What a great way to start the day, seeing David Dean back for his first club meeting in a year! He received a deserved standing O from the entire membership. He doesn’t look any prettier, but fantastic to see him back all the same.

 

 

Only one real guest this morning, Susan Jasper of the Rotary Club of Hamilton. Lucky she was there too (more on that later).

 

Burlington Sports Hall of Fame- Bryce Leggatt announced that our own Michael Torsney is one of 5 inductees into the Hall this year, for distance swimming. Mike of course holds many national and international records. The Hall is well represented by our club, with Ron Lambert as treasurer, and David Roscoe as an ongoing sponsor.

 

Wheelchair Workshop- you will recall that when Peter French of the evening club spoke to us a couple weeks ago about the wheelchair project for El Salvador, he invited us to attend a workshop to learn how to make the wheelchairs. The workshop will be on Saturday, May 9 at Fast Signs on Harvester Rd., 9:00 am – noon. Pls let Owen McElhinney know if you plan to attend.

 

Surprise Party for Jim Parker- Jim turns a young 90 this year, so the RC of Burlington is hosting a surprise birthday party, Wed. May 6 at the Holiday Inn. Start time is 5:00 pm, $35/person. Let President Catherine know if you plan to attend, but remember it is a surprise.

 

4 Club Pub Night- at the Williamsburg Retirement Home on Appleby Line, Thursday, April 23, 5:30-7:30 pm. Appetizers will be served, and drinks are only $4.

 

Brew Ha Ha- Rotary Wilmot is hosting a beer event, Sat. May 9, 6:30-10:00 pm in Baden, ON. Speak to Catherine for more info.

 

Food Palooza- don’t forget this Saturday, April 11, is the second Food Palooza, hosted by the Burlington exchange students. They will be preparing food from their home countries as a thank you to all who make their exchange year possible. It is a fun event, and you really get a feel for the impact youth exchange has. There is no cost to attend, just a voluntary donation to cover costs.  Start time is 6:00 pm at Wellington Square United Church.

 

Community Service Awards Breakfast- tickets are now available, same price as last year, $25. The date is Thurs. May 14, BG&CC, and the special guest speaker is Steve Paikin, host of The Agenda on TVO. Remember this is a 4-club event, so it is important for our club to be well represented.

 

Juliette- Juliette had a great weekend up at the Rutty’s country retreat. Friday she had “the best ski day ever” at Georgian Peaks, where it was warm enough to ski in shirt sleeves. She also had a traditional Easter Egg hunt on Sunday morning.

Somehow Rene managed to fine everyone about Rotary pins, whether you had one on or not. Must be trying to make budget before year-end.

Happy $ - David Dean for his first meeting back in a year; Mike Torsney for his induction into the Hall and his upcoming birthday; Glenn Warnica for another “research” trip, this time to Juliette’s homeland as he and Rose prepare to host her next month; Dean Rutty for the incredible turnout expected at Food Palooza on Saturday.

 

As there was no guest speaker this morning. President Catherine asked Susan Jasper to come up and say a few words about her special project, Telling Tales. Richard Pass introduced Susan to our club 7 years ago, and we jumped in as a silver sponsor. This past year, over 7000 people attended the festival, and $10,000 was raised to promote literacy. There are now 20 Rotary clubs involved, a tremendous achievement in itself. Telling Tales won the Rotary Zone award for building community and bridging continents. Lots of discussion about how there has been an increase in reading these days, and how to promote the event. The date for this year’s festival is Sept. 20.

 

Deanna Mayall

New member Deanna spoke to us about social media. She has always been good at finding obscure on-line stories and reposting them, so that has led to her running her own social media business. She spent the most time explaining Twitter, and how for many people, it has taken over from email in how they communicate on-line. Deanna gave some interesting examples of how she uses it, and explained what hashtags are all about. Her talk gave many members an excuse to pull out their phones to check their own messages, under the guise of pretending to learn Twitter.