A lovely remembrance of D-Day with an lovely tribute by both Andrew and Rene. A sobering morning to remember how incredibly fortunate we are.
Guest were our kids minus Sean and Anel's Mother.
Mana and Anel both relived their Jet Boat experience on the Niagara River. Very wet and very exhilarating and thanked Alex - who wisely stayed on the shore- for taking them.
Mana was back in the kitchen making a fabulous breakfast for her host family. She visited Buffalo with Owen and reiterated her love for Canada. Couldn't agree more! Joe took her to the most expensive Japanese restaurant-Maya in Oakville- where she delighted in trying new fare.
She also participated in the Itabashi Mundilization Subcommittee and gave a wonderful presentation on Japan. She only has 44 days left!
Manel was convinced to participate in Karaoke at the Arts closing banquet at her school. She has moved back to her first host family and completed a 26 km bike ride. God Bless you my child.
She attended the Forge game in Hamilton and was delighted to see her Mom who is looking forward to some sightseeing!
Nancy told us of a Beer Fellowship- how bad can that be!!!! On July 25th we will be having a presentation /beer tasting ( I think) . There is also a Rotary beer brewed in Guelph that donates 30 cents per can to the Foundation. Hey now you can feel good about a nice cold beer!
The website for more info is www.rotarybeer.org.
Community Service Awards celebrating Rotary in Burlington will be held September the 5th. More info to follow.
SAA asked bout the results of her challenge to do something nice and the response was encouraging. She did however fine Joe for looking too dapper and for anyone wearing their badge on the left side. That is still up for debate I do believe.
Okay here we go!
Gerry- donated his 200th pint of blood
Joe lost to Jamie and Eric at golf
Sheila for Mae's kindness supplying treats for her for a Youth meeting
Wand for the kindness shown to he and Ingrid while in the Juravinski...we're all thinking of you Wayne.
Alex is participating in a 100 km to help Kids with Cancer.
Mike Molloy happy that Bill Clarkson finally gave him his police check. Took that long to clear the charges methinks!
Johanna was very impressed with Mana's presentation.
Eric took a fellow Rotarian to a golf tournament- I'm guessing it wasn't Jamie or Randy!
Peter- grateful that his Dad made it safely to shore 75 years ago in the second wave of D-Day
Sheila thanked Anel's Mom for lending her to us for a year.
Jamie recognized Herb Tarlik (sp) in the crowd ( Joe) and Gerry's bowling shirt.
Marne Alexander reminded us of the terrible loss in WWI as well. Supposedly the war to end all wars.
Albert commented that when he was a child all he was taught were things about Germany. He lamented that the USA seems to be doing the same these days. Very true and scary.
Randy Reeve was named Rotarian of the week for his long standing membership on the Lakeside Committee. Cam Rothwell told him he needed to be a Rotarian and so he joined. He watched Cam handle just about every responsibility singlehandedly and inspired Randy. Randy cites fellowship as the biggest benefit of membership. We couldn't agree more.
Week old Rotarian Bruce Hillyer stepped up to the plate to talk to us about going to bat for the members of the Mohawk members of the Kahwanake Reserve. The Reserve crosses the border and is situated just south of Montreal It is a well known fact that the Mohawk's have tremendous high steel skills and have been involved in many structures across Canada. When 911 happened many ancestors of the original high steel workers still lived in NY and NYC and rallied at Ground Zero to help in anyway they could. They crawled through wreckage searching for survivors with minimal and ineffective health and safety protection. After searching through the rubble they switched to erecting cranes and using cutting torches. The dust in the metal that they were cutting turned out to be very hazardous and resulted in many long lasting and in some cases terminal diseases.
The Board of Governors of the American Trial Lawyers Association were very worried about lawsuits resulting from the tragedy especially from Logan Airport from where the terrorists originated. George Bush approved a budget to be used to represent the victims and the rescuers.
During this time a lady named Lea Boyle -head of the Kahwanake Nation contacted the American Trial Lawyers Association to secure representation for her injured and ill workers.
A Canadian team was quickly assembled to represent the Canadians- 142 claims in all.
Needless to say Bruce agreed to be on the Board along with representatives for BC AB ON QC NFL ad NS.
They had to move quickly as there was a time limit on the claims.
their first visit to the Moose Lodge revealed the severity of the injures. A constant cough was one of the main symptoms. They quickly engaged doctors in Montreal and NY to help them. A US judge who spoke French came to Canada to oversee the claims and quickly founded he didn't need his french
The injured workers due to the expediency and abilities of the Committee received settlements and increases to those awards in 10 years.
That's the historical part. Bruce spoke at great lengths about the emotional and personal rewards while involved in this. The Canadian Association of Trial Lawyers worked for free. It was Bruce's first pro bono worked and he can't say enough about it. The pictures of the reception and the warmth and caring were wonderful. Bruce proudly flys the Mohawk flag with he signatures of all the men he helped. In fact he took a similar flag to the hearings and the judge was overwhelmed.t. At the post award reception the judge was invited and indeed awarded his own signed flag.
A report to Congress was overwhelmingly complimentary and many accolades were heard.
Bruce said that it was the most important work that he has done and will never forget it. Sadly some early death's have been reported but hopefully history has learned a lesson and this will never happen again.
A very personal and fantastic story- i hope I have captured it ....many thanks Bruce. A heartfelt welcome to Rotary.
CeeBee