Tonight was our annual Fall Steak Dinner! It was a great gathering at the VFW with 35 Naples Rotarians and 9 guests!  We welcomed our new Youth Exchange Students - Romane Dehan from Belgium and Hikaru Karasawa from Japan.

 

Additional guests were Mark Poppleton, Kathleen Duserick, Chip and Stuart Weismiller, Jordan Smith and our speaker Laurie Gifford Adams and her husband Jim.

 

We started with the Pledge and God Bless America.

Jack announced that there are 17 teams signed up for the District Golf Tournament on Friday this week. Sue reminded us of the Fall Festival to benefit Hospeace House on Saturday and Sunday - fun for kids and adults! Happy 57th Anniversary to Judy and Skip!

 

Dinner was fantastic with delicious steaks and plenty of apps, sides and desserts. And lots of conversations and laughs!

 

September is Rotary Basic Education and Literacy Month. Laurie was here to share her knowledge of the topic! Laurie is a graduate of Prattsburgh Central and Keuka College. She taught at FLCC and is currently at Keuka College in alumni relations and teaching creative writing. She has authored 11 books. She shared many aspects of why literacy is a survival skill that drastically impacts life success. Sadly 21% of US adults are illiterate! 54% have literacy below a 6th grade level. 

It is generational and stems from lack of books, dropping out of school, poverty and learning disabilities. The projects we do - providing dictionaries, thesaurus, and books for elementary students are valuable in encouraging Naples students to read and write. 

 

Marty had a Rotary Moment to share tonight. He recently joined a Rotary International Travel Fellowship. He was looking forward to having a guest stay with them on the way to a destination in Boston. Unfortunately the plane into Rochester was delayed very late and the plan had to be scrapped. Amazingly, Marty was in MA shortly after that and noticed a man wearing a Rotary shirt. Being shy (NOT), he introduced himself, said he was from Naples and learned that the man sitting next to the "shirt guy" was the one who would have stayed with them! Small world!

 

It was a wonderful night of food, fellowship and fun!

Thanks to the chefs - Bill, Marty and Hikaru, to all those sharing the extras and to Brittany Tierson for her great service hosting us!