Bulletin - November 10 2016 - #18

Posted on Nov 15, 2016
 
 
 
                                                                                                       
President George welcomed members and guests.  He opened with a wonderful tribute to Bill Finley, who passed away earlier in the week.
Bill’s service is on Saturday, Nov. 12th at 3:00 at Grantham United. He then said grace and asked Rick Evans to lead the club in the national anthem. 
 
President George introduced the Head Table:
  • Introducing our speaker: Ron Fast (who arrived in just the nick of time)
  • Speaker: Sandra Holloway
  • President: George Darte
  • Veterans: George Darte, Bill Orr
  • Introducing our guests/dinner and registration:  Lisa Gerrie
 
Guests:
Kerri Toole - guest of Alexis De Wolfe
Colleen Blake - guest of Chris Blake
Jake Hunter - trumpeter - guest of the Club
Jim Hunter - Jake's father - guest of the Club
 
President George invited Ron Fast to introduce Sandra Holloway, a veteran who served with Canada’s armed forces.  Ron was Sandra’s sponsor and spoke of her leadership and commitment to everything in which she is involved.  Sandra, who only joined the club a few years ago, is now a member of our club’s Board and is the Chair of the Youth Services Committee.  Sandra is also the recipient of a Paul Harris Award from another Rotary Club.
 
Speaker:
 Sandra gave an extremely moving presentation about her experiences as a member of Canada’s armed forces, bringing not only herself but many club members to tears.  She spoke about the number of men and women who served and gave their lives for Canada in WW I, WWII, the Korean War, in Afghanistan and as peacekeepers around the world and in service here in Canada.  She joined the forces in 1979 right out of high school and was one of the few women in service at the time.  Her initial profession was as a medical assistant but she said that EVERYONE who serves also must take basic training, which she did twice.  Over her career she was promoted to several senior leadership positions, completed both an undergraduate degree AND a masters (in Leadership from Royal Roads University).  She spent 9 months in Afghanistan.  After retiring she was recruited to serve as a reservist in another leadership position where she oversaw the repatriation and care for injured shoulders – a very moving and at times sad role.  After her 2nd retirement she became very involved with the Canadian Central American Relief Effort, where she is volunteering with their work helping the indigenous people from the Merendon Mountains in Guatemala to become self-sufficient. http://www.canadiancamre.org/ .  Sandra received a standing ovation from the club at the end of her presentation.
 
Dave Stevenson thanked Sandra for her presentation saying that her’s was the most moving Remembrance Day presentation that he and the club have experienced.  He was honoured to be thanking her as he comes from a family of ‘fighting men’. (editor’s note: ask Dave to share his photos and memorabilia sometime of his ‘fighting men’.)
 
 
President George then asked the following club members, who were veterans, to stand and be acknowledged and thanked: Bob De Wolfe, Jansin Ozkar, Serge Paquin, John Picken, Sandra Holloway, George Park and Bill Orr.
George and Bill served in WWII
 
Jake Hunter from Laura Secord Secondary School then played the Last Post.
                                                                                                                            
ANNOUNCEMENTS
President George asked club members who recently helped with TV Auction (photographing items and donors’ places of business) to stand up and be thanked by the club.  He also said that a get-well card for Rick Merritt was being circulated.  He said that Rick is recovering well from his surgery and that he was thankful that he enjoyed his recent vacation on a European river boat.
 
Terry McDougall read a thank you letter from FACS with respect to the $2,000 donation that our club made to their Summer Smiles program.  Our gift enabled 8 children to attend summer camp this year.
Lezlie Murch gave members a couple of reminders.  The first to pick up a lawn sign for the TV auction and the second to say that we need LOTS of volunteers to help during the auction.  Sign up is on-line and if any help is needed to sign up to give either her or Jean Armitage a call.
 
Jennifer Hansen said that the weekly meeting sign-up sheet is changing next week.  If members are coming and not having lunch, they should mark this in the appropriate column on the sheet.  This new process will help us to control our costs with the golf course while recognizing that not all members will be having lunch with the club, but will be attending the meeting.
 
President George thanked Jake Hunter for playing the last post.
 
Anniversaries: Ted Usick (10 years, introduced by Pat Rooney)
 
Birthdays: no birthdays
 
Happy Dollars:
Ken Taylor lead happy dollars this week, sharing a joke about his uncle who served in WWII and told Sandra that he shared her tears (editor’s note: you’ll see that many members shared in her tears)
 
Jennifer Hansen gave a remembrance dollar and thanked Sandra.
 
Norma Medulun shared her tears with Sandra.
 
Anne Atkinson gave her dollar in remembrance of the vets and thanked Sandra.
 
John Nitsopolous announced that his family recently held a successful fundraiser in support of cancer research in memory of his sister-in-law.
 
Larry Kent was happy that Ken was doing happy dollars because he’s been trying to connect with him over the past few weeks.  He also thanked Sandra.
 
Betty Lou Souter spoke of how Community Care was founded almost 100 years ago by a woman who wanted to create an organization to serve former vets. 
She then told a story of how she is helping a homeless vet and that we as a country are not serving our vets properly and that she’s going to do something about this.
 
Ted Usick remembered several family members who served as vets.
 
Margaret Jarrell thanked Sandra and our vets.
 
Jim Denham has very happy that his father came home from WWII otherwise he wouldn’t be standing here today.  He then ‘rapped’ the table in memory of Bill Finley,
something that Bill was known to do quite frequently to get attention.
 
Eugene Gillies remembered his father and Bill.
 
Ron Fast thanked Sandra and let the club know the Momentum Choir is having a concert this Sunday at Bethany Church at 3:00. http://momentumchoir.ca/
 
Chris Blake spoke of his father’s service as a sapper in Italy in WWII.  He then told us of an amazing coincidence where his brother learned that his father was
written about in a book about the role of sappers during the war.  He was off to Ottawa this weekend to get a copy.
 
Rick Evans thanked Dave Sisler from Laura Secord who arranged for Jake to play today.
 
(Alexis’s guest) thanked Sandra and was sad to have missed seeing Peter Banwell today at Rotary.
                                         
George Park thanked Sandra and remembered his father’s military service.
 
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Nominations for Board of Directors
John Burrows, Club Secretary, noted that the following people have allowed their names to stand in nomination for election to the
Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of St. Catharines: RaRa Asaro, Stuart Butler, Alexis De Wolfe, Norma Medulun Burke,
Mike Pihura, Kim Schwenker, Ted Usick, Peter Van Rooijen. 
 
Further nominations must be given to the Club Secretary, John Burroughs, with a copy to President George with written consent of the nominee prior to November 24th at which time ballots will be printed and distributed to all members at the meeting of December 8, 2016 or mailed shortly after to those not present.  Completed ballots are to be returned to the Executive Secretary, Joyce Western, prior to December 22, 2016.
 
50/50: Trumpeter Jake Hunter drew John Burroughs' number but  unfortunately John did not draw an ace.
 
Next week’s speaker:  Bill Hallet on charitable gift planning.
 
President George ended the meeting reciting In Flanders Fields by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
 
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw
                                 The torch: be yours to hold it high
                              If ye break faith with us who die,
                                            We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields
 
_________________________________________________
 
 
Report of the Nominating Committee
John W. Burroughs
2016-11-10 Thu
 
The following people have allowed their names to stand in nomination for election to the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of St. Catharines
for a 2-year term (2017-2019). The Nominees in alphabetical order for the four Director positions for 2017 - 2019 are:

1. Asaro, RaRa
2. Butler, Stuart
3. De Wolfe, Alexis
4. Medulun Burke, Norma
5. Pihura, Mike
6. Schwenker, Kim
7. Usick, Ted
8. Van Rooijen, Peter

Further nominations must be given to the Club Secretary (John Burroughs) with a copy to President (George Darte) with written consent of the
nominee prior to November 24, 2016 at which time ballots will be printed and distributed to all members at the meeting of December 8, 2016 or
mailed shortly after to those not present. Completed Ballots are to be returned to the Executive Secretary (Joyce) prior to December 22, 2016.