• A thank you to Honorary member Michael Nobel for speaking at last week’s meeting;
• There was a productive board meeting before today’s luncheon;
• There will be NO lunch meeting on Thurs. October 27, instead we will be gathering in the evening at 5:30pm at member Scott Richey’s Northern Trust Bank’s office in Coral Gables;
• The Griffitts Award will be presented at the December 15^th luncheon meeting;
• The 50/50 raffle tickets were being distributed by Rick Hernandez and includes two items contributed by today’s speaker, UM Baseball Coach Jim Morris.

• El Saraiva Grangeiro, former Rotary Club of Miami member;
• Lano Brito, also a former Club member;
• Nan Morris, wife of speaker Jim Morris and official hostess for the UM Baseball program.

• Dave Skinner was happy to hear that member Michael Hilsbos may be back to Miami sooner than anticipated;
• Norby Rudel was feeling great and looking forward to “talking baseball” today.  He shared that he was on a flight to San Francisco and saw former Marlins hitting coach Barry Bonds sitting in first class – pretty cool!  No autograph Norby?????
• Jay Almeida was happy that his daughters are both doing well in college and Stephanie has even found a job. He was also glad that there were no more debates and was thankful for all his friends at Rotary;
• Rick Hernandez was thrilled and relieved to finally close on his old house, so he is now going to be down to only one mortgage to pay.  After five contracts on the old house over a year and a half, this one finally stuck.
• Robin Shelley was happy to have Jim and Nan Morris at the meeting today;
• Renel Noel thanked the Rotarians that came to help pack the many items he has collected for those in need in Haiti.  He will be packing items for the next three Saturdays and all are welcomed to come help.
• Oliver Ruiz shared an added thank you to Renel for all his good work.

• Gala Meeting conference calls are being held on Tuesdays at 5pm.  Anyone interested in joining should contact Oliver for dial-in information.  The next in-person meeting will be held at the Shelley’s home on Wednesday, November 2.  Sponsorships include two gold level sponsors – the Goldsmith Family Foundation, and the University of Miami. 
• Thursday, October 27 – NO LUNCH MEETING – instead an evening gathering at Northern Trust Bank in Coral Gables;
• Thursday, November 3 – lunch meeting and speaker – our own Robert Bull;
• Saturday, November 5 – Interact Peace Conference at Miami Dade College – volunteers are needed to help. The conference runs from 8am-4pm.

• Robin Shelley introduced our speaker – University of Miami Baseball Head Coach Jim Morris;
• Jim has a 44-year baseball coaching career, of which 24 years have been at the University of Miami.
• He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox, but realized early on that his true calling was coaching.
• As part of one of his coaching jobs, he also had to teach a sex education class – an interesting challenge!!
• The University of Miami baseball team is the only team in the state of Florida to have won the Baseball World Series….guess that means UF and FSU are still dreaming of that big win.
• A hard part of recruiting at UM is the cost of tuition – baseball scholarships do not cover the entire cost of tuition.  The athletes that do come to UM are truly dedicated to the school, the baseball program, and getting a good education.  The program has a 100% graduation rate.
• When asked which player stands out above and beyond the rest, without hesitation, Coach Morris named Pat Burrell as that special guy;
• Practices at UM are open to the public and the entire family is invited.  Jim reported that he has a soft spot for both kids and dogs!!!