Today's Events:

President Linda Kaplan presiding

ROTARY THEME 2006-07

We welcome all of our Visitors:

President Linda opened the meeting informing the membership of the highlights from Monday evening’s Board meeting and announced that Sunita Kaul had been approved for membership and will be inducted into South Miami Rotary at next week’s meeting. President Linda also reported that Club Photographer Stan Seltzman was still under the weather and, if your time allows, give him a call to wish him a speedy recovery.
 

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

President Linda reminded the membership of upcoming events:

Saturday, April 14 Baynanza Clean Up for Earth Day - David Kennedy Park in Coconut Grove 9:00 AM to 1:00PM. For more information, contact event Coordinator Felipe Vidal, at: 954-343-1106 or by E-mail: <felipe@felipevidal.com>.

Saturday, April 21, 2007 District Assembly at Signature Gardens. To register, go to the District 6990 website.

Saturday, April 28, 2007 Rebuilding Together 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Refresh an elderly woman's Coconut Grove house by painting the exterior walls. No charge to the homeowner. Breakfast will be provided by Deli Lane & lunch by Shorty's. For more information, contact Project Coordinator Cathy Miller.

President Linda Reported that the Art Festival was a smashing success, mostly due to the number of sponsorships that were acquired. Next year’s festival will be even greater if every member were to line up a sponsor or two. Sponsorship Packages will be available soon and every member is encouraged to go through their Rolodex, Blackberry’s, databases, etc. to identify potential sponsors now as many organizations are in the budget-planning period for the coming year. The next Art Festive Committee meeting is May 22, at the home of Bob Straile.

New blood is needed for the Scholarship Committee. So plan on getting involved and make a difference in someone’s life. Contact Diana Phillips for more information.

Foundation Chair Donna Gaines announced the availability of $1,000.00 in matching funds for contributions to The Rotary Foundation, Remember, $1,000.00 makes you a Paul Harris Fellow and committing periodic payments of just $100 makes you a Paul Harris Sustaining Member. With matching funds, you get there faster.

The lesson we learned from the 2007 show is that the vendor fees and artist fees covers expenses. The KEY to making the art show successful for our charitable purposes are:

The Lions know…. 
Next meeting of the Art Show Committee: May 22 at the house of the one and the only

 Bob Straile  

 @ 5:30pm

Volunteer NOW to make our Art Show a premier Miami event!

JIM STREYLE ESSAY CONTEST

Is in full swing. The middle schoolers are writing them now. Diana formed a committee and South Miami Middle school returns them next week. Two weeks from today, the committee will pick the winners.

Choose from 4 service projects:

1) Baynanza Clean Up for Earth Day – David Kennedy Park in Coconut Grove

Saturday, April 14, 2007 ~ 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Felipe Vidal, Coordinator

954-343-1106 / felipe@felipevidal.com

www.miamidade.gov/derm/baynanza

2)       Hands on Miami Projects : 

Helping Young Mothers

http://www.handsonmiami.org/

Saturday, May 5, 2007 ~ 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Refresh an elderly woman’s Coconut Grove house by painting the exterior walls. No charge to the homeowner. Doing a total of THIRTY houses to commemorate this day. With 5-6 Rotarians, the project will take approximately 3 hours.

Breakfast provided by Deli Lane & lunch provided by Shorty’s

Cathy Miller, Coordinator

(305) 665-1146 / cathy@firstflorida.com

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

Sunday, 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

THE DISTRICT ASSEMBLY IS TWO WEEKS AWAY!
 

Saturday, April 21, 2007

1. Reconnect with Rotary
Inspirational stories during the plenary sessions will remind you why you became a Rotarian. You'll gain a deeper knowledge of Rotary and its Foundation during workshops, discussion group sessions, and countless other networking opportunities the convention offers. You'll leave with a new sense of Rotary pride and purpose.
2. See old friends, make new ones
Attending a Rotary convention is like being part of the world's largest family reunion. Imagine the same camaraderie and fellowship you know in your club, multiplied by thousands. Whether on the convention floor and or in host events such as barbeques, you'll experience what Rotary fellowship is all about.
3. Celebrate your accomplishments
RI conventions celebrate Rotary's power to do good worldwide. Learn what a difference you and your fellow Rotarians make through volunteering and contributing. You will have the opportunity to meet or learn about beneficiaries of Rotary programs, including the next generation of peacemakers during the Rotary World Peace Symposium, a new convention event.
4. Location, location, location
Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, Salt Lake City is beautiful, clean, and friendly — and waiting to be explored by you. Whether your definition of fun is fine dining or mountain biking, the region has something for you. It's also the gateway to some of the greatest sights of the American West, so plan your vacation around the convention. Salt Lake City also boasts the world's largest genealogical database, which Rotarians can access in the House of Friendship during the convention.
5. Affordability
Salt Lake City is inexpensive and compact. The convention's centralized venue, the Salt Palace, is near many hotels and most Host Organization Committee activities, saving you time and money. With the city's reasonable hotel rates, this adds up to one of Rotary's most affordable conventions. If you register by 1 December, the basic registration fee is only US$275. Refer to "How to Register" and the registration form (PDF) for more details.

$$$ PRINTER CARTRIDGES FUNDRAISER $$$

Accepting empty inkjet cartridges

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

The Entrance is a growing community centred on the ocean entrance to Tuggerah Lakes on the Central Coast of New South Wales

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

http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/
downloadcenter/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

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

Maxene Graham introduced

Dr. Margie Molina – Empty Chair

 Today’s Speaker

In her typical eloquent style, Program Chair Maxene Graham introduced Dr. Margie Molina, clinical psychologist with more than 20-years experience. Many Club Members recognized her as she was the School Psychologist at Ludlam Elementary School, which several children of the membership attended. Dr. Molina earned her undergraduate degree at Florida International University and her Graduate Degree at Carlos Albizu University. Her topic: Grief and Bereavement. Dr. Molina defined grief as a process that occurs from a loss of something to which we are emotionally attached. For example, a loss of health, loss of job, or loss of a loved one (death). The loss can manifest itself in three ways: emotionally, physically and socially. Emotionally through sadness, anxiety and/or despair. Physically such sleep disorders, aches and pains. Socially by avoidance and not talking to people. Bereavement, she said, was specific to the death of a loved one and comes from a healthy attachment to the deceased person. Bereavement goes through five stages. First, is denial – this can’t be happening. Second is anger – why me? Third is bargaining – I’ll be a better person, just undo it; make it disappear. Fourth is depression – wallowing in the muck of self pity. Fifth is acceptance – it’s time to move on. Dr. Molina Pointed out that grief always precedes bereavement and the five stages don’t always happen in order and can many people even go back and forth between stages. She also pointed out that all the stages are painful. She encouraged the membership, in the event someone close is suffering from a terminal illness, to say goodbye. She also pointed out that although everyone deals with grief and bereavement differently, we need to give it time. Pointing to a recent Harvard study that premised most people will overcome grief and bereavement within six months, yet the study found that 35% of those studied were still grieving two years later. Dr. Molina pointed out that there were no tests to predetermine coping skills -- how people will handle grief, but new treatments included anti-depressants that accelerate the time frame for recovery. If you know someone who is grieving, let them talk it out; let them cry; empathize with them and support their religious rituals. The most severe loss is the loss of a child by a parent.