At 6:45 it would have been appropriate for Leon to be singing “All Alone Am I” as he sat at Timms and only Wayne joined him via zoom. Fortunately, this changed and soon Rudy, John and Clary Lee, a scholarship winner from Walnut Grove Secondary, joined him at Timms. Wayne was joined by Nora, Anthony, Brendan, Bob and Allan on zoom. He reported that all six scholarship winners had been contacted, and that all would be speaking to our club in the coming weeks.
Discussion included talk about COVID (seclude five days and you’re good to go); people having symptoms like a mild cold (not dying from it); wondering what happened to the long cable as we (the guys at Timms) had technical difficulties getting things hooked up; Nicomekl Enhancement Society having a weekend workshop; more technical delays (need young people who know about this stuff); TWU athletic department; an engineering student; finding the long connecting cable masquerading as an extension cord; and finally getting the large screen hooked up.
Due to the delays, our official start time was 7:15, when O Canada brought us more great photos and a variety of singers, organized by Queen’s University as a Happy Canada Day celebration. Some photos lead to Leon wondering how many of us had actually seen the Northern Lights. Clary introduced herself and we learned she performed and traveled with the Langley Ukulele Ensemble, and she will soon be an architecture engineering student at Waterloo where her brother attends. She told us of her many volunteer activities and what she has done during her secondary school experience. Members were impressed!
All donations to the Rotary Foundation Disaster Response Fund from 3 March to 30 April 2022 have been prioritized for use providing humanitarian aid to regions that are supporting Ukrainian refugees or other victims of the war.
Thanks to the generosity of donors around the world, we raised more than $15 million in contributions that are already helping provide people with essential items such as water, food, shelter, medicine, and clothing.
So far, 90 disaster response grants totaling $2.4 million have been awarded to support people affected by the war. The Rotary Foundation will continue to use the donations for humanitarian aid in and around Ukraine, and districts can apply for these grants until 30 June 2022.
Donations made to the Disaster Response Fund after 30 April will be available to all communities around the world that need assistance recovering from disasters.
Other updates
We were informed that Peter Luongo is off at the convention center in Anaheim working some of his ukulele magic. He’s become more famous with that instrument than Tiny Tim. Brendan shared a video clip featuring Michael Shafer. We have not found a wheelchair with inflated bicycle-type tires to use for Les to be able to visit the Arboretum, but Allan is still looking. Les is bored, but cannot walk. He would like to get out to trim the roses he sees outside his window. Allan hoped Clary gets hands-on experience as he’s experienced situations where architects appear to have no clue how things are actually built. He needs to get a key to RIC or we will not be able to install the kitchen cabinets as we planned. Bob, Nora, John, Brendan and Leon offered to sell 50/50 tickets on the weekend, and we’ll be looking for volunteers every weekend for awhile. Allan and Wayne will serve as coordinators for our club. Please volunteer! You can ask John about his crackberry story.
We moved on to happy and sad dollars, and pledges were made for the entertainment we enjoyed watching our Rotary technicians trying to find and hook up wiring to make the hybrid meeting work and for Clary’s participation in our meeting. She promised to report back from Waterloo as she continues her studies.
We raised our glasses in a toast to Canada and wished each other well. The executive members stayed on for their monthly meeting. Remember, if you cannot make the meeting in person, zoom in!
