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President Cathy Skene opened the meeting with the club's land acknowledgement and the singing of O'Canada led by Dave Morris. Chair Announcements President Cathy announced she heard from Brenda and Arlene from the Council of Winnipeg Women (councilofwomen-winnipeg.ca), so later in the week she was invited to their meeting. She met a couple of lovely people from Community Helpers Unite (chuinc.ca) who she is hoping will speak to us in the new year. They are in the process of setting up a drop-in to be called Rising Eagle, for older teens. It will be in the Jarvis area. Our club was invited to come for a tour there once they opened the doors. They already provide food to thousands of vulnerable people, mostly in the form of prepared meals. One service she found intriguing was providing free funeral lunches for families who can’t afford to do it themselves.  Cathy also hung out with some Save our Seine (www.saveourseine.com) folks on Saturday. They held a Halloween Hike & Scavenger Hunt. It was not only free to attend, but everyone got a Rice Krispie square at the end. They were very interested in learning about the Assiniboine Forest and what Charleswood Rotary does there.
She also saw a sign from someone who had lost their pearl necklace on the trail. Cathy wonders if anyone has lost their pearls in Assiniboine Forest? Even though it would be uncommon to see people wearing pearls there. Unfortunately the speaker sent their apologies for the evening and was unable to attend due to being home in bed with COVID. Amy founded the “I am Love project” (www.iamloveproject.ca). This social enterprise creates jewellery and in doing so provides vulnerable and at risk women with an opportunity to learn business skills. Sales are online. President Cathy was wearing one of Amy’s creations whilst presenting. It’s an I am Strong necklace and was created in partnership with people who have mental health challenges. It can be worn as an affirmation of one’s own strength, or to show support for others who are facing, or who have faced, mental health challenges. It’s a barbell. Early on Monday afternoon Cathy heard the news that Amy would not make the meeting, and remained calm with hours to go. Feeling bad her friend was sick, she just pulled out an old teacher’s trick: colouring sheets! She did teach post secondary which still works. Once, in the past she sent a college class out tobogganing because they wouldn’t sit still and listen. And as all members are big people, not little kids, they used big colouring sheets. This was not just fun & games, this was some serious brainstorming about planning our 40th anniversary festivities. After Member’s Happy Bucks for Polio president Cathy announced: Breezy Bend is available for for Dinner on the following days:-
Thursday and Friday 11am - 9pm
Saturday and Sunday 9am - 9pm Rossbrook House’s Open House November 7th beginning at 11 am. We are all invited to join them. Details are here rossbrookhouse.ca/open-house-2024 Cathy also mentioned her streak of spell casting on the fortunes of our local sports teams after returning from her trip to the Seine River on Saturday. Keep it up Cathy! After Dinner President Cathy announced Christmas party tickets will be on sale next week at a cost of $45.00 each. Planning is underway for our 40th anniversary, therefore raising $40,000 for 40 years is a goal. She then introduced Mandy to talk about Bridge of Hope Ukraine (bridgeofhopeukraine.com), who talked about the furniture drive and of the 12 families which were arranged, 8 showed up. She explained the families supported number 323 to date. Over 200 are on the waiting list. Mandy explained how tough it is for families arriving who are without furniture or household goods. The next furniture drive is on November 16th. 40th Anniversary Event President Cathy explained the plans for an event. Maybe a few events. Nothing has been confirmed yet so it’s wide open for creativity. She has started a mindmap of a few of the thoughts that have come up to date. These are not all her ideas. They are ones people have shared. A suggestion is to make this a fundraiser for the Assiniboine Forest. She has been thinking about health lately - both for people and for the planet, and really, what good is one without the other - so we could build a theme around the importance of the forest to mental and physical health, and to combating climate change. A suggested goal: $40,000 for 40 years. Cathy then explained mind maps and handed out supplies. After colouring, President Cathy thanked everyone and explained she will get these results distributed and to keep brainstorming. The meeting ended with plans for a Remembrance Day event on November 11th, aiming for 50-60 attendees. November 4th. Next week we will hear from the Manitoba Global Engineering Brigade. They are from the University of Manitoba and are concerned with clean water systems throughout the world. We will meet every Monday now up to and including the Christmas party on December 16th. November 11th is Remembrance Day and we’ll be welcoming the downtown club to partner with us in this meeting. Winnipeg West has cancelled their meeting for that week, and some of them will be joining us. There will be folks from 17 Wing on hand to help us conduct a meaningful and respectful event. Thanks to Jim Forestall for coordinating this. If you wish to join us for the meeting, please do as guests are welcome. Simply send a message through the website and you receive a call back. |
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