjusting to their new situation. Bill and Woody were very pleased to see us and delighted to know of the Club's interest to explore opportunities to be of assistance to them.

For those who may not remember, Woody was suffered a severe spinal cord injury while playing Rugby on January 29. He was discharged from Ryder Trauma Center on April 7th as a tetraplegic. As you might imagine, the family's life was changed dramatically from that moment on.

The family would welcome assistance with transportation. Woody goes to PT and OT on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday in Coconut Grove and to classes at Miami Dade College. Or you can made a donatin to the Woody Foundation, where the funds will be used to support spine injury for low income patients and other related causes.

Woody continues to improve and provides great strength and inspiration to his closely knit family and friends who have supported him since the accident. Feel free to contact Bill. You can get his personal contact information from the Club Directory or email him at billbeckham56@gmail.com

Leo natives are confident, loyal, melodramatic and a little vain. Charlie Crist, John D. MacDonald, Jennifer Lopez and our own Gene Witherspoon were all born on July 24th. Happy Birthday to them all! Especially to "Spoon."

Foundation Minute

Foundation Chair Abe Horowitz presented President Debbie with her three sapphire Paul Harris pin. That means that Debbie has given $4,000 to The Rotary Foundation Annual Programs Fund. This money funds some of our favorite Rotary programs including Ambassadorial Scholarships, GSE Teams and District Matching Grants. Help our club achieve 100% EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) Status. Give to The Rotary Foundation, $100 is only $2 a week and that makes you a sustaining member. Pledge something today.

Visitors and Guests Today

We had two visiting Rotarians with us today, Irv Frost from the Brickell Club and Ozam Malik from South Miami. Three members brought guests today as well. Andrea Fusero introduced Andrea Coure; Pastor Arnie Perry's guest was the Director of Crime Watch, Pat Kiel and J Guarch's law partner, Fernando Aran. Come back again!

Happy $$$

Dr. Randy returned today to help Groh Scholarships. He commented on the fact that with both Liz Silverman and Susan Guttmann at Rotary today, who is taking care of the troops? Dan Scipione gave his dollars to remind everyone that the bloodmobile is parked outside and we should give if possible. South Florida has the lowest donor percentage of any other area. And we have greater needs. Give today and often. Bill Oates is happy that he's found a terrific UM Grad student to house sit for five months while he goes back to Indiana to teach and both his kids return to college. Rick Tonkinson was happy to see Irv Frost who is a member of the Fellowship of Flying Rotarians. He wanted us to know that there are more than 100 Rotary Fellowships that run the gamut from Hunting to Fishing, to Wine Drinking to Cruising and even Singing. Check them out. They're fun! Deena Bell Lewellyn is happy that she had the opportunity to attend the Landscape Architect's Convention at The Breakers last week. Now she's all fired up! She's fired up too because her hubby is returning from Louisiana after three weeks away. Luis Boue said a big thank you to Tom Dixon who kept him awake at the FICPA seminar earlier this week. Elizabeth "Lovables" is happy that Southern Command is back in town. She can pay her employees for the month of July because of them! It's an honor to be there making coffee for them every day. If you miss her that's where she's at. The Diva is happy because the doctor told her that she can begin running, gradually. The problem is that although her body is capable, her mind isn't ready! Bob Schreiber won't be at Deena's Community Service soiree on Friday because he's playing in the Annual Paws4You Golf Tournament at Doral tomorrow. They need golfers so come and join him on the Red Course at 8 a.m. tomorrow. J Guarch is ecstatic about the progress his daughter has made. You'll recall that she was hit by an SUV in Martha's Vineyard two weeks ago. There is no brain or spinal cord injury, thank God! However, nearly every bone in her body is broken. She's undergoing yet another surgery but her prognosis is great. It's going to take about four months for her to fully recover. Her attitude is outstanding and an inspiration to everyone. She celebrates her 22nd birthday next Tuesday. On Wednesday she will meet the 85 year old doctor who hit her. The bill for Air Medivac to Boston Hospital just came - it was $14,268 and worth every penny. He thanked everyone for the positive energy, prayers and good wishes. Keep them coming. Bruce Kerestes wanted to piggy back on what Rick Tonkinson said about Fellowships and invited us to get involved with the IFHFR (International Fellowship of Hunting & Fishing Rotarians). They're a 501.c.3 who's mission it is to introduce children to the outdooors. Saturday, July 30th they are having their annual fishing trip aboard the Reward II for some thirty kids. Remember happiness pays, so keep on smiling.

Working Rotarians - July 21, 2011

Greeter - Steven Spann

Registration - Aaron Glasser

Collections - Abe Horowitz & John Porro

Head Table - George Reeves

Special Needs - Frank Sexton

Open the Meeting - Jack Witty

Invocation - Pastor Perry

Pledge - Jerry Santiero

Singers - Bill Quesenberry & Dan Scipione

Introductions - Dick Bullman

DeWitt Law Silver Dollars - Sally B.

Given To - Greg Martini & John Porro

Pin Drawing Gift - Rodney Langer

Pin Drawing Winner - Gene Witherspoon

50/50 Collections - Rodney Langer & Sally B.

50/50 Winner - Kelly Sastre

4 Way Test - Carol Alexander

Today's Program

Captain Dan Kipnis

"Global Warming - The Changing Oceans"

Captain Dan has been an advisor to Miami Dade County on climate issues. He has outstanding credentials and has worked tirelessly to preserve our ocean environment. He wanted us to understand that the ship is going down and nobody is talking about it. He says people call him a reactionary. So he presented the facts and let us decide.

We are losing our reefs because of Ocean Acidification. The temperature on the surface is so hot that the important phytonplankton can't grow. Only 15% to 18% of the reefs are healthy. The coral is bleaching because they die without a food source and all because there's too much CO2 in the water. It makes carbonic acid. That's what cleans the rust off your battery cables. It's killing the ocean environment, where 98% of earth's livable habitat exists.

There is too much CO2 in the environment. It's heating everything up. The statistics show the dead zones in the oceans where neither zooplankton nor phytonplankton can grow. It's far bigger than the 25,000 miles that runs from the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico that's been polluted by the fertilizer run off from the corn farms. It used to be that the oceans' temperature would rise only one degree in 1,000 years. It's increased two degrees since 1950. It's expected to cause the sea level to rise between three to five feet by 2100. That will make most of what is now South Florida disappear underwater.

So sell your real estate and move to higher ground. We can't stop it. Government can't stop it. We don't seem to care and we're not even trying. OR get involved and help get the message out. We can put people back to work building infrastructure that will slow down this process and allow the earth to heal.

NEXT WEEK'S PROGRAM: Past President & Historian, Frank Sexton; "Did the Europeans Really Discover America?"

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