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Tuesday,
December 5th,
2006 |
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For the third year in a row, our club has collected toys for the Marine
Reserve's Toys For Tots program. At our luncheon on December 5th, we collected
almost four large boxes of toys. Pictured below with a few of the toys are
outgoing president Justice Mitchell, incoming president Bob Serros, and VP of
programs Dabney Davis. Justice packed up all the donations and delivered them to
the Marine Reserve post in Orlando. This has been our club's major philanthropic
event for three years. A special thanks to brother Justice Mitchell for
spearheading this event and to brother Sandy Sanders for purchasing and
delivering $200 worth of toys that the club donated.
Sandy delivered another surprise too. Making his first appearance at a meeting
this year was brother Lou Toth. Lou has been in the VA hospital for several
months recovering from some medical issues. Brother Sanders was kind enough to
pick Lou up and bring him to the luncheon. It was good to see brother Toth
again. |
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Tuesday,
November 7th,
2006 |
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On Tuesday, November 7th @ noon, we meet at the University Club in downtown
Orlando for an historic meeting.
Why a historic meeting? Because Edward C. Soistman, Sr. was our guest
speaker. Ed told us how the Orlando division of what has become the
Lockheed Martin Corporation got started in Orlando 50 years ago. The story
involves Phi Delt brother Linton Allen, as well as 1950's Orlando "movers &
shakers" Clarence Gay, Martin Andersen, Billy Dial, Mayor J. Rolfe Davis, and
even Sheriff Dave Starr.
On July 5, 1939 in Middle River, Maryland, Glenn L. Martin, founder of the
Martin Company, hired Ed as an Assemblyman's Helper at forty cents an hour. It
was the beginning of Ed's 36 year career with the Martin Company.
Ed's connection to Orlando began in 1956. Ed was Director of Planning at the
Martin Company when Martin made the decision to move some of its operations to
Orlando and he was a key part of Martin's 15-member startup team to move to the
new Orlando plant.
Eventually 1,100 families moved to Orlando from Maryland, as the company's
600,000 square foot plant was built on Sand Lake Road. When the plant opened on
time and on budget in December of 1957 it was the largest building in the state.
By January of 1958 all Orlando based projects operated out of the new facility.
Ed worked for Martin for 36 years, retiring from the Martin Marietta Corporation
as Director of Master Planning and Management Systems on January 31, 1975.
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Tuesday,
September 12th,
2006 |
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On Tuesday, September 12th, we start back off our 2006 - 2007 year with our
annual "September College Football Sunshine State Showdown" luncheon. This
luncheon will be held at the University Club on the 2nd Tuesday of September,
instead of the 1st. Since the 1st Tuesday is the day after Labor Day, we
are moving this to the then 2nd Tuesday.
The luncheon will start at noon at the University Club in downtown Orlando. |
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Tuesday,
March 7th,
2006 |
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On Tuesday, March 7th, 23 brothers and their guests met at the University Club
in downtown Orlando to hear
our guest speaker, Duncan Kennedy, Vice President of Innovation of i.d.e.a.s.
Duncan gave a fascinating presentation about what his company, Integrity Arts,
does, specifically focusing in on the future of REAL military simulation with
"Battle Stations 21".
Battle Stations 21 is the Navy's new recruit graduation final exercise.
After 8 weeks of boot camp at the Great Lakes Recruit Training Center in
Chicago, every Navy recruit spends 12 hours experiencing an immersive learning
system.
Think of this as something like a Disney level theme park ride. The
recruits (392 at a time) board the "USS Trayer", a 89,000 square foot, 3 deck
mock up of a real Navy battleship. This is visceral reality, not virtual
reality. The intent is to deliver the realism of high physical and mental
stress of "livefire". On their mission, the crew is attacked by a missile,
must fight a fire on the ship, and perform a rescue at sea. All along, the
trainers are observing and grading.
Duncan brought along his computer and a projector, and we got to see the
presentation story board they used when pitching this idea to the Navy.
Battle Stations 21 is set to open in 2007.
See www.integrityarts.com for more
information. |
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Tuesday,
February 7th,
2006 |
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On Tuesday, February 7th, 22 brothers and their guests met at the University Club
in downtown Orlando to hear Ralph Martinez speak. Ralph gave a fascinating
45 minute talk about Cuba. Ralph and his family are natives of Cuba.
He and his brother Mel were children when Castro rose to power in the late
1950's. As the situation in Cuba grew worse, Ralph's parents knew they had
to get their children out of Cuba. First Ralph was sent to Florida, then
later, Ralph escaped.
From December 26, 1960 through October 22, 1962, 14,048 unaccompanied children
between 6 and 18 years old left Cuba for the US in a secret operation dubbed
Operation Peter Pan. Before Castro, people used to immigrate to Cuba. But
after Castro, the biggest exodus in this hemisphere began. The first to arrive
in the US in January 1959 came with their money and belongings but later, as
Castro added more and more restrictions, people were forced to leave with
nothing.
When Ralph's parents were finally able to escape several years later, they were
one of the ones forced to leave with nothing.
Ralph met brother Buell Duncan's son at a summer camp soon after coming to
Florida. Buell's son and Ralph became friends, and Buell said Ralph became
like one of the family.
Both Ralph and his brother Mel exemplify the American dream. Coming to
America in the early 1960's with nothing, they both have risen to heights
neither one probably imagined possible. Mel Martinez is a US Senator.
Ralph is the managing partner of McEwan, Martinez & Dukes, P.A. In 2003,
Ralph was nominated by the President of the United States to serve as a public
delegate, representing the United States before the United Nations 57th General
Assembly. On May 23, 2003, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and served
as a public delegate for that term. |
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Tuesday,
January 3rd,
2006 |
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On Tuesday, January 3rd, 15 brothers and their guests met at the University Club
in downtown Orlando to ring in the new year. Brian Roquemore, the
President and CEO of America's All Stars, was our guest speaker. Brian is
a local product of Orlando, attended UCF, and is an ATO. America's All
Stars mission is "to develop outstanding character in K - 12 school children
that will greatly benefit schools and local communities by fostering positive
behavior, responsible citizenship, academic success, and a positive work ethic."
It was obvious that Brian is truly concerned about the future of America, and is
committed and passionate about trying to do something about it.
The warning signs are there -- continuing increases in school violence, suicide,
homicide, gang warfare, drugs, sexually transmitted diseases and teen
pregnancies. Surprisingly, there is no focused, coordinated, national strategy
to help young people avoid these dangers and develop the needed skills to live
productive, healthy lives. How can we expect to make major change without one?
America's All Stars provides all students with opportunities to be involved with
community service events which are both valuable and exciting. Community service
is essential to character building and character building is what America's All
Stars is all about. It is imperative that a brighter, safer future be created
for them and our nation. America's All Stars plans to help over 50 million
students by the year 2008.
Their first project was a student-run Thanksgiving dinner. It is known as "The
World's Largest Thanksgiving Dinner" and is held nationwide to raise money for
the hungry and homeless. The beneficiary of this school-based, student-run
fundraising event is The Salvation Army - a longtime supporter of those in need.
This event brings students and community together in a unique way and for a
great cause. The Thanksgiving Dinners Program is an annual event that will
always be held the Thursday before Thanksgiving.
If you would like to find out more about America's All Stars, please visit
www.4allstars.org |
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