Southmouth Nov 17, 2008

Presiding - President Greg McDonald

O'Canada - Dan Toppari

Toast to Queen and Canada - Norris Brown

Grace - John Klassen

  Our two guests, Nan and Bob Bruce were introduced by Norris Brown

Sergeant at Arms George Fitzpatrick received happy dollars from a number of those that attended the Take it to Heart Gala held this weekend. Bob McKay was suitably impressed by President Greg's dancing ability. Najeeb and his wife enjoyed the Gala so much that they are already planning to attend next year's event on November 14, 2009.  Brian Radford was fined for not attending the Gala with Danuta, but like a good lawyer he negotiated it down to one cent due to extenuating circumstances. Happy dollars were also received from those that attended the Foundation dinner also on the weekend. Jim Hooper was grateful for the support he received from club members in staffing this weekend's bingo. Peter Snodgrass is happy that his daughter was not seriously injured in a recent car accident. Dan Toppari spent the weekend in Winnipeg at the Conservative Party's National Convention. Najeeb announced that he has opened his annual food bank. Ed Telenko is proud of the CFL and the showcase coming up called the  Grey Cup. June Manning paid a happy dollar, now that her involvement in the Take it to Heart gala is over she can start focusing on our Club's Spring Gala schedule for May 2^nd.

Announcements

·         Our Club's Christmas Party is Scheduled for Monday December 22. Elizabeth Spaan is looking for help in co-ordinating this year's event.

·         Spring Gala - Scheduled for Saturday May 2^nd, 2009. Mark your calendars. If you would like to work on the committee , please contact June.

·         EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) - Sheila emailed all club members about this year's program. Last year we had 12 sign up. The goal this year is to increase that to 20 members participating in the program.

·         Membership Survey - last week Paul Monaghan distributed a member survey, if you haven't completed on, please do so. You can down load the survey from our web page.

·         Police Checks - it is important to have a police check so that you can participate in a number of Rotary programs. If you haven't had one done recently, please contact Dan Toppari

·         White Oaks Open House - this Saturday White Oaks is having an open house, Dan would like to turn this into a club social event. Contact Dan to play tennis, etc

·         District Club Promotion CD - the District is accumulating photos for a CD that Clubs can use to show what Rotary in our District does. If you have any pictures that you are willing to share please forward them to Cathy Henry

·         We recently received a letter from Elizabeth Bratton, our outbound Youth Exchange Student. The letter in its entirety is posted on out web page.

·         The Lancaster Depew Rotary Club has forwarded Gas Raffle tickets to our club. If you would like to buy one, please see President Greg.

·         Board Meeting notes:

o        Bylaw and Constitution updates were recently approved by the Board and will be voted on at our next Club Assembly - December 15, 2008

o        Voted not to participate in the Youth Exchange program for 2009/2010, will review annually

o        Resignations accepted - Mike Grifa, Don Hetherington (Don is transferring to the Downtown Club)

·         Beer - filling of the beer bottles will take place on Monday November 23 - evening about 7pm

Bithdays - Ed Telenko, John Klassen and Don Beard

50/50 - President Greg's number was drawn - but he was unlucky

Program

Roseanne Morissette introduced Bob and Nan Bruce.

Bob is now chair of the District Rotary Foundation Committee. He is a Past President of the Rotary Club of Waterdown, Past Chair of Interact and RYLA and is a Past District Governor. He serves on a number of District committees and was elected as a delegate for District 7090 to Rotary's Council on Legislation. He is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow, a member of the Bequest Society and the Charter Chair of the District's Paul Harris Society.

Nan is an Assistant Governor for Area 3, is Chair of the Friendship Exchange Committee, and Co-Chair of the Visioning Committee.

Bob and Nan have been married for 43 years, they have two sons and one grand child.

November is Rotary Foundation Month and Bob and Nan spoke to us about the Rotary Foundation.