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Tuesday, May 9,
2006 No. 32 Vol. 84
Newsletter
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Today’s Speaker:
The Honorable David A. Demers SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, PINELLAS
COUNTY
Our speaker today is
The Honorable David A Demers, Chief Judge of the Sixth Judicial
Circuit, Pinellas County. He will be introduced by our
Kiwanian-of-the-day Mark Shames.
The Honorable David
A. Demers received his J.D. at Stetson University College of Law in
Gulfport, Florida, and his B.A. from Stetson University in Deland,
Florida. Judge Demers was appointed to the Pinellas County Court in
1981. He was in private practice from 1972 until going on the bench.
He is an instructor in research and writing at St. Petersburg College
and trial practice at Stetson College of Law. Judge Demers is Past
President of the Florida Conference of County Judges and of the Barney
Masterson Inn of Court. He is currently a faculty member of the Florida
Judicial College, Advance Judicial Studies Program, Traffic Adjudication
seminar and various other programs and has been a Board Member of Family
Resources since 1985. In March 1994 he was appointed to the Circuit
bench by Governor Lawton Chiles. He was elected Chief Judge of the
Sixth Circuit in 2001.
Judge Demers
received the judicial Appreciation Award in 1993 from the St. Petersburg
Bar Association; the Stetson Law Review Ben Watkins Award for
Professional Excellence in the Practice of Law in 1996; and the Florida
Association of Women Lawyers 1999 Judicial Advocate of the Year Award.
Judge Demers is the author of Outlines on DUI, Probation, Search and
Seizure, Criminal Law and Pretrial Criminal Law Guidelines prepared
annually and distributed by the Office of the State Court Administrator
to judges throughout Florida. Judge Demers authors the Florida DUI
Handbook, published by West Group, The Continuum of Professionalism
essay, Stetson Law Review, Vol. XXVII, Fall 1998. Let’s give our
speaker a very warm Kiwanis welcome.
TODAY’S QUIZ:
1. In what year did “Leave it to Beaver” debut on television? 2.
According to the Bible, which prophet was bald? 3. How many zeros are
there in a trillion? 4. What is the third largest planet, in
diameter, in the solar system? 5. What makes up 12 percent of the
weight of an egg?
LAST WEEK AT
KIWANIS
Biff Baker and J. C. Russell,
co-chairs of the Vocational Guidance Committee, presented the annual
presentation of the Al Muter Scholarship at our meeting last week. Biff
recognized the hard work that the committee did to come to their final
selection. He stated that he had invited both Louis Murphy and Al
Muter’s daughter to attend the ceremony, but for personal reasons,
neither was able to attend. He then gave a short scenario on how the Al
Muter Scholarship fund came into existence and why the winners have to
maintain employment while in college as Al Muter had to work his way
through college when he was a young man. This year, the committee had a
difficult time in getting enough applicants to apply for the
scholarship. As a result, the Vocational Guidance Committee will be
holding a meeting in June to discuss ways to increase the number of
applicants. Biff then presented a $2,000 check to this year’s
recipient, Jalisa Foster, a graduating senior at Pinellas Park
High School. Jalisa was very active in athletics, is a member of the
National Honor Society and is graduating with a 4.2 weighted GPA. She
will be attending Flagler College this Fall.
There was
sufficient money left this year to award two $1,000 one-time grants to
the runners up. J. C. Russell reported that Katie DeVore, a
senior at Northeast High School was at that moment taking a final exam
at SPC which he considered to be an excusable absence. He will invite
Katie to one of our future meetings to present her check for $1,000.
Moises Numa, from Pinellas Park High School was the other
runner-up. He moved here from Columbia four years ago and was captain
of the tennis team at Pinellas Park. He was a member of numerous honor
societies including the National Honor Society.
Pastor Tim
Whipple of Bridge Point Church gave a very inspirational message to
the scholarship winners and challenged them to be the best that they can
be in all that they do, but gave them permission to fail. For even in
failure, a lesson is learned.
Many thanks to
Biff and J.C. for their leadership of this committee. This is an
excellent example of your YIS dollars at work.
VISITORS AND
GUESTS
Kiwanians in attendance as visitors last week included Lt. Gov. Ray
Watson and Lt. Gov. Elect Eddie Lee. Also in attendance were
William and Martha Numa, parents of scholarship recipient
Moises, Kathleen Ford, wife of Harvey and Jeff
Cavicchi, a guest of Donna Jiles. Tim Whipple was our
guest Pastor. Welcome one and all. Please visit with us again!
OUTSTANDING
KIWANIAN PINS PRESENTED
Lt. Gov. Ray Watson presented Outstanding Kiwanian Pins to
Dr. Ron O’Neal and Dr. Mike Hess for “Project Save-a-Smile,”
the program they planned, promoted and participated in to check the
teeth of underprivileged children in February. Congratulations to both!
YIS PLEDGE UPDATE
Bob Byelick reported that the new YIS pledge cards that have
been turned in to date have resulted in an increase of over $4,000. If
you have not turned in your new card for this year, please do so as soon
as possible. This is where the dollars come from to support our many
club projects.
CLUB ELECTIONS TODAY FOR 2006-2007 CLUB OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
The
following members will be placed in nomination by the Elections
Committee for election at our meeting today:
President-elect (vote for one):
Bill Allard
Markus Mittermayr
Vice Presidents
(vote for two):
David Abbey
Biff Baker
Skip Carr
Markus Mittermayr
Ron Scoggins
Board of Directors
(vote for three):
Pat Bisciotti
Steve Cunningham
Rob Kapusta
Tom Nelson
Bob Piplitz
Mark Shames
INTER-CLUB SET FOR MAY 25
Charles Stuart
has announced an Inter-club with Pinellas Park for Thursday, May 25, at
the Park Station, 5851 Park Blvd. beginning at 12:15 p.m. Plan now to
attend and earn your star!
JIM FISCHER SCHOLARSHIP UPDATE
Bob Byelick
announced that a recently conducted Golf Tournament to benefit the Jim
Fischer Scholarship Fund has produced $10,000. With the match from the
Mayor’s Scholarship Fund, the total will benefit many more children in
the Doorway Scholarship Program. He also announced that the invitations
are already in the mail for the Jim Fischer Birthday Bash scheduled for
June. Please respond when you get your invite! It is for a great
cause.
ITEMS NEEDED FOR AUCTION AT FISCHER BASH
John Biesinger reminded the club that a Silent Auction
will be held in conjunction with the annual Jim Fischer Birthday Bash
which is scheduled for June 10th at the St. Petersburg
Yacht Club. Members are being asked to secure donated items from
baskets to any large ticket items to help raise additional dollars for
the Jim Fischer Scholarships. Please bring the items to our club
meeting on June 9th so they can be properly displayed at the
Bash on the 10th. Contact either John or big Al for
details. Here is another way you can help make this year’s bash an even
bigger success!
MEMBERS FAMILY SINGING NATIONAL ANTHEM AT RAYS GAME
Steve Koch's wife, Charlene, and their daughter,
Marissa, have been asked to sing the National Anthem at the Rays
game on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 14th. This is the second time
the mother/daughter duo has been asked by the Rays to sing on Mother's
Day. The Rays will be playing the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:15 p.m.
FREE DEVIL RAYS
TICKETS FOR COMPLETING SURVEY
President Cathy asked the membership for their input into our club’s
operations by completing the Online Member Survey at on this site at
..\feedback.htm. One lucky participant will win a pair of tickets to
a Devil Rays game. No purchase necessary. Register before May 31st to be
eligible for free tickets. This is an excellent opportunity for you to
be heard (and win free tickets).
INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTION SET FOR MONTREAL
It is still not too
late to register for the upcoming Kiwanis International Convention which
is scheduled for Montreal on June 28 to July 2, 2006. Members
who go on the junket do not have to attend any of the scheduled meetings
at the convention unless they want to as the club has two designated
representatives in the form of President Cathy and President-elect
Mitch. A good time for all attendees is assured. President-elect Mitch
will take the entire group from our club to dinner at least one time
during the convention. So, start making your plans to attend NOW. June
28 is not far off.
PRAYER OF THE
DAY:
Almighty and
Everlasting Father, bless, we pray, with the presence of thy Holy Spirit
those who make decisions for the direction and work of our club. Grant
them guidance to perceive what is right, courage to pursue it, and grace
to accomplish it. Amen
LAST WEEK’S QUIZ:
1. Isaac and Rebekah were the parents of Jacob and
Esau. (Genesis 25:21) 2. Ten tablespoons and two teaspoons
are in 2/3 cup. 3. The Bluebird is the state bird of New
York. 4. Perry Como was a barber before he became a singer.
5. Former President Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois.
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