After Nancy Morris rang a bell to start the meeting, President Doug supplied a multilingual version of O Canada with parts of the anthem sung in English, Inuktitut, Ukrainian, Mi’kmaq, Punjabi, Mandarin, German, Cree, Spanish, and Italian. This was followed by this nondenominational invocation: “As members of Rotary, we are ever mindful of opportunities to render our service to fellow citizens, our community and the world; keeping in mind always, the enduring values of life, exerting our efforts in those areas and on those things upon which future generations can build with confidence. Let us continue to strive to build a better world. Amen”

ROTARY NEWS

Future Club meetings will all be on Zoom for an indefinite period – but at least for the next four weeks. When our club’s Zoom meetings started on March 23^rd, members agreed to donate their “Saved Meal Fee” to the club and this was then used to support the purchase of the Westgrove Community Food Hampers. Other ideas for going forward was to make a weekly donation of $20.20 to go to support the eradication of Polio or of $26.50 to the Rotary Foundation for Polio Day taking place October 24^th. These donations could be made online through RI’s donation section - https://www.rotary.org/en/donate. Another suggestion was to make the donations directed to the Rotary project of choice via the Rotary Club of Charleswood Charitable Foundation (RCCCF) which would then be forwarded to Rotary International.

Peter and Mandy of Talking Rotary have released their second podcast this week – an interview with Tess Widdifield, the Acting Executive Director of Shelterbox Canada. It’s at (https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/talking-rotary/shelterbox-with-tess-cWpr4tG-V6j/.)

Another D5550 “Talk Show” will take place via Zoom on October 1^st @ 7pm Manitoba & NW Ontario. Topic will be ‘Rotaract Members Discussing Economic & Community Development’

Rotary District’s VIRTUAL WORKSHOP will take place on Saturday, October 17^th, 2020 on Zoom from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM in Manitoba and Ontario. You should have your access email with ID and password by now if you registered.

Charleswood Rotary Club Board meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 6^th, at 4:30 PM (by Zoom) – Anticipated speakers - Shelterbox ambassadors Claire and Ron Noseworthy.

Orange Shirt Day, September 30^th, recognizes the harm the residential school system did to children's sense of self-esteem and well-being, and as an affirmation of our commitment to ensure that everyone around us matters. The story behind the orange shirt experience of an Indigenous 6 year old girl by the name of Phyllis (Jack) Webstad who attended school at the Mission in 1973-74 can be read here: https://www.orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story.html

The first video shown by President Doug was a 5 min 40 second video titled “Residential Schools in Canada – a Timeline”. It can be watched on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFgNI1lfe0A

The second video, 15 minute 26 long, was titled “Canadian Shame – a History of Residential Schools” as told by Ginger Gosnell-Meyers of Nisga’a and Kwakwaka’wakw heritage, a policy expert, researcher, and activist whose work focuses on removing barriers between Indigenous peoples and all Canadians while fostering cooperation through open communication. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. This video can be seen on You-Tube as well: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Canadian+Shame+%E2%80%93+a+History+of+Residential+Schools

Discussion following the videos:

• Darvin mentioned a book by Gord Downie titled “Secret Path”, the story of Chanie Wenjack, a twelve year-old boy who died fifty years ago on October 22, 1966, in flight from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ontario, walking home to the family he was taken from over 400 miles away.

• Sharon Jasper’s grandson’s studies at the University of Manitoba include the effects of malnutrition and starvation on the Indigenous children in the residential schools.

• “They Came for the Children” is a report published by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. It deals with the history, purpose, operation, and supervision of the residential school system, the effect and consequences of the system, and its ongoing legacy.

HAPPY BUCKS

Dave was so pleased with all the beer bottles being dropped off at his office on Roblin Blvd. The funds from the bottle returns to MLCC are donated to Rotary’s Polio Plus program.

Nancy Hansen was proud of husband Peter’s recent foray into super-modelling.

Lloyd was looking forward to coming out of self-isolation on Thursday.

Mike was happy that Winnipeg is not a COVID-19 Red Zone like Montreal currently is.

Jim reported that Rotary’s Council on Resolutions has prepared its latest report and is seeking responses from Rotarians in six weeks.

Iain commented on Peter’s film star project on U-Tube – Peter looks fabulous! (Peter explained that the photo-shoot he was involved in was a project called Series of Flaws.)

NEXT CLUB MEETING

The next meeting of the Charleswood Rotary Club will take place on Monday, October 5^th – by Zoom. Anticipated speakers are ShelterBox ambassadors Claire and Ron Noseworthy.