Perhaps, appropriately on St. Patrick’s Day, Sabih, and one other volunteer, emptied their collection bins at Film.ca and redeemed over 700 hundred alcohol containers for charity.  

 

Although it is a dirty and smelly job this ongoing project has helped the Rotary Club raise important funds during COVID. This means they can continue to support needy causes both in our community and further afield. 

 

Club President, Cathy Whittaker commented, ‘The willingness of Rotarians to roll up their sleeves to enable us to help others less fortunate is one of the many inspiring reasons that I am proud to be a Rotarian.’

 

Donations of empty containers for the Oakville Rotary Bottle Drive can be dropped off at the following locations:

1480 Seagram Ave. Oakville (Bronte Area) – Put in front of right garage door

• 428 Donnybrook Rd. (SE Oakville Area) – Put in front of garage
• 1202 Owen Crt (Central Oakville, Sixth Line/McCraney Area) – Put in front of garage
• Film.ca Cinema, 171 Speers Rd. between Dorval and Kerr – 4 bins available

 

On March 16, these were handed over to R. Maresch & Son in Aurora. Maresch are "dealers in fine stamps since 1924". They hold auctions several times a year and are the premier source of stamps for the Canadian market. The owner, Peter Maresch, has very graciously agreed to sell our stamps with no fee. Usual fees are 15% to 20% so this represents a good savings for Rotary.

Our stamps will be in their Fall 2021 auction. So, we will have some additional revenue coming to us in our next fiscal year. I have absolutely no idea what revenue will come our way. We will just have to wait and see.

As this small bit of fundraising has had no additional costs, other than some of my time, I would encourage the members to continue to support this effort. Good sources are all your own mail meaning absolutely anything with a stamp. Any neighbour or friend who is downsizing and has an old stamp collection that is no longer wanted is also a good source.  We are able to provide a charitable tax receipt to donors who provide collections of significant value.

 

- Submitted by Ken Auden

 

 

This Report is designed to give our members of RCOT, an understanding of the operations of “Bag Lady International".

 

Suppliers of clothing, shoes, household items:

           Mark’s  (2 stores) 

           Winners and HomeSense  (3 stores)

           Marshalls  (1)

 

Number of bags collected: 33 (down 44 bags from this same period last year due to Covid and lockdowns )  Good news however as in the last week alone we have done 34!!)

 

Estimated Value:($16,500.00) Calculated at $500 per large bag plus household items)

 

Transport from Suppliers to the Sorting Centre:

            Kathy Scantlebury,

            Jim Campbell 

            Fraser Scantlebury

 

Location of Sorting Centre:

            208 Watson Ave

 

            Kathy Scantlebury

            Kathy’s Mother 

            Fraser Scantlebury

 

Agencies receiving clothing and supplies: Once again due to Covid nearly all receiving Agencies stopped taking in clothes so distribution was limited to

            The Tomato Ladies  (Oakville)

             Guatemala and Honduras thought Bruce Friesen (3 bags)

            Oakville Safety Net

 

Transportation to agencies:

           Fraser and Kathy Scantlebury

          

Restrictions: None of the donated items can be sold by the receiving agencies or individuals.

           

This year’s Budget: $ 0

 

Kathy Scantlebury

 

The author C. S. Lewis made this observation, “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems to make [a person] a more clever devil.” 

 

Every day news reports affirm the truth of his words. We get reports on the damage done by business leaders, politicians, military commanders, educators, coaches and celebrities who apparently lack having any sort of a strong value systems. Thus devilish damage occurs, powers are misused, lies are told, inequalities are ignored and respect for others inoperative.

 

 Could it be that our secular education system in our multicultural liberal society, through the whole system, has failed in promoting the basic moral principles that build character, trust and respect?

Education alone is inadequate. Failure is costly. The Second World War was fought against clever devils.

 

I was very proud of my new “unibody” 13” MBP. It has an excellent keyboard, great touch pad and a range of practical connection ports. A great machine for work and play. It was also very expensive when I bought it in 2011.

 

Now, I’ve learned that the operating system is not getting any more updates; also I have noticed that some applications take more time to launch. It has become OBSOLETE although it’s still perfectly good. I have the option to sell this beautiful machine for a couple hundred bucks and then spend $1k or more to buy a new computer. There is another way, however.

I ended up wiping clean the hard drive and installed an open-source operating system on it. I chose to buy a premium version for $40, just for fun, otherwise I did not have to pay a penny. Now my computer runs fine and is perfect for email, banking, searching stuff, writing and using the spreadsheets and creating awesome presentations. My computer is no longer obsolete, but remains a tool I can rely on for years to come.

 

I am not sure whether this is recycling or up-cycling, but it made sense to me.

 

-Submitted by Lauri Asikainen

 

Faced with the shut down of gyms and at least a temporary loss of her workplace as a seasoned Fitness Instructor through lockdowns and restrictions, Oakville’s Claudia Abraham, noticed the demand for virtual alternatives to stay fit combined with the need to stay connected throughout 2020.

 

Many of the usual participants in her fitness classes started looking for more than just a pre recorded workout on YouTube or a workout app on their phone.

 

Combining both needs Claudia started a Zoom based virtual gym from her home in Southeast Oakville, called TripleC. One C each for Core, Care and Community.
From the get go TripleC was able to tailor workouts for small groups of up to 12 participants to their very own specific needs. To do this successfully Claudia uses her experience of more than 13 years teaching classes in a wide variety of forms and styles within the Canadian fitness industry.

 
Workouts with TripleC are always live on Zoom and can run from 30 to 60 minutes per session. They involve none or just very simple equipment, so that everyone can participate. The range of workouts aims at different needs as they are presented in different groups. For example, a class like “Gentle Strength, Stability and Balance” aims at the more mature body of +70 years and offers many options to exercise with low impact either standing or seated.

 

The very popular “HiiT” (High Intensity Interval Training) and “Functional Strength” classes offer mid to high impact workouts for cardiovascular strength and muscle endurance in 45 minutes. Classes like “Align and Stretch” are focusing on posture, breath and overall alignment of the body. This class also includes a short time of relaxation at the end of the 60 minutes.

 

Most importantly though TripleC aims to bring participants together in a live environment. Not just because we know that real time connections create more accountability but also to stay engaged and connected in a group setting. There is simply no healthy body without a healthy mind! More recently TripleC also started weekly virtual “Coffee Chats” for participants and offers interesting lectures from different experts.

 

TripleC is your provider for virtual Zoom based workouts in a small group setting of up to 12 participants. No matter if you are interested in joining one of the existing classes or if you are looking for your own personal solution, TripleC can help and guide you on your fitness journey.

Moving forward, TripleC is aiming to offer even more hybrid solutions between at home and in person workouts.

 

Please reach out to Claudia at Triplecccfitness@gmail.com

 

-Submitted by Heather Donaldson