The Eau Gallie Rotary Club Bulletin

The Eau Gallie Rotary Club Bulletin January 30, 2007

Dr. Paul “Fidel” Durney wielded a heavy gavel, as he clanged the meeting to order, in an apparently bloodless coup, as Prez. Laughlin was nowhere to be seen -- except in a brief mug shot provided by our Speaker of the Day (more on that later). Despite blood still pouring from our ears, we were led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Klaus Franicevic, cajoled into a “new” song (“America, The Beautiful”) by Yours Truly and, in the words of Dr. Foot, invoked the blessings of “The Big Guy Upstairs” led by Rev. Bill Anderson.

Setting the right (if less than subtle) example, Dr. Durney led the feeding of the Club Esteem Buckets, and then Dr. Mary Bonhomme announced the following visiting Rotarians and Guests:

Larry & Susan Cinco, visiting Rotarians from the Indialantic Club Ray Cornelius, visiting Rotarian from Pittsford, NY Nandi Patel and Vaishali Patel, guests of Chad “Rot’ry” Dhotre.

Following a lawyer joke from Mary “Specs” Bonhomme (something about lawyers and the devil (seems a bit redundant to me) and Atty Fernando Palacios, Esquire’s, subsequent striking of Mary from his Christmas card list, a smattering of announcements were delivered to include:

Bill Walker reminded everyone of the Trash Pickup Service Project this Saturday, at 8:00 am at Croton Elementary. Please turn out in droves so the job goes quick and easy!

Buz Anderson did his best politician imitation while announcing that he had no announcement about the LightFest, except to say that, oh yes, next week is a Club Assembly and we will talk about the LightFest THEN! Thanks, Buz for clearing things up.

Mary “We Are Devo” Bonhomme made yet another appearance to say that Charter Night will be held either March 13th or March 20th, most likely at our home base location of The Palms at Kiwi. She solicited input as to preferred dates, and feedback about the proposed location. The overwhelming silence seems to indicate that no one objects to the Palms. More on that as plans are firmed up.

Next Board Meeting for the club will be Feb 12th at 11:00, at The Palms, prior to the regular meeting.

Chad’s guests, the Patel’s, announced they are seeking volunteers for help at the India Fest, at Wickham Park, near the Big Pavilion, Feb 17th and 18th. Based on their help with our LightFest, we are happy to oblige, and a signup sheet will be circulated next week. Sign up for a slot, and don’t miss the IndiaFest for some great food and cultural experience. The Indian community is a vital part of the business, charitable and social scene in Brevard and they deserve our support!

Speaking of Worthy Causes deserving support, Don Morse announced the Big Brothers/Big Sisters event, Cooking From The Heart, taking place February 17th, 2007. Don and Cletus O’Brien are but 2 of the celebrity chefs proffering culinary delights, and Don’s Barbershop Quartet will even sing while you’re being served. That’s at the Melbourne Auditorium, and tickets are $60 per person.

Finally, Dr. Durney read the following – Jim Hagerty (Indialantic Rotary) is hosting a Rotary family Super Bowl evening to benefit the S. Brevard Sharing Center. Sunday, Feb 4, at 7 pm at the Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront Hotel. Admission is 2 canned food items per person (four max per family) They need confirmation of at least 15 attendees to make it a go, so if interested, please call Jim at 242-1840 by THIS THURSDAY to confirm.

The plethora of announcements concluded with Phyl Strawbridge’s annual proclamation of relief that “Homestay” week was a great success, and was OVER! A nice round of applause was provided for Phyl in recognition of her hospitality and dedication.

Roy Alterman showed up just in time for the Flock Fleecing, but an unusually compassionate Dr. Durney, recognizing Roy’s need for a hot meal, called on Jay Sutherland to squeeze blood from our gathering of assorted turnips. Happy dollars flowed, and not a few in honor of Mary B’s glasses, and SPECulation that perhaps, they are the source of her Super Powers! Don Anthony led us merrily down to the gutter with a happy dollar noting that while the City of Miami was prepared to host a “Fidel is Dead” party and has reserved the Orange Bowl for that occasion, Fernando Palacios is rumored to have reserved an alternate site, and we’re all invited. That alternate site shall go unnamed in this publication (unless they prove willing to host a meeting or at least provide a guest speaker), but suffice it to say that this particular West Melbourne adult entertainment establishment has declined to confirm or deny Atty Palacios’ engagement of their facility for such purposes. We suspect Don was just pulling our collective legs. And we thought he was just a nice Scotsman from Indiana!

Brenda Marvin won the Jackpot of $12, but failed to win the $100 when she pulled a non-winning card. The pot rolls over.

The Program for the day was provided by our own Club Secretary, Eric Turner, who successfully navigated the oft-dangerous waters of Audio Video presentations, by providing, via laptop and projector, a very informative, real-time tutorial on use of the District Web Site. The Web Site is an outstanding and efficient tool for current and future communications. Accessed by typing in www.dacdb.com, club members are encouraged to access and edit their own personal profile, and even upload a picture of themselves. A brief mug shot of Pres. Laughlin was displayed in the “what not to do” section of the presentation. The website offers the user easy access to find contact information about other club members, and it will also be a repository for all the Club Bulletins, providing an archive, as needed of the happenings of our club. The website takes the place of printed club directories, so it is critical that you keep your page up to date as your contact info changes. Please make use of this great new resource, and if you have questions or run into issues using the site, please feel free to contact Eric, Brian or Phyl, who all have some level of experience using the system.

NEXT WEEK’S PROGRAM will be a club assembly to wrap up LightFest. Be there for an outstanding meal, and great fellowship with those who embrace the motto –

SERVICE ABOVE SELF!