Sheriff Rick Ramsey gave club members an update  on the Monroe County Sheriff's Office activities since he took office in January.  He and his officers have made a concerted effort to work with the community in cleaning up areas that have become magnets for criminal activity.  They have cleaned out lots, painted walls and buildings, and helped improve neighborhoods as part of his community involvement focus.  Pictured:  Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsey and President Jim Reynolds.

Jim Smith gave club members an update on the Rotary International Foundation and its Paul Harris Fellow component as well as our local Club Endowment Fund.  All club members should strive to participate in both the Rotary Foundation and our Sunrise Rotary Club Endowment Fund. We also listened to  a first hand account from Roy Coley about his participation in the recent Boston Marathon.  We are all glad that Roy and his daughter arrived home safe and sound!

We want to welcome Jeremy Wilkerson to the club as our newest member.  Jeremy is involved with the Take Stock in Children Program and we know he will be a great member because he has already been involved in many of our community service projects!  Pictured:  President Jim Reynolds, Jeremy Wilkerson, Sponsor Vicki Gordon.

It was great seeing everyone (especially all our old friends) at  our fabulous Key West Sunrise Rotary 25th Anniversary Party at The Top of La Concha! Thank you to Sue Hyde, Janie Rodriguez, and Stan Rzad for organizing the party.  The food was delicious and the open bar helped everyone  relax and enjoy the amazing company and the beautiful sunset. We are all indebted to our charter members who started the club in 1988 so that women could join a Rotary club in Key West! Pictured:  Charter Members.

Pictured:  Sunrise Rotary Presidents.

Sunrise Rotary welcomed Commander Mark Hammond, Chief of Logistics at United States Coast Guard Sector Key West, as our speaker recently.  Commander Hammond is a 36 year veteran of the Coast Guard and he gave club members an update on the new Fast Response Cutters that the Coast Guard will be deploying from Key West in their ongoing efforts at drug interdiction.  The new cutter named the  Charles David will be commissioned here in Key West in the near future.  Pictured:  CMDR Mark Hammond and Past-President Stan Rzad.

Steve Henson has been presenting some very interesting programs on Key West history this month.  Steve explained how a small group  of Sunrise Rotarians including Percy Curry, Kerry Highsmith, Tom Sawyer, Bill Horn, and Steve got together with Ed Swift and decided that Key West needed an historical area to showcase the founders of the city.  Through this group, the Memorial Sculpture Garden was designed and built by the Friends of Mallory Square.  The Walkway of History consists of donated named brick pathways  with keystone pedestal sculptures describing the individuals' contributions to Key West history. Supporters of the Memorial Garden are able to purchase engraved bricks.  Key West Sunrise Rotary purchased an entire square of bricks so, if you wish  your family name to be memorialized with a  Sunrise Rotary brick, let Steve know!  Pictured:  Steve Henson and President Jim Reynolds.

Thank you to all the Sunrise Rotarians who came out and volunteered for the Special Olympics Bocce Championships! Over 60 Special Olympians plus their family and friends participated so the bocce courts were packed.   

Welcome to new member, local realtor, Gary McAdams!  Gary has participated in numerous Sunrise Rotary events and was sponsored by JDL's Big Ten Pub owner John Lukas and Janie Rodriguez of La  Pensione Inn. Pictured: President Jim Reynolds, co-sponsor John Lukas, Gary McAdams, membership chair Sue Fowler.

 Congratulations to John Lukas and the staff at JDL's Big Ten Pub on their one year anniversary!  They had an awesome party and everyone had a great time! Stop by for some delicious food-JDL's is located at 920 Caroline Street in Key West.

Thanks to everyone who came out and volunteered for the Key West Half Shell 5k and Half Marathon!  We had loads of volunteers and everyone had a great time!

Welcome to our newest Sunrise Rotarian Evan Smitkoff!  Evan is a financial advisor and was sponsored by Past President Jim Reynolds.  We are happy to have Evan in our club!  Pictured: President Jim Reynolds, Past President Jim Smith, New Member Evan Smitkoff, Membership Chair Sue Fowler.

Sunrise Rotarians were treated to an exceptionally exciting program this past week!  Key West City Commissioner Teri Johnston and Director of Waste Management  Greg Sullivan updated club members on the future of recycling in Key West and the Florida Keys.  Key West residents can expect new recycling containers in the near future--purchased by the City of Key West to encourage its residents to recycle.  A very spirited question and answer session followed the program.  Pictured:  Commissioner Teri Johnston, Waste Management Director Greg Sullivan, and President-elect Scott Duszynski.

Sunrise Rotarians have always been big supporters of the Florida Take Stock in Children program. Our Past-President Tom Sawyer was chair of the Monroe County Education Foundation for many years and he worked closely with Steve Bear of the Monroe County School District to promote the goals of the Take Stock in Children program. This year the Sunrise Rotary board voted to donate $12,000.00 to the program's scholarship fund.  Pictured:  Jeremy Wilkinson (Assistant Project Director), President-elect Scott Duzsynski, John Padgett (President MCEF), Diamond Dumas (Take Stock scholarship recipient), Leslie Holmes (Program Coordinator).

A great time was had by all at our holiday brunch at the Key West Harbor Yacht Club. Sunrise Rotarians were very generous and donated hundreds of toys and gift cards for the children of Wesley House.  Happy Holidays everyone!

Thank you to all the Sunrise Rotarians who came  out and helped at the MARC Holiday Tree lot. This year we covered three different shifts at the lot and the flow of shoppers definitely kept us all very busy.  Monroe Association of Remarcable Citizens provides services including housing to developmentally developed adults and their families.  Pictured:  Navy Commander Greg Wilson and Ironwoman Trice Denney.

Club members and visiting Rotarians Retired Judge Dan Phillips from the Port Orchard  club in Washington and Nick Estes from the Macomb club in Illinois were treated to an interesting program  on the Army Special Forces underwater dive teams.  Commanding Officer Army Major Trevor Hill explained the training and duties of the Special Forces teams.  The teams have trained on Fleming Key since 1964 and they use the large silo that can be seen on the base. for some of their dive training. The Special Forces mission is to assist and train troops in their effort to change oppressive governments.  The Special Forces go in, give supplies, train the troops,and perform underwater dive operations.  The job can be very stressful and the Special Forces teams are trained to deal with the addtional stress.  There are three courses:  basic scuba, diving supervsor, and medical technician.  The Special Forces training is like PADI on steroids.  Pictured:  Ron Demes, Special Forces Executive Officer Army Major Craig Milliron, Special Forces Army Sgt. Major Senior Enlisted Advisor Roberto Oqueno, President Matt Babich, and Special Forces Commanding Officer Army Major Trevor Hill.

 The club was happy to welcome Peralt Annulyssee, a Tom Sawyer Memorial Scholarship recipient, to our latest meeting.  Peralt is a student at Mercy College in New York and has a 3.0 GPA. He saw snow for the first time this year and says he saw "too much of it." Peralt says that working with the community has made him realize that he wants to be extraordinary rather than ordinary.  He has five brothers and sisters and is the first person in his family to attend college.  We wish Peralt well and look forward to his visit next year.  Pictured:  President Matt Babich, Peralt Annulysse, and Scholarship Committee representative  Doug Helkenn.

Charter member Steve Henson presented an exciting program on the events that transpired during his year as Key West Sunrise Rotary President in 1992-1993.  1992 was the year of Hurricane Andrew and, while the Keys were not directly hit, Hurricane Andrew had a devastating effect on South Florida. Sunrise Rotary was very generous in its support of the rebuilding efforts after the Hurricane and we all remember the rolling blackouts throughout the Keys.  Sunrise Rotary started the first Career Fair at KWHS and 45 businesses participated in the first Key West Sunrise Seafood Festival at Bayview Park.  Poker Run was just getting started and membership rose from 41 members to 51.  There were two international projects that year.  The first was headed up by member and past District Governor Roy Anderson.  The club purchased and delivered insulin to three clinics in the Dominican Republic.  Mayor Tom Sawyer presented a key from the city of Key West to the governor of the province.  Steve Henson gave his first and only speech in Spanish. The second project took place in Spanish Wells in the Bahamas where club members helped rebuild a quiltmaking shack.  All and all it was an amazing year!  Pictured:  Senor Steve Henson and President Stan Rzad.

We had a great turnout at the MARC Pumpkin Patch!  Thank you to: member to be Susanne Campbell and members Ron Demes, Kerry Highsmith,  Sue Hyde, Sue Fowler, Dan Dombrowski, Billy Davis, Julio Avael, Bob Eadie, Bill Lezotte, Cris Waite-Morgan, Jedd Regante, Catherine Vogel,  Mark Moss, Denny Howley, Billy Davis, Janie Rodriguez, Tom Sawyer, Dave Chesnet,   Teri Narlock, Joel Narlock, Rosemary Enright, Tegan Slaton, Teri Johnson, and Vicki Gordon for volunteering!  A fun time was had by all!

The Key West Sunrise Rotary 19th Annual Golf Classic is set for 2/26/12 at the Key West Golf Course! We have great prizes including 3 flights of winners for the golfers, a million dollar shoot-out, and prizes on every hole. We need sponsors and players so come on out and join us. For information contact: Bart Smith 305-495-1549

Congratulations to everyone for a successful 19th Annual Sunrise Rotary Golf Tournament! We had a full field of golfers and a great turnout of Sunrise Rotarians!

Sunrise Rotarians welcomed our newest member, Joyce Griffin! Joyce works at  the Monroe County Supervisor of Elections and was sponsored by Mike Horne. Pictured: Billy Davis, Carrie Helliesen, President Stan Rzad, Mike Horne, Joyce Griffin, Trice Denney, and Mark Moss.

Commander Pat DeQuattro presented an interesting program on the US Coast Guard Sector Key West. He explained that their mission is to protect the public, the environment, and US interests in support of homeland security. There are 853 active Coast Guard members in the sector as well as a strong core of Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteers. The Coast Guard maintains 850 aids to navigation, provides security to the area, helps with search and rescue, and is involved in migrant interdiction. Pictured: USCG Sector Key West Commander Pat DeQuattro and President Stan Rzad.

Congratulations to President-elect Scott Duszynski, Chief Exceutive Officer at Federal Credit Union,  our Sunrise Rotarian of the Year!  Scott has worked tirelessly for the club and has managed to streamline the club's accounting system.  Thanks you, Scott for always putting service above self!

A good time was had by all as Sunrise Rotarians volunteered their time to help clean the Key West Wildlife Rescue Center this past weekend.  The high temperatures didn't thwart our relentless crew who shoveled, carried buckets, cleaned gravel, and rebuilt the drainage for the pens.  The Key West Wildlife Rescue Center rehabilitates injured birds of all types from chickens to pelicans.  Stop on by the Center at 1801 White Street, next to Indigenous Park, to see our handy work!  Pictured hard at work:  Mark, Trice Denny, Jedde Regante, Dave Chestnet, Janie Rodriguez.