President Matt Villella, Shelley Crawford and newest member Akash Bilaji with Judi Turner online in background)
 
 
Chad Beaver and Angela Hill (guest speaker and new reception desk member both now active in club)
 


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President Matt Villella chaired this well attended (despite snow storm) January meeting, commencing with welcomes, land acknowledgement and toast.

KEYNOTE  PRESENTATIONS

1. New member induction today, welcoming Akash Bilaji (pictured with President Matt, Past president Shelley Crawford, and Past president Judi Turner on Zoom). Akash is the ebullient and hard working Communications and Outreach Coordinator for Patty Hajdu, Member of Parliament TBSN and Minister of Indigenous Services. He is thrilled to be joining Port Arthur Rotary and was welcomed by all present. He was (re) introduced by Shelley Crawford and received the "charge" by Judi Turner. His mentor is Albert Brulé.

2. Chad Beaver is a new club member and already very active in the club. He operates Northwest Ontario Therapy - Individual and Family Therapy specializing in substance abuse treatment and diverse mental health issues. Counselling is available in many spheres. NWO Therapy also offers Reynolds Adaptable Intelligence Assessment testing measuring cognitive abilities, an improved assessment tool for many individuals experiencing decline. Chad today spoke on yet another interest:  Alzheimer's Disease and "Fighting Cognitive Decline as we Age" This talk covered the full gamut of description of the (Alzheimer) disease pathology, it's pervasiveness (the epidemic of the 21st century), causation and management. All of these areas have received extensive coverage in the news. Chad's presentation had many interesting observations for all of us.

He is pictured along with Angela Hill, also keenly interested in mental health and similarly already active as a new club member.

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Business and Update Summary
  • Club Training Session geared for new members (as well as veterans) being arraigned by Warren Philp (veteran Club Trainer and a Past president). A poll will be distributed soon re details
  • Rotary Radio Day update (Matt Villella and Andrei Rosario): there is a push on for another 100 ads to be sold before the February 7 deadline
  • Dew Drop Inn: reports from December and January, with next service opportunity February 27 (Dave Silliman)
  • Fellowship event | LU Thunderwolves Men's Basketball playoff game upcoming ...date to be circulated. This is a big deal and tickets will go fast: stay tuned for details (Athena Kreiner)
  • Recent birthdays (Bob Tomlinson) celebrated with great humour, a Chinese auction for Cuban rum (Brent Boyko), Happy Dollars (some great revenue induced by our expert Sue Bailey)
  • René St. Jacques is thrilled to announce he and son Joel are back into ice car racing on Lake Superior. Interested parties may include a courtesy ride!