THE EXCHANGE CLUB OF SEBASTIAN, FL
~~~ NEWSLETTER ~~~
Meeting 12 Noon, 2nd – last Wednesdays of the Month
Captain Hiram’s Tiffany Room, Sebastian, Florida
February 28, 2022
Students of the Month
OUR YOUTH OF THE MONTH AWARD recognizes hard-working pre-high school and high school students who attain high levels of scholastic achievement, community involvement and leadership, and daily demonstrate good citizenship both at school and at home. Students recognized for the month of February were Tanaya Rackard from Sebastian Charter Junior High School, Jackson Summerall from Storm Grove Middle School, Aubrey Ford from Sebastian River Middle School, and Michael Hill and Paige Sharek from Sebastian River High School.
Tanaya Rackard is a tremendously successful and wonderful student in advanced classes. She is a calm person among even the most chaotic circumstances, and has a laser focus to get the job done. Tanaya is a helper, a learner, a watcher, and a motivator. She is well-respected by everyone. She never gives up on her success and is a great influence on the people around her. She is dependable and wise beyond her years. When the pandemic struck us and we went virtual, her motivation did not cease and she continued to make excellent progress in her classes. Tanaya does not back down from a challenge, but goes above and beyond and pushes herself to be the best version of herself. She has a unique perspective on life, quick wit, and joy for learning. In accepting her award Tanaya thanked her peers, teachers and principal for helping her grow and be a better person and her parents for helping her make the right decisions.
Jackson Summerall is a hard working student with a great attitude and positive ways. He is very outgoing and strives to do his best in classes, and has earned all A’s. He rises to challenges, is bright, bubbly and inquisitive and always helpful to peers. He clearly sees what is ahead. Jackson is a member of the school flag football team and band and also volunteers at his church. He enjoys surfing, snowboarding, and traveling with his family. He plans to attend Vero Beach High School and wants to be a pilot and pursue a career in aviation. In accepting his award Jackson thanked his parents, teachers and our club for “the privilege and honor of being here.”
Aubrey Ford is an amazing young lady with high character. She exhibits all the IB character traits in her everyday life. She is respected by her peers and she serves as a strong role model. Aubrey displays the characteristics of a model citizen every day. She is kind to others. She is an inquisitive leader, always hard at work while in class and striving to do the best that she can. She has been ambitious with her IB project and even though she has encountered some hurdles, she is still trying to push through and complete the goal she set early on. She carries herself with a demeanor of wanting to learn. Aubrey has been working incredibly hard this year to maintain an “A” average in all her classes. In accepting her award Aubrey thanked her parents, teachers, coaches and our club saying she was “honored to be nominated.”
Michael Hill is an IB Diploma Candidate with a weighted GPA of 4.357 and class rank of 29th. He is a member of the National Honor Society, Jr. ROTC, SRHS Swim Team Captain, and a member of the TCSC Swim Team. He has earned passing scores in four IB and AP classes which earn him college credit, and he is an AP Scholar. Michael has earned his FAA sUAS Safety certification and FAA Part 107 Commercial UAS license certification. In accepting his award Michael said, “It is truly an honor to be here.” He thanked our club, his family and teachers and his friends for “bringing out the inner me.” Michael plans to attend either FSU, Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech to study computer science and work in cyber security.
Paige Sharek is an IB Diploma Candidate with a weighted GPA of 4.473 and class ranking of 13th. She is a member of the student council, Secretary of the National Honor Society and National Technical Honors Society. Paige has earned passing scores in three IB and AP classes for which she earns college credit. She is a co-creator of the H.E.Y. Club (to help smaller organizations), assists the Little Birthday Angels with parties for homeless children and volunteers with the Firefighter’s Fair and at American Legion dinners. Her interests include traveling, drawing and painting, reading, singing and aerospace engineering. In accepting her award Paige thanked our club for all the work we do in the community. She plans to attend FIT or Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Guest Speaker Series
Our speakers on February 26th were Amanda Smalley and Brian Young from SkyDive Sebastian. Skydive ahs been in existence for 35 years. Amanda worked there from 2006-2010 and then again since 2014. Brian joined skydive after retiring from the US Marine Corps in 2019. He has completed 820 skydives to date.
Among reasons for us to try skydiving include our bucket list, a specific celebration, or to face fear. Skydive Sebastian and its instructors are FAA and USAP (Unites States Parachuting Association) certified and licensed. Five hundred jumps are required to become an instructor, Skydive Sebastian requires more as well as a resume. There is a 230 lb. weight limit for a jump. Equipment requires specific licensing and is monitored.
Flying skydivers is unusually demanding on the pilot, who responsible for jumps that create a hazard to air traffic or persons or property on the ground. Pilots must have 1000 minimum flight hours. They evaluate current weather conditions including winds aloft, inspect the aircraft and its load balance, advise the controller once jumpers have departed and keep constant vigilance for landing parachutes when taxing and taking off. The first and primary responsibility is to fly the aircraft, and not get distracted by events that could result in disastrous consequences
There are several disciplines for jumps: Head up, Head Down, Canopy, Angle, Wingsuiting, XRW (Cross Relative Work) in Wingsuiting, Tandem and Accelerated Free Fall. The risks? In 2020 nationwide there were 11 fatalities out of 2.2 million jumps. Skydive Sebastian has a very safe record of only 6 fatalities in over 60 thousand jumps in its 35 year existence. Those were cause by simple human error – pushing the limit. One instructor said “Try it at least once – you don’t know what your missing – it’s a lifechanging experience.” For more information and upcoming events visit www.skydiveseb.com.
1st Qtr. Visitors – Please Come Again!
01/12 – Diane Croteau, potential member (Eva Chapman)
01/12 – Cathy Topping, Sebastian Director & Robert Ulrich, Program Director B&G Club (Laura Luettger)
01/19 – Dr. Zoey Gutierrez-Nickel, DDS, MS (Kathy Gutierrez)
02/09 – Tom Lawrence (Rene VanDeVoorde)
02/09 – Kristina Jacobs, IRSC (Ali Qizilbash)
02/09 – Bill Motta, Victory Kids (Ali Qizilbash)
02/09 – Wendy Becker (Eva Chapman)
02/16 – Wendy Becker (Eva Chapman – new application!)
02/16 – Islemy Garcia (Johnathan Rhodeback)
02/16 – Mark Renihan, American Security Foundation (Lane Solomon)
02/23 – Tami Hatten, Captain Hiram’s (Kimball Stadler)
Welcome New Members
On February 26th we inducted Diane Croteau as our newest member. Please make sure to introduce yourself and welcome Diane to our club.
This and That
Please contact Ali Qizilbash or Kimball Stadler with ideas for future speakers. Suggestions are appreciated!
Eva Chapman needs to know of any volunteer work a member has done outside of Exchange Club. This counts toward credit we get from national toward year end awards. Please use her log or send her the name of the organization and number of hours you spent volunteering.
Terry Gardner is chairing the Community Involvement Committee. Karen McElveen will serve with her. They encourage members to give them ideas.
Kathy Burns and Margie Duffell are working with both Sebastian Charter Junior High School and Sebastian River High School to rebuild their Excel Club programs. Club meetings are held immediately after school at each school. Volunteers to assist with these meetings are needed! For more information please contact Kathy or Margie.
Adam Preuss reminds us that on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, our luncheon will be held at SRHS (rather than Captain Hiram’s) to recognize the Male & Female Youth of the Year students and the ACE student. Lunch will consist of: Salad, Chicken, Veggie, Dessert & Drink and will be paid for by the club. We will need to provide the culinary school a firm and final count of members wishing to participate by April 4th.
Phil Barnes says the Youth Guidance King of the Hill Tennis Events will continue through Thursday March 3rd. The Sebastian Exchange Club is a $5,000 sponsor, so the Club will receive 8 tickets to each event, which runs seven weeks. The Schedule of events was sent by separate email. All sponsors must provide the names of their guests who will be attending ahead of time in order to make sure they are on the guest list. Sponsors should inform Development Associate Tiara Weethee of guests’ names by calling her at 772-492-3933 or by email at Tweethe@youthguidanceprogram.org.
Phil Barnes says the date for our Junior Blue Water Open has been confirmed for Saturday October 29th.
Blue Water Open
Eva Chapman reports that Michelle is heading up the Blue Water Open VIP Event, Kimball is coordinating the Cheer Cooler effort and Rachel is selecting the Trip and getting tickets printed. (This year’s trip is to Napa Valley – more detail to come!) Sean will head up the trip ticket sales effort and Karen is handling raffle baskets. Items are needed for the baskets so please bring to Karen. Diana and Terry are heading up volunteers. Please let them know where you can assist. Eva will be handling boat registration. Sponsor Packets have been sent out to members to send to their sponsors. Printed versions are also available at each meeting. We need to get our requests out to them soon. Each sponsor can also add 150 items to our Captains Buckets. Thank you Kimball for sending the Save-The-Date reminder out to all of our previous sponsors and fishermen:
Sebastian Police Department Community Outreach
Congratulations to officer Donald Hart for winning officer of the year for Sebastian Police Department well deserved!!!
We had a very good turnout while participating in the Elk’s Lodge Car Show on February 20th! We enjoyed spending time with our community! Thank you to the Elk’s Lodge for inviting us.
On February 25th Sergeant Finnegan teamed up with Principal Dodds and his staff at Sebastian Charter Junior High School to make a large delivery of much needed food to the Roseland Ecumenical Food Pantry! After reading a recent Sebastian Daily news article that mentioned the food pantry was in need of additional food donations, school volunteer Melissa Holman-McClure and Principal Dodds came up with the idea of having the students donate food in exchange for a “dress down” day. After receiving a large amount of food donations from the students, they contacted our Community Oriented Policing Endeavor Unit (COPE) to help them make the delivery. The staff at the food pantry were very grateful.
On February 26th our Community Oriented Policing Endeavor Unit (COPE) participated in a family fun festival at the IG Center in Vero Beach. This event was presented by the SAFIR (Substance Abuse Free Indian River) Coalition and the Indian River County School District. The snowcones and the SWAG were a huge hit with the kids! Great turnout!
On Sunday, February 27th Officers with our Community Oriented Policing Endeavor Unit (COPE) were privileged to be out in the great City of Fellsmere to join Literacy Services of Indian River County!
They had a student celebration ceremony in honor of the students that received tutoring and mentorship. Great turn out! Thank you for inviting us to be part of this special occasion!
****************************
Upcoming Events in March Include:
03/02 – IRC Sheriff’s Office Annual BBQ
03/18-03/19 – Shrimpfest at Riverview Park
03/25 – United Against Poverty Community Resource Fair
Excel Club of Sebastian River High School
An election of officers was held on September 13th. Approximately 25 students attended for the election!
New club officers are:
President Ray Temino
President-Elect Desiree White
Secretary Sawyer Held
Treasurer Adam Chester
Historian Dylan Weragoda
Club meetings will be held on Wednesdays immediately after school at 2:00 p.m. Club members are working on a school-wide book drive collection during the month of March to benefit students at Fellsmere Elementary. (Pillars – Youth and Community). A beach cleanup was completed in February (Pillar – Community). The club has already completed at least one event in three of the four pillars of Exchange. In April the Child Prevention flag will be displayed on campus.
Club Advisor Jaime Sturgeon is very supportive of our efforts and is enthusiastic about having members get underway with activities which support the ideals of Exchange. Volunteers are needed to assist with these meetings!
An election officers was held on October 13th. New club officers are:
President Amber Fuller
President Elect Shane Corley
Secretary Teagan Keefe
Treasurer Teagan Keefe
Meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month immediately after school. The club is learning/practicing Roberts Rules of Order protocol. This club has also completed at least one event in three of the four pillars of Exchange. At the March meeting, they will be hearing our member Officer Donald Hart from Sebastian Police Department about the legacy of his father, Victor Hart in the Gifford Community. (Pillars – Community & Americanism). In April the Child Prevention flag will be displayed on campus and students will distribute fliers to each home room class. May will be a celebration of all the accomplishments for the year.
Volunteers are needed to assist with helping the students achieve activities which represent the four pillars of Exchange. Any member willing to assist should contact Margie Duffell or Kathy Burns.
Calendar of Events
March
03/02 – No Meeting (Board Only)
03/09 – Corey Maxwell, Vet Dive Therapy
Birthday Cake
03/16 – Students
03/23 – Michael Ansley, Helping Hands Community of the Treasure Coast
03/30 – TBD
April
04/01 – Freedom Shrine Re-Dedication
9:30 a.m. Sebastian Charter Elementary Memory Field Installation
04/02 – Memory Field Dedication
04/06 – No Meeting (Board Only)
04/13 – Zoey Gutierrez-Nickel, DDS, MS
Birthday Cake
04/20 – Students of Year and Ace Awards Sharky’s Café – Sebastian River High School
COVID-19 Attendance Guidelines
Our New Guidelines Effective August 1, 2021. These guidelines shall apply to all members and guests that attend our Club meetings in person in the Tiffany Room at Capt. Hiram’s restaurant:
- There shall be no more than 6 people at each table.
- Facemasks are optional.
- If any member/guest has tested positive for COVID-19, has experienced symptoms of COVID-19, or has been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, he/she shall not attend any meetings in person until they become symptom-free or test negative. Additionally, he/she shall notify the Club President of their condition, so that we can determine if any other members/guests may have been exposed.
Margie Duffell
Newsletter Author