The Eau Gallie Rotary Club
District 6930
Meeting Date of January 23, 2007
The accent was on accents today as brogues, dialects, and other assorted sounds filled the air – and then the visiting District Governors Elect showed up! Pres. Brian Laughlin gonged us to attention as we mingled merrily with a myriad of Home-Stay visitors on their way to their Rotary International DG indoctrination in San Diego, CA. next week.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Dave Spector, America was again Blessed by God in rousing song (more or less) under the baton of Yours Truly, and Rev. Bill Anderson, led us in prayer. Bill Walker introduced a full roster of “Visiting Rotarians and Guests” including Cocoa Beach Rotary Club President Ed Peresluha, Suzanne M. Iannazzi (Suntree),District Governor Elect Carl Lewin from Norway and his wife Liv, Brian and Jen(sp?) Doggrell, DGE from England, Unni Alfei & Ame Lystad from Norway, Brian and Val Hellin from Dorchester, England, Kevin Farleigh from England, and few other DGE’s whose names did not make it to the list. Guests included our speaker, Chief Paul Forsberg from Melbourne Fire Dept., Mike Terrio and Jim Warner (guests of Phyl) and Lionel & Maureen Heath (guests of Yvonne’s who appear on the “guest” list, but whom I believe were also DGE’s)
Dee’s Birthday was mentioned, apparently out of turn, and in the multi-national excitement of the proceedings, we failed to remember to get back to memorialize the event.. We’ll get you next week, Dee!
Buz Anderson reported a change of the LightFest meeting from Wednesday to Thursday, January 25th, at his office at 5:30 pm.
Bill Walker reminded us that we have Road Cleanup on Saturday, February 3rd, 8:00 am. The more that shows, the faster it goes! And sometimes Brian brings doughnuts!
Paul Durney announced a meeting of the Eau Gallie Rotary Charities Corp next week (the 30th) at 11:30 prior to the usual meeting, in the meeting room.
Pat Ponder gleefully reported smoothness in the Smoothie Booth volunteer sign-up for the Strawberry Fest, March 3rd. Apparently, Kurt Weiss will also be cajoling and arm-twisting for a team of corn wranglers, so be sure to put his email address on your spam-blocker, or prepare to boil some corn for a good cause! And no, Dr. Durney, not YOUR kind of corns!
Prayers and best wishes go out to Bill Anderson as his son goes for some surgery on Thursday, the 25th. Hopefully someone has been able to step up and provide transportation for his exchange student to Boca, Thursday morning.
In the absence of Roy “Ray-Ray” Alterman, Don Anthony was shamed into service as Sgt at Arms and despite failing vocal chords, managed to effectively fleece the flock, as Happy Dollars flowed in. The consensus seemed to be happiness for the visiting dignitaries, and happiness for the football team that Indianapolis hijacked from Baltimore many years ago. Joe Langlois was missed by those wishing to console him over the Patriots demise. Ed P. from CocoaBeach won the drawing for $14 bucks, and (despite being ineligible to do so) thinned the deck of cards for us by drawing a non-winning card, so the $88 rolls over.
Speaker of the Day, introduced by Brenda Marvin, was Melbourne Fire Department Chief Paul Forsberg, whose poise was unshaken by the presence of his boss at the front table. Overseeing a personnel roster of some 180 employees, and 8 station houses, Chief Forsberg acts not only as Fire Chief but also as the City’s Emergency Manager. He is encouraging businesses to implement their own emergency management plans, and is happy to act as a consultant in that regard, as needed. He mentioned that we are entering brush fire season and the drought index is climbing, so pray for some rain, and watch for small fires. The department responds to approx. 13,000 calls per year, with 75% being medical responses, as opposed to fires. Due to their multiple locations, the fire stations are usually the closest First Responder when a 911 call is received, thus the high response rate for fire fighters on medical calls. Of 145 fire fighters, most are paramedics or EMT’s so the public is good, capable hands if being served in an emergency by MFD personnel. After fielding several questions from an attentive audience, Chief Forsberg was thanked warmly, and another high quality Rotary writing instrument found a new home.
Phyllis Strawbridge was thanked and recognized for her hard work in again coordinating the Home Stays for the District Governors. It was clear that all the guests were thoroughly enjoying their visit, and again Phyllis, THANKS for all you do for this program as our ambassador!
We parted with our motto, SERVICE ABOVE SELF!