By Rod McLeod, PR & Marketing Committee Chair, Rotary Club of Weston

South Florida’s transition from summer to fall is a barely noticeable climatic event, but all else seems to change. Summer vacations are done. The kids are back to school. Youth sports teams are back in uniform. Home work. Businesses return to ‘quick-step’ tempo. The Dolphins are on the gridiron. The Panthers on the ice. The Miami Heat are headed for the practice court. And, morning and evening traffic has gotten decidedly thicker.

At Weston Rotary our summer was packed with a full schedule of club meetings and activities, service projects, and planning for our upcoming slate of major projects and events. We welcomed a quintet of enthusiastic new members. We proudly welcomed the homecoming visit of Douglas R. (“Doug”) Maymon, Rotary District Governor, District 6990 to his home club. We also gained insight to what it takes to be a college football referee from Doug Rhoads, coordinator of football officiating for the Atlantic Coast Conference, who presented his entertaining “You Make the Call” program.

Among our meeting guests this summer were two members of the Rotary District #6990’s outbound Group Study Exchange Team: Krissi Strohsal, an interior designer with IKEA; and Gina Montagnino, assistant principal at Western High School. The 2010-2011 GSE Team is readying for this fall’s visit to Sweden and Latvia and Weston Rotary is pleased to sponsor Krissi and Gina on this journey.

Group Study Exchange is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business men and women between the ages of 25 and 40 in the early years of their professional careers. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits between paired areas in different countries. For four weeks, team members experience the host country's institutions and ways of life, observe their own vocations as practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.

Our incoming Rotary Youth Exchange students for the coming school year arrived in Weston: Sergio Castellano Gomez from Spain and Severin Wiesbauer from Austria. During their stay Sergio and Severin will be living with their Weston Rotary host families and attending Cypress Bay High School. And, our outbound Rotary Youth Exchange Student, Luis Corredor of Weston, has arrived in Belgium for his memorable school year abroad.

On the ‘fun front,’ we kicked off the summer with our annual July 4th BBQ for members, their families and friends, and wrapped up with our “Sizzling Summer Salsa Night,” where we found that while some Weston Rotarians definitely have that rhythmic salsa beat down pat, some others ... not so much!

September at Weston Rotary heralds the return of our longstanding “Student of the Month” programs at both Cypress Bay and Western High Schools. Each month our scholarship committee, working in cooperation with the administration and faculty at both schools, selects one student from each school for this special recognition. The award is based on academic achievement and the students’ demonstrated commitment to community service. Each month throughout the school year, we host the designees, their parents/guardians, and their faculty advisor to an awards breakfast where the honorees are given a scholarship grant, an award plaque, and the opportunity to address the membership of Weston Rotary.

In closing we want to thank Sven Budzisch, Publisher of Our City Weston, and his staff for providing Weston Rotary this opportunity to share our news and happenings with you every month.

The Rotary Club of Weston is recognized as one of Southwest Broward’s leading community service organizations. Weston Rotary meets at Weston Hills Country Club every Thursday morning, year-round, from 7:30 – 8:30am to enjoy a buffet breakfast and a lively meeting program. For further information about Weston Rotary visit our website at www.westonrotary.org , and stop by our FaceBook Fan Page (Rotary Club of Weston) for the latest happenings.