President Tim Ryan called the meeting to order. He took a moment to remind every of the Republican Presidential Debate on TV in the evening and shared a humorous story or two. He even quizzed the group on our trivia knowledge of US Presidents – we didn’t do too well!
Cory Gittner gave an invocation and Scott Richey led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Noreen Timoney, a new member, stepped right in and introduced our Guests and Visitors:
Barbara Hacket is president of Kendale Lakes Travel and a guest of our speaker.
Leo B. Cook, is retired. He worked for Wells Fargo and served with today’s speaker during the Korean War.
Lynne Cameron is the executive director for Neighbors 4 Neighbors. She was visiting to speak with Club members regarding the organization’s work with the homeless.
Dr. Theodore Malinin is now retired and is also a former member of the Rotary Club of Miami. He came as a guest of Norman Kassoff.
Jason Smith is president of Showcase Miami Realty. He also was a guest of our speaker today.
John Harrison, another former Miami Rotarian, joined us today. He is still running his family construction company but hopes to be able to visit more often.
Jenny Nieveen is president of Open Hearts Language Academy (OHLA) and a guest of Randy Lichtman.
Another new member, Curt DeGreff, collected Happy SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Diane Landsberg was happy that Lynne Cameron was visiting and also proud of the hard work of the Interact Club of Miami Senior High. They spent over 200 total volunteer hours painting and sprucing up the Club’s meeting venue.
Lynn Cameron was happy to reconnect with Diane and also glad to be at a Rotary meeting. She misses the meetings she went to at the Rotary Club of Coconut Grove.
Linda Singer reported that the Humane Society could use some financial support. All of the transport vans were vandalized and are unusable. She hoped everyone would help.
Norman Kassoff was thrilled that Dr. Malinin was visiting. Dr. Malinin and, another former member, the late Dr. Joe Davis, were both instrumental in getting the Bone and Tissue Bank established.
Jair Almeida was just back from England. He was happy to report that his daughter is in Honduras and making a difference. He thanked the club of its support.
Barbara Hacket was happy to be with the Club today.
Jorge Rice had a very productive business trip. He presented his paper to the court and they have asked that it be published.
Phil Seipp was happy and reminded members of the importance of a commitment to EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year).
Robin Shelley was happy that football has returned; the Republican debate should be entertaining; and he was glad to be sitting next to two former Miami Rotarians who had been in the club before he started.
John Harrison was glad to see so many familiar faces and thanked Diane and Tim for reaching out to him.
Something you didn’t know about….Phil Seipp
Phil shared that he graduated from a military high school, was married at a very young age and has a 50-year old son.
Announcements
Board meetings minutes have been completed.
Speaker August 13 will be a representative from the Orange Bowl Committee
No speaker has been scheduled as yet for August 20
Speaker on August 27 is Barry Johnson from the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce
Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) is scheduled for August 22
The Club’s pool party will be sometime in September.
The Rotary District Conference is the weekend of November 13
The Club’s weekend cruise is set for February 19.
Shirley Pardon spoke of the need for funds to help in the purchases of buses for an orphanage in Honduras. More information to come.
A new group “Rotarians for Hope” is being formed.
Speaker
Burley Smith was our speaker today. President Tim Ryan handled the introduction. Tim had met Burley on his latest cruising adventure.
Burley is now retired. When he graduated from the Merchant Marine program, he was thrust into service right away. He served on the Meredith Victory Ship during the Korean War.
The ship was best known for evacuating more than 14,000 refugees in a single mission during the Korean War. Burley spoke about the extreme challenges that occurred during the rescue of so many people.
Under the stewardship of Captain Leonard LaRue, the SS Meredith Victory performed the largest humanitarian rescue operation ever by a single ship.
Books have been written about the event and the vessel has often been described as the "Ship of Miracles" as it was designed to carry only 12 passengers with a 47 person crew.
Club members found Burley’s talk very compelling. We all were proud of Burley Smith and his fellow Merchant Marines on the Meredith for their outstanding humanitarian work and service to our country.
