President Ellen Book presiding.

Visitors: Tom Washburn (Miami Dadeland/Pinecrest)
Guests: Lakitsia Gaines (Robert Straile)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Please give Maxene Graham a call just to say "Hi": home: (305) 385-5990

RYE Exchange Student Ilaria Rundeddu’s mother Laura Rundeddu visiting from Cagliari, Italy will be staying with the Dr. Mike and his family.

Stehle Essay Contest- Diana Phillips informed us that March 29th is the Social Studies Fair and the deadline for 8th graders to submit their papers is 3/10/06 Fabio Fernandez rose to the challenge by entering..... as a judge that is. Way to go, Fabio!

MEOW! ......Cats will be performed on March 11th at 8:00PM.

Where? Alper JCC- 11155 SW 112 avenue. $25.00/pp. You can call Randy Lichtman (RC of Miami Lakes) at (305)761- 5767 for tickets.

Keep your eye out for Carolyn Smith, a rising star in the classic GOLDIGGERS.

March 16 is the Fashion Show sponsored our club and hosted BankUnited. Posters and 4”x9” envelope inserts are available to help promote the event.

The Club’s Garage Sale is Saturday, April 8 at the home of Club President Ellen Book. Contributions to the garage sale may be delivered to Ellen’s home anytime AFTER March 8.

Barbara Kornblau will be calling a planning meeting for the Spelling Bee committee.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT GO TO BERNIE’S
for the Tuesday, April 18, meeting. The Rotary Club of South Miami will join with the Rotary Club of Perrine-Cutler Ridge-Palmetto Bay to meet the inbound Group Study Exchange (GSE) team from Scotland at the Tony Roma’s Restaurant located in the Port Royal Shopping Center 18851 South Dixie Highway.

2006 District Assemby April 22 is the District Assembly at Signature Gardens. The purpose of the district assembly is to develop the leadership and motivation skills of newly elected Club officers and provide members with Rotary knowledge. As the Dade County Youth Fair is fond of saying, “Be there, or be square!”
Foundation: Donna Gaines was going to announce that our matching funds were at $100 but President Ellen made it Zero! Congratulations to President Ellen and everyone who gave.

Program Chair Pansy Graham introduced President Elect Linda Kaplan

Topic: Overview of US Immigration

"Linda graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics then entered the Management Traing Program at The First National Bank of Miami (Southeast Bank). While there she took graduate courses in finance from FIU then returned to the U of F to earn a JD degree. After completing this program, she attended the New York University and earned a L.L.M in taxation. Her debut at law in 1977 was in the field of taxation and International Business. After a few years she began to concentrate on Immigration and Naturalization Law. Linda's Practice involves both Family and Business Immigration and her paralegal staff assists clients in Spanish, French and Japanese."

Linda informed us that there is a misperception with regards to immigration. Not all immigrants arrive in rafts or cross the Mexican border at night. There are many that apply through legal means for many purposes such as Business, Professional relations or direct employment from sponsoring businesses. Non-Immigrant Business Visas are commonly used for businesses that have many offices throughout the world. There are many different types of Visas depending on the classification of the applicant. For example H1B's are for professionals working in the US such as Doctors and Engineers and must possess a degree. There are also Short Term Visa's for one or two years granted to those that demonstrate extraordinary achievement in a given field. P1 Visas are used by sports teams that visit the US to play in competitions. For more information please contact Linda at:(305) 670-7665.

"Everywhere, immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life".............President John F. Kennedy