Fred Braden greeted all Rotarians, visitors and guests with a warm greeting and firm handshake. Leslie Halsall and Roger Brown sold raffle tickets.
President Keith Bullock called the meeting to order and led the group in the Four Way Test, followed by Charlie Sherrill who led us in the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Keith then called upon Charlie Blackwell to introduce our guests and visiting rotarians along with our sunshine remarks. He also recognized our members celebrating birthdays this week and the membership sang Happy Birthday to those present. The birthday celebration and singing was handled joyfully with our piano accompaniment again provided by John Appleyard.
The raffle drawing of $67 was awarded to Vince Currie. Charlie then introduced our military guests Ens. Kevin Lutz and Ens. James Brodtmann. In addition, Adm. Gerry Hoewing (USN Ret) introduced his guest, Cmdr. Kristina Nielsen who is in charge of Public Works at NAS Pensacola. Charlie invited our military guests to the stage where he thanked them for their service to our country and presented each with a piece of imported china to commemorate their visit to our club.
President Keith then gave the floor to Sherry Hartnett who introduced our speaker, Ashley Wiloby, Executive Director of the Andrews - Poulos Research and Education Institute. Ms. Wiloby described how the Research and Education Institute operates alongside the Andrews Institute to attract the best medical and scientific minds and to keep the institute’s doctors at the cutting edge of medical technology.
Ms. Wiloby described the grants that the institute has received for both research and education and how they have partnered with local and national firms. These include a $500,000 grant from Space Florida and a $158,000 “WIRE” grant (Workforce Initiative). The Institute also received collaborative grants with the University of West Florida and the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. The Institute is working on research to prevent injury in sports, law enforcement and military settings. The Institute aims to collect and analyze data on repetitive injuries and tailor best practices to prevent future injuries. Other areas of involvement include clinical trials of medicines with the FDA and medical device development. The Andrews - Poulos Research and Education Institute is intended to compliment the work of the Andrews Institute by keeping its physicians and staff on the cutting edge of medical technology and research.
After thanking our speaker, President Keith adjourned our meeting by reminding us to “make dreams real”.
Give Art Hufford a big hand for the wonderful job he’s doing, assisting his wife following her knee replacement. And…guess who’s having knee work this week? It’s Roger MacDonald.
John Tice gets a big pat on the back for his excellent training work aiding the Cordova Club as it sets out on new fund raising ventures.
Coy Irvin has taken bowling lessons, anticipating his role with Spain’s monarchs upcoming visit soon.
Andrea Farage tells Wheels that ground prep is underway for the new Ronald McDonald House, on Brent Lane.
“They brought Jesus back to Father Gray” recently…when a stolen parish statue was returned after a long absence.
Jean Norman reports that charitable giving is indeed down as folks install new zippers on their wallets.
David Bear and family held one of the area’s biggest Superbowl bashes. That affair’s become a tradition.
February 11: Grover Robinson, Gainesville, FL, 13 years
February 12: Nancy Fetterman, Poteet, TX, 1 year
February 16: Bob Palmer, Pensacola, FL, 19 years
MEMBERSHIP PROPOSALS:
Gary Sammons has been with Gulf Power for 31 years and is the new Pensacola District Manager responsible for the operation of the district which includes Escambia and Santa Rosa County. He has been a Rotarian for 8 years. He is a member of Cokesbury Methodist Church and is married to Shirley. They have 2 children and 3 grandchildren.
Malcolm Thomas is the Superintendent of Schools for Escambia County and has had 28 years of experience in the school district. He is a life long resident of Escambia county and a US Army Veteran. He is married to Sandra and they have two daughters.
Judy Bense is the interim President of the University of West Florida. She has served at UWF for 28 years, most recently as chair and professor of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology and executive director of the Division of Anthropology and Archaeology at UWF. She is currently the chair of the Florida Historical Commission.