Meeting Location: Oakville Golf Club

Frank Morewood was the Greeter

 

President Lynn Childs: Called the meeting to order at 6:30pm.

Nancy Eichenberg gave the Land Acknowledgement.

Frank Morewood led in the singing of the National Anthem.

President Lynn proposed a Toast to King Charles III and Canada.

Ron Hope gave the Invocation.

There were 28 members and 3 guests in attendance.

Three prospective/potential members: Lori Holmes, Silvia Dimitrova, and Aninda Sarker.

 

President Lynn announced the commencement of the AGM. The minutes of the AGM were recorded by Rod Craig. After the conclusion of the AGM, President Lynn called the regular meeting business back to order.

 

Sponsored by Ralf Soeder, President Lynn inducted Stephen Brown as RCO’s newest member. Stephen is a Paul Harris awardee and has been a member of Rotary for some 26 years. He is also a Past President of his previous Rotary Club.

 

Joe White who was happy about his upcoming trip to Costa Rica; Past President Mitch Sabsabi was very happy about his brother’s wedding and his role in it; Reena Sandhu expressed her happiness for her eldest daughter’s recent engagement; President Lynn was very happy to have gotten her Christmas tree up; Frank Morewood was happy that there were many more members present at the meeting than in the recent past; Amin Kawar was extremely happy that his daughter had a beautiful wedding ceremony in Italy from where he had just returned;  and Rod Craig who was happy to see our recent first bit of snow and had his flights booked for some travel across Canada.

 

Mike Henry gave updates on the Membership and Community Service Committees.

Membership Committee: Key updates included (1) the addition of three new members to date; (2) a fireside chat for new members and heritage RCOW members is planned for December, the focus is the uniqueness of RCO; (3) the committee composition is under review and the committee is currently reaching out to members who are not on committees; (4) the recruiting process will be adjusted to emphasize an expectation that new members will participate in club leadership; and (5) membership minutes are planned for the next few meetings.

Community Service Committee: Key updates included (1) Two loan grant requests have been endorsed by the Committee and will be sent to the Board and Charitable Fund for further endorsement and approvals – St John Ambulance, $11,476  for 2 Scoop Stretchers, 2 wheeled stretchers and 2 stair chairs; and Center for Diverse Learners $17,280 to fund 12 students in Leaps of Literacy program; (2) the March of Dimes and Lions Guide Dogs have been given the application form but a completed form has not been received to date; (3) the Committee has approved $1,000 grants to 5 Oakville High School Robotics teams; (4) the Committee has approved a $500 grant to a local CWL in North Oakville; and (5) Four charities have been identified for the first of 8 proactive donations – Food for Life, Kerr St Mission, Shifra Homes, and Oasis Youth Center.

 

Ralf Soeder gave updates on the Youth and Indigenous Committees.

Youth Committee: Key highlights were provided on the role and importance of the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA). Members were encouraged to get youth involved.

Indigenous Committee: Ralf read a “Thank You” letter from a recipient of the Rotary Indigenous Bursary Award. The letter clearly demonstrated the impact of, and ongoing need for, RCO’s support in this area.

 

Ralf Soeder encouraged members to volunteer for, and participate in, Pod Duties when requested so that our meetings can be run smoothly.

 

George Vincent reported that our club was pursuing the establishment of a protocol to be able to respond to disasters. President Lynn brought members’ attention to a District Email on avenues for contributions and donations for disaster relief.

 

President Lynn (1) noted the success of the recently concluded online auction with further details to follow; (2) reminded members about Giving Tuesday (December 2) in support of the Rotary Foundation; (3) acknowledged the date of the OTHS Interact Charter Club Ceremony; and (4) confirmed December 15 as the joint Christmas dinner date with RCOT.   

 

Members were reminded of Global Medic being Saturday, November 22 from 10am–12 Noon.

 

Mike Henry noted that the preliminary data indicated that the online auction had made 79% of its retail value and full details will be forthcoming soon when all accounting has been completed.

 

Members were advised of placement of, and participation in, the Salvation Army Kettles drive. More information can be obtained from Karla Cabrera.

 

Susan Sheppard brought attention to GIVE Oakville which is affiliated with the Oakville Community Foundation, Oakville’s largest community of philanthropists with 400 Funds. The GIVE Oakville current campaign runs from November 14 to December 8, 2025.

 

James Montague reported on a bowling fundraiser he hosted for Belwood Lodge and Camp which raised $900. The event was also attended by some members of RCO and RCBN, respectively. 

 

Khal Zaid-Kaylani suggested that, following on from the merger of RCOW with RCO, there should be a subsequent (soonest) meeting agenda item where the achievements of the now defunct RCOW can be reported on. President Lynn suggested that an alternative idea may be to give new members 3-4 minutes each to do biographical sketches so that all members can become familiar with their fellow members’ backgrounds and expertise.

 

President Lynn closed the meeting at 8:04pm with a recitation of the four-way test followed by a toast to friends and Rotarians around the world.

 

December 15, 2025 – The final club meeting of the year which will be our Christmas party.

December 29, 2025 – There will be no club meeting.

January 5, 2026 – First meeting of the new year.