Jeff Jones Presented The Wonders Of Africa At March 31 meeting

Tuesday, March 30: Our own Jeff Jones will tell us about his recent adventures in Africa (the photos look stunning!).

St Petersburg Sunrise Rotary Club heard Kathy Salustri Loper, editor and owner of “The Gulfport Gabber” weekly newspaper, highlight the importance of professional local news for an informed public. Loper examined the paper's history and its ability to sustain itself through various ownership and financial crises. Her Presentation was well-received by club members at the March 23rd meeting and had many questions about how the newspaper business worked.

In the next couple of weeks, we will hear from Healthy St Pete and learn about planned development at Williams Park!

The Club's weekly meeting is held at 7:30 AM every Tuesday in the St Petersburg Yacht Club, 1 Central Avenue, St Petersburg, Florida. The Club welcomed visiting Rotarian Lynne Hardin, who is in St Pete to avoid the Oklahoma winter. She enjoyed us so much that she met us at our Thursday Social at Taverna Costale. Lots of Rotarians and friends gathered for the good food and festive atmosphere.

The Club’s Saturday Service Project with Build a Bed was special. In addition to Sunrise and Impact Rotary, some of our regular visitors joined us. Guy Macarios brought his wife, MJ, and his son, Eric, who is here for a short visit. Additionally, Hannah, who has attended a few Sunrise meetings, brought her friend, Austin. And it was good to see our neighbor Bob. Volunteers were split into two groups.

The first sanded the headboards and footboards like we did the last time (28 headboards and 50 footboards). The second group delivered three finished beds to two different families. One of the children was celebrating not only a new bed, but that he would be receiving his final chemo treatment in the coming week.

Afterwards, a few of us zipped over to Raising Cane’s for a quick lunch. One of the servers thanked us for being Rotarians - she had previously received a Rotary Scholarship… good things happen when you wear your yellow Rotary shirt!

Stefan from “Wise Hands” has rescheduled; his business is just too busy for him to speak to us in the spring. The Club will hear from Stefan in the fall to discuss native, sustainable landscaping.

Scholarship Committee members are meeting after Tuesday’s regular meeting to make our scholarship selections. Expect winners to be announced next meeting.