Coral Gables RotaryGram: Vol. 66 No. 33 Notes from the Podium

President's Time

President Debbie ran through our list of projects, parties and obligations and we're so busy that it took the better part of the first ten minutes just to bring us up to date.

This Sunday is the "crack of doom" Service Project for the Tour de Cure. Volunteers need to report to duty on the registration table beginning at 5:30 a.m. on Virginia Key. Contact Community Service Chair Deena Bell for details.

February 23, 2012
Gulliver Interact

Fashion Show Fund-Raiser

Dillon Patel, President of Interact at Gulliver High School visited the Club today to promote their upcoming fashion show. This has been a very successful event for Interact for several years now. The proceeds will go to fund their activities at the Chapman Partnership for the Homeless. Buy your tickets now and make plans to attend.

Celebrity Sighting!

John Wayne visited again today. He's helping to promote attendance at the upcoming A Night on the Red Carpet which is being held on March 9th. Marilyn was here too. Proceeds this year will be split evenly between our Club's Foundation and Citizens for a Better South Florida.

Tickets for the event are now on sale. You can buy them at Registration OR on line through Paypal. It's $150 per person and includes drinks, dinner and the silent auction. Everyone should be dressed as their favorite movie star or movie character. If you're not working on your costume - GET BUSY.

Congratulations to Miki Speijers who celebrates 13 years as a member of our club today. Rodney Langer has been with us for three years on the 12th and Richard DeWitt celebrates 10 years on the 14th. Thank you for your years of Service!

Introduction of Visitors & Guests

Dick Bullman was very gracious today, introducing many of the visiting Rotarians twice (since it seems they signed up on both pages!). Welcome to John Sorgie from the South Miami Club. Mary Ann Rollins and her husband John are part time members of the Miami Club and part time in Chattanooga. Hello to Jerry Horowitz from the Weston Club. Also welcome to Steven Price from the Kennebunkport Rotary Club.

Several of our members brought guests today too. Hank Langston introduced us to his friend Joe Cummings from the Everglades Foundation and also to Michelle Cooper who is the Interact Sponsor at Gulliver AND head of the science department and a physics teacher with a degree in astrophysics. Busy lady still took on this awesome Interact Club. With her was Dillon Patel, this year's President who was just accepted at Duke University! Greg Martini brought Christopher Malter, a former Rotarian from the Weston Club and investment banker with INC. Lorraine Sheldon introduced Jerry Horowitz's guest Emile. Dick really likes to have lots of people to introduce, so keep them coming!

Happy $$$

President Debbie let the fox into the hen house again by asking Dick Golden to stand in for the absent Dr. Randy today. He didn't do too badly. People will pay to stop him from telling a bad joke. He did threaten to just put in $50 and tell 10 jokes and get it over with!

Happy today was John Wallace. He and Louise finally sold their condo on Key Biscayne and they are off to Fairhope, Alabama AT LAST! They leave February 29th. Rick Tonkinson was happy that he and Margarita were given a tour of the Capitol by Illeana Ros-Lehtinen. He also had kudos for Pat Morris who made it possible, with the help of Al Sanchez (Miami Rotarian) for them to participate in the town hall meeting with Michele Obama in Homestead. He is also looking forward to treating Margarita to her birthday trip to the Galapagos Islands and Machupichu. Dr. Phil is happy to announce that while he is not volunteering for the Tour de Cure he will be biking and he's bringing the Spinning Dragons from The Biltmore Fitness Center too. Dan Scipione thanked everyone who helped the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society raise $500,000 at the ING Half Marathon two weeks ago for blood cancer research. With our help his wife raised $1,400 for her team. Margarita Tonkinson gave Dick $20 because she's going to miss the next four meetings and scholarships are just around the corner. She's just happy. Frank Sexton was happy to see Vivian Miller at the club (as our speaker today) and was reminiscing about the time she helped him produce the Promenade (our old fund raiser). Finally Dick ended with what he called "a thoughtful joke" ... about the Buddhist who asked the hot dog vendor to make him one with everything. When he didn't get change from his $20 the vendor told him that change comes from within! Happiness pays so keep on smiling.

Working Rotarians - February 9, 2012

Greeters - Steven Spann & Rolf Frankfurter

Registration - Aaron Glasser

Collections - Lorraine Sheldon

Head Table - Rodney Langer

Special Needs - Rolf Frankfurter

Open the Meeting - Jack Witty

Invocation - Abe Horowitz

Pledge - Jon Arthur

Singer - Dan Scipione

DeWitt Law Silver Dollars - Margarita Tonkinson

Given to - President Debbie &Lorraine Sheldon

Pin Drawing Gift - Everglades Foundation

Pin Drawing Winner - Carol Alexander

50/50 Raffle - Donald Trombly

50/50 Winner - Mary Ann Rollins

Today's Program

"The Everglades, It's History & Future." Vivian Miller,
Director of Education and Outreach, The Everglades Foundation.

Back in 1492, Lake Okeechobee used to run all the way down to Florida Bay, unimpeded. Then long about the time of the 1928 Hurricane, the Army Corps decided that they needed to prevent future disasters like the awful flooding that occurred from this storm. So they created the Herbert Hoover Dike all around the Lake and channeled the water into several different sloughs. They more or less decapitated the lake in the name of flood control. The system we have was designed to provide quality drinking water for 2.5 million people. It now serves 7 million. And all of the quality and quantity is dependent upon the Everglades. It's the filtering system to the aquifer for the fresh water South Florida needs to survive.

The State of Florida owns all of the water. Because of this Florida has a great and progressive water policy. And because water is the lifeblood of our economy, our development and our quality of life. Water from the Everglades is not only our drinking water, it's for our agriculture, recreation (377,000 vessels are registered here), our golf courses, farming, business and cleaning. Saving the Everglades is the most important aspect of protecting our water supply.

Some 440,000 new jobs are being created by the pending re-construction of the water flow from the Everglades. We're building bridges to let the water through and keep the people moving.
To learn more on how to help to protect our Everglades go to www.evergladesfoundation.org.

NEXT WEEK'S PROGRAM: Citizens for a Better South Florida, the co-beneficiary of A Night on the Red Carpet.

Thought of the Week

by Frank Sexton

Today Frank had some thoughts about his own profession ...
"Make crime pay - become a lawyer" Will Rogers
"It's better to be a mouse in a cat's mouth than a man in a lawyer's hands." Spanish Proverb
"A lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a thousand men with guns." Mario Puzo
"Woe unto ye also, ye lawyers, for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne." Jesus
"Litigation: A machine that you go into as a pig and come out of as a sausage." Ambrose Bierce

Scene Scenes