There was a lot of excitement in the air as we gathered at the Redwood this first warm evening of the year! Jo was our greeter, welcoming 24 Rotarians and 5 guests, including John and Sherry on Zoom (thanks Sue). Three more Rotarians and one guest joined in after enjoying dinner at Carusos. It was great to see each other after last week's meeting cancellation due to icy windy weather.

 

Jack brought us to our feet at 6:06pm for the Pledge and to sing the second verse of America the Beautiful. His invocation was "where the spirit of the Lord is, there is peace... there is love".

Guests tonight were exchange students Anna and Uryu, Lanny Hotelling, Andrea Leach and Annabella Leach.

Joseph Kickbush came with his mom, Laurie. 

 

Announcements: the Naples Trout Derby committee reports that they are in great shape. * Rotary Learning Institute (RLI) has a virtual event Tuesday and Thursday this week. More learning options are listed at RLINEA.org * Rotary Wellness Day is March 30th, 6-9pm. More info coming * ROTEX Polar Bear Plunge is 4/6 at noon. Info on this will be presented at next week's meeting. * Rose sends a "hello" from Victor!

 

Brenda Keith was our speaker, giving her Member Spotlight. She grew up on a family farm of 100 acres not far from Memphis TN. They grew cotton on 11.5 acres plus corn, hay, beef, pork, poultry and dairy. They had large gardens of vegetables which were canned or frozen in rented freezers at the grocery store. Brenda was the middle of 5 children of high school sweethearts. She remembers hearing about rationing of gas and sugar during WWII. She helped with planting of cotton, thinning the seeds with a hoe. The plants had lovely colored blossoms, followed by green bolls that popped open to fluffy cotton that had to be picked before it got rained on. She brought some samples of the cotton bolls. After picking, the cotton was taken to a gin where seeds were removed and it was baled in 600 - 800 pound quantities, secured with rope netting and taken to the train station. Her farm life gave her a great work ethic. Her school was a red brick two story, grades 1-12 where she played trumpet and french horn. The students bought their own music and marched in parades and at football games. She was in 4H, learned sewing and baking, becoming an expert cherry pie baker. She was part of girls basketball team. They were only allowed to dribble two times and played on a half court. Brenda's husband was from Naples. They met when Brenda came to Naples to help her sister care for her husband after a bad accident. Brenda had worked in retail and went to FLCC for an associates in business admin. She got her BS in business admin at Roberts Wesleyan, and then got certification in School Admin at SUNY Brockport. After working in accounting for Ontario County, she took a position as high school secretary at NCS. She later served as Superintendent for 4 years and retired after 30 years at NCS. She took a trip to Italy with a Master Chef where she served as sous chef. Additional travels inspired her to become a tour guide. She led tour groups all over the US. Brenda has been a Rotary member since 2001, serving as President in 2004-2005. She received a Paul Harris and a Robert Allen award. She's looking forward to hearing other Rotarians member spotlights!

 

Our special guest tonight was Bella Leach. She is a Junior at NCS and had prepared two songs for the Rotary Vocal Contest. Unfortunately, the contest had only 4 participants and was cancelled. Luckily, she was available to sing for us. She will be performing as the lead, Donna, in Mamma Mia, in the Naples HS Musical this weekend. Wednesday is a dress rehearsal, open free to seniors at 6 pm. Thursday and Friday evening shows are at 7pm, Saturday shows at 2 and 7 pm.  All shows are at BVT. Bella delighted us all with "The Trolley Song" from "Meet Me in St. Louis" and "Winner Takes It All" from "Mamma Mia". Jack gave her a scholarship check from Naples Rotary. Best wishes to you, Bella and thanks so much for singing for us!

 

Ace of Hearts was $141 tonight. Skip had the winning ticket #9754 but picked the Queen of Spades. There's always next week!

Happy Bills celebrated Brenda's bio and Bella's singing. Carrie enjoyed a quiet week off with Grady. Bill enjoyed ice fishing with Charlie and friends - even though no walleyes were caught!

 

We recited the Four Way Test and Jack rang the bell at 7:08 pm.