President Mike Henry called meeting to order at 7:00 pm by. He opened by welcoming everyone in attendance and proposed a toast to the Queen and Canada.
Invocation:
The invocation was provided by Viv Naidoo.
Attendance:
There were 23 members in attendance.
Announcements:
Mike Henry advised that the Board had discussed the possibility of restoring in-person meetings at the Oakville Golf Club instead of just Zoom and concluded that it was not yet time.
- Nipun Madan provided an update on Covid-19. He commented that Halton is experiencing 40 or 50 new cases a day compared with 5 or 6 in the summer. He advised that OTMH has 11 admitted cases and the hospital is not yet overwhelmed. He talked about potential vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. The Moderna vaccine seems a better candidate because it can be stored -7⁰ Celsius whereas the Pfizer vaccine needs to be stored at -70⁰ Celsius. He mentioned that we are now in the Red Zone and the most important things are hand washing and avoiding touching the face.
- Mahendra Shah asked about masks and Nipun responded that it if important to use the mask properly so that it covers the nose.
- Bob Dodds asked about the origin of the cases. Nipun responded that he had no factual information but will look for some and will report at the next meeting. Nipun was asked about the need for flu shots and advised that the combination of having flu and covid-19 at the same time can be very dangerous.
- Mike Henry asked how many had visited the auction site and urged all members to visit the site and bid on items. He said 60% of the items have been sold and that the gift baskets are going well.
- George Vincent commented on the last Membership Committee meeting. He advised that, during Covid-19 we have had 4 new members and now have two more applications. He urged all members to reach out to friends about the merits of the Rotary organization and the value in belonging to Rotary. He commented that there are many resources available for this purpose and urged members to check out the resources for Leadership Training.
Happy Bucks and Fines:
- Ralf Soeder extracted a number of Happy Bucks from the members, as follows
- Frank Morewood was happy that he had a golf score equal to his age at the difficult Wildewood Golf Course the day after his 86th birthday.
- Rudy Habesh was happy that he had registered for the online auction.
- Ralf Soeder advised that he was happy that he had lunch with Riona Naidu.
- Gary Comerford advised his happiness that the RI President-nominee for 2022-23, Jennifer Jones, has agreed to speak on March 2 or 9 at our Speaker Series and that the Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin is still on the list of speakers.
- Judy Warrington was happy that she has had a happy hour with neighbours in her garage!
Ralf then proceeded to fine any members who had not visited the on-line Oakville Rotary Auction site and those who had not yet sent their money for Happy Bucks and Fines to Mahendra Shah.
The regular meeting adjourned and the AGM commenced.
The meeting adjourned for the Annual General Meeting, the minutes for which were recorded by the Club Secretary.
Following the Annual General meeting Kevin Shao announced that his wife Vivien will be giving a presentation on First Time Home Buying to Halton Rotaract on Tuesday night, Nov 17. He asked members to contact him if they know of any friends or family members who may be interested in the topic.
Ralf Soeder then asked about the Salvation Army Kettles this year and suggested that the Club make a donation in lieu of providing manpower for the Kettles.
