President Frank opened the meeting with the pledge led by Brandon Stone and grace by Charlie Spencer. Today’s speaker was our own Dr. Michael Beck, who brought his wife Stanis and friend Eleanor Burns. Frank’s guest was Allison Saber of the Babylon Breast Cancer Coalition.

                                                                                                                                

New Members Inducted – Our newest members, Donna Squires and Gene Hilgreen, were inducted into the Babylon Rotary Club today. Past President Gustave Fishel III did the swearing-in honors. Welcome Donna and Gene!

 

 

New President-Elect – Past President Charlie Spencer has stepped up to fill the recently vacated president-elect position. Many thanks and kudos Charlie!

 

New RYLA Leader – Our club is sponsoring Caroline Aubin to be a Facilitator at the Spring RYLA – it appears that the event will be dominated by leaders sponsored by Babylon Rotary.

 

Arbor Day – Our Annual Arbor Day ceremony will be held on Thursday, April 26th at the Paul J. Bellew Elementary School (the school next to the library) in West Islip. Festivities begin at 9:45 AM. All are invited to join in as the kids eagerly adopt their seedlings and are mesmerized by Scott’s discourse on the importance of trees and conservation.

 

As in recent years, the good folks at the Babylon Beach House prep and package nearly 2000 seedlings for distribution to all of the third-graders in each school district in our service area. During this nearly fifty year, Babylon Rotary tradition, tens of thousands of trees have been distributed and planted; many large specimens can be seen throughout our local community today.

 

This month about 1700 seedlings will be distributed to kids in 15 elementary schools in Babylon, West Babylon, North Babylon and West Islip school districts. Please be sure to ask Scott, Alice or Josie how you can help.

 

Wine & Food Expo – Project Co-chair Jim Kanzler reports that a suitable venue for continuation of our “Endless Summer” Wine & Food Expo this year cannot be found. The planning committee has therefore shifted back to exploration of a fundraiser to be held early 2019.

 

The immediate task for the committee is to determine how we can enhance the income potential of our only remaining major fundraiser, the Dirty Sock Run. As always, we’re seeking everyone’s new ideas. If you’d like to help, please contact Jim (jim@meta5.com) or Chris Korte (ckorte@cruiseplanners.com).

 

Board Meeting Re-scheduled – The next meeting of the BRC Board of Directors will be held on Wednesday, April 18 (moved from the second to the third Wednesday in April).

 

Special Program Scheduled – We will host a special presentation on the Good Samaritan Stroke Center, Tuesday, May 22nd at 5:30 PM in the Babylon Public Library. This meeting replaces our usual (4th Tuesday of the month) Happy Hour/Networking meeting. 

 

Rotary Foundation – All are reminded that our club subscribes to the Rotary initiative of “Every Rotarian, Every Year,” whereby all club members are encouraged to donate $100 each year to the Rotary Foundation. To help meet this goal, members are asked to contribute $50, and the club will match it with another $50. The simplest way to make your donation is through the Rotary International website (rotary.org); just click on “GIVE” and follow the prompts. If you have any questions about donating to the Rotary Foundation, please contact Frank Seibert (fjseibertcca@hotmail.com).

 

 

Michael Beck gave an interesting slideshow presentation on the trip he and Stanis took to Cuba in February. From the range of subjects covered in Mike’s talk, it was clear that they savored every aspect of Cuban life, culture and attractions available to them during their short stay.

 

To comply with restrictive US government travel requirements, Mike and Stanis entered Cuba as a research scientist and writer, respectively, and were required to keep a diary of their work while in Cuba, subject to US government review for up to seven years after their return.

 

They took every opportunity to sample much of what Cuba has to offer – from very modest accommodations to resort hotels, home cooking to fine dining in the best restaurants, street music to performances in the Grand National Concert Hall, history, archeology, art and architecture, wildlife sanctuaries, botanical gardens, and some traditional touristy stuff.

 

Mike peppered his talk with descriptions of everyday life for Cuban people, and of how the Cuban government and the Cuban people reacted to, struggled, and adapted after the Cuban Revolution and ensuing US Embargo.

 

Mike also elaborated on the iconic, 50’s - era American cars that seem to be everywhere. Although approaching their seventieth year of service, re-engined and reworked many times, they are highly coveted as income producers. The average Cuban, who typically earns only a few hundred dollars a year, can earn much more as a taxi for the tourist trade. However, even a 65 year-old car can cost as much as $70,000, and most Cubans have to struggle and sacrifice to purchase one (a new car can cost five to eight times as much as it costs in the US). The extremely high prices are a result of not only supply and demand, but of antediluvian government monetary policies that render Cuban currency worthless on foreign exchanges, and severely limit their import market.

 

 

 

At our next regular meeting on Wednesday, Apil 11th, we’ll hear from Nick Esposito about “Greater Babylon”.