Weekly Bulletin February 25th 2013
Rotary Club of Oakville February 25, 2013
President Ralf opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. with a toast to the Queen and Canada. Susan Howard gave the invocation and Brian Tunstall led the singing of O Canada.
There were 22 members and 6 guests in attendance:
Irene Cvetkovski-Dubic
Tracey Morrow
Suzie Ethier
Lesley Anderson
Terry Scott
Ann Bowman (guest speaker)
Following dinner Ralf reported on make-ups he had done and encouraged members to do make-ups to meet Rotarians in other clubs and to see how they run their meetings.
Ralf highlighted member Janice Tobia and thanked her for her leadership in the club and the many initiatives she has undertaken on its behalf. Janice works hard on club activities and is always positive and in good spirits.
Ralf with the assistance of President-Elect Rudy Habesh inducted new member Irene Cvetkovski-Dubic from Community Living Oakville.
Birthday greetings were extended to Alistair Yule and Linda Hill. Ralf announced that Rotary had its 108th birthday this month as well on February 8.
Neil Smith reported on the trip that he and his wife had made to the Dominican Republic with 20 students under the leadership of Judy Warrington. They were there to build a school which extended the education of village students from Grade 5 to Grade 8. He said it was a great experience to be part of the work being done there.
Ralf announced that Lucas had run the Camp Enterprise reunion last week at Hampton’s. All 7 clubs in Oakville and Burlington work together on the Camp Enterprise program.
Alistair announced that George How has agreed to serve on next year’s Board but the nominating committee is still in need of a President-Elect.
George Farrow collected many donations in fines and Happy Bucks. (It pays to read your magazine!)
John Smith introduced the guest speaker, Ann Bowman from the Oakville Literacy Council.
Ann outlined the work of the Literacy Council and said it has been in operation for 25 years. There is no government funding and funds come from donations. The public library is their greatest funder and gives them space to run the program. The operating budget is between $40,000 and $50,000 per year. Four of ten Halton adults are not functionally literate. They make up the highest percentage of users of food banks and the population in hospitals and jails. Half have English as their second language. If they are literate in their first language they make rapid progress in learning English. Many candidates come from government run group programs that have not met their needs for one-on-one tutoring. Currently there are 35 student-tutor pairs. Tutors are volunteers who are trained by the Council.
The staff consists of a program manager, an administrator, and a literacy assessor.
Ann introduced Adrian, a graduate of the program. Adrian said that when he began he could not read or write beyond a three-year-old level and at the end of one year was functioning at a grade 9 level. He was 37 when he came to the program and is now 43 with steady employment. He said that school had not worked for him but this program had taught him how to provide for himself. It was heartwarming to see the results of the program in Adrian. Ann said that volunteering at the council is very rewarding. People come for a variety of reasons and no one is turned away as long as there is sufficient funding. People often come because they want to be more independent, get a job, retrain, read to their children and help them with their homework, or escape from a life of crime and fear. The biggest fundraiser for the organization is the used book sale which this year will be June 7-10 at the QEP Cultural Centre. Rotarians are invited to attend the sale and also to donate good gently used books.
Susan Howard thanked Ann and Adrian.
Mari announced that next week’s speaker will be from Books With No Borders.
March is Rotary’s Literacy month. Janice announced that more information would be coming regarding cost and plans for the euchre night at her place.
Ralf reminded us to put March 28 in our calendars for an after hours Rotary event for all 3 clubs at Philthy McNasty’s.
The meeting closed at 8:05 p.m. with a toast to Friends and Rotarians around the world.
Scribe: Jean Wettlaufer