Robert Bull welcomed everyone to the Rotary Club of Miami Evening Club Meeting.  This was also a joint meeting with the Alpha Generator Investment Club. ESMAG and the Membership at large..  There were twenty attendees, including Nagjyoti from India

 

Jay Almedia gave the invocation and Phil Seipp led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Today’s Date.  Today is Happy Festivus Day!  This day was made famous during a SEINFLED episode.

 

Today is also National Pfeffernusse Day – Pfeffernuse are German cookies that are eaten in December.  They have species and nuts. 

 

December is Rotary Disease Prevention and Treatment Month.  The spread of the Omicron variant must remind us to do our best to prevent the spread of this disease.

 

Happy Birthday:  Stephanie Bull's birthday is tomorrow.  Happy Birthday Stephanie.

 

Alpha Generator Investment Club – We presented the results of the portfolio of the Investment Club. Over the past few days, we finally had a Santa Claus Rally in the stock market.

 

ESMAG – We will have another tree planting this coming February 12^th, which falls on a Saturday.  We will be returning to Crandon Park, close to the May location.

 

The Coral Restoration project which was planned for November had to be postponed due to inclement weather.  We are now rescheduling for March, once the weather warns up a bit.  Even if the weather is a bit warmer, we recommend for everyone to rent wetsuits that day.

 

Upcoming Events: On January 6^th we will have an in-person meeting at the Miami Yacht Club, which will also be transmitted via ZOOM.  Our speaker will be Barbara Gobbi, who will be District Governor during 2022 – 2023.  Barbara is a social media consultant/expert and will talk to us about that topic.

 

BBQ at Tropical Park – On January 17^th, Monday (Martin Luther King Day) our grill master, Jay Almeida will fire up the Barbecue.

 

Bon Voyage: Bunny Uriarte will be leaving Miami at the end of the month.  She is returning to Arizona.  We will miss her and wish her all the best. Bunny told us that she is going to move into an old family home that was built in 1915, and she surprised us with the news that yesterday she got engaged. Congratulations!

 

Christmas Celebrations in Different locations: In Haifa Israel, one of the most diverse cities in the World, the decorations in the city honor three religious backgrounds: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. 

 

Hollland: Sinterklass arrives on December 6^th.  This Dutch customs is the precursor to Santa Claus.

 

France: Hugo Montaudon

told us about the French Galette des Rois cake.  Whoever finds a ceramic of the king, then wears a crown for the rest of the party.

 

Mexico: Ariel Gonzalez told us about the Posadas Mexicanas.  Posadas run from December 16^th to the 24^th. The replicate Mary and Joseph trip to Bethlehem.

 

Italy: Arlene Terrinoni told us about the traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner, the Seven Fishes and about the famous Italian fruit cake, Panettone.

 

Venezuela: Carlos Bonadies told us about Hallaca and Pan de Jamon. These two dishes are eaten through December.  He also told us about other customs in Venezuela, like roller skating in the streets and firecrackers.

 

Guatemala: Julio Santillana told us about told about the Guatemalan tamale, and how it is customary to spread pine needles in ones home and businesses during the Christmas period.

 

Japan:  In Japan, Kentucky Fried Chicken is the popular meal to eat during Christmas.

Tokyo Christmas decorations are very beautiful and are everywhere.

 

India: Nagjyote sent us photo of the Christmas activities in her son's school.

 

Picker Wheel: The winners of the Picker Wheel spin were Jay Almeida (Total Wines gift card), Noreen Timoney (Home Depot gift card) and Stephanie Bull (Starbucks gift card).

 

 

Happy Dollars:

Noreen Timoney was happy and wished everyone a wonderful holiday. 

 

Stephanie Bull was happy because our youngest son, who lives in Bangkok, just had a second child, our first grandson. 

 

Robert Bull was happy to see so many people at this evening meeting.

 

David Anderson was happy and (who has facing some health issues and looks to great) was thankful for all the support.

 

Four-Way Test: President Noreen Timoney led us in the Four-Way Test to end our meeting.