President Robert Bull welcomed everyone to our April 29^th meeting.  This was our 44^th meeting of this fiscal year.  We had forty-six attendees that included several international visitors, amongst which were; Gopinathan Kishan from the Madras Rotary Club; Anton Koncnik Past President of the Rotary Club from Bled, Slovenia and the President of the International Bee Rotary Club; the President of the Rotary Club of Achalpur, India; Anshu Verma from Rotary Club of NM Garima, India, Nagjiyoti Bollapragad from the Rotary Club of Vishrambag Sangli, Maharashtra, India; Yasmin Yusef, from the Rotary Club Melawati, Malaysia, Lynda Reyes from the Rotary Club of the Pearl of the Orient, Philippines; Pankaj Agarwal also from India and a member of the all women’s Club called the Rotary Club of Navi Mumbai Garima. We also had our honorable guests from Germany, Charlotte Gormsen and Jen Neumann and the Honorable General Consul of the Bahamas, Linda Mackey.

 

Robert Bull Lapekas gave the invocation. Diane Stieber led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Today is National COQ AU VIN Day. While may say this is a Chicken recipe with a wine sauce, the recipe’s origins are for cooking an old tough rooster. Regardless, this is a delicious French dish.

 

Phi Theta Kappa needs our help with their fundraiser.  They helped us during the “Leading Change in a COVID World” that was virtually help in the fall.  Now they need our help.

 

Renew Your Membership:  Another reminder to renew your membership was discussed. An email on this topic went out. Please get this done soonest.  We do not want to chase after stragglers.

 

Earth Day Photos: We had a few late comers for our Earth Day photos. So photos sent in by our guest, Daniel Enekes and Carlos Bonadies.were shown.

 

International Bee Rotary Fellowship: Robert Bull and Dave Anderson has joined this fellowship.  Members who are concerned about the survival of the bees and the pollination importance were encouraged to join.  Please contact Robert for details.

 

Virtual Banner Exchange with Bled Rotary Club from Slovenia: Anton Koncnik, Past President of the Bled Rotary Club and President of the International Bee Rotary Fellowship greeted us and told us about his Club and the Fellowship.

 

FIU Rotaract Club: Rotaractors along with other students from FIU built a large composting area, photos were displayed.

 

Rotary Themed Silk Scarf Raffle: The raffle for the Rotary Themed Silk Scarf was conducted and the winner was selected by the Picker Wheel. Allison Chin, former President of the FIU Rotaract Club modeled the scarf, which she had won in an earlier raffle. The winner of the Picker Wheel spin was Stephan Schenk.  Congratulations, Stephan.

 

Diaper Donations: Photos were shown of our Club delivering 1000’s of diapers, baby wipes and feminine hygiene products to the Miami Rescue Mission and Camillus House.

 

Virtual Banner Exchange with RC of Vishrambag: We had a virtual banner exchange with the Rotary Club of Vishrambag of Maharashtra, India.  Nagjyoti Bollapraga represented her Club.  Nagjyoti has joined ESMAG. She was recently a host for a ZOOM meeting of the District 3300 Action Group on Environmental Sustainability (DAGES), from Malaysia.

 

Virtual Banner Exchange with RC of Madras.  We also had a virtual banner exchange with the Rotary Club of Madras from Chennai, India.  Gopinathan Kishan told us that his Club is the third oldest Club in India. It is ninety-five years old.

 

Keynote Speaker:  Robert Bull introduced our keynote speaker, Dalton Hesley who is a Sr. Research Associate in Dr. Diego Litman’s Coral Restoration Lab at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine Science.  Dalton Hesley presentation on coral reef restoration and regeneration was extremely interesting.  After the Q&A period, Robert Bull presented him with a Certificate of Appreciation.

 

Happy Dollars:  Happy Dollar donors were: Linda Singer, Scott Richey, Tim Ryan, John Fulton, Randy Lichtman, Norby Rudel, Hugo Montaudon and Noreen Timoney.

 

Four Way Test: Cory Gittner led us in the Four Way Test to end our meeting.