The animals came in 2 by 2 hurrah, hurrah!!! Another simply marvelous May morning- will it ever end!!!!
Opening ceremonies handled with aplomb by Rob, Dick, Kathleen and Joe including a moment of silence for the victims of the Manchester attack.
President Mike commented on our attendance and that it is quite high which is good and prompted us to make sure that we recorded any Rotary activities as make-up meetings to maintain our good numbers. Thanks to Gerry for keeping such a good eye on the reporting.
Duncan Hart will not be returning for health reasons and Mike encouraged us to drop him a note or give him a call. He also reported that Nancy Brady will be returning. A subtle reminder from the President to respect our presenters and speakers by holding back on the side chatter at the tables.
Mae, Peter and Lawrence are participating in the Hike for the Hospice. If you would like to support them please visit the Hospice’s website . www.thecarpenterhospice.com.
Gerry is volunteering at the Lighthouse Walk at 6:30 a.m. ( sorry Gerry didn’t get the date) and is looking for others to help. Please contact Gerry if you would like to help them out.
Mike and Roy had the pleasure of awarding Dave Beckett with his 6th Paul Harris award and Cheryl and Bruce Mayberry for achieving crystal status which is recognition for lifetime contributions over $10,000.00. Congratulations to both of you!
Wiktor drew some cheers when he mentioned that his first host Mom had a friend who had a daughter ………..uh hu! He was at the driving range with Bryce and really enjoyed it. Doesn’t like watching it- very boring…but came to the same realization all the golfers in the club came to a LONG time ago- golf is harder than it looks…there apparently is a lot of technique involved!!!!!!
He also went camping during black fly season…he is now officially a Canadian according to Peter!
Our SAA Rod commented that he was coming to the end of his tenure and while he has certainly enjoyed it and taken the job to new heights he will be happy to be done.
We enjoyed a round of mistaken words to songs and 6 lucky ( I’d like to think smart!) people walked away with $25.00 gift cards to Browns Social House.
Happy dollars:
Eric Anderson let us know that Taisie was coming to Canada for her honeymoon.
Lawrence was delighted to have returned to Hong Kong for a good visit after 47 years.
Deanne is looking for a new home as her lovely landlord is selling the house that she rents out from under her. Please keep an eye out for new digs for her.
Bruce and Owen provided an overview of the Foundation.
It was founded 100 years ago in 1917 when the outgoing President decided to expand the reach of Rotary and the Foundation began with $26.00 US- it now 265 million.
17 million is held in the Endowment, 97 million is in Polio Plus and 171 million is held in the general fund for 3 years then used for international programs. In 2016 there were 35,000 projects on the go. The foundation works with many partners including World Health, Unicef and the Centre for Disease Control and the United Nations.
Areas of focus are literacy and clean water and are typically capital based projects that can be sustained.
The Foundation also supports Peace Scholars at 6 universities offering Masters and Doctorate programs for eligible students. They also support Ambassador Scholars around the world.
For every one dollar donated 50 cents comes back our district for projects and scholarships.
In 1957 the Paul Harris Awards were established. It used to be a piece of paper but now is recognized by a pin with sapphires representing each $1000.00 donated. We are a sustaining club meaning that each member donates $100.00 US to the fund. There are very few sustaining clubs in our district.
Owen took centre stage to talk about the international projects that our district is involved in. Owen commented that since Cam Rothwell’s passing we haven’t had a truesteward of our International projects. We have joined forces with the other clubs in the district to form MOB –Milton, Oakville and Burlington. The MOB meets once a month at Owens. Our current project is a 100K investment in a girls school in Bangladesh. We are installing a well for clean water at the school .Girls used to leave school at Graded 7. If they stayed in scholl and graduated High School early marrieages dropped by 78%.
Our other project is in partnership with the Rotary Club of Dhaka in Guatemala which has been chartered for 80 years. The Club President was in Canada last year and met with MOB which helps to put a personal touch on the project. MOB is building 200 latrines for use in Mountain Villages in Guatemala. Members of Burlington North visited the site to make sure that the funds were being used as intended.
We contributed to the rebuilding of a school in Nepal that was damaged after the earthquake. We donated 4K to help pay for some parging and some masonry repairs.
Rotarians are not allowed to actually build due to liability restrictions.
You can donate to a specific project if you like or you can make a general contribution to the Foundation to be used at their discretion. There are many opportunities to travel with the foundation and participate in projects around the world.
There is tons of information about the Foundation at www.rotary.org
Thank you gentlemen for an informative presentation.
That’s all the news that’s fit to print!
CB.
