President Oliver Ruiz started the meeting off with a countdown….nine days and counting until the Club’s 100th Birthday Gala celebration. He also thanked those who participated in the Thomas Brown McClelland interviews over the past two Saturdays.
A Club Board Meeting was held and additional Gala items were shared:
Bacardi will be sponsoring the Gala with three bars featuring their many products;
Commissioner Bruno Barreiro will be attending the Gala;
Today’s meeting includes a wine sampling to determine which wines will be selected for the Gala.
Other board items:
Diane Landsberg spoke of the Club’s community service effort this month to be collect funds and/or diapers to give to Lotus House – a shelter for women;
Diane also mentioned that Amazon has increased their donation on AmazonSmile for the day;
Shirley Pardon is an active supporter of My Little Roses charity in Honduras. The Club is planning to contribute $500 and encouraged those interested to visit her go-fund-me page.
If you are interested in serving on next year’s board of directors, please contact Oliver by the end of the day on Monday, March 20. The proposed slate of the Board for 2017-2018 follows:
President/Treasurer
Phil Seipp
President-Elect
Dave Skinner
Secretary
Shirley Pardon
Immediate Past President
Oliver Ruiz
Club Service Chair
Diane Landsberg
Sergeant-at-Arms
Dave Skinner
Membership Chair
Dave Anderson
Community Service Chair
Tim Ryan
International Service Chair
Robert Bull
Youth Service Chair
Randy Lichtman
Public Image Chair
Jay Almeida
TBM Chair
Norman Kassoff
Council of Past President Chair
Ted Eldredge
Board Members
Cory Gittner, Juan Torres, Marcos Menendez, Rick Hernandez
Marcia Brod gave an invocation and John Carroll led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Guests and Vistors
Ed Oppel and Luis Machuca, both of PSA Constructors, were visiting for the second week in a row. Glad to have you join us again!
Happy $$$$$$$$$$ were collected by Renel Noel
Marcia Brod was happy to be celebrating her 43rd wedding anniversary;
Rick Hernandez contributed $3 for the three pars he had at this week’s golf outing;
Linda Singer enjoyed a wonderful day in Everglades National Park;
Robin Shelley is excited to be going on an Everglades swamp buggy tour with the Audubon Society;
Tina Moore, after a challenging morning, was happy to see the wine tasting at today’s meeting;
John Carroll reported that Past President Carlos Ruiz, and wife Cathy, will be coming down from North Carolina for the Gala;
Renel Noel is so thankful for the Club’s support and is happy to report that his project in Haiti is going extremely well – with three bathrooms almost done. He also was happy to help the Coast Guard speaking to Haitians intercepted at sea and getting important information on those trying to bring these individuals to the U.S.
Announcements
Saturday, March 18 is the last day for Thomas Brown McClelland interviews;
THURSDAY, MARCH 23 - NO LUNCH MEETING;
Saturday, March 25 – Century of Service Gala at the Rusty Pelican Restaurant;
Thursday, March 30 – Luncheon meeting at the Miami Yacht Club.
Speaker
Today’s speaker was Club Member Bunny Uriarte. Bunny came to Miami from Arizona and is the Multicultural Marketing Coordinator for Infinity Insurance;
She heads the organization’s Read Conmigo program. The program’s mission is to promote bilingual literacy, one family at a time;
The program provides free bilingual books for children to read with their families. Over one million books are mailed to homes;
Bunny distributes the books locally at community events and through many partnerships, including valuable connections with Miami-Dade Public Schools, the YMCA and the Go Latinos magazine;
Read Conmigo also promotes bilingual reading through contests for authors and awards to top educators;
Those interested learning more about the program or wish to sign up to receive the free books should check out their website: www.readconmigo.org
Dave Skinner led everyone in the Four Way Test of the Things We Think, Say or Do.
