The Rotary Club of
Kitchener-Westmount
 
 

Membership Newsletter
Jan 28/Feb 4 2026
Ray Finnie presented Rod Seiling with a Gift of Sight Certificate
 

Meeting Minutes

Date: January 28, 2026
Prepared by: Kelly Fifield

Announcements

Member Birthdays
  • Tom Jeary – January 31
  • Ian Robertson – January 31
  • Ruth Adler – January 30 (Simon’s wife)
Other Announcements
  • Coldest Night of the Year Walk – February 28, 2026. Members may still register under the Rotary team or sponsor participants. For more information, contact Ray Finnie. Registration and sponsorship information is available at https://cnoy.org/about
  • KW Cluster Annual Ski Day – Thursday, February 19, 2026 at Beaver Valley Ski Club. For registration or more information, email lizmotz@gmail.com.
Guest The Member: Paura Power

Guests of Members

John Rose introduced his guest, Derek.

50/50 Draw

Pot Amount: $41
Participants: Paul Wright, Judy Nairn, and Karen Spencer
There was no winner this week. The pot will be carried over to the next meeting.

 

Program

Introduction: Paul Wright introduced the guest speakers.
 
Guest Speakers: John Thompson and Rod Seiling
 
John Thompson began the presentation by sharing information about the modern Olympic Games, including their beginnings in Greece in 1896 and the many changes that have taken place over the years. He shared that Canada won its first Olympic medal in hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Canada was represented that year by the Winnipeg Falcons, who were Allan Cup champions. From 1920 to 1963, the Allan Cup–winning team typically represented Canada at the Olympic Games. One exception was in 1948, when the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) Flyers were assembled to honour those who had served in the war and represented Canada at the Olympics.
 
John explained that for the 1964 Olympics, Canada made a permanent shift to creating a National Men’s Team, replacing the club-team model. During this time, Rod Seiling, an Elmira native, was invited to join the National Team and represent Canada.
 
Rod Seiling shared his experiences of being signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs and later being invited to join the National Team, which was made up largely of UBC students. He spoke about the excitement and challenges of forming a new team, noting that players who had previously been rivals had to learn how to work together. Rod also shared stories about the journey to Innsbruck, Austria, and the deep sense of pride he felt representing Canada at the Olympic Games.
Rod reflected on both the highlights and the disappointments of the Olympics. He shared that after a rule change during the gold medal game, Canada ultimately finished in fourth place.
 
Rod went on to have a distinguished professional career, playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues, and the Atlanta Flames. Following his retirement from professional hockey, he served as Chair of the Ontario Racing Commission for seven years and also had the opportunity to coach the Kitchener Rangers.
 
The presentation concluded with an engaging question-and-answer period, with questions related to favourite memories, the Game 7 Summit Series, women’s hockey, and other highlights from Rod’s career.

Closing

Ray Finnie thanked the speakers for their informative and engaging presentation.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.
 
 
 
 
Club Business 
The Board spent a Saturday discussing the direction the club will take.  Member, Ray Finnie, expertly led the members through the session which will set the pathway for our future growth.  

 
 
Hockey Fellowship
A Rotary Hockey Fellowship was held Friday January 30 and the Danbrook, Pegg, Flewwelling, Finnie and Strome Rotary families enjoyed a pre-game buffet dinner in Gibson’s Restaurant at The Aud.
 

It was all smiles from the Pegg, Flewwelling, Finnie and Strome family members during dining - great buffet and hosting from the staff of Levy Canada.


 

Frequent fans at Rangers game include the season-ticket holding Foss, Thompson and Wyles family members.


 

In the upper row, hockey enthusiasts from the Strome and Graham Rotary families, and lower row Graff, Thompson, Finnie and Flewwelling families. The Rotary Fellowship had a group of 35 Rotarians, family members and guests as part of the crowd of 7,200 in attendance.


 

Cheering on the Rangers to a 7-2 win over the Windsor Spitfires were the Finnie, Flewwelling and Kibble Rotary family members.


 
 
Our club was welcomed on the scoreboard sign during the game.
 

 

Feb 04, 2026, at Concordia Club

MEETING:

- Presided by Past-president, Todd Aitchison

CELEBRATIONS:

- Member Birthdays – NIL

- Member Anniversaries – NIL

- Club Anniversaries – Jeff Heimpel (22 years on February 4th)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

- Todd – Cited numerous famous persons in history with a Feb 4th birthday.

- Todd – Cited numerous memorable events in history that happened on Feb 4th

- Todd – Cited numerous famous songs/bands that premiered on Feb 4th

- Ray – Reminded about sign-ups for the Coldest Walk of the Year in support of Supportive

Housing of Waterloo, taking place on Feb 28th

- Todd – Reminded about sign-ups for the KW Cluster Annual Ski Day at Beaver Valley Ski Club, taking place on Feb 19th

- John T – Circulated a sign-up pool for the upcoming Olympics Hockey pool. Excellent prizes.

- Everton – Read a Letter of Appreciation from Diabetes Canada for the club’s generous donation.

50/50 for $71.00 prize

- Lucky drawers: Neil A., Judy N., and Chuck T.

- Lucky Winner – Nobody. On to next week when the pot grows.

GUEST SPEAKER:

Ray Finnie introduced our Guest Speaker, Brian Paul who is Executive Director of Supportive Housing of Waterloo (SHOW).

SHOW is a Not-for-Profit charitable service organization based in Waterloo but serving the Region of Waterloo. It has been in existence for 16 years. Its goal is to provide stable long-term housing and the 24/7 support programs for people who have experienced chronic homelessness due to mental and/or addiction and/or economic reasons.

SHOW currently has 3 locations: 144 Erb Street East, 362 Erb Street West, and 402 Erb Street West all of which, houses 64 residents in 64 apartment units. 2 new SHOW locations are under construction/renovation for the near future.

SHOW has an independent Board consisting of 10 directors. On the staff side, Executive Director, Brian Paul is supported by a staff of 9, and numerous volunteers.

The Region of Waterloo has tracked 2,371 homeless people of which, 630 are on a waiting list for supportive housing.

In the range of housing for homelessness, from overnight shelters to independent market-rent apartments, the SHOW option falls in the middle. It is distinguished by providing housing with 24/7 support programs which includes: Income support, Community Pantry, Transportation, Crisis support, Spiritual support, Emotional support, and Community Services coordination. In this regard, there is very little resident turnover at SHOW.

SHOW is an economic solution costing $613/month vs. $2,100/month for Shelters, and $13,600/month for hospital beds.

Karen Voisin thanked our speaker.