President Oliver Ruiz welcomed all to the “best Rotary Club in the world!” He gave a “shout out” to member Scott Richey and Northern Trust for hosting a wonderful evening cocktail/social hour last week. It was a wonderful time for everyone who attended.
Marcia Brod gave the invocation and Norby Rudel led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Guests and Visitors were introduced by Cory Gittner:
Monica Sulev visited the club as a guest of Linda Singer. She is new to the area and came to check out the club;
Mary Louise Cole, a former Miami Rotarian and current member of the Perrine/Palmetto Bay/Cutler Ridge Rotary club, came as a guest of Robin and Susan Shelley. They couldn’t be at the meeting today, but Mary Louise was welcomed with open arms by all. She is now the Executive Director of Victory for Youth Association;
Dunia Miranda-Mauri is the Trade Commissioner for Guatemala here in Miami;
Annabella Bruni was visiting today also from Guatemala;
Imelda Medina is President-elect of the Rotary Club of Miami Airport.
Happy $$$$$$$$$$$ were collected by Renel Noel
Marcia Brod reminded everyone that every day is a gift and she recommended retirement for everyone!
Rick Miller was an overjoyed Chicago Cubs fan. According to Rick, the world can now come to an end and he would still be a happy guy!
Angel Rodriguez thanked Rotary for helping to fund 600 hygiene kits that were distributed to homeless veterans.
Robert Bull was happy to be seeing a drastic decline in his waistline thanks to Rick Hernandez and the diet supplement, Isagenix, he distributes.
Linda Singer continues to be excited being a member of the Rotary Club of Miami.
Tim Ryan enjoyed the happy hour at Northern Trust last week. He was also glad that his in-laws have headed home and reported that he will be going to jail again – this time in Portland OR.
Norby Rudel is looking forward to this weekend’s Interact/Peace Conference. This is the fourth year of the event and volunteers are encouraged.
Oliver Ruiz reported that another productive Gala committee meeting was held and thanked the Shelleys for their hospitality. There is still plenty of work to do and members are encouraged to participate. The event is Saturday, March 25, 2017.
Renel Noel was grateful for all his Rotary friends who have contributed their time and money to help the hurricane victims in Haiti. He also spoke to our guest from Guatemala and stated that the last time he visited there he had the best tasting chicken he had ever had in his life!! He wasn’t sure if it was the Guatemalan chicken or the cook.
Announcements
Diane Landsberg reminded members that the Interact/Peace Conference is Saturday, November 5th and volunteers are welcome;
Renel Noel wanted to share a special thank you to the Interact Club of Miami High. They collected a lot of goods for him to send to those in need in Haiti.
Upcoming dates:
Wednesday, November 9 - District 6990 R2R Networking event at the Miracle Theater in Coral Gables
Thursday, November 10 – Lunch meeting at Miami Yacht Club
Sunday, November 13 – Lunch on the Fathom, Port of Miami
Thursday, November 17 – Lunch meeting at Miami Yacht Club. The speaker will be Jean Monestime, Chair of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners.
Thursday, November 24 – NO MEETING – HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!!!
Speaker
Member Robert Bull shared information about his recent trip to Guatemala;
He stated that the hotel he stayed in was the meeting site for five different Rotary Clubs, each on a different day;
He visited the Hospicio San Jose where help is given to babies with HIV.
Robert is working with the Rotary Club of Los Americas on a global grant to InveGem. They do research on metabolic diseases. This work has four goals
Neo-natal screenings;
Identifying children with lymphoma blastic leukemia;
Identifying BRCA genetic markers for breast cancer
Research on xeroderma pigmentosum;
Xeroderma pigmentosum is a hereditary disease and occurs in great numbers in a small village in Guatemala. Individuals with this disease lack the enzyme that repairs damage to the skin from the sun. There is no cure. The current objectives are:
Detect the gene in question in healthy individual so the disease is not passed on;
Provide protective clothing for effected people;
Build a structure where the harmful sun rays can be filtered out so affected villagers can enjoy the light without harm.
Robert continues to work on this global grant, but has pledged to match up to $1,000 of total donations made by club members for this cause. Checks should be made to the Rotary Club of Miami Florida Foundation.
Dunia Miranda-Mauri, the Trade Commissioner from the Guatemala Trade Office in Miami, spoke about her country and shared a wonderful video of its beauty and people. We were all ready to get on the next plane and try to find Renel’s best chicken dish ever!!
Dave Skinner led everyone in the 4-Way Test of the Things We Think, Say or Do.
