ROTARY RAMBLINGS 3-11-08

[Ellie Lowery]

Ramblin's by Ellie 
  _____  


ROTARY RAMBLINGS

ROTARY CLUB OF DELRAY BEACH

 

March 11, 2008

 

Our Board of Directors met at 7:30 a. m. today, presided over by President
Kurt Godfrey.  He again presided over our noon meeting; we had a packed
house, with many visiting Rotarians in attendance.  

 

Pat Archer gave the invocation.  Then, "Jumpin' Jim" stepped to the podium
and made us all feel Irish, leading us in "When Irish Eyes are smiling." We
had our traditional Irish meal, from Ellie's caterer.  As always, Bruce
Williams was keeping us all entertained with his repertoire.  

 

We had two birthdays today, Inga Talmon and Betsy Owen.  Since Inga is 39
(just like Jack Benny) she donated $39.00.  Betsy Owen donated $67.00.  (We
sang to them anyway!)  We wish of both you a very Happy Birthday, and many
more.

 

Nick Loeb was our guest greeter today.  (Harvey, he was unable to conjure up
more applause than you, even though he sang and danced on his way to the
podium.)  Nick greeted eight visiting Rotarians.  Dr. Stefani Martin
introduced her visitor.  Make ups were done by Lorraine Weingast and Tom
Stanley.  Leo Phillips gave a banner to Mr. Ackerman, from St. Clair,
Michigan.

 

It was good to see Bill Talen back again today, with another daughter,
Caroline, from Atlanta.  

 

Fred Bonardi proudly gave the stock report, since the Dow was up 200 points;
the NASDAQ was up 35 points; and the S&P up 17 points.  Oil is $109.00 a
barrel, gold is $976.00 today.

 

Tony Allerton, Sergeant at Arms, collected a total of $236.00 today.

 

Announcements:

 

Officers for next year, second posting:  

President                   Stephen Bates

President-elect          Bob Teninga

Vice-President          Tom Stanley

Treasurer                   Jimmy Weatherspoon 

 (Ernie Simon swore Jimmy in today, to fill Janet Powell's position)

Past President          Kurt Godfrey

Sergeant at Arms      Fred Bonardi

 

Board of Directors:

Bill Adams, Pat Archer, Bill Arnst, 

Anne Bright, Candice Etzler,

 Lyn Huckle, Alan Kornblau 

Ernie Simon

A vote will be taken next week on this choice of officers and board members.

 

Fire Chief David James is making a plea for us to help him "stay out of
jail!"  He is participating in the Muscular Dystrophy Drive on March 27, and
will be "locked up" at the Outback Steak House.  He must raise $3,000.00 to
remain "free."

Bob Teninga is walking around with a clipboard, eagerly waiting to sign up
volunteers for the Delray Affair.  

A date for Bingo has been set for Thursday, April 17; please put this on
your calendar.

 

Steve Bates introduced our guest speaker, President and CEO of Bethesda
Hospital, Robert Hill.  Mr. Hill is a native Floridian, born in Miami.  He
acquired his Masters of Health Administration from Georgia State University.
His B. S. Degree is from University of Florida.  He served in the U. S. Army
as a Platoon Leader and Company Commander, as well as a Military Police.  

In 1971, Mr. Hill began his career at Bethesda Hospital as Administrative
Resident.  In 1972, he became Assistant Administrator; 1983, Associate
Administrator; 1984 Executive Vice President; 1987 to present, he is
President and Chief Executive Officer.

He stated that Bethesda Hospital has experienced 49 years of Caring.
February 9, 2009 they will be celebrating their fiftieth anniversary.
Today, they have 401 beds, with the new addition.  The Emergency Room has 43
treatment areas.  There are 53 additional private rooms.  There is a
beautiful new lobby/entrance, including WI-FI for its visitors.  In 2005,
the Cornell Rehabilitation Unit opened.  This unit surpasses national
average.  Patient safety is their #1 priority.  

Their daycare facility is open for employees to bring their children to, and
not have to worry about their care.  Our own Cliff Ripley plays a major role
in this program.

Only a few weeks ago, their Heart Hospital opened, with 31 beds/private
rooms.  It is among the finest in our country, with three of the top doctors
in the country, along with the nursing staff.  

 

Fourteen new operating suites are being built, and are due to open next
week.  It will take approximately 18-24 months to complete all planned
phases.  One hundred million in funds has been raised to make this among the
top community hospitals in the nation.  All of this is possible through our
generous community.  I hope you will visit (socially) and see for yourself
what a fine facility it is.  

 

HAPPY St. PATRICK'S DAY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ssu.net/pipermail/ramblings/attachments/20080311/2a0b021e/attachment.html