We had a fantastic gathering tonight! There were 36 Naples Rotarians and 15 guests at the Redwood. Our speakers, Erica Reigelsperger and Emma Baker, are home from their Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) time in Europe and brought their families to enjoy their great presentations.

 

President Carrie led the Pledge. President Judy was not able to be here but she contributed an inspiration: "You can't help what you feel, but you can help how you behave." Margaret Atwood

 

Our guests tonight were Kathleen Duserick, Parker Smith, Charlie Grove, Tom Hawks and the families of Erica and Emma: Heather, Brad, Drew and Bill Reigelsperger and Kelly, Chris, Lydia, Dominic and Julius Baker.

 

Announcements: Blanche is home! * Posters were here for two events at Flint and Steel Farm this September: Old Trucks and Bluegrass to support the VFW and the Fall Fest for Hospeace House. More info to come. * The Rotary Area gathering previously announced for August 13th does not include our club. Our Area event will be scheduled in September. * We plan to order Rotary logo t-shirts for our club. A sign-up sheet was circulated tonight. Let Carrie know if you want to order. * We received thank you notes for our donations to Shelter Box and Building Minds in South Sudan.

 

John took the floor to announce the selection of two new Paul Harris Fellows in our Club. The awards were chosen by the Club's current Paul Harris Fellows and are given to Rotary or community members who exemplify commitment to Rotary goals and programs. Paul Harris was the founder of Rotary in 1905. Contributions of $1000 to the Rotary International Foundation by Rotarians or by Clubs in the recipients name earn this award. Tonight's recipients were Cindy Scoda and Frank Duserick. John's bios surprised and congratulated both Cindy and Frank. 

 

Sherry continued our weekly spotlight on committees. She chairs the Program Committee and was joined by Jo Cornish and Liz Bailey. Sherry described the process used to contact and engage our weekly speakers. Our programs were highly regarded in the recent member survey! Any suggestions for topics or speakers are very welcome - speak to a committee member or use the speaker idea box on the front table. New members for the committee are needed and welcomed as well. 

 

Our speakers tonight have recently returned from their exciting time in the Rotary Youth Exchange program. Emma spent almost a year in France. She shared her Top Ten favorite things throughout the year. They are: 10-school, 9-meeting other exchange students, 8- the city of Metz, 7-French food and culture, 6- Paris in December, 5- cooking Thanksgiving dinner for her host family and Christmas dinner French style, 4- her family's visit to see her, 3- her host family on arrival, 2-a fantastic 2 week Eurotour with other exchange students, and 1- the people and memories she brought home. Emma will be starting her senior year at Naples High School soon!

Erica spent her exchange time in Berlin, Germany. It is a city of 3.9 million so quite a change from Naples. She had to learn how to navigate the train system but soon got to enjoy its convenience. Berlin is called the City of Freedom and the Green Capital due to the forests around it. Some of her best memories include the Festival of Lights that shined on the great architecture. They had a snow day, a very unusual occurrence. She visited many countries, skied in Switzerland, cruised to London, saw the Pope in Italy and visited a concentration camp. She saw remnants of the Berlin wall on a daily basis. Unfortunately, she spent some time in the hospital while there, where she struggled with language barriers. Better times were spent at the Christmas markets, caroling in a stadium, soccer games and an NFL game in Berlin! She thanked Naples Rotary for the opportunity of RYE. She will soon start college studying nursing with minors in German and Spanish.

Thanks to both Emma and Erica for sharing their great adventures with us!

 

The Ace of Hearts was $56. Tom Salviski had ticket #0623 and Destiny chose the Ace of Diamonds.

Many Happy Bills were given to congratulate Cindy and Frank for their Paul Harris awards. Many thanks to Emma and Erica for their programs. Bill's mom visited and the Groves took her home and spent some time. Thanks went to Carrie, Jill and Marty for their involvement with RYE. Bo and Patrice look forward to their family's visit and meeting the new baby. Alan B. has family coming this week. Erica's dad is happy she is home! We are happy Blanche is home and Nancy was here tonight. We are proud of our Naples students as ambassadors to the world. Charlie shouted out to Drew who finished a 50K race!

 

The Rotary Moment featured the Rotarians who helped with the Mulligan Disc Golf tournament for Hospeace House last weekend. It was the 10th annual event with 80 pro players from all over the country. Jack was the lone Neapolitan and had a great time!

We closed with the Four Way Test and Carrie rang the bell to adjourn at 7:25pm.