Chair: Sue Ueffing
O Canada: Sue Ueffing
Guests/Visiting Rotarians: Kevin Connor (VR), Mauro Kuros (Guest speaker).
Happy $$:
Carl: Had Covid, with relatively mild symptoms, but is very happy to have it over.
Matt: Attended a special event in Wolfville – the unveiling of a stone with “we are one people” engraved. It is in clock park for anyone who would like to visit.
John: Saturday night attended an event for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Holland (actually in 2020, but due to Covid the event had been delayed). He brought his mother and it meant a lot to both of them and their family.
Sue: Had a nice weekend attending the celebration of life for Sandy Smith in Baddeck.
Kevin (from Dartmouth East): happy to be attending the meeting with Mauro.
President’s Report:
President Bill welcomed the guests and members on Zoom. The virtual conference was this past weekend, a few of our members attended. HE was not able to attend Sandy Smith’s service, but heard that it went well. Finally, upcoming events: Environmental Day coming up very soon – June 4th, Wine Survivor May 28th, please sign up, and the Lobster Doo on June 24th.
Secretary Report:
Board meeting on Tuesday at 9am on Zoom.
Special Presentations:
Gerry presented a slideshow from Kismet Hartlen on her experience with Adventures in Citizenship. See the presentation below.
Mauro Kuros did a quick presentation on his experience as an exchange student from Venezuela. He arrived three years ago as a high school student at Dartmouth High School and is now attending Dalhousie studying mathematics. He is hosted by the Dartmouth and Dartmouth East Clubs. He wanted to say thank you for the scholarship from the Kings County Foundation. He is an active Rotaract member.
Phyllis and Greg presented Mauro with this scholarship check.
Committee Reports:
Pierre – Food Bank – In the past 4 months they served 2214 clients in Kentville, 1537 adults and 677 children. Also, 103 deliveries. In terms of weight it’s 36,000kg.
Phil – Tulips information coming!
Golf – please give feedback to Phil’s email (also included above!)
Sue – Events – Wine survivor – May 28th - $25/person. This allows you to put in bottle(s) of wine, it is catered and you will get a taste of Jake Eelman’s Beaujolais. Please register by next Monday online.
RI Minute
Making a Difference
Before the war in Ukraine, Rotaractor Oksana Havryliv was a student in international relations and had been pursuing a master's degree in political science. She dreamed of becoming a diplomat and representing her country. But "that all changed on 24 February when Russia invaded my country, and the bombs began to fall".
“My life has changed drastically, and I feel it will never be like it was. Before all this, I actually loved the subject of history in school, and believed that the world had learned from its two bloody world wars in the 20th century. History wouldn’t repeat itself with another brutal war in Europe, right? Sadly, no.
My mother and I decided to act by creating a hub to funnel humanitarian aid. The bureaucracy of communicating with non-governmental organizations in Europe and the U.S. was daunting and took a lot of time. But it didn’t stop us from our goal of helping civilian populations that were suffering from the war. The logistics of funneling supplies from European countries as well as to Ukrainian cities was difficult. Buses filled with our relief supplies were in constant danger from attacks by Russian military. The bus drivers knowingly risked their lives. They are heroes.
On 26 March, my city was targeted by Russian aggression with missiles fired from the occupied city of Sevastopol. But we’re alive and still doing our thing. And so the story goes on. I have decided, as a true patriot, to stay in Ukraine. I have set aside everything: my job, my studies in Vienna, ordinary everyday life, and time with my own family. But we are driven by the conviction that the participation of each and every Ukrainian will lead us to victory. Because “The truth is with us.”
Chase the Ace: Garry Condon won the draw but it’s a roll over!!!
Meeting closed with the 4-Way Test.
See you next week!
