Member Spotlight

Our Club was delighted to have three members of the Downtown Rotary Club as our guest speakers this week to tell us about their trip to Guatemala and help the Ak’Tenamit school. The Ak’Tenamit community in Eastern Guatemala includes vocational middle and high schools, residential facilities, health clinic, farm, fair trade store, and restaurant. Michael is co-founder of Aequus Partners Financial Planning, an independent financial planning practice. Michael Walstrom holds a bachelor’s degree from UCLA, an MBA from the Huizenga Business School at Nova Southeastern University, a Certificate in Financial Planning from Northwestern University, and is a CFP®️ professional. [...]

Club member Michael Miller was given a special “Men with Caring Hearts” award by the Fuller Center on Friday, April 8 and their Havana Nights Gala at Boca West Country Club.  Congratulations Michael – well deserved!

Our Club supported the Boca West Children’s Foundation (BWCF) annual golf challenge and won first place! Top Row from left: Palm Beach County Mayor Robert Weinroth, Boca Rotary members Henry Ferguson, President Elect Jeff Tromberg and Past President Gary Hildebrand. Bottom Row (winning team): Firefighter & Paramedic Sam Saffer, Firefighter & Paramedic Sean Katz and Matt Minlionica. Not pictured: Colby Durkin. The first place prize brings $10,000 to the Club for scholarships and service projects.

We were delighted to have Nancy Stellway, Executive Director, Palm Beach County speak about Take Stock in Children. Take Stock in Children, Inc. is a nonprofit mentoring, college success, and college scholarship organization dedicated to transforming Florida one student at a time. Working statewide throughout Florida. Their mission is to break the cycle of poverty for low-income, underrepresented, academically qualified students by providing opportunities for degree attainment through postsecondary education. They provide wraparound services to students through an innovative multi-year model from middle school through postsecondary completion. Here is a diagram of the programs they provide: And just [...]

Club Scholarship Chair Pia Giannone and Club President Elect Nominee Dr. Gerry Purdy traveled to PBSC Lake Worth Campus to honor and accept six new trades program students who have earned a Rotary Scholarships. The students were joined by Eligio Marquez, Coordinator of the Trades program and Amy Scandrett who manages Donor Relations.  All of the scholarship winners shown above along with the staff will attend our Club meeting on Wednesday, April 20. Club members will talk to these scholarship awardees and see where there might be a mutual interest in having the Club member become their mentor. [...]

We were delighted to have Matthew Lideca, CEO of HomeSafe as our guest speaker.  Since 1979, HomeSafe has been a nationally accredited non-profit organization dedicated to protecting Palm Beach County’s and South Florida’s most vulnerable residents – victims of child abuse and domestic violence. Their mission: creating safer, more productive lives for infants, children, young adults and families. Through their results-driven approach, they have grown into a leading provider of prevention and intervention services, serving more than 14,500 infants, children, young adults, and families each year. HomeSafe provides the following programs: Healthy Beginnings – Funded by Children’s Services Council [...]

President Julie Vianale led the club meeting. We were delighted to have local celebrity Arlene Herson as our guest speaker. She told about her career living mostly in New York and creating “The Arlene Herson Show” where she interviewed celebrities. Her show ran on cable TV for many years and is available on YouTube.  Arlene was recognized earlier this year with a 2022 OPAL Award as one of the esteemed Honorees. Here’s a link to a really nice video created by Bob Buruchian where the celebrity interviewer was herself interviewed. We also had a nice visitor from France – Laura Marchal [...]

President Elect Jeff Tromberg led a Club Assembly meeting where we got discussed a number of programs and committee reports.  First Jeff acknowledged Yaacov Heller’s birthday. Lisa Talley brought some nice balloons, and the club all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him. Next, Bill Riddick gave a report from the Fund Board: We had a record-breaking OPAL with $240,000+ in net proceeds. We should also be receiving money from our Boca West Foundation Grant in April. The Fund Board discussed how to expand our trade program scholarships so we can put our money raised to work. We are asking PBSC which trade programs [...]

The Club was pleased to have Boca Police Chief Michele Miuccio as our guest speaker. She gave a summary of her department and answered questions from the members. Police Chief Michele Miuccio has served in law enforcement for over 34 years. She joined the Boca Raton Police Services Department in 1989 and has been a member of the command staff for over 17 years, working in various facets of police operations and administration. Chief Miuccio previously served with the Margate Police Department as a dispatcher and officer for five years. Chief Miuccio earned a Master of Science degree in [...]