Rotary Christmas Party 2008

Council on Aging van

We'll dedicate this van when our partners from Costa Rica are here. It will be put into service at Council on Aging soon.

Rotarian killed in India

Here is the link to the story about the Rotarian, Doug Markell, killed in Mumbai, India last month.

Roy Hyatt Center Open House

Here are a few pictures from today's open house. Cantonment Rotary helped in many ways.

District Governor's visit

Cycling for Polio Eratication

A 28-year-old polio survivor, Ramesh was adopted from India by Canadian parents in 1982. He can walk with the assistance of braces and crutches; however, his legs are not strong enough to propel a conventional bicycle. Instead, he rides using a hand cycle which relies upon his powerful upper body strength to maximize distance and speed.

75% of the money he is raising by riding across Canada on a hand-powered bicycle will go to Rotary's Polio Plus.

His web page may be seen by clicking here.

District Govorner's visit

Our District Governor, Ron Richards, is our guest today. Here is his biography.

Ron Richards has a Bachelor of Science degree from The University of Alabama and is a devout Crimson Tide fan. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard. Following a highly successful 25-year career in the supermarket industry in Birmingham, Alabama and Pensacola, Ron entered the financial services industry in 1990. In 1997, he became a Certified Financial Planner offering comprehensive wealth management and personal financial planning services to his clients. He is Past President of the Gulf States Chapter of the Financial Planning Association and President of Ron Richards Financial Planning.

Ron served as Commodore of Pensacola Yacht Club for two terms in 2000 and 2001. He is currently Commodore for the Gulf Yachting Association and is First Vice President of District 8 (State of Florida) of the International Order of the Blue Gavel, the association of past commodores. He has been active on numerous boards including Big Brothers Big Sisters, and was a Big Brother. He and Innes were Foster Parents to his Little Brother for a period of one year.

Ron, as a Charter Member, was involved in the formation of the Rotary Club of Navarre in 1995 where he served as Club President for the 1998-99 Rotary year. His club was awarded the Presidential Citation for its outstanding performance. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Rotary Club of Navarre’s Scholarship Fund which awards three $1,000 scholarships to outstanding high school seniors annually. In April of 2003, due to the relocation of his business, Ron left the Navarre Club and was elected into membership at the Rotary Club of Pensacola. He has been serving as Assistant Governor for Area 2 since 2005. During 2006-07 he served as President for the Combined Rotary Clubs of Pensacola, a president’s council for the twelve clubs in the area. In the first election buy ballot in District 6940 history, he was elected District Governor Nominee on March 24, 2007 following the resignation of DGN John Keith. He served as District Governor-Elect during the 2007-08 Rotary year while still representing area 2 as its Assistant Governor. Ron has maintained thirteen years of perfect attendance, and is a Paul Harris Fellow, a member of the District 6940 Paul Harris Society, and a member of the Bequest Society.

Ron has been married to his wife Innes for thirty-one years. Innes is Secretary of the Rotary Club of Pensacola, has eleven years of perfect attendance, and is a Paul Harris Fellow, a member of the Paul Harris Society and Bequest Society. Ron and Innes attend Christ Episcopal Church and their hobby is sailing.

More pics of the ball game

These are the club members present for the game.



Here are all our family members who also attended.



Finally some weird guy who likes birds and baseball.

Pels game

The club had a great time on the evening of August 8, watching the Pensacola Pelicans beat the Shreveport Sports. Thanks to all who made it a great event.

July - August

Last week Greg Strader of BRACE spoke about his organization. A link can be found here.

This week we meet for Club Assembly, then go to the Pelicans ball game on Friday, August 8. Make plans to come with your family.

Pelicans info is here.

July 9 --- Skip Bollen of ESAR spoke

We had a great Rotary Club meeting today. Skip Bollen of Escambia Search and Rescue spoke to the club about their work. They are a private group with no government funding who do a super job in our community.

Skip works with the canine command.

Next week the club will have a great speaker about personal fitness. Come join us.

Click the image to make it bigger -- Let's help Relay

Wednesday July 2, 2008

Club Assembly was the theme today. We had strong attendance and great committee meetings around the tables.

Janet gave Paul Harris Fellow pins to several members and pins with saphires to several members honored for continued and special service. I hope to post a list of them here in a day or two.

Next Wednesday the dogs from Esacmbia Search and Rescue, Inc will be our program. Click on their name to jump to their site. See you then!