President Oliver Ruiz opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. He reminded everyone to purchase their 50/50 tickets – the prize is now half of over $1,400. Good luck all!!!!
Dave Anderson gave an invocation and Dave Skinner led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Visitors and Guests were introduced by Scott Richey:
Uros Ferlin from the Rotary Club of Logatec, a city near the capital of Slovenia;
Matejka Adamlje and Branka Drnovsek Adamlje from the Rotary Club of Nike, also in Slovenia;
Pavla Drnovsek from the Interact Club of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia;
Gregory Herman-Giddens, a Trust attorney, is visiting with us again and is a prospective member;
Andres Gonzalez, a realtor and prospective member as well;
Luis Machuca, Virgilie Aliu and Desmond Alujohar all regular visitors and guests of member Patrick Aliu.
Happy $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ were collected by Randy Lichtman:
Scott Richey had a great time with his family at Atlantis in the Bahamas for his wife Karla’s birthday. He also shared that the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind is having a Music Under the Stars fundraiser at City Centre on May 24;
Robin Shelley is excited to already be going to the Lighthouse event and he reported that he completed his review of student essays for the Club’s 4-Way Test award at Miami High. The essays revealed that there are some amazing young people out there;
Brian Tschirhart was $55 happy celebrating the birth of his 11th grandchild;
Jay Almeida was happy that Patrick Aliu continues to make the drive from Orlando to meetings and he also thanked the club for having daughter (and Miss Miami) Stephanie speak last week;
Tim Ryan had a wonderful time on the Fathom cruise and shared that his friends also enjoyed the trip. He generally trades patches from law enforcement officers when he travels and the officer in Cuba literally cut the patch off of his shirt for Tim;
Noreen Timoney was happy to see Edgar Jones and Bob Gorlow. She also thanked Shirley Pardon for a ride after the docking of the Fathom;
Randy Lichtman was glad to visit his son Leo in Washington DC and reported that son Eddie is heading off to Wisconsin.
Announcements:
Next week’s meeting on May 18 will be held at Miami Senior High School at 12:30pm. Please let Diane Landsberg know if you are planning to attend;
Oliver thanked Randy for coordinating the Interact Club essay contest at Miami High. We are all looking forward to the presentation of the 4-Way Test Awards;
Robin Shelley will be throwing out the first ball at the UM Baseball game on May 18. Tickets are available on a first-come-first-served basis;
There will be a social event on Thursday, May 25 in the evening (no lunch meeting). Details will follow;
Zone 34 recognized the Club for its Public Image Campaign. Diane Landsberg submitted the material to support our efforts. Thanks to Dave Skinner for the website, Marcia Brod for the Rote and Thomas Brown McClelland Newsletter, and Jay Almeida for his leadership as Public Image Chair, his compilation of photos and videos for the gala, and as producer of RotaryTV.
Speaker
Edgar Jones of Edgar Jones & Co. is a development consultant to Triple Five, the developers of the proposed American Dream Mall project. He introduced Bob Gorlow to speak about the project;
The Mall is located near the intersection of I-75 and Miami Gardens Drive and will cover over 200 acres. It is anticipated to exceed 7.2 million square feet of retail, entertainment and dining experiences including:
Upscale Arts & Entertainment, live performing arts center, dining destinations, multi-screen luxury theater complex, water ballet fountains, art deco village, luxury hotel accommodations, indoor/outdoor theme park, indoor ski park, indoor waterpark, indoor skating rink, aquarium and submarine ride;
Retailers are now creating show rooms in new malls;
Work will be done to upgrade surrounding roads to improve accessibility;
The mall will provide work for over 25,000 employees.
Linda Singer led everyone in the 4-Way Test of the Things We Think Say or Do.
