President Dave Skinner opened the meeting by welcoming his fellow Rotarians and our guests. Marcia Brod gave an invocation and Cory Gittner led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Visitors and Guests were introduced by Marcos Menendez:
Adriana Bracho is one of the students who applied for a Thomas Brown McClelland scholarship. She came to thank the Club for the opportunity to apply and to learn more about Rotary;
Michael Delgado, a former TBM recipient and current applicant, also came to the meeting to hear more about Rotary;
Maria and Kris Sipila joined us today. Maria is a Rotarian from Helsinki, Finland. Kris is in Miami for business;
Susan Devinney is retired, but her true claim to fame is being the mother of member Diane Stieber. She spoke about her husband who believed in giving back – his way of explaining his service was that he was “paying civic rent”. A nice way to phrase the idea of service!
Erin Stieber also joined us today – she is Diane’s daughter. She is Senior Vice President of Programs at SmileTrain.
Announcements:
Treasurer Phil Seipp had some presentations to make:
Bunny Uriarte received her Paul Harris Fellow pin. Thanks so much for your commitment Bunny;
Angel Rodrigues was presented his PHF+2 pin. We are all so proud of the generosity of all our members;
Angela Deggs received her permanent blue member badge.
Diane Landsberg presented our resident sheriff Tim Ryan with a Rotary Star Pin;
The District Assembly is Saturday, April 13 at Jungle Island. The meeting will be offering a wide variety of opportunities for learning and something of interest to everyone. Please sign up asap;
Happy $$$$$$$$$$$$$ were collected by Scott Richey:
Scott Richey started things off by sharing how much he was looking forward to our DG Nominee Peter Verbeeck’s talk. Scott also shared that his wife, Karla, was thrilled to participate in the TBM interview process and he congratulated Phil Seipp and Diane Landsberg for their excellent coordination of the interviews;
Robin and Susan Shelley (via Diane Landsberg) contributed happy $$ for such a successful TBM interview process;
Diane Landsberg was happy to share that the TBM interviews resulted in over 500 volunteer hours for club members and our other interviewers. She also shared the program from PHF Nights and the new issue of Karla Richey’s Kids Magazine;
Arleen Terrinoni was happy to be back from time spent in San Juan Capistrano – where the Rotary club there participates in the parade that celebrates the return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano;
Angel Rodriguez was happy to see the TBM applicants at the meeting. He also shared that the Military Hospitality Lounge at MIA has a new sponsor. Jiffy Lube will contribute to the Lounge when you get an oil change, so be sure to get the necessary coupon from Phil Seipp;
Shirley Pardon was happy to see her son off to Texas to follow his dreams of being part of the music industry. Fingers crossed that he makes it to Texas in his old car;
Noreen Timoney was glad to see the TBM applicants and enjoyed very much Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI);
Tina Moore was glad to be back at the meeting and also happy to be children/family free, at least for today;
Diane Steiber’s daughter, Erin, shared a bit about her work in Bangladesh. She was, however, glad to be home;
Phil Seipp was thrilled that TBM interviews were over. He thanked all who participated and commented that the 61 applicants were the best ever!
Linda Singer enjoyed the Night of 1000 Paul Harris Fellows. She enjoyed even more the talk that Jaime Tobin gave at the event;
Jaime Tobin was happy to have her speech over with and glad that even a seasoned speaker like Peter Verbeeck gets a bit nervous before;
Tim Ryan is prepping for his last of 10 chemo sessions. He looks forward to having a whisky with Phil in about four weeks;
Norby Rudel thanked everyone for their support at his latest gig at Anthony’s Pizza in Coral Gables;
Marcia Brod was sad to report that she will be missing the next two meetings, but is so excited for the reasons why. Her daughter Stephanie’s wedding will be on April 13 and she will then spend time with Lenny and his brothers in Orlando.
Today’s Program
Incoming DGN 2019-20 Peter Verbeeck joined us today. He is a member of the Key Biscayne Rotary Club;
Peter was born in Brussels, Belgium, and grew up in the Republic of the Congo where he lived for 10 years. He is the owner of Florida Utility Trailers, Inc., a transportation trailer and container dealership and financing business;
Rotary International believes clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education are basic necessities for a healthy environment and a productive life. When people have access to clean water and sanitation, waterborne diseases decrease, children stay healthier and attend school more regularly, and mothers can spend less time carrying water and more time helping their families;
Peter has been working on projects in Ghana, Africa. He shared that his work in establishing clean water and sanitation in Ghana has been the result of many partnerships in Rotary;
He spoke about the Empowerment Model as a way of stopping the beggar society. It enlists the local community in achieving their own goals with their own resources. Through this model
Local leaders determine what actually the community needs rather than an outsider coming in and dictating what they can give to the community;
Local labor works on the project;
Local training is done to sustain the efforts;
Local funding is created by the community itself contributing to a project fund;
Local micro-credit loans are obtained;
Rotary fills any remaining gaps.
Through this model success is achieved and local communities better themselves in so many ways;
Peter concluded by saying that we all should keep dreaming – make the world a better place to live.
50/50Raffle – Noreen Timoney had the first ticket but did not pick the elusive Ace of Spades.
Brian Tschirhart ended the meeting by leading everyone in the 4-Way Test of the Things We Think, Say or Do.
