Coral Gables RotaryGram: Vol. 66 No. 20 Notes from the Podium

President's Time

The Atrium is a spectacular room in which to hold meetings, with a view of the garden and the swimming pool. It makes for a difficult venue however, since the people in the back are out of range and a little isolated. Didn't matter today though, as people sat on the wall and the stairs and just about anyplace they could find a seat. We were able to share our meeting with our friends from Rotary Club of Miami (and even a few from Key Biscayne). It was nice to have such a large crowd. Thanks for waiting for the silverware!

We had all the visitors with us to meet the 2011 In-Bound GSE Team from Australia. They arrived last week and Yoli Woodbridge has been organizing their visit, their vocational days, their entertainment and their host family. As usual, she's done an outstanding job! Thank you Yoli.

Be sure to sign up to serve Thanksgiving Dinner at the Partnership for the Homeless beginning at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning. You'll be out of there by 1 o'clock and it will give you a new perspective on all that we have to be thankful for on this holiday.

Debbie took a few minutes to recognize all of the Veteran's in the room today, including PE Walter Alvarez, Navy, George Reeves, Navy, Rosendo Castillo, Army, Robin Shelly, Marines, Jack Witty, Air Force. Thank you all for your service to our Country and our Freedom.

CHRIS MORRISON, Chair of the 8th Annual Rotary Golf Classic and the Helicopter Golf Ball Drop, reported that while we have not yet finished tabulating the results of the golf tournament, the total income for the Helicopter Golf Ball Drop is in excess of $35,000.00 with money still coming in. He also took a few minutes to say thank you to all of the tournament sponsors - it was like reading the Club Roster. This really is a CLUB event!

November is Foundation Month

And International Foundation Chair, Abe Horowitz took a few minutes to update us on his "incentive plan" for getting more members to step up and become Paul Harris Fellows or moving their Fellowship to the next level. He will be contacting all those who are ready to move over the next week. There will be offers made to help you achieve your goal and all those who contribute to get their PHF this November will be invited to a complimentary wine tasting event, courtesy of Abe himself.

For those who have aspirations to become a major donor to The Rotary Foundation, he will assist you in that endeavor AND your reward is a fine, wine-based dinner, hosted by Honest Abe. Look to hear from him next week!

Determined, forceful, powerful and obstinate are a few of the characteristics of those born under the sign of Scorpio. Sounds a lot like Aaron Glasser! Happy Birthday to him today.

Congratualtions to Steven Spann who celebrates his first Rotary Anniversary this week. It's nice having you here Steve. Thanks for your service.

Introduction of Guests and Visitors

There wasn't enough time to introduce ALL of the members of the Rotary Club of Miami but a lot of them came to visit our club today. In addition, our members brought guests today too, including John Wallace with his wife Louise, Father Mike Kelly was a guest of Rosendo Castillo, Carol Brock brought Dr. Ruth Dow, Jon Arthur introduced us to Eleanor Zahner, Gene Witherspoon brought a friend from Merrill Lynch, Fred Baddour introduced us to his lovely wife Annette, Greg Martini brought two guests and Hank Langston brought Dillon Patel, President of the Gulliver Interact Club and another Interactor to hear the GSE Team today. Thank you all for coming.

Happy $$$

The idea was to hold everyone's happiness to a maximum of 30 seconds because everyone wanted to hear the GSE Team, so Dick Golden was instructed to snatch the microphone from people's hands. The Miami Club had Mario Menendez act as their happiness collector and although we didn't hear the final but assume that Coral Gables' happiness is far more boundless than theirs.

Dick Golden spoke of the age old fight between Australia and New Zealand but that's it's hard to keep New Zealand above water? Dan Scipione found a U.S. Presentation Flag in his closet. It's perfect, has the pole and stand and everything. He'd love to donate it to some worthy charity. Owen Freed was happy to be at Coral Gables today, 51 years since he became a member of our Club (although now he's with the Miami Club). THE Donald Trombly came up to see if he could sell a few raffle tickets - not the blue ones - tickets for the 2012 Rotary Raffle - Winner's Choice. Only 300 tickets printed. They're $150 each. 300 chances to win your choice of a 2012 Fiat 500 OR 2012 Mako Flat Boat OR $20,000 cash. See him after the meeting, Linda Singer, President of the Miami Club was just happy to be here. Fred Baddour was happy to have his wife Annette at the meeting today and they have had a terrific time hosting one of the members of the GSE Team in their house. He highly recommends the experience for everyone. Lan Nghiem-Phu was happy to report that his cardiologis says he has a perfect heart and should live to be 110. Robin Shelly was happy to have the Australians here and invited them to our version of a rugby match - the game in Tallahassee this weekend. Gary Sisler's guest came up just to experience what 30 seconds of happiness felt like. Ann delas Posas was happy to see Norman Kasoff up and around. Danela (Miami Club) was happy to see everyone here today. It appears that Coral Gables won - but keep on smiling because happiness pays.

Working Rotarians - November 10, 2011

Greeter - Steven Spann

Registration - Aaron & Leslie Glasser

Collections - John Porro

Head Table - Rodney Langer

Special Needs - Lan Nghiem-Phu

Open the Meeting - Jack Witty

Invocation - Steve Magenheimer

Pledge - Aaron Glasser

Singers - Bill Quesenberry, Dan Scipione, Rosendo Castillo & Linda Kaplan

DeWitt Law Silver Dollars - John Wallace

Given To - Deena Bell & Fred Baddour

Pin Drawing Gift - Rodney Langer

Pin Drawing Winner - Joe Wirtz

50/50 Raffle - Gloria Burns & Donald Trombly

50/50 Winner - Frank Sexton

Today's Program

2011 Inboud Group Study Exchange Team from Australia.

Group Study Exchange (GSE) is another program that is made possible by your donations to The Rotary Foundation. It's another program that is designed to build goodwill and better friendship between countries. It focuses on the individual professions and fosters information sharing between the team and their host country. In fact, the GSE Program exemplifies all four of the Objects of Rotary. It's another example of the power of a very small donation to The Rotary Foundation Annual Programs Fund. We had an opportunity to meet the team today.

Vicki Kembery, Past President and member of the Rotary Club of Armidale, Australia is the only Rotarian in the group and is the TEAM "MUM". She has a number of professions including journalist, part-time TAFE teacher, tour guide and retail travel goods store which she runs with her husband Neal. They live on 100 acres just north of Armidale. She's been a Rotarian since 2000 and president of two clubs in Armidale. She loves gardening, reading and travel.

Helen Schmidt, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Port Macquarie is known as "the Chalkie". Helen is a high school science/math teacher at a school in Laurieton. She lives with her two children, 17 and 13 in Wauchope, a small town a few miles inland from the coast. Helen's brother is a pilot with Northwest. She loves sports and is very involved in netball, plaing in local competitions and working as an umpire and a coach.

Georg Truman, known as the "Dirt Doctor" is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Gunnedah West. He lives on a small far (20 acres) near Gunnedah where he grazes a few cattle. He enjoys the outdoors, car travel, caravanning, camping and mountain biking. He is alos interested in acting and has performed in a number of local shows. He plays golf only "occasionally" and some tennis and enjoys working around the home, renovating an old place and creating new gardens.

Joanne McLane is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Inverell. She's known as the "Safety Guru" of the Team. Jo lives with her husband Damian and a collection of horses, dogs and cats on 25 acres south of Inverell. She is the Managing Director of a consulting business in Risk Management. They have offices in Inverell and Armidale. She and her husband play polocrosse and are engaged in all things "equine" as well as playing basketball, reading and socializing with family and friends.

Michelle Cameron is the "Kindergarten Cop" on the Team. She is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Guyra. Michelle is 32 years old and lives and works as a primary school teacher in Guyra, a small rural town on the top of the ranges. She enjoys spending time with her famil and being part of the local community. She plays netball and touch football and is a member of the local choir. She also enjoys cooking and sewing and is a very skilled quilter.

Jack Woods, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Tuncurry Forster is known as the "Sparky". Jack is an electrical linesman with the largest electrical service provider in New South Wales - Essential Energy. Jack is 25 and has had the same beautiful girlfriend for 4 1/2 years, He just bought his first house in Forster and is involved in coaching and playing volleyball. He is hoping to have a run-in with an alligator while in Florida.

NEXT WEEK'S PROGRAM: Wendy E. Kallergis, President & CEO,The Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association, "The Biltmore Hotel - the Gem of Coral Gables"

Thought of the Week