History of the Juniors Club in the 2000's

Michele Collier - 2000-2001
Michele Collier's theme for the 2000-01 club year was "Soaring together on the wings of promise for a better tomorrow." Over the summer, Barbara Lapsley and I attended the District 11 Spring Workshop held at the Coral Gables Woman's Club. In keeping with project of our FFWC President, Bunny Sandlin, I created a new board position, the Healthy Heart Chairman. We kept closely in touch with the Woman's Club, by attending board meetings throughout the summer. Barbara Lapsley was to continue to be the liaison between our two clubs by attending board meetings throughout the rest of the year.

Our membership drive was headed by our 2nd Vice President, Susie Tilson. In addition to get-ting together with the new members before meetings, Susie planned a dinner at the Clubhouse as an orientation. The Dental Clinic, Cabaret and other requirements were discusses. Juniors got up and talked about why they loved being Juniors. It was a very productive night, as we are all proud to lave sponsored 14 new members.

In September, those that headed off to Fall Board were Barbara Lapsley, Marli Lutz, Iris Torres Rivera, Marisol Tamarazzo, and Michele Collier. We all attended workshops and got more ideas for reporting and the upcoming events for the New Year. We also discovered that other clubs were not reporting their Associate Members. Therefore, our Associate Members no longer pay dues, putting us in a lower, fairer category, for reporting purposes.

Under our 1st Vice President, Patty Brewer, we enjoyed several interesting programs. In Sep-tember, we had the Antique Path Show, where Juniors brought in antiques or other pieces from home that were appraised for their current market value by Ric Emmett from Modernism Gallery.

In February, we had a "Woman's Safety" program meeting given by Sgt. Rait Leveen of the Coral Gables Police Dept. in cooperation with the National Self Defense Institute. Juniors participated with a "hands on" approach to self defense.

Our Healthy Heart Chairman, Libia Casas Justice put together an informative program in October sponsored by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. Juniors got to participate by measuring their own blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose and body composition screenings. Dr. Lin Ter gave a presentation on heart disease and ways to prevent it. Also in October, Alison Ainslee put a CPR class together, where 12 Juniors and guests were certified in child and adult CPR. We had 2 other events in October. The first was our annual garage sale, held at the home of Vicki McGroarty. Junior's junk is another's treasure and we made $627. We donated the leftover items to Safe Space, Good will, and orphanage that Sandy Allen volunteers for. We also had a Halloween Party planned by Nancy and Rachel Steinhardt. There was dinner, dancing and even a costume contest.

We started November by participating in the Coral Gables Community Foundation Auction at the Biltmore Hotel. We have a wonderful relationship with the Foundation, due to Gloria and look forward to helping them in any way that we can. We also made our Thanksgiving baskets for the dental clinic families. We also collected toiletry items for Safe Space, including baby items for the mothers and their infants to be delivered in December.

December was a very busy month filled with many activities. Our entertainment chairman, Diana Herstik Cohn did a wonderful job planning our annual Christmas Dinner. It was a beautiful evening held at the Colonnade Hotel. Once again, the Whispering Pines Children's chorus entertained us with their beautiful voices. Our dental clinic staff was recognized and our new members were in-stalled. That night Juniors brought children's gifts to be distributed to the kids at Safe Space. An-other event attended by Juniors was the Coral Gables Chamber Christmas party. Juniors worked with the Chamber in collecting gifts from businesses in Miami. The Chamber later donated 70 of those gifts to our dental clinic. These gifts were distributed to the kids in the dental clinic throughout the month of December. Iris Torres Rivera and Marli Lutz, along with several Juniors, distributed cookies and punch throughout the month. Iris planned a big Christmas Party for the dental clinic children on the last day of dental appointments in December. I know the kids were thrilled and appreciative. Iris also helped Michele Collier deliver the toiletry items, baby items, and Christmas gifts to Safe Space. They were very happy and we look forward to our next involvement with their program.

In March, we participated in a 1920's picnic in the Gables. We sold cookies and lemonade as part of the 1920's theme. In May, a group of Juniors went to Spring Convention in Orlando. Those attending were Barbara Lapsley, Marli Lutz Marisol Tamarazzo, and Michele Collier. We had not reported to the Federation in many years, but still came home with 4'" place Membership award, a 1 s' place Fundraising award, and an award in Marketing for our Cabaret. Mali represented our dental clinic at a Once Voice for Children workshop.

Throughout the year, leadership airplane pins and May Van Sickle tote bags were handed out to Juniors that displayed leadership. These outstanding members were Barbara Lapsley, Marisol Tamarazzo, Patty Brewer, Marli Lutz, Iris Torres Rivera, Susie Tilson, Yolanda Melendez,*Gaby Doria and Pam Schaefer.

One of my goals was to create a website for the Coral Gables Juniors Woman's Club, www.coralgablesjuniors.org. At the end of this year it was being developed and will be headed up by the newly created position of Website Manager.

We have been told by many that this years show, "Places Please", was by far our Best Show Ever. All Juniors should be proud of the work that they have done. Our men's auxiliary has our deepest appreciation and we congratulate Clay, Paul, and Peter. We did something different by holding an auction at our Saturday night performance, which raised over $3,000.00. Cabaret raised a total of $40,000.00 for the dental clinic. Gloria Burns and Michele Collier received a grant from the Lady Suzanna P. Tweed Carlton Tweed Charitable Foundation. Barbara Lapsley and Betsy Britton received a grant from the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation. Betsy also wrote grants to the Peacock
Foundation and the Florida Dental Health Foundation.

The May Van Sickle Children's Dental Clinic provided over $100,000.00 worth of dental care for needy, school age children in Miami Dade County. The clinic was opened two days a week and received over 600 patient visits.
Marisol Tamarazzo, our clubhouse director, kept up our clubhouse beautifully. It remains a popular banquet hall and is booked two years in advance. Marisol had the bathrooms and Dental Clinic updated with new Spanish tile.

I would like to thank my board for their hard work this year. I would also like to the Cabaret Chair-men for all their hard work; many have dual positions on the board. I would like to give special thanks to Marisol Tamarazzo, the winner of the Barbara Rosenthal Leadership Award. She really worked hard and has been an inspiration to us all.
Sponsor: 2000-2001 - Janet Barone

Michele Collier - 2001-2002
Michele Collier's theme for the 2001-02 club year was "Our Children, Our Future."

Before school let out, we once again helped the Woman's Club with the 5th Grade Graduation Party for Tucker Elementary School. Over the summer, we attended the District 11 Workshop at the Miami Springs Woman's Club. Barbara and I attended the Woman's Club board meetings over the summer and throughout the year. At our 1st board meeting, we voted to help the Children's Brain Trust, by raising money for them as well as our Dental Clinic. Several members volunteer with the "Miracles on Ice" fundraiser for the Children's Brain Trust.

In September, Paul Hale joined us to talk about the Children's Braint Trust. Barbara, Marli, and I attended Fall Board in Orlando. We received our reporting materials and had a great time meeting women like us from the state of Florida. Vicki, Patty Brewer and the Juniorettes tried to participate in the Walk for Breast Cancer. Unfortunately, they were rained out, but were still able to donate their pledges. Susie arranged an enjoyable wine and cheese social for the new members. Everyone wore a different hat, courtesy of the accessory closet.

October was a busy month with several extra functions and dinners. We had dinners for 10 hosted by Carmen, Vicki, Tania Stern and Gael Jose. Our program meeting October had us making angels at the direction of Alison Campbell. Vicki, Barbara, and I attended the FFWC District meeting at Home-stead Woman's Club. Juniors once again volunteered to help with the Coral Gables Community Foundation Auction. A table of Juniors attended the annual Crime Watch Lunch at the Biltmore.

In November, our Dental Clinic got a makeover with a beautiful mural that put a smile on the faces of all our dental clinic families. We made Thanksgiving baskets for the dental clinic families and collected toiletry items for A Woman's Place. Libia and Patty Brewer made sure that these items were delivered. We tried something new by having a Murder Mystery Dinner to raise money for the Children's Brain Trust. It was a success, raising $2000 for the Brain Trust.

Each year the President of Juniors has a fund in which she can make donations to various charities and causes in the community. After the 9-11 attack on our nation, I felt strongly about using some of those funds to go directly to the families of the firemen that were killed in the line of duty during this tragedy. During a personal vacation to New York City; Vicki, Barbara, Andy Young (one of our associate members), and I went to the site of the attack to look for a fire station. After 2 hours of walking and asking questions, we finally found the station, Ladder Engine. This station was collecting money for the families of the 4 stations that had firemen that lost their lives to the attack. We donated $1000 to the Duane St. Family Relief Fund and later received a plaque for our generosity. It was truly a wonderful experience to participate in something to help these families in this small way.

In December we had our new member orientation at Pam's house. Our Christmas Dinner was held at the Clubhouse. This year the Pinecrest Chorus entertained us with their beautiful voices. Our dental clinic staff was recognized and our new members were installed. We had our Christmas Board Dinner at The Red Fish Grill. Another event attended by Juniors was the Coral Gables Chamber Christmas Party. Juniors worked with the Chamber in collecting gifts from businesses in Miami. The Chamber collected 750 toys and $400 to be split between four charities, which included our dental clinic.

Throughout the year, leadership Angel pins were handed out to Juniors that displayed leadership. These outstanding members were Barbara Lapsley, Marisol Tamaarazzo, Susie Tilson, Gaby Doria, and Leana Moyer.

In January, we had David Mallic, Special Olympian, join us for an informative evening on the Special Olympics. We donated $500 and signed up to help with the event. Our preview party was held at the clubhouse. We had a good turnout from the new members, but this year had only 7 men dancing in the show. Juniors also attended the Woman's Cancer Assoc. Fashion Show. Preview night came and went.

Our Chairman's Party was held at Barbara Lapsley's house in February. The juniorettes had a car wash at Flamingo Yogurt and raised $200 for The Children's Brain Trust. The Presidents Reception was held at Alison Campbell's home. It was almost cancelled because of a storm, but the weather cleared up and the evening turned into a festive Mardi Gras affair, complete with masks and beads for everyone.

Rehearsals started in March. We had a few new ideas this year. We started taking credit cards for tickets and established a budget for more advertising. Robyn Hardeman got some wonderful flyers made and Martha and Esther worked on publicity with Gloria to get more advertising for the show. Marisol made a connection with Deco Drive to put us on their show the week before opening night. However, problems with production and the dates with Gusman proved to be too much this year and we were forced to cancel the show.

Spring Convention was held in May and we had 10 Juniors represent the Coral Gables's Juniors this year. Marli Lutz, FFWC Leadership Co-Chairman, worked hard for the Federation and presented the Leadership awards for the state. We were asked to talk about our dental clinic at a workshop the 2nd year. I asked Marli to speak on our behalf. Our reporting efforts paid off as we brought home 7 Outstanding Accomplishments awards in the categories of membership, fundraising, leadership, honor score points, and home life. The award from Home Life was a first place award that we should be very proud of, which included reports of our accomplishments with our dental clinic, the Children's Brain Trust, and other children's charities. On the last night, I was installed as the Junior District Director for District 11 for the 2002-2004 years. After returning from Convention, Barbara and I were installed for the Woman's Club as 1st Vice-President and Recording Secretary. Barbara's stay in the hospital was longer then anticipated, so someone stood in for her.

Barbara and I applied for a grant from the John T. Macdonald Foundation. Our efforts paid off and we were awarded a grant for $30,000.

Two years ago I accepted the position of President for the Coral Gables Junior Woman’s Club. I had but 3 simple goals for this club. To start reporting again to the Federation, establish a website, and increase membership. I feel that we as a club have accomplished these goals. My 2 years as president have been to me a wonderful experience that I am truly grateful for. Your confidence in my ability and your faith in Juniors have made these years productive and worthwhile. Thank you for being my friend and for working hard as members of the Coral Gables Junior Woman's Club.
Junior Love, Michele
Sponsor: 20012002- Janet Barone

Barbara Lapsley- 2002-2003
At the beginning of our last year, things did not look rosy for Juniors. Terrorism had reared its ugly head, and we had suffered some setbacks.

We had been forced to cancel our beloved Cabaret, a sixty-three year tradition that makes us unique among woman's clubs in this state and even in this country. Only Coral Gables Juniors have shown the ability, the spirit, the drive and the talent to do what we have done for all those years, and it was very hard to bow to circumstances and cancel the show.

When I took office as your president, I called upon our guardian angel to watch over us and see us through these difficult times. I chose, as a theme for the coming year, "AN ANGEL IS WATCHING," and I'm happy to report that my hopes became reality.

Our angel began its watch by bringing in a generous, $30,000 grant from the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation, ensuring that the dental clinic would be able to serve the needy children of Dade County for another year. The foundation has helped Juniors in the past, but this grant was, by far, the largest and most timely. Who else but our angel could have been at work behind the scenes?

And, speaking of "Behind the Scenes," there must have been a lot of angels behind the scenes at this year's Cabaret. They helped Juniors do battle with a host of problems and make a triumphant return to the stage. Three very important angels were perched on the shoulders of Patty Brewer, Chuck Fossler and Dave Hardeman, because they will be the first to tell you that they were in over their heads as stage managers. But, somehow, some way, maybe with a little divine inspiration, they accomplished a miracle. What else would you call it, when everything went like clockwork, and Patty was backstage making noises like a cuckoo?
Yes, our angel was busy, and so were we. During the summer months, the board members met to plan activities for the coming year. We started off September with a wine and cheese social to give the new members a chance to get to know us, but the biggest hit was the Bunco Party, at our clubhouse, for a combination of new and active members. It was a great ice breaker and an evening of fun for our ten new members.

We also had eight members representing Juniors at fall board in Orlando, where we attended many workshops and got to meet Juniors and Generals from all over the state of Florida.

October was a busy month for Juniors. At one of our meetings, we presented Coral Gables Fire Department representatives with fifty Blue Bears we had made for young children, to help them deal with stressful situations.

We attended the FFWC Annual District 11 meeting, under the leadership of our District Director, Betty Stebbins, and Michele Collier, Junior District Director, and hosted by the Coconut Grove Woman's Club.
And Juniors, once again, got all their old junk together and had a garage sale at Michele Collier's home, which brought in $856 for the production of Cabaret.

November came in with a rush this year. After spending the summer months planning a major fundraiser, Casino Night finally arrived. Under the leadership of Pam Schaefer, this turned out to be a very entertaining and profitable night, netting us $8,149 for the dental clinic.

Also, during November, Juniors and Juniorettes were busy making Thanksgiving Baskets for our dental clinic's needy families. Mireya and Dr. Iris were in charge of this project, and they deserve a big Thank You. We also put together Holiday toilettes gift bags to be sent to The Woman's Place. A special thank you to Patty Brewer for chairing

In December, Nancy Steinhardt and Robyn Hardeman, our this project.Entertainment Chairmen, got us all in a holiday mood with a beautiful party at our historic clubhouse. Mireya hosted a Christmas party for our dental clinic kids. Over fifty children and their parents were in attendance. The Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce donated Beanie Babies for the children, and we raffled off six brand new bicycles to six very excited kids.

Also, in December, our Juniorettes passed out Christmas gifts at a nursing home. In January, we got into Cabaret rehearsals in full force, and it felt good to be back in our traditional production schedule again. This show was quite different from any I have experienced in the past seventeen years, but by all accounts, it was very entertaining. Danie Beck came to our aid with a lot of energy, passion for Cabaret and a determination to keep this tradition going, and we can’t thank her enough.

And, the other driving force behind this Cabaret was our own Tania Stern. This show would not have happened without Tania, who took on a huge responsibility, gave up two months of her busy life for Juniors, and she did it with humor and grace. Thank you, Tania.

As I mentioned before, Juniors are still in awe of the most amazing accomplishment of Patty Brewer and Chuck Fossler, who took on a responsibility far beyond anything they could have envisioned and made it look easy. Not only did they step in to fill the unexpected need for a stage manager, they proved highly competent and very professional. Dave Hardeman also volunteered to serve as a "Techie" backstage, and we applaud all of them for their contributions to a great show.

During our Sunday matinee performance, the Mayor of Coral Gables, Don Slesnick, presented us with a key to the city, which I was honored to accept on behalf of the Coral Gables Junior Woman's Club.
We have so many people to thank, including our Cabaret committee chairmen and all of our family members, who support us during those weeks we are missing from the home front. We even had my oldest son, Brett, working backstage with Patty and Chuck. I think he's hooked, because he keeps saying he's looking forward to Cabaret. This wonderful tradition we call Cabaret netted us $63,000 this year, and I'm so proud of every Junior who put forth the effort.

As soon as Cabaret was over, Juniors set off for Orlando for the Spring convention. We had 9 members attending. Michele Collier, our Reporting Chairmen, did an outstanding job this year with her report, and we all should thank her for a job well done. Here are some of awards that we won.
In Category 4:
1st Place Home life,
1st Place Fundraising,
2nd Place Leadership,
3rd Place newsletter,
3rd Place Public relations,
4th Place arts,
and 4th Place Junior's Special Project.
Michele, you are really our guardian angel, looking over all the FFWC activities this year. Juniors' contributions to FFWC this year were $2,060.

Since 1990, the current leaders of the Juniors and Generals have been working very closely together, and our relationship has grown even more unique. The working relationship between the two clubs is enhanced by several factors of our shared existence. Most importantly, we share a rich tradition of cooperation in the preservation and maintenance of our historic clubhouse together.

The Juniors and Generals host many social events to sponsor community involvement, and we share in the expense and preparation for these occasions. Two card parties benefited the Hacienda Girls Ranch, and Juniors sponsored the Christmas luncheon, providing mimosas and eggnog, making flyers, and mailing invitations.

In February, we had a Valentine's Day spaghetti dinner, for which I made the sauce. Juniors were busy at work with rehearsals but a few came to support the Generals.

We juniors are very fortunate to have such continuous and heartfelt support from our General Club. We enjoy a close, personal relationship and always seem to be looking out for each other. With the energy and determination of the Juniors, and the wisdom and experience of the Generals, we make a great team, with the ability to keep our tradition of excellent community service going for another 74 years.

The personal relationship that I have had with President Janet Barone is one that I will always cherish. This is the fourth time we have been President's of our two organizations at the same time, and we were Districts Directors of the Florida Federation of Woman's Clubs at the same time for two years. She has been a tireless worker, a true friend, and an inspiration to me in some very trying times.

Michele Collier and I attended all the FFWC functions during the year, and we even went to the Miami Springs Juniors and Homestead Juniors meetings to get to know other junior clubs and have a relationship with them. We are very fortune to have Michele Collier as Junior District Director to represent Coral Gables Juniors, and we also have Marli Lutz representing us at One Voice for Children and Aminta Konawicz for the arts on FFWC state level.

Before I close this report of our year of accomplishments I have a few people I would like to acknowledge.

Patty Brewer was an associate member this year and we are thankful that she is coming back as active. Patty did the journal this year, made gift bags for The Woman's Place, helped make the Blue Bears, and even made headscarves for Cancer patients. She chaired the Scenery Committee, which is a huge job by itself, but most amazing of all was that she was our Stage Manger. Patty we couldn’t have done this with out you this year.

Pam Schaefer, did it again with such energy and determination. She chaired the Casino night, which was a huge success. She chaired Fundraising. She came to all the meetings to take minutes. I'm also very proud of her for dancing this year in Cabaret. Whenever I needed something done, Pam was right there for me. Thank you, Pam, for being there for me.

Tania Stern, what can I say about this "Wonder Woman?" You went way beyond the call of duty, and that's why you deserve the leadership award this year. The way you went about Cabaret, it was like watching you carry a baby for nine months. You did give rebirth to this great tradition we call Cabaret. With your great sense of humor you kept us all laughing during our sewing sessions. Thanks for coming back active this year.

Last but not least is my partner in crime, Michele Collier. She was always there for me when I needed help, and our friendship grows each year. With her leadership as JDD and the many hours she spent in reporting to FFWC, this amazing Junior has really blossomed over the years. When I needed an angel’s guidance this year, she was there. I'm proud to have you as my friend.

Each year the Coral Gables Junior Woman's Club votes the Barbara Rosenthal leadership award to the member who exhibits outstanding leadership during the year, and this year's recipient was Tania Stern. Also, in 1997, an award was established for the new member of the year, and this year's recipient was Carol Nobles.

I would like to thank each Junior for helping to make this a successful year, and I know that if all the talented women here tonight put forth their best effort, the traditions of the Coral Gables Junior Woman's Club will continue for many years to come.
Junior Love,
Barbara Lapsley

Barbara Lapsley- 2003-2004
One of the reasons we are here, tonight, is to reflect on this past year’s accomplishments. "Dancing with the Angels," was the theme I chose for the year, and all Juniors should be very proud of the fantastic job our Angel did. Not only did she guide our steps in the dance, making this year’s Cabaret one of the all-time best ever, she earned new respect for the Coral Gables Junior Woman’s Club in every community service we provided. I have had the privilege of working with some of the most remarkable and talented women in South Florida, and I’m so proud to have been a member of this club for the last eighteen years.

We began the year by bringing back the six departments from the federation:

• Home life
• Arts
• Education
• Public Affairs
• Conservation
• International Affairs

Here are some of the projects sponsored by those departments this year.

Home Life:
The Home Life Department had an ice-cream party for the kids at the Family Resource Center’s Crisis Nursery and donated new shoes, underwear and socks to the children. As president, I donated $500.00 from my discretionary fund, to help build a concrete slab for the center, which will provide a place for the children to ride bikes and play outdoors.

Juniors went on a shopping trip to Saks Fifth Avenue at Dadeland Mall, which sponsors a charity called "Key to the Cure." A percentage of the proceeds from the shopping trip were donated to Baptist Health South, Florida, for women’s oncology initiatives.

A group of Juniors took a trip, in December, to visit Hacienda Girls Ranch in Melbourne, Fl. We toured the facility and brought the girls Christmas bags, filled with goodies. We presented Hacienda with a check for $500.00 from the President’s fund, and the Steinhardt Family matched the fund with another $500.00.

We donated Thanksgiving baskets to our Dental Clinic families, and we also filled holiday bags for the Agape Women’s homeless shelter. We supported the W.H.A.L.E. program, which supplies occupant identification tag kits for child safety seats, by filling out the information tags and attaching them to children’s car seats. To further promote this effort, Pam and John Schaefer, have generously offered to distribute the kits to car buyers at their Gables Lincoln-Mercury dealership.

In the Education department we had a book drive and donated books to some needy schools, and we had some left over to give to our Dental Clinic children to enjoy. We also had a guest speaker, Teri Logan, Director of Institutional Advancement, at Miami Christian School, and Teri has since joined us and become a member of Juniors.

In the Public Affairs Department, this year we passed the hat and raised $300.00 for a family at Safe Space, so they could enjoy a very nice Christmas. We also donated six smoke detectors to the Safe Space facility.

This year the Juniors participated in the FFWC District ll Arts luncheon. Patty Brewer and Tania Stern won blue ribbons in their categories, and Patty Brewer walked away with the prize for "Best of Show."

Juniors were very active this year with FFWC. We started off the year by attending the Summer Workshop in Key West. In September, a group of Juniors went to Fall board in Tampa. In the month of October, we hosted the FFWC Fall Tour. We had a great time this spring, being a big part of this years Spring Convention, because our very own Charylene Carruth was installed as President of the FFWC. Michele Collier and I also attended the Dade County Federation of Woman’s Clubs’ meetings during the year.

Under the leadership of Michele Collier, our reporting chairman, Juniors won the following awards at the convention:

• Juniors Special Projects 1st place
• Arts Department 1st place
• Membership 3rd place
• Fundraising 4th place
• Newsletter 4th place

The Membership award was in recognition of our 17% increase in membership.

During Spring Convention, Coral Gables Juniors received a certificate for celebrating 75 years of volunteerism. All Juniors who were at the convention were honored by being asked to come up and except this award from our FFWC President, Linda Boyd.

Thank you, Michele, for all the hours you put into getting the reports ready. Juniors also thank you for your two years of service as District 11 Junior District Director.

This year, we had eight new members, three of whom were student members.

Our Juniorettes and student members had a car wash on a cold winter’s day in February, and they made $600.00, which was donated to the family of Jamie Gough.

Juniors are always busy helping out other organizations in our community. The Coral Gables Community Foundation, The Orange Bowl Committee, The Coral Gables Crime Watch, are just a few, and we do participate in some fun activities during the year. For the second year in a row, we had a Casino night, chaired by Pam Schaefer, which netted $7,400.00. We also had a Garage Sale at Christy Hernandez’s home and made $600.00. We had a tacky Bunco Party during the summer chaired by Patty and Vicki, a Christmas Party at our beautiful clubhouse, chaired by Robyn and decorated by Nancy, and the best party, by far, was the Board Christmas Dinner at Deering Bay, with a night cruise around the bay on Tania & Rudy Stern’s yacht.

One of the biggest responsibilities of our club is our clubhouse, and we had a big problem last summer. We had unwanted guests that wouldn’t leave, and we had to have them evicted. You’ll never guess who they were. Well, I’ll tell you. A family of honey bees decided to make a home in the north wall of our Dental clinic. It cost us about $7,000.00 to get rid of them. Every now and then, they come back, but they don’t stay long. The wall is heavily treated with poison. That is just one of the unusual things that go on with running a historical building. I could be here all night talking about the clubhouse. Janet Barone can relate to this very well. Janet and I have been President’s of our two clubs, again, for the last two years, and we have seen it all.

I want Janet to know how much she means to all of us Juniors. Her leadership in working with the Juniors has meant so much over the years, and, Kathy, I just wish for you and Pam the closeness and the cooperation that Janet and I have enjoyed for so long. You are both new to your offices, but the spirit of our two clubs’ association should help you with your new responsibilities.

Our dental clinic has been very busy this year. Thank you to Mireya and Iris for keeping everything up to date with the operation of the clinic. With the $22,500.00 grant from the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation, $15,000.00 from The Ethel & W. George Kennedy Family Foundation, Inc., and $33,000.00 from Cabaret last year, our Dental Clinic, once again, helped the needy children of Miami-Dade have an opportunity to enjoy healthy smiles. We have some exciting things that will be happening in our dental clinic this summer. We hope to purchase a new dental chair and new flooring, to add to the beautiful painting we had done to cheer up the room for the kids when they are there having work done.

Living up to the theme, "Dancing with the Angels," our annual Cabaret, "Encore!" exceeded our expectations this year! We did the angels so proud in the production of Encore, they are still tapping around up there. We were so glad to be back, once again, at the beautiful Gusman theatre, and of course, with Clay and Paul joining us again and Vanessa, making her first appearance in the mix. Peter Smith also joined us again to light up the stage with his creativity and make us all look so good. Pam and Nancy did an outstanding job in organizing this production. The job these two virgin, Cabaret chairmen did, made them look like veterans of many successful Cabaret’s. We have so many people to thank, and we must not forget our very own Vic Clarke. He is a true veteran of the Cabaret wars, and nobody else could ever do what he does with the master recording. For more years than we can remember, Vic has worked closely with Clay, to create the perfect musical background for Clay and Paul’s choreography. We are so lucky that he enjoys the experience enough to keep coming back each year. Thank you, Vic, from the bottom of our hearts.

Now, this year has ended and a new one is beginning, so let’s all give our new President, Pam Schaefer the support you have given me during the past five years. I thank all my special friends in Juniors, for helping me the past two years. Iris, Patty, Vicki, Christy, Pam, Tania, Nancy, Linda, Mireya, Carmen, Susie,Gloria, Cindie, and most of all, Michele, who has been right by my side, all the way. Thanks to you, Michele, we are reporting again with the Federation.

The last one I want to thank is my guardian angel, who has kept the watch with me for two years. We have won through to the end of our long road, and the watch will be taken over by others.

Whatever new turning in the road may beckon, I wish them an angel as wise and ever-present as mine, to guide them on their way.

Once again, it has been an honor to serve as your president, and I have nothing but love and respect for each and every one of you.

Junior Love,
Barbara

Pam Schaefer- 2004-2005
Pam Schaefer’s theme for 2004-2005 was "Spotlight on Bright Smiles". We really spotlighted our Club by putting a lot of smiles in the community.

We helped sponsor the Athena Award Luncheon which honors top women in the community. We attended the "Angels of Mercy Luncheon & Fashion Show and donated $500.00 to the St. John Bosco Clinic which helps take care of our communities most needy. Our state President "Charlyne Carruth’s project was Operation Smile. We helped donate to this great cause by attending the District 11 Council meeting and we presented 13 hospital gowns to Anne Thompson, Chairman of Operation Smile. We collected loose change at every meeting and event for Operation Smile. Our fabulous casino night "Monster Mash Casino Bash" made $9,000 for the Dental Clinic. We walked "Far for Naar" which help those with Autism. We donated to the Woman’s Cancer Association. We donated $500.00 to the Junior Orange Bowl Caroling Competition. We also had members help Catholic Charities at their concert in support of Haiti. We attended the National Woman’s Heart Day Campaign and donated $500.00 to Sisters to Sisters, which made us aware that women are at great risk for heart disease. We manned a booth for the American Cancer Society at Baptist Hospital. We became part of the "Adopted A Highway" project. We sponsor the 2 mile area on LeJeune Rd from Valencia to SW 8th Street. We participated in "Operation Gratitude" and sent letters from children and snacks to the soldiers in Iraq. In total we made $7,000 in donations to other charities throughout the community and nationally.

One of our most important projects for our Dental Clinic families is making Thanksgiving Baskets for them. Headed by Dr. Iris Torres-Rivera and Mireya Kilmon our members brought in non-perishables items and canned goods. We were able to make 16 nice baskets and donated $15 gift certificates and phone cards in each basket. The members also collected a lot toiletry items from their travels, so we were able to make 50 bags for the Agape Women’s Center. Because we had so many toiletries we were also able to donate to the Open Door Health Center, which is a free clinic for the uninsured poor, located in Homestead.

Some of our members elected to adopt families for Christmas to help the Family Resource Center. The most fun we had was to see the smiling faces of our children of the Dental Clinic at the Christmas Party we had for them. Our members donate unwrapped toys and the children got to pick what they liked.

Our Cabaret netted $58,000 for the Dental Clinic. The Dental Clinic provided over $126,227 in free dental care and took care of 551 children.

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