South Mouth May 17, 2010

Posted by Kristine Akilie 
 

Dedicated Rotarian Ed Telenko was featured as this week's Who's Who, and newly-inducted member Elisabeth Zimmerman gave her classification talk.

 

President Paul opened the meeting at 12:15 p.m.
 
National Anthem: Kris Akilie 
 
Toast to Queen & Canada: Norris Walker 
 
Invocation: Jean Holbert-Leighton
 
INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS AND VISITING ROTARIANS

Jim Hooper introduced:
Henry Becker - Rotary Club of St.Catharines (Downtown)
Jean Stewart - guest of Kris Akilie
Romina Flynt - prospective member- Investors Group
 
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS

Arie Vrugteveen accepted happy dollars from: 
Norris Walker - daughter got engaged;
Romina Flynt - Bingo volunteers needed for May 29th;
Najeeb Syed - enjoyed 7 days of golf in Florida;
Laetitia de Witt - 15 groups through open house;
Henry Becker - make-up meeting-off to Panama tomorrow;
Jean Stewart - decided to join Rotary;
Jason Pollock - son's team, Niagara Thunder, won their hockey game on the weekend;
Arie Vrugteveen - hasn't worn nametag in one month;
Beth Cockcroft - great weather for gardening this past weekend.
 
WHO'S WHO, Ed Telenko
 
Ed spoke of his career path, his family, his passion for painting, and his love for Rotary.  

PRESIDENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Board Meeting this Thursday. There is no meeting next week but our regular meeting is on May 31st. All members who attended the Club lunch that was held at the Parkway last month need to pay their $25 if they have not already done so.  
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS

Pledge form for Bike Trek - don't forget to sponsor Paul and Paul.
Arie - Dragon Boat Festival on July 24th. Our boat has 12 spots remaining. The cost is $33 to register for a fun-filled day.
 
DISTRICT ASSEMBLY MEETING

John Teibert mentioned that a woman will be swimming across Lake Ontario on August 6th and 7th to help raise money to end polio. Additional information can be found on the website, www.swimtoendpolio.com. The race will be starting from NOTL on the 6th if you want to lend your support.
 
ROTARY MINUTE

Laetitia read an article from The Rotarian about polio and the plan to eradicate it.
 
50/50 DRAW

Brian Radford - six of clubs.
 
EARLY LEAVERS

Jean Holbert-Leighton expressed her regrets to President Paul and our guest speaker and took early leave.
 
GUEST SPEAKER: ELISABETH ZIMMERMAN - CLASSIFICATION SPEECH - YWCA

Roseanne explained that her connection to Elisabeth began with her mother. Elisabeth was the Operations Manager for Lincoln Community Care, and Roseanne's mother was a 25-year volunteer. Roseanne's mom always spoke highly and fondly of Elisabeth. Roseanne met Elisabeth again a few years ago when, in her role as Executive Director for the YWCA, Elisabeth approached PerformanceCars to sponsor the Women of Distinction Awards night. Proudly, PerformanceCars has been a sponsor now for three years. Knowing that Elisabeth was a person of integrity and a professional in the community, Roseanne asked her to consider Rotary. Happily, Elisabeth attended our club's meetings and decided to become a member. Roseanne believes that Elisabeth will serve our club well.  

Elisabeth Zimmerman was born in Niagara Falls to immigrant parents. She explained the differences in growing up as an immigrant child and her different experiences with education. Elisabeth studied at Brock University, was married, and raised three children: Kristen, Andrew, and Rachel. A skill in sewing led Elisabeth to start her own sewing and fabric business after her marriage dissolved. She then applied for a position at Lincoln Community Care and ran their thrift shop for many years, eventually becoming their Operations Manager. These experiences taught Elisabeth that the world is not black and white - there is grey. When the time came to move on, Elisabeth applied for a position with the YWCA. Less than a year later, she was appointed as Executive Director for the agency. She is very passionate about the cause.  

The YWCA Niagara Region provides inclusive programs, services, and support for women and their children who are at critical turning points in their lives. Core services provided by the YWCA are emergency and supported transitional housing in Niagara Falls and St Catharines, girl-centered programming for youth and children throughout the region, and an employment service tailored for unemployed or underemployed women.

Did you know?

  • Statistics show women as a select group are at particular risk of poverty;
  • Statistics show females are more likely than their male counterparts to experience housing affordability issues;
  • Twenty per cent of women in Canada live in poverty, and almost half of single Canadian women over the age of 65 live in poverty;
  • Canada has the fifth largest wage gap between women and men out of 29 developed countries;
  • A university-educated woman in Canada earns only 3/4 what a university-educated Canadian man earns.

Laetitia thanked Elisabeth for a very informative classification talk.

ATTENDANCE REPORT

Jason reported 21 members and nine make-ups for 100 per cent attendance.

ADJOURNMENT

President Paul wished everyone a good week in Rotary and adjourned the meeting at 1:35 p.m.