Rotary Club Highlights - March 17 2016 - #34
Posted by John Crossingham
on Mar 22, 2016
President Cindy presided.
Grace by Graham Kennedy celebrated the conversion of the Irish by St. Patrick, something worthy of a toast.
George (The Traitor) Park proposed one to the improved relationship of the English and Irish. Ted Usick followed with what John O’Connell thought George should have said. Thanks to John O’Connell for a wee dram. O Canada also improved because this week Rick Evans was back on the job. We then toasted the Queen.
Guests:
Terry McDougall introduced our Guests:
Lisa Gerrie - we were glad to welcome Lisa last week also, but her visit was not recorded in last week's Highlights - guest of RaRa Asaro
Pia Zimmermann - Exchange Student
Olivia Usick - our outbound student - guest of Ted Usick
Olivia our outgoing exchange student to France and Pia our inbound student from Germany
Rotary Story:
Speaker:
Stuart Butler introduced our Guest Speaker, Chief Jeff McGuire, our Chief of Police since 2012.
The Chief has been a policeman for 39 years, 35 on the Toronto force, where he rose to Acting Deputy Chief. He then moved to Niagara, where he has undertaken a crash course in our local government. We are the 8th largest force in Canada with the largest regional landmass plus water on 3 sides.
He has introduced greater flexibility into moving staff around the Region and has put the officer’s name on the uniform and email so you know with whom you are dealing. His staff is 703 officers and 310 civilian employees. His main concern is with integrity and honesty which is central to the effectiveness of the force. He is troubled by the few bad apples and is lobbying for the right to suspend officers without pay pending hearing. By the same token, he speaks up for the reputation of his staff if it is unfairly besmirched. He is moving to diversify the force to reflect the whole of the population.
The new HQ is being started. It will consolidate operations and lead to smaller local offices in St Catharines and closures elsewhere. The HQ will permit better collection and distribution of data.
He is proud of the force and knows they strive to do their best. He can be reached @chiefmcguire .
John Crossigham thanked the speaker.
Announcements:
Cindy thanked George Darte and Peter Kudreikis for the Family of Rotary events and for arranging for the Ice Dogs to win.
We need 19-25 year old future leaders for the RYLA program. Apply by March 31ish. It is held June 12-19 in Fredonia.
Birthdays:
Dave Stevenson and John Nitsopolous.
Happy Dollars:
Larry Kent elicited happy dollars from ---
John Crossingham, 44 years married;
Chris Bangham for his Mr. Fix it socks;
Olivia Usick for her exchange in France
Pia Zimmerman for not being fed to the sharks at the aquarium.
Lezlie Murch was sadden by the tragic death of one of Canada’s Tennis Stars Bruno Agostinelli Jr, but
encouraged by the victory of Stefan Simeuonvic in the under 12 provincial championships.
50/50:
April Feasby was lucky then unlucky
Cindy told us to recycle like we were ZERO WASTE GIRL......video link below
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Meridian Centre Dedication and Ice Dogs Event:
Kay Meilleur, director of marketing for Meridian Centre, St. Catharines councillor Bill Phillips, President of the Rotary Club of St. Catharines Cindy Mewhinney, Niagara IceDogs owner Bill Burke
Niagara This Week - St. Catharines - March 14, 2016 - Scott Rosts:
The Rotary Club of St. Catharines has been acknowledge for its contributions to one of the major downtown revitalization
projects.
On March 19, St. Catharines Councillor Bill Phillips, the deputy mayor, joined the club, as well as representatives from the
Meridian Centre and Niagara IceDogs, to unveil signage recognizing the contributions of the Rotary Club to the
Meridian Centre project.
The signage comes as recognition of a $30,000 contribution to the Meridian Centre. It's just one piece of a much larger
picture however, as the club has contributed a total of $160,000 to the revitalization projects downtown, including the
spectator facility, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre and Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.
"The Rotary Club of St. Catharines is pleased to be part of the revitalization of our downtown core. Our support of the
Meridian Centre is one of three major investments in recent years to strengthen the vibrancy of downtown area,: said
club president Cindy Mewhinney.
"The funds are raised locally, so investing locally is an important part of our efforts to give back and make this a great
place to live, work and play."
The recognition comes just a month after the centre, joined by Algoma Central Corporation, presented a cheque
for $25,000 to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. That was presented during a Feb 10 meeting as part of funds
raised trough the Algoma-Rotary Golf Tournament. Centre executive director Steve Solski accepted the donation.
"This cheque goes a long way to support what we've built in this community," said Solski, who spoke about the vibrancy
of the centre in terms of its events and the large number of audiences drawn to the centre. "We're thrilled with what the
arts centre will do for the community and downtown and thank you for this donation."
FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre executive director Steve Solski, right, accepts a donation for $25,000
from the Rotary Club of St. Catharines and Algoma Central Corporation, via the Algoma-Rotary
"We are really thrilled to see it come to fruition and to be part of that," Mewhinney said to Rotarians following the
presentation. Funds for the projects were raised b the club, which has about 115 members and hopes to grow through
new membership, through a variety of Rotary events such as the golf tournament, annual Rotary RibFest and the annual
Rotary TV Mega Auction.
For more information about the Rotary Club of St. Catharines, please call 289-434-0433
or visit our web site www.rotaryniagara.org
