Rotarians and Profit Inc. members gather at Tropical Park

Rotarians and Profit Inc. members gather at Tropical Park
Rotarians and Profit Inc. members gather at Tropical Park
Coral Gables Rotarians Lan Nghiem-Phu and Greg Martini with Grace and Nancy Martini at Rotary District 6990 Picnic.

Hundreds gathered for picnics at Tropical Park on Feb. 8 where it seemed all of Miami was taking advantage of perfect weather.

More than 200 District 6990 Rotarians gathered on one side of the park while members of the business networking group Profit Inc. gathered across the way. While some attending the picnics were members of both organizations, like South Miami Rotarian Mike Sutta, the day provided some great exercise to work off the delicious food at both locations.

Among the many seen enjoying the day were Rotary district governor Joe Roth; South Miami Rotary president Gabriel DeArmas; Gables Rotary president-elect Greg Martini with his wife, Nancy, and daughter, Grace; Coral Gables Rotary past president Yoli Woodbridge with her daughter, Kathy Rosa, and granddaughter, Madison; Miami Brickell Rotarian Jay Speilberg; Gables Rotarian Philip Wang, as well as Profit members, Robert Beans, Kemp Mobley, Frank and Fernando Obregon, Jerry Lance, and Profit president Stacey Alonso.

First Lap party at Sergio’s in Kendall attracted folks from all over to support this kickoff for A Safe Haven for Newborns Walk on Mar. 14, at Amelia Earhart Park. Safe Haven founder Nick Silverio was on hand to thank the many supporters and happily announced the 220th baby had been saved that week.

March promises to be a fun month in South Florida from historic walking and bike tours to special events all over town. The GFWC Coral Gables Woman’s Club’s Casino Night to take place Mar. 7 is certainly to best deal in town for a great evening of fun, games, music, food, silent auction and more.

Rotarians and Profit Inc. members gather at Tropical Park
South Miami Rotarian Mike Sutta is pictured at Profit Inc. Picnic with Profit past president Robert Beans; Gables Rotarian Philip Wang, Director General at Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in Miami; Daneza Socarras; Profit Inc. past president Kemp Mobley, and Fernando Obregon.

Tickets are $50 and include entertainment, gaming, one drink (cash bar as well), hors d’oeuvres and silent auction all for a great cause. Fun begins in the CGWC’s beautiful clubhouse at 1009 E. Ponce de Leon Blvd. in Coral Gables. The affair benefits the club’s free children dental clinc that provides more than $225,000 in free care annually to the children of the working poor. For more info, visit www.coralgableswomansclub.org.

History buffs will want to take advantage of some free activities in Coconut Grove. From now through March 2015, on the second and fourth Saturdays, Miami historian Dr. Paul George will be leading free walking tours of Coconut Grove that start from Calamari/La Bottega, 4 to 6 p.m., along Main Highway. Free valet parking is available. The activity is sponsored by the Coconut Grove BID and HistoryMiami.

This is a great way to enjoy beautiful South Florida winter and learn about historic Ransom Everglades School, Plymouth Congregational Church, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Millionaire’s Row, and visit The Barnacle. Dr. Paul George makes history come to life like no one else.

In addition, for those who love bicycling, there also are Historic Bike Tours with Frank Schena on the first and third Saturday, 9:30-11:30 a.m., through March, also starting at Calamari. Participants must bring their own bikes.

The Women’s Fund’s Signature Power of the Purse luncheon and auction is scheduled for Mar. 13 at the Hilton Miami Downtown and is expected to be another sellout with 1,100 attendees. Co-chairing this year’s affair are Victoria Cummock and Tiffany Zientz Heckler working with silent auction chair Cyndi Hibnick and Honor Roll chair Marj Adler.

The luncheon will celebrate the power of women and girls to create change in our community and will feature business woman and fashion icon Elle Macpherson as the emcee. For information, visit womensfundmiami.org.

Finally, save May 1 for a great event supporting two worthy charities. Give Kids the World Village, a favorite charitable program of the Westin Colonnade, and Coral Gables are joining forces to produce a spectacular evening of casino fun, food, silent auction, prizes and drinks. With an “Alice in Wonderland” theme, look for lots of surprises. Come in costume, if you like, or cocktail attire. Tickets start at $75 per person.

Until next time, keep making each day count.

If you want to submit information for this column, please send your news via email to gloriagalburns@aol.com.


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A graduate of the University of Florida with a major in Spanish, Burns has an extensive background in advertising, marketing and reciprocal trade, travel , non profit consulting and management. Before joining Miami's Community Newspapers as a columnist and marketing specialist, Gloria was the Executive Director of the Jr. Orange Bowl Committee (6 yrs.) and first Executive Director of the Coral Gables Community Foundation (14 yrs.) and the Pinecrest Community Foundation (1 ½ yrs) . Burns' volunteer activities led her to become a columnist for Community Newspapers writing Gloria’s Gab, that focuses on the non-profit activity, and a host of an online show, Gloria's Gab LIVE. Gloria serves the board of the Rotary Club of Coral Gables as Civic and Charity Chair, and is involved in the club's International Committee. She is an active Life Member of the Jr. Orange Bowl Committee and is Secretary of the Merrick Festival. She serves on the board of directors of the Coral Gables Woman' Club as Publicity Chair and also coordinates the club's monthly fundraiser for various charities with Gringo Bingo at Clutch Burger. In addition, Gloria participates in numerous other charitable events and is a member of the Business Forum Group, Profit Inc., the Greater Miami Festival & Events Association and the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. In other volunteer activity, Gloria helps Miami Christian School with fund-raising and PR; is an Ambassador and volunteers for events for A Safe Haven for Newborns. She is an active member of the Music Ministry at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church where she enjoys singing in the choir every weekend.