Interim Editor: Ellen Book, d007078c@yahoo.com
CLUB'S WEBSITE:
www.southmiamirotary.org

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Announcements
- Meeting Functionaries
- It's Your Turn
- Future Speakers
-
Today's Speaker
- Sponsors
- Calendar

Tuesday March 13, 2007

Rotary Meeting
March 13, 2007

President Linda Kaplan presiding

ROTARY
THEME
2006-07


* * * A N N O U N C E M E N T S * * *
President Linda opened today’s meeting requesting the members to suggest potential speakers to Program Chair Maxene Graham. She then reminded the membership of the garage sale, replacing Rotary’s garage sale, with the Coral Gables Congregational Church for the benefit of the children of a single mother who had just passed away from cancer. Call immediately to make your contributions, as the garage sale is right around the corner.

Don’t forget, too, you can get $25.00 worth of Starbuck’s coffee and . . . for just $20.00 with the Club’s Starbuck’s Gift Card. President Linda then informed the membership that Club Photographer Stan Zeltsman was under the weather and suggested the members call to wish him well or send a get-well card. Photos from today’s meeting are courtesy of President-Elect Mike Mills.


New Club Fundraiser


Starbucks Gift Cards

Buy $25 worth of product for $20

See Linda for the cards.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coral Gables Cycling Celebration

Attendance in activities related to the Cycling to Serve Fellowship constitutes a make-up attendance for our club's weekly meetings.

www.cyclingtoservecanadaus.com

BICYCLING THROUGH THE GABLES

OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY
the First Sunday of the month: March 4, April 1, & May 6
11:00 am - 2:00 pm

BICYCLING THROUGH THE COUNTY

For ROTARIANS: Meet to cycle @ 7:30am EVERY Saturday
@ Patricia's (5911 Maynada, Coral Gables)

Check out Patricia's website: www.Watch-Inc.org

To become a cycling fellowship member:

Go to www.cyclingtoserveuscanada.com

$$$ PRINTER CARTRIDGES FUNDRAISER $$$

Accepting empty inkjet cartridges

Bring them to the meetings or take a postage-paid plastic envelop home - ask Mike Mills


DID YOU MISS A MEETING 'CAUSE YOU WERE AWAY?

Visit www.rotary6990.org to find a club to make up an absence.

What a great opportunity this can be to visit another club and meet new and interesting members who are business owners and community leaders. They might be interested in the services that you provide.

For online make-ups:

http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/download
center/pdfs/eclub_list.pdf

Attendance credit for a 30-minute interactive club Web site activity. This offers an alternative to making up a meeting at another club. To earn an attendance credit, Rotarians usually log on to the site, read up on a range of subjects, post comments, and submit a form to the club secretary.

For make-ups anywhere around the world when traveling internationally:

http://rotary.org/support/clubs/index.html

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

 

March 20 – Art Festival Committee meeting, 6:30 PM South Miami Library, Please come as new ideas from the membership are welcome and needed.

April 7 – 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM Assist Hands on Miami’s refurbishing of a group home for disabled veterans. To learn more about this, Log onto:

<http://handsonmiami.org/projects/viewProject.php?_mode=
projectDetail&_action=projectDetail&ixactivity=79774&PHP
SESSID=cf783c9d9f24a1ed55110d9225e72130
>

April 14 – 9:00 AM – 12:00 Noon, Baynanza, the annual clean up of Biscayne Bay.

Aug 24 – 25 Meet the 2007 – 2008 President of RI

NOTIFY DOREEN REITNAUER, SECRETARY, OF ALL MAKE-UPS:
Doreen_reitnauer@colonialbank.com

Mark Your Calendars

Friday - Saturday March 9 - 10, 2007

PETS in Orlando

Saturdays, March 17 & March 24, 2007

Rotary Leadership Institute in Weston

Saturday, April 21, 2007

District Assembly venue TBD

RI Conference - Salt Lake City

Thursday - Monday November 15-19, 2007

District Conference aboard the

Carnival Imagination Carnival Imagination

Meeting Functionaries

Invocation:

Ed Fischer

Pledge:

Jody Perlmutter

Guests:

Otto Fuentes

Happy $$:

Bill Enright

Door Prize:

two: Linda Kaplan and Wendy Lapidus

$$$ Prize: Mike Mills

4-Way Test:

Mike Mills

It's Your Turn

March 6, 2007

Door Prize: Horace Feliu / Dessert: Ernie Swift

March 13, 2007

Door Prize: Fabio Fernandez / Dessert: Don Streaker

March 20, 2007

Door Prize: Ed Fischer Dessert: Bob Straile

March 27, 2007

Door Prize: Ann Fisher Dessert: John Sorgie

Future Speakers:

March 6, 2007

Joan Sampieri - Miami Is Magic

March 13, 2007

Kenneth Bluh - Go for Broke

March 20, 2007

Jamie Furgang - Water, Water Everywhere

March 27, 2007

Ed Mattson, Hands Across the Sea"

TODAY'S SPEAKER

Program Chair Maxene Graham introduced Ken Bluh who most of us know as a columnist with Community Newspapers as well as a radio Talk Show host for WKAT’s Saturday morning, 8:00AM time slot. Ken began his talk saying that he really felt at home, here, as he knows so many of the membership. We then learned that when Ken is not opining in the press or on the air, he serves as mortgage broker. He lamented the sins of the industry’s past, where many company’s targeted the sub-prime market – people with poor or no credit ratings – and the ripple effect occurring today as many of these company’s are going belly-up. He related the story of one west coast Company that was holding its annual meeting in Hawaii when it defaulted and informed their attending employees they were all terminated; instructed them not to submit any expense report as they, would not be reimbursed and to find their own way back to the mainland, as there were no funds for the return flight.

Ken then gave an insight as to how the market works. Mortgage Brokers take the application, farm it around to Mortgage Companies, selling the paper to whoever accepts the deal. Unfortunately, with the number of company’s that took marginal loans going under, the market is drying up. The upside, Ken reported, is that interest rates are coming down. However, the increase in property taxes and homeowners insurance rates offset any benefit.

He then went on to explain the advantages of a reverse mortgage for those feeling the pinch and for senior citizens. To qualify, you must be 62-years of age, a US citizen or Permanent Resident. Ken pointed out that unlike conventional mortgages which require a monthly payment of both principal and interest, Reverse Equity Mortgages requires no payments as long as you live in the house. Upon qualifying, you can receive your money in three different ways: a lump sum of cash; an equity line of credit; or a monthly income for as long as you live in the home. You can even combine all three methods of disbursement. The advent, Ken pointed out, is that you make no payments as long as you live in the house. Eventually, the mortgage is paid by you or your estate when the property is sold. You even have one year from the time of departure to satisfy the loan. Additionally, there is no effect on Social Security or Medicare.

Ken then shared a humorous anecdote of having mad a call on an 80-year old woman in Aventura who wanted a reverse mortgage on her condo. As he was reviewing the concept with her, in came her 98-year old mother who asked Ken if he was married. Curious about the question, he asked, “Why do you ask?” The mother went on to explain that of the 680 units, 10% were occupied by married couples, 10% by widowers and 80% by widows. When Ken informed the mother he was married, the daughter burst out with, “Mom, I don’t need you to find a man!” Ken then concluded his remarks by saying that if anyone wanted to meet single, financially comfortable women, Aventura was the place to go!

SPONSORS

web design and programming by www.sdsol.com