President’s Letter
December 14, 2016

I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful Holiday Season. It was kicked off very well for me with an absolutely wonderful Skål International Ft. Lauderdale & Palm Beaches Holiday Dinner Party. I believe all of you that attended will agree that Benvenuto's did a fabulous job for us again this year, the food, service and ambiance were wonderful. We again had Bill DeRenzo as our Entertainer and M/C who kept us all entertained and even filled the dance floor a couple of times.

We were honored to have John Mavros, President of Skål USA join us for our event during his trip though the State. He spoke to us about some of the accomplishments of Skål USA over the past year and even introduced us to the "Skal Club" app that is available and encouraged us to consider downloading it as it has a wealth of information regarding Skål and of course lists all the Skål Clubs around the world. John also encouraged us to visit other Skål Clubs during our travels as they can be a great resource for business or leisure visits.

We recognized the past Club Presidents that were in attendance Theresa Nix, Wayne Lambert and Dick Safford, and had a moment of silence for Joe Malone, Past President of Skål International who recently passed away. His daughter Sharon Malone was a member of our club and will possibly rejoin when she moves back to Ft. Lauderdale.

We had some Holiday and get well soon cards for Paul Cook that we encouraged members to sign so we could send them up to him in NYC. We also took a picture of the Club members standing together with a poster wishing Paul well and that we missed him that we will also send up to Paul.

Then, of course, was our Silent and Live Auction that was managed by our very own club auctioneer, James Hansen. There was everything from holiday wine gift baskets, hotel stays, restaurant certificates, a Sixt Rental Car certificate and some fabulous bottles of wine that were auctioned off. Thank you James for all your hard work and your ongoing support of our Club. Thank you to all those who bid, rebid and bid again. Your support is also greatly appreciated.

Please watch for the invitation to our first dinner of the New Year which will be at the new Hyatt Place Hotel in Boca Raton on January 17th. Also, for those who may be interested we have six tickets for sale to the FAU Breakfast on Friday January 27, 2017 honoring Heiko Dobrikow - General Manager of the Riverside Hotel - as the 2016 Business Leader of the Year. We contributed $1,000 to FAU on behalf of our Skål Club in support of the Hospitality Students. If interested, please contact Dick before January 13th for more information.

Best wishes to our members celebrating birthdays this month:

Remember to log onto our club's website http://www.skal-ftlauderdale-palmbeaches.org to get more information on our club, event pictures and the upcoming Skål Monthly Reception and Dinner Meetings.

As 2016 comes to a close I would like to take this opportunity to let you all know how proud and grateful I am to be part of such a wonderful group of individuals that have come together to each play a role in this amazing club. I look forward to what the New Year has to bring and wish you all a Safe and Happy Holiday Season. If you are traveling for the holidays be safe and make all your journeys an adventure.

See you next year!

Skål,

With Hospitality,

Ian
Ian Black
President
Skål International Ft. Lauderdale & Palm Beaches