President’s Letter – September 2006

By Dick Stafford

Greetings fellow Skålleagues!

We returned to Pete's Restaurant in Boca Raton again this year for our September meeting. As usual, they did an excellent job presenting us with an enjoyable cocktail hour and a great dinner. During the evening we unveiled the club's new banner and all members in attendance received their new name badges. If you missed the September meeting, make sure that you get your new name badge from Paul Cook at the October meeting.

Lee Smolinski has decided to spend the majority of the year in Lake Tahoe where he owns a home. We expect that Lee will be returning to Florida during the winter. He will remain a member of our club and this year's SIUSA Representative. With his new schedule, Lee has asked to be relieved of his additional duties as the club's Treasurer. Carlos Banks has agreed to assume the Treasurers position for the remainder of this year's term.

As most of you already know, we lost one of our members this summer when Jim Cross passed away. At the September dinner Scotty Cassidy spoke reminisced about Jim with the members.

We had the pleasure of inducting Kate Joyce - District sales Manager for Viking River Cruises and Teresa Nix - District Sales Manager for Princess Cruises as new members during the evening. That brings our membership total to 47 passing Jacksonville in Region IV. This year, our club has brought in more new members than any other club in the region. We have one more new member pending whose application has been sent to Spain for approval.

We are beginning our planning for the December holiday dinner dance which will be held in the Boca Raton area on December 12th. Keep in mind that date is one week earlier that our usual meeting date due to the Christmas holiday. We are asking all of our members to donate something for our annual silent auction. In the past we have had some terrific items including gift certificates from hotels, cruise and airline packages, wine, gift baskets, CD's and other intriguing valuables. The proceeds of the auction are used to fund the charities the club supports. We will let you know at the October meeting how to send your auction item to the club for the December Dinner Dance.

The locations for upcoming meetings are:

     October 17, 2006 - we will be at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa in Ft. Lauderdale.

     November 14, 2006 - we will be at the Columbia Restaurant at City Place in West Palm Beach. This is also one week earlier than our usual meeting due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Don't forget to check the club's website www.skal-ftlauderdale-palmbeaches.org for additional club news, the upcoming Call to Meeting and the pictures from the September Dinner.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the October meeting at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa in Ft. Lauderdale.

SKAL!