Our Home and Native Land.
To say it was just another day at Rotary would be to do it an injustice. It was another day, true, but they’re all kind of wacky in their own way. Even our Sgt. At Arms, Rod, told us conspiratorially that he’d visited another club and – well, RCBC is the place to be.
Our only bona fide guest was Johnathan Luna but we also had the company of Armin Ghazy, Ingrid Sproxton and John Lomax. Armin went through a mid-meeting metamorphosis and emerged as the world’s newest Rotarian and Ingrid and John were our guest speakers.
Wiktor said he’d had a quiet week, back to school get a haircut – just part of immersion.
Rene Papin talked up the Beer Festival. It’s on Thursday January 26, at the Holiday Inn. For $100 you get what is perhaps euphemistically called an educational evening of food and beer. For every ticket sold $40 comes back to the club. I’ll be away but I think beer festivals are a mighty good idea. I’ve been to a couple and thought them just fine. Quality first and lots to choose from.
There is a new word in our vocabulary of late, ‘sessionable’. It applies to beer, not just any old beer, but more particularly those products of upstart microbreweries, the ones who package their product on explosively labeled cans selling for around $2.85 a pop at the LCBO. ‘Sessionable’, I discovered (because I had to ask) means of a type particularly suitable for taking time to drink plenty in the company of the friends – in a ‘session’. ‘Session’ is not the term we used to use.
President Mike introduced a new; well I’m not sure if it’s a carrot or a stick or whether it’s for good or bad behaviour. But it, The Pink Poodle Underdog Award has a certain charm. Mike explained the rules; some brows furrowed and lips chewed.
Sgt. At Arms Rod was in an uncharacteristic mood, choosing on this mid-winter morn to acknowledge and celebrate those few of us who somehow do nothing to attract his attention. Fair enough, except the trophy he offered as evidence of his sincerity was his daughter’s Dance Award from a decade or two ago. This is how some people value the achievements of their children.
Back to Armin Ghazy, our newest member. Welcome. Armin was sponsored by Jamie Edwards. Armin and his family have moved (back?) to Canada from Charlotte, North Carolina. Armin said he knew he wanted to become a contributing part of the community and Rotary was for him the obvious choice. Well, from www.arminghazi.com I learned that Armin is “… the founder of Samba Solutions Group, a managed IT services firm with offices in Burlington, Ontario and Charlotte, North Carolina.” And that he writes a newsletter on “… everything interesting (he’s) seen in tech and business, with a focus on security, privacy, and new products/services. “
And so to our guest speakers, Ingrid Sproxton and John Lomax. If you attended the 2014 D 7080 Conference in Kitchener you probably sat in on an armchair discussion with the former Prime Minister, the Hon Paul Martin. It was a very compelling session in which PM essentially said that as a nation we are overlooking, under-educating and under-estimating the potential of our young indigenous people. It is a resource that this country cannot afford to ignore. He challenged us, Rotary, to do something about it!
Someone in the audience asked how much money was needed, Paul Martin, being Paul Martin, Canada Steamship Lines and all that, said, “Don’t worry about the money, it’s the will-power, engagement and understanding of Canadians that’s needed; we have all the money we need”.
So the gauntlet was down and D 7080 could scarcely ignore it.
Our speakers, Ingrid and John, lead the Districts efforts to improve our understanding on as many fronts as possible. They co-chair a group called Community Indigenous Resource Committee for Learning and Education (CIRCLE) and their task is to be a resource group for clubs to understand more.
Among the things that you and I can do, right now from the comfort of where you sit, is read the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, to get started take a look at
http://trcreadingchallenge.com/
Other actions a club or person can take:
Look at
http://native-land.ca/ and enter Burlington (or your fair city) and see just what underlies the comfort of your home.
Choose a club champion to read the TRC report – It’s very long although there is an executive summary.
Visit a First Nations Community
Participate in a pow-wow.
Contact a local Friendship Centre or Indigenous service organization.
But for much more and more clearly explained go to the District website,
P. Scribe.
