Bulletin for February 9, 2017
Our meeting started off with Janet Canavan, our President Elect at the helm filling in for Mike Molloy.
Quite a few stepped up to fill in the duties and the meeting went very well. We had Sheila saying Grace, Gerry leading the anthem and then the toast. Joseph, a new member did a fine job of the 4-way test.
Guests:
Laura Lawrence, guest of Lesley
Jon Luna, guest of Lesley
Wiktor Gluszczak, our inbound student
Eric Bily, outbound student
Brent and Kimberly Bily, parents of Eric
Announcements:
Rod collected donations today for the children’s trust fund. The funds will be given to the Friday Prayers so they may be forwarded to the children in Quebec who lost a father in the shooting. I believe around $600 was collected. The club will match what was collected. If you still want to donate please contact Rod.
Exchange student report:
Wiktor stated he was away last week. Went dog sledding with a friend from Poland and had a lot of fun. He also thanked Lawrence for spending time with him learning about his pharmacy and how the business ran. On the weekend he was at Wanakita 2017 with 26 other exchange students. He said it was a great weekend snowshoeing and making friends.
Sergeant At Arms
Rod was on a role collecting money. Congratulated David B on upcoming birthday. Fined Dana for crack she made about teacher pensions but on a nicer side he presented her with the gift of “the poodles” for a job well done on her classification speech last week. Then had fun with a few members who have phrases that represent the service they offer; Dick, David, R., David B., Richard, Catherine and Karmel. Back to the poodles, Mike is to be fined since the history of the poodles hadn’t been mentioned. Apparently it all started with Randy giving them to Eric then to Mike who gave them to Rod. Dana? Who is next?
Speaker – Kathleen O’Connor – “It’s a Cat’s Life!”
Doug Brown introduced the guest speaker, our very own Kathleen O’Connor, who has been a Rotary member for many years. Kathleen is a Veterinarian, who has her practice on Brant street. She went to school in Germany, which was quite a feat since German wasn’t her primary language. She is also a proud mother of a son who is a lawyer.
Kathleen first visited our club a long time ago as a guest speaker. She is now doing her classification speech. Her topic today will be about “Cats”.
Cats have always been a source of fascination for mankind throughout history. They were around the post dinosaur era. During the ice age there were 100 species. Soon they were on every continent. Then came the evolution of the domestic cat. The ancient Egyptians were the first to keep and use cats to control vermin and other pests to protect the stores of food. In ancient Egypt, the cat was revered as a hunter and worshiped as gods and goddesses. Cats were also mummified before being buried.
In the Middle Ages, cats were associated with the devil and many were slaughtered. By the eighteenth century cats had become popular again mainly due to the plagues that had spread by rats.
Domestic cats today still have many characteristics from their wild ancestors. The eyes, body shape, feeing and grooming habits along with the ability to pounce into action at any given moment. The problem is many are living a much quieter life and some are developing behavioral problems. Kathleen specializes in this and can help when needed.
Kathleen mentioned that the Burlington Humane Society and Animal Control assists when needed for those who are left behind when an owner passes away.
Cats are very sensitive and protective. They make a wonderful pet. It’s known that most homes today that keep pets have at least one cat in residence.
If you would like to learn more Kathleen would be more than happy to help you.
Janet ended the meeting a little past 8:30am.
Have a great week.
