Today's Events:

President Mike Mills presided

We welcome all of our Visitors:

A table of beautiful women all Guests of Capt. Asaad:
Ilaria Belloni Barreto – Caldwell Banker
Marisa Mion Chisena – Caldwell Banker
Myrtle P. Alexander – A Lift in Life, Inc.
&
Isis Masoud

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

South Miami Rotary Art Festival
Saturday & Sunday, FEBRUARY 23 – 24, 2008
www.southmiamiartfest.com

Visit the club’s NEW MYSPACE page: 

www.myspace.com/southmiamirotaryclub

TURN IN YOUR FOOTBALL MANIA $ MONEY $

John Sorgie reported that that Club Members Kathy Miller was the High Score winner in last week’s pool and Bill Enright was the low score winner. URGENT There are some Club members who still have not submitted their Football Mania books. John requests that those members who still have books contact him with the book number and purchaser’s information, if sold. John can be reached at 3o5-666-8066.

Group Study Exchange (GSE)

District 4920 Buenos Aires GSE team partnership

When: Incoming team: October 29, 2007 – November 24, 2007.
Sign up TODAY for club presentations by our incoming team!!

Contact: Deborah O’Connor doconnorweston@aol.com

President Mike Mills giving Linda Kaplan her Past President’s badge

MEMBERSHIP

Hampton Booker:

Spare change fundraiser:

$$$ PRINTER CARTRIDGES FUNDRAISER $$$

We are accepting empty inkjet cartridges for recycling.    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?

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

Don’t forget Social Networking at the Club’s new MYSPACE page: 
<www.myspace.com/southmiamirotaryclub>

2007-08 RCSM OFFICERS:

President:  Michael Mills
millsmike@aol.com
President Elect:  Bill Enright
bill@handsonmiami.org
Vice President: Linda Kaplan
lk@lindakaplan.com
Secretary:  Doreen Reitnauer 
dhiker217@aol.com
Treasurer: David Jacobs
david@jnccpas.com
Sergeant at Arms:  Hampton Booker
Hg262@bellsouth.net

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 mission of Rotary International, a worldwide association of Rotary clubs, is to provide service to others, to promote high ethical standards, and to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.

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 effort

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

Programming Chair 2007-08:  Roy Gonas
Members responsible for programming by month:
September - Marty
October – Bob
November – Suzanne
December – Bill
January – open
February – Wendy
March – Otto          
April – Ann   
May – Ed

October Program Chair

Ann Fisher
introduced
Ron McGill
of Miami-Dade County’s MetroZoo.

Ron is known to many of our Club Members for his infamous Sex and the Animals presentation. A Native of New York City, Ron joined the Zoo when it was located at Crandon Park and moved with it to its current location on SW 152 Street. Ron recently returned from a photographic safari to Zambia, Botswana and South Africa and soon will be leaving to go to Manitoba to track polar bears.  He reminded the membership that sometime after relocating, the zoo was devastated by Hurricane Andrew. Ron described the damage as “It was as though someone took a mile-wide weed wacker through the complex.”

Today, the aviary has been rebuilt and the zoo prides itself on it’s open-air displays that allow visitors to view the animals in their natural habitat instead of 6 x 6 cages, New exhibits at the zoo include a giraffe-feeding station, a humming bird aviary and nearing completion is an Amazon jungle display. A big believer in showing the behind the scenes activities of zoo operations, he showed slides of TV coverage of volunteer professionals who donated their time and talent to the animals. On one scene, a dentist performed a root canal on a rare white tiger. In another, a cardiologist performed a physical exam on a gorilla that was diagnosed with hypertension. In another, a world renowned hand surgeon repaired 14 broken bones in the hand of a chimpanzee. Also, the ophthalmologist who performed an eye exam on a lion. These behind-the-scenes activities, caught on news cameras, have elevated the stature and fame of MetroZoo to surpass that of the San Diego zoo.

The impact was instrumental in DHL offering, in exchange for the accompanying publicity, to ship a rare tiger from Texas to Miami at no cost. Another PR event was the Dance of the Rhinos, where a Rhino at an Atlanta zoo was shipped to Miami for mating and the birth was captured on the news. Other exotic elements of MetroZoo are the painting elephant, who paints with a brush in his trunk, and the painting Chimpanzee who put the brush in his mouth and paints through the cage bars. These paintings are then sold to the public to aid in compensating for budget cuts. Over the years, the worldwide publicity of Ron’s work with the zoo has turned him into an international celebrity, where perfect strangers approach him to shake his hand. He also spoke with pride of walking around Times Square in New York City carrying a Kimoto dragon. He also marveled at the typically blasé attitude of New Yorkers who thought nothing of it!