The Rote - April 28th, 2022
Miami Yacht Club
Scribe: Eileen Carpenter
Noreen Timoney brought the meeting to order at 12:35pm. She welcomed those in person and online.
Shirley Pardon did the invocation which was an original “Ode to Rotary” zip code 33132:
Service Above Self
Four Way Test
Rotary
A life style
for All.
Cory Gittner led us in The Pledge of Allegiance.
Robert Bull told us about this day in history:
Noreen spoke about our fellow Rotarians in Ukraine and reminded us to keep them in our thoughts. Relief efforts are ongoing.
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A Yard Sale will be held at Diane Landsberg’s house Saturday, April 28th. Diane promoted the sale and said she has brand new items. Mother’s Day is coming up so buy stuff. 100’s of items. Thanks go out to the people who came Wednesday to help price and set up for the sale. Friends getting to have fun and help each other is an important part of Rotary. It was wonderful to see Dave Anderson and his wife, Nelly, at the event. This was better therapy to be around his friends.
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Membership renewal are due mid-June, reach out to Phil Seipp with any questions and to make payment.
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Brian Tschirhart is our Incoming Rotary President for 2022-23. His installation dinner will be Saturday, June 25th.
Our Club’s Earth Day April 22 Challenge was a success. Our winning photos came from Arlene Terrinoni saving the Earth in multiple efforts. Several other members and their families helped save our planet in a variety of ways. Thank you to Robert Bull for promoting participation.
Robert Bull spoke about our upcoming environmental projects on May 7th and May 14th. The Coral restoration project in Key Largo is fully booked with 12 people going. In June, a coral reef restoration project with UM is being finalized. ESMAG will have another tree planting on Saturday, May 14th. Over 900 trees will have been planted in the “Rotary Forest”.
Noreen presented Phil Seipp with his Paul Harris +4. This is an especially important part of Rotary. It is how we identify ourselves. Keep working and you too can get the Paul Harris award.
Jay Almeida shared that Patrick Aliu PSA Management in Orlando received a prestigious award from the government for his work. Congratulations Patrick!!
Today’s Program.
Noreen introduced our keynote speaker David Lawrence.
Mr. Lawrence is a long-time member of the Miami Community and has made such a difference in so many people’s lives. He is the recipient of numerous professional and humanitarian awards. He shared some moving stories and gave some opinions on today’s political/social environment. He remains optimistic that our community and the world will flourish in the years ahead and come together once again.
A few brief stories he shared:
He is more worried about this country than he has ever been, and he considers himself to be old fashioned in his thoughts about values, with no-political affiliation. He is as idealistic as he was when he was young and believes all five of his children are great human-beings and the grandkids will be too. He has been married 58 years to the love of his life and loves her more now than when he married her. She has now Alzheimer’s and Mr. Lawrence is working hard to raise funds to fight the disease.
He is also involved with Cristo Rey, a special school for disadvantages students. Kids attend school four days a week and work one day a week at a job. The money they earn is turned over to the school to support their education. When they start, they are way behind everyone else, but when they are finished, they are way ahead. A Cristo Rey school opens in Miami this summer and Mr. Lawrence has been fundraising to get the school started.
One last story. His father is dying. Mr. Lawrence was working for the Detroit Free Press and visited his dad in the hospital briefly. He had to go back to work and his father died two weeks later. Before he left the hospital on his visit, he leaned down to kiss his dad and his dad said, “I want you and your mom to know how proud I am of you.” He wanted him to say I Love You. Mr. Lawrence reminded everyone how important it is to tell people you love them before the funeral.
Noreen shared some inspirations for us to take with us for today and keep with us for the rest of our lives…...
Noreen thanked our Keynote Speaker David Lawrence for his wonderful presentation and inspirational message and presented him with a Certificate of Appreciation. Our Club will also be planting a tree in his honor at the May 14th tree planting in Crandon Park.
Noreen thanked our volunteers, club members and all of our guests.
Eileen Carpenter led everyone in the 4-Way Test.
President Noreen thanked everyone and closed the meeting at 12:45 p.m. (Those in attendance expressed appreciation that we extended the meeting to allow for Mr. Lawrence to answer questions and have an interactive discussion with our Club.)
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