Today's Events:

President Mike Mills presiding

* * * A N N O U N C E M E N T S  * * *

RCSM Board’s Monday Meeting decisions:

Linda Kaplan:

Charitable Service Projects:  where our fundraising $ are being spent:

1)  1 full 4 year scholarship – with Take Stock in Children.  They pay for half and we pay for half costing us just over $5,000.  They identify candidates for scholarships and we decide who to sponsor.  Diana and Wendy volunteered to be on the committee.  Chair vacancy to be filled. 

2)  Dictionary Project + Atlas Project – 3 South Miami schools will get dictionaries for ALL 3rd graders & ALL graduating 5th graders will receive an atlas.   The fifth graders who get them will be asked to use it a Rotary Club geography contest in which we will offer prizes. 

3)  Funding for Haiti Safe Water Well project costing us $1,250 which will be matched with a District Grant and RI Foundation Grant making a total of a $5,000 contribution.

4)  Assist in the funding of a Thailand Orphanage filled with Burmese refugees. 

Our money is being well spent!  Thank you Linda!!

Donna Gaines:

will be planning an upcoming party to replace the Holiday Party that wasn’t.  We’ll have an April Birthday Party for the club (which will also celebrate the completion of this year’s Art Show.  More details to follow…

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Saturday & Sunday, FEBRUARY 23 – 24, 2008

Our #1 Fundraiser

The South Miami Rotary Art Festival

Our #1 Fundraiser

This month’s issue of Miami Monthly magazine has our artshow advertisement + an article about it inside

www.southmiamiartfest.com

100% membership participation is expected!

Sign up sheets were distributed and will be at each meeting, the RCSM has no shiftless members. 

Talk to Diana if you plan to be out of town.

COCTAIL PARTY FOR OUR ARTSHOW SPONSORS & MEMBERS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2008
@
6:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF SOUTH MIAMI

5750 Sunset Drive, South Miami,  FL  33143

John Sorgie: 

Sunset Dr. BOOTH PAINT MARKING:

4:30 A.M. ON WEDNESDAY February 20, 2008
(NEW DATE)

so far the volunteers are: 

Ellen, Mike Newman, Susanne, Jennifer, Bill Enright, Karen, Curtis and John Sorgie

for a total of 8.

Friday, February 29, 2008

Rotary Panthers Night

Come join your fellow Rotarians and friends for a fun night!
www.rotary6990.org

- Tickets are significantly discounted & $5/ticket sold donated to your club!

- Every Club attending will be announced via the jumbo-tron!

- Every Rotary Club that sells 50 tickets win 4 lower bowl tickets for a future game

- Every Rotary Club that sells 100 tickets with 4 lower bowl tickets and an autographed item (jersey, stick, or puck)!

- If the District sells 1000 tickets, the Panthers will give us a Cruise Trip to use for an auction

Sunday, March 2, 2008 at 10 am

A POLICE ESCORTED BICYCLE RIDE FOR FAMILIES

Visit the club’s NEW MYSPACE pages:

www.myspace.com/southmiamirotaryclub
&
For the art show:
www.myspace.com/southmiamiartfest

We have over 60 friends…

Hampton Booker: Spare change fundraiser: Toss your coins into the jug at the Sgt. Of Arms table & make a wish!!!

We are accepting empty inkjet cartridges for recycling.    Bring them to the meetings or take a postage-paid plastic envelop home –  ask Mike Mills

Recycle ~ Reuse ~ Renew

DID YOU MISS A MEETING ‘CAUSE YOU WERE AWAY?

Our club goal is 100% Attendance!

If you miss a meeting, it can be made-up within 2 weeks, before or after, of the missed meeting date.

For online make-ups:

http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/downloadcenter/pdfs/eclub_list.pdf

For make-ups anywhere around the world when traveling internationally: http://rotary.org/support/clubs/index.html

NOTIFY DOREEN REITNAUER, SECRETARY, OF ALL MAKE-UPS:   dhiker217@aol.com

Programming Chair 2007-08:  Roy Gonas
Members responsible for programming by month:
February – Wendy
March – Otto
April – Ann
May – Ed

2007-08 RCSM OFFICERS

To send an E-mail to the Rotary Club of South Miami’s Board of Directors, board@southmiamirotary.org

South Miami Rotary Club:
www.southmiamirotary.org

Rotary District 6990:
www.rotary6990.org

World Organization:
www.rotary.org

Mission Statement

THE 4-WAY TEST OF THE THINGS WE THINK, SAY OR DO:       

• Become connected to your community.
• Work with others in addressing community needs.
• Interact with other professionals in your community;
  assist with RI's international humanitarian service efforts.
• Establish contacts with an international network of professionals.
• Develop leadership skills, Involve family in promoting service efforts.

Renewing or Joining
To Renew ($250) or to become a New Member ($300) contact
Asaad Massoud, at www.racharters.com

Fundraisers
Interested in putting together a fundraiser? Contact Club Service Chair Linda Kaplan at lindakaplan@lk.com

Today’s speaker was introduced by February Programming Committee Member Wendy Lapidus.   A SM Rotarian who passed away,  Larry Plumber, had a  punch-line to a longstanding funeral home joke:  he called it the Christmas Layaway Plan.  While the joke was forgotten the punch-line wasn’t & thus pre-planning is today’s topic.

http://www.vanorsdelfuneralchapels.com/

Preplanning for Your Funeral Needs

Hand outs:  Individual Estate Record for tracking your personal info
At need  - when there is the death of a loved one and all the arrangements are needed immediately
versus

Pre-need which allows you 1) more time, 2)  less pressure, 3) choices and 4) selections.  You can be presented options that you have time clarity and perspective to review.. 

Pre-need discusses the :  1- Eulogy, 2- obituary info, 3-  preferences, 4- last dress, 5- which cemetery, 6- which plot, 7- military info for those honors needs coordination, 8- surviving relatives, 9- organ donations which need to be arranged with the hospital or hospice (the funeral home needs to be aware of organ donations, so if they are called first they can route the request to the proper medical facility.

Many children are in denial about their parents.  Assets, liabilities, stocks, bonds, social security info all needs to be addressed. 

The industry is regulated by the FL Dept of Financial Services, Division of Funeral, Cemetery and Consumer Services. Their records get audited. Pre-need funds are deposited into a trust company account – protected in the state of Florida. 

This company was started in 1924 as a hands-on family owned business.  It now grew to four locations.  Don Van Orsdale, the father, is a Miami Rotarian. 

FACTS:
They do all of their own cremations. 

They are a funeral home not a cemetery. 

Embalming is not a state law. 

Boca Raton veterans cemetery just opened last year. 

No finance charges for monthly payments.

You can provide your own casket but you must get it to the funeral home when it is needed.

They store cremated remains only for six months.  Creation remains are bone fragments not ashes. Creation takes 2-3 hours. They will go out on a boat and spread the “ashes” and give the family a certificate if that is requested. 

The law won’t allow you to bury family or yourself in the backyard.

Visit the website for answers to FAQ’s such as:  

• What purpose does a funeral serve?
• What do funeral directors do?
• Do you have to have a funeral director to bury the dead?
• Why have a public viewing?
• What is the purpose of embalming?
• Does a dead body have to be embalmed, according to law?
• Is cremation a substitute for a funeral?
• Is it possible to have a traditional funeral if someone dies of AIDS?
• How much does a funeral cost?
• Why are funerals so expensive?
• What recourse does a consumer have for poor service or overcharging?
• Do funeral directors take advantage of the bereaved?
• Is it right to make a profit from death?
• Don't funeral directors mark caskets up tremendously, at least 400%?
• Who pays for funerals for the indigent?
• What should I do if the death occurs in the middle of the night or on the weekend?
• Will someone come right away?
• If a loved one dies out of state , can the local Funeral Home still help?
• So, I've decided on cremation. Can I still have a funeral or a viewing?
• What should I do when a death occurs in my family?
• What should I do if a death occurs while I am away traveling?
• What if a death occurs while traveling outside the U.S.?
• Who is eligible for monthly Social Security Benefits?
• How may I find out more information and apply for benefits?
• Who is eligible for veterans benefits?
• What do the benefits include?

Click on our generous sponsor's business cards to visit their website: