ABOUT THE CLUB

Our club was officially chartered as Club No. 427 "SKÅL Club of the Palm Beaches" on March 4, 1977, and this was largely due to the work done by our President of the club-in-formation, the late Charlie Matthews (Eastern Airlines) and our Founding President, the late Paul Bell (National Airlines).  A wonderful inaugural black-tie banquet was held at The Breakers Hotel on Saturday, March 8, 1977 with our host and fellow charter member, hotelier Jack Clifford.

In November 2000, the club's name was changed to Skål International Palm Beaches, a name better representing its international scope and function.

In April 2006 Skål International approved the changing of the club's name to Skål International Ft. Lauderdale & Palm Beaches. The club realized in early 2004 that to be able to maintain and grow its membership we needed to more appropriately identify its geographic membership base. At that time our membership was located between Miami to the south and Jensen Beach to the north with an increasing concentration of members in the Ft. Lauderdale area. With the approval of the name change, the club has significantly increased its membership and now holds its monthly meetings alternating between the Palm Beach, Delray Beach/ Boca Raton and Ft. Lauderdale areas.

In April 2007 we held our annual April Installation of Officers Dinner at the Hilton Hotel at the Palm Beach International Airport. The black tie event also celebrated our 30th anniversary as an active SKAL Club. With 74 members and guests in attendance, the dinner was the largest function the club has held in its 30 year history. We were joined at the dinner by Abelardo Vara the President of NAASC from Cancun and Tom White, the SIUSA Region IV Vice President.

After inducting several new members and the Installation of Officers ceremony, Abelardo Vara presented each of the Past Presidents with the SKAL Past Presidents Medallion and our SKAL club's mini banner. Abelardo thanked the club for inviting him to be with us on this special occasion and congratulated us on the success that we have had the past year.

Bill Pullen, our second President, was the first member of our club to become the President of SIUSA. Bill was also elected to the positions of ISC Councilor of the USA and held the position twice at different times. Our member Carlos Banks has also served as President of SIUSA after twice holding the SIUSA positions of Vice President Finance and Vice President Administration.

Our Skål Club initiated the All Florida Golf Outing in 1978. With the success of the event it was later renamed the Region IV Outing and is now hosted each year by a different club in Region IV.

For the year 2009 – 2010, our club was nominated for the prestigious Skål Club of the Year award. We were the only Skål Club in North America to be nominated. To promote our club for the award, we submitted a Power Point presentation about the history and accomplishments of our club to Skål International. After competing with the other world wide clubs that were nominated, the members Skål International voted our club the # 2 Skål Club of the Year in the world.

Our 2013 annual Installation of Officers dinner was held at the Boca Renaissance Hotel with a phenomenal turnout and exciting event. Not only did we have our installation of officers, but we had the opportunity to celebrate 35 years of our Club’s existence and honor the Past Presidents that helped in its growth. Each one brought their unique talents and guidance to build a strong foundation for the club and contribute to our continued growth. The ceremony included a video presentation showing each President’s achievements as those present came forward to accept their award. We were fortunate to have 11 Past Presidents in attendance, several past members as well as 3 of our founding members – Bill Pullen, John Puskar and Bradley Stewart were in attendance as well, making the event a special occasion and a memorable evening!

As part of this event, we were fortunate to have visiting SIUSA dignitaries as part of our evenings celebrations: Tom White, President SIUSA and past President of the Orlando Club, Mr. Bill Pullen, past SIUSA President, member of SIUSA, member of Orlando Club and past President of Palm Beach Club, our own Carlos Banks – VP of Administration SIUSA , our Club’s Executive Secretary Treasurer as well as past President of Detroit Club, Dick Knorpp – VP of Finance, SIUSA and member & past President of Washington, DC Club and Martha McClintock – VP of Region IV and member & past President of Jacksonville Club were all a part of our ceremonies.

Our Skål Club member Carlos Banks was elected and served as President of SIUSA for the year 2014. Carlos served on the SIUSA board for a total of 4 years including Vice President of Finance 2011 & 2012 and Vice President of Administration 2013. For the year 2014 - 2015 our club was again nominated for the prestigious Skål Club of the Year award. Skål International voted our club the #3 Skål Club of the Year worldwide for 2015. Our Skål Club was also voted as the #1 Skål Club of the Year in the United States for 2015 by Skål USA members.

Our Skål Club was founded in 1977 and in 2017 we celebrated our 40th Anniversary. We held the celebration on June 13, 2017 at the Riverside Hotel in Ft Lauderdale that began with a reception hour on the roof top patio followed by a wonderful dinner in the ballroom. As everyone came into the ballroom the large crowd of members and guests including Holly Powers President of Skal USA got to look at the tables displaying all the banners we have received from other Skal Clubs around the world, other industry awards and the plaques of our Skal Ft Lauderdale & Palm Beaches Club of the Year awards from previous years. During the dinner we watched our video recapping the Club's 40 year history including recognizing all of our Past Presidents and the Club's accomplishments. At the end of dinner we inducted 6 new members into our Skal Club, presented plagues honoring 4 members who had been in Skål for 15, 25 or 35 years and awarded the Venue of the Year for 2016 plaque. We were then honored to be presented proclamations from both Palm Beach County and Broward County for our contributions to the Hospitality, Tour and Travel industry. What a terrific evening and we look forward to the years ahead.

An Executive Committee of nine members governs Skål International Ft. Lauderdale & Palm Beaches. They must be reelected each year, except for the SIUSA Representative, which has a two-year term. The Executive Committee includes the following:

The President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, the SIUSA Representative and four Board members required for a total of nine Executive Committee members.

The SIUSA Representative is the liaison between our Club and Skål International USA. (SIUSA) and Skål International (AISC). The SIUSA Representative is the spokesperson for our Club for the different levels of Skål.

Active, Associate and Retired Members are required to attend at least three (3) of the duly called meetings in each calendar year. Credit shall be allowed for verified attendance at any regular meeting of any other Skål Club.