The meeting was held in Zoom format and was opened at 7:00 PM by Mahendra Shah (standing in for President Amin Anwar who is away in Jordan on business) with a toast to the King and Canada. There were 14 Rotary member and 2 guests in attendance.

 

Our guest Martin Reist is the owner of an automotive supply company that he is soon handing over to his son which will free up his time for community service. Some of us had already met Martin at our Fireside Chat, which was held at the residence of George Farrow on December 6, 2022. Our guest Dilraj Sandhu is lawyer with Travellers Insurance. The Rotary Club of Oakville appreciates the interest of our guests in our club and looks forward to approving their applications for membership. 

 

The Invocation was presented by George Farrow, titled the Prayer to the Parish, originally read by Sir Frances Drake on the commencement of their dangerous voyages.

 

Gary Comerford, as Sergeant-at-Arms, invoked the practice of fining members for their lack of knowledge of trivia and accepting Happy Bucks, which exceeded the fines.

 

George Vincent advised the meeting that the Rotary Electric Car Lottery is on for this year with the purchase of Ford Mustang Mach E from Oakland Ford in Oakville. There will be five early bid draws for electric tools and bikes.  The sales will all be online with no need for members to sell tickets directly but members will be asked to encourage buyers and to attend events with the vehicle during the sales campaign which will run from mid-March to June 19, 2023. The draw on June 19 will be at a Rotary Meeting in the backyard of past President Michael Conway.

 

Ralf Soeder reminded the members of the tri-club Paul Harris Awards night at the Oakville Convention Center on the evening of Thursday, January 26, 2023. RCO has two nominees for the award. It’s great publicity for Rotary in Oakville and a good opportunity to meet and mingle with members of the other Rotary Clubs.

 

 

Sundeep Khosla advised the members of the next volunteer food packing session at Global Medic from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM on Saturday, January 14, 2023. Address: Global Medic web site: https://globalmedic.ca/

Address: 1494 Wallace Rd. Oakville, ON L6L2Y2. (Third Line and Speers – SE corner).

 

Mahendra Shah introduced the speaker, one of new members, Hart Jansson, who presented his Classification Talk.

 

Hart graduated in 1997 from the University of Manitoba in Computer Science and has spent 25 years in the telecom software sector working for companies such as Newbridge/Crosskeys. He has worked in the US, Europe and India and moved with his family to Oakville in 2003. In Oakville, Hart has been involved with agencies such as Malnutrition Matters, West Harbour Residents Association, Transition Oakville, Halton Food Council and Oakville Sustainable Food Partnership. In 2018 Hart was the cofounder of the Halton Action for Climate Emergency Now (HACEN) which is dedicated to working with governments and the private sector to promote climate change actions. Hart pointed out many simple actions that individuals can take to reduce their impacts on climate change. For more details, readers are encouraged to go to the HACEN website.

Mahendra Shah also thanked Hart Jansson for his interesting Classification Talk.

 

The meeting was ended at 20:15 hours (8:15 PM for the landlubbers) with a toast to Rotarians and friends around the world.