The Power of Space and Time
It is amazing what space can accomplish in time. March 2020 changed our lives here in Ontario. Whether people liked it or not, our government clamped down to get control of COVID-19. Some may think it was not fast enough, others feel it was to much. Either way you look at it, we are faring well. Our border is still closed as we fare better then our neighbours to the south and we still have quite a few mandates in place, but, we have made vast improvement and we all need to keep working together for whatever our new ‘normal’ will be.
Five months; August marks five months since Canada started shutting down. March 16th, Trudeau announced Canada was closing its borders. By March 23rd, we were moving to essential services only. March 24th, Rotary meetings officially moved to ZOOM.
July 21, 2020, the Rotary Club of Orillia had its first in person meeting in Couchiching Beach Park, sitting around the Train Station, all staying two meters apart. This was fantastic timing as this year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Train Station! Grand Opening was July 8th, 1995.
As long as we are not threatened with rain, we can look forward to having in person Rotary meetings. We are still alternating weeks with 12pm & 5:30pm however, we are now able to socialize not on a computer screen. Just remember to always bring your own chair, mask, lunch/dinner and beverage.
So, here is some entertainment for the last couple of weeks:
July 21st our meeting was at 5:30pm. Apparently Tony Telford either has wishful thinking or cannot tell time as he arrived at the Train Station at 12pm. After having a wonderful drink with himself, he ventured off and the rest of us met at 5:30pm. Now that is social distancing!
And poor Marilyn; Michel got recruited for teaching and will be away for five weeks, so, now she is quite worried as she needs to learn how to take care of herself. Maybe we can help her out and all take turns cutting her grass? We are here for you Marilyn!
Dennis and Ralph both welcomed a new grandchild into the world this month and Toms daughter had one nice write up in Orillia Matters.
Welcome Spencer!
Yes, we have inducted a new member. William Spencer Zacour. But please, remember to call him Spencer. He comes to us from our beautiful city of Orillia. Growing up here and only leaving to attend the University of New Brunswick after which returning home with a minor in finance and a business degree. So just what is Spencer doing now? Working as a financial advisor with Freedom 55 Financial for the last two years.
July 28th meeting was held at 12pm. Tony was on time for this one. Thankfully he did not have to have his drink alone this week. And Angela has been doing some renovations. She got rid of her horrible gold and white railing and she is finally moving into the 21st Century! Way to go Angela!
SPEAKERS
Sara-Jane has been working diligently trying to find speakers for our meetings. This has not been an easy task during COVID. What are we doing about it you ask? Well, we are all now responsible to find one speaker in a calendar year. We have 52 weeks on the year and 56 members. I think we can do this!
BEER FOR A YEAR
We are moving ahead! It will now extend to the end of October and then it will flow right into the calendar event
POLIO
when was the last time you donated? We keep coming up shy of the annual goal so be prepared as we will be planning on how to increase our donations for this fiscal year. Here is the link if you get the urge to help out.
https://www.rotary.org/en/donateFACE MASKS
Remember Laura sent an email out to see if anyone was interesting in purchasing Rotary Masks for $10? Well, here is what they look like:
Now, join us for meetings in the park! Trust me, it is good to see faces again and get out of the house. Just remember, it is BYOE – bring your own everything!
And get ready for next summer as we will be celebrating the 40th Anniversary for the Rotary Trains Inaugural ride that took place on June 26th, 1981.
