July 13, 2010
Today’s Program: Southern Offshore Fisheries Association (SOFA)
Today’s Speaker: Robert Spaeth
A Florida native, Robert Spaeth, aka Bobby, was born and raised in St. Petersburg before his family moved permanently to Madeira Beach while he was a young boy. Bob still resides in the same stilt house on the family property once known as Spaeth’s Gulf Front Cottages where he raised his own children.
After graduating from Seminole High School, Bob enlisted in the United States Navy to serve aboard a river patrol gunboat in Vietnam earning a Purple Heart Medal. Once discharged, he attended Florida State University, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Marketing & International Trade.
Bob returned to Madeira Beach to pursue a career in offshore commercial fishing for grouper, snapper, swordfish and shark. He worked through the ranks as mate, captain, then as owner of a small fleet of boats. Being an entrepreneur, Bob co-founded Madeira Beach Seafood, the largest fish house in the state of Florida. Today he is the major spokesperson and fishing industry representative working with National Marine Fisheries and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to balance both the natural resource and the fishing communities’ livelihood.
Having one foot in both worlds of recreational sport fishing and commercial fishing, Bob was the first President of the Old Salts Billfishing Club and volunteered as the Official Weigh Master for their tournaments.
Being fortunate in life, Bob has traveled to ten countries including China, Germany, Grenada, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico, Vietnam and a few in the Caribbean , mostly exploring fisheries opportunities. He has attended the Munich Olympics, witnessed a Presidential Inauguration and answered the call of Mother Ocean to treasure hunt for Spanish galleons shipwrecked offshore. As in the Jimmy Buffet song Bob Spaeth is in spirit “a pirate two hundred years too late.”
What’s Happening
Get Well
Big Al is on the mend after knee replacement surgery. He says this is the last time – seven surgeries are enough for him. He looks forward to chasing after his golf ball soon.
District Convention
August 26-29, 2010 is this year’s convention at the Renaissance Resort at Sea World in Orlando, Florida. All members are invited to attend.
Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, Nieman, Warhol
Paint like them. Not a chance. But you will have the opportunity to paint your own picture as our social committee hosts a gathering for our club at Marvin Gay’s Painting with a Twist:
Date: Wednesday, August 11
Time: 6:30 – 9 p.m.
Address: 2527 Central Avenue
Cost: $30.00 per person (all painting supplies provided)
BYOB and let’s have some fun!
Brink’s Truck
Dr. Ron will need one as he, father-in-law Weyman Willingham, and the club donated $940.00 for Ron’s newest child, Marigold Olsen O’Neal (born on April 15, 2010 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa), for her college scholarship account.
Board Meeting
Tonight at 5:15 p.m. is the July board meeting at Hunter Booth’s office located at 436 – 2nd Street North. All club members are welcome.
Program Committee
Tom Nelson hosts the program committee meeting at his home tonight at 7 p.m.
Hole-in-One
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile. Yes, our own Charles Stuart recorded his first hole-in-one while vacationing in Sedona, CA with wife Judy. Good for you, Charles. There is room on the Senior Tour for you.
Last Week at Kiwanis
Kiwanian of the Day, Tom Moseley, introduced State Senator Michael Bennett, representing the 21st District including the counties of Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and DeSoto. Senator Bennett is a member of the Bradenton Kiwanis Club.
Senator Bennett grimly told us of the six billion dollar deficit forecast for Florida’s budget this year as property values plummet and tourism is in a steep decline due to the oil spill and the poor economy.
To help wrestle with this problem, Senator Bennett has proposed cutting government spending, which is growing three times faster than inflation.
Constituent surveys tell him that the top three issues facing Floridians are in order: 1) Immigration, 2) Government Spending, and 3) Property Insurance.
Regarding the property insurance crisis, Bennett has openly campaigned for the dismissal of insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty.
The following is an excerpt from Insurance and Financial Advisor explaining Senator’s Bennett’s reasons for wanting McCarty dismissed:
Bennett alleges that McCarty “either lied” before Florida’s cabinet “or at least hid the truth” in testifying on the health of new companies in Florida by neglecting to tell state leaders that several of those companies had already gone out of business.
“He has a habit of saying whatever he thinks his boss wants to hear,” Bennett wrote. “Over the last year, it has become more and more evident that Commissioner McCarty is NOT serving the residents of Florida in any beneficial way and that the insurance markets in Florida have become weaker and more vulnerable under poor leadership and as a result of his unsound policymaking.”
The state senator also pointed to a recent inquiry by Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink regarding some insurers close to bankruptcy to continue writing policies without warning consumers. Bennett accused McCarty of allowing companies to drop unwanted customers and ending requirements that companies be able to cover the worst hurricanes possible.
In her letter, Sink cites several indicators of a “fundamental shift in strategy with regard to the regulation of property insurance companies.” They include an order removing a requirement from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to provide three years of continuous coverage for policies, a request for receivership of Northern Capital Insurance Company and the monitoring of Magnolia Insurance Company about to enter receivership.
Senator Bennett thanks for sharing with us your concerns that impact all of us regarding property insurance and the other issues in Florida that affect our lives.
Attendance Last Week
We had 42 members and 1 guest.
This Week’s Quiz
- Who wrote the poem “Hiawatha”?
- What are the names of the three ships Columbus sailed to North America in 1492?
- The word snafu originated where?
- Besides the University of Florida, what colleges have the nickname, Gators?
- What was the name of the island that Amelia Earhart was trying to reach prior to her disappearance? What was the name of her navigator?
Last Week’s Quiz
- Patton was buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial in Hamm, Luxembourg along with other members of the Third Army, as per Patton's request to "be buried with my men."
- McKinley visited Niagara Falls before returning to the Exposition. That afternoon McKinley had an engagement to greet the public at the Temple of Music. Standing in line, Leon Frank Czolgosz waited with a pistol in his right hand concealed by a handkerchief. At 4:07 p.m. Czolgosz fired twice at the president. The first bullet grazed the president's shoulder. The second, however, went through McKinley's stomach, pancreas, and kidney, and finally lodged in the muscles of his back. Garfield was on his way to his alma mater, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech. He was shot by Charles J. Guiteau, who was disgruntled by failed efforts to secure a federal post, on July 2. One bullet grazed Garfield's arm; the second bullet lodged in his spine and could not be found, although scientists today think that the bullet was near his lung.
- There are eight states that border the Great Lakes: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New York.
- Tom Hanks won back-to-back Oscars for best actor in 1993 for his role in Philadelphia, and in 1994 for his role in Forrest Gump.
- There are 88 keys on the typical Grand piano.
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