• The club welcomed Celina Hung, a local lawyer. Celina was a guest of Stephen Sweeney and she is considering joining Rotary.

• Jerome asked club members to look for an email sent yesterday by  Ed Simon, Chair of the Foundation. A membership vote is scheduled for next Wednesday, February 27th regarding a proposed $30,000 donation to KidsAbility. Members are encouraged to read Ed’s email and come prepared to discuss the grant request and participate in the voting.

• Congratulations to Gord Ferguson, Paul Dietrich, Kathy Loveys, Gerhard Auer and Troy Stuebing who are all celebrating birthdays this week.

• David Barth’s wife Sandy is also celebrating a birthday as is Jen Aitchison, Todd’s wife.

• Jake Thomas and Kelly Schlueter are celebrating 14 years of marriage.

• David and Susan Decker are celebrating 47th wedding anniversary and Graham and Louise Gardiner are celebrating 44 years!

• Well wishes go to Everton Wilmot who will be having a hip replacement tomorrow.

• For the second week in a row, the black marble was drawn on the first number called! Congratulations goes to Julie Power for winning a whopping $42.50! Ed Simon had the two remaining tickets for today’s draw, but will need to wait for another opportunity to pick the lucky marble.

• This week, our fellow Rotarian Chris Welk presented his “Who Am I?” Chris entertained the crowd with a  “Presi” slide show complete with photos of his key milestones and beautiful family.

• Chris was born in Kitchener on March 11th 1979.  Chris’s dad was born in Germany and his mom is French Canadian. Chris has an older brother Jeff and a younger sister Jen. Raised in Waterloo, Chris was active in camp as a child and teen. Chris was also very active in sports in school. He was in competitive Track and Field, where he won a County record for long jump. Chris is also a recreational skier and curler. 

• After a colourful work history in landscaping, building mattresses at Beam Bedding and working at NCR, Mr. Sub and Hoss Security, Chris went to College  where he received a diploma in Mechanical Engineering  and Automated Manufacturing.

• Chris started work at Stantec in 2003 as a field technician and road profiler. From 2005-2010 Chris was a data analyst and then became a Field Supervisor. In 2015 Chris became a Supervisor of Data Processing. His position at Stantec allowed him to travel to Kuwait, Mount Rushmore, Lake Tahoe, Dubai, and Leggett California. Chris is a member of the OACET professional Association.

• Chris met his wife Linda in 2003 and they were married in 2007. They built their first house and were proud “parents’ of Shelby the cat, and Cooper their dog. In 2008, they welcomed their first daughter Hannah followed by Adelyn in 2011. Both girls are active curlers. Hannah also loves karate and Adelyn loves soccer.

• Chris coaches curling in Elmira. He was a volunteer for the provincial curling bonspiels. Chris also enjoys  canoeing, skiing,  woodworking and electronics, cruise ship holidays and fishing.

• Chris has a good sense of humour and is very family  and community oriented. Chris joined Rotary to make new friends while supporting his community. Chris is also looking forward to  leadership and personal growth opportunities in Rotary.

• Chris was thanked by Stephen Sweeney.