Dan Toppari receives Paul Harris Fellow award!
 

SouthMouth
Weekly Bulletin of the Rotary Club of St. Catharines South 

October 30, 2006
Volume 10, Meeting 13

Lead the Way 


Reporter: R. Morissette

OPENING THE MEETING

Welcome by President Matt Taylor

National Anthem: Cathy Henry

Toast to Queen and Canada: Julio Batres

Grace: Jean Holbert-Leighton

GUESTS AND VISITING ROTARIANS

Jim Shannon introduced six guests: George Darte and Sandy Peters from the Downtown Club; Paul Monaghan from the Niagara Falls Sunrise Club, proposed new member and guest of Paul Massuet; Manfred Fast, proposed new member and guest of Don Hetherington; Bob Mahony, Assistant District Governor, District 7090; and Richard Earne, District Governor, District 7090.    

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS

Sergeant-at-arms Doug Foss accepted happy dollars: from Bob McKay, whose daughter competed in an exterior triathalon in Maui and placed 17th; from Don Beard who recently came back from a nice holiday; from Matt Taylor who was glad that Assistant District Governor Bob Mahony and District Governor Richard Earne arrived safely; from Richard Earne who commented that we should be proud of our club and our Board of Directors; and from John Klassen.    

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Matt Taylor acknowledged the recent passing of a former fellow Rotarian, Abe McLure.

Rotary District 7090 Foundation Dinner at Salvatore's Restaurant, November 3rd. Andrew Bowles is attending. If anyone else is interested in going, please contact Andrew or Matt Taylor.

Bingo, November 11th, 2006. Greg advised that one more volunteer is needed.    

The Diamond Gala is scheduled for May 5th, 2007 - mark your calendars. There is a strong committee in place, even Assistant for the Chair, but they need a Chair person. If you are interested, please contact June Manning. The first meeting is scheduled for December.

Winter Dreams VI, November 18th is sold out! There is still $1,000 to collect - please get your money in. Tickets can still be purchased on the diamond necklace. Tickets are $10 each and the necklace is valued at $4,000.   

Annual President's Christmas Open House, December 3rd, 2006 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Matt and Georgette's house.

BIRTHDAYS

None to report.

PAUL HARRIS FELLOW PRESENTATION

Ron Kozub presented Dan Toppari with a Paul Harris Fellowship award for his service as President of our club 2004-2005.

NEW MEMBER INDUCTIONS   

Two new members were inducted to the Rotary Club of St. Catharines South: Paul Monaghan, proposed by Paul Massuet; and Manfred Fast, proposed by Don Hetherington. Bob McBride and Richard Earne officiated.

Paul Monaghan, whose classification is "Funeral Services," joined us from the Niagara Falls Sunrise Club. Paul is General Manager of Darte Funeral Chapel. He is married to Janet and three children and two grandchildren.

Manfred (Manny) Fast, whose classication is "Charitable Trust Administration," is Program Manager for the Ontario Trillium Foundation in Niagara. He is married to Kim and has two children.  

"We welcome you," noted Bob, "not only for your friendship, which we will share with you, but also for your commitment to help us carry out the projects of our club...You have been selected for membership because we believe you to be a leader in your special line of activity, and we expect you to represent your classification to the very best of your ability...You also become the ambassador from us to your classification...and we expect you to carry out the ideals of service to the people you now represent from our Rotary club."   

Bob also noted that Rotary is not a political organization, but all Rotarians are vitally concerned with everything pertaining to good citizenship and the election of good people to public office.

Rotary is not a charitable organization, but we believe in the Golden Rule, and we follow a code that we consider before we make any decision in our field. This code asks us to consider the following questions when making a decision:

1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

This is the Rotary Four-Way Test.

Rotary is not a religious organization. It knows no race nor crred, but we believe in the enternal principles that have made religion the vital influence it has been on the destinies of people throughout the ages. 

We are an organization of equals and, as such, we treat each other as equals and hence address each other by our first names. 

Attendance at our weekly meetings is vital."

Both Paul and Manfred were warmly welcomed to the club and to Rotary by District Governor Richard Earne and all members present.

50/50 D RAW

Matt Taylor had the winning ticket, but was unlucky in drawing the cards.

EARLY LEAVERS

Jim Howes, George Fitzpatrick, and John Klassen expressed regrets to our Guest Speaker and President and took early leave. 

GUEST SPEAKER

Assistant District Governor Bob Mahony introduced our Guest Speaker, District Governor Richard Earne. 

Richard (Dick) Earne was born and raised in New York City area and Mount Vernon , New York . He graduated from Cornell University and the Law School at the State University of New York at Buffalo and has been practicing law since 1970; specializing in commercial real estate and finance, as well as corporate and partnership law. He is employed as General Counsel for Bella Vista Group, a real estate development firm based in Lancaster , New York . In 2002, he attained a Certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Cornell University 's School of Industrial Labor Relations . Dick is member of the Erie County Bar Association.

Dick has been involved in several community organizations. For 25 years he has been a member of the Grand Island Memorial Library's Board of Trustees; currently serving as its President. He is the Vice-President of the Hebrew Benevolent Loan Association's Board and a committee person of the Erie County Democratic Committee. He also has been active with several youth organizations including the Boy Scouts of America.

Dick joined Rotary in 1978 as a member of the Grand Island Club. Since that time he has held several positions within both the Club and District. He has been a member of the District's Group Study Exchange Committee since 1979, and has served as Chair and Co-chair. Richard served as President of the Grand Island Club in 1990-91, after which he was an Area Rep, Coordinator of Area Reps, Director of Club Service and District Parliamentarian. He also has been an Assistant Governor. Other District committees he has been involved with include: District Conference, World Community Service, Long Range Planning and Membership. In addition, he was District Trainer and chaired a task force on club sales tax and club foundations.

Dick is married to Ann, who is a special education teacher at the Grand Island High School . They have two children, Julie, who is completing double masters' degrees in Business and Public Health, and Matthew, who is studying to become a Rabbi. Julie helped Dick establish two Micro Credit Banks in Uganda in conjunction with two Rotary Clubs from Kampala , Uganda . The Earnes have hosted many GSE team members from over 15 countries. Dick is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow and a Benefactor of the Rotary Foundation. 

See related story for the District Governor's address.

ATTENDANCE REPORT

Debbie Garneau gave the attendance report - 29 members and eight make-ups for 100 per cent attendance.

ADJOURNMENT

As there was no further business for the good of Rotary, President Matt adjourned the meeting at 1:30 p.m.