Yesterday, I received a site to look at from a reader. I did…..If you are in a grocery store and put a pineapple upside down in your shopping cart, it means you are into “extracurricular activities outside of marriage.”

I went to Publix. Had to shop anyhow. Rushed to the fruit counters. No pineapples!

Two sunday dinners yesterday within two hours of each other. The second was the problem. I did not want to insult Dee who had prepared it for me.

I enjoyed an early sunday dinner with Rich and Cynthia Boettiger at their home. Both good company. Rich and I go at it politically. Cynthia sits back . Speaks rarely. When she does, it is a pearl of wisdom.

On the drive home, I received a call from Dee. I had not seen Dee in three months. She said she was driving down from Cudjoe with a special meal she had prepared for me.

Dee, a smart woman. She has a PhD. in psychology. Knows the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

In comes Dee with a huge bowl of pasta. Angel hair. Covered in a delicious smelling sauce buried in grated cheese. My people call it sauce. Dee is from Boston where it is called gravy.

I did not wish to offend. Ate the huge dish she put before me. Then a second helping she pushed upon me.

Cynthia and Dee back to back! A little heavy.

Dee left. I collapsed in bed. Watched the end of the Cleveland/Chicago game. Chicago won. Still have a long road ahead to ultimate victory. Going to be interesting.

In the Comments section of this morning’s Key West Citizen was a compliment to the City for the fine clean up job of Duval following the parade.  Seventy thousand at the parade saturday night. Duval a mess afterwards. By 8 sunday morning, pristine clean.

It has always been such. When I was an early morning Duval  walker, I always took note of the clean up. Impressive!

Bocce. Don’s Place now 18-6. Tied for second with Hell’s Rangers who recently defeated Don’s 3-0.

The famous poet John Keats was born this date in 1795. He died 21 years later.

I have mentioned Keats often. Thirty five years ago, the family and I were spending a month in the Rome area. I tripped across Keats’ home. Next door to the Spanish Steps. I was able to view the bedroom, his final resting place. As well as a room filled with his poems handwritten on paper under protective glass.

I recommend any one visiting Rome to visit Keats’ residence. A moving experience.

Now to the second installment of a writing motivated by Wright Langley’s History of the Rotary Club of Key West. This installment covering the years 1915-1919. Note that the history of the Key West Rotary parallels that of the United States in certain instances.

Rotary International was born in 1905. Intended to be an international service organization. Service above self, the motto.

The aim was to bring business and professional leaders together to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and to advance goodwill and peace around the world.

Rotary International was ten years old when in 1915 Key West was asked to form a Rotary Club. The chair of the organizing committee was local attorney Jefferson B. Browne.

A group of community leaders met for informal luncheon meetings in a Duval Street store between Front and Greene Streets.

The Key West Rotary was officially organized on March 17, 1916. It was elected to membership in the International Rotary on April 1, 1916.

Five officers plus twenty six additional charter members made up the group. Attorney Browne was elected President. Other officers consisted of attorney William Malone, jeweler Frank Johnson, and grocery store manager George A. T. Roberts.

Rotary sought the best men to comprise the local Rotary. Not out of snobbery. Rather to assure that the men  selected had the power and influence to get things done.

President Browne wrote to Rotary Secretary Chelsey R. Perry in Chicago…..We have the best men in the City in our club…..We intend to make our club a strictly high class one.

The influence and ability to get things done was soon evident. They were instrumental in organizing a Key West chapter of the American Red Cross in 1917. The club also provided the leadership in forming the Key West Chamber of Commerce.

By 1916, World War I was raging in Europe. The United States joined the conflict in April 1917 when Congress signed a war resolution.

The War was not the only major Congressional vote in 1917. Later that year, the Volstead Act was passed. The Eighteenth Amendment. Outlawed the manufacture, sale or transportation of alcoholic beverages. The States finally ratified the law January 29, 1919.

From that date forward, Key West’s economy shot upward. Key West became a significant port of ingress for alcohol. Especially, rum from Cuba. Key West acquired the title of rumrunning capital of the world.

Nineteen nineteen was memorable for the Key West Rotary. Two of its members attended the Rotary International Convention in Edinburgh, Scotland as delegates. Drs. William Warren and Joseph Renedo.

Enjoy your day!