El Presidente may be getting short but he has not stacked arms.  With a mighty gong of the secret XC bell, he called the first annual Past Presidents Luncheon to order, tapping Jack “El Rushbo” Rabideau to lead the Pledge and Father Tim Thomas, brother of Doubting, to deliver the Blessing.  A moment of silence was observed as Coach rang the bell for each of our past presidents who have passed on to a greater reward.  The bell sounded for Dan Witt, Russ Obermayr, Bill King and Richard Ford, all great leaders who are missed.  Judy Sullivan, Dorothy Ghee and Marguerite Thomas were the guests of their respective husbands.  Mark Davis was the guest of Country Boy Duran Brown.As a special treat to all the assembled past presidents, Johnny Garneau, disguised as everyone’s favorite Uncle Sam, performed a medley of John Phillip Sousa marches on his now famous washboard.  The past presidents in attendance and receiving the honor and adulation due their status were Jack Rabideau (70-71 Ft. Lauderdale Club), Jim Fay (71-72), Nick Likourgou (86-87), Duran Brown (87-88), Paul Zalesky (88-89), Al Grunskis (90-91), John Van Vorst (93-94), Tom Ahearn (94-95), Christopher Ema (96-97), Greg Wiedrich (97-98) and Bill Sullivan (01-02).  Coach had his name on the list but technically he is not a “past” yet.  It was a befitting tribute to all of these fine leaders who have devoted their time and talent to a great cause.  Our club celebrates its 45^th birthday this year and we have been blessed with a history of talented leaders and dedicated members.

Our Club secretary Layne, who may be the exception to our history of dedicated leaders, delivered his last report of the morning’s Board meeting.  As usual it was unintelligible and bore no resemblance to what actually took place at the meeting.  Larry Crismond, incoming secretary, will have a tough time topping this performance.  Layno did get the most important item correct, however.  Charity dollar-wise the Club had a very good year indeed.  By year’s end on July 1 we will have distributed some $93,500.00 to local charities and had a lot of fun doing it.  That gentlemen is what this Club is all about.  The major benefactor of the Club’s efforts was our own child abuse prevention center, HUGS for Kids.  Other charities receiving distributions were Woodhouse, Dynamos, Boys and Girls Club, Our Father’s House, Stingers, Operation Brave Kids, student scholarships and Christmas food baskets.  Check our website (pompanoexchangeclub.com) for a detailed breakout of the distributions.

 Speaking of our website, our webmaster Jim Horn will be the speaker next week to update us on the site and teach us how to use the email attached to the site.  He is also requesting that each member submit a brief description of who they are and what they do to be included with their picture on the members gallery on the website.  No need to be modest here guys. 

Layne also reported that Leon has decreed that the Board meetings during his reign as Top Dog will be in the morning of the third Tuesday of each month rather than the third Wednesday.  Leon feels that having breakfast and lunch with the board on the same day is just too much – familiarity breeds contempt.

Big breaking news this week from the HUGS for Kids Child Abuse Prevention Center.  The search committee has selected Jane McLaughlin to replace the departing Gail Bamman as the Executive Director.  Everyone who knows Jane is very excited at the prospect of her running the program.  She is a dynamo with unlimited energy, imagination and dedication.  The fact that she has been married to Chuckles for these many years also proves that she is a glutton for punishment.  We will invite Jane to be our speaker in a couple of months after she gets her feet wet.

Happy birthday to brother John Burgess (6/23) and happy anniversaries to love birds Pete and Ruth Ann Fleming (#35 on 6/24) and Nick and Sherrie Likourgou (#17 on 6/28).

 Chuck McLaughlin was the secret shaking man and he selected Ranger Don because “I feel sorry for older folks”.  Layno took home a very health $45 pot after neighbor Judy Sullivan pulled his ticket.  A coincidence? 

In honor of all the old timers recognized this week.  First you forget names, then you forget faces.  Then you forget to pull up your zipper.  It’s worse when you forget to pull it down.