Burlington Central Rotary Club 15 March 2018 

Presiding Janet Canavan

Our guests were welcomed: G.E.M. Munro, Keith Williams, our newest prospective member, and our exchange student Abraham.

Andrew Gaydon gave a sort of PowerPoint presentation about the golf charity partnership, its committee and structure. Last year it netted $64,000. An extra $30,000 was given as a gift at the end which brought the lifetime contribution of the Golf Charity Partnership to over $1 million. $15,000 were given to the Carpenter Hospice and $15,000 to the CAS. The balance goes to the club. Our partner for this year will be the Burlington Food Bank. It was asked why in particular and Andrew responded that it is a local charity, very recognizable, and especially needy this year, and apparently, less well-funded than the other charities that were proposed.

The tournament will be at Crosswinds once again, an excellent course, on 19 July, always the third Thursday. It will cost $250 and provides a wonderful dinner and prizes. A warm welcome is put out to all those who wish to attend the Thursday planning committee meetings at 7:30.

The Rotary Youth Leadership Camp known as RYLA will be from April 29 to May 4 and is open to 18 to 25-year-olds. Candidates are needed. Interviews will be in the next 10 days so it's important to consider those young people for whom this camp can be quite life-changing. There is great growth potential and leadership skills are learned in this excellent weekend. The cost for individuals is sponsored by our club to $850 each. Incidentally the Rotarian, Carol Berry, who went missing in the Branford area, and happily was found, is well respected for having run this camp.

A good number of Rotarians from our club have signed up for the RI Convention in Toronto. We are reminded that April 1 is the point at which the cost will go up to $495, so catch that early bird.

There will be an event on the Toronto Island at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club put on by the District Gov. Elect, a great opportunity to meet a number of other members within the District to mark the June 23 District Changeover. It will be a family affair and will go from 5pm to 11 PM on the island. There are numerous events planned and we’re encouraged to look at the website to see what is available.

There will be an event at the Hockey Hall of Fame on Sunday even for those without registration and there is a need for volunteers for the entire event to work in various hotels, the airport, and the bike rally.

Lawrence Leung, president elect, announced the Hike for Hospice event on May 26, a Saturday for which we can pledge or walk. They're aiming to get more than $100,000 towards the Carpenter Hospice.

On Saturday, April 14 there will be training for the incoming board members for whom this is mandatory at the Cambridge Holiday Inn. All are welcome.

Joe Watson spoke for the upcoming Lakeside a la Carte August event. Randy Reeve and Rod Collard are working hard at bringing in wineries and restaurants and are close to the maximum number. Ron Lambert is working on the lottery. The charity has been chosen and it will be the Next Door Social Space who were our hosts for breakfast 2 weeks ago.

Porter Airlines have stepped into the breach left by the loss of the support by Air Canada and will provide tickets for flights wherever Porter flies. There will also be a wheelbarrow of wine and we are once again encouraged by Rod Collard to bring bottles to fill this wheelbarrow, a great draw for the event. There'll also be a $1000 bike as a major prize. Volunteers are needed for the event as ever and Mae Radford is doing all the assignments.

Abraham told us once again of his busy week and that he found the waterfalls of Hamilton to be breathtaking.  His English is improving steadily. The maple festival was a wonderful event and he was introduced to the joys of maple syrup. Abraham, the epitome of gratitude and appreciation thanked his host family, the parents of Eric our outbound student for their hospitality as he moves onto his "new/old" host family Owen and Neema McElhinney. They took him to a dinner in Toronto and the following day he went again to Toronto with Peter Thoem to deliver paintings. Then went with the Collards to the CN Tower. Abraham spent an evening with Mae and Bert Radford at the Senior Centre where he heard a group of singers.

From among the happy dollars, Rene Pepin skied with Nancy Greene! His objective was not to wipe out, but even more important not to cause her to wipe out. Joy Pass has recently undergone a repeat hip replacement, this time done through the "anterior approach”, done under local anaesthetic! And she was up and walking within hours of the surgery, an astonishing advance in this surgery. Albert Schmidt was exceedingly happy to announce perfect clearance after his surgery which was totally effective, joyful new for us all.

Our guest speaker GEM Munro was introduced. His talk: improving educational opportunities across Canada and overseas for the disadvantaged, in Bangladesh, Pakistan, among indigenous youth, and the aboriginal community in general. He was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He has become a Rotarian by osmosis.

Anthony Ford-Jones