March came in like a lion for the Rotary Club of Placencia with two events back to back early in the month, the annual District Conference in Guatemala, and planning for two events taking place in April and May. In addition, the annual training seminar for club officers and directors was held early in April to prepare for the next year.

AUCTION
The auction originally scheduled for January 24, but postponed due to the bad weather was finally held on March 7 at the Beach Bar at the Tipsy Tuna.

A large crowd gathered to bid on items ranging from dinners at local restaurants to two and three day travel packages to places like Punta Gorda, San Ignacio and Ambergris Caye. The bidding was spirited and, at times, a bit confusing, however, many local people and more than a few visitors went home with some fantastic items and a significant amount of money was raised to help support our causes and projects.

Unfortunately, the large crowd and the fast pace of the bidding resulted in our not obtaining the names of all winning bidders, but, we wish to thank all who participated making this a fun evening for all. Our sincere thanks go out to Wendy’s Restaurant, Tutti Frutti, Cozy Corner, Barefoot Beach Bar at the Tipsy Tuna, Yoli’s, Barefoot Rentals, Crow’s Nest, Robert’s Grove, French Connection, Turtle Inn, Rumfish, Wallen’s Market, Caribbean Cabinet and Furniture, Joy Tours, French Louis Caye, Sundowner, Lola’s Art, Virginia Glessner, Secret Garden, Southern Environmental Association, Chabil Mar, Victoria House (Ambergris Caye), Tropic Air, Costa Maya Reef Resort (Ambergris Caye), Sunbreeze Suites (Ambergris Caye), Blue Water Grill (Ambergris Caye), Coral House Inn (Punta Gorda), Table Rock Jungle Lodge (San Ignacio), Placencia Hotel, Laru Beya, D’Tatch, Joe Carlson (San Ignacio Rotary), Sandra Steele, Greg and Wanda, Sunova Gift Shop, Z-Touch, Patricia Celenza, and the Placencia Bazaar.

We also wish to thank the Barefoot Beach Bar at the Tipsy Tuna for providing the venue for this event and we especially want to thank everyone that came out to participate because these events cannot happen without the support of the community. Discussions are already underway to make this event even bigger, better, and more fun next year.

CRICKET MATCH
Sunday March 8 proved to be a case of “no rest for the weary” as members of the Rotary Club of Placencia, many of whom were out late at the auction the night before, began gathering early in the morning for the Cricket Match to set up. This match, unlike the others we have sponsored with two teams from the Village playing, featured our Placencia team taking on the Surprise team from Orange Walk (that’s right, the name of the team is Surprise).

The day, as before, featured food in the form of stew chicken, BBQ chicken and hot dogs, all prepared by the Rotary Club of Placencia, as well as a bar serving soft drinks, beer and rum. Music was provided by DJ Curling, who kept things lively for all when the game was not being played. Despite a spirited effort by the Placencia team, they unfortunately lost a close match to the visitors, but, they hope to play them again in the future and vow that they will win the next one.

The Cricket Match also featured a raffle of a bicycle with the proceeds going to the Senior Luncheon being coordinated by our own Lydia Villanueva. Our thanks go out to Elizabeth Zabaneh and Tony’s Superstore for the donation of the bicycle (won by Mr. Zuniga), Rotarian Eugenie Adderly Gabourel for arranging for the Surprise team to come here to play, Leopold “Polo” Leslie for getting the Placencia team together, and Merlene, Miss Emelia and Therese for their help with the rice and beans. We also wish to thank the Surprise team for traveling down here to play and, of course, we thank the community, as always, for their support.

ROTARY DISTRICT CONFERENCE
Every year, Rotary holds a District Conference in the country of the District Governor. This year’s conference for District 4250 (Belize, Honduras and Guatemala) was held in Antigua, Guatemala in February. The Rotary Club of Placencia was represented by President Sandra Johnson, Past President Eugenie Adderly Gabourel, President Elect (2009-2010) Harald Wallen, and President Elect for 2010-2011 Lydia Villanueva.

The District Conference is an opportunity for learning and fellowship with other Rotarians and always proves to be a valuable experience for those attending. Next year’s District Conference will be held in Belize and planning has begun involving all of the clubs in the country as we try to make the 2010 District Conference the best ever for District 4250.

P.E.T.S. CONFERENCE
The annual President Elect Training Seminar (P.E.T.S.) was held in Belize City on April 4 & 5 to provide training and valuable information to the Presidents elected by the various Rotary Clubs in the country. This conference is held over two days with the first day covering the duties of the President and the second day serving as training for incoming Board Members and Officers.

The conference was attended by Harald Wallen and Lydia Villanueva on Saturday and Harald Wallen, Sandra Johnson and Bob Edmonds on Sunday. Bob is the only new member of President Elect Harald Wallen’s Board for 2009-2010, therefore, all of the other Board Members have attended these conferences in the past. It is hoped that the contacts made and the information received at this conference and similar conferences will allow us to have an even more successful year in 2009-2010.

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
Several months ago, Honorary Rotarian Ralph Capeling made a generous donation to be used for the purchase of medical equipment for the clinic. After consulting with Dr. Alexis, several doctors with houses in the area, and Government Medical Officials, a list of the equipment was developed and the process of securing that equipment commenced. With the help of Dr. Wayne Warnica, the equipment was finally secured and arrangements made to ship the equipment to Belize.

On March 26, this equipment, which includes a new examining table, an ECG machine, a sterilizer and a computer, was handed over to Dr. Alexis at the clinic. Our thanks go out to Ralph Capeling, Dr. Wayne Warnica, Eugenie Adderly Gabourel (who helped facilitate delivery), Dr. Peter Allan and Dr. Alexis for their generosity and patience throughout this process.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Work is continuing on several events in the coming months including the Rotary International Polio Walk, which will be held on April 26, the Senior Citizen Lunch, which will be held on May 10 at Wendy’s Creole Restaurant, and Lobsterfest, which will feature our famous duck race. Information on these events and others will be on the cable TV local access channel, LOVE FM (thanks to Assistant Governor Rene Villanueva), flyers posted around the Village, or by asking any Rotarian. We look forward to continued participation and support by the community at all of these events.

OUR CLUB
The Rotary Club of Placencia currently has 23 members, 2 of which we will be inducting at our next club assembly. The Rotary year runs from July to July and at the next Handing Over Ceremony, President Sandra Johnson will turn over the reins to President Elect (2009-2010) Harald Wallen, who will be joined by Secretary Wanda Stakutis, Treasurer Nazle Frutos, Rotary Foundation Director Bob Edmonds, Projects Director Eugenie Adderly Gabourel, Club Administration Director Maretha McCullock, Membership Director and President Elect (2010-2011) Lydia Villanueva, Public Relations Director Greg Valiton, and Past President Sandra Johnson.

The 2008-2009 Rotary Year has been a successful one for our club thanks to the hard work of our club members and, of course, the support we receive from the community. The money we raise goes to identified causes, such as the clinic, Volunteer Fire Department, and schools, as well as a small portion that goes to supporting the administrative costs (supplementing the dues paid and donations made by Club members) required to maintain our standing with Rotary International.

Our club works together to complete projects and raise funds for other projects, as well as having opportunities for fellowship and fun with members of our club, visitors to our Village, and Rotarians from all over the world. If you would like to participate in these good works and make a difference in our community and the world, we invite you to check us out at one of our meetings (Tuesdays at 12:30PM at Yoli’s), visit our web site at www.rotaryclubofplacencia.org, or by speaking to any Rotarian.

As hard as we work, it’s the support of the community that makes us successful and we look forward to expanding our numbers and completing more projects in the coming year.