The Rote – October 17, 2019
The Miami Yacht Club Scribe: Marcia Brod
President Norby Rudel called the meeting to order and gave an invocation to start off the meeting. Diane Stieber led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance to our Flag.
Visitors and Guests were introduced by Rick Miller:
Jocelyne Belizaire continues to attend our meetings. We are always glad to see her. She is a Rotarian from Haiti and a diplomatic representative to the U.S. from Haiti;
Gina Joachim is in Miami visiting and is a member of the Club of Port-au-Prince, which is the oldest club in Haiti. She is a physician and good friend of Jocelyne.
Happy $$$$$$$$$$$$ were collected by Arlene Terrinoni. Collected funds will be designated to Polio Plus today:
Rick Miller was happy to have our visiting Rotarians from Haiti with us today;
Robin Shelley was happy to be contributing to Polio Plus;
Marcia Brod had a great trip to DC for a family member’s wedding (which wasn’t nearly as nice as her daughter’s recent wedding) and was also happy to share an article in the Miami Herald’s Neighbor’s Section about our TBM scholarship program;
Robert Bull thanked everyone for participating in Socktober – just a few more weeks left to help the homeless with this project;
Jay Almeida was glad to have today’s speaker with us;
Diane Landsberg was glad to be supporting the establishment a new Rotary Club in Little Haiti;
Cory Gittner was sad to report he will miss next week’s meeting. He will be celebrating his birthday (he did not reveal which birthday it was) in Charleston SC with family. However, he promised to be back for the Halloween party (hopefully with an off-the-wall costume);
Announcements:
President Norby had a trivia question for the group and a free lunch if anyone could answer it. He wondered why we clink glasses when we toast. The man who seems to know everything had the answer – Marcos Menendez. The idea to clink glasses was so liquid is transferred between glasses and is a Roman tradition done to create the confidence that neither glass contained poisoned liquid. Now why, Marcos, did you know that one????
RYLA will be held February 20, 2020 in Islamorada;
Dave Anderson has raffle tickets for the Rotary District 6990 Golf Ball Drop. Be sure to get your ticket;
Wishes for a speedy recovery go out to both Noreen Timoney and Shirley Pardon;
October 24 is World Polio Day. We will be celebrating with a joint meeting with the Coconut Grove Club at the Miami Yacht Club. Our speaker will be polio survivor and Club Historian Norman Kassoff. Be sure to attend;
Break out your favorite Halloween costume and join us at the home of Diane Landsberg for a frightfully good time in the evening on Thursday, October 31. NO LUNCH MEETING THAT DAY!
Today’s Program was introduced by Jay Almeida
Jordan Harvell is the Founder and CEO of CETI Diving – a company that specializes in underwater search and recovery, and underwater boat maintenance and marina services. He has also founded CEDI LABS, whose mission is to research the underwater world in order to assist in investigations and promote water safety;
He is also the Executive Director of the National Academy of Police Diving, an organization formed to help public safety dive teams be safe and successful through excellent training;
From one time being homeless to now, Jordan, besides loving the water, finds his real passion is to inspire others to do great things;
There will always be a need to bring back what gets lost beneath the surface of the water, and the conditions are not always as inviting as what you see on National Geographic. CETI’s team of Special Response Divers are available 24/7 to assist anyone in whatever challenge you might find yourself in;
Jordan has many stories to tell about their recovery of automobiles for insurance purposes, family heirlooms for distraught families and scary sea creature and dark water tales of the hazards of their work.
Jordan also introduced his wife, Gracie, to the Club. She was a familiar face to some because she is a recipient of our Thomas Brown McClelland Medical Student Scholarship. She will be completing medical school at FIU in the spring of 2020.
50/50 Raffle tickets were sold by Arleen Terrinoni
The day began with a $3,346 pot and grew to $3,620 by the end of the meeting. The person (a club member) pulling the winning card would receive $1,820!
Linda Singer bought tickets for hubby Dave Skinner, since he was home a bit under-the-weather. With complete instructions from Dave – Linda selected the second card from the left – too bad it was NOT the Ace of Spades. One more card down and only 4 to go….someone is going to win this pot soon!!!!
Randy Lichtman concluded the meeting by leading everyone in the 4-Way Test of the Things We Think, Say or Do.
See everyone next week, October 24, to celebrate World Polio Day!
