ROTARY LUNCHEON MEETING
Wednesday February 15, 2023 - Concordia Club
President Everton welcomed 25 people (21 members and four guests (Ross Bauer, Andrew Bridgemohan, Gerald Menezes, Cambridge Sunrise Club and Steve Sabean), and thanked Graham Gardiner for serving as Greeter.
President Everton shared:
- Congratulations to Neil Aitchison on being named as a Platinum Queen's Award recipient
- Seeking volunteers to join members from other local cluster clubs to refurbish, at a future date, the Rotary Peace Park signage at RIM Park in Waterloo.
- Encouragement to members to continue hook-ups and activities as part of "Rotary Meets" during February and March
Rotary Trivia - question was who was the "Rotarian of the Year" in 2017-18 and following several responses, John Thompson correctly guessed that it was current president Everton and was awarded a Tim Hortons gift card.
50/50 - Following lunch, President Everton conducted the 50/50 draw with tickets drawn by today's presenter Andrew Williams. The first ticket belonged to Karen Spencer (no luck) and the second ticket provided the opportunity for Maria Greco to successfully retrieve the black marble, and winning $130. Congratulations Maria - the cheque will be "in the mail".
PRESENTATION
Neil Aitchison introduced long-time Rotarian in Jamaica and Kitchener, and current member of Kitchener-Westmount, guest speaker Andrew Williams on the topic of "China, Jamaica and Canada - The Williams Family Journey"
While many members are aware of Andrew's connection to Jamaica, Andrew shared that his roots are actually much deeper to China.
Andrew stated that in China it was common for people to be known simply by their first names. In due course, many generations ago, the use of surnames became common and Andrew's ancestral family name is Wie.
The Chinese do not have an alphabet, but words and phrases are composed of pictographs, similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics, that people simply memorize.
In China, villages have long-maintained records of families, and through research, Andrew traced his family history back to 661 BC, when his family was a member of the Hakka Tribe. The Hakka Tribe had been defeated in war by another dynasty, and had to leave their homeland, and were then named Hakka, which means "guest" as they became Nomads.
In search of better lives and job opportunities, many Chinese emigrated and a common route was from China by boat to Canada (Vancouver) and then cross Canada by freight train to Montreal and then again by boat to the Caribbean.
In 1913, Andrew's grandfather, who couldn't speak English, immigrated to Jamaica, which was a British Colony at that time, and anglicized the family name from Wie to Williams.
Immigrants were welcomed at that time, as slavery was ending and a work-force was required.
Andrew's grandfather became a merchant (family business was a hardware store). After high school in Jamaica, Andrew's parents moved to Montreal and attended McGill University - his father enrolled in engineering and his mother studied medicine.
In due course, both returned to Jamaica to assist with the family-run hardware business.
During political unrest in Jamaica, Andrew's parents returned to Canada to ensure safety and seek a better life. The hardware business is still operating in Jamaica and maintains continuity from a family trade/skill that began in China.
Andrew was born in Canada and attended University of Waterloo, is an engineer, and is employed at Swanson's Home Hardware in Kitchener. Rotarian Brad Swanson encouraged Andrew, who was a Rotarian in Jamaica, to join the Kitchener-Westmount Club and Brad served as Andrew's sponsor.
In concluding his presentation, Andrew displayed and shared books based on family registration from China, with the original documents written on bamboo.
Andrew encouraged members to research their own family trees.
Following a brief Q&A, Laura Power thanked Andrew for his intriguing and informative presentation.
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