Meeting of March 8, 2016

Along with 22 of our members, we had two visitors: Lynn Gates from Little Hats and Paul Bruce, a visiting Rotarian,from the Waterdown club.

Ross Bannatyne was the Greeter and Steve Roblin took attendance. The meeting recorder was Jessica Brennan. Ernie Romain was Sergeant-at-Arms.

We had a bit of a scramble since the breakfast wasn’t ready as usual at 7:30. The Golf and Country Club had had a problem unlocking the refrigerator, so that breakfast making was delayed.

So…in true Rotary fashion we improvised and re-arranged the meeting order: did the Grace before we had food in front of us; sang the anthem; did Happy Dollars; and then, we were served our Breakfast.  While still eating we completed our program. 

Happy Dollars: As usual Ernie started off the Happy Dollars, letting us know that he soon would be heading off to Hawaii. A good time to warn anyone you know to expect that hurricanes, tornadoes and locust swarms are heading that way. It seems weather follows Ernie on each of his trips.

Grant was proud that his Staples store was acknowledged as one of the top 10 Staples stores in Canada.

Derek was happy to have been in Australia and New Zealand and reported that he had met up with fellow Rotarian, Fergus Cumming and his wife, Barbara. 

Jan was delighted to announce that Alycia, one of our former members who is also a Paul Harris award recipient, and her husband are expecting a baby in August. 

Barb was happy to be able to sing the Canadian anthem, something she very much missed while in Florida. 

Marie-Louise was pleased to demonstrate that several months after her wrist injuries she is now able to use a fork. Ernie thought though that he could still take Marie-Louise on in arm-wrestling.

Wayne on his recent trip to Florida had returned to Disney World for the first time in 38 years. Still, he received a first time ever attendee award. Although it was cold, Wayne still loved his visit there, especially Space Mountain.

Paul Bruce was happy to be at the “best Rotary Club”. He also wanted us to know about the future opening of Waterdown Rotary Club Skating Rink, noting that it would also be a rollerblade rink in the summer.

Announcements: Mieke Ewen, our Community Services Director, presented a cheque to Lynn Gates to support Little Hats, a group busy knitting up hats and items for those needing extra warmth through winter. 

Wayne thanked everyone who made February’s Rotary Stars possible, bringing in over $10,000. He also noted that within the next few weeks we’ll have a meeting to review Rotary Stars and discuss how to make it even better. 

Ross reported that he had recently attended a President-elect training session. Three districts were represented and approximately 190 President-elects were in attendance. It was a wonderful learning experience and a great opportunity to network with other clubs and find out what they’re doing.

Ross also announced the upcoming leadership training session, being held on May 7, 2016 in Niagara Falls, N.Y. He encouraged the members of the incoming Board to attend but also welcomed those interested in expanding their knowledge about Rotary to sign up as well. 

Three announcements were made about the upcoming Saturday, May 28th Lobster Rib Fest (so we know we are getting close): Nic pointed out the opportunity for event sponsorships; Glen sent around sign-up sheets for volunteering; and, Bill reminded everyone about bringing in items for the silent auction.

Mieke Ewen  introduced and then thanked Don Davidson for his energized presentation and noted that as a colleague of Don’s at St. Joseph’s Villa in Dundas and his sponsor to our club, there were many wonderful new things that she learned about his life and career.