Debra grew up in Brantford, studied math, science and psychology at McMaster and went into clinical health psychology before completing her PHD at Waterloo in hypnosis. She completed a post doctoral in Winnipeg where she met her husband who is a doctor.. She worked with epilepsy patients and did research on accident victims and their ability to heal with the right attitude. After deciding that clinical psychology was not the career she wanted, she completed her MBA and moved to Fort McMurray where she managed the mental health service for the city. Then off to Toronto working with CEOs and their top management as a management psychologist. In 2023 she left the global consulting firm she worked for, moved to Dundas and started her own consulting business.
Uma Pala from St. Mary's received the Skilled Trades Bursary. She enrolled at Niagara College in the electrical techniques one year certificate program. She said our contribution allowed her to gain independence from living on residence and gave her the opportunity to focus entirely on her schoolwork. She was one of five females in the program of 90 individuals. She said the program gave her the technical skills but also perseverance and determination. She thanked the club for its financial support, for recognizing females in the trades and for allowing her to speak about her experiences.
Maya Hayworth from St. Mary's received the Ken Turner Bursary and attended McMaster. She had a written report read by Denise as she was in Europe visiting family and de-stressing. She wrote that without the bursary she would not have been able to enrol in the optional module program called Local Explorations that allowed her to meet more of her cohort and discover her interest in film critique. She thanked the club for honouring her with the Ken Turner Bursary.
Wyatt Rapson from Dundas Valley Secondary School received the Ken Turner Bursary and attended St. Clair College in Windsor. He took e-sports which combined video games with business, accounting, broadcast and marketing. He thanked the club for the bursary and would like to manage e-sports events on the world stage, maybe in Brazil.
Val Serjeant is with the City of Hamilton Human Resources Department. Val spoke of Generation Z - the good, the bad and the ugly. His talk focused on teenagers and the many challenges they face from peer pressure, unstable home environments, food insecurity, poverty and single parent homes. And who looks after teens with mental health issues. He said we need more good news stories of teens and how to get the news out through social media that they use.
Friday, April 25th dawned dark and dreary but improved as the day progressed. At its start-time of 4:30 PM, almost 40 Rotarians, family and friends from D7090's Area 3's Waterdown, Flambourgh AM, Dundas and Dundas Sunrise Rotary Clubs gathered for this year's Great Lakes Cleanup in Dundas' Centennial and Rotary Canal Parks which border the historical Desjardins Canal which winds its way into Lake Ontario. More than 36 bags of assorted litter and recyclables were collected. Following the collection, most ventured to the nearby Hamilton Air Force Club for a hearty meal and fellowship.
Tom Perry is the Manager of Public Affairs for Hamilton Health Sciences and David Silvestro is the communications advisor for public affairs, community and government relations. Tom and David gave us new information about the redevelopment of the Juravinski Hospital. The facility needs to be redone because some buildings are almost 100 years old - M Wing was built in 1932. There are barriers to providing modern medicine, there is poor patient and family experiences and the community is rapidly growing and aging.
The new structure will be built in phases over 10 years with a planned start in 2028. The province will pick up 1 billion dollars or about 70% of the cost with the remaining 30% from the local level. The build will add around 350 daily construction jobs, 100 new patient beds, provide 100% patient rooms with private bathrooms, be modern and accessible and have ample parking. It will also expand cancer and critical care, surgery, adult rehab and seniors care.
Dr. Ethan Danielli and Aedan Rourke presented on their and Dr. Jeremy Walsh's research on Supporting healthy brain aging with ketone supplements.
There are different types of dementia and each presents differently but they all have symptoms that cause a person to have changes in brain function that interfere with the ability to function and do everyday activities. The common cognitive impairments are memory changes, language and speech, planning and problem-solving. Primary prevention of dementia is the key which focuses on modifiable cardio-metabolic risk factors like diabetes mellitus, midlife hypertension, midlife obesity and physical inactivity.
The brain uses 15% of the blood and needs glucose to support metabolic demand. A decrease in blood flow to the brain causes cerebral metabolic dysfunction and is central to neurodegenerative disease. So, how to increase blood flow is the essence of their research and to find another source of energy. Ketogenic diets are a slow source and the premise is that Ketogenic supplements provide a faster source. Keytone monoester rapidly alters brain function as shown on MRI scans.
Their study is in need of more research participants. If you are interested the poster below has information.
Through a slide presentation Graeme shared quite a few of his cartoons from the past and present and spoke to the following:
• A fact that the use of editorial cartoons goes back centuries
• His job is not to be partisan but to target whoever is in power
• Nuance and innuendo are tools of the trade
• Social media has made people very political but also very uninformed
• The process of crafting editorial cartoons has moved from drawing on paper to using a tablet which makes the process much easier – Graeme shared a cartoon he did depicting the recent meeting of Zelensky and Trump in the Oval Office and then showed the template of the Oval Office he created in the past and continues to use
His cartoons do drive readership for the newspaper
• He has to consider what the future holds for a newspaper editorial cartoonist in a time of decreasing subscriptions to newspapers
• Currently has a space on Substack – a platform for journalists and cartoonists – Graeme shared a slide with his Substack information. http://substack.com/@mackaycartoons
Graeme MacKay: Editorial cartoonist The Hamilton Spectator
Shawn Blaj is a Superintendent with Hamilton Police Services. He spoke to the following.
• Challenges with staffing the police services – hiring does take place on a regular basis; however, we lose young recruits to other police services
• An overview of how Division 30 is divided into districts and provided a map showing the area – District 3 includes Dundas, the mountain to Brantford and Waterloo borders; D1 is the Dundas border to Sherman Avenue below the escarpment and D2 is the east end to the Niagara border
• Shawn has seen a number of changes in his 30 years in policing – a major change is that now there is much more paperwork involved in each investigation – this takes up a great deal of time of police work – the number one complaint he hears at town hall meetings is that people don’t see the police in their community and this is because the police go to a call and then have to do all the paperwork following the call
• There are minimum patrol office requirements which are currently – 18 on the mountain, 16 downtown, 17 in the east end and this has not changed in a number of years even though our city has become more populous
• There are always 2 officers in Dundas even though the Dundas substation was closed
• Calls from Dundas remain low
• Shawn spoke to Project Polar Bear – a major operation investigating the theft of high-end vehicles – organized crime, 8 arrests so far, 88% of stolen vehicles were recovered
• Provided information on how to report – emergency vs. non-emergency
• Shared some crime prevention tips
Shawn Blaj Superintendent Hamilton Police Services
Alysha Mein is an artisanal chocolatier and community builder. Alysha is the owner of Genesis Chocolate Factory, a welcoming space with beautiful displays of artisan chocolates, currently all dressed up for Valentine's Day. Alysha graduated from the Niagara College Baking and Pastry program and fell in love with the art of creating delicious chocolate treats through various employment opportunities and skills development. She completed the professional chocolatier program at Vancouver's Ecole Chocolat, graduating with honours. This led her to open Genesis Chocolate Company in downtown Dundas, now celebrating one year in business.
Alysha, along with her sister Ashley who works part-time with her, provided an overview of the business process they use for creating chocolate treats, including detailed information on the conching procedure used to mix and develop chocolate to create a smooth, flavourful texture. During their presentation, Alysha and Ashley answered various questions from the club members about the tempering process - which interestingly is quite similar to the process for tempering steel. They also discussed whether chocolate should be refrigerated, explaining that it should not be as it’s very porous and will absorb the flavours of other items in the fridge. Additionally, they touched on the differences between milk and dark chocolate and elaborated on the relationship Genesis Chocolate has with the other chocolate shop in town (very positive).
Sean Van Koughnett has been Associate Vice-President, Students at McMaster University since 2013. In this role, he is accountable for the student experience at McMaster and has oversight for departments such as Athletics & Recreation, Student Success, Student Wellness, Student Accessibility, Indigenous Student Services, Housing and Residence Life, and Student Accessibility.
In Sean’s role as AVP, he is on the front-line for disputes between students, students and the university and the university and the neighborhood. It was on this role that he spoke to the club.
Street Parties – In recent years, street parties during Homecoming in the McMaster neighborhood have made significant news in local media:
Kelly Daynard is Executive Director for Farm and Food Care Ontario. Farm and Food Care Ontario is a registered charity working as a coalition of farmers and associated businesses. It is funded by members, partners and projects. Its vision is to earn public trust in food and farming.
Canadian farms are over 93% family owned and run, but fewer than 2% of Canadians actually farm. Farming and related industries accounted for over $134 billion in 2021. In 1931, 1 in 3 Canadians lived on a farm. Now it is about 1 in 50. And the number of farms has dropped from over 700 000 to around 193 000.
Technology on farming is really making a difference. From self milking, to targeted crop protection, to integrated pest management, to GPS directed farm vehicles. Soil is a precious resource and not all soils are conducive to growing crops. Those that are need to be kept for farming. At present the country is losing around 317 acres of farmland each day.
in this country Food Freedom Day is February 9. That means just under 11% of an individual’s income goes to food.
Alex Wilson is a Dundas resident, McMaster graduate and local councillor since 2022. Alex expressed the common concern about the size of the City tax increase and described some of the challenges the City faced. In particular that our aging infrastructure, which was originally funded by all three levels of government, now needed a lot of investment that was just falling on the municipality. He described the need for a much more sustainable funding model than just local taxes and user fees. The housing crisis is another area which the City alone cannot solve, needing more from the Province and the Feds.
One item of good news was a new collaboration in Dundas with the Ontario Aboriginal Association which is enabling an $8M investment in taking over 211 York from a bankrupt company which will provide more subsidized housing.
Responding to a question on the progress of the Tiffany/Barton temporary shelters, Alex noted concerns with the City procurement process and how it needs improvement to avoid some of the issues faced with always choosing the lowest bid.
Alex also described the Community Grants Program which is helping Dundas groups like the School of Art, The Little Theatre, Routes and into 2025 will be directing some to more community restoration projects. On questions of local development, Alex noted that in 2025 his office will be releasing a report which describes the status of all open and outstanding development requests so a full picture of changes in Dundas can be seen.
Cara-Beth Gratzfeld and Susan Smith from Dundas Community Services.
Key points from their presentation
There is a large demand for their services with a wait list for all their services and demand is growing.
The DCS team do much facilitating and coordinating/collaborating between other service providers, filling gaps in services.
There is a continuing need for volunteers, particularly those who can drive seniors to their appointments. The often take several hours as the appointments are scattered all over greater Hamilton.
Many clients rely on DCS for hot meals; alternately the frozen meals delivery service is also in demand.
Local doctors are doing a good job making referrals to DCS, but assume too much that subsidized meals can be provided when there is not always the capacity/funding.
When asked what we could do to help, they stated that helping advocate for DCS in the community was important. Let others know the services they provide and the need for support, donations and funding.
Vocational Service is the Rotary Theme for January
It is the “softest” area in Rotary – not because it isn’t important, but because in today’s world, it is not as visible as other areas. We can see a Community Service Project …or an international project …we can experience projects associated with our Youth area … but Vocational Service is a bit innocuous out there … and it shouldn’t be.
Our service clubs were formed by four (or five) people from all different vocations – Lawyer, Tailor, Printer, Coal Dealer, Jeweller.
Our club does an admirable job in the Vocational area. We try and visit businesses and other ventures in Dundas – last year we did a visit to the Library. We share our experiences in the world of work in a Vocational Minute during club meetings about 8 times per year. We stand and acknowledge the guiding principles of the 4-way test. And this year, we will be working with Membership to see if we can attract new members from vocations not currently represented in our club, as part of the Club Action Plan.
Vocational Service can also be part of Rotary components – and don’t be afraid to ask…I have information on any of these – Rotary Action Groups, Fellowships, Exchange Programs and Vocational Training Teams at the International Level.
Put simply, Vocational Service encourages us to SERVE others by using our skills, EMPOWER others through training and skill development and INSPIRE others to act with integrity using the principles of the 4-way test…OF THE THINGS WE SAY AND DO…..not just in our meetings, but in our daily work experiences.
Club auctioneer Bruce Eccles with helper Denise Martins auctions one of the many items donated by club members. Cindy Smyth and Jody Beck manage the collection of money. This is the 25th year the club has supported St. Matthew's House with an in-house auction during a morning meeting in December. This year he got members and guests to bid just over $4900. Another $2000 was donated. Since the club has held this morning auction it has contributed around $150 000 to St. Matthew's House.
Mary Burnett the Chair of St. Matthew's House thanked the club for its ongoing support.
Kerry Lubrick is the coordinator of the Cathedral Cafe in Hamilton. The cafe provides a place to rest, use of washrooms, breakfast, lunch and refreshments all in doors. St. Mathew's House and the City of Hamilton each provide support. With over 180 volunteers registered to take various shifts, the cafe serves 170 visitors a day with 28% in shelters, 24% on the street and 40% housed. Kerry said volunteers, clothing and money are always needed. Contact her at kerryllubrick@gmail.com if you are interested in helping out.
The club inducted Pascale Tymen, Robert Scheiding, Rebecca Reble and Dieter Staudinger. Pascale, Rebecca and Dieter will be in STamp Out Polio Satellite Club.
The club made two donations to The Rotary Foundation: $2000 to the Annual Fund and another $1600 from the Stamp Our Polio Satellite Club to polio eradication. Phil Wood and Frances Manias made the cheque presentations to Lisa Bishop, Rotary District 7090 Rotary Foundation Chair.
Scott Eccles, owner of Eccles Auto Service in Dundas received a Paul Harris Award for his ongoing efforts to support community events, especially those of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise. Ralph Montesanto, Director of Membership for the club and District 7090 Foundation Chair Lisa Bishop presented Scott with his award.
Sarah Lampson, a past member of the club receives a Paul Harris Award as her nominator, Nancy Baker watches as Lisa Bishop pins her. Sarah has been a steady volunteer for club events from Lobster/Ribfest, Shredding Day, the Book Sale and Farm Gleaning, bringing with her a number of youth involved in other local organizations.
Jody Beck, the club treasurer and longtime hands on volunteer for club events, receives her Paul Harris from Lisa Bishop as Kathy Starodub, who introduced her, looks on.
Tom McLeod is pinned by Lisa Bishop as club Foundation Director Phil Wood looks on. Tom was club President during COVID-19 and helped the club through a slow fundraising year by brokering flow through events like Dine to Donate, a Virtual Fireworks and a 50-50 Draw for Margaret's Place Hospice.
Tom McLeod receives his Paul Harris from Lisa Bishop as Phil Wood the club Rotary Foundation Director looks on. Tom was club President during COVID-19 and was able to institute new service or fund raising events like Dine to Donate, a Virtual Victoria Day Fireworks and 50-50 Draw for Margaret's Place Hospice.
Phil Wood is joined by his wife Barbara and club President Russ Powers as he is awarded a Paul Harris. Phil was club president and is the club Rotary Foundation Director. He continues to be very active promoting the Rotary Foundation among club members.
The annual Socks & Skivvies collection was another great success with the public donating around $7000 of new socks, underwear, scarves, gloves, toques and children's clothing. 20 bags were packed and delivered to 15 different community organizations which support those in need. Deliveries went to Hamilton YMCA, Dundas Community Services, Ancaster Community Services, Salvation Army, Cathedral Cafe, St. Matthew's House, Sea Farers, Governor's Manor, Women Kind, Native Women's, Wesley House, Mission Services, Grace Anglican Church and the Hub. Thank you to all those community members who purchased the clothing and to those organizations which will distribute the goods.
Carl's and Dave's parents came to Canada as refugees in 1938 and began working on various farms. Several years later they married and bought a farm with 100 acres and 16 cows. Now, the family has 500 milking cows and around 900 acres either owned or rented. All the crops grown are for feeding the herd of close to 1000. They hire out to various businesses to manage the plowing, planting and harvesting of the various fodder crops.
Just over a year ago, they opened Summit Station Dairy, named after the TH&B station that existed across the road from the dairy. Carl's son Ben now runs the farm and Ben's wife Jen runs the store.
The plan for the farm and dairy has been and continues to be to grow the business by 10-15% each year. It is working. The farm produces about 20 000 litres a day of milk and around 7000L a week is processed at Summit Station into chocolate and strawberry milk, cheese curd and various percentages of butter fat milk. Besides being sold to about 1500 customers a week at the store, there are around 150 area folks who receive home delivery of milk, and 25 or 30 wholesale outlets that purchase product. As well, there is a meeting room that hosts small gatherings and a Saturday tour of the operation costing $15 pp.
Carl spoke about Canada's supply management system and the Ontario Dairy Council. It was interesting to note that he cannot just deliver raw milk from the farm to the store without going through the marketing board. Everything is part of the quota registered to the farm.
Gwyn E. Campbell is a retired professor who is now a Neurolinguistic Programming Master Practitioner and Certified Clinical Hypnotist. Today she spoke of the Magic of Hypnosis.
She started with the myths and misconceptions of hypnosis and how clinical hypnosis is nothing like what one sees on TV. Her lemon analogy had us visualizing and sensing the cutting of a lemon and involuntarily salivating and puckering with its taste. The unconscious mind stores everything we have done and seen and under hypnosis or simply a trance can help us solve problems and maintain better health. Hypnosis is not a truth serum and our moral compass is still in control. One has to want to be hypnotized to have the unconscious mind help us make changes.
Her process begins with a pre-talk on what the client hopes to achieve. Then to the induction or trance. A line of communication to the unconscious is opened and signs like twitches or blinks indicated things are happening. After 3 or 4 delves into the unconscious and a few metaphors to help direct, the trance is over.
Nibin Koshy spoke on the Borgen Project and the ODA - Official Development Assistance. The Pearson report of 1968 directed all developed countries to contribute 0.7% or $0.70 on every $100 of income. Presently, after all these years, Canada is at a little over 0.3%. The Borgen Project started in 2000. The link, https://borgenproject.org, states "The Borgen Project is an influential ally for the world’s poor. We go big. We work with leaders of the most powerful countries in the world to improve their response to humanitarian issues. For over 20-years, The Borgen Project has been advancing policies and programs that have large scale impact for people hit hardest by war, famine and poverty." Nibin said to start with ordinary folks, get them to speak to their members of parliament, have it discussed in parliament and work to enhance poverty reduction.
Nibin recently started a Canadian Chapter. He talked about the difference between Aid and Assistance and how the Borgen Project's aim is to improve economic conditions, national security and enhance Canada's global reputation.
Rebecca Reble and Dieter Staudinger presented on, Feeding the Future. The focus was on greenhouses in Leamington and the use of natural gas to heat them. The big five (not a safari) are tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce and strawberries. They said greenhouses can produce 8.5 times more tomatoes per acre than a traditional field.
And the greenhouse business is the fastest growing industry in 2022. 39% of all fresh produce is exported and almost 99% goes to the USA.
Greenhouses are mostly heated by natural gas although electrical and solar have a small portion. Leamington in particular sits on huge underground caves that store natural gas. Greenhouses often use a half million dollars a month of gas which is a direct purchase meaning they bypass Enbridge.
Mike Moulden and Nancy Gray outlined Cycling Without Age. The program started in Denmark in 2012 and now has 133 chapters in Canada. In the Hamilton area there are 65 volunteers and since its inception here has offered over 1000 rides to seniors in longterm care or assisted living homes. Check out the website https://cyclingwithoutage.ca/hamilton-burlington/.
The Trishaws are motor assisted and along with the pilot can carry up to two passengers to ride on safe trails for up to one hour. Non profit homes get the service free whereas for profit homes must pay a fee.
The trishaws were featured in the Tour de Dundas parade.
District Governor David Alexander reviewed some of our successes as a club in the past year. He talked about a wide-range of topics focusing both on the club’s vibrancy and its contributions to the local and global communities. In particular, he highlighted our Youth Services, Foundation Contributions, “sweat equity”, fundraising (especially Shredding and Lobsterfest) and was intrigued with Sox and Skivvies.
David presented President Russ Powers with the Citation Award.
23 years ago, on August 16th 2001, the Rotary Club of Dundas unveiled a sign in Centennial Park to describe the history of the Desjardin Canal and the Turning Basin. Over the years the sign, which was underneath the wooden arch at the entrance, had faded. Now the two Rotary Clubs in Dundas – the original club and the Dundas Valley Sunrise Club founded in 2000, have joined together to provide the new signs you see here.
The signs themselves were designed by Austin Strutt, curator at the Dundas Museum and Archives using considerable historic research, for which we thank him.
The STamp Out Polio Rotary Club welcomed Rebecca Reble and Dieter Staudinger, owners of J.D. Moncrieff & Associates, a natural gas consulting firm that they purchased in 2023.
Rebecca’s almost 20 years in the energy sector is specifically focused on gas sales to the greenhouse industry. This talk was a fascinating look at natural gas and the growing greenhouse industry (pun intended) in Canada.
Barb Montesanto is the longtime coordinator of the Rotary Sunrise Garden at St Mark's. She gave a history of the garden from its inception in 2012 to the present, covering the original construction and then reconstruction of the garden, from its original wooden structure to the concrete block rebuilt. The club paid for materials, and the labour was provided by club members, their families, St. Mark's and Dundas In Transition members. The club also pays the liability insurance premium. There are 26 plots, each divided in half with each gardener paying $25 for seeds, plants, fresh soil, and garden tools. Half of each plot is the gardener's to plant what he or she wants. The other half grows for the food banks. Gardeners must maintain both plots, preparing the plot in the spring, planting and weeding, and then putting the garden to bed for the winter. Harvesting is done by several others every Monday and Wednesday morning. The garden fence requires regular maintenance and the grass and weeds around the plots are cut. The Salvation Army Food Bank and the Hamilton Jewish Family Services Food Bank are the regular recipients of the produce. As well as the community garden, the club does a fall gleaning at an area farm, picking a wide variety of crops which are then cleaned, packaged and distributed to a dozen agencies and groups for distribution to those in need.
Brenda Blancher lived in the Hamilton area as a youth and went to Hamilton schools, including grade 13 at Southmount S.S. She went to McMaster, wrote for the Silhouette and wanted to be a journalist. She volunteered at Gibson School to teach reading and in 1985 became an English teacher, getting her first job at Waterdown District High School. In 1986 she moved to Ancaster High where she later became Head of Guidance. In 2001 she became a vice-principal, later serving as an education officer for the Ministry of Education and then a principal. By 2007 she was superintendent of program at the Grand and Erie Board and by 2015 was its director of education.
On Tuesday, July 23rd one of our STamp Out Polio/DVSRC members, Thie Convery, attended the Help Rotary Strike Out Polio at the $1 Million Baseball Game (the Pittsburgh Pirates versus the St. Louis Cardinals).
Rotary International President, Stephanie A. Urchick, challenged Rotarians to donate US$10,000 or more, with the first 25 PolioPlus supporters getting an invite to her hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to join her and RI General Secretary and CEO John Hewko, in a private suite at the game (graciously donated by Rotarian Bob Brooks).
Other Rotarians, including STamp Out Polio Chair, Frances Manias, joined in to watch Stephanie throw out the opening pitch, while celebrating over a million dollars raised for this initiative.
Ron Brown, Southern Ontario Director of the Canadian Snowbirds Association, and his wife Diane presented on the CSA which formed in 1992. The organization was formed to advocate for Canadians travelling to the USA. Here are some of the things it has accomplished: 1993 New Brunswick rescinds proposed residency regulation; 1995 Ontario restored out-of-country reimbursement rate; 1999 Ontario loosens residency requirement and extends prescription drug access; 2002 United States Congress rescinds proposal; 2007 Canada's Minister of Health writes to provincial counterparts on Canadian Health Act; 2009 P.E.I. reimbursement rates increased; 2010 Ontario permits mail-in ballots; 2012 Saskatchewan prescription medication access expanded; 2013 International Driving Permit requirement repealed in Florida; 2013 10-year Canadian passport; 2013-2015 Health coverage extensions in B.C., Manitoba, Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan; 2017 Manitoba Term Certificate Requirement.
Things to remember: the six month rule is not fiscal but starts each 365 days from your first visit; going home and returning to USA does not change the 6-month rule unless you are home 30 days; IRS tax form 8840 needs to be completed if more than 4 months in USA; $10 000 cash is not per person but how much in your car. If you are looking for insurance, Medapac Travel Insurance is worth checking into.
Past Area Governor Kathy Starodub inducted Russ Powers as the 2024-25 President of The Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise. This is Russ's second consecutive year as club president.
She presented Russ with the theme banner, The Magic of Rotary. He then inducted the new board. Russ highlighted the accomplishments of the club the past year noting that being awarded the Rotary Citation and the District Lighthouse Award marked the club in the top ten in District 7090. He said this new Rotary year will continue stressing having fun as part of the membership experience. The road map for this year and the following three years will be the development of the new Strategic Plan.
The inaugural Pull for Polio, run by the STamp Out Polio Rotary Club, is in the books! 34 lifters took part, ranging in age from 10 to 80, including 3 Rotarians, Jennifer Baxter, Thie Convery and Kanwal Shankardass. Of note, five kids under the age of 13, and 4 teens represented our youth, while we had every decade represented, including multiple folks in their 50s and 60s, and our 70, and 80 year old, respectively! The weather cooperated in our favour, and the Rotary Club of Dundas’ pancake breakfast provided all the carbs a lifter could want.
We have already raised (from our Rotary crowdfunding page) $13,768! Cash donations are also still to be accounted. Here is our link to donate via Rotary’s own crowdfunding site: https://raise.rotary.org/Frances-Manias/challenge. We will continue to solicit funds via the main page until the end of July.
Scott Marcin District Governor made his official visit to the club. The Rotary theme for this past year is, Create Hope in the World. And our club through its efforts is doing its part to bring the theme to life. He was very congratulatory to the club for the work that it does locally and internationally. He said that mental health is an important focus for Rotary and when we ask how someone is we should follow up with,"Really?", to open the conversation. He said Rotary is alive and well and works to make the world a better place and as Rotarians we do impact lives in a positive way.
The Ken Turner Bursary to Wyatt Rapson and Maya Hayworth and the Skilled Trade Bursary to Uma Pala.
Ken Turner Bursary Wyatt Rapson - Dundas Valley Secondary School. Wyatt organized and ran a charity auction for Good Shepherd which successfully raised over $4000. He has mentored Grade 9's and founded "the Gryphon Gamers Club" for students who had no friends, no community and no smile. This resulted in a club built on friendships, community and gaming. Wyatt will be attending St. Clair College in Windsor for the Esports Administration and Entrepreneurship program.
Maya Hayworth - St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School. Maya has been involved with the student council, prefects, athletics and pride club at St. Mary's. She has represented her secondary school in the Pascal math contest as well as the DECA (business contest). Maya will be attending McMaster University for the Arts and Science program.
Skilled Trade Bursary Uma Pala - St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School. Uma is the first recipient of the DVSRC Skilled Trade Bursary. She has been involved in both school and community based sports as well as ballet. Uma has volunteered as an alter server for St. Augustine church and as soccer camp coach. Uma will be attending Niagara College for the Electrical Apprenticeship on her journey to become an electrician.
Randy Raphael helped establish the Ancaster AM Rotary Club 30 years ago. He is a 3x Paul Harris Fellow and a major Rotary Foundation supporter. Randy spoke about his trip to see the Gorillas in Rwanda. Rwanda is a small country nestled between Tanzania and Congo. He spoke about attending the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali. The genocide lasted 100 days in 1994.
He visited the rural areas taking pictures of the locals. The highlight though was visiting Volcanoes National Park to look for gorilla families. They found one and Randy showed several pictures of the gorilla who seemed unimpressed with the humans. They also saw several “golden monkeys” and visited the Dian Fossey Museum. Interestingly, a permit to see the gorillas, costs $US 1500 per person! Security was very tight during the tour in light of the country’s past history.
Our STamp Out Polio club hosted W. Nefer LePard, a polio survivor. Nefer was born in Munich, Bavaria, in 1950 and contracted polio in her nursery school as a two-year-old. Her parents came to Canada in 1955 because her mother, a nurse, felt that she could get better health care for Nefer in Canada. In 1962, Nefer had experimental polio surgery at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. At age 52, Nefer was diagnosed with Post Polio Syndrome.
Nefer expressed her gratitude to the STamp Out Polio and Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Clubs for their good works to eradicate polio from the face of the Earth so that no other child (or adult) suffers from the effects of the poliomyelitis virus.
Remember: “If polio exists anywhere, it threatens children (and ultimately adults) everywhere!”
Leo Nupolu Johnson is an experienced non-profit executive, entrepreneur, consultant human rights specialist, public speaker, and United Nations Fellow." Leo is the Chief Empowerment Officer of Empowerment Squared. He spoke through a lens of young new Canadians and how important immigration is to the development of Canada. Canada's immigration targets nearly doubled in the last decade from 237 000 annually to 500 000. Some say international students are taking away housing, but housing was an issue long before the influx of international students. A recent Leger poll indicates that immigrants to Canada are facing a crisis of confidence and 30% of young new Canadians could leave in the next two years. Leo said we need to continue to leverage immigrants to help make our country better and international students will be well trained and can help to meet the growing needs of a well trained work force. We cannot afford to lose them once they are trained.
Leo closed with the Liberian Learning Centre, the first in Liberia. Our club donated to that cause. The library is expected to officially open in December of this year.
Jonathan Clifford is Head of Regulatory Affairs at Uniliver Canada. His topic, Dr. Strangefood or how I learned to stop worrying and love my bacon was a lighthearted approach to a serious subject. Jonathan started by outlining some of the brands that do community work like Hellmann's which collects unused food and distributes it to needy (http://Realfoodrescue.ca), and Lifebuoy with its "Have You Washed Your Hands" program to save children from disease. One of his goals is to make sustainable living commonplace by linking sustainability progress to business performance. Focus on climate, nature, plastics and livelihoods. He quoted Oscar Wilde who said, "Everything in moderation, including moderation". Enjoy a variety of foods: eat with pleasure - try new things; make water your most-consumed beverage; learn to cook, experiment; and, turn your kitchen into a workshop with the right tools. Hippocrates said, "Let food be your medicine, let medicine be your food". To that end Jonathan encouraged us to read food labels, avoid white stuff, limit sodium, saturated fat and sugar, and eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full.
The Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise held its annual Paul Harris Awards on May 1 for individuals who have done outstanding community service. The Paul Harris Award is the highest honour a Rotary club can bestow. Ed Madronich is co-owner of Shawn & Eds Brewing Company. He is a great supporter of local events and charitable organizations, using The SHED as a host site. Craig Campbell worked for over 25 years as a journalist at The Dundas Star. He is a great friend of area service clubs helping to spread the news of the many causes they support. Lynn Dykeman and Nora Clevenger have given hours of volunteering to assist refugees, working behind the scenes to send supplies, arrange sponsorships and help in their assimilation into Canada.
Each year the Rotary club honours individuals who have made a positive difference in the community.
Dr. Samantha Winemaker is a palliative care physician who cares for patients with serious illnesses and their families in the home. She actively helps people Hope for the Best and Plan for the Rest. She talked about the illness journey and the Waiting Room Revolution. She asked, "Are you a person who is in the dark or one who is in the know?"
She outlined seven keys for navigating a life changing illness: Walk 2 Roads - hope for the best and plan for the rest. Zoom Out - understand the big picture. Know Your Style - Select how you cope and face challenges. Expect the Ripple Effects - prepare for family's parallel journey. Connect the Dots - play central role in managing the system Invite Yourself - initiate conversations about what to expect and learn to be respectfully assertive.
Dr. Sammy put this information into a book entitled, "Hope For The Best Plan For The Rest", which she co-authored with Dr. Hsien Seow. Club members Cynthia Hastings-James receives a personalized copy of the book.
Nancy Baker, the book sale leader, reported on the book sale that took place April 20 & 21 (of course lots of background work before those dates and even after). We promoted recycling, had a line-up of customers outside the door of Shawn & Eds Brewing Company and had a busy two days. We received several in kind donations such as the rental truck from Turner Family Funeral Homes and sorting space at the reception centre, the poster design and creation by Cynthia Hastings-James, RoBear escapades and promotion, heavy lifting and sorting by the Dundas Dynamo Basketball team, exceptional organizational and floor captain work by Denise Martins and Scott Vance and endless other supportive tasks by so many of you. Also, a thank you to Ian Norman from North Design Build for storing the books all winter and delivering them to the reception centre. Compared to the first sale last fall we were open one day and several hours less but increased our donations by $53.32 in a little over half the time. The final result is $2617.60. The funds raised go to support youth scholarships, bursaries and awards for local area students.
Pre-Earth Day on Friday, May 19th, 43 members from D7090's Area 3 (Rotary Clubs of Waterdown, Flamborough AM, Dundas and Dundas Valley Sunrise) gathered on the banks of the Historical Desjardins Canal in Dundas (a feeder into Lake Ontario) to participate in the District's 'Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup'. Following an aggressive cleanup which yielded 43 bags of waste and recyclables, most retired to the neigbouring Hamilton Air Force Association clubhouse for conversation, beverages and hearty pub-fare.
Kim MacDonald is an award winning broadcaster who has been at The Weather Network since 1998. Kim is also a spokesperson for Breast Cancer Canada. Kim talked about how cell phones and social media changed weather broadcasting and the potential impacts of AI on future forecasts. Kim said she started as a co-host on a morning show before moving to The Weather Network. Things started to change with the advent of social media and Facebook. The smart phone made everyone a weather watcher and on site reporter, sending videos, photos and data to the network. And now there is AI. By looking at photos of the atmosphere for the past 40 years AI can make an accurate (80%) seven day forecast. But climate change is making the 40 year historical data not as relevant today and the human touch is needed to adjust the AI forecasts. AI is being tested to provide weather reports for specific target areas.
Dante Hunter presented Lights Out, Stars On: How to Reduce Light Pollution in Your Neighbourhood. He is Manager of the Bayside Astronomy programme in Lion"s Head. He is a fifth-year student in Physics and Astronomy at McMaster and is an enthusiastic champion of Dark Skies. His presentation followed the Total Solar Eclipse – a heavenly set of events. Dante told us that the sky is getting brighter; there has been a 49% increase in emissions world wide from 1992-2022. This has created a Light Pollution Crisis. The abundance of light not only diminishes the dark sky and obliterates the wonders of the stars, it also has serious negative ejects on wildlife, birds and trees. Babies that are hatched (reptiles, amphibians, birds) usually need lunar light to navigate themselves to shelter and water. Artificial light however confuses the newborns and often leads them to roads, yards and ultimately death. This leads to declining populations of songbirds, turtles, pujins to name a few.
Marina Medeiros is on a New Generations Service Exchange to Rotary District 7090. As a practicing real estate lawyer in Brazil, she has a particular interest in the working s of the legal systems of both Canada and the United States. She has begun her trip in Hamilton and visited the Hamilton Legal Aid Clinic, Ross McBride and our Criminal courts. She noted the dijerences between the legal systems and is appreciative of the opportunity to be here. As a child of Rotarians, Marina is very familiar with the values of Rotary and the pleasures of being a member.
Scott Peck is Deputy CAO/Director of Watershed Planning and Engineering for the Hamilton Conservation Authority. Scott introduced us to Conservation Ontario as a whole and its 36 individual ‘Conservation Authorities (CAs)’ who are defined by their watersheds and not by municipal boundaries ie. the City of Hamilton has 3 different CAs within it.
Scott then outlined the responsibility of CAs and outlined the legislated changes imposed upon them by the current government. Scot, then, talked about and showed a video of their current major project, the Saltfleet Wetlands on the east Hamilton Mountain.
Donna de Jong is the Executive Director of The John Howard Society of Hamilton, Burlington and Area.
The JHSHBA was established in 1949 and named after John Howard who lived in the 1700s and who after a couple of months in a French prison while on his way to Spain decided to be an advocate for prisoners.
The society’s mission is, “To provide programs and services to justice involved individuals and others, to achieve positive outcomes for the people we support and for the community at large.” Basically, it focuses on prevention, intervention and reintegration, or as Donna, summarized, before, during and after.
She said four million Canadians have a criminal record. Donna mentioned a number of myths about the society and then debunked them. Some are: only for men, only for people coming out of prison and soft on crime.
Every third Monday in February, the residents of Ontario, Canada, celebrate a provincial-mandated holiday known as ‘Family Day’. For the past fifteen years since the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club funded, built and opened the outdoor ice rink known as the ‘Dundas Rotary Skating Rink’ in our community’s Dundas Driving Park our Club has co-hosted “Inside/Outside Dundas” with the Dundas Museum & Archives. Our Club offers outside events such as a figure-skating demo, free hot chocolate, food trucks, Shoot2Score – a hockey-themed game for all ages and gift bag draws. Perfect winter weather attracted over 750 attendees to our ‘Outside’ event while almost 600 visited the ‘Inside’ events…a perfect example of a joint endeavour.
Outside activities include Free Hot Chocolate, Hamilton Police Mounted Unit, Shoot to Score Game with Prizes, Food Trucks, Music by Joan Ballantyne &Friends and RoBear the Club Mascot. Inside activities include Crafts, Gallery Scavenger Hunt, Box Fort, Free Hot Chocolate and Popcorn.
Cynthia Hastings-James was born in Halifax, spent summers in PEI before moving to England when she was three. She viewed herself as a Tomboy as she was growing up. Her father worked for an oil company and the family moved to Calgary where as a soccer player she met Wayne Gretzky and his father. Then the family moved to Toronto where she went to high school and received a BA from Western.
She had a quest to be independent and successful and in her first full time job dabbled in online work with a news organization. From there to Bell, health care and digital marketing. She was recruited into MD Briefcase to offer certification courses and started a similar program for pharmacists.
Using the skills she was learning she started a rewards program and then started a patient rewards program in 2011 and enjoyed three years of success.
She was invited to the Cayman Islands to give a talk on health behaviour change and was invited to start a rewards program there. That lead back to Canada and the Canadian Insurance Industry where her company (she had a partner) was bought out by Goldman Sachs in 2021.
Gordon Hadaller is President and CEO of STERN Laboratories in Hamilton. One of his longtime associates Fraser Forrest said, "For over 60 years the laboratory has carried out tests and designed equipment to support Nuclear Power Station builders and operators as well as universities and other laboratories worldwide. Through the ups and downs of the nuclear business Gordon has been able to maintain a consistent team of about 30 engineer, technologists, technicians and support staff." Gordon showed a variety of slides of various components of the lab and the types of projects it works on.
The many services offered include Critical Heat Flux Test Remote Handling Tools, Fuel Handling & Inspection Services, Fuel Simulators, Reactor Safety and Reliability Experiments and Computational Fluid Dynamics.
Scott Vance joined the club in April 2015 and has been a high level volunteer on many club member events including Rotary Stars, Lobster Rib Fest, Family Day and the Book Sale. Outside the club he does The Big Ride for Cancer and was VP of the Dundas Figure Skating Club. Congratulation Scott.
Barb Montesanto receives a Paul Harris Award from Sandi Chard District 7090 Rotary Foundation Chair, Phil Wood club Rotary Foundation Director and Russ Powers club President.
Barb is not a club member but is regularly involved in club activities from coordinating seating for Lobster Rib Fest, planning Christmas socials and providing fresh produce to a variety of organizations that feed the needy. Besides harvesting at the Sunrise Community Garden, delivering the produce to the Salvation Army and Hamilton Jewish Family Services food banks twice a week and administering the garden for over 25 gardeners she coordinates the gleaning at a Carlisle farm where over the past three years $15000 worth of vegetables were harvested and delivered to Mission Services, Welcome Inn Community Services, Out of the Cold, and St. Matthew's House to name just a few recipients
Sandi Chard District 7090 Rotary Foundation Chair, Phil Wood club Rotary Foundation Director and Russ Powers club President present Jan Southall with a Paul Harris Award.
Jan Southall has been a member of the club since 2002 and besides being president in 2013-14 she was and continues to be involved in many club activities including Youth Services, several Rotary clothing events, ticket sales for the 50/50 draw (along with Glen), puzzles sales for Dundas 175 and the bucket brigade for Fireworks. Outside the club she provides leadership for the St. James House Tour and Friendship Force.
Filomena Tassi MP and Minister Responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario was guest speaker.
Filomena was born in Hamilton, a corporate lawyer and a high school chaplain before being elected as an MP. Filomena thanked the club for its ongoing service to both the local and international communities. She then went on to tell us a bit about herself and how her parents taught her the importance of service.
As our local MP she believes strongly in the Team Hamilton approach and works across party lines. She is a tireless advocate for this area and has helped bring billions of dollars in funding to the city. Seniors, climate, health and dental care are key areas that her government pursues.
Filomena left the podium and sat at a table so as to take notes during question period.
Jody Beck asked about the conduct of members of parliament. Filomena's answer indicated her frustration with members who have become divisive and out to score political points. MPs need to lead by positive example and we as their electors need to speak up and tell them their behaviour is inappropriate. Cynthia Hastings-James' question asked what steps are being taken on preventative medicine rather than just care when an issue arises. Filomina answered with the 200 billion dollars the federal government is giving provinces for health care and the strings of accountability attached to the funding. She indicated the importance of things like walking trails, proper food labelling and smoking cessation programs.
Filomena offered to have any written questions forwarded to her and she would respond to each one.
Tony Bratschitsch is the Youth Education Chair for the Royal Canadian Legion - Branch 36 (Dundas) and at the Zone level where he does Youth Outreach .
Tony started by thanking the club for the great service work it does in the community. He then gave a history of how the poppy got to be the Remembrance Day icon it is, starting as the only thing that would grow in Flanders fields; being sent home with soldiers' letters; the writing of Flanders Fields by John McCrae; and, then the making of cloth poppies in France by folks with one hand.
His goal as youth chair is to help pass the torch of remembrance to ongoing generations. The legion runs a Remembrance contest for youth where posters, poems and essays are contributed. When Tony speaks to youth he stresses the effect wartime service has on families.
Don Robertson is the owner of the Dundas Real McCoys whose team has won the Allan Cup twice, the most recent in 2023.
The Dundas Real McCoys started in 2000 and won the Allan Cup in 2014 and 2023. The Allan Cup is the oldest men's hockey championship for triple A hockey and his Dundas team will be hosting the 2024 championship starting on April 19 at the J.L. Grightmire Arena in Dundas. Almost 80% of his players have played in the NHL or other professional leagues. Don has been involved with hockey for over 40 years and it is clearly his passion.
The Rotary Satellite Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise: STamp Out Polio held its chartering celebration after being in operation for four months. Thie Convery, chair of the club, welcomed Past Rotary International Director and Vice-President Valarie Wafer and her Husband Mark. Host club past president Phil Wood presented the satellite club with a polio donation of $2000.
Then Thie presented Valarie with her personal contribution of $25 000 and through the magic of modern electronics Valarie handed the cheques to Past RI President Jennifer Jones.
Thank you to Josling Farms in Carlisle for letting a group of club members and friends of the club harvest. The produce was distributed to various food banks and organizations that help feed the needy.
Joe Guedes was one of 22 helpers who picked a variety of peppers, eggplants and cabbages. In total over $5000 worth of vegetables were harvested, sorted in a members garage and then distributed.
Doug Putman is a local entrepreneur growing up in Dundas and now living in Ancaster.
Doug walked through a history from grade 6 to Dundas District High School, Parkside High School and one year at Laurier University in business. He quit university and went to work at 19 in his parents' toy distribution warehouse. His personal motto is, "Resourcefulness is more important than resources", and his talk clearly demonstrated that.
He asked to do sales and his climb to a billionaire began. Buy failing businesses, get the owners to bear the burden of financing the sale, reward them and get suppliers to give an extended invoicing time. Using this model he bought Sunrise Records, HMV, HMV UK and Toys "R" Us Canada, growing overall sales to the five billion dollar mark with around 60 000 employees. Reinvest regularly to keep growing.
Benson Honig (Ph.D. Stanford University) is the Teresa Cascioli Chair in Entrepreneurial Leadership, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, Canada. The Reframery http://reframery.org assists marginalized communities by reducing financial instability, supporting new and existing small and micro businesses (SMBs) and self employment activities. Training is accomplished virtually. Benson works with women in Ukraine, Poland, Kenya and Brazil and prepares 6 or 12 week programs that are built especially for the communities in which they live.
Benson Honig: Reframery - Developing entrepreneurial ingenuity for Immigrants and other Marginalized persons
In a way that only Charlie could do, he lead the members in a series of group discussions to help them better get to know each other. He started the session with a rooster audio waking up the farm. After all, this is the Sunrise club.
Charlie had members write down answers to 8 or 9 questions and then take turns sharing them with their table. There was plenty of chatter and laughter and everyone found out something new about each other. Fellowship is such an important part of being in a Rotary club.
Charlie Purich: Sharing Stories and Getting to Know Each Other Better
Thie Convery is passionate about the eradication of polio. Back in 1988 when Rotary International started the vaccination process over 350 000 new cases of polio occurred each year. In 2022 there were 30 cases. Up to now in 2023 there are 7 cases of wild polio world wide. Thie decided she wanted to vaccinate over a million children and set about to commit personal funds and help raise money from others. She practiced for over a year to do a marathon swim and in 2010 entered Lake Ontario at Niagara-on-the Lake on her way to Toronto. Bad weather and fear for the safety of her spotting boat ended the swim before she made it. None-the-less with the support of her previous club, The Rotary Club of Dundas, she raised $52 000.
On July 1 2022 she was welcomed into the Arch Klumph Society by RI President Jennifer Jones for her last dollar donation of 250 000USD towards the eradication of polio.
Thie is a member of the Investment Planning Council, IPC Securities Corporation and is a wealth advisor in Dundas .
Jill Bienenstock is an early childhood educator who puts that training to use as director of education for Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds. She focuses on ways to extend curriculum outdoors. In a study she talked about, children at school who spent 2.5 h outside per day as opposed to those spending only 45 min per day were more engaged in learning and were better problem solvers.
She said this kind of outdoor learning is imperative for child development. A playground designed by the 60-person Bienenstock team, lead by husband Adam, is an outdoor classroom. The company has designed natural playgrounds from Dundas, Burlington and Hamilton to California and Utah. Check https://www.bienenstockplaygrounds.com to see more about this local company.
Derek Dix gave a brief history of the art and craft of woodturning. His knowledge and skill on the subject were evident and members had lots of questions when he was finished. Woodturning began in the 13th century BC and centres around a lathe. First lathes where turned by hand or by foot pedal and are now large enough to turn a column or small enough to turn a jeweller's pin. Wood turning is both utilitarian (chair backs and bowls) or art work. Safety is very important especially with air quality. Derek looks on woodturning as an opportunity to be imaginative, creative and active.
Every new member is asked to give a vocational services classification talk - tell us about yourself and what you do. Paul Dembe is a long time Dundas resident, growing up in town and attending schools here. He lives in Dundas with his wife and son. His career spans the hotel restaurant business working for a time in Europe and opening restaurants in town; then a switch to long-term care, food services and environmental service; then on to his most recent endeavour, Valley Town Pest Control which is in its third year https://valleytownpestcontrol.ca. He services commercial and residential properties dealing with rodents and flying and crawling insects.
Cynthia Hastings-James is the newest member of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise. Thanks to her sponsor Russ Powers who met her during the Victoria Day Fireworks and invited her to see what the club is all about. After visiting she decided to accept an invitation to join. Cynthia was a cofounder of Best Life Rewarded Innovations Inc. https://www.blrinnovations.com/about-us/#who-we-are. She is part of 100 Women Who Care Hamilton and believes in fostering community development. Her classification is Wellness Services.
The 2023-24 club President Russ Powers is presented with the new Rotary International theme, Create Hope In The World, by District Governor Elect David Alexander. David inducted Russ as our new president and then Russ welcomed all the new board members.
As is the custom of the club new members are inducted during the first meeting of the new Rotary year. District Governor Elect David Alexander assisted President Russ Powers, Past President Phil Wood and Membership Director Ralph Montesanto to bring Brenda Blancher and David Maciulis into the Rotary family. David and Brenda are at either end of the photo.
Brenda was the Director of the Grand and Erie District School Board and David owns Natural Landscaping Group.
New Members Brenda Blancher and David Maciulis Inducted
The Ken Turner Memorial Bursary is named after long time Rotarian Ken Turner. Ken had over 40 years of perfect attendance and was a charter member of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise. The bursary is $1500 per student.
The Ken Turner Memorial Bursary is an annual bursary available to a graduating secondary student who attends Dundas Valley Secondary School, St. Mary Catholic Secondary School or is a permanent resident of Dundas who attends another public, catholic, French or private school in the Greater Hamilton Area.
Benjamin Neiterman – Dundas Valley Secondary School Benjamin is the president of the DVSS Athletic Council as well as an exemplary student. He was actively involved in community service. He has participated in 5 Remembrance Day parades, marshalled 2 Terry Fox runs and organized multiple social events at school and in the community. He has volunteered for many organizations including the Adas Israel Synagogue, National Congregation of Synagogue Youth, Flamborough/Dundas Soccer club and the Dundas Minor Hockey Association. Of particular note is his involvement in the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets. He has completed his fifth year as a Canadian Sea Cadet and achieved the rank of Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class. In the summer of 2022, he was the Chief Staff Cadet for the Cadet activity program, training 80+ young cadets. Benjamin will be attending MacMaster University in the Environmental Science Program. Benjamin is flanked by Rotarian Denise Martins and Principal Lindsay Williams.
Samantha Coit – St. Mary’s Catholic Secondary School Samantha was on the swim team and won several medals to qualify for OFSAA. She has volunteered teaching people how to row, fundraising for different youth programs and collecting clothes for donation to a women’s shelter. This involved collecting an entire motorboat worth of clothing and blankets for the Carol Anne Women’s Shelter in Hamilton. Samantha will be attending the University of Washington in the biology program. Her future goal is to be a doctor where she can support communities in their health and well-being. Samantha is flanked by Principal Carla D'Elia and Denise Martins and Guidance Councillor Jamie Geralimetto.
Susan Sheper is a videographer, director and video editor. Susan started her filming career with a hand held camera and a back yard sound studio in Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo. It was not long before folks started knocking at her door. Projects with USAID to teach children and teachers, AIDs prevention videos and stop child sorcerer videos. A children's show called Bobo and Kipi, http://youtu.be/Mhap2whUcic was very successful with almost a million children in her home city watching each episode. She visited 9 countries to produce a documentary called Dawn of the Light and had a training time in the Central African Republic to teach youth how to make documentaries. Back in Hamilton she produced videos that were portraits of individuals. Her club presentation combined some of her videos and club members were awed by what she had to say and what we saw. Her husband Jason is a great supporter of her work.
Susan Sheper: Videographer, Director, Video Editor
Doug Mattina spent much of his working life as a senior diplomat for Canada. He was also chief of departmental staff for a senior assistant deputy minister and foreign minister. Doug, who is a member of the Hamilton AM Rotary Club is now the Director of Public Affairs and the Paediatric Hospice Project.
His club has been working on the Paediatric Hospice Project for a number of years and is into the fundraising stage where $25 million is needed. We have three adult hospices in Hamilton but nothing for those under the age of 18.
Doug said the purpose of today's presentation is, "To raise awareness of the important work underway to build a centre of excellence for pediatric palliative care at 41 South St. W. This presentation will highlight the need, unique partnerships, a new model of care and a glimpse into the robust services and supports that will be available. It will also underscore the work through a lens of health equity, population health, wrap-around care and meeting children and families where they are at." The intent is to have the facility running by late 2025.
So, what's in store? Capital Campaign Team: tasked with raising $25M Almost half-way there in commitments Land Acquisition: securing a site within reasonable proximity to MCH, offering families a balance between tranquility and services close-by. Government Application Capital funds ~$2.5M (one-time) Operating funds ~50% of overall operational budget (on-going)
Acting Sub Lieutenant Michael Harris welcomed us to the Lions Memorial Community Centre and outlined some of what the cadets do in the program.
The key themes are leadership, fitness and interest in the armed forces. Some programs are sailing, nautical traditions, Sail Canada certification, marksmanship. orienteering, music, biathlons, sports nights and summer training. Much of the cost is borne by the Canadian Armed Forces; however, The Navy League supplements with a variety of tours and a trip to Halifax during the 2024 March break.
Ciara Kinsella the 2022 Ken Turner Bursary recipient is flanked by Denise Martin on the left and Ciara's mother on the right. Ciara said she is, "Extremely honoured and grateful to have been selected as a recipient of the Ken Turner Memorial Bursary." The bursary is equivalent to working part-time for an entire semester and instead of working she could focus on her academics. As well as going to class she volunteers with Connect Theatre, Dundas Baptist Church, McMaster Hospital Paediatric Emergency Department and even took part in the Mac Sci Musical.
Julia Rose is the other 2022 Ken Turner Memorial Bursary recipient. She is at the University of Guelph studying Geography. She said, "As for volunteering, I have made time in my busy schedule to be the events lead on Geography Society at the University of Guelph. Doing this, I work together with other members to plan events and organise details for students interested and studying geography." Right now she is in British Columbia tree planting. Again, her own words. "I have already planted over 4,000 trees and am excited to plant even more! This job has been both physically and mentally demanding but also physically and mentally rewarding.
Adventures in Citizen students Darrah Smith and Elizabeth Lampson are flanked by President Elect Russ Powers and President Phil Wood. Nancy Baker had them gather at her house before they left for Ottawa. President Phil and Youth Services Committee Chair Nancy waved them off after coffee and doughnuts on Nancy's driveway. Darrah and Elizabeth were both very excited and grateful to start their adventure armed with lunches from Nancy and chauffeured to the airport by their former MP Russ. Both students promised to bring back lots of photos and a full report of their week.
Adventures in Citizenship Students Elizabeth Lampson and Darrah Smith
Club members John, Dave and Joe fill one of 58 totes that hold ten small bank boxes. That means over 14 000 pounds of paper documents were safely destroyed and sent for recycling. Thanks to the community for its continued support for this semi annual club service event. Start pulling those files now to be ready for our fall event sometime near the end of September of early October.
Joel Dembe is a Paralympian and strategic communications advisor. He was Canada’s top-ranked wheelchair tennis player and won over 30 international titles throughout his career. Joel represented Canada at the Paralympics and won our country's first international medal in wheelchair tennis at the 2015 Toronto Pan-American Games, shortly before retiring from sport. He currently serves as Senior Communications Manager at Royal Bank of Canada and is also co-Chair of RBC Reach, its advisory group for clients and employees with disabilities. He's also a frequent media contributor and keynote speaker, where he advocates for accessibility and inclusion.
Alex Wilson, Ward 13 councillor helped close out Environment Month. His goal is to build a livable future and we must make changes or it keeps happening as usual. Building community relationships, especially honouring our rural community is a key strategy. He is worried that community consent is lessening as the province is wielding more direct control. The city needs a biodiversity action plan and partnering with community organizations like our Rotary club will be a step in the right direction. You can contact Alex at http://Ward13@hamilton.ca
Cindy Smyth is a long time resident of Dundas, going to elementary and high school here. After getting married she travelled the world, returned and set up a store in Ancaster (What a Deal), then headed off to Windsor for 5 years and back to Dundas. After 10 years and 5 years of volunteering at Ronald McDonald House she went into Real Estate, soon joining Platinum Lion Real Estate. It's a different company in that all commissions go to the agents. The agents in turn pay various fees to be part of the company. Cindy hosted a club meeting at Platinum Lion Real Estate Offices in Dundas where she gave her classification talk as one of the club's new members.
Family Day, 2023. Finally, we were able to get out and enjoy social contacts as the pandemic seems to have dissipated. New member, Charlie Purich and his team (Russ Powers, Cindy Smyth, et al) organized a great program for kids at the driving park, right adjacent to our signature project, the skating rink. Charlie thought of everything - how to line it all up, all the materials needed, prizes, and volunteers to assist. We were blessed with a nice day … sunshine, but a brisk wintry wind … and lots of folk exploring and enjoying the day out.
Thanks to all the Rotarians and their families who helped make this a big success with over 500 in attendance.
In Long Point, a former Dundas resident, John Everett … and his wife, Jan, have come to the rescue for MANY turtles as they migrate across busy roads. To promote interest in their work, Jan has written a book about saving the turtles on the busy causeway in Long Point. The book has been a huge success, selling nearly 5000 copies. Proceeds from the book go towards maintaining tunnels and fencing in the Long Point Biosphere.
Chantal, a grade 4 teacher noted that “The talk drew attention to important local efforts and gave students the information needed to act locally and globally by understanding the importance of conservation efforts in their own backyard. Jan and John are informative and connect with students, they are engaging and spark curiosity. Students were excited about being able to help with small actions that make a big difference for animals.”
One of her students responded with “I love turtles and I want to help them. Now I feel inspired to do so and this is going to be a passion for me”.
John and Jan have a nice presentation which they have given to service clubs, schools and youth groups.
Also present were two members of the Dundas Turtle Watch; they also enjoyed the presentation and will now try and mirror some of the Initiatives of Jan and John in our own area.
Russ King, Lori King and Nicole Ryan, corporate members of AED4Life/BERRN Consulting gave a demonstration of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and AEDs (automated external defibrillator), at their headquarters at 55 Head Street in Dundas. Several times a year the Rotary club will do off-site meetings at an area business or organization as part of its vocational service program. http://aed4life.ca
Heart attack and cardiac arrest are serious health issues but lives can be saved if people know how to do CPR and how to locate and operate an AED.
Mike McDonald, CEO of The Bruce Trail Conservancy, welcomed the club to its headquarters at 55 Head Street in Dundas. Several times a year the club visits organizations or businesses in the area as part of its vocational service program. Mike outlined the role of the organization and the size of the area that it manages. Its website
http://brucetrail.org states, “We conserve and care for land within the Niagara Escarpment UNESCO World Biosphere to protect its ecosystems for the benefit of all and make it available to explore by foot along the magnificent Bruce Trail”. The organization is funded without any government money, with over 12 000 members contributing to the cause. Four key areas are, strategic land conservation (70% of trail within protected natural corridor), proactive land stewardship (18 889 acres protected), connecting people to nature, and, engaging dedicated volunteers (1500). All this to give 1 376 km of trail.
Club member Dr. Paul Clifford, retired from McMaster University, gave a well presented “lecture” on the dire state of water in the United States, especially on the west coast and central plains food belts. His photos of main dams showing significant loss of water and facts on aquifers moving deeper below the surface raise are very worrisome for the future of these areas and the millions of people living there.
Thie Convery and Frances Manias were inducted into the club. Both were members several years ago of the Rotary Club of Dundas and have returned to the Family of Rotary to start the Rotary Satellite Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise: End Polio Now. District Governor Lisa Bishop assisted club president Phil Wood and Erin Holl (not in the photo) in the induction ceremony.
Thie Convery and Frances Manias Newest Club Members
We have a winner of the 50/50 draw to raise funds for the Spencer Creek Heritage Trail Creation. Chantel Todd an employee at Fluke Transport purchased the winning ticket and received a cheque for $4395 from Dundas Valley Sunrise President Phil Wood.
Guest speaker Renee Wetselaar gave an overview of St. Matthew's House and how appreciative she is for the continued support the club provides. She started by thanking Barb Busing and Jody Beck for their leadership in the child care sector of the House. Application was made to the government to be part of the reduced child care fees and they should drop to just over $12 a day within a year. The other key support goes to seniors. Emergency food delivery has at least 25 boxes a day delivered.
St Matthew's now manages the outreach program for the City of Hamilton and the House's outreach workers know where most of the homeless live and visit them regularly. Bringing food to the encampments is now OK. St. Matthew's House is partnering with the Green City Foundation to change the parking lot area into a children's play ground, tree garden and water absorbing parking area.
As well the House received $7.8 million from the province to construct affordable housing where the old food bank was.
The club will help support the further development of the trail along Spencer Creek. Purchasing a 50/50 ticket will help the club raise funds for this project.
It gives the story of Tiny Sheds already servicing the previous tent city residents. The Alliance for Tiny Sheds provided the photos below.
8 ft by 10 ft is the maximum size to avoid having a building permit. Heat and electricity are provided. Sanitation and food would be in an attached facility.
If you are interested in supporting the cause contact jkollek2@gmail.com.
David Carson has built ties to individuals who lived and fought through WWII. His research lead him to the book, X-Troop, The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War II. David select a number of individuals from the book, highlighted them and then brought them to life. His research actually led him to one of the individuals who lives in the area and David visited him.
For the second week in a row the club held its morning meeting off site. We gathered at the Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre where President Anton Plas and Executive Director Colin Lapsley welcomed the group. After breakfast provided by The Village Bakery we broke into two groups and were given a guided tour of the building, from the main theatre through the classrooms for various art programs, the dance studio, dressing room and another room with a stage suitable for around 100 patrons.
One of the groups on the theater stage
and in the mirrored dressing room.
Our communities are very fortunate to see this 21 million dollar project built and running.
Cindy Smyth is welcomed into the club by President-Elect Russ Powers. Cindy is a real estate agent working with Platinum Lion Realty Inc. The office is located in the old post office in Dundas. Cindy is looking forward to volunteering at club events and helping to fundraise.
Marla Panko is the curator at the Carnegie Gallery in Dundas. The club met at the gallery for its morning meeting, presented a cheque to Marla for the gallery and then had a tour. Marla's art work is theme based as she tells a story over several frames. Here she points to the space program and moon landing. When she tells her story the artwork comes to life.
David Silvestro is the most recent new member to the club. He is also the youngest. He grew up in the area and attended St. Mary's Catholic High School and McMaster De Groote School of Business. As a youth he excelled in golf and was ranked as one of the top juniors in Canada. Before joining St. Joseph's Villa Foundation in Dundas he was an up and coming entrepreneur, starting with a partner, a landscaping enterprise and a 3D modelling company. Both were sold when he moved on to become the Marketing and Community Engagement officer at St. Josephs' Villa Foundation. As part of his community involvement David works on the Vote Loomis Campaign for Hamilton mayor, is a McMaster Health Innovation resident, and is part of the Young Leaders Program with Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion. Although he has stopped playing serious golf he is leaning towards an interest in golf course architecture. Who knows, he could become the next Stanley Thompson golf course designer.
Danuta Niton is an artist, born in Poland and now living in Dundas. Graphic design, acrylic and watercolour painting, murals and house sketching are her forte. She has sketched more than a hundred houses in Dundas, some famous and some just because her heart took her to the address. Now, many of those sketches are in her new book, My Walks of Art. The Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee recently presented her The Art of Heritage Award.
Her book sells for $45 and is available at the Dundas Museum. The book has a map with several routes that you can follow to see the houses she sketched.
Amanda Thomassian is the Director of the Routes Centre in Dundas. Her exuberant personality combined with the friendly atmosphere of the location will help drive the centre to new heights.
Youth aged 8 to 19 attend the centre for sports, homework completion, and a variety of other structured and non-structured programs. A key feature that draws youth is the chance to have something to eat. It's also a place to socialize in a safe environment.
Hamilton Police Service Deputy Chief Paul Hamilton gave an update on policing in Dundas. The stats he presented reinforced the notion that Dundas is a safe community. Of the more than 95 558 calls for service received by The City of Hamilton, Dundas had 2150 or 2.25%. Auto theft has 17 reports to date or 2% of the city total. Break and enter has 18 or 2% of the total. Here is a look at a comparison of the city and Dundas for "Call types":
Club member and retired RCMP Staff Sergeant Bill Armstrong thanked Deputy Chief Hamilton for the time he took to put together such a thoughtful presentation and for answering all questions asked by club members.
The city is fortunate to have him as a deputy chief.
John Merrill is one of our newest members and was giving his classification talk. John and Heather (in the photo) were married just over two weeks. He is a real estate agent working out of an Oakville office but living next door to the Dundas Driving Park. Old cars, golf and community volunteering take up much of his spare time. As is often the case, some of our best and most interesting speakers are our very own members giving their classification talk - a brief personal history and a look at their vocation.
On the morning of August 16 at the Dundas Driving Park the club had the pleasure of inducting Heather McLean as its newest member. Heather is the new Executive Director of Hamilton Jewish Family Services. As is the club practice, Heather then met all members in attendance who like Ken Beel welcomed her into the club.
Help celebrate the 175 anniversary of the Town of Dundas. Purchase the puzzles, Our Town Now and Our Town Then. $20 each or two for $35 during the Cactus Festival. See the booth in front of the firehall on August 20 & 21. At other times puzzles are available from club members, at the Dundas Museum or Carnegie Gallery.
Mary Burnett, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Brant, Haldimand, Norfolk, Hamilton and Halton spoke of the number of people who have dementia and specifically about Alzheimer disease. The society's website is a useful tool for those who think they might be moving into dementia or for those who are living with a family member who has the disease. The link is https://alzda.ca.
David Silvestro is now a member of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise. David is the Community Engagement officer for the St. Joseph's Villa Foundation in Dundas. He brings skills in social media, website design and public relations to the club. His classification is Long Term Care: Community Engagement.
Recently inducted member Charlie Purich welcomes David into the club as members Harold Gruneberg and Wayne Massey look on.
Julia Sharp Dundas Valley Secondary School and Ciara Kinsella St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School are the club's Ken Turner Memorial Bursary winners. The Ken Turner Memorial Bursary is an annual bursary available to a graduating secondary student who attends Dundas Valley Secondary School, St. Mary Catholic Secondary School or is a permanent resident of Dundas who attends another public, catholic, French or private school in the Greater Hamilton Area. The bursary of $1,500/student/school will be awarded to a maximum of 3 recipients annually.
Other graduating student award winners are:
Seraphina Churchill flanked by Denise Martins and DVSS principal Gail Cipriani
Matthew Gilbreath flanked by SMCSS principal Anthony Macaluso and Denise Martins.
At Sir William Osler Public School grade eight valedictorian Jesse Sharpe received her graduation award.
Charles Fraser Forrest was born in 1943 on a farm in southern Manitoba, only 8 miles from the North Dakota border and the location of some Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM’s). Theirs was a mixed farm of crop and livestock; later his Dad would acquire more land and convert to wheat and canola exclusively. Electricity came to the farm in 1949; prior to this Fraser and his family lived the ‘pioneer life’ – wells, pumps, no indoor plumbing, and outdoor loos. He attended a one room schoolhouse for his elementary education, and Manitou H.S. for his secondary before going to the University of Manitoba where he took a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Small scale rural agriculture requires people to be resilient, creative and resolute – especially in the 40’s. As Fraser told his story we could see that these qualities, shaped by his childhood, permeate his entire life. In 1966, jobs were plentiful for mechanical engineers and Fraser had his choice of opportunities. He declined work in the oil fields but accepted the offer from Hawker Siddley. And for a brief time he enjoyed working in aerospace. But as we know that industry in Canada has had a bumpy ride, so it wasn’t long before he left and joined AECL in Chalk River.
After several years there, Fraser decided to return to university and he pursued his Masters of Engineering at Waterloo. This led to a job offer from Frank Stern who then was leading the transformer division at Westinghouse. Over time this division became an independent, employee owned company, STERN Laboratories Inc. They test safety systems for nuclear power plants. Fraser loved this work: the challenge, the creativity, and the importance of getting it right. He is a published author of numerous books, articles and reports. He has presented at conferences and universities worldwide. He shared with us a photo of an ‘experiment’ where they tested a “what if” scenario for a potential leak at a nuclear reactor. The reactor reminded Fraser of a farm silo. They filled the silo with steam and cesium – and in his words made lots of noise!
Mike Palme was a scientific glass blower for McMaster University. This job required attention to detail and specificity. Unlike artistic glassblowing, the scientific glassblower is creating instruments that will be used in a number of departments, Some of these objects were quite small, others not. It was an exacting profession. Changes within the university led to Mike’s retirement from McMaster in 2014. And while this turned out to be a good move, it was initially a bit challenging. After 30 years of one job, what would be next?
Mike is happy to say that his switch to the financial services industry has given him great pleasure and satisfaction. In 2015, he applied for a position with Freedom 55 and was immediately part of a training programme that led to LLQP (life) and CIFC (mutual) licensing. After becoming a certified Financial Security Advisor, Mike took a position with Nelson Melo and Associates Co-operators in Dundas.
Jason’s Sheper's work life spanned 5 continents in a range of computer, financial and business experiences, a musical life as a jazz artist and choral master, a stint as an international development consultant with USAID and an MBA student at Oxford University. He has also owned a 4 star hotel and currently supports an elementary school. Jason and his wife Susan have collaborated on a number of projects, most importantly raising two children in Kinshasa DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo).
Jason’s life is worthy of cinema. He began as a teenager in the mailroom of a large American corporation. And to this day is grateful for the invaluable knowledge of people that he gained from the job. During the 1980’s he worked in sunny California for Computerland – and he relished the enthusiasm and “can do” attitude of the times and people. While at a meeting in Richmond Hill, he met Susan and to hear Jason tell, he decided right then that he wanted to marry her. They went on a date (to a Blue Jays game) and so it goes! She was only here for a brief visit as she was then living full time in the Congo.
Jason decided he’d visit the Congo with her (he had vacation time) and again, so it goes. They married. They returned to California but this version of “paradise” did not appeal to Susan whose life had been filled with much less gloss and more substance in Africa. Jason transferred to Europe and while in Luxembourg they meet a Belgian couple who overheard Jason and Susan talking about the Congo. And so it goes. They move to Kinshasa. For those of us who know some of the history of the Congo, we know that violence, cruelty and corruption have scourged the land since Belgian colonialism. (Read Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness; a template for Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” film about Vietnam.)
Julia Kollek has had an extensive career as a journalist and researcher. Most recently, she has felt compelled to do something about the issue of homelessness in Hamilton and in March she founded HATS, Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters as way to address the problem. Julia began by relating a personal observation. One day as she was walking, she spied a blue tarp, a cart, and a body – and then she had a moment of recognition. This was a place where someone was living. The problem of homelessness and encampments has been in the media throughout the pandemic; Hamilton is no exception. The reasons for homelessness are multiple and layered. And the solutions are equally complex.
But, Julia has focused on one specific measure designed to help people transition from street life to life in interior dwellings. Kitchener was the first city in the area to try a programme of Tiny Cabins. This project has been deemed successful by a wide variety of people; from the clients, to the urban support workers to the Police Chief. With this success as an example, Julia began her mission of bringing tiny cabins to Hamilton. The thinking is that a small, constructed dwelling provides a safe, secure environment that will be conducive to the physical and emotional healing of the clients that will in turn lead to developing the skills and mindset needed for prolonged living in larger interior spaces. The cabin concept is endorsed in Hamilton by the SPRC (Social Planning and Research Council), the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, numerous social justice advocates and Indigenous groups.
The units are 8x10 and contain a bed, shelf, microwave, fridge, and fire extinguisher. They are insulated and fire proofed. There is no plumbing (therefore no building permit is required). And they are easily movable. One such shelter was available for public viewing at St. James Cathedral on James St. N. This attracted a number of visitors and many favorable reviews. To date, HATS has a commitment for 10 tiny cabins. The planning committee has located a site, near electricity, sewage, transit and there is an additional plan to include a community garden.
If you would like more information or would like to make a donation please go to
We welcomed Fraser Forrest into the club as our newest member. Fraser's classification is Project Engineer: Nuclear. Fraser worked in Manitoba as an aerospace engineer, then to Chalk River and on to Westinghouse before he bought into STERN Laboratories. Fraser lives in Dundas and is keen on improving the Spencer Creek Trail
Aaron Lam is an accomplished author, director, and producer. His passion is storytelling and his guilty pleasure is all things connected to movies about Superman. He has written three books, numerous articles, and television and documentary scripts. He also works as the Marketing and Communication Officer for Hamilton Health Sciences. Aaron began by sharing that he always wanted to be a writer, and since the age of six he has been enthralled by the Christopher Reeves’ Superman movies. The remarkable thing is that Aaron found a way to marry his two loves.
After studying radio and television at Ryerson and film production at Sheridan, Aaron was able to get a variety of freelance jobs in writing, editing and directing for TVO, PBS, and other local organizations. Ten years ago, Aaron directed “Behind the Curtain” a documentary about two plays at the Shaw Festival beginning with the first directorial vision and working all the way through to final production. The documentary presents a thoughtful consideration of life in the theatre.
Aaron began by sharing that he always wanted to be a writer, and since the age of six he has been enthralled by the Christopher Reeves’ Superman movies. The remarkable thing is that Aaron found a way to marry his two loves.
The Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise offers a number of awards and bursaries for students. Here is the Ken Turner Memorial Bursary Information. Please examine to see if you should apply.
Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club Ken Turner Memorial Bursary
Preamble Ken Turner joined the Rotary Club of Niagara Falls in 1958. Subsequently, he was a member of the Dundas Rotary Club and a charter member of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club which was formed in 1999. Ken was also a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Foundation and a Rotary Benefactor. Ken was meticulous about the club’s involvement and work with other charities. He had perfect attendance for his 42 years as a member. The Ken Turner Memorial Bursary is an annual bursary available to a graduating secondary student who attends Dundas Valley Secondary School, St. Mary Catholic Secondary School or is a permanent resident of Dundas who attends another public, catholic, French or private school in the Greater Hamilton Area. The bursary of $1,500/student/school will be awarded to a maximum of 3 recipients annually. Bursary Criteria 1. Graduating secondary school student in the identified schools who has completed all the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) requirements. 2. Have a minimum average of 70%. 3. Have outstanding moral character, diverse participation in co-curricular activities, and exemplary community involvement. 4. Indicate financial need to pursue post-secondary education where applicable. Application Requirements 1. Ontario Student Transcript confirming OSSD requirements met. (May require April report card) 2. Completed application including: a. An outline of co-curricular activities and community involvement/volunteer experiences in the past five (5) years that have enriched or engaged you. (500 words) b. A short (500 word or less) essay that describes the impact the diverse co-curricular activities and exemplary community involvement has had on the students’ moral character and future career and community aspirations. c. A signed letter of support for the students character and community involvement from any of the following individuals: i. An educator ii. A community member iii. A community organization iv. An employer Application Deadline/Process
Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club Graduation Award Preamble This is an annual award available to a graduating Dundas student who attends one of the: Elementary Schools – Dundas Central Public School, Sir William Osler Elementary School, St. Augustine Catholic Elementary School, or St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School. Secondary Schools - Dundas Valley Secondary School, or St. Mary Catholic Secondary School. It will consist of $100/student/elementary school and $500/student/secondary school. Award Criteria 1. Graduating student in the identified schools who has completed all the Elementary OR Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) requirements. 2. Have integrity, participation in co-curricular activities, and community involvement/volunteerism. Award Process School staff or Commencement committees select the award winner based upon the criteria provided. An identified individual from each school notifies the DVSRC representative in early to mid June of the recipient and date of the awards event for a Youth Services Committee representative to attend. Note: 1. The recipient by way of a successful selection provides permission to the DVSRC to use the recipient’s name, photo (where applicable) and information as part of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club communication strategy. 2. The award recipient will provide a written acknowledgement to the DVSRC for the funding received.
Graduation Award: Elementary and Secondary Students
The spring Shredding Day is fast approaching on May 7. A great time to safely destroy those old paper files, especially old income tax documents. Rotarians Scott Sincerbox and Bob Morrow empty a trunk load of boxes on the way to the shredding trucks during last fall’s Shredding Day. Be at Eccles Auto Service in Dundas from 9 AM to 1 PM with $10 cash for each small bank box.
Dr. Jean Chamberlain Froese – Co-founder of Save The Mothers is an internationally respected leader in the field of maternal health, and has been appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of her commitment to saving the lives of women and babies in the developing world. An obstetrician and director of the International Women’s Health Program at McMaster University, she has dedicated her life to making pregnancy and childbirth safer in the developing world.
Below are some notes from her presentation and links to two videos she wished members to see. Steps to Deliver Change for Mothers - Saving the lives of mothers and newborns in East Africa Dr. Chamberlain introduced her presentation by showing the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yLzt054A2g The context for her talk is illustrated in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-rhtXZfddU 287,000 mothers die every year from pregnancy complications - equivalent to 800 mothers per day. 6,000 mothers die in Uganda every year from pregnancy complications = 2 mini vans of mothers crashing and dying every day! These are preventable deaths. There are 3 delays that kill mothers: Home, Transportation and Health Care Facilities. At least 50% of deaths can be attributed to the first 2 delays.
Melanie Barlow is the Executive Director of Dundas Community Services (DCS). She has worked in the not-for-profit, social services sector for the past 17 years and has advocated for resource-challenged individuals, families, seniors and for youth in the community of Hamilton. She is thrilled to be working with Dundas Community Services which has been an integral part of the Dundas community since 1972. In the beautiful valley town of Dundas, Melanie hopes to build strong relationships with other local organizations, businesses and residents who call Dundas home and who truly care about their neighbours, especially those who are facing challenges.
Dundas Community Services (DCS) is a registered charity established in 1972 by the Dundas Ministerial Association. It will be celebrating 50 years in 2022!
It supports seniors, individuals, families and persons with disabilities through a wide range of programs and services. Funded in part by the HNHB LHIN, United Way (Halton & Hamilton) and the City of Hamilton.
DCS relies on donors, local service clubs and churches to ensure our programs are available to our community and is powered by over 170+ dedicated volunteers!
DCS Services:
Services for seniors, and adults with disabilities
Alexis Buttgen is an experienced community-engaged researcher with an interdisciplinary academic background in community psychology and critical disability studies. She has over 15 years of experience working at several community-based research organizations and organizations of people with disabilities (OPDs). Dr. Buettgen holds academic appointments in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University, the Social Justice and Community Engagement Program at Wilfrid Laurier University and the Critical Disability Studies program at York University. The title of Alexis’s talk was: “Disability and Employment in the Green Economy”.
Alexis began her presentation with a brief quiz.
What percentage of the global population are people with disabilities? The reported number is 15%. However, this number is likely much higher. In Canada, at least one in five (or 6.2 million) people aged 15 years and over have a disability.
What percentage of people with disabilities live in poor countries? Estimated to be 80%. This means that the majority of people with disabilities are living in poverty… including Canadians.
In terms of the Green Economy, estimates suggest that the transition to low-carbon economies worldwide will be a net generator of jobs, with as many as 18 million new jobs appearing by 2030.
According to the International Labour Organization taking action in the energy sector to limit global warming to 2 degrees centigrade by the end of the century can create around 24 million jobs, largely offsetting the expected job losses estimated at 6 million and resulting in a net gain of 18 million jobs.
Olivia R. Fernandes is a humanitarian practitioner with 8 years of experience managing emergency projects globally. Her work spans the areas of humanitarian mine action, emergency health, post-conflict rehabilitation, and is focused on the Rights of Migrants and Refugees, Rights of the Child, Rights of Indigenous People, and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She has lived and worked in Grand Council Treaty 3, Nishanawbe Aski Nation, Siksika Nation, Viet Nam, Somalia, Nepal, India, and most recently, Afghanistan. She is on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Landmine Foundation. Olivia believes in the importance of recognizing and addressing humanity and human behaviour in all development and humanitarian endeavours. She will be heading to Afghanistan next week to continue her important work. Her talk today was “Modern Day Mines”
Landmines are a forgotten legacy of war.
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine Ban Treaty, aims at eliminating anti-personnel landmines (AP-mines) around the world. To date, there are 164 state parties to the treaty while 32 UN states, including China, Russia, and the United States have not; making a total of 33 United Nations states not party. The Canadian Landmine Foundation is actively engaged in eliminating these AP-mines.
Denise was born in Georgetown Guyana and lived there until she was 7 years old. Guyana is a country in the northeastern corner of South America, just east of Venezuela. Here family moved to Canada – first to North York, then St. Catharines and finally to Scarborough. It was there that she attended Norman Bethune Secondary School. Being a brand new school, Denise felt that she was part of establishing the culture of the school and from this base she started her long career in secondary school education.
Denise studied Physical Education (now Kinesiology) at McMaster and then earned her B. Ed. At Queen’s University. She started teaching in the Bahamas but returned to Canada. Her first position was at York-Humber High School where she taught Phys. Ed. and Math. Over the next several years Denise taught at and was Vice Principal and then Principal at several high schools in the Toronto District School Board. She was principal at four different high schools.
Her first was Scarlett Heights which was very multicultural. It was there that she learned about different cultures and how to interact with families. She was the lead principal as the TDSB implemented a student success program and this was where she developed her skills with working with other principals. Then she was back to York-Humber where she continued to develop her leadership and professional growth and finished at Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute. She was there for five years and all of her experiences were conflated in one as the school was a composite one combining tech., special education and a typical secondary school. The school suffered a significant fire in 2012 and Denise and her team had to operationalize a plan for students to continue their education and then get back to Danforth.
Brian Baetz grew up in Walkerton Ontario. In the Summer of 1976, the Walkerton Rotary Club sent him to Camp Copneconic just south of Flint, Michigan. That opportunity (and the Ontario Athletic Leadership Camp) gave him the confidence to apply for engineering programs that Fall in his Grade 13 year, and he was at U of T in the Fall of '77. He is still very grateful for the growth afforded by the Rotary leadership camp.
Brian went on to earn his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Civil Engineering at the U of T and his PhD in environmental engineering at Duke University. He started his teaching career at McMaster University in 1988 and was Chair of Civil Engineering amongst many other administrative positions. He retired in 2018 but returned to the university as the Director of the School of Engineering Practice and Technology. Brian’s research interests are in the areas of sustainable and resilient communities and green infrastructure.
He opened his presentation by talking about all of the wonderful trails that we have in Dundas, the area nearby, within the province and even within Canada. Probably everyone on the call is familiar with the Hamilton-Brantford Rail Trail. Many DVSRC members use the trail for both hiking, bike riding and, these days, cross-country skiing. The trail is wide and quite accessible.
Brian talked about getting back to nature as a source of Vitamin “N” and also the importance of trails and outdoor spaces in terms of “Aging in Place”. The Town of Dundas and the Spencer Creek Trail are the connectors between the Dundas Valley Trails and the Cootes to Escarpment Park System.
Frank Adamson, the fun, fearless, fantastic District Governor in 2020-2021 has had a remarkable career from paramedic to entrepreneur and as DG he initiated the Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup, an innovative, collaborative environmental project that captured the imagination and interests of Rotary clubs internationally.
Today Frank spoke about creating new Rotary clubs – a goal of both our Youth Services and Membership committees as we look to growing overall membership in Rotary.
However, before Frank began his talk, he presented the club with two awards: the “Lighthouse Award” for our work in 2020-21 (a District award based on successful accomplishment of a number of R.I. goals and District Goals; only 15 clubs in our district of 66 received this); and the “Polio Plus Donor Recognition Award” (for our club donation of $1750USD). Thanks to all members for their contributions.
Frank began his presentation by sharing information from D7080—a wonderfully concise description of the range of Rotary clubs that exist. In D7090 we have traditional clubs (these meet regularly, usually 1/wk.; have a formal structure; share a variety of goals). We also have 2 E-clubs, SOWNY (Southern Ontario Western New York) and RESI (Rotary E club of Social Innovators) that were chartered before COVID. And we have 8 Rotaract clubs (members under 35, often university based, but not exclusively).
There are other types of clubs in the world: these include passport clubs; corporate clubs; alumni clubs (Rotary participants - Rotary Youth Leadership Award,Youth Exchange, Global Scholars, Rotary Peace Fellows, etc.); cause based clubs and satellite clubs.
The reason for exploring the formation of another type of club is to capture a new membership demographic (25-50 yrs.) We can see from our experience that the success and survival of Rotary, like many other community-based volunteer organizations depends on its ability to renew and diversify.
The key difference between Rotaract and Satellite models appears to be in the age category, as both types of clubs can be community based and follow formats that are self-directed rather than prescribed. They are often a smaller group whereas a traditional club must have 20 members in order to qualify for a charter.
Marion Emo from the Hamilton Burlington SPCA is the interim CEO, having retired from the organization in 2020. After 20 years in human health, Marion has spent the last decade in animal welfare. There are similarities in the issues facing each sector: accessibility, affordability, and safety. Marion has a Rotary connection too! She was a member of the D7090 GSE team to Japan.
Marion spoke to us about the challenges of sustaining service to the community in times of COVID.
The history of animal welfare in Canada is a long one—the SPCA will be 135 years old this April. The primary goals of the agency now are to provide preventative care and wellness clinics for animals. Shelter is a last resort, and although they still work on socialization of pets for adoption, that has become a less important part of the business. Spaying and neutering is, however, important as these operations allow for better lives for pets at home.
Marion’s professional experience and personal foresight has come in handy during COVID. In January 2020, she was returning from a trip to Iceland when she was counselled by an airline pilot that things were “a changing’”. And, of course, as we now know by mid-March 2020 our lives were upended. However, in February 2020 at the HBSPCA, Marion completed an inventory of supplies that included securing a 3 month supply of PPE for all staff. A career in healthcare had taught her to always have long term plans.
Marion understood that lesson#1 is “Anticipate, anticipate, anticipate”. She had worked during Ebola and SARS outbreaks and understood that viruses know no boundaries. She knew that we must make no assumptions and that creative, lateral thinking would be needed to deal with the challenge of COVID.
Today’s speaker was Claire Loughheed, Executive Director of the Dundas Valley School of Art. She joined the School of Art in 2014, after serving a number of years in various cultural organizations including being the Senior Manager of Culture for Oakville and Mississauga. She is also a professor at Centennial College.
Claire’s vision is to use art as a springboard to change the way we think about the world. As the first Executive Director of the DVSA who is not an artist, she brings a different viewpoint and skill set to the role. She runs the school using business principles and works with other professional advisory groups and senior cultural executives to share their business knowledge across all art organizations and schools in Canada.
Claire’s business background leads her to use LERN business models and Environics as well as students evaluations in her decision making. The school has a 1.8 million dollar budget; has an economic impact of 2.5 million on the local economy and is the largest employer in Dundas.
The school offers programmes in children’s art, drawing and painting, botanical art, sculpture, pottery, printmaking, jewelry, art history, glass blowing, stained glass, textiles, and professional development for artists. Classes were originally in school, but during COVID, they have been made available on line.
Claire sees the DVSA as a place that does more than teach art. She sees it as a place to build community and create well-being. She points to studies by the Canadian Index of Well-Being from Waterloo University which indicate that engagement in leisure and cultural activities contributes to our overall well-being by enhancing our sense of belonging, by increasing our empathy and by altering our perspectives.
We have a winner in the January 11 2022 Margaret’s Place Hospice 50/50 Draw!
Congratulations to Kim Boretsky who will receive a cheque for $11 400 from the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise. The other half of the funds collected through ticket sales, that is another $11 400, will go to help support Margaret’s Place Hospice at St. Joseph’s Villa in Dundas. Thank you to everyone who purchased tickets to support the hospice.
The annual St. Matthew's House auction held during a morning meeting of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise raised $7385 from the members in attendance. President Tom McLeod presented the cheque to David Savage Chair of the St. Matthew's House board. Since the club focused a December meeting on the auction it has raised more than $50 000 for the charity.
The club raised over $7000 during its annual in-house auction for St. Matthew's House. During the meeting the early bird draw for the Margaret's Place Hospice was made and the $500 winner was Kari Warren.
There are still tickets available for the 50/50 draw which takes place January 11 2022. Contact any club member for tickets.
Dee Muszynski is a registered dietitian who works both at McMaster Children’s Hospital and in her own clinic providing a personalized approach to a healthy relationship with food. Dee’s overall topic was Nutrition and Exercise and how these together prevent disease and add quality to one’s life. As we age lots of things change in the body: muscle mass decreases; body fat increases; estrogen and testosterone decrease; abdominal fat increases; bone mass decreases; chronic disease increases; and in general our immune system slows. However, Dee offered us hope and a way to stay healthy. Nutrition and exercise together can help prevent chronic disease. And even if we have had a “misspent youth “, it is never too late to build habits that keep us healthy. Small changes can help us reduce the incidence of diabetes, cancer, stroke, and cardiovascular disease.
Dee emphasized the importance of healthy nutrition. She advised that one should, in general, consume around 1600 calories/day (healthy calories). And she cautioned that the cumulative effect of even 100 extra calories a day will net 10 lbs. in one year. Being overweight can lead to hypertension, diabetes, and CVD, but being underweight can contribute to osteoporosis and fall fractures. She suggested that we learn to recognize nutritionally dense foods. Eat leaner cuts of meat, have two servings of fish/week, aim for 7 servings of fruits and vegetables/day (1/2 c. of cooked veg or 1 c. of leafy greens counts as one serving; a protein serving is the size of one’s palm). Try to have a protein serving at each meal. Be mindful of eating healthy fats, replace butter with olive oil and limit this to 1 Tbsp. when cooking. Decrease our intake of red meat. And for carbohydrates, limit these to 130 grams/day for older adults.
Arlene VanderBeek is a friend and advocate for St Joseph’s Villa and Margaret’s Place and Councillor for Ward 13. Today Arlene gave her yearly “state of the ward” report to the club. Arlene began by thanking the club for the invitation and congratulated us for our great work in the community. She also acknowledged her pleasure in having Russ Powers rejoin Hamilton City council. She certainly appreciates the breadth of knowledge, skills, and experience that Russ brings to the chamber.
Arlene focused her report mostly on traffic in Dundas. She re-iterated that the reconstruction of the King St. hill was continuing to be “on schedule” but that means the hill is closed until Dec. 2022. As for the bike lanes on Hatt St., these are here to stay. What is “pilot” in the project is the street car parking. If you have suggestions regarding the traffic flow on Hatt St. please sends these to Arlene now as Hatt St. is also scheduled for reconstruction. The bike lanes will be extended to eventually run from Sydenham hill to Hatt to Baldwin, past the gas station and link to the multi-purpose path on Cootes, thereby enabling biking from rural Dundas to the west end of Hamilton. She remarked that constituents have complained about speeding and running stop signs, and in general about more aggressive driving. To date a number of traffic calming devices have been deployed such as raised crosswalks and raised intersections, and PXO crossovers. She reminded both drivers and pedestrians to use these flashing cross walks and stop until the pedestrian is off the asphalt.
Arlene was pleased to support the urban boundary freeze by City Council and hopes the provincial government will accept this decision. However, she stated that Dundas and the entire city will now need to look at zoning reform in order to accommodate the population growth that is expected for this region over the next 30 years. She spoke of inclusionary zoning that complements existing zoning; small multiplexes that fit the neighbourhoods and provide what planners and architects call the “Missing Middle”. Freezing the urban boundary is good for saving farmland and food security, but we must be willing and ready to face the challenges created by this decision.
Beverley Yates is the manager of Margaret's Place Hospice at St. Joseph's Villa in Dundas. The doors opened to patients September 7 and the vision of hospice care became a reality. When they began, everyone was excited and honoured to be entrusted with end of life care. The hospice is now fully staffed and everyone is committed to hospice life. Over 60 volunteers have gone through training and provide volunteer support 12 hours a day (8am-8pm) 7 days a week. Beverley also announced that the 4 respite beds for caregivers were opened on November 1. The purpose of these beds is to provide up to 14 days of rest and relief to individuals who are caregivers to palliative patients.
Beverley then shared a series of oral snapshots of life at Margaret’s Place.
SNAPSHOT#1 “SERVICE” Keeping to the principle of “we fulfill a patient’s needs” Beverly gave the example of her sourcing sushi in a local grocery store because that was the request of the family on behalf of the patient. Although Beverley herself was not a sushi aficionado, she was successful and the next day she learned that the patient was most grateful to have had “the best sushi ever”. Clearly the staff wants to go that extra mile.
SNAPSHOT#2 “HONOUR” Margaret’s Place aspires to be a home rooted in love and care in accordance with the philosophy and teachings of the Sisters of St. Joseph’s. Patients may stay for a number of weeks, but sometimes they have only a few days remaining in life. When a patient dies the hospice has a “Going Away Ceremony” that involves an honour guard, a special quilt and a solemn procession that celebrates the end of life journey.
Lisa Anderson has been the coordinator of the Dundas B.I.A. for 9 years; previously she was the manager of the Dundas Farmers’ Market. She attended school in Dundas and Hamilton and graduated from Mohawk College.
The Downtown Dundas B.I.A. covers the businesses on King St. between Cross and John St. (north side) and Albert St. (South side).Created in 1978, the purpose of all B.I.A.’s is the revitalization of businesses on the main street. There are 310 B.I.A.’s in Ontario. Each B.I.A. is run by a Board of Management elected from the businesses and includes the local Councillor. The businesses are assessed a levy; public buildings, residential buildings, churches and not for profits are not assessed this levy. The goal of every B.I.A. is to “make business better”. There are ongoing beautification projects directed by the Dundas Downtown B.I.A.: in spring and summer 40 hanging baskets and 18 sidewalk planter; in fall cornstalks are erected; and in winter 57 wreaths and garlands are placed. There is also a series of event based marketing: the “Easter Eggstravaganza”; the” Dundas International Buskerfest”; “Scarecrow Saturday and Pumpkin Walk”; and finally the “Dickens of a Christmas”.
In honour of Remembrance Day our resident historian, Dr. Paul Clifford, shared some thoughts and memories. Paul was born in Britain in 1932 so he was a young lad for WWII. But, he was old enough to have vivid remembrances of that time. Paul survived the Blitz; many of his country did not. His comments, today, encouraged us to reflect upon not only those who served in uniform but also those who lived day by day and night by night as civilians.
Russ Powers has an extensive collection of over 450 post cards depicting Dundas and environs from 1841 until the current day. The pictures are fascinating and Russ has a wealth of knowledge about the history of our area. Some interesting tidbits: Dundas was the first municipality in the Dominion to erect a cenotaph to commemorate W.W.I (Dec. 1921, in Market Square). Dundas is also thought to be the first municipality to feature a town Christmas tree (1914).
Glen Christiansen is Past President of the Rotary Club of Brantford Sunrise, Chair of the Rotary Leadership Institute and co-chair of the Foundation Committee (both D7090). The Rotary Fund (TRF) is the charitable arm of Rotary International. It belongs to each Rotarian around the world. It is the heart of Rotary, the engine that powers so many Rotary projects because it transforms your gifts into tangible actions.
Dave Carson is a member of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club. He has given tirelessly to the club on a number of committees, and this year he is devoting his energy in part to our Community Service and Environment Committee. Today he spoke on COP26 and the Climate Emergency. Since 1988, nations of the world have been meeting to discuss and explore the problem of climate change. By 1992, a UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was created, and by 1997 the Kyoto Protocol, the world’s first greenhouse gas emission reduction treaty was adopted. The Kyoto Protocol was put in force for 2005.
There have been two other significant “Conference of the Parties” (COP), Copenhagen 2009 and Paris 2015 where the Paris Agreement on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) was signed. However, in the words of Greta Thunberg, these agreements can be seen as “blah, blah, blah” since so many nations have not made their NDC targets; Canada is one of these nations. This brings everyone to Glasgow, COP 26, and the last best chance to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 in order to keep the average temperature of the planet from rising more than 1.5degrees C. The NDC’s will be steep and the time from now to 2030 is considered crucial.
We have seen the weather and climate change effects of the current temperature rise, which is less than 1 degree C. – Extreme storms, extreme drought, rising oceans. Climate Change is an emergency that poses immediate risk to health, life, property and our environment and it requires urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation. If we stay with current policies, by 2050 the planet’s average temperature will rise between 2.8-3.2 degrees C. We are currently expelling 50 Gigatons of GHG into the atmosphere; we are currently seeing the summer temperatures in dry areas of B.C. reach 49 degrees; the permafrost in the high Artic is melting; drought is scorching the prairies. What an almost tripling of temperature rise would mean is horrible to imagine.
4 Key Goals for Glasgow COP 26 1. Secure global net zero GHG emissions by 2050 to keep the temperature rise of 1.5 degrees within reach 2. Adapt in order to protect communities and Natural habitats by enabling countries affected by climate change to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and lives. 3. Mobilize the Global Financial community to raise at least $100bn in climate finance per year. This will require monies from international financial institutions in both the private and public sectors. 4. Finalize the Paris Rulebook in order to turn ambitions into actions and accelerate the collaboration between businesses, governments, and civil society. We must all work together.
There is no doubt this will be HARD. But humans have the capacity to intentionally take action toward something that will not be easy so that the end result will far exceed the effort and pain endured. We must find the will.
Sean Botham leads the development file for City Housing Hamilton. CHH is the first certified passive house consultant in Canada for community housing corporations. Sean spoke about the need in Hamilton for below market affordable housing for the vulnerable. Currently Hamilton has a massive wait list of over 5000 households. There are 7000 unit of community housing available currently serving 12,000 dwellers. The wait list is centralized He and his team combined with resources from private citizens are determined to rebuild, retrofit and build new using principles of cutting edge design. The passive house approach has been proven to yield high performance and cost effectiveness. In essence they have reset the CHH development strategy.
There are 9 projects underway in the city; 4 are new the other 5 are rebuilds. One example of the rebuild was 500 MacNab the oldest public housing high rise in the city. One hundred and forty seven units have been retrofitted to high performance standards following universal design principles. The building that has been modified to provide thermal comfort throughout, has a simplified mechanical system and is ready for occupancy. Federal and provincial funding was used for this rebuild. One of the challenges for the city is how to take existing spaces and upgrade them – and 500 MacNab is an excellent example of how to do this.
Anita Spier is a graduate of Mohawk College’s Travel and Tourism program. She purchased Myles Travel in Dundas in 2000 and has also acquired a sister agency in Beamsville. Anita spoke about COVID 19 and its impact on her business. Pre-pandemic, Anita and her team were having an excellent year and were the recipients in 2019 of the travel industry’s Bravo award for exemplary sales (over $7 million). Then COVID brought the industry to a screeching halt. From March 2020 on, there were hundreds of cancellations of trips. Her sales plummeted and she had to lay off all her staff. And in the beginning of the lockdown there were still many people to get back to Canada. It was a spring of challenge, despair and fear.
The federal government assistance programmes allowed Anita to hire back her staff, working from home. Her agents were grateful. She too was grateful for the support and the support of her loyal clients who have returned to book travel for this year and for 2022. While her business is at about 30% of what it was in 2019, Anita feels positive about next year. Her story is one of many: an example of the swings in fortune and a testament to determination and resiliency.
Scott Sincerbox welcomed Denise Martins as today’s speaker. Over the last five years Scott and Denise have been colleagues as Superintendents of Education with the Grand Erie District School Board. He praised her skills as a communicator and a collaborator. Denise’s ability to build relationships and her tenacity to see a change through from inception to implementation made her an outstanding leader in their school board. Her work with the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities was exemplary. Today Denis shared some of the accomplishments.
The GEDSB, like many other organizations recognized the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe people as the traditional peoples of this territory. They acknowledge and give gratitude to the Indigenous peoples for sharing these lands. The school board represents 26,000 students in 58 elementary and 14 secondary schools within the City of Brantford, and the Counties of Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk as well as secondary students from Six nations of the Grand River and the Mississauga of the Credit First Nation. As leaders and educators in the community the school board knew that it must respond to the finding of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was formed as a result of recognition of the cultural genocide and assimilation inflicted upon Indigenous people in Canada for generations and in concluding its work, created 94 Calls to Action including numbers 62 and 63 specifically focused on education.
The Grand Erie District School Board focused on #63 ii, iii, iv as expectations for the system. #63. We call upon the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada to maintain an annual commitment to Aboriginal education issues, including: ii. Sharing information and best practices on teaching curriculum related to residential schools and Aboriginal history. iii. Building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect. iv. Identifying teacher-training needs relating to the above.
In response to this, effective the 2020-21 school year, the English course that Grand Erie students in all Grade 11 pathways are required to take a focused course on Indigenous content and Indigenous authors. Understanding Contemporary First Nations, Métis and Inuit Voices included updated curriculum from the Ministry of Education. The focus on Indigenous content and Indigenous authors aligned with Grand Erie’s Multi-Year Plan 2016-21, Success for Every Student, through the Equity Indicator and worked to promote practices that help students, families and staff feel safe, welcomed and included.
Tom welcomed Anne Bermingham, DG 7090 for 2021-2022 to our club. Anne is currently a Past President of RC of Hamilton A.M. She has been a Rotarian for 25 years. In this time she has contributed to and led many activities, auctions, and events in her club and in our district. As the Volunteer Coordinator for Telling Tales, she worked with clubs in both 7090 and 7080. In her professional life, Anne is President of 2WA Consulting Inc. where she assists corporations and individuals with leadership development, change implementation and communication strategies. Among her other activities she is also past Chair of the Board of Directors of Hamilton Burlington United Way. Anne is dedicated to service, both in Rotary and in our community.
And so, Anne presented the Rotary International vision for 2021-2022, aptly titled “Service to Change Lives”. Specifically, she focused on the theme of Rotarians as People of Action who “unite and take action to create lasting change across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves.” Rotary, as a worldwide organization of over 35,000 clubs in over 200 countries acts as a connector. Alone, the organization has some strength; united with others we have the capacity to effect extraordinary change. Look at the End Polio project as just one example of action and impact.The ROTARY INTERNATIONAL ACTION PLAN for 2021-2022 is: Increase our impact, Expand our reach, Enhance participant engagement, and, Increase our ability to adapt.
It was with great pleasure we were able to have DG Anne Bermingham and AG Ryan Bridge assist President Tom McLeod and Scott Sincerbox in the induction ceremony for Denise Martins.
We are delighted to welcome Denise into the family of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club. She brings a wealth of experience as an educator and wide perspective on the community.
This week, led by Don Davidson and Mieke Ewen, fifteen of us toured the new Margaret's Place Hospice at St Joseph’s Villa. The vision had been to bring quality hospice care to Dundas and area. Quality means many things to different people; in this case, the hospice is a ten bed beautiful facility. Six beds are for palliative patients and four are dedicated to respite care for palliative patients and caregivers. The building nestled at the back of the SJV property bordering on the ravine is an example of remarkable, cutting edge architecture and design by McCallum Sather and construction by Ira Macdonald.
Don and his team worked tirelessly to raise the funds for construction. His passionate persuasion led to many donors, large and small, individuals, organizations and service clubs, and yielded over 13 million dollars. Margaret’s Place is a reality because the vision was backed by steadfast perseverance. And now Dundas hosts an outstanding hospice. MP aims to provide a tranquil, caring environment to support families and patients on their end of life journey. The physical setting contributes much to the overall effect. So too, the interior features of Douglas fir columns, stone fireplaces, panoramic windows, gardens and waterfalls unite to reinforce the beauty of nature and to remind us of the continuum in the natural world. The water fountain below is a tribute from Paul Clifford to his wife Barbara.
The spiritual aspects are also present. The Villa, founded by the Sisters of St Joseph, values all faiths and belief systems. Throughout the building there has been careful attention to details in all the rooms and gathering areas. Almost every area has a view to the outside. It is a truly calm place of reflection and contemplation.
Bob Morrow shared an update on the work of the Canadian Space Agency. He began with an overview of the CSA and their work. First he shared some inspiring images of the International Space Station, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Saturn, and Earth. All the photos were amazing. That we are able to “see” close up the Moon which is 384,000 km away from Earth, or Mars which ranges from 54,000,000 to 400,000,000 km depending on its orbit or the Sun which is 146,000,000,km away is mind blowing.
The Canadian Space Agency does not build rocket ships—that enormously expensive business is done by others, but it does delve deeply into issues that affect the human body in space, the robotics required to do experimentation and data collection while in space, and the effects closed environment systems have on humans, plants, seeds and other life forms. Every project undertaken by the CSA must have relevance to life on the surface of Earth as well as life in space. Perhaps the best known Canadian Space Agency contribution to space exploration is the robotic Canada Arm. There are now three iterations of this incredible machine. Canada Arm2 remains permanently on the International Space Station. Bob showed us a photo of Canadian astronaut Dave Williams tethered to the arm—a feat of courage and engineering!
Of course space exploration in the most recent days has become the billionaire’s amusement. Bob had pictures of SpaceX Dragon coming in to dock at the I.S.S.. Certainly, both Elon Musk and Jim Bezos bring a celebrity cache to all things space. But whether they will trump the space programmes of nation states remains to be seen. The desire to explore space is probably an innate human one—from star gazing in the BCE, to the travels to outer limits today. Many of us have grown up watching television shows like Star Trek, Lost in Space, and ST The Next Generation and watching as many launches in the 60’s and 70’s as possible from Mercury to Apollo, to the Shuttles. So much progress has been made in 60 years. The age old saying, “Life imitates art” may not yet be true but we are much closer to space as the final frontier than we have ever been.
Jackie Van Lankveld is a member of the R.C. of St Catharines and incoming Chair of the International Service Committee for D 7090. She brought us an update on their integrated school project for orphaned children in Uganda. In 2015, Jackie who is the Manager of Early Years Services at Niagara Children’s Treatment Centre and a part-time clinical instructor at Brock University began fundraising for a school for orphaned children. She partnered with the R.C. of Nkumba Uganda and an NGO Environmental Women in Action also in Uganda. Historically, Rotary International does not fund bricks and mortar projects, but in 2016 there was a one-time The Rotary Foundation grant called “Simple School Build” that helped make Jackie’s vision possible.
She canvassed D7090 and 14 clubs including DVSRC pledged support for the project. The Ugandan NGO had been able to purchase a 4 acre property on Lak Victoria and the dream of the school that integrated orphans with community children was on its way to realization. This project had a number of hurdles. First, there was a lot of delay as a result of government environmental testing, retesting, and paperwork. The Rotary Club of Nkumba kept in good communication with R.C. of St. Catharine’s and the project continued. The final payment from R.I. was made Feb 28, 2020. And the school opened.
Gordon Crann is a member of R.C. of Hamilton After Five and Team Lead of the R.C. Botswana Satellite Club. Gord has an extensive resume of involvement in Rotary, nationally and internationally, especially with Rotary Action Groups in Microfinance, Community Development and Peace. He has given presentation at the R.I. conventions in Sydney Australia on how to do Global Grant Application for Microfinance projects. Today he spoke about Peace programmes supported the Rotary Foundation.
Rotary International’s involvement with peace began as early as 1914, when the R.C. of Hamilton proposed at the 1914 international convention in Texas that Rotary use its influence to advance peace and goodwill. This commitment was reaffirmed in 1921 at the R.I. convention in Edinburgh. After WWII, The Rotary Foundation funded U.N. interns and created the Ambassadorial Scholars program. Did you know that five Rotarians have served as Secretary General of the United Nations? There are currently a variety of peace initiatives funded by The Rotary Foundation: Rotary Action Groups for Peace, Rotary Peace Builder Districts, the Institute for Economics and Peace and Rotary Centres for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Gord then focused his talk on these centres for peace.
Emma Cubitt is a principal from Invizij Architects Inc. Emma, a graduate of the University of Illinois and Waterloo has practiced architecture for the past 15 years. She is passionate about social justice and inclusion and has specialized in livable small spaces. Her personal interests include biking, supporting co-operatives (The Mustard Seed) and laneway housing. Emma began her talk by reviewing some statistics regarding the cost of housing in Hamilton today. The average price of a single family house is over $800k and a condominium is $475k. These prices also put pressure on the cost of rental units. A one bedroom apartment on Kijiji is averaging $1500; a two bedroom is $1700. If one uses 30% of income as the money dedicated to housing (a CMHC guideline) then in order to purchase a condo one requires an annual income of $100,000 and a down payment of $25,000 ( bare minimum). The average income in Hamilton is slightly more than $75,000/year. They are barely able to afford owning a condo. However, many people make much less than that amount of money. How do they find housing security?
Compounding the challenge of price is the further problem of the high number of vacant buildings, and empty lots in the city. Emma suggested that the owners of these properties may have chosen to keep them underused hoping to ride the wild real estate market and sell them for higher prices rather than invest in them. In addition, it is easier for large developers to obtain financing for new large buildings than it is for smaller independent groups to get financing for retrofitting and renovation. Lastly, although there are large new condo buildings in downtown Hamilton, it appears that a number of units are not occupied. The units have been bought as speculative investments, not as potential rental housing. Vacant property is not a problem unique to Hamilton. Other cities like Vancouver and Toronto also face a housing shortage. Their city politicians passed a Vacant Home Tax with a view to deter vacancy. In Hamilton, Councillor Nann has proposed such a tax. Another possible solution to the housing shortage is to revisit ideas about urban development. Rather than expanding the urban boundaries to build more single family houses, Emma (and others) propose greater densification and infilling of existing housing stock. This would entail the development of smaller scale projects in existing neighbourhoods, from duplexes to small multiplexes—a concept architects refer to as “the missing middle”.
Emma then presented several slides of projects that reflect the successful execution of these values and ideas.
Hilary McLeod, a human resources specialist shared her experience and insights on Change and Transition in the Workplace as a result of COVID. For the past 14 years she has been an expert in career transition first with LHH Knightsbridge personnel and now with her own consultant company. Hilary was impacted by corporate restructuring 15 years ago and decided to return to school and change careers. She knows whereof she speaks.
She highlighted 5 topics: the Change Model; Managing a Career Transition; Job Trends and Changes to the Workplace after COVID; Transitions to Active retirement; and Life Transitions. The Change Model is a U shaped curve that has 5 stages of behaviour. The first stage is the anticipation and anxiety one feels knowing that a change will occur. One may also feel shock. Facing the facts of being “let go” and no longer anchored bring the second stage: fear and anger. When things are in flux a strong sense of disorientation characterizes the third stage. As the change is better understood the fourth stage involves a feeling of reappraisal and acceptance. The fifth stage involves a recommitment to moving forward and one may actual feel a renewal of energy and interest as the new reality comes into focus.
Managing a Career transition is stressful but after the initial shock it can be a time of exploration and change and may lead to a complete career shift. Scary but possibly very rewarding! In order to make the transition happen, Hilary emphasized the need for one to develop a compelling resume that highlights the relevant transferable skills required in the current job market. For some, this may mean getting professional advice from someone like her to help sort out one’s key accomplishments and talents and craft a unique personal brand. The key question is “Why hire me?”
Today marked the installation of Tom McLeod as President 2021-2022. Assistant Governor Ryan Bridge read the oath of office reminding Tom of the confidence the club members have in him and his responsibilities to the club as President. Tom, in turn, pledged to do his best. Then Tom installed his Board for 2021-2022. He reviewed the exceptional work from the previous year—Dine to Donate, the draw for Margaret’s Place, Socks and Skivvies, equipment to Six Nations Polytechnic, the project with the Rotary Club of Nairobi Maderaka.
Rotary International’s President for 2021-2022, Shekhar Mehta has selected “Serve to Change Lives” as the theme for the year. Tom reflected that we in DVSRC are at our best when we engage with our community to serve others. He invoked the R.I. vision statement: “Together we see a World where People unite and take action to create lasting change across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves.”
Tom stated that this year we will work to expand our footprint in the life of Dundas. Everyone is encouraged to join a committee. The plan for club meetings in the short term will be to continue with Zoom and supplement with in person where possible. And when possible the meetings will return to Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club. In the longer term, we will explore the possibility of hybrid meetings using technology supported by our District 7090.
Scott Sincerbox has returned to the club after 14 years. Scott will soon retire as Superintendent of Human Resources from the Grand Erie District School Board. He had previously joined our club in 2006 but had to leave in 2007 as a result of his work obligations but he promised to return when he was able. Today was the day. Welcome back! Scott is a resident of Dundas; he brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm and he has already volunteered to serve on the Youth Services committee.
Bob Morrow introduced our speaker today, our own Nancy Baker. He noted that if we were to compare Nancy’s joining us to a hockey trade, she would a blockbuster. We would be receiving a Wayne Gretsky, a superstar. Thank goodness we in DVSRC didn’t have to actually “trade” anyone. We just “received” a fabulous person, a committed Rotarian, and a member of the Dundas community.
Nancy Jo Baker (nee Wild) was born in Hamilton but raised in Tillisonburg by her parents Ed and Jo. Ed was a fine, funny hardworking man who rose through the ranks of the O.P.P .After his retirement from the force, he joined the Bench as a Justice of the Peace for Oxford County. He was so well regarded that he was asked to remain past the recommended retirement, twice.
Her Mom was a homemaker extraordinaire – a baker, a chef, a sewer, a crafter, a volunteer, a friend to all, and a Citizen of the Year. We can see that Nancy has followed the role models set by her parents. She was raised to care, to strive, to give back. As a young person, she played sports, involved herself in leadership activities and even volunteered as a candy striper at the local hospital.
Over 40 years ago, Nancy began her professional journey as an occupational therapist. Her first job was at Owen Sound General and Marin Hospital and so began her unwavering love of the Saugeen Peninsula.
Her hospital work continued in Toronto and in Hamilton, but she wondered if this was enough. Then, one day a representative from a wheelchair manufacturer gave a professional development presentation that changed the course of Nancy’s career.
Deborah Fernandez is Manager Volunteer and Community Services for St. Joseph’s Villa. Deborah also has the responsibility of recruiting and training new volunteers for Margaret’s Place.
Deborah began by thanking the community, individuals, groups and service clubs for their generous support in the construction of Margaret’s Place. The hospice will provide end of life care for everyone and continue the tradition of care established long ago in this community by the Sisters of St. Joseph.
She shared several photos for the building’s exterior, interior and grounds. The outstanding setting is matched by the gorgeous architecture. The hospice team is hoping to have 80 volunteers supplement their work. And Deborah still has 40 spots to fill— perhaps you, a friend, or family member would be the right fit.
There are a variety of roles from 1:1 friendly visitor, to receptionist, cook, baker, housekeeper, grief and bereavement support, fundraising and music therapist. The hope is for volunteers to build rapport with the families, facilitate communication, and provide practical and emotional support during this end of life time. In return, volunteers may gain increased self-awareness and fulfillment from making a difference in the lives of others.
There will be an interview, police check, TB test, positive reference check and a training and orientation session. The hospice will provide 6 beds for end of life and 4 beds for respite when it opens. The expected opening ceremonies will occur mid to late August with the plan being to receive patients after Labour Day.
Alexis Wenzowski is the club's energetic Director of International Services, Public Image social media contributor, and “go to” member, but today she shared her story focusing on her classification talk. Alexis, daughter of Steve and Allyson Wenzowski, grew up in the University Gardens neighbourhood of Dundas. She attended Pleasant Valley, Dundana, District and Highland. As a young person she was involved in soccer, swimming, and Guiding. Her Dad, Steve was a police officer in town and involved in the community. Allyson, her Mom, was also very involved (a former member of RC of Dundas, DVSRC and now a member of Rotary After Five in Hamilton). Alexis thanked her parents for providing her with a strong foundation of core values that highlighted giving back to others.
After graduating from McMaster in 2004 with a B.A. in Political Science and History, her first job was in the constituency office of John Bryden, M.P. From there, she moved to Waterloo to study Peace and Conflict at Conrad Grebel College (affiliated with Waterloo). After completing this programme she began work for Waterloo Region first as a Freedom of Information Officer and then as assistant to the City clerk.
Emmy Iheme, a fellow Rotarian from RC of Oshawa is a retired Staff Sergeant from Durham Regional Police Services. After 29 years on the force, he is now able to devote his time to his family and his volunteer life. But before we get to that, a few bits from his life’s story. Emmy was born in Lagos Nigeria into a loving, supportive and well educated family who shaped his values and life’s arc. As a promising young soccer player, Emmy was awarded a scholarship into the farm system of a European soccer club. So began his teenage years in Europe. After several transfers, he landed in Italy, released from the soccer obligations and able to attend university, which he did at the Vatican! His slides of home, Italy and Pope John Paul II were a great opportunity for us to travel vicariously this morning.
His friendship with a Canadian family whom he met while at the Vatican Museum led him to Canada in the early 80”s. And in 1985, he accepted a position with Durham Regional P.S. While at university Emmy had specialized in conflict resolution thus he was well prepared for some of the challenges he would encounter during his next 29 years. He worked across Durham region from Whitby and Oshawa to Clarington, beginning as a foot patrol and rising first to C.I.D., then homicide detective, then Executive Officer and finally Staff Sergeant, platoon leader. He retired in 2019.
His professional life was the catalyst for his community involvement especially in his desire to make a positive influence on youth. To that end, an example of his volunteerism is his 2019 co-chairing of the Ontario Parasport Games where over 450 athletes from around the province came to Durham to compete. His photos of some of the athletes and games illustrated how gifted and talented these athletes are. In addition to coaching, Emmy is involved with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports. This organization works with Canadian athletes of all ages to educate them on the dangers of drug use (both recreationally and as athletic enhancements). This work has taken him to many schools from elementary to university, to the Para Olympic Games in Vancouver and Turin, and this summer to the Games in Tokyo.
Sarah Lampson's professional designation is Research Administration. Positions in RA range from managing research projects, managing research sponsors, applying for grants, managing clinical trials, and research ethics. The role is found in universities, colleges, academic hospitals, government and non-profit organizations.
From 1997-2005, Sarah was a Research Contracts Officer and Grants Officer at McMaster. From 2005-2013 she managed clinical trials for both Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University specializing in oncology research contracts from 2009-2013. During this time she also volunteered in her field. She authored dozens of articles, presented at conferences, moderated and created webinars, started two national mentoring programmes and co-authored two books that are used at over 500 institutions globally. From 2013 until now, Sarah has been the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Research Administrators.
Some of her achievements in this role have been to turn the group’s operating deficit into a surplus within the first year and then increase the revenue for the association by 43% over the next four years. Capitalizing on her volunteer work, she continued to create mentorship programmes, and webinars and she established an awards programme for the group. Under her leadership, CARA has entered into a partnership with Mohawk College to offer Canada’s first Research Administration Certificate. CARA now has a bursary programme for students who are enrolled in this course and to date has awarded over $100,000 to worthy recipients. Since 2017, Sarah has been a part-time instructor of contracts, reporting, and research finance at Mohawk College’s McKeil School of Business.
Dr. Bansal is a fellow Rotarian from the RC of Buffalo. After a successful career as an entrepreneur Ravi had a dream to “fly around the world” And while he didn’t have a lot of experience flying solo in his state of the art single engine Cessna, and his family thought this idea was very risky, he found a purpose to drive his passion and the rest of the story came together.
A native of Ambala India, Ravi visited family in 2005, and realized the local Charity Hospital which had treated his ailing sister-in-law, did not have the resources needed to successfully diagnose cancer. Furthermore, he learned that no one from India had ever completed RTW flight. The challenge was set! And Ravi chose to rise to that challenge. He would dedicate his flight to raising funds for a MRI machine for the Ambala Charity Hospital, raise awareness in the Ambala region of the importance of early cancer detection and treatment and finally by being the first Indian to complete a RTW solo flight in a single engine plane acquire recognition and publicity for the causes.
Scott Vance is member of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise. He is also the most recent cook of the lobsters at our annual Lobster Rib Fest. Scott is a long time resident of Dundas, growing up and going to school here. At age 13, he no longer was interested in hockey as he once was. He watched his sister at her figure skating lessons and thought “that was easy”. His Dad, in turn, challenged him to try and the rest as they say is history. As a hockey player, Scott had skating basics, but figures were a completely different thing. Undaunted, Scott took the challenge.
For the next decade, Scott devoted himself to figure skating, practicing at least 4 hours per day, every day. He sought out instruction from Kerry Leitch, of the Preston Skating Club, a renowned Canadian coach. At Preston, Scott was exposed to world class competitors and this served to motivate him further. As a pair’s skater, Scott thrust his partners high above his head while balancing on a thin blade of steel. Strength, energy, fearlessness, hard work, trust – these are the attributes Scott honed during those years. When he retired from competition in 1990 at 24 years of age, he and his partner were ranked 5th at Nationals.
Classification Talks are an important part of Rotary's Vocational Service. Today Russ Powers gave his “Re-Classification Talk”. Russ is a charter member of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise and his classification at the time was Medical Laboratory Technology. He left the club in 2012 because he could not attend any Tuesday meetings because of his new job. He has recently returned with the new classification “Municipal Consultation”.
Russ is probably the only member of the DVSRC with his own page on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Powers. Russ has lived in Dundas for 55 years and for most residents he would be known as Mr. Dundas. He was born in Toronto and moved with his family to Dundas in 1966. He was educated at Dundas District High School, Mohawk College and the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene. He worked at McMaster University in laboratory medicine from 1979 until his retirement in 2007. Russ also has military experience, having served as a Logistics Officer in the Canadian Army & Air Reserves.
Mike Deed is Rector of Saint James Anglican Church, Dundas. His topic is entitled: ‘Finding Francis’ - A 12th Century Saint in 21st Century Dundas. Mike Deed was born in Chatham, Kent (pronounced “Cham” there) and from an early age became passionate about Doctor Who, eating, reading and religion. After studying theology at university, Mike’s first job was as a youth worker, primarily engaged with supporting young people on the street in Hounslow. Mike was ordained as a priest at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London, UK and served two parishes in West London before moving to Canada in 2007 where he served churches in Burlington and Hamilton Mountain before being appointed as Rector of Saint James Church, Dundas in July 2019. Mike and his husband live in Hamilton and are owned by three cats. Mike is an associate of the Society of Saint Francis (Province of the Americas), a founder of the Doctor Who Society of Canada, Diocesan Liturgical Officer for the Diocese of Niagara and an honourary Canon of Christ’s Church Cathedral.
The theme of Mike’s talk was how we could use the teachings and experiences of St. Francis of Assissi here in Dundas. A good write-up on St. Francis is available in this Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi.
According to Alan Hansell the Executive Director of the Stewards of Cootes Watershed, we “do the obvious” – clean up the watershed and keep it clean. They’ve changed advocacy from pointing fingers to doing something about the pollution found in Cootes watershed. The group supervises over 40 clean-ups per year in Cootes and another 40 in the Red Hill Creek watershed. Since the program began five and a half years ago in the Cootes watershed we have put a lot of volunteer hours in and pulled a lot of garbage out. Check out our statistics for Cootes Watershed cleanups below:
Our first speaker was District 7090 Governor Frank Adamson who was on-line to talk about mobilizing the troops for the District’s Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup, https://rotary7090.org/stories/great-lakes-watershed-cleanup. The Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup initiative is an effort that has grown from a District 7090 service project covering a small portion of Lake Ontario and Erie to a multi-district plan to focus Rotarians’ attention to all 5 of the Great Lakes and streams and waterways feeding them. The Great Lakes Watershed events will be held between Saturday, April 17th, and Saturday, April 24th to coincide with the celebration of Earth Day, which falls on April 22nd.
Clubs from District 7090 (and many other districts) will be involving Club Members, Rotaractor, students, Scouts and many others to clean up the waterways that feed the Great Lakes.
Captain William Knox gave a brief history of his days as a pilot. William retired last year from his job as a pilot with Ethiopian Airlines. He has always been interested in flying and wasn’t as interested in school so he went to flight school and became a pilot. His first position was in Wiarton where he was also an instructor for 11 years. He flew all over Ontario and several times to Newfoundland. He noted that it was always extremely windy in St. John’s – one time it as so windy that his small plane was being blown all over the place and had to be welded in place by freezing the wheels to the tarmac using water.
He graduated from the small 14 seat plane to the DC4 – a plane that he really loved to fly even though it was old and leaked oil. He graduated from the DC4 to a Convair and was, for the first time, a Captain (the head pilot). Over his career he worked for several airlines given the ups and downs of the airline industry. He worked in Guyana for 5 years. He was working for ICC Canada and flying often to Mexico when he met his wife Carlotta. Carlotta herself was once a member of DVSRC.
Sheldon Thomas is proprietor of Clear Water Legacy. Clear Water Legacy Inc. is a water distribution operator training service, created by Sheldon, retired Manager of Water Distribution for the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Thomas devoted more than a quarter century to operating and then managing Hamilton’s aged, unique, and complex water infrastructure.
Sheldon spoke on: “Trouble Underground: the Pipes are Calling” a story of the decaying water main infrastructure in Hamilton. To set the tone for his talk, Sheldon’s first slide showed a fire hydrant with dirty, rusty water gushing out of it. Most of the water pipes in Hamilton are made from cast iron. Although they are initially pristine, after about 15 years or so they begin to corrode.
Tony Cupido is Research Chair, Sustainability IDEAWORKS, at Mohawk College. Tony’s research initiatives include the development of an operational performance database for Canada’s award-winning, largest institutional, net-zero energy and zero carbon building – The Joyce Centre for Partnership and Innovation – and the creation of an industry model for sustainable operational practices. He was recently appointed to the Board of The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). In his presentation, Tony discussed the following topics in Mohawk’s “Plan to Achieve Net Zero and Challenges”: •Energy Targets & Model •Building Envelope Design •Mechanical Systems •Solar PV and Solar Thermal Systems •Measurement & Verification •Change in Culture
Some of the slides from his talk are re-produced below.
Twenty-five years ago, Joanne McCallum and her business partner, Greg Sather, founded their own architectural firm, inspired by the pursuit of sustainable design. Under Joanne’s leadership as Executive Officer, McCallumSather has grown into a firm of 40 multi-disciplinary designers all united behind a mission – to create a more resilient world through the advancement of sustainable design intelligence. She has a deep love for Hamilton and continues to take a hands-on role in the design of meaningful projects with lasting impact. Margaret’s Place Hospice in Dundas and Valley Park Library in Stoney Creek both currently in construction, are impactful, community-based designs. In addition, her award-winning work on The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation, a Net Zero Certified project, made headlines internationally and highlighted Hamilton as a leader in sustainable design. Joanne was an active Rotarian for over twenty years, first at the Rotary Club of Downtown Hamilton and later at Hamilton Sunrise Club. She is also a Paul Harris Fellow.
Sammy Malaki is the President of the Rotary Club of Nairobi Madaraka. The Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise is planning a literacy project with Sammy's club. Sammy introduced his team: Past President Njoki Maingi, VP Wanja Muguongo, PE Wilson Kamau, Project Director Joel Mwangi, and Treasurer Keshi Mukuria.
Linda Parker gave us an overview of Six Nations Polytechnic. Founded in 1993 by order of Band Council, SNP was initially chartered to bring post-secondary education and training to the people of Six Nations of the Grand. These six Iroquois nations, Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Tuscarora, and Seneca comprise the largest First Nation community in the country. SNP’s mission now is to provide lifelong learning from youth to seniors with such strands as basic literacy, STEAM, college and university preparation, apprenticeship and skilled trades training, continuing education, and professional development for Ontario certified teachers. In particular, SNP is an institution where First Nation’s culture and language thrive. If thirty or more years ago, language training was exclusively English, it is now required that the SNP students take at least one credit in NSL (Native as First Language).Furthermore, one is now able to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in two First Nation languages, Mohawk and Cayuga. And as many of us know, the ability to reclaim one’s language is an integral step in identity building and healing of colonial trauma.
The 50/50 ticket for Margaret's Place Hospice was drawn at noon on January 12 in front of the Margaret's Place Hospice construction site at St. Joseph's Villa. All 2000 tickets were sold and the $10 000 was won by W. Knox. The other half of the funds raised, $10 000, was increased to $15 000 by an anonymous club donor.
Elizabeth McLeod is a lawyer with O’Neill Associates, a leading labour and employment firm in Thunder Bay. Liz is a member of the Charter Class of the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University. She has advocated for clients in front of the Ontario Court of Justice, the Superior Court of Justice, the OLRB and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. She sits on several not for profit Boards, teaches a law course at Lakehead and volunteers in the community. While the content of her presentation is not legal advice, it is pertinent to a great many of us.
First, the pandemic has impacted the workplace in a number of ways: federal law; work environment; provincial law.
The club holds an auction within its membership and invited guests each December for St. Matthew's House. Of course the auctions happen in person during the breakfast meeting. Well, not during COVID-19 times!
We risked using a new format, Zoom, and we were rewarded; and, we were able to demonstrate once again to ourselves and others that we care, about Dundas (where many of us purchased auction items in support of local businesses and about those in the community who are vulnerable. Barb Busing and her team did a fantastic job of organizing -- and without her, Norm and Jody the mechanics of listing, recording and collecting would not happen. And of course our auctioneer, Bruce Eccles pictured above, was once again, awesome.
We raised the most money ever in the history of this event – over $9000.
Renee Wetselaar the executive director of St. Matthew's House and David Savage the board chair who both attended were very grateful and thanked us heartily. The generosity of DVSRC was a Christmas gift to so many.
Allison Kingston is Community Fundraising Coordinator for ShelterBox Canada and a member of the Rotaract Club of Toronto. ShelterBox is an organization that is Rotary International’s first Project Partner and supplies emergency shelter for people in need around the world. Begun in 2000, by a U.K. Rotary club, it has expanded worldwide and has helped to house over 1.6 million people in 97 countries over the pasts 20 years. Currently, they estimate that over 104 million people are in need of emergency shelter, driven from their homes by conflict (e.g. Tigray in Ethiopia) or natural disaster (e.g. Super Typhoon Goni in the Philippines). For many who have landed in hugely overcrowded refugee camps (e.g. Nigeria) the coronavirus pandemic exacerbates the hardships.
Dr. Lynda Lukasik, has dedicated her life’s work to making Hamilton a better place to live. There is a climate crisis and we all have a part to play in moving us towards a post carbon world. Although the City of Hamilton has declared a climate emergency and has issued a statement in support of the need for change, the pandemic has slowed this impetus. She urges us not to lose sight of the bigger picture.
Our guest speaker today was Deirdre Pike, a Senior Social Planner for the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton (SPRC), the Justice and Outreach Consultant for the Anglican Diocese of Niagara, and a columnist for The Hamilton Spectator. She outlined many of the projects that she is engaged in. She also recognized the work that DVSRC are already doing and suggested new possibilities for the club.
Harold Gruneberg thanks everyone who donated to his District 7090 Ride For Polio which was held on World Polio Day, October 24. All donations went directly to the Rotary Foundation Polio Fund. With matching grants and other donations, Governor Frank Adamson estimates that District 7090 raised about $500,000 US for polio eradication.
Harold was part of Governor Frank's team “Pedal for Polio Plus”. The ride originally was planned to be from the Peace Bridge in Niagara Falls to Niagara-on-the-Lake which would have been about 90 km. The American ride was planned to do about 70 miles, which together translated symbolically to 7090.
Eccles Auto Service has been a premier business in Dundas since 1984. Now in its 5th decade, the leadership reins have been assumed by Scott Eccles, son of Bruce and Claire. Their 121 King St location is now the main office for customer service. Here the clients are greeted by service advisors Anne, Krisia or Jim. The automotive service work may occur at King St. or the second location at 123 Hatt Street. In total, EAS has 9 bays with 4 licensed technicians and 2 apprentices. All under the direction of Jim Lawton GM and Scott Eccles. Bruce is a consultant for the business and Claire still does the bookkeeping.
Phil Kriszenfeld of Transitions Mediation and Consulting Group specializes in alternative dispute resolution focusing on family businesses. Having a personal background in family manufacturing and retail business, Phil knows firsthand the challenges of going from son, to shareholder, to former owner. He supplemented this experiential learning with additional training at the University of Waterloo and at the faculty of law at Windsor University.
His role as mediator is unlike that of the accountant, lawyer, or wealth advisor in the family business. As he put it, his job is to make the family business operate better in the boardroom and the living room.
Local magician John Henley watches as Russ King and Derek Price unload his documents to be shredded. And magically the material disappears into the shredding truck to be joined by almost 4880 kilograms of other shredded material only to reappear somewhere in the world as recycled material put to a new life. Thank you to Scott and Bruce Eccles of Eccles Automotive Service for the use of their property.
April Terreau of Navigating Integrity Associates is dedicated to creating healthy workplaces by dealing effectively with harassment. She trained with the legal firm Rubin Thomlinson, LLP, one of the top workplace investigative firms.
Janice Shearer is a marketing and fundraising specialist for a number of local charities including the Hamilton Music Collective which sponsors An Instrument For Every Child (AIFEC). That program was established out of concern for the erosion of music training in the schools and is supported by the Hamilton Community Foundation, a significant private donor and other local businesses and service clubs.
Dr. Alexandra Pedersen and Dr. Tony Noble of the Arthur B McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute at Queen’s University outlined the Mechanical Ventilator Milano (MVM) that a team of hundreds of physicists and engineers came together to build in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Ellen Ryan is Professor Emeritus from McMaster University’s Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences and Department of Health, Aging and Society.
Jessica was born and raised in Montreal. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Concordia, a Masters in Sociology, and a post-graduate degree from the University of Western Ontario in Library Science.
After 35 years with RBC, Stacy Bennett was ready for a change! Having returned to Dundas in 2017, the town where she grew up, she was keen to get involved in this great community.
Past District Governor Kevin Crosby gave a detailed presentation on the D7090 new Health and Wellness Initiative. The vision of this initiative is to have our District be a leader in Rotary by taking an active role in supporting and promoting the total health and well-being of our communities.
Club members visit the ongoing construction site of Margaret's Place Hospice at St. Joseph's Villa. Dundas and surrounding community looks forward to the grand opening in about a year from now.
This week’s featured member is Mieke Ewen. A Dundas native, she is a graduate of Parkside High and the Mohawk/McMaster Nursing programme. As the Administrator of St Joseph’s Villa, Mieke is responsible for oversight of the campus operations including those of the Villa Long Term Care, Margaret’s Place Hospice and St. Joseph’s Estates.
Our second President was Kurt Schlange. He was born in Dundas and attended Yorkview Public School before moving to West Hamilton where he finished his education. He returned to Dundas as a loans manager for the CIBC and after a stint in Ancaster he became the branch manager of Canada Trust in Dundas. During his year as president, the club was just getting started. He recalls a group of energetic individuals working to raise community awareness and expand membership.
Born and raised in Dundas, Ralph may be the best investment Rotary ever made. He attended Parkside High School and at graduation received a Rotary bursary. Ralph has been paying this back many, many times over the course of twenty years with his leadership, enthusiasm and boundless energy for all things Rotary.
Zucchini, peas, marigolds and woodchips? As every gardener knows, things grow better when there are no weeds. So this team of Rotarians gathered at the Sunrise Rotary Garden at St. Mark’s to help the gardeners by tamping down those pesky weeds.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club was conceived at a meeting of the Dundas Rotary Club with the District Governor, Roger Allan on August 5th, 1997. DG Roger asked whether the community of Dundas needed a morning club. Vice-President Robert Morrow responded positively and, with the assistance of President-Elect John Stevenson, the concept grew … albeit slowly … until 1999 when seven members of the Dundas Rotary Club started meeting on a regular basis with the intent of initiating a “breakfast” Rotary Club in the Town of Dundas. The seven included Carl Fraser, Carl Lehman, Sharon Lacey, Vlad Veckie, Ken Turner, Fred Amalfi and Robert Morrow. This group contacted former Rotarians who had had difficulty attending noon meetings (Russ Powers, Ralph Montesanto, Paul Clifford, Bud Fisher, Dave Matchett) and added some new faces before starting a provisional club on July 1, 1999 with Ralph Montesanto as charter president. The club reached the “magic number” of 25 and was chartered on the first day of the new millennium – January 1, 2000.
Presently because of COVID-19 the Tuesday morning meetings are by Zoom. You are welcome to join a meeting.
What a fantastic day! The community came out in full force and we were ready for them. We put together and implemented a traffic flow plan so that we could follow COVID-19 physical distancing rules. We also used face shields, masks, gloves and sanitizers.
We had fewer volunteers to keep physical contact with clients to a minimum.
Thank you to Jennifer Pavao the Shred-It Transportation Manager who worked the entire time and ordered a second truck because so many boxes arrived on site.
A special thanks to Dundas lawyer Mark Castle who brought 108 boxes (more than paid for the truck rental) and then stayed to load his truck 8 times with flattened boxes and took them to the transfer station.
The club provided a service that the community wants, raised funds doing it, saved over 107 trees and recycled over 12 000 pounds of paper.
Rotary District 7090 holds an Open Mic Zoom meeting June 9 at 7PM and special guest Rotary International President Mark Maloney will be speaking and interacting with the audience. This does not happen very often; so, be sure to sign on and see and hear your RI president.
While 12 000 - 14 000 people won't be celebrating Victoria Day Fireworks at the Dundas Driving Park this year due to COVID-19, we are doing it virtually.
Corporate member Lori King, associate members Russell King and Nicole Turner from AED4life; and, Corporate member Dr. Laura Thomas, associate members Dr. Betty Johnson and Dr. Katie Mann from Dundas Optometry Clinic.
Salty Animal Rescue officially opened in Greensville, Ontario on January 1, 2020. The founders are Karly and Katelyn Saltarski. They operate as a non for profit and the rescue depends solely on fundraising events and donations. The rescue is 100% volunteer based, taking in, caring for and placing abandoned and unwanted pets in foster homes to find the right permanent home.
Contact them if you are interested in adopting or know of animals that need rescuing.
Salty Animal Rescue Kate Saltarski: 905-541-3636 kate@saltyanimalrescue.com
At our first meeting from the year, we heard from a panel of prognosticators, who shared their thoughts about 2020 has in store for us in the areas of politics, sports and investing. From left to right are Ernie Romain (sports), Carl Fraser (investing) and former Dundas Mayor John Addison. Kathy Starodaub moderated. Big takeaway for the year came from Ernie Romain -- Maple Leafs will win the Stanley Cup this season. Anyone want to take that bet? :)
At our first meeting from the year, we heard from a panel of prognosticators who shared their thoughts about what 2020 has in store for us in the areas of politics, sports and investing. From left to right are Eddie Romain (sports), Carl Fraser (investing) and former Dundas Mayor John Addison. Big takeaway for the year came from Eddie Romain -- Maple Leafes will win the Stanley Cup this season. Anyone want to take that bet? :)
The Rotary Club of Dundas and the Rotary Club of Dundas Sunrise presented a cheque for $30,000 to Margaret's Place Hospice at St Joseph's Villa. The Villa plans to break ground in the next few weeks.
Sara Bird is the program consultant children youth & family ministry for the Anglican Diocese of Niagara. Sara walked us through her early life as a PK -priest's kid, through her Highland dance career, her managerial jobs at Boston Pizza and Roots clothing to her undergraduate work in Sociology. She started as a volunteer at HARRRP, got hired, became a program director to run after school programs for grade 6 to 8 youth. She is now working for the diocese and has 50 staff and volunteers that service 500 youth.
She told us youth are more educated, diverse, connected and engaged than ever before. However, they take longer to transition to adulthood, live at home longer, carry heavy school debt, marry later, have fewer children and are a click away from just about anything.
Mental health issues are common with youth and young adults. Gender inclusion is not an issue for them.
She closed by saying she finds the interests of youth and develops programs for that interest.
Sara Bird Program Consultant Children Youth & Family Services
The Oct 22 2019 meeting was vocational services at Dundas Arena. Thanks to director of vocational service Derek Price for arranging the location and bringing in the breakfast. Also, thank you to Ken Beel for supplying the dishes and cups to reduce trash. Guest of the club, Liz Whitton was invited by Gina; and Bob who is a friend of Carl. The purpose of today's vocational service meeting was to get a tour of the remodelled addition to the arena and to see the community room in case our club is interested in helping to finish it.
Announcements – St James Dundas House Tour is Dec 7. Kathy Starodub – Rotary Stars reminder – we need wine, bring next week. Over $8,500 in sponsorships so far. If you have tickets to sell, please do so and bring money October 29. If you have no tickets p[lease consider getting them and invite your friends to attend.
Happy Dollars
Palermo Opera was a good visit Grant – Good dinner at DVGCC – Social members give it a try Phil Wood - McMaster Live Lab was a good place to hear music Jan Southall – Amazing trip to Belgium, Austria and Amsterdam Bob Morrow – This house move will be his last – too much work!
Grant – Thanks to Carl and Derek for putting Arena tour together; the Paul Harris Dinner was a great success. Dec 10 – Christmas Auction for St Matthews House – bring donations or cash or debit card Ryan Turner – Routes Dinner $25 Friday. - tickets still available
Tour – opening remarks by Ken Beel – history of Arena and how renovation happened and was taken over by City
Change rooms reflect the future – modern, more of them, some accessible, same sex rooms to accommodate mixed gender teams
Kitchen – available for Rent
Community Room – still being finished – can be rented for events
Track for running / walking is up and running.
Tour led by Joe Kennedy – everything looks refreshed and clean.
The rain stayed away, for the most part, as the Club held its Annual Fall Shredding Day on Saturday, September 28 at Eccles Auto Service in downtown Dundas.
The morning started off slowly but eventually picked up and Ralph and the crew of volunteers were kept busy. There were new faces, some familar faces and many friends of Rotary who donated boxes of paper to the shredder.
A big shout out to all the volunteers and to the Dundas community for their participation. Money raised goes to help eradicate polio in the world. Save your paper for the Spring Shredding Day in May, 2020!
Peter Dendekker introduced Greg Freije who is a volunteer firefighter with the City of Hamilton. Greg is also a long time employee of Peter’s window company, Aerloc Industries, starting there when he was 15 years old.
Greg Freije is a volunteer firefighter with the Lynden Fire Department, Station 26. There are between 20 – 25 volunteers working out of that station. The Hamilton Fire Department consists of 280 volunteers and 440 full time firefighters and is one of the largest composite departments in Ontario making over 35 000 calls annually that include 65% medical in nature, 3% actual structure fires and 32% alarm conditions like Hazmat, CO, MVC or rescue.
Preventable education is a big part of the department’s work with 20 000 home visits, many to replace smoke detectors or batteries. As well, the department has an educational van that travels to various fairs to promote fire safety, especially with children and youth.
Greg took a number of questions that dealt with the mental health of firefighters who see some very horrendous things while fighting fires or giving assistance.
Derek Dix thanked Greg for his presentation and for his service to the community
The Vocational Training Team to Brazil was medical in nature. It was lead by Jennifer Schoenhals (pharmacist) with team members Claire Harkness (nurse), Tommy Gerbasi (doctor), and Anna Marie Wysynski (doctor). The team visited Rotary district 4480 in the Sao Paulo area of Brazil. Their key medical areas were ophthalmology, oncology and cardiology.
Claire Harkness, a 2012 club Youth Exchange student to Australia, a SLAPSHOT and RYLA presenter, a Rotaract student and a present day nurse was guest speaker.
Claire had visions of bringing all the great things we do in the US and Canada but was very surprised that the hospitals in Brazil did some procedures and patient contacts better than here at home. Doctors there are very patient oriented using what she called humanized care. Sometimes older equipment (dialysis machines) are used to get better life expectancy results. Some equipment like 3D printers are very modern and used to create parts to rebuild a face. Mobile trucks also go into more remote areas to bring health care there.
The team was very busy, often putting in 12h days at hospitals and then delving into Brazilian culture: food, animals, activities and people. Portuguese is the language of Brazil and although the team had taken some language lessons before leaving, they found that they played lots of charades and used Google Translate to get their points across. They also had to get used to eating dinner at 11 pm.
Claire noted that D4480 is sending its VTT here in March of 2020. Its focus will be on education.
Claire was pleased that her mother Nancy and VTT team members Anna Marie and Tommy were able to join her at today’s meeting.
Kathy Starodub thanked Claire who immediately changed and headed off to finish her 12h nursing shift.
Ben Wark, Page, Ontario Legislature Bob Morrow along with Art Samson were instrumental in getting Ben Wark, a grade 8 student to speak about his experience as a Page at the Ontario Parliament.
Bob also invited Sandy Shaw MPP and Ted McMeekin past MPP who saw Ben in action and were recipients of Ben’s waiter service as he delivered water to them.
Bob asked Ben a series of questions. Here are Ben’s answers. He was chosen when in grade 7 through an application process that involved writing an essay. There are 24 Pages – 12 boys and 12 girls. He wore a 3-piece suit when on duty and his term was 5 weeks from 8 am to 4:30 or 6 pm. Ben stayed with friends of his parents in Toronto and took the subway. One of his first jobs was to look at all the photos of the MPPs and clerks and memorize their names, seating position and ministerial duties. His most memorable task was to help deliver the provincial budget package that he said the Pages did in less than one minute.
Ben missed 5 weeks of school but on the days when he finished at 4:30 took math classes. Ben really enjoyed being a Page even though he was to always keep a straight face and not laugh even when something funny was said. Each day the Pages would parade into the House from the Speaker’s office to the chamber, assume their positions in the chamber (some would go to the east and west lobbies or press gallery), always keep their back to the Speaker and stand when the Speaker stood.
Part of Ben’s presentation included slides of his 5-weeks as a Page at the Ontario Legislature.
Kathy Starodub thanked Ben for his presentation and had him sign a children’s book that will be donated to the First Nations library.
Amy Kelaidis, from Mohawk College, is the Director and Special Advisor of Indigenous Initiatives. Tom McLeod introduced Amy who is a member of the Eagle Clan Mississauga of the First Nation.
Using the background of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action and Mohawk College’s involvement with the Indigenous Education Protocol Amy outlined what the college is doing for indigenous communities.
There are 27 000 members of Six Nations with half living on the reserve and the other half in Hamilton and Brantford. The graduation rate for indigenous students is 63%, the same as the general population. There are now around 1000 indigenous grads in the alumni database.
The college has a strategic plan that includes the TRC recommendations and focuses on five areas: access and learner success, pathways for success for education and employment, partnerships and opportunities, engagement and capacity building, and awareness and reconcili-ACTION.
She ended her presentation with a review of the Awards and Bursaries Program. The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is considering working with the college to contribute to an endowment fund where the club donates $25 000 and the college matches the amount to build a fund of $50 000 that will work in perpetuity to provide awards each year for indigenous students.
Derek Dix thanked Amy in our club’s usual way – the signing of a children’s book that will be donated to the library at Six Nations.
For more information on the extent of the effort Mohawk College is putting into this area and the work of the college’s Indigenous Education Council please see https://www.mohawkcollege.ca/indigenous-students/indigenous-education-council-of-mohawk-college
The speaker this morning was our very own Ryan Turner doing his classification talk. Ryan was introduced by Bob Morrow, his sponsor. Bob told us Ryan is the grandson of charter member Ken Turner, is a partner and director of The Turner Family Funeral Home and is married to Bob’s granddaughter. Ryan is also the club’s most recent inductee and at the age of 24 brought the average age of the club way down.
Ryan was born in Copetown, moved to Dundas and attended Highland Secondary School (played on the football team) before heading off to Humber College to earn his funeral director certificate. Ryan received his funeral director licence in 2015 after completing the in-class, internship, board exam and inspected embalming.
The job can be stressful, being always on call and dealing with people who are vulnerable. He plays hockey, curls and enjoys video games and playing his guitar. He enjoys the family summer cottage on Beaver Lake and this along with his hobbies gives him a break from the rigors of the funeral business. Talking with co-workers and sometimes a counselor helps too.
He loves his job, mainly because he is able to help individuals at one of their lowest points in life. He appreciates the simple thank you he receives from families.
Club members had plenty of questions. Here are some of his answers. Funerals are becoming less religious with only about 35% of funerals at a church or religious site. About 65% of services are cremations and 35% burials. Hamilton now has a green cemetery where bodies are buried without embalming or a casket. Many family owned funeral homes are being bought out by conglomerates. He expects Turner Family Funeral Home to be in business a long time and his long-term goal is to own the business.
Barb Busing thanked Ryan for his talk and as is the club custom, had him sign a children’s book that will be delivered to the First Nations library.
Empowerment Squared has found that children of immigrants typically lead their parents by making friends and learning the language. If the kids do well in school, the family does well in adjusting. However, if the kids struggle with school, the family typically struggles as well. For this reason E2 has created a mentoring program for children of new Canadians: https://empowermentsquared.org/programs/academic-mentoring/. This is coupled with a sports program to encourage the youth to attend.
The main theme of Leo’s talk was the creation of the Liberian Learning Centre. Although initially intent on building a library, Leo’s team has learned that there is a greater need for a multi-purpose centre that is sustainable. This centre will have a recreation centre plus a co-working space for budding entrepreneurs.
Phase I of the project will cost $500,000 with $200,000 coming from Rotary contributions. The Rotary Club of Monrovia is the host club. The goal for E2 is to raise $40,000 which can be leveraged up to $200,000 through matching grants and a Rotary International Grant.
Jeremiah Brown was born in Hamilton, has family from Ancaster and attended McMaster University. He currently lives in Peterborough. He and his wife had their first child while they were attending McMaster. He might have followed a predictable path to a settled life. But what kind of story would that be?
Jeremiah was inspired by the Canadian Men’s Rowing team success in the 2008 Olympics to try and become an Olympic rower himself – in 4 years.
His entertaining and motivational talk centered around three life lessons:
In order to challenge yourself to achieve a really hard goal, get an excellent coach
Make a timeline to achieve the goal
Remain resilient in order to survive
Jeremiah was candid about the stress and challenge of training for such a high level goal – the conflicting desires and fears, the suffering and determination.
He concluded with a breathtaking description of the final hour before the Final race. He had us all in the palm of his hand as he showed a video of the last 100 metres of that race. And we were all happy with the Silver medal that the crew achieved in London in 2012 – Mission accomplished!
His message : Never under estimate your power to mentor someone!
A great service project for the Dundas Community! Over 400 boxes of documents were safely destroyed and diverted from landfill. Each spring and fall the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise holds a shredding day and the community appreciates it. The price was $8 a bank box but many individuals refused change because they knew the good work of Rotary as it serves both the local and international communities. Funds raised help support the world wide elimination of polio, youth programs and bursaries, local tree planting, and literacy programs to name just a few of the
things supported by the club.
Club members Kathy Starodub, Ross Bannatyne and Jody Beck load a bin for shredding while Bob Morrow collects payment.
Peter Dendekker waits to load the next bin into the shredder as a client watches the TV camera to ensure his documents are destroyed.
A special thank you to Bruce and Scott Eccles for the use of the Eccles Auto Service lot and their signs.
On September 18th our guest speaker was Marla Panko from the Carnegie Gallery. Ms. Panko told us that the fundamentals of visual language are like an alphabet or like musical notes. Even if we are not artists ourselves, we can learn to recognize this language. She said that we are desensitized by so much that we see, and that galleries are sanctuaries for our senses, safe houses for our visual legacy.
Examples of aspects of the visual language include color, shape, line, texture, etc. “Point and Line to Plane” by Kandinsky is a book that breaks down the elements of the visual language. Today Ms. Panko focused on composition, including balance, line, depth, unity, and focal points.
The most basic type of balance is symmetry, left/right or radial. Asymmetrical is when the balance is related to what is dissimilar in the image. Orientation and use of line is another aspect of the visual language. When a line is horizontal, for example to indicate the horizon, the image is at rest, calming, and implies an expanse of space. When a line is vertical, the image is active, shows a sense of power and thrusting up. Diagonal lines are dynamic. A diagonal line creates movement and sends your eye through the picture. Multiple diagonals create more movement and emotion. Lines also can divide or connect two halves of a composition.
Depth in pictures is an illusion; artists use linear perspective, scale, and modelling of form to create depth in images. Unity is how artists get everything to work together or hold together in an image: techniques for this include spatial tension and pyramidal structure. When a focal point is a zone, a central zone quiets the picture. Focal points at the edges or no focal point makes a meditative image.
If you have not already done so, register for the District Conference in Niagara-on-the-Lake, October 20. It is a one day event and the Rotary International President is flying in to be part of the opening of the day's events. District Governor Melisa and her daughter Erin made this great video to help promote the day. She wants to get 500 Rotarians and guests to attend. Have a look.
Rotarian Harold Gruneberg introduced our guest speaker on August 28th, Lynn Campanella. Lynn is the CEO of “Playocracy”: https://www.playocracy.ca/about-1/who-we-are/ and is a “play advocate” The theme of her presentation was “physical literacy”. As Lynn said, “we learn best by doing” so she began her presentation with an activity that we all participated in.
There are 42 different health care conditions related to physical inactivity and so, as we age it’s important to keep active. The term physical literacy was first used in the late 1800s but it wasn’t until Margaret Whitehead re-invented the term in 2001 that it came into popular usage. The physical literacy movement really took off in 2010.
Here is a definition of physical literacy: “Physical Literacy is the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities” (Whitehead, 2016).
Physically literate individuals consistently develop the motivation and ability to understand, communicate, apply, and analyze different forms of movement. They are able to demonstrate a variety of movements confidently, competently, creatively and strategically across a wide range of health-related physical activities. These skills enable individuals to make healthy, active choices that are both beneficial to and respectful of their whole self, others, and their environment.
The development of physical literacy is now a reality for educators and recreational leaders within programming requirements and many physical education curricula identifying the development of physically literate students as the major outcome of physical education programs.
Further information about physical literacy is available from Sport for Life here: http://sportforlife.ca/physical-literacy/
Here is an interview with Margaret Whitehead on Physical Literacy – “The term that she invented”: https://activeforlife.com/margaret-whitehead-interview/
Postscript
Club members might remember a presentation by Sara Beck from the Hamilton Police Services on the topic of human trafficking. Well, Sara plays a starring role in this video put together by HPS: https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8864898-whatever-it-takes-hamilton-police-release-a-music-video/ (Sara is front and centre in the picture in the article and appears at about 1:45 in the video).
Playocracy and the importance of physical literacy
On May 15 our guest speaker was Dr. Tapas Mondal, McMaster University talked about the International Project on CPR – McMaster Global CPR Project
Dr. Mondal visits India and does community presentations on CPR; heart disease is the leading killer world wide. The demonstrations for lay people to show hem how to do CPR. He has some mannequins’ but needs many more. He mentioned some of the challenges’ in India and other countries around cultural sensitivities - i.e. women are at a great disadvantage because people may not want to give them CPR. Dr. Mondal has a cross appointment with McMaster Engineering. They have modified mannequins equipping them with sensors and have been able to supply some to medical schools in India.
He is looking for funding to send over hundreds of demonstrational mannequins to India and potentially Africa. He has also made training videos on CPR in English, Bengali, Mandarin, Nigerian and Arabic. Heart disease is becoming rampant in India and China due to the change in diet to include a lot of junk/snack food.
On Halloween, the Club met at the home of CIRCLE OF LIFE, a funeral services business. Our hostess was Karin Schuett, owner of the business. Karin told us about her experiences as part of a large, conventional undertaker business in Toronto. She then described how Circle of Life operates. Its premises are in an old warehouse, now very nicely converted into a modern decorated space, with rooms for receptions, and for grief counseling as needed. There is no chapel. The atmosphere for funerals that she and the premises conveyed to us was one of sympathy but without gloominess. Looking around at the assembled members, maybe this was a timely visit. Our thanks to Karin Schuett, a member of our parent Club, for an informative talk.
Then came Andy Coburn, a past member, now returned to club. He was to give a classification talk "for the benefit of newer members" who did not know the earlier Andy. What we had was a comedic dentist who told us about his pioneering dentist father, who invented or suggested new pieces of equipment for dentistry. We were then offered small green thingies to clean out the gaps between teeth. Turned out that they also could help check whether we had bad breath! In passing we learnt also that Andy went to work in his pyjamas, and with sundry "tattoos", as part of his Halloween costume. Welcome back, Andy, Your humour is always enjoyable.
On October 10, 2017 Alan Hansell from Stewards of Cootes Paradise joined the club to update us on the group's community and environmental involvement; he was last here in January of 2016. He also shared his personal connection to Rotary, which includes his own exchange to Japan as a teen and having received a Paul Harris award.
The Cootes watershed is the Dundas Valley. Each of our homes is a watershed for one of our creeks; Alan suggested this is something to think about, for example, if you’re washing your car in the driveway, as storm sewers generally go straight to a creek.
The volunteers for the Stewards are out to clean up the creeks. For example, they have removed in the past few months 5700 bags of garbage from the creeks and their banks. There is a display at the Dundas museum of older treasures they’ve found. They now also are working in the Red Hill watershed.
Their goal is to get the creeks clean and to keep them clean. When something is clean people care more about keeping it clean; a main focus of their work is community engagement. There are cleanup opportunities for everyone, including easy, moderate, and rugged. Cleanups are every Sunday 1-4; in the heat of the summer they shift to the morning. There also are monthly stewardship opportunities once an area is clean.
Cleaning up this garbage in our environment eliminates hazards to wildlife and reduces leachate from polymers and microplastics. There is a salmon run this time of year; clean up has doubled the size of their spawning ground.
Alan and his volunteers also get involved to solve recurring problems at their source, for example, how the paint from the ice surface at our local arenas gets disposed.
One September 12, 2017 the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club was joined by District Governor Reg Madison. Assistant Governor Allyson Wenzowski introduced District Governor Reg Madison who brought his message to Make a Difference. After congratulating the club for its service to the community he reviewed the Rotary Citation and Lighthouse Awards and the Governor’s Trophy. He spoke of Rotary International’s goals to support and strengthen clubs, focus and increase humanitarian service and enhance public image.
He asked us to attend the District Conference at White Oaks Resort and Conference Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, October 27-29 and to register for the Rotary International Convention in Toronto, June 23 – 27.
President Jessica thanked Reg and Loretta for visiting the club and she and Foundation Director Ross presented Reg with a club donation to The Rotary Foundation for $4000.
On September 5, Nic Schulz introduced Paul General. Paul is the General Manager of the Six Nations Eco-Centre. Information about the centre is available from its website. Paul is a Seneca and lives on the Six Nations Reserve.
He gave a slide presentation that was similar to this one.
He discussed the various treaties that have been signed over the years and give an excellent presentation of the origin of the Haudenosaunee flag which is based on the “Two Row Wampum”. When the Haudenosaunee first came into contact with the European nations, treaties of peace and friendship were made. Each was symbolized by the Gus-Wen-Tah or Two Row Wampum. There is a bed of white wampum which symbolizes the purity of the agreement. There are two rows of purple, and those two rows have the spirit of your ancestors and mine. There are three beads of wampum separating the tow rows and they symbolized peace, friendship and respect. These two rows will symbolize two paths or two vessels, travelling down the same river together. One, a birch bark canoe, will be for the Indian people, their laws, their customs and their ways. The other, a ship, will be for the white people and their laws, their customs and their ways. We shall each travel the river together, side by side, but in our own boat. Neither of us will try to steer the other’s vessel.
George Gould introduced our speaker Paul Iacoviello. Paul is a photographer (among other things such as an instructor at Mohawk College and a correctional officer). Interestingly one of Paul’s most recent photographs was of George’s son James who graces the cover of a recent (August 17-24 ) issue of View Magazine.
Paul showed us a number of his excellent photographs – including several from this year’s fireworks display. A number of the same photographs can be viewed on Paul’s excellent website here: http://www.pauliacoviello.com/ (Note that you may need to download the “flash player”).
Paul gets most of his business via word of mouth and, in answer to a question, said that when shooting models he tries to capture something of their personality in his pictures.
After working for the city for 35 years, Nick retired and took a culinary course. He now hosts a TV show about cooking on channel 14 and runs his own business The five Cs of cooking. Check the website to learn more about the business.
The theme of Nick’s talk was “6 steps for a second life”. That is, what should you do post retirement? The six steps are:
Identify the desire
Eliminate your fears
Plan how
Create an energy
See the signs
Act without hesitation.
Nick has followed the six steps to not only create his own business but also to become a travel agent (as a consequence of his many trips) and a wedding officiant!
Our speaker on Tuesday, August 15th was Dr. Chris Swartz. Chris is a colleague of Phil Wood in the Department of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University. Chris holds the Dofasco Chair in Process Automation and Information Technology and is the Director of the McMaster Advanced Control Consortium (MACC). He lives in Dundas with his wife Jacquie and children Philippa and Helen.
The theme of Chris’s presentation was optimization or “determining the best amongst alternatives” He gave several simple examples of optimization from daily life – for example: planning our optimum shopping route, planning our investment strategy or even for children planning their trick our treat route.
The MACC is a consortium of several member companies (e.g. Corning, Dofasco), 5 faculty members and 20 or so graduate students.
Chris gave some real examples of the type of work they do. One project is sponsored by Praxair a company that separates air into its components (mainly nitrogen and oxygen) by cooling it and then boiling it. The process is a huge user of electricity which is extremely expensive these days so they need to optimize their process in response to the demand for the products and the cost of electricity. Ideally you would like to do all of the separation when the cost is lowest but that isn’t always when the demand is highest.
Another project is one he is working on with Dofasco. It involves an electric arc furnace which is used to melt scrap metal down. Again, electricity is a major expense as is oxygen. Chris’s group is preparing a mathematical model of the process to guide the process engineers at Dofasco who are working with the actual process.
Our speaker today was Nancy Smith, Executive Director of Interval House. Nancy was accompanied by Sadie Wolfe and was introduced by Mary Lou Emmett.
Interval House provides a shelter for abused women and focusses their programs on gender based violence. Last year they celebrated their 30th year in operation and is the only non faith-based shelter in Hamilton. Additional information about Interval House can be viewed on their website: https://intervalhousehamilton.org/
Services offered by Interval House:
24 hour Crisis Line : 905-387-8881
Emergency shelter: available 24 hours a day, seven days a week that includes all meals, emergency clothing and personal needs all at no cost to the client
Outreach Transitional Services: An outreach counsellor can work with women living in the community who are thinking of leaving, needing support, have left and are living in the community
Jared's Place Legal Advocacy Services: Our legal support counsellor can assist with criminal, family and immigration, civil issues affecting abused women
Community Referrals. In a new program called Mentor Action: http://mentoraction.org/who-we-are/, Interval House is working with the Hamilton Bulldogs and McMaster athletics on a program of videos of men talking to men about gendered violence
The speaker on July 18th was Grant Linney who was introduced by Dave Carson. Grant was an outdoor educator at Upper Canada College and spoke to us about climate change. Grant has his own web page on the Climate Reality Project page. It contains numerous resources for those interested in climate change (all of us?) and how to reduce our carbon foot print. We were also given a brochure on climate change that was prepared by Environment Hamilton http://www.environmenthamilton.org/ . In his presentation, Grant talked about the new documentary by Al Gore: “An Inconvenient Sequel” which is a follow-up to the original “An Inconvenient Truth”. Here is the trailer that Grant showed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huX1bmfdkyA.
Grant also spoke about the importance of science. Here is a brief video that he showed by Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of America’s great scientists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MqTOEospfo.
The final topic that Grant discussed was the “greenhouse effect” which is created by (among other things) man-made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This leads to global warming and the many problems associated with it. Some countries, like Germany and Denmark are reducing their reliance on fossil fuels by, for example, increasing wind power generation. China is leading the world in solar power. His advice regarding fossil fuels? “keep it in the ground.
Our speaker on July 11th was Armin Ghazi, President and Lead Consultant of SSG Managed Technology Services (https://www.ssgmanaged.com/#home-section). He spoke to us about protecting our privacy at the border. He left a little pocket guide behind which can be found here.
Armin grew up in Louisville Kentucky and went to university in Spain. He is and Iranian/U.S. citizen and his wife is an Iranian/Canadian citizen and due to recent aggressive questioning at the border by Homeland Security, he has become interested in persons personal devices being searched at the border. He cited a story of a U.S. citizen (a space industry employee) returning from Chile. The issue was that he head sensitive, confidential documents on his phone that he did not want to give up to the border guards. These guards can use a device developed by the Israeli government to break into a phone and then create a mirror image of the phone’s contents and copy them to a USB stick. The data is then assessed and the guards will decide if you can enter the U.S. or not. An issue occurs when your device contains data that belongs to clients.
Armin gave us several options
Refuse to surrender your device (not an option)
Rent or ship your devices (very inconvenient).
Wipe and restore – i.e. backup all data to i-cloud and then delete from your devices. Restore at a hotspot in the U.S.
Use “burners”. These are dedicated travel devices used only for travel.
In terms of regular safety regarding our data and passwords, Armin had the following suggestions:
Use a password manager. This will create an unique password for every account that you have (and more importantly, remember it!).
Enable two factor authorization (2FA)
Use cloud services and then remote access – very little is stored on the actual device
On Tuesday, July 4th outgoing President Ross Bannatyne thanked the Board and Club members of Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club for a great year. The Club was extremely thankful to Ross for a wonderful year of service and pledged its support to the new President Jessica Brennan and the Board.
Assistant District Governor Allyson Wenzowski swore in new president Jessica Brennan using the same speech that DVSRC member Bob Morrow used to swear her in as President on the noon club last year.
Members of the Board pledged to support Jessica during her year as President and Jessica pledged to support the ideals of Rotary. Jessica thanked her sponsor George Gould and the Club for supporting her during year as President Elect.
Jessica noted that as President she wants our Club to continue to provide service in the Dundas community and to identify all the places that we serve. She wants to improve the gender and ethnic balance in the club membership if possible. Jessica announced the 2017-18 Board as follows:
Position
Name
President
Brennan, Jessica
President Elect
Busing, Barbara
Secretary
Carson, Dave
Treasurer
Massey, Wayne
Past President
Bannatyne, Ross
Vice President
Armstrong, Grant
Community Service
Davidson, Don
Vocational Service
Price, Derek
International Service
Armstrong, Bill
Membership
Montesanto, Ralph
Public Relations
Schulz, Nic
Club Administration
Davidson, Don
Youth Services
Roblin, Steve
In addition, at the District Level Ralph Montesanto and Bob Morrow are involved in different forms of training and Wayne Massey is providing his expertise to the grant selection process.
Rotary pins for President, Past President and President Elect were presented to Jessica, Ross and Grant.
Finally, Ross passed on the gavel to Jessica and a new Rotary year has started.
Our speaker on Tuesday, June 20 was Shaunaugh Whelan. Shaunaugh shared with us her experience at the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). Shaunaugh has been engaged in Rotary for many years, since she was on a Rotary Exchange to France at age 19.
Shaunaugh was a fantastic cheerleader for the RYLA program and the club was very pleased to have sent such an impressive young leader to the program. She described the impact attending RYLA had for her and thanked the Club for our sponsorship.
As a program RYLA connects with leaders in the community and around the world to:
Build communication and problem-solving skills
Discover strategies for becoming a dynamic leader in your school or community
Learn from community leaders, inspirational speakers and peer mentors
Unlock your potential to turn motivation into action
Have fun and form lasting friendships
There were many team building and leadership activities Shaunaugh participated in as well as workshops which helped attendees gain perspectives on how they see themselves and how others view them. For more information on the RYLA program and how to nominate young Dundas leaders contact
Shaunaugh is a member of the Hamilton Rotaract Club and is engaged in many activities to help the community.
On May 30, 2017 the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club was joined by distinguished Dundas citizens Bob Rockford and Fred Fuchs. Bob and Fred are principals in the non-profit Westdale Cinema Group. Their group was put together to save the Westdale Theatre from being torn down.
Fred and Bob noted that Westdale was one of Canada’s first planned communities. It was built with streets like spokes on a wheel and at the hub was the theatre. Over time the theatre has deteriorated though and was about to be sold. The Westdale Cinema Group came together to restore the theatre and restore it to its original lustre. It will be reduced in size to 400 seats and will become the new home of the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s film festival. The theatre will also be used for musical events and speakers.
The sale was to close on June 1st and the group has applied for charitable status. Renovations will take roughly 9 months to complete. An Open House and party will take place on June 25th where members can learn more about the plans. A Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=westdale%20cinema%20group has already attracted more than 1800 members.
Our speaker on May 23, 2017 was Thijmen Van Loenen who spoke to use about his work in Motherwell Township near Port Elizabeth South Africa. The project's primary mission is to protect children in high risk areas and sending orphans in the area to school.
The club was pleased to present Thijmen with a cheque for $1500 to support their good work.
Thijmen Van Loenen and work in Motherwell Township
Recently, the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club used one of its morning meetings to honour several people in the club and the community for their contributions to make the world a better place for all.
Suzanne Crago and Cam Whiffey, both non-members of the club, have contributed to the development of “The Stars of Dundas” a mid-winter event featuring local talent. Members Wayne Massey, Ralph Montesanto, Randy Abel and Shirley Molloy were presented with awards for continued contributions to the development of the club and to Rotary in general.
The recipients in order of presentation, are:
CAM WIFFING: Cam was born in Hamilton , is Married and has 2 children.
He is an athlete and an avid motorcyclist and has taken part in a 6 Day Endure Ride.
Cam owns Eagle Press Printing Company and for the past 5 years he has worked with our club to design the program for the "Stars of Dundas" fundraiser
Through his work Cam has helped raise awareness about Rotary and helped us with sponsorship through advertising.
SUSANNE CRAGO: Suzanne grew up in Flamboro and went to Parkside High school
She was a former Figure Skater and went on to perform with the Ice Capades from 1970-1973.
Susanne taught Figure Skating in British Columbia and Edmonton, Alberta.
Her company "Community Graphics" has been the "Go To" company for advertising and Show programs for all the local Skating Clubs!
Susanne and Cam worked together on the "Stars of Dundas" programs which have helped our Club raise over $50,000 over the past 5 years!
WAYNE MASSEY: As a young man Wayne was an avid athlete, playing Football and running in Track.
Wayne is a great Entrepreneur , he has operated several successful business in our community and has recently retired from his Accounting Firm!
He has been a longtime member of our club, he was President in 2006 and is our current Club Treasurer .
Wayne is always there to help out at Club events, he is always giving back to our community and he is Always making a difference!
RALPH MONTESANTO: Ralph IS ROTARY!!! He never stops! He was District Governor in 2008-2009. He is the advocate for the" Continuum of Rotary", he is always attending the Rotary Leadership conferences where he is the Training Director for the Leadership Initiative.
Ralph is always helping out at all Rotary events and has ben key in making the "shredding day "fundraiser a great success!
Ralph wild be taking on a new role as Vice Governor.
Marlee awarded Ralph with the Paul Harris Ruby Pin!
CHRIS GRABIEC and JOHN JANISSE
"A HOUSE IS A HOME WHEN IT GIVES BACK TO THE COMMUNITY"
Which is exactly what these to great people do!
For many years they have opened their doors and offered their home as the venue for countless community fundraising events.
They have helped to bring awareness and raise funds for AIDS and The Bob Kemp Hospice to name a few!
Their home is also part St. James House tour and the Carnegie Gallery Garden Tour!
These two are all about giving back and have opened their doors to hundreds of people to better the community!
RANDY ABLE: Randy lives in Rockton , is an Electrician and is currently teaching an Electrical course at College!
Randy is a long time member of our club and is always there to help at all events and give back to the community!
He is the Hardworking , behind the scene Guy who gets things done!
He has a great sense of humor and is our resident Bar tender!
SHIRLY MALOY: Shirley was born in New Foundland where she worked at a community Newspaper as well as the Salvation Army.
She came to Ontario in 1990 to work with the Salvation Army in Family Services and is the manager of the local Food Bank.
Shirley is long time member of our club, she's always involved in our Rotary events and is our past Club President!
She works tirelessly to make a difference and give back to the people of our community!
Our speaker Tuesday, May 9, 2017 was Diane Reader Jones. Diane’s story was reported in the Hamilton Spectator in this article from last November: http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/6959258-how-a-small-act-of-caring-changed-lives/. Back in 2003 Diane sponsored a young girl named Sharon in Uganda. Over time Diane sent Sharon money and on one occasion a laptop so that she could complete her studies. Sharon is now Dr. Sharon Mutesasira and Diane has just returned from a visit to Sharon in Uganda.
Our speaker on May 2, 2017 was Dundas resident and Rotary Exchange Student Joe Morgan. After 256 days in Japan Joe called into our meeting via Skype to fill us in on his time there.
He reports that he's getting more and more confident with the language and that he's been enjoying a lot of the culture and was surprised to find out that Christmas isn't a very big deal in Japan. At first he found himself experiencing a bit of culture shock but as someone who like rice and fish he has been able to settle in nicely.
The experience has been a fun one and has really given Joe the travel bug. He expects to teach overseas once his exchange program ends.
If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about the Rotary exchange program please reach out!
On Tuesday, April 18 Ralph Montesanto lead the club in a review of Rotary's changes to the Council of Legislation. Ralph started by sharing two video presentations regarding Rotary International Legislation. Club's have been provided with a basic template to follow when implementing and complying with Rotary International bylaws.
On April 4th the Dundas Sunrise Rotary Club welcomed Barb Carpio as our speaker. Barb is a McMaster Nursing professor who grew up in the Northwest Territories adjacent to a native colony. Her interest and work with native communities led to her being asked to testify before the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) on behalf of the Hamilton Conference of the United Church of Canada.
On March 28th, 2017 Bill Gregory, our speaker for the day, was introduced by Carl Fraser. Bill told the story of his involvement with juvenile diabetes and the Frances Rose Foundation.
Our speaker on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 was photographer Mark Zelinski. Mark has written several books that contain his excellent photographs along with additional text. He spent most of his presentation talking about his newest book “Heart of Turtle Island: The Great Escarpment”.
March 7, 2017 - Dave Carson, club member and Treasurer of Environment Hamilton, presented the club with an update on the Ontario Green Gas Progress Report. Dave's talk built off of a topic that he wrote about recently for the Hamilton Spectator Article. Dave spoke to the progress that has been made so far against the province's plan to reduce Green House Gases by 30% by the end of 2030. Dave noted that this is a low target and even still we are producing 815mega tones of Carbon Dioxide which puts us 55% behind the prediction.
On Tuesday, February 28th our guest speaker was Dr. Sid Stacey. Sid is the current Chair of the Suicide Prevention Community Council of Hamilton (SPCCH) and facilitated the launch of the city-wide Hamilton Suicide Prevention Strategy in 2010 and also Co-Chairs the LHIN 4 Regional Suicide Prevention Committee. He told us the very tragic story of his own daughter’s suicide which started him advocating for suicide awareness.
On Monday, February 20th the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club hosted its annual Winter Carnival at the Dundas Driving Park. This awesome event includes horse and buggy rides, cider, free skate rentals, music and more! This year we were blessed to have beautiful weather, warm enough to skate without a toque but cold enough that the ice held together.
On Tuesday, February 21 our speaker was the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club's own Hugh Boyd who gave his classification talk.
Hugh’s mother was a nurse and his father a rural planner and was a Rotarian for a short time. He is the Medical Director at St. Joseph’s Villa.Growing up Hugh played most sports but his real love was music. In particular, he loved to play the fiddle.
On Tuesday, February 14th we had the pleasure of inviting speakers Russ and Karen Beaurivage . Russ is an OPP officer (and also a pilot) and Karen is a legal assistant in Hagersville. For the last several years they have been involved in various Haiti missions starting with short term missions from 2009-2012. In 2013, Russ became head of the vehicle and ground maintenance at the Mission of Hope in Haiti. During that stint they were asked to take on the interim Directorship of Tytoo Gardens which was nearby. Tytoo gardens has a very interesting history which can be read about here: http://www.tytoogardens.com/history/. Tytoo Gardens is an orphanage the operates a transitions program which tries to re-connect children with families. Many of the residents are not true orphans but their families simply cannot support them. It also has a medical clinic which is the only one in the community. It is Haitian run with Haitian doctors. Tytoo also provides an elder care program which provides food twice per month for older community members.
Russ is rebuilding an aircraft that he uses for his working with Aviation Ministries in Haiti. He says that the cheque the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club presented to him with just about cover the cost of the flight to Haiti (where plane fuel is extremely expensive).
On February 7 the club had the pleasure of visiting Graham & Brooks store on Main St. Dundas.
Mary Lou introduced Lorna and John, owners of Graham and Brooks since 2015. Both spoke about the development of their business with chalk painting lessons on Sundays to architectural salvaging at its heart. An incredible variety of old and new in 3 rooms, The Rough House, at the back, having just opened. John loves to salvage and scavenge, from old barns to churches and schools being torn down (All Saints, Parkside). Lorna is the paint expert, leading classes as well as painting for others who bring pieces into the store and she demonstrated chalk painting chairs for us in a matter of minutes. Their most recent project is increasing their social media presence. Look for on-line shopping in the spring!
Don thanked our hosts and we left to brave the elements!
On January 31, 2017 a small group of Rotarians had the pleasure of hearing from new member Derek Dix.
Derek told us about his adventures heading to New Zealand as a young man with nothing more than the pack on his back...and no place to stay. Everything worked out well for him though and he landed himself work at a security firm...while he spent the days working he spent every weekend skiing.
Derek also shared his experiences as a competitive curler where he would play 5 - 7 games a week. Derek met his wife Leah through curling and together they have 2 fantastic kids, Marjorie and Graham. These days Derek spends more time in the wood shop than on the ice. His current hobby is woodturning and he enjoys being a member of the Golden Horseshoe Woodturner's Guild.
As owner of Dundas Lock and Key Derek also shared with us some of the work being done in the locksmith industry to ensure all of our safety. Most interestingly there is work being done to "certify" locksmiths to ensure that the people you are trusting with your homes security are trustworthy. We all sat up and took notice when Derek mentioned that the number one college course in Ontario prisons is the locksmithing programme!!
On Tuesday, January 24th Dr Galbraith, Head of Science at the Royal Botanical Gardens, spoke to us about the Cootes to Escarpment Eco Park project. Dr Galbraith described the rare and wonderful asset that we have right here in Dundas.
The Dundas Valley is a glacial re-entrant valley; in places over 600 feet of sediment is present.
Uniquely, the Niagara Escarpment faces south in this area, creating a special ecosystem
It is the only remaining Great Lakes coastal wetland connected to the escarpment
It is biologically rich area of 10 square kilometres with over 1600 of all species
Though rich diversity several of the species are “at risk” because of human activity.
It has a rich history too; stone points of 8-1000 years ago and Woodland people’s pottery of 3000 years ago gives evidence of the long presence of humans in this area.
The area was celebrated for its natural beauty by early settlers but it was the actions of community leaders in the 1920’s (Thomas McQuestern, McMaster University, Hamilton Naturalists) that paved the way for its preservation from airports, roads and other development. More recently, the idea of the Eco Park came from collaboration of many agencies in Hamilton and Burlington, eventually resulting in a 2009 Strategic Plan proposal to create the Eco Park. You can learn more about the project at their website http://www.cootestoescarpmentpark.ca.
10 organizational partners continue to work together to develop 4,700 acres, acquire more land and protect the natural spaces in the Eco Park. The arrival of bald eagles in the park 3 years ago celebrates the areas ecology and proves that recovery of a damaged environment can be done.
January 24: Dundas and the Cootes to Escarpment Eco Park
The program on January 17th, 2017 was a club assembly addressing both Local and International service projects. The discussion included:
A project being planned by the Dundas Museum to install a historic Bertram Steam Hammer at the Museum. A Club project is proposed to prepare the concrete foundation with an application for a $2,000 matching District Grant made to assist with the cost. The Hamilton Spectator had a great article in 2013 that shows the steam hammer
Bill Armstrong, Director of International Services, gave an overview of his committee's budget and listed a number of projects already funded this year. Three new projects were voted on including support for:
Family Restoration Services – Port Elizabeth South Africa
The International Services Committee will be providing $500 to the Welland Rotary Club to support their major project in Candelaria, Philippines.
The committee will also give $500 for medical supplies for Kurdistan. The supplies will go to Mosul, Iraq to support programs similar to this work by Doctors Without Borders as well as work by UNPO.
Announcements
Jessica Brennan talked about her upcoming year as President and the team that will be joining her. She is still looking for volunteers if anyone is interested.
On Tuesday, Jan 10 Art Sampson introduced the speaker Randy Hendriks (but not before he apologized for being late).
Randy has had an interesting career. He is presently Executive Director, Social Impact Enterprises at Innovation Factory where he provides “oversight and guidance to Social Impact Enterprises ongoing projects, organization team members, impactstore.ca, non-profits and social enterprise consulting clients, and grass-roots community groups seeking mentoring and guidance.”
Randy's path to this position has been interesting. He did Civil Engineering at Mohawk College before getting a Bachelor of Theology degree at the University of Ottawa and then a Doctorate in Theology at Acadia University. Along the way he was a campus chaplain and a pastor before working with Wells of Hope in Niagara. At Wells of Hope he often dealt with the Rotary Club of Niagara on the Lake.
Randy spoke to us about business models for Social Innovation where common good is a key component of a company's operations . Examples include the Gameen bank which makes micro loans to women and the local 541 Eatery & Exchange which uses a button system to allow customers to pay meals forward.
He spoke about new funding options for social enterprises including crowd funding and the SVX stock exchange. In the new models for successful innovation, enterprises need to be sustainable, have measureable goals, have partners and be fiscally prudent.
Bright and early Tuesday morning the club gathered at the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club for our annual holiday auction. With the incomparable auctioneering skills of Bruce Eccles and the Price is Right Display skills of Roger Stewart a very fun time was had by all.
The highlight of the day was the heated bidding war between Carl Fraser and Jessica Brennan over a beautiful picture of two girls playing piano. In the end Carl won the prize...but turned right around to make it a gift for Jessica.
The auction (which is composed of donations made by club members) collected nearly $4,000 with an additional $565 donated by members to St. Matthews House. Between the auction and personal donations our club is able to contribute $2,547.50 to St. Matthews House this year.
Another $1,982.50 will be donated to The Rotary Foundation of Canada for Polio Plus. These funds will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation…making our total contribution $5,947.50!
On Tuesday, November 29th Dan Millar, Area Director of Public Relations joined us for breakfast.
Dan provided an interesting talk and presentation about the very very very many good things that the Salvation Army does locally and across Canada. Dan shared a video called "One Day of Hope" that showed just a few of the things that happen each and every day thanks to the Salvation Army. The video is very inspiring and can be found here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEwpECtctGI). Through this day by day commitment the Salvation Army helps 1.5Million people every year!
Just a few of the things that the Salvation Army undertake locally are:
After a presentation from Shirley Molloy on fundraising for the Rotary Foundation the club had the opportunity of touring the Harry Howell Arena, which due to construction at Grightmire Arena, will be the venue for our Lobster & Ribfest in 2017.
The tour highlighted a much bigger space and a great setting for a very fun evening. Following this tour the club left excited for this change!
Our Club had the honour of a visit and presentation from Canadian Astronaut Dr. Robert (Bob) Thirsk on November 15th.
A record turnout of Rotary members and guests at Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club was accompanied with 24 students with their teachers from eight local schools.
Dr Thirsk was introduced by Club member Bob Morrow, who had met Dr Thirsk though work on the Tomatosphere project.
Dr Thirsk is a much honoured Canadian Space Agency Astronaut. He was selected in 1983 for the Canadian Astronaut program and trained for, and participated in, many parts of the Shuttle and International Space Station programs over the next 26 years. He retired from the Agency in 2012 and is currently the Chancellor of the University of Calgary.
In 1996 Bob flew as a payload specialist aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-78 and during the 17 day mission he and his six crewmates performed 43 international experiments devoted to life and materials sciences.
We heard about experiments that could only be performed due to zero gravity – making pure semi-conductor crystals – and others that had important impacts on long term space travel. Bones can “demineralize” during space travel, essentially causing osteoporosis, and the astronauts took part in experiments to minimize this. In part, they had to exercise two hours a day to avoid potential bone loss which had potential to cause bone fractures during the rough ride of re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere.
That was just a short trip.
In 2009 Bob flew a long duration mission in the International Space station. For 3000 Orbits, over six months, Bob and his five crewmates ate freeze dried food, drank recycled water and slept in a sleeping bag in order to perform an unprecedented amount of multi-disciplinary research and complex robotic operations.
We were all impressed with the fantastic amount of continuous learning that Dr Thirsk undertook through this intense period. He must have inspired the students who were present. They were given the opportunity to question him on his education, his ambition, his emotions, and his appreciation of Star Trek.
Dr Thirsk was thanked by our own Dr Phil Wood (not an astronaut) and presented with a gear wheel from the Canadarm as a memory of his visit to our Club.
On October 25, 2016 Rachel O’Reilly, who is responsible for communications and development, joined us to share her perspective on Neighbour 2 Neighbour. N2N started as a food bank but has become more of a multi service social agency. For a statement from N2N’s Executive Director, Denise Arkell, click on this link: http://www.n2ncentre.com/about/.
There is much more information about N2N on their website: http://www.n2ncentre.com/. The 3 main pillars of N2N are Food Access (including a food bank, community garden, community kitchen, Christmas program and home delivery), Family Services (including settlement, for women, health services, financial advice and community counselling) and Education Services (which includes a parent tutoring program and math success program). So far this year the education program has helped 228 kids.
October 25: Neighbour 2 Neighbour Hamilton Mountain
Our October 18th guest speaker was Dr. Malcolm Sears who spoke on “Allergy and Asthma Research”. Dr. Sears is the Director of the Firestone Institute of Respiratory Health. He is a native of New Zealand and has been a professor at McMaster since 1990. His bio and research interests can be viewed here: http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/medicine/respirology/faculty_member_sears.htm
He is director of the CIHR/AllerGen funded Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study following over 3000 infants from pregnancy to age 5 years. He spoke to us about the CHILD program. A brief description of the CHILD program can be found here.
President Ross Bannatyne started the Tuesday, October 11 meeting reminding the club of the “Object of Rotary” (in particular #2):
Object of Rotary
The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
Vocational Services Presentation: Dave Carson
Director of Vocational Services, Derek Price, talked about the role of his portfolio. This includes off-site visits (like our most recent visit to the SHED brewery) and speakers on ethics (such as former Dean of Business at McMaster Paul Bates who spoke a couple of years ago). Derek’s idea is to use the “Reclassification” talks to inform new members about the career arcs of older members. These presentations will be in the range of 7-10 minutes and will typically arise during scheduled times for classification talks or spontaneously if a scheduled speaker is unable attend.
The speaker this morning was Dave Carson. Dave titled his talk: “My Information/Telecommunications journey – a tooth on the smallest cog of technology change”. He graduated in 1969 and started his first job at the British Motor Company the same year. That is also where he began working with computer systems.
From 1969-1976 he worked with three different companies developing and implementing computer systems. He came to Canada in 1976 (along with more than 20 other Brits) to work with Bell Canada and Northern Telecom. His project was the first all-digital telephone switch.
He left for Saudi Arabia in November of 1980 and spent three and a half years there building a new telephone system with Bell Canada International. He was back in Saudi in 1987-88 working for Saudi Telecom. Bell spun off their computer systems department to form a separate company.
In 1996 Bell sold the company to CGI. At CGI outsourcing consulting became his business. Setting up help desks for companies became a core business. He travelled overseas again in 2000-2001 to spend 15 months working in Portugal – again setting up help desks.
He continued working with CGI working on outsourcing and setting up help desks until his retirement in 2010.
Oct 11: Dave Carson speaks about his (small) roll in the evolution of telecommunications
Due to a death in her family, our speaker, Melissa Schrock, was unable to attend the October 4 rotary meeting. Bob Morrow introduced our own Ralph Montesanto to talk about Rotary and the upcoming conference in Batavia, NY. Ralph was the Charter President of our club in 2000 and is presently the Vice Governor in District 7090.
Ralph had just attended the Zone Institute in Winnipeg where the topic was human rights. He had the opportunity to hear Desmond tutu’s daughter speak on the topic of girl’s education in Africa. It’s typical for boys to go to school but not girls. There is a girls’ high school in Malawi that is supported by Rotary.
Ralph spoke about the District Conference in Batavia New York which takes place from October 21-23. More information is available here: http://www.districtconference7090.org/. There are 69 clubs in District 7090. We are in Area 3 where Allyson Wenzowski (from the noon club) is the Area Governor for the four local clubs. Both Bob Morrow and Ralph talked about how enjoyable they have found previous conferences. Bob will be doing a wine tasting seminar on the Friday evening. There are various sessions on the Saturday and on Sunday there will be a memorial service for Rotarians who have passed away in the last year.
On Tuesday, September 13th the Dundas Sunrise Rotary Club had the pleasure of visiting the Shawn and Ed Brewery on Hatt St. Ed Madronich was kind enough to give us a history lesson on the brewery...which has had previous lives as a foundry, bus depot and curling rink. Ed spoke lovingly of the restoration of the building, making efforts wherever possible to keep the original structure or to recreate in a way more consistent with what would be historically accurate.
It was a great morning and fun field-trip. Thanks to Shirley Molley and Bob Morrow for arranging the early morning breakfast!
Start putting all your old files and documents together for the fall Shredding Day. Watch them be safely destroyed! Eccles Auto 200 King St. W. Dundas on October 15 from 9 AM to 1 PM. $7 for a small bank box. Funds raised go to support the many local and international Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club causes including the world wide eradication of polio.
On Tuesday, Sept 6 we were visited by District Governor Marlee Diehl. Marlee asked us to look at ourselves, ask who are we and what are our goals as Rotarians. As Rotarians we have the ability to change destiny! She asked us to think outside the box when it comes to new members and suggested starting a spark by trying a Satellite Club evening.
This year marks the 100th Anniversary of Rotary and Marlee encouraged us to come up with a Centennial fund raiser. She also stated that Rotary is ranked #5 in the top 10 foundations.
Marlee spoke about our battle against Polio. Noting that we are almost there! Last year there were just 3 cases in Afghanistan, 16 in Pakistan and 2 cases in Nigeria. With a final push we can see polio a thing of the past!
Lastly Marlee spoke about the International Conference in Batavia. Details include a Friday night Tailgate Party, Haunted tour and Wine tasting. Saturday is all about Rotary with seminars, and a bike-a-thon. We will also be assembling 50,000 dry meal packages to donate to the community and local food banks.
At the end of Marlee's presentation Club President Ross Banatyne and Past President Shirley Molley presented he with a check to the Rotary Foundation for $5000.00.
Ed Madronich, Hamilton native and owner of Flatrock Cellars winery in Jordan shared the pains and pleasures of opening the Shawn & Ed Brewing Co. on Hatt street in the heart of Dundas.
Ed has a background as a manager at Inniskillin vinyards in Niagara on the Lake and the experience gained there led him to open Flatrock Cellars which has had a successful history since opening in 1999. Ed loves what he does at Flatrock however this didn’t stop him from pursuing another passion to open a micro-brewery with his friend Shawn. The two came up with the idea 5 years ago. After a plan was in place, the next step was to find a location for the brewery. This came to light when Ed and his wife drove by the Crockford building on Hat Street and thought “what a great place for a brewery.” All Ed had to do was sell his idea to Bob Crockford which he did and the building of Shawn & Ed Brewing Company had begun. Rob Creighton was hired as the brewmaster and the best equipment was purchased to begin the brewing of some of the areas best beer.
The Shawn & Ed focus is within the Dundas community and Ed says the community support has been tremendous…not to mention a hottest summer on record that has created a great thirst! One of the greatest challenges to the opening of Shaun & Ed Brewing Co. was the city of Hamilton, which likes to make most things difficult. J
If you are a wine drinker, don’t expect to find Flatrock Cellars wines being served at the Shawn & Ed location. The LCBO has a monopoly on alcohol sales and unfortunately controls all aspects of wine sales. Therefore, wine cannot be served without a special events license.
Ed Madronich: Introduction to Micro-Brewing in Dundas
One August 23, 2016 Filomena gave the Dundas Sunrise Rotary Club a presentation offering insight into who she is, what motivates her, how she got into Politics and a little of what it is like to be a new Member of Parliament. It was an interesting and captivating presentation that involved telling us many stories of events in her life from five year’s old up to the present. If you were absent today go Listen to Filomena when you get the opportunity.
Filomena is a proud Hamiltonian, the daughter of a Steelworker raised in a family that knew the meaning of hard work. She grew up in Hamilton and only left the City when she went to University. Filomena obtained her undergraduate degree in Philosophy from The University of Waterloo and then studied at Western University where she obtained her Law Degree.
Guest speaker Judy Rickey, owner of Clutter Relief Services offered the club tips and tricks for keeping the clutter at bay.
Judy, who identifies as a “professional organizer", pointed out that many people hang on to too many things for far too long. Often the items belong to their children (who have long ago moved away) and may hold sentimental value. They feel that items may be worth something someday but aren’t aware of modern ways if selling things online (e.g. Kijiji, Craigslist).
Unfortunately, excess clutter can become a fire or mould hazard. It’s attractive to rodents and insects. It can strain relationships within families and, in extreme cases, can become overwhelming and lead to anxiety and depression.
Judy gave several hints for reducing clutter: for example, one in one out; keep a donation box handy; ask yourself – do you love it, do you use it? Do you need it? If all else fails she offers her services at the website above. Her company provides free assessments.
On August 9, 2016 the club held an assembly on membership.
Ralph Montesanto and Jan Southall shared the results of an informal club survey and new Rotary membership rules. It was noted that as a way of encouraging buys professionals to participate Rotary has become more relaxed on the traditional rules about attendance.
The club survey found that:
Rotarians find they get the greatest benefit from the club’s Community Service with the opportunity to build friendships and community relationships at a close second and third.
Almost all club members participate in the annual Lobsterfest and Fireworks events with the Shredding Day and Stars of Dundas also being major activities
Members enjoy the social activities and would like to see more BBQs and pub nights as opportunities to get to know one another
Ralph Montesanto and the Membership Committee (Steve Roblin, Marnee Maroes, Grant Armstrong and Jan Southall) then lead the club through a brainstorming of ways to engage new leaders to join Rotary. Through this the club identified a desire for more social activities that break the traditional meeting mold, the importance of having interesting speakers and inviting non-members to join, and the importance of not overwhelming members.
The Membership Committee will take this feedback and consider a plan forward.
Next week: Reclaim your space by clearing the clutter with Judy Rickey
On August 2, 2016 the Dundas Rotary Sunrise Club received a presentation from Russ King, President of AED4LIFE and BERRN Consulting. Russ was introduced by Rotarian, and Russ' Father-in-Law, Robert Morrow.
Russ’s business is Automated External Defibrillators. Russ is also Deputy Chief of EMS for Brant County.
On Tuesday, July 26, 2016 Assistant Crown Attorney, Brent Bentham joined us as guest speaker. Brent prosecutes all manner of offenses, not just drug related ones. Most of his work is done outside of the courtroom. Later this morning he was off to Bail Court where the cases come fast and furious.
Brent spoke at length about the “plea bargaining” process. (In a plea bargain, the defendant pleads guilty hoping to achieve a reduced sentence). He works with defence counsel and witnesses to attempt to work out a resolution to a case to save court time and money. He noted that there are many fewer jury trials these days. He also spoke very highly of the Victim Assistance Program with is a fairly new but very valuable service.
Rotarian Phil Wood worked closely with Brent and his office after a deliberately set fire at McMaster's Brandon Hall Residence in October 2008.
On Tuesday, July 19 Rebecca Hicks joined us to tell us about her experiences at the RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) program in Fredonia NY. Rebecca is a graduate of McMaster University in history and is presently piecing together a career that consists of working with Westfield Heritage Village, the City of Hamilton and the Dundas Museum. Her work is in historical interpretation.
Rebecca gave an invigorating presentation expressing her gratitude for the opportunity to attend RYLA and for the financial support of the Dundas Sunrise Rotary Club. At RYLA there were several workshops in learning styles, trust building, public speaking, personal values and ethics and career development. Her main takeaway was a way to improve her adaptability during negotiations or interactions with other people or groups.
She shared a humorous story about the pitfalls of poor communication (check it out for yourself here). While at RYLA Rebecca made contact with several “inspiring individuals” that she will remain in contact with. We look forward to hearing more from Rebecca in the future!
July 19: The One About Rotary Youth Leadership Award
Mieke Ewen, director of service projects for the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club, presents a cheque to Alan Hansell, executive director of Stewards of Cootes Watershed, during its recent shoreline clean up. Here is Alan's reply:
Hi Mieke,
Thanks so much for joining us on Sunday and mucking right in. I have to say that you really seem to be one of us and you would be most welcome to join us anytime and yes please bring your boys.
I would particularly like to extend our thanks through you to the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club for its generous donation. Please know that these funds will serve an important aid in allowing us to continue our work in cleaning the Cootes Watershed in Dundas.
With great thanks,
Alan
Ross was on desk, Shirley the greeter, Phil the recorder and Ernie the sergeant-at-arms. Joe Morgan the club's youth exchange student was the guest speaker.
Happy Dollars:
Ernie went to the closet for a sporty, purple sport coat. It drew comments from George (who claimed that his mother made him a jacket once that may have looked worse) and Carl.
Bill and Marilyn and Joe and Anne are both celebrating their 47th wedding anniversary today (June 21st). Grant also announced that it will be Marilyn’s birthday on Friday.
Mieke’s 16th anniversary is also this week (Friday).
Harold is heading out to Punta Cana for a destination wedding. Looking for even more heat.
Joe is just back from a three week tour around the Great Lakes.
Wayne got together with his three brothers over the weekend and caught an 8 pound pike.
Marie-Louise was very happy about her husband’s recovery from his cancer treatment as well as her own successful surgery.
Carlotta is happy to have her mother and sisters visiting from Mexico
Bob is finishing his 3 year term as assistant governor.
Steve announced the birth of his daughter Victoria – born on Victoria Day on Victoria Street
Shirley is happy to finishing her role as President of our club. Her husband is about to assume the Presidency of his Rotary club.
Announcement
Bob Morrow put forth a motion for the club to spend up to $1500 for a monitoring system to accompany tomato seeds to the International Space Station. The apparatus will have the Rotary logo on it. If all goes according to plan this will be a far out international service experience!
The noon club has invited us to a social that they are hosting at the SHED Brewery Thursday, June 23.
Next Tuesday, June 28th will be our annual BBQ. It will be at Joe Guedes’s house – 15 Fleming Ave, Dundas, beginning at 6:00 p.m. If you were absent from today's meeting please email Jessica and tell her if you will be attending and if steak or salmon is your dinner choice. There is no cost to attend as your weekly happy dollars are covering any expenses.
Bob Morrow took us through a brief history of the Rotary Foundation – started by Arch Klumpf in 1917 – and Paul Harris as a prelude to presenting two Paul Harris awards to former history teachers, Ernie Romain and Art Sampson
Steve introduced Joe Morgan our youth exchange student who is going to Japan. Following his presentation Shirley thanked Joe and presented him with a club banner.
Joe Morgan, a 16 year old student at St. Mary’s high school is our club’s outgoing Youth Exchange student. He will be heading to Japan in August and is busily learning some Japanese as everything he does in Japan will be in Japanese. Joe first heard about about RYE when a club representative made a presentation at his grade school graduation. He is from a large Dundas family (7th of 9 kids) and his family has had some exposure to Japan through the Kids For Kaga Program. (Kaga is a Japanese city that has been twinned with Dundas and is a short distance from his exchange city of Kanazawa).
Joe took us through some of his training experiences. The first was in Algonquin Park in the middle of winter. Approximately 20 students slept in a one room cabin on a single long bed. Their outdoor training involved them developing their leadership and communication skills as well as several trust building activities – all at -20 degrees. The second training was a day long event at Niagara College and the third was in Jamestown New York. The last training involved both outbound students like Joe as well as exchange students presently here. He said that it was his first taste of what “exchange” would be like.
From workshop construction to installation at the Eco Park, Ken Beel, Derek Price and Bill Stewart have been driving forces behind the work. Ken and Derek build the forms for the new benches.
Ken, Bill, Ralph Montesanto and Ross Bannatyne pour concrete into the forms.
The Eco Park work is a joint project by the two Dundas Rotary clubs.
Ernie went to his granddaughter’s track and field meet where she was quite successful. He advised all of the kids to become “Highland Hawks”.
Dave Carson has a new dog, and Irish Red/White Setter that he has named Bristol.
Grant’s son and Bill’s grandson (often our mascot Robear) won the junior football championship representing the Dundas Valley Secondary School Gryphons (aka the Highland Hawks). Jessica was quick to correct Ernie (and other former “Highlanders” of the new name).
Ralph talked about the $250 donation that we made to the sea cadets (also $250 from the noon club) for their help at the Lobsterfest. Wayne just bought a new car and apparently walked all the way to Kensington market in spite of that purchase.
Alycia (visiting for the meeting) has her baby due at the end of August. Her husband Matt is about to step down as president of his Rotary Club.
Shirley is also happy to be stepping down as our President as her husband will become the President of the Waterdown club.
Phil has just returned from a two week trip to England where he attended his niece’s wedding in Wiltshire. He was also honoured by the McMaster Engineering Department.
Mieke and her family visited Able Sail on the weekend and made a presentation on the club's behalf.
Our own Bill Armstrong was then introduced to give his classification talk once again. Scott Vance, who was sponsored by Bill, thanked him for a most interesting review of his life and career.
Bill talked about his rewarding career with the RCMP. He was born in Saskatchewan in 1944. His father was in the Air Force and his mother’s family were farmers. Bill grew up on bases all over the country and joined the RCMP in 1964. He joined Rotary in 2001 courtesy of sponsor Ralph Montesanto. He first met his wife Marilyn as child. They won first prize as a bride and groom in a Halloween costume contest when they were about 5 years old. Their families moved apart soon after though.
His family moved to Camp Borden and as a teenager he met Bobby Curtola. Bill was active in Cubs and youth groups and then trained in Ottawa for the Mounties in 1964 and had a 32 year career with the RCMP. He was initially stationed on Vancouver Island and very soon after his arrival played an instrumental role in solving a murder. It was on vacation in Belleville that he re-met Marilyn and they were soon married. At the time he was stationed in Prince Rupert. Their first child, Theresa, was born in BC and was followed by Grant and Lynne.
During his time with the RCMP he spent some time in England working on a large car theft case. In the early 80s he was working in Windsor and collaborated with the FBI on a case that was related to the Air India case. As a reward for the work that they did on another case with international implications he and his family were given a trip to the White House. After retiring from the RCMP Bill worked in Security Services at McMaster.
Mieke Ewen, community services director for the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club connected with Able Sail, and asked if she could come to see their program and present a cheque.....they said sure! They invited Mieke and her family to their open house – which turned out to be a large Hamilton Yacht Club event, including the mayor of Hamilton and Burlington racing. Mike was then asked to speak about why Able Sail fits with the Rotary mission....so a short speech, cheque presentation and a couple hours later.....
Sharing a 'big thank you' from the Dundas Seahawks Special Olympics swim team. Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club, Community Service, recently supported 4 local swimmers for their Provincial Spring Games. The 4 competitors were awarded 2 gold medals, 1 silver, and one a personal best time.
Almost exactly 14 years ago (June 4, 2002), Jan became a Rotarian. Since then, she has taken on many leadership position in our club, including President. Jan began by illustrating her family’s very deep roots in Dundas and their strong commitment its community life. Jan grew up downtown Dundas, one of five children (1 boy and 4 girls). Both parents were involved in town politics and community life and encouraged Jan and her siblings to do the same. Jan’s father held many elected positions, including Regional Councillor. After he retired, her mother became Councillor for Dundas. The family was always involved in election campaigns and canvassed probably every single house in town many times. Jan’s brother became a member of Flamborough Council.
Although Jan herself has not (yet?) gone into politics, her political background has served Jan well with all her work in School Board Administration and in volunteer organizations.
Despite becoming a well-respected educator and Administrator, Jan by her own account was not a good student and did not become so until she got to university. But first she got her “basic” training and started teaching at Dundas Central when she was 19 years old. After a number of years there, she resigned to attend university.
With degree in hand, Jan started a long successful career, first as a guidance counsellor at Ancaster Senior, then teaching at Ancaster High and eventually working for the Board in curriculum development, interacting with Ministry staff.
Somewhere along the way, Jan had a lovely daughter, got a Master’s Degree and was a Principal for 16 years. After retirement, she’s been mentoring and coaching new Principals and involved in teacher education.
Jan outlined some of the challenges she faced, often being the first female in a position. She frequently received feedback that it was too soon or she was too young to take on the new responsibility. Jan said that they may have been right but she did it anyway and learned along the way. Jan described the circumstance of being part of Wentworth County which surrounded the Hamilton Board. And how very different the two Boards were. Things got really interesting when the two school boards amalgamated. Jan felt that staff from both Boards worked diligently in blending the two organizations together.
Jan passed along four lessons: (1) listen (2) empathize and understand (3) know that everyone has at least a few second chances and (4) keep on learning.
In the question and answer period, Jan was asked if she prefers the way Dundas is now to the way it was when she was growing up. Jan said that she doesn’t think that way. Each period has its own energy and character. She does notice that when she grew up there were over 50 kids living in her neighbourhood. There is nowhere near that many now.
Ralph thanked Jan for her presentation, recognizing her accomplishments and appreciating her leadership. Her talk reminded him that he was the one who had filled in for Jan when she was on leave with her daughter Jenn.
Derek Dix joined 23 of our members for our breakfast meeting. Shirley Molloy was the Greeter and Wayne Massey took attendance. The meeting recorder was Jessica Brennan. Ernie Romain was Sergeant-at-Arms. Happy Dollars: Ernie regaled us with colourful stories of his recent trip up north. Scott proudly reported how well his daughters did at a recent dance recital. And how thankful he was that his bike was found after falling off the roof of his car.
Art enjoyed his recent trip to eastern Canada but found the maps inadequate. He appealed to New Brunswick-born Carl for an explanation. Carl simply replied that he himself didn’t need a map because he knew where he was going.
Mieke’s daughter was also in the dance recital. Her family enjoyed the recent Buskerfest especially as one of her sons busked by hip-hop dancing and doing “the worm”. Wayne reported that at the annual Massey Family Golf Tournament held in memory of Wayne’s father went well. Wayne and his son won.
Dave had a Big Thank You for all those who gave a hand, time, tools and machinery over three days last week to dig the posts and put up the fence around the community garden. After the meeting Ralph drove past the garden and the children from the day care where planting their garden.
Bruce was pleased that the Stag and Doe for his daughter was fun and successful. Shirley was simply happy to be sitting at the Happy Table.
Mary Lou Emmet was greeter, Grant Armstrong was on desk and Barb Busing was recorder.
Today 21 Rotarians and 3 guests were present. We welcomed Josh Campbell from Scotia Bank,
Derek Dix from Dundas Lock and Key, and our guest speaker Gillian Chan.
There were many Happy Dollars today as we celebrated another successful Lobsterfest: in summary thanks to all who sold tickets, got and/or were sponsors, brought items in for the Silent Auction, bought raffle tickets, sat on the committee or volunteered time at the event. It was a well organized and well attended happening! Other Happy Dollars were in celebration of Glen's 78th Birthday!
Welcome back to Mary Lou, and congratulations to Jessica's husband who retired from McMaster and was celebrated last Friday after a distinguished career in Economics. Ralph also thanked Josh Campbell from Scotia Bank a Platinum sponsors for the Lobsterfest, Wayne for installing a new Rotary sign on Governors Road, and reminded us of a memorial golf Tournament on June 15th for which he has more information. Grant was thankful that his son is learning the value of community service,
with a shout out to Grandpa Bill's role modelling too. Dave Carson thanked Roger for the use of his post digger later this morning, to dig 44 holes to fence in the Community Garden.
Shirley thanked Ralph and Glen in particular for their efforts to make the Lobsterfest so successful. Wayne was happy his brother also had a birthday yesterday and that he is closing today on the sale of his former mother-in-law's house.
Derek enjoyed the sound of "Ernest" versus "Ernie" which he considered worthy of a Happy Dollar.
Mieke asked us to vote to support sending a donation of $1000.00 to the Bob Kemp Hospice. All were in favour.
Jessica then introduced our guest speaker, Gillian Chan.
After an interesting discussion on what a writer of novels does, Bob Morrow thanked Gillian.
Gillian Chan is a Dundas resident and author of many short stories and books for young adults. Gillian was an engaging speaker who clearly loves words and can both write and speak with eloquence. She gave us insight into how she became a writer. Her experience was that first she loved reading (no TV) and made use of the local libraries. She loved making up stories from a young age and listening to those of her father with his WW2 experiences, as well as her mother's South African/Irish life events. Like an athlete she noted that writing takes discipline and practice. Mornings are spent asking questions, and writing, while afternoons are for research on the questions, and many times, tearing up previous work and starting over. Gillian noted that stories are an innate part of being human and that we all create stories in our conversations. Stories help us make sense of the world as we may see the world in different time frames or settings, but always from the shared human perspective. Gillian's works include books set in historical contexts as varied as France, Cootes Paradise, L'anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland, and Vancouver - each with a different focus of time, place and history but always with a focus on the story of the lives of her characters. Check out her website www.gillianchan.com
The biggest crowd ever (The Hamilton Spectator estimated close to 19 000) enjoyed a beautiful evening of explosive delight as the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club and The City of Hamilton put on a spectacular 25 minute fireworks display at the Dundas Driving Park.
Bands, food trucks, mascots and a stilt walker gave visitors plenty of diversion until the fireworks went off at 9:35 p.m.
Thank you to all those visitors who made contributions to the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club as they entered the park. The funds will help support the many local and international service projects the club plans each year.
Greeter: Marie-Louise Kelday; Desk: Derek Price; Sergeant-At-Arms; Ernie Romain.There were 26 members in attendance.
HAPPY DOLLARS
Ernie celebrated 2 wins by the Raptors and the fact that it was 41 years to the day he was hired to work at Highland School. On the subject of basketball, Jessica noted she was on the high school basket ball team and Bob Morrow reminisced he had once coached a Kenyan team to great defensive game, giving up only 10 points…unfortunately loosing 10-8. Phil and Barb Wood are off to a wedding in the UK.
Several members celebrated the successful fireworks event; Bill Armstrong had no security issues;
George thanked all for the work done to close off by midnight and then clean up the park in one hour on Monday morning. Mieke had a weekend fishing (or threading worms for the kids) and arrived back to join the gate collection crew; Ralph showed her boys how to be a great salesman.
Ralph has a new Rotary sign to put up on the Service Club Board on Governors Road (Wayne and he put it up after the meeting).
Bob Morrow showed a picture the club is presenting to Kevin Crouse on Tuesday during the Brantford Sunrise Rotary Club meeting in thanks for his contribution to the Club as he heads off to a new home in Nova Scotia.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Lobsterfest Saturday night! Everyone reminded to check their work assignments. Next Tuesday morning a few helpers are needed to install fence posts at the Community Garden. Roger Stewart will be using his machinery to drill the post holes. The Year End BBQ is June 28th at the Guedes.
PROGRAM - Guest Speaker: Bob Morrow
Topic: Times they are a changing’. Bob gave an amusing slide show of pictures and cartoons to show what life was like in 60’s 70’s 80’s and how life is changing today.
You had to be there. No other commentary would do it justice.
This morning Vlad was the greeter and Harold collected at the desk. Dr. Shankardass from the noon club was a visiting Rotarian.
Sergeant-At-Arms Ernie continued to challenge the members with weekly sports and music trivia; he continued to be impressed with how much we know, especially Art and Bob.
Couldn’t tell if Ernie was happy; he had a pipe burst at his cottage, which sounds not great; but he is getting a new kitchen, which does sound great!
Joe was looking forward to a trip with Anne to Indiana in their RV. He also has an upcoming 70th birthday, and made a Rotary International donation to commemorate this. He also encouraged us all to donate to this worthwhile charity.
Bruce was advertising this morning: he has Stag and Doe tickets for his daughter and her fiancé. He also was selling his dad's minivan, which he says his dad is annoyed about!
Jessica and Shirley are Raptors fans who are looking forward to the game in Cleveland tonight. Go Raptors!
Jessica has done Club Admin for 3 years and has 6 more weeks left. She feels the post is in good hands with the like of Harold, who kept track of her this morning so that all fees were paid.
Incoming president Ross announced that help is needed this weekend in the Rotary garden; there is weeding and clean up to do. He also announced an event Thursday June 23 for both Dundas Rotary clubs at SHED Brewing.
Phil was celebrating several things: his 44th anniversary is on Friday, he is getting a teaching award in engineering tomorrow, and he has a press conference today to introduce the new/old Marauders football coach.
George reminded us all that volunteers are needed for this weekend’s fireworks as well as Lobsterfest on May 28.
Ralph had taken planters on behalf of the club to members who have experienced losses this year, and read their thank you messages to us.
The remainder of the meeting was a club assembly. President Shirley thanked us all for a smooth year. She reminded that our membership goal is off by one as we have gained 3 but lost 1 member; we are encouraged to think of potential members we might invite. Treasurer Ken reported on our finances and our budget; we are in good shape.
A motion was made and carried for the club to contribute $2500 to Fort McMurray disaster relief through the Canadian Red Cross. We all were encouraged to donate individually as well, as donations are matched by the Red Cross.
Mieke reported for Steve (who is at home awaiting an overdue family arrival) about youth services: We are sponsoring a 17 year old male exchange student from France. He is arriving in August, and we are looking for host families.
Mieke reported regarding community service: all donations either completed or underway. She presented a cheque for Ellen Osler Home this morning, which Shirley accepted on their behalf.
Bob reported on international service: An example of one of our projects this year was shipping containers of children's books to Antigua. We also continue to accrue funds for a bigger, furture project.
Ralph reported regarding membership: He encouraged us to look for new members using classifications as a cue. He also reported on PR: He has appreciated the meeting recorder's efforts for First Light, and he sends releases to the Dundas Star.
Jessica deferred a club admin report related to concerns about time.
Shirley reported regarding vocational services: We are continuing vocational meetings quarterly, a recent example being our meeting at St. Joe’s Villa.
Fireworks this weekend: Jan is looking for collections volunteers; please be in touch if you can come out or if you have any leads on volunteers. Please sign in with Derek or in the Zamboni room on the day of; there will be specialty coffee for volunteers at the end of the evening. Bill is overseeing security. There will be food vendors and 25 min of fireworks.
It was a wonderful morning …. VERY spring-like and welcoming. We greeted the “family” of Mieke Ewen – her father and her uncle, Thijmen, who was our guest speaker. It was just a lovely morning to celebrate life.
Happy Dollars included:
Bruce- who shot an 81 at Copetown Woods, a score never to be repeated….well done, Bruce.
Mary Lou is back! Looking good, feeling healthy, and welcomed joyously. Derek Price is just back from Europe, visiting his sister. Ken Beel is back from a car ride across much of the US southwest with a focus on Baton Rouge (architecture), San Antonio (engineering) and New Mexico (horseback riding).
Steve Roblin injured his back playing golf on Mothers' Day. His wife says that's why!
It was nice to see five club members attending the Club Leadership Training (aka District Assembly) on the week-end….from all reports it was a huge success.
Kevin Davis from the Brantford AM club brought happiness in that he felt our potatoes were better than those at the Brantford Golf and Country Club. Kevin noted that his namesake – Kevin Crouse – will be moving to Nova Scotia at the end of the month. He also wanted to share with us their new fundraiser and encouraged us to visit the website for their mud run … which they hope to market across Canada [mud run in a box – you had to be there!]
Glen and Bill and Shirley - still looking for volunteers in the kitchen for Lobster Dinner and for serving at the buffet table.
Harold hobbled back after visiting five baseball stadiums in five days
Scott Vance is happy that the skating season is over
Jessica - thanked people for filling in for people this morning on various duties – Bill Armstrong, George Gould, and others
Ken Beel - needs a leader to take over the gate to collect money
Waterdown Rotary Club is sponsoring a golf tournament on June 1 – Carlisle Golf Course – so, all you golf aficionados….please consider joining them for this event. Further details from the lovely Wendy Hickey at 905 – 689 – 3739 or wendyscove@cogeco.ca
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Next week will be a club assembly to focus on the administrivia associated with the Fireworks and the Lobster Dinner.
Next week, on Tuesday evening, is a board meeting at 100 Pleasant Avenue, Dundas, beginning at 6.30 p.m.
Our speaker today was Thijmen Van Loenen who chatted about the Thansanqa Tinker Tots Project in Motherwell Township near Port Elizabeth South Africa. The project has two areas of focus – safe guest houses for about 50 children who have been left orphaned and a new school which at the moment has about 50 students.
Thijmen and other friends have been working since 2009 on this “NGO” in the area with the assistance of Tia Wessels, a retired educator; there are many volunteers, both from the Netherlands and in the local area, but funds are needed for the project to continue to grow. The organization also has a Rotary connection in that one of the directors is a past-president of the Rotary Club of Port Elizabeth West. For more information check out this website: http://www.udenwereldwijd.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Newsletter-January-2016-.pdf
Thansanqa Tinker Tots Project Motherwell Township South Africa
Art McCabe from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum thanked our club for the contribution we made to their recent project that allowed students to visit the Museum. The project raised $48,000 with nearly half of that coming from 18 service clubs; ours being one of them. In all, 1300 students from 30 schools were able to participate. Art brought some thank you cards from the students for us to see.
Along with 24 of our members, we had two visitors: Art McCabe, from The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum; and Bob Knuckle, our Guest Speaker, from the Dundas Little Theatre.
Shirley Molloy was the Greeter and Don Davidson took attendance. The meeting recorder was Jessica Brennan. Ernie Romain was Sergeant-at-Arms.
Tracking our snow birds: Bruce is back and Barb is heading out. Happy Dollars: As usual Ernie started off the Happy Dollars, this time giving us grim details of a recent root canal. He was however pleased to see our Guest Speaker Bob Knuckle and recounted a story of four errant students who were pleased to be at Ernie’s school after having been disciplined by Bob.
Bob M. reminded us of the opportunity of donating at least $30 to the Foundation to choose one of his prints.
Art wondered why Ernie hadn’t started his Happy Dollars as he usually does with a story about the Maple Leafs, especially given that for the first time in decades the team was granted the number one pick in the hockey lottery. Dave pointed out that for those who have lost hope in their team to look to the incredible journey of Leicester City to the Premier League title.
Carl is happy to be alive. He lost two friends who were good clients last week and was reflecting on the sadness of that. As a special presentation assistant governor Bob Morrow honoured Carl with his next level of Rotary Foundation support, presenting him with a ruby Paul Harris pin.
After several months in Florida, Bruce was pleased to be home and given the political tone in the United States wanted very much to declare God Bless Canada. Wayne was whining about wine…reminding us to bring in our bottle donations for the Lobsterfest. Barb was pleased that Bruce was back from Florida as she is heading there for three weeks.
Ralph reported on a fox barking in his street early in the morning, perhaps announcing Ralph’s birthday this Thursday. Ralph was also happy about the recent Shredding Project which collected 8000 lbs in paper and raised $3000. Jessica was happy that the Raptors had made it to the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs even though they seem to give us heartaches in 4th quarters.
Art McCabe from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum thanked our club for the contribution we made to their recent project that allowed students to visit the Museum.
Announcements: We were reminded to sign up for volunteer duty at Lobsterfest and Fireworks.
Bill Armstrong introduced our Guest Speaker, Bob Knuckle. In addition to being the current Chair of the Dundas Little Theatre, Bob has authored 11 books of true crime stories. It was in this capacity that Bill as an RCMP officer and Bob had met. Bob has also written and produced 15 plays. For today’s talk Bob gave us an outline of the history of the Dundas Little Theatre and described an upcoming special event. Dundas Little Theatre first began showing its productions at a local high school in 1960. Eventually an opportunity presented itself in using the old swimming pool site for a theatre. Along with raising over $350,000 in 1978 and having the architect Trevor Garwood-Jones volunteer design, Dundas Little Theatre opened in its new setting in 1980 with a play from Somerset Maugham.
The upcoming special event will be on Saturday June 11th. Called Scenes and Songs there will be snippets of great plays and showtunes. Gary Smith, The Hamilton Spectator’s theatre critic will be the emceeing the show, taking everyone through the history of theatre. In the question and answer period following Bob’s presentation, Bruce essentially gave a testimonial to Bob’s crime writing, saying that he had read one of his books and simply could not put it down. Bob revealed that he loved the research and interviewing for the books, finding the actual writing a bit lonely.
Bill thanked Bob for his presentation. Bill noted that although the Scenes and Songs show is almost completely sold out, if anyone wants a ticket please contact Bill and he will try to make it happen.
Over 8000 lbs of documents were shredded and diverted from landfill to recycling. $2967.55 was collected at $7 per box or $6 per box if 5 boxes or more. Many community members gave well in excess of the allotted amount as a donation to Rotary for the work the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club does in the local and international communities. When the $565 rental for the truck is paid, the club will net $2402.55. Community members are already planning for the fall shredding day that will take place in late October or early November.
Thank you to Scott Eccles of Eccles Uptown for the use of his lot and the promotion of the event through his sign. Also thank you to Bruce Eccles for the use of his sign at Eccles Auto Service.
Notice the photos of all the child labour!
Thank you to all the club members who volunteered – Jan, Marie-Louise, Art, Shirley, Bob Neibert, Mieke, Bill, and Ross. Thank you to Bob Morrow and Joe for their efforts and trips to the recycling centre for the many empty boxes that were not shredded. Special thank you to Liam and Elysia, Bill’s grandchildren; to Tim, Ross’ grandson; and to Ethan, Ralph’s grandson.
Club president Shirley Molloy and Marie-Louise Kelday ran the desk and collected the fee as community members brought their documents to be safely destroyed.
Mieke Ewen and Liam Armstrong unload vehicles and prepare to transport to the shredding truck.
Ethan Stoltz and Joe Guedes prepare boxes to take to the waste transfer station recycling bin.
Dundas resident Carol looks with interest at the live camera of her documents going through the shredder.
Integra Document Destruction operator Shawn shows young Tim how the system works. Over 8000 pounds of documents were safely destroyed and diverted from landfill to recycling. It was amazing how many residents did not ask for change from the shredding cost of $7 per small bank box. They said, "It's the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club and it does good service work in the community. Please keep the change."
The club will hold its second shredding day of the year in late October or early November. A special thank you to Scott Eccles and Bruce Eccles for the use of their property and advertising signs at Eccles Uptown and Eccles Auto Service in Dundas.
Greeter Jessica and desk manager Ross helped welcome 22 members and guests Dorothy Gaffney and Coralee Hecker. Sergeant-at-Arms Ernie started happy dollars with his first Blue Jay game in two years and his $36 for two beer and two hotdogs. David thanked all the volunteers from the club who helped replace the wooden sides on the community garden with concrete blocks - a big job made easier by the over 24 volunteers from the club, the church and the community ( from the club I saw George, Ross, Nic, Phil, David, Wayne, Scott, Grant and his son Liam when I stopped by to take some photos. Might have been others at a different time).
Art Waxed philosophically about Highland Secondary School's upcoming 50th anniversary that will not likely happen now that the school has been renamed. Barbara offered to be guest speaker at a future meeting to talk about and show the wonderful photos she took while visiting the Galapagos Islands. Joe finally completed the renovations to a house he purchased on the mountain. Steve was glad to see the books for Antigua picked up - 4 barrels full which the club paid to ship at a cost of around $600. And Wayne was pleased his mother-in-law's house was sold in just 5 days with 5 offers.
Ralph read an email from Mary-Lou explaining her recent surgeries, her continued recovery and her desire to return to the club as soon as she was strong enough. Jessica told us Harold was on a five baseball stadium trip. Jessica was also looking for possible volunteers to be on the board of CHOICES, an organization that works with developmentally handicapped individuals. Glen was looking for volunteers for fireworks on May 22 and lobster rib fest on May 28. He also asked for ticket money to come in soon. George reinforced the request for volunteers for fireworks and asked us to approach our friends, neighbours and relatives to help out that evening. Wayne asked for donations of wine for the raffle at lobster rib fest.
Ralph reminded everyone of shredding day this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Eccles Uptown. Please notify your email list of those in the area that this service is available. It is also a club fundraiser.
Another piece of news: Our condolences to the Neibert family over the passing of Sharon's father last week.
Dorothy Gaffney and Coralee Hecker from the Schizophrenic Outpatient Clinic at St. Joseph's Healthcare located on West 5th in Hamilton spoke of the 600 patients who use the service. They are referred by family physicians, correctional agencies and psychiatrists. Some are self referrals. One percent of the population experiences schizophrenic behaviour, anything from hallucinations to memory and judgment issues to low motivation. Schizophrenia usually presents itself in late adolescence and there are such things as first episode clinics. Causes are not well understood but range from genetic to environmental. For more information go to https://www.stjoes.ca/health-services/mental-health-addiction-services/mental-health-services/schizophrenia-community-integration-service-scis-
Last Christmas the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club donated to the clinic to support a Christmas party for 100 patients.
Schizophrenic Outpatient Clinic St. Joseph's Health Care
On a sunny Saturday morning a work crew of over 25 descended on the Rotary Sunrise Community Garden at St. Mark's Church on Governor's Road in Dundas. After four years of use the wooden sides of each plot were beginning to rot. The Rotary club, along with a Rotary District 7090 grant is replacing the wood with cement blocks and installing a more permanent fence to keep the deer out. Scott Vance, Wayne Massey, Grant Armstrong Nic Schulz and Ross Bannatyne joined over 20 other volunteers from the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club, St. Mark's Church, Dundas in Transition, garden users and several Syrian refugees to tear out the wood and lay the block walls.
David Carson, club member and Dundas in Transition member is the driving force behind the garden.
A happy crowd this morning as SAA Ernie took us through happy dollars and announcements.
Bill reminded all about the lobster rib fest and the need for auction items. Good idea to sell those tickets too!
Ralph announced that Shredding Day is Saturday April 30 from 9 to 1. Marie-Louise, Joe, Bob Morrow, Bo Neibert, Art, Bill, and Shirley have volunteered to help.
William was so proud of his son's accomplishments and his interest in flight mechanics and RCMP.
Steve Roblin introduced Andrea Buttars from Wesley Urban Ministries who was later thanked by Phil.
There were lots more happy dollars and announcements but no recorder for the day so this is just from memory two days later!
Andrea Buttars from Wesley Urban Ministries brought a message of service. This organization based in Hamilton has multiple locations throughout the city providing services for child, youth and families, housing and homelessness, neighbourhood development and newcomers. As well, Wesley is the major city player regarding Syrian refugees. Andrea spoke with passion about the work of the ministry and welcomed support either as a volunteer or through financial donations. For more information go to http://wesley.ca/
Jane Allen, acting executive director, Dundas Community Services told us first of all that we would be seeing some changes as the organisation moves forward. The funding for all programs comes from the LHIN, the United Way, The City of Hamilton, Service Clubs, Individual Donors and through a Theatre Program. The organisation has twelve Board Members and a staff of four. They have recently been going through Strategic Planning sessions to review all of their programs.
Jane outlined many of their current programs Food Donation/Food Box/Legal Aid/Snow Shovelling/Caregiver Support/Friendly Calling/Senior Visiting. Jane went into more detail on some programs like Meals on wheels. This program runs Monday to Friday and delivers meals made at Wentworth Lodge to seniors using volunteer drivers. A similar program takes people shopping to Metro for groceries,while another takes people to their appointments. Another is to help seniors that are confined to their home by having volunteers visit once a week. And still another is the Friendly Calling program which involves calling seniors once a week. There are currently fifty two people using this service.
The Office is also a centre where people go for advice on almost any topic. Many things we do in our daily lives can be a challenge and very stressful for many members in our community and often this is their first stop when looking for help.
This office also has a Tourism Outlet and carries information on all kinds of activities for all of Ontario.
Whether you are looking for information on Trips, Health Care, Long Term Care, Group Homes, it seems that you can find it here. As if this were not enough Jane outlined further needs for expansion of existing programs and the demands for additional programs for youth and other counselling services.
There were many questions at the end of the presentation relating to the programs and the organisation.
One of our members remembered when this initiative first started at St James Church and congratulated all concerned that the acorn was now a strong tree.
There were 21 members and 1 guest in attendance. Joe Guedes was greeter, Harold Grunenberg on desk and Ernie Romain as Sergeant-At-Arms.
Happy Dollars: Ernie was happy to be back and well after being sick last week. He must have spent all of his time last week reading up on sports trivia. We were challenged with many different trivia questions between the happy dollars and I think it surprised Ernie that between the twenty or so members present we were able to answer all of his challenges.
Art’s dollar was to remind us all of the Routes Scrap and Electronics Collection is this Saturday16th. Bring your Scrap to the Ice Rink on Olympic Drive or if you have a large amount contact Art and he will arrange for pick up. Art also drew our attention to the Jackie Robinson Story that was on T.V. last night with part two tonight. Watch it if you get chance it is an “eye opener.”
Scott was happy to be celebrating his one year anniversary as a Rotarian today. Meike was happy that Hockey Season was over if only for a few months. Everybody with children or grandchildren can relate to that. To Meike and all others involved in kid’s activities enjoy the few weeks of rest before you get right back to it again.
Wayne was happy now that his Mother in Law was finally settled in her new home. He also reminded us to bring in bottles of wine for the Lobsterfest. He will have boxes ready all Tuesday Meetings.
Steve announced that at last week’s fundraiser that he held for St Josephs raised over $3000. Well done Steve. Steve had a really happy second dollar as he was fortunate enough to have been at the Masters Golf Tournament last week. Course more beautiful than it shows on T.V. and he witnessed some fantastic golf including a hole in one and one of the most dramatic finishes to the tournament.
Glen reminded us that the sign-up sheets for both the Fireworks and the Lobsterfest were on the tables. Please sign up if you are available we still have lots of spots to be filled.
Carl gave us a story of how Lobster is prepared on the East Coast. Expecting a typical Carl story I listened intently waiting for the punch line. Unfortunately I did not write at the same time so I forgot how it is prepared. We are continuing at Lobsterfest with our traditional method.
Bill asked us to start thinking about silent auction items for the Lobsterfest. He is collecting now and has lots of space so bring in your items so that Bill can get everything organised.
Bob Morrow following Ernie on the sport scene finished the happy dollars with a little bit of fun trivia about Joe Garagiola Joe DiMaggio.
Bob also reminded all members about the Club Leadership Seminar on May 7th. He also noted that everyone had received a wooden nickel at their table today. This is part of a promotion for the Rotary District Conference on October 22/23rd in Batavia New York.
Bob then introduced our speaker today, Jane Allen who has been with Dundas Community Services since 2007 most recently as the Coordinator Senior Services and is currently the Acting Executive Director.
After hearing Jane's talk I look at everything going on at Dundas Community Services I can see the need for a strategic review and hope that the end result will be positive for all concerned.
Mieke Ewen, chair of community services brought us up to date with Community Services donations. We have reviewed 12 donation requests. To date 6 have been approved and 6 are pending. Mieke presented a cheque for $2000.00 to Shirley Molloy for the Salvation Army. We received thank you letters from Routes for our $1500.00 donation and also from St. Joseph’s Schizophrenia Group for our donation
Attendance 22, Greeter - Grant Armstrong, Desk - Art Sampson, Sergeant-At-Arms - George Gould
Happy Dollars. Marie- Louise had an “Interesting and Different” evening last Friday at the Steve Roblin Fundraiser for St Joseph’s held at the Air Force Club. She managed to win the draw for a $100.00 Lottery ticket and also won one of the raffle prizes. Carl reported that Mary -Lou is recovering well from her recent surgery, this good news being met with a big round of applause. Glen reminded us that the Lobsterfest signup sheets were at each table and there are still some spots to be filled.
Scott’s sixteen year old daughter now has her G1 licence. Scott could become super fit walking to Rotary every Tuesday.
Glen reported that Geoff Taylor who works at Eccles Garage and is Glen’s son in law is a grandfather again. This of course makes Glen’s wife Irene really happy as they now have five great grandchildren. Glen just feels he is getting old. (And happy) Shirley’s happy dollar was for her daughter whose baby is due next week.
Mieke enjoyed the drive here with the bright sunshine and seeing the deer along road to the golf course.
Jessica was happy that she went to the Exhibition of Photographic Art by our own Bob Morrow at St James Church where she selected a perfect piece of Bob’s art for her home.
Bill Armstrong’s dollar was in recognition of the artistic trio of Randy Abel, George Gould and Fred Amalfi who are appearing in a Theatre production in Rockton. Bill saw the play and says they should get an A.C.T.R.A. award. (You can decide yourself what the acronym stands for.)
Announcements: Ken Beel back from Florida for a week had three announcements: 1. Ken outlined a project that we have been asked to look at by the noon club .The project involves obtaining a machine made by The Bertram Co, Blasting, cleaning, painting and preserving the machine then installing the machine on a concrete pad as a centre piece at the Rotary Park on Hatt Street. Ken will report back to the Club for a decision on this once all the information is available.
2. Ecopark. This was our last major project and it is now nearing completion. Ken reported that the words and pictures for the descriptive panels have been completed by the Dundas Museum and will be mounted on pedestals ready for installation in the next few weeks. Once that is done and the benches are installed that will complete the Project. Ken asked that we consider a donation of $750.00 to the Museum for the work they did. 3. Fireworks. Meeting Wednesday 6th April at the Driving Park Office at 9.00am. with City Officials. All welcome to attend.
Dave Carson reported on the changes at the Rotary Community Garden at St Marks Church. Plan to refurbish the garden is almost complete. It will involve removing the wooden bed framing and replacing it with concrete blocks. Dave will be looking for help in the next few weeks once the date is confirmed. The concrete blocks are being donated.
Mieke brought us up to date with Community Services. We have reviewed 12 donation requests to date 6 have been approved and 6 are pending. Mieke presented a cheque for $2000.00 to Shirley for the Salvation Army. We received thank you letters from Routes for our $1500.00 donation and also from St Joseph’s Schizophrenia Group for our donation.
Shredding Day is April 30th. Please inform all of your contacts. Ralph texted George from Florida looking for volunteers to work a shift between 9 AM and 1 PM. Email him with you availability rmontesanto@cogeco.ca. Routes Group Scrap and Electronics Collection is 16th April. Drop off items behind the arena on Olympic Drive. See Art if you need further details.
Today was scheduled to be a Club Assembly but time was short so President Shirley gave us something new to think about with one simple question. "Of all the people in the World past or present who would you invite to your table” Discuss it among yourselves and come up with one person and why. Being D.V.S.R. Club this was our reply in no particular order. Einstein/ Desmond Tutu/Marilyn Monroe/Justin and Sophie Trudeau/John Candy/ Malala Yousafzai/John Lennon/Winston Churchill/Warren Buffet/J.F.Keneddy/Joni Mitchell/Tom Thompson/President Obama/Jesse Owens/Jimmy Page/Mother Theresa/Peter Ustinov/Mrs. Donald Trump/Bill Gates/Alexander MacDougal/Pamela Anderson/Pope Francis/Jackie Robinson/Jimmy Buffet/Peter Drucker/Maureen Forrester/Roy Welensky/Nelson Mandela/Steve Jobs/Mick Jagger.
You can interpret this selection any way you wish though it might be better to leave it to Marnee who is a psychologist
Here is my take. We had 22 members present on 7 tables so we should have had 7 guests but we had over 30.mGuests come from every section of society and represented a very diverse group.
Typical D.V.S.R. we break minor bureaucratic rules, we start from very different positions but as with all projects we take on or all issues we face we end up with the best possible solution.
Maureen Ellis CEO of the St. Joseph's Villa Foundation and our own Don Davidson from the Villa Foundation hosted the club at the morning meeting in St. Joseph's Villa. Maureen let us know that Rotary has always been a huge part of the foundation. For example, she said that the Dundas Rotary club was the pioneer and engineer of the Respite program. St. Joseph’s relies on the foundation and donations for all capital expenses. Examples include rebuilding, the 2 new wings, and any renovations. Most recently, Rotary has been involved in the building of Orchid Garden, the new wing that we toured. They are now looking for partners for possible new projects related to available space. There will be retired priests living on one floor in new residences. Always, future programs must be balanced with care of residents.
Don talked about the foundation’s Enhancing Care Program. This is related to other kinds of capital costs, such as new beds, bathtubs, furnishings, tvs, etc. These are all capital needs that the government doesn't fund. The focus of this program is on the quality of life of residents. When an individual or a group wants to make a donation, they can specify what they are going to fund (e.g., a bed) or they can donate generally into this ongoing program.
Mieke Ewen director of nursing at the Villa and also a member of the club took us on a tour of Orchid Garden. This is a new and smaller unit, with 12 beds. They have modern equipment; Mieke demonstrated one of the lifts that are installed in each room. Our club is one of the major donors to the renovations that made this unit possible.
Twenty members met at St. Joseph's Villa for this morning's vocational services meeting. Bill was greeter, Scott worked the desk and Ernie was sergeant at arms.
Scott and Ernie " MacGyered" a basket for Happy Dollars and collected $31. Ernie: happy for a nice weekend, though bad weather followed him to Collingwood where there was flooding. Bob: There is club leadership training May 7 in Niagara that he recommends. There is a carpool for this event. He also promoted his photography show, which is opening April 3 at St. James. Jessica: enjoyed playing music on the weekend with her family band which does not have a name yet; the group liked “brennanunplugged” as a suggestion. Grant: was happy about Easter dinner - his wife's great cooking, having his family together, and most of all, the leftovers. Harold: was skiing last week in Whistler, and explained all is well with his foot (it didn’t get in the way of his skiing!). Dave: due to lost power in the storm, and him turning off his generator, his basement flooded; he was happy that his wife helped him clean up the mess. Shirley: happy for a beautiful morning and that she is visiting St. Joseph’s instead of residing there; Carl: updated us all that Mary-Lou is having surgery today. Don: turned 50 in Paris, France this past week and enjoyed all of the things to see, eat, and drink there. Phil: 38 years ago today, gave his first ever lecture at Michigan State.
Tom Cooper, director of the Hamilton Round Table for Poverty Reduction and coordinator of the Ontario Living Wage Network shared the history of the Living Wage (LW) concept and its beginnings in Baltimore in the 1990's. Here in Hamilton there are 30,000 families experiencing poverty despite working. 1 out of 2 children in poverty today in Hamilton have a parent who is working, but yet remain in poverty. The concept is that by raising the wages to a "living" wage individuals can more easily pay for housing, food, child care, transportation etc. It is a win/win situation as individuals win by earning a higher wage, they spend the money in the local economy so it grows, and the company retains its employees longer, as evidenced by research done on Costco (a LW employer) versus Walmart (not a LW employer) in the States. Here in Hamilton the LW is $14.95 and ranges across the Province due to housing costs, from $14.10 in Windsor to $18.52 in Toronto. The concept of paying a living wage is spreading and Tom noted that the HWDSB, under Jessica's leadership , was the first LW employer in Hamilton! There are now 30 others in Hamilton (e.g. Diocese of Niagara and St Matthew's House, Mustard Seed Company) and about 100 across the province. For more information you can visit the website at www.livingwagehamilton.ca . And remember a phrase Tom shared with us that he had heard. "If I couldn't live on minimum wage, why do I think my employees could?"
On Tuesday we welcomed 25 Rotarians and 2 guests, Alan Spence and Tom Cooper, to our meeting. Bob Morrow acted as greeter, Bill Armstrong manned the desk and Barb Busing was the recording member. Ernie managed the duties of Sergeant at Arms with many a political and other side remark!
Happy Dollars came from Ernie himself, happy to be back from soggy Hawaii. Jessica was glad to have Tom as our guest speaker and to have met many wonderful young people through the mountain by-election held yesterday. Phil was all dressed up to give the welcoming introduction at the inaugural Don Woods Lecture at McMaster. Don Woods was Phil's mentor and a renowned engineer. Steve, celebrating in Irish spirit, ran into Mary-Lou at a bar and together enjoyed some drinks in honour of Ireland's patron saint. Grant had a great March Break with family and pandas, and "Irish Car Bombs"...but not together we believe. Scott too enjoyed the March Break! Dave Carson was happy that fellow Rotarians like Joe Geddes put his connections to good use to find storage space for the furniture being collected for the Syrian families who are coming to our communities. Ernie offered Dave's services to snow shovel next year and Bob Morrow offered great house guests, Wayne and Helen Massey, in keeping with a theme of offering other people's services! Bob also announced his art show coming in April to St James' Anglican Church ( FYI Fred Amalfi is the March artist who's work is being shown). See the grand opening of Morrow's Photography on April 3! Shirley was glad to be at the meeting, Wayne was happy to have a meeting of the Rotary Stars committee after breakfast, and Bill was happy to have babysat his grandkids.....even if he could not remember how old they are!
Announcements included Glen reminding us to get tickets for the Lobsterfest and to sign up to help. Shirley reminded us of the District conference May 7 and suggested it was especially good for new Board members to attend. As today was world water day a sponsorship form was circulated in aid of the Water for Haiti walk that Roy Sheldrick was yet again undertaking. Jessica reminded us to go to St Joseph's Villa (main entry, lower level Board Room) for next week's meeting.
Jessica introduced our speaker today, Tom Cooper, Director of the Hamilton Round Table for Poverty Reduction and Coordinator of the Ontario Living Wage Network. Tom's topic was Living Wage: The Hamilton Experience.
Our speaker this morning was Bob Morrow, back from his extended holiday and eager to share his knowledge of space, NASA, astronauts, tomato seeds from space and his outstanding power point presentation with truly amazing pictures and views of space. Bob talked about the deceiving distances – between planets and earth, depending on the position of the sun – we are talking about thousands of kms and hundreds of thousands. We were able to view the International Space Station and astronauts at work, eating, playing and sleeping. We saw the Canadarms 1 and 2 functioning and the robot “Dexter” for “fine work”.
Bob talked about the projected Mars trip (7 months there and 7 months back) and the need to solve problems which include food, water and space debris before we can take next steps in order to be able to bring people back from Mars.
Most exciting is the continuation of the Tomatosphere project with greater involvement in the US (it has been primarily Canadian classrooms) and the intent to grow seeds in space as well as have young people grow seeds that have been to space and brought back for distribution.
Thank you, Bob, for enlightening and exciting the young and old kids in your audience this am!
Dylan Ewen asked for any further announcements and closed the meeting.
NOTE: Last week, friend and past District Governor, Bob Bruce, joined us for breakfast and to present to our President, the matching grant from the Rotary Foundation. Club money and the matching grant were used to support the orphanage in Manzilla, Mexico. Thanks, Bob!
It was a lively, energetic group that gathered this am to share breakfast and learn more about space. Dylan Ewen proved to be a great assistant to George Gould and rang the bell and asked for Happy Dollars. Dave Carson introduced our guests: Lynne Morrow, Helen Massey, Tracey, Alison and Julia Vance, Marilynn, Julie, Shaun, Elyssa, Liam (Robear made an appearance too!)Armstrong and Kaden Leysk (Armstrong grandson), Barb Wood, Dave Kelday, Dylan, Daniel and Audrey Ewen and Jenn Evans.
Happy Dollars: Daniel is looking forward to going to camp this weekend while brother Dylan will be playing in his hockey team finals, Elyssa is sooooo excited she is going with her family to the TO Zoo to meet the baby pandas, Lynne is thankful to live in Canada and not be part of the political scene south of us, Shirleyenjoyed her Caribbean Cruise, Jessica celebrated the great turnout this morning and Derek clarified that tall buildings are intended to sway slightly!
Dave Carson put out a call for assistance with our local group who are supporting the Syrian refugees (government sponsored). Lamps, pictures, kitchen pots and pans, glasses, plate sets, baking supplies are all needed. These items need to be clean and in good condition. We are also in need of a storage space for furniture held until the families move from local hotels to an apartment. Wayne offered the Montesanto garage (!) but we are still in need of real space.
Our speaker this morning was Bob Morrow, back from his extended holiday and eager to share his knowledge of space, NASA, astronauts, tomato seeds from space and his outstanding power point presentation with truly amazing pictures and views of space. Bob talked about the deceiving distances – between planets and earth, depending on the position of the sun – we are talking about thousands of kms and hundreds of thousands. We were able to view the International Space Station and astronauts at work, eating, playing and sleeping. We saw the Canadarms 1 and 2 functioning and the robot “Dexter” for “fine work”.
Bob talked about the projected Mars trip (7 months there and 7 months back) and the need to solve problems which include food, water and space debris before we can take next steps in order to be able to bring people back from Mars.
Most exciting is the continuation of the Tomatosphere project with greater involvement in the US (it has been primarily Canadian classrooms) and the intent to grow seeds in space as well as have young people grow seeds that have been to space and brought back for distribution.
Thank you, Bob, for enlightening and exciting the young and old kids in your audience this am!
Dylan Ewen asked for any further announcements and closed the meeting.
Along with 22 of our members, we had two visitors: Lynn Gates from Little Hats and Paul Bruce, a visiting Rotarian,from the Waterdown club.
Ross Bannatyne was the Greeter and Steve Roblin took attendance. The meeting recorder was Jessica Brennan. Ernie Romain was Sergeant-at-Arms.
We had a bit of a scramble since the breakfast wasn’t ready as usual at 7:30. The Golf and Country Club had had a problem unlocking the refrigerator, so that breakfast making was delayed.
So…in true Rotary fashion we improvised and re-arranged the meeting order: did the Grace before we had food in front of us; sang the anthem; did Happy Dollars; and then, we were served our Breakfast. While still eating we completed our program.
Happy Dollars: As usual Ernie started off the Happy Dollars, letting us know that he soon would be heading off to Hawaii. A good time to warn anyone you know to expect that hurricanes, tornadoes and locust swarms are heading that way. It seems weather follows Ernie on each of his trips.
Grant was proud that his Staples store was acknowledged as one of the top 10 Staples stores in Canada.
Derek was happy to have been in Australia and New Zealand and reported that he had met up with fellow Rotarian, Fergus Cumming and his wife, Barbara.
Jan was delighted to announce that Alycia, one of our former members who is also a Paul Harris award recipient, and her husband are expecting a baby in August.
Barb was happy to be able to sing the Canadian anthem, something she very much missed while in Florida.
Marie-Louise was pleased to demonstrate that several months after her wrist injuries she is now able to use a fork. Ernie thought though that he could still take Marie-Louise on in arm-wrestling.
Wayne on his recent trip to Florida had returned to Disney World for the first time in 38 years. Still, he received a first time ever attendee award. Although it was cold, Wayne still loved his visit there, especially Space Mountain.
Paul Bruce was happy to be at the “best Rotary Club”. He also wanted us to know about the future opening of Waterdown Rotary Club Skating Rink, noting that it would also be a rollerblade rink in the summer.
Announcements: Mieke Ewen, our Community Services Director, presented a cheque to Lynn Gates to support Little Hats, a group busy knitting up hats and items for those needing extra warmth through winter.
Wayne thanked everyone who made February’s Rotary Stars possible, bringing in over $10,000. He also noted that within the next few weeks we’ll have a meeting to review Rotary Stars and discuss how to make it even better.
Ross reported that he had recently attended a President-elect training session. Three districts were represented and approximately 190 President-elects were in attendance. It was a wonderful learning experience and a great opportunity to network with other clubs and find out what they’re doing.
Ross also announced the upcoming leadership training session, being held on May 7, 2016 in Niagara Falls, N.Y. He encouraged the members of the incoming Board to attend but also welcomed those interested in expanding their knowledge about Rotary to sign up as well.
Three announcements were made about the upcoming Saturday, May 28th Lobster Rib Fest (so we know we are getting close): Nic pointed out the opportunity for event sponsorships; Glen sent around sign-up sheets for volunteering; and, Bill reminded everyone about bringing in items for the silent auction.
Mieke Ewen introduced and then thanked Don Davidson for his energized presentation and noted that as a colleague of Don’s at St. Joseph’s Villa in Dundas and his sponsor to our club, there were many wonderful new things that she learned about his life and career.
We were 18 members strong. In attendance were Barb Busing who had been away in Florida for a few months and Bob Neibert who had been locked in his office at work for the same period of time. We were delighted to welcome them both back. Harold Gruneberg was the Greeter and Bob Neibert – the very same – took attendance. The meeting recorder was Jessica Brennan. Ernie Romain was at his post as Sergeant-at-Arms
Happy Dollars: Ernie started off the Happy Dollars, regaling us with how tornedoes had chased him across Florida during his recent vacation. Steve Roblin and his wife had a week in the Turks and Caicos before their third child is due. The week started off like a Gong show but somehow the beaches, the view, time together and the people turned the week into a glorious holiday. Bill Armstrong was back from holiday where he won nearly $300 at the casino. Everyone there urged him to bet again but he held steady and just took his winnings. Some of us suspected that money went towards the bar bill. Carl was happy that it was his wife’s birthday and that it would be his later this week. He donated $10 to Rotary for each year he has been alive. He started this tradition when he became a Rotarian years ago but joked that now it was getting rather costly. Dave had been on vacation and reported that he was going to be a grandfather again this year. Bob Neibert was happy to be at the meeting and described his recent promotion at Hillfield-Strathallan. Barb put in her happy dollars for a wonderful time in Florida. While there she had attended a Rotary meeting at Bob Morrow’s place (Wayne was also there) and wondered if that qualified as a make-up.
Program: Club President Shirley Molloy guided us through a review of the Club’s strategic goals for the years 2012 to 2017. The document she referred to “Vision, Mission, Goals and Objectives” has a link (under Site Pages) on the home page of our website. She pointed out that this exercise would be the first step in designing the next strategic plan. The 2012-2017 Strategic Plan is divided into three Board categories: The Club; The Local Community; and, The Global Community. We had time to only to review the first three goals under The Club category. The meeting attendees offered comments about whether a goal had been achieved or whether it was still achievable. Goal One is about membership. While we are not yet at 60 members, we certainly have gone a long way to recruiting eight new members under 45. For Goal Two, we felt that with annual fundraising including Foundation that we were close to the $1200 per member for our operating budget. A scratch lottery has not been implemented and didn’t seem to be on the radar any more. One objective had been to turn the fireworks into an all-day event. This had not been realized and was probably no longer workable. Parking challenges and noise issues were noted. We are continuing to support the Rotary Stars and Lobsterfest. We do want to avoid having the Rotary Stars on the same day as the Winter Carnival. We felt that a discussion about Rotary Stars’ placement in the year’s event schedule was needed. We suggested that for Goal Three (membership engagement) we are a very active club. We are also doing well in some areas for succession planning. We noted that we haven’t yet prepared role descriptions for each committee and/or event. Having reviewed the first three goals, we would use an upcoming Club Assembly to continue the review of 2012-2017 Strategic Plan and to craft the next one.
Involved in the field of adult literacy for over 25 years, Helen McLeod was recognized in 2013 with the YWCA’s Woman of Distinction Award for her contribution in this field.
Helen reviewed various kinds of skills or competencies that have been called: literacy. Financial literacy. Media literacy. But perhaps as some new things are being framed as literacy, such as physical literacy, perhaps the word itself is getting watered down.
Literacy still is a gradation. It is not, as once thought, activated by an on/off switch. That is, one can read or one cannot. Instead there is a continuum of understanding. Also, with new evolving technologies even people who identify as educated may have low literacy in new devices and processes.
Helen then presented a number of myths about literacy and dispelled them. Helen’s presentation was followed by a lively Question and Answer section, leaving a number of members arguing for and against cursive writing as a skill to be taught in school.
We had 17 members attend and two guests: our Guest Speaker, Helen McLeod from the Hamilton Literacy Council and Agnes Samson, a volunteer tutor with the Council (or as George introduced her, Art Samson’s better half).
Marie-Louise Kelday greeted everyone while Glen Mumberson took attendance. The meeting recorder was Jessica Brennan.
George Gould stepped up to the plate to pinch hit for Ernie Romain as Sergeant-at-Arms. George also filled in as tech guru helping Helen to set up her presentation. Quite the utility player (enough baseball references?), George is.
Happy Dollars: Jessica was happy that Marie-Louise had volunteered to be Greeter for the second week in a row. Jessica was doubly pleased that she was able to tag (voluntold) Harold as Greeter for next week.
Art was happy about the upcoming Routes Gala on Friday, February 26. Indeed, he was delirious: the event has been sold-out for a week and people are still eager to attend. Some of the organizers may have to use paper plates or not eat at all.
Art was also delighted that 7 members from our Rotary Club would be attending the Routes Gala. Lovely support!
Shirley was happy that her husband is back from his trip and can see to their grandchild getting off to school in the morning.
Jessica Brennan introduced our Guest Speaker, Helen McLeod, whose topic was “Literacy”. After the presentation Jessica thanked Helen and wished her a “See you in September” when hopefully our Rotary Club will be volunteering once again at the Hamilton Literacy Council’s book swap for Telling Tales.
We were a small (17 members) but courageous group, braving a bit of winter weather. We had one guest, our Guest Speaker, Bev Greenwood.
Marie-Louise Kelday greeted everyone while Jan Southall took attendance. The meeting recorder was Jessica Brennan.
Bruce Eccles filled in for George Gould who originally was going to fill in for Ernie Romain. What deep bench strength we have at the Sergeant-at-Arms position!
Happy Dollars: Bruce was reminded by the recent weather of a time he raced motorcycles at Quebec City’s Winter Carnival where it was so cold (how cold was it? -40 below) that the spectators set the hay bales surrounding the track on fire. He gave $10 for Happy Dollars to thank everyone for a successful Rotary Stars and to mark his last Rotary meeting until he is back in May.
Grant was happy too about Rotary Stars. Not only did he get to hear his daughter, Elyssa, perform at Rotary Stars but he got a fabulous door prize he could give his wife for Valentine’s Day.
Jessica was happy that her voice student (Grant’s daughter) did so well at Rotary Stars and that her piano student got an extremely high mark on a music exam.
Shirley was happy that she managed to get to the meeting without going in the ditch as others had on her way in from Burlington. And we were all happy that she made it.
Bev Greenwood, a chaplain at St. Joseph’s Villa for over 20 years, and a lead staff on their Ethics Committee, started her presentation by suggesting a new verse in the Bible. Given that she had to now give her talk without her PowerPoint due to technical incompatibilities, she offered a new Beatitude: Blessed are the flexible because they do not get bent out of shape. And then she carried on with ease.
Outlining Ethics as a moral philosophy, a code of conduct and a standard of human behaviour, Bev pointed out that we are surrounded by ethical issues all the time. Each of us given our moral compass, cultural background and personal values may have a different approach to resolving an ethical dilemma.
Bev presented several scenarios that various professionals might face and asked us rhetorically how we would handle them. Bev emphasized that each profession has guiding principles by which they might assess an ethical issue, underlining The Four-Way Test for our work in Rotary.
Our President, Shirley Molloy, who has known Bev Greenwood for some time, thanked her for her work in the community and her insightful presentation here.
Nic Schulz was born in Brampton. He was born with heart issues and had surgery at the age of three. He grew up with his family Camping, hiking and canoeing. They moved to St Catharines and he went to University of Guelph for English and Political Science; then on to Seneca College for communications. He travelled too Australia, came back through Thailand, Malaysia and Borneo where he spent a week in Malaysia living with a local family .
On a 9 day hike on the” Overland Track “ in Tasmania he found his love for hiking.
Nic worked in Public Relations for various health care industries and Ontario craft breweries.
While working for the Toronto conservation authority he meet his wife Erin and lived in Caledon.
They met Steve Roblin and his wife and were introduced to Dundas and they fell in love with the town.
Presently Nic is working for Corner Stone bringing awareness about aggregate sites and the impact on the environment. His main focus is encouraging businesses and communities to strive for a higher bar through purchasing aggregates from approved sites.
Recorder: Scott Vance, Greeter: Joe Geddes, Desk: Derek Price, Sergeant at Arms: Ernie Romain, Guests: Pam Millroy from District Gift of Life Board. noon club, Visiting Rotarian: Dr. Shankardass, noon club, Attendace: 28.
HAPPY DOLLARS and ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Ernie: leaving for Vacation in Florida hoping the weather is better than last vacation. Steve: Feeling well rested and Happy that all his children are finally sleeping through the night and heading off to Grand Turks to have a real rest! Vlad: Thankful for Carl Fraser giving him a ride to Rotary this morning, after surgery on his arm. Dr. Shankardass: Back front Kenya, excited about a potential Rotary project. Bill Armstrong: Happy to be going on another cruise. Paul Clifford: Happy that his grandson accepted at Sir Sanford Fleming for demolition training. Paul also Recalling Dr. Shankardass' first Rotary meeting in the basement of the Collins Hotel many years ago.
Shirley Molloy: Pleased to see the deer outside on the golf course and generally Happy !
Pam Millroy: Gift of life began in 1975 as a Rotary Project in Long Island, New York.
It Started when the Rotary Club brought a 5year old Ugandan girl to the U.S for open Heart Surgery. Since then have treated over 15,000 children from 64 countries. They are looking for support to continue this great project!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Phil Woods, Pancake breakfast @ St Mark. Paul Clifford: Harrrp's 5th Annual Sunshine Gala fund raiser February 26th, tickets $100.00. Meike: Rotary Stars reminder Saturday February 13th @ St.James at 6pm. Sell those tickets!
Carl Fraser: Rotary Family Skate and Winter Carnival February 13th in the Driving Park, 12-4pm
Jan Southall, St James holding a Pancake Supper for the local Syrian refugees. Jan also updating us on the needs of new Syrian refugees. They still need dishes, clothing, proper shoes and basic household supplies.
Paul and Jennifer Powell-Fralick from Antigua Book Collection are both educators who live in Dundas. They first went to Antigua in the 1980's. Paul, an ECE Professor at Mohawk College was there conducting trainee support workshops in conjunction with The University of the West Indies.
They soon took an interest in a student-initiated project where they worked as volunteers in Island preschools.
In 2014 the Fralick family went back to Antigua and connected with two of their colleagues who work as educators at Sir Luther Wynter preschool and Vila Primary School.
During their visits they discovered a lack of good quality literacy material. Many of the book were tattered and missing pages. They saw children who were keen to learn and interested in reading but realized there were few books in the classrooms. At that moment they realized the need for better literacy material, and the Antigua Book Collection was born.
Their goal, is to collect kindergarten to grade 8 books and send them to Villa Primary School and send books and educational play material to Sir Luther Wynter, in St. Johns Antigua.
With help from Steve Roblin from the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary and other members of our community they plan to send 4 barrels of books and school supplies to these schools.
Sir William Osler School in Dundas is also on board. Principal Tim Illman kicked of family literacy week by holding a book drive which will continue until Valentine day.
Recorder: Scott Vance, Greeter: Mieke Ewan, Desk: Grant Armstrong, Sergeant-at-Arms: Ernie Romain, Guests: Paul Fralick and Jennifer Powell-Fralick
Attendance:24, Happy Dollars:$43.00
Happy Dollars:
Ernie - recalling his cold Cuba Trip, and golfing in the rain; and, recalling this day in Maple Leaf history - Ian Turnbull scoring 5 goals against Detroit Redwings; also recalling falling on the ice at another Hockey game and being lifted over the boards by Turk, one of the players.
Phil Woods -happy that he was too young to remember that Hockey game! Lol
Bruce Eccles - Being romantic again and having a tear this weekend when his daughter came down wearing his wife's wedding dress and also reflecting on the highlights of the All Star Hockey game.
Bill Armstrong - happy to take his grandson on a cub scout tour of the Hamilton Police Station
Mary Louise - Happy for her two Daughters. Grant Armstrong - happy for his wife’s surgery; and, Shirley just because she's happy!
Announcements:
Art Samson - Routes Gala Feb 26th tickets $50.00. Dave Carson asking for more bottles of wine or the Stars of Dundas. Phil Woods - reminding us about Pancake Sunday at St Marks Church $6.00 per person. Mieke announced her permanent position at St Josephs Villa. Michael Neibert named male athlete of the year at Hillfeild Strathallan. George reminding us about the Stars of Dundas event. Steve reported on a former Rotary exchange student from Hungary looking for position in Canada. Shirley presented Award to Grant Armstrong for bringing in a new member and helping our club to grow.
Recorder: Don Davidson, Greeter: Ross Bannatyne, Desk: Bill Armstrong, Sergeant-At-Arms: George Gould
Happy Dollars: Bruce’s daughter is getting married September 9th. Bruce was happy to announce that his daughter bought a dress this past weekend and he says it was a bargain at $1500…Says Bruce, “what a deal!” Derek recently visited a local factory that manufactures dampers for high-rise buildings throughout the world. Derek was impressed to find this Canadian technology being built in Ontario.
Ralph is off to sunny Florida and this marked his last meeting for 10 weeks….he reminded Rotarians not to have too much fun without him!
Just before Christmas Ralph got a call from a farmer he knew saying he had 3 tractor trailer loads of potatoes that he wanted to give to a good cause. Ralph contacted Shirley and in the end the Salvation Army ended up taking 10, 000 ten pound bags of potatoes with another 5, 000 bags going to Food Share Hamilton. All this happened because the farmer knew Ralph was a Rotarian.
Wayne celebrated his grandson’s 19th birthday at the Winchester Arms in Dundas. Turning the legal age of 19, Wayne sent him back to the U of Guelph campus with a 6-pack of beer!
Also, Rotary Stars is fast approaching and more ticket sales are required...150-200 tickets need to be sold. So, please sell to your friends, relatives and neighbours. Sponsorship is also going well and there is room for one or two more ads in the program. Shirley enjoyed her drive into Dundas while it’s raining instead of snowing.
Jessica is very happy that Carlotta was in attendance to introduce Marie-Louise. Carlotta is Marie-Louise’s sponsor. Jessica says that Marie–Louise is first of several new Rotary members lined up to do classification talks. Also Jessica is sad that Ralph will be in Florida for 10 weeks as he is her go-to person to answer all of her Rotary questions…a Rotarian mentioned that she does have his email address!
Nice purse Carl! He reminded Rotarians that the Winter Carnival is taking place the afternoon of February 13th…same day as the Rotary Stars of Dundas. Most of it is organized however he can use some help with advertising in addition to helping out the day of the event for various tasks including handing out apple cider. Four to 5 Rotarians are required as volunteers. There will be music, skating demonstrations and horse drawn wagon rides. And best of all, no charge to the community. So, send an email to all your contacts in the area and invite them to attend. Remember, bring their skates!
Marie-Louise began her talk by welcoming Rotarians in 5 different languages! She is a true Canadian as her history goes back a few hundred years to 1660 when her ancestors first arrived in Canada. Mary-Louise’s French-Canadian personal history began when she was born in Blind River in 1950. Her father came from a family of 13 children and her mother a family of 10 which translates into her having over 100 first cousins. Growing up in a large family provided Marie-Louise with strong family bonds and this is why family is a very important part of her life.
Marie-Louise’s adult life began when she attended Laurentian University to major in languages which up until that point was a big part of her life having grown up in a town that was a blend of both English and French. It was at Laurentian where she met her husband David. Marie-Louise began teaching in Toronto which was really too big a city at that time for someone from Blind River. From this teaching position, an opportunity opened up in Ottawa where she enjoyed a slower pace than she experienced in Toronto. From there, her path finally found her building a life in Hamilton. For many years, Marie-Louise taught at Académie catholique Mère-Teresa (French language school). She was quite taken by the school. It was not a very affluent school but she loved it. The school served a refugee population that included those from Africa. Marie-Louise found this teaching position a very enriching experience. Upon retirement, she recalls being affectionately called “Mama Africa” by the African parents….this was very emotional for her and she describes it as the best part of her career.
Jumping forward to 2015, Marie-Louise was skeptical about joining Rotary but after several months of being part of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club, she now feels privileged to be here. Says Marie-Louise, “My father in-law would be tickled to see me here today as he was also a Rotarian in Dundas!” Marie-Louise ended her presentation with a thank you in multiple languages. She was formally thanked by Jessica Brennan.
Recorder: Don Davidson, Greeter: Grant Armstrong, Desk: Bill Armstrong, Sergeant-At-Arms: Ernie Romain
Guest of the club Mike Kehoe and guest speaker Alan Hansell.
Happy Dollars:
1) Ernie Romain is heading to Cuba for his first trip to that island nation.
2) Art Sampson gave Ernie some advice while in Cuba…try to cash the “tourist currency” in for “local currency” as it has bigger purchasing power! Also advised Ernie to meet up with some locals. Art had a wonderful trip to Cuba via GAP. Art says he was able to experience the “real” Cuba instead of what most of us see as typical tourists.
3) Art also reminded Rotarians of the Routes Annual Gala coming up on February 26th.
4) Bill Armstrong gave his Happy Dollars…just because someone left $5 and didn’t want change.
5) Wayne Massey was happy to have breakfast this past week with the Eccles Clan!
6) Randy Abel advised Rotarians of the Rockton Dinner Theater being held on March 31st – April 2nd and April 7th, 8th and 9th. Show is called “That’s a Wrap…a murder mystery”with George in a starring role. Tickets are available.
7) Shirley attended “Guess who’s coming to dinner” in Burlington and had a great time! Shirley also acknowledged the deaths of a few prominent artists this past week including David Bowie and Glen Frey…Shirley is happy to have grown up in an era that included these great performers.
8) Dave Carson reflected on 25 years ago as the Allies bombed Baghdad. Dave was then on assignment in Saudi Arabia. Dave remembers the urgency of getting out of the Middle East and back to Canada during a time when that part of the world was very fragile and unpredictable.
9) Ralph went to Baci Restaurant with his children and grandchildren to celebrate Barb's birthday…they all had a wonderful evening. He also reminded us of Friday Night Wing Night at the Dundas Airforce Club! Tickets are available $12 in advance and $15 at the door. And, he and Barb visited the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum to see our club's donation to help the children of Queen Victoria School in Hamilton make a field trip there. Our club name and logo were clearly visible as the instructors worked through an aerodynamics lesson with the class.
Announcements:
Mieke announced that the Rotary Stars sponsorships are still available. Volunteers are required to approach local businesses for sponsorship. Please contact Wayne to be assigned a list of businesses that still required approach. If you require tickets, please contact Glen. He can also be contacted for advertising opportunities.
Guest Speaker Alan Hansell was introduced by Joe Guedes and thanked by David Carson.
Alan Hansell gave an eye opening presentation on the Cootes Watershed. What is it? Why is it important? Why should we all have an interested in ensuring its future?
Stewards of Cootes Watershed is a neighborhood-based team of stewards, each responsible for ensuring the health and biodiversity of a section of Cootes Paradise and the creeks that flow into it. The Stewards goal is to educate local residents about the Cootes Watershed and inspire them to take steps to improve our watershed’s health. It is also to bring the Cootes Marsh back to the condition that it once was.
Cootes Marsh has been a nature sanctuary since 1927 and it is a bird migratory route. The marsh has garnered international recognition for its variety of amphibians and reptiles. In fact, the entire west end of Lake Ontario is dependent on Cootes Paradise.
Over 100 years of neglect to the Cootes Watershed are being reversed by the Stewards of Cootes Watershed. In the past 4 years, Project Paradise has resulted in over 4000 bags of garbage being collected. That’s not all…additionally 546 automobile tires, 37 000 lbs of metal, 50 shopping carts, and even a ladies makeup bag containing an old gun were recovered. This rubbish posed a significant health risk to all animals that depend on the Watershed for survival and unfortunately many creatures died over the years as a result.
Project Paradise has resulted in significant improvements to Cootes Paradise including the first nesting pair of Bald Eagles this end of Lake Ontario, Chinook salmon spawning in Spencer’s Creek has doubled in size, and 250,000 Spottail shiner minnows have also been found spawning.
Stewards of Cootes are always looking for volunteers from March to December. The organization plans 137 separate cleanup events. Alan says that they are close to being able to say that Spencer Creek is the cleanest it’s been in 150 years.
Says Alan, “We will remove every piece of garbage no matter how large…how small…or how complicated!"
Our snowy Tuesday morning meeting saw a good turnout for Brainstorming – How to become Fearlessly Creative and have Better Ideas more Often with Dundas residents (and guests) Brandon Love and Joel Hilchey.
Jessica Brennan greeted all members with a smile and hello, Art Samson was at the door and Ernie Romain was our entertaining Sergeant-at-Arms.
Happy Dollars:
- Grant Armstrong is happy he survived his oldest son’s 15th birthday party…the only casualty appears to be the pizza fund.
- George Gould announced that he’s excited his son will be playing at the Winchester on Saturday, where George and his wife met. Members are invited to come out on Saturday for good music and some beers.
- Jessica Brennan is happy her partner Lonnie Macgee will be retiring from McMaster University while her son will keep the tradition alive. He’s in first year at Mac and doing well.
- Art Samson shared an image of the proposed condo across from the Dundas Town Hall and noted that today is the last day for an OMB appeal to the change in zoning.
- Mieke Ewen made no bones about her love of the snow and was willing to put up the happy dollars to prove it.
- Dave Carson is happy to be dog sitting his daughter's anthropomorphic standard poodle who likes to sit at the kitchen table like the rest of the family.
Club News
- Dave Carson provided an update on the community garden at St. Mark’s Church. St. Mark’s has confirmed that Dundas in Transition and Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary can continue to use the community gardens indefinitely and that there are no plans to sell this land for other uses.
Given this new development Dave proposed upgrades to the community garden which were supported unanimously by the club. These upgrades include replacing temporary wooden beds with permanent concrete blocks and building permanent deer fencing. The total cost to Dundas Valley Sunrise is anticipated at $2,500.
- Ralph Montesanto announced that the lobster committee would be meeting January 12 at 5PM at the Dundas Museum and reporting back at future meetings.
- Ralph also noted that there is a big push on membership from the district and he would like to rejuvenate the membership committee. A call was put out asking if anyone wants to join this committee…if so please let Ralph know.
- Wayne Massey made an announcement that Rotary Stars is coming up on February 13th and noted that help is needed for a number of jobs. A listing of these jobs has been sent out and members are encouraged to reply with their ability to help out. Tickets are also on sale…so get them now from Glen.
- Shirley Molloy announced that there is a Board meeting scheduled for tonight, Jan 12 at Jessica's home.
The formal program began with Bill Armstrong's introduction of Joel Hilchey and Brandon Love.
Joel Hilchey and Brandon Love spoke about the Beanstalk Project, a local initiative aimed at leadership development for students. Demonstrating how the program works Joel and Brandon lead the club in an exciting creativity exercise designed to bring out bigger and better ideas. They left members with a firm grasp of their creativity guidelines:
1. Quantity first: If you want to catch a fish you go to the pond with the most fish. Just like creativity, if you want a good idea start by coming up with a lot of ideas (good and bad);
2. Silly is good: Thinking of silly ideas gets you out of your mold and lets you consider new ways to solve problems. If you never think silly you’ll never think differently;
3. Make connections: Good ideas build off of each other. Once you’ve started the ball rolling use those first ideas to come up with other ideas; and
4. No judgment: Creativity grows best in a safe space with no judgement. Separate your creativity and your criticism so that you can truly let you creative side run wild.
Brandon and Joel invited the club to keep in touch with them joel@joelhilchey.com and Brandon@brandonlovemagic.com whether you need inspiration to get your creative juices flowing, want to bring them in as speakers for your business or just want to say hi.
Brandon and Joel have also written a book called Brainsprouting that outlines their simple process to unleash your inherent creative power. Learn more and buy it here http://www.brainsproutingbook.com.
Brainstorming - How to become fearlessly creative and have better ideas more often
The annual Christmas party brings out the singers in the club. It was a fun evening of fellowship, food, refreshments and dancing at the Dundas Museum. Special thanks to Jessica Brennan for organizing the party, to all her helpers and to Joan Ballantyne for the music.
Assistant Governor Bob Morrow introduces Aldo Lombardi (far right) to the members of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club during the club's Christmas party.
Aldo was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship for his work in both the local and international communities. He has supported a wide variety of local charities and also initiated the shipment of bicycles and hospital equipment to a remote area of northern Chile. As Aldo said “Canadian Tire and Dundas - and Canada in general - have been very good to my family … the very least we can do is something as simple as this”. In response to receiving the award Aldo said (humbly), “This award is not only my merit as it could not have been possible without the help of my store staff, family business staff and family back in Chile”.
President Shirley Molloy pins Aldo as the club's most recent Paul Harris Fellow as club Rotary Foundation director Bob Neibert looks on.
Today’s annual auction for St. Matthew's House brought in a full house of over 30 members and guests. Our long list of guests included Colin Reid, Norman Read, Linda Ingraudo, Fred Amalfi, Carole Beel, Lynne Morrow, Helen Massey, Marilynn Armstrong, Sue Carson, Steve Leighfield and Jim and Sheila Sweetman. Everyone was greeted by Bob Morrow and signed in by Jessica Brennan.
Shortly after breakfast Dundas’ own champion auctioneer Bruce Eccles kicked off the proceedings with the support of his own “Barker’s Beauties” Jessica Brennan and Roger Stewart. Dave Carson got the bidding underway with a $60 bid on two bottles of red wine and a box of 6 – 8 unbroken wineglasses which was shortly followed by the super bowl beer and pretzel package. The high bidder of the day award went to Norm Read with a $350 bid on an original Fred Amalfi painting (http://www.fredamalfi.com) with a $270 bid on the antique box picnic package filled with fine wine, brandy and beer.
The auction was closed off with remarks from Steve Leighfield who thanked the club for its on-going support of St. Matthew’s House. Many thanks to Rotary members and past members who donated a wide range of exciting prizes to bid on…and special thanks to Bruce for a fantastic job as auctioneer.
To wrap up the morning Shirley Molloy presented Carlotta Cisneros-Knox with a pin of thanks for bringing William Knox as a new member to the club.
This morning's meeting was a club assembly where the board reported to the membership on operations of the club.
Recorder - Mieke Ewen, Greeter - Marie-Louise Kelday, Desk - Grant Armstrong, Sergeant-at-Arms - Ernie Romain, Guests - David Kelday and Brandon Love
Happy Dollars
Ernie started us off, being happy about the shut out by the Leafs goalie last night and their win! He was also happy that last night a Canadian kid from Mississauga, Brent Urban, played for the Baltimore Ravens, grabbed a blocked field goal on the last play of the game and ran for the winning touchdown. Ernie shared his Air Canada flight details and what ‘on standby’ really means!
Bruce took the podium and is glad to be back. He traveled to Las Vegas and drove to Nashville where he worked on his singing career with a little liquid courage……he behaved in Memphis, and enjoyed Graceland. Bruce visited the ‘coolest’ Bass Pro Shop and played Clint Eastwood at the store while his wife took pics. The river boat cruise was disappointing – but enjoyed New Orleans. He returned home and then moved after 28 years…..with all of his 28 years of crap. Look out at the auction next week! Dave Carson was happy to receive a memo of understanding form St. Mark’s Church, where the community garden is now able to carry on ‘forever’…….Thank you to the church members for allowing this! Carl is ready to decorate the Christmas tree on Saturday and needs helpers over 5’5” to assist. He shared that Mary-Lou is recovering from an operation last week. Recuperation will take a few months, and we all wish her well in her recovery. Carl played a few games of golf……his golf balls visiting the water but, he enjoyed himself. Ralph shared an email from Mary Lou about her surgery and upcoming recovery. Ralph thanked David Kelday for being a ‘known arms dealer’ ha ha……. David continues to help Marie-Louise eat.
George needs to switch Meals that Heal for this Sunday, so please contact him if you are able to assist! His son will be playing at the Hard Rock Café in Toronto and George will be attending this instead.
Jessica was looking forward to coming today, happy to have Brandon Love (not her son's friend from high school…..case of mistaken identity or an episode of Bewitched!) Jessica shared her Ronald McDonald House experience where she had a blast chopping carrots and potatoes!
Jessica also wanted it noted that she and Marie Louise do not share a hairdresser! Shirley went to a baby reveal on Sunday and is excited for her daughter, who is expecting a daughter of her own. Ralph has Lobster Rib Fest tickets in time for Christmas – date for this is May 28th, 2016!
Club Assembly:
Bob Neibert – Foundation Chair – foundation month just came and went. Today is ‘giving Tuesday’, where "donationshare" is encouraged…..Bob reviewed how to donate. As a club, we have donated a total of over $10,000! 7 members who have made 2015/2016 donation. He would like to be an ‘Every Rotarian, Every year’ club. Important to have everyone behind us, no matter what the amount. The club has also donated to Polio Plus - Last year $1500…..this year $1000 so far.
Mieke Ewen – Community Service - Reviewed Committee members of Carl, Bill and Art. Focus for this year is to use large budget to assist various needs – some repeats of previous years and some new. Reviewed donations to date…..and some upcoming.
Jessica Brennan – Next week is Christmas auction…..please bring items for auction and money gathered goes to St. Matthews’s house. Remember to bring a friend, a partner and your wallets. Bruce will be the auctioneer. The following week, December 15th at 6:30 pm is the Christmas party – at the Dundas Museum. This year – the event will be free – Roger will bring in libations (Jessica will bring vibrations??) and we will have appetizers only this year – where members can contribute if they choose to. An email will go around regarding this. The club is looking for a younger family member who could perhaps serve appetizers if they are interested. Joan is doing music for the event, until we have all had enough liquid courage to join in the sing along! Duty Roster has done well – thank you to all for appearing for duty when it is assigned! New role is the recorder……Nic is on next week.
Ralph Montesanto – Membership and PR – There is no one in PR role currently, however Ralph is posting on First Light, Twitter and Facebook. Nic has been helping in this role as well. Ralph has sent articles to the district newsletter, Dundas Star, and social media sites. Bob Morrow also sent articles to the district newsletter and Dundas Star. For Membership – in 2012 we had a plan to have 8 members under 45 years old……would like still like an additional 2 members in this category. Another goal was to increase the number of women as well – ratio about 20/80 at present. Goal to increase classifications, which has been done as well. 42 active members currently. Letter provided to members to reach out to someone you know to invite them to the club…..trying to invite more people to attend.
Ken Beel – treasurer’s report. Available cash over $74000. Total accruals $21000. Money left for Eco park benches. Sign at rink……Carl working on this – city will pay, getting sign ready and making changes as well. Putting some history about the partnership on how the rink came to be etc.
Bob Morrow – International – We received a banner from the Croatian Rotary club that Vlad visits. We supported that club dealing with severe flooding in its community. Challenges with getting money to orphanage in Mexico but Ken and Bob are getting through this! Still looking for a big project, but no rush - looking at a number of areas for this project and hoping for a contact in the area of the project. The Canadian government also looking to bump up funding, but the process is difficult as well. Bob was most excited about his international scotch…..at a good cost.
Ross – Discussed liability insurance – especially when we work with children. As president elect, Ross is looking for individuals interested in vacant positions and as vice president. Other positions include Jessica as president elect, Ross as president, Dave Carson as secretary, Wayne as treasurer, and Shirley past president and director of the foundation. Dave reminded members that Invoices will be coming for next year subscriptions…….to be paid ASAP please!
A great fellowship time as we support Ronald McDonald House. For a donation of $300 the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club was able to send 6 club members to help prepare the food for families staying at Ronald McDonald House while a child is at the McMaster Children's Hospital. The club and individual members contributed enough to send 5 other teams of six over the next week. Grant Armstrong, Jessica Brennan, Roger Stewart, Carol Campbell, Barb and Ralph Montesanto and chef Shawn Rocchi and Chris were today's team.
Rotarians work in great ways. Ralph Montesanto gets a call from his brother-in-law Brad Bates who works at Josling Farms in Carlisle. Brad knows Ralph is a Rotarian and can help. The farm has 15 000 ten lb. bags of potatoes it wants to donate. Ralph calls Shirley Molloy at the Salvation Army, gets her out of a meeting and voila, all 15 000 will be used for local food banks just in time for the Christmas season - 10 000 to Salvation Army and 5000 to Food Share Hamilton. Josling Farms even delivered 10 000 bags. Thank you to the Josling family and co-workers.
Social dress up evenings are always lots of fun. Fellowship at 6:30 at the Dundas Golf and Curling Club followed by dinner, an inspirational talk by Kevin Rempel and the awarding of six Paul Harris Fellows.
Use this link to see Kevin Rempel playing sledge hockey at the Sochi Paralympics.
The club's annual Paul Harris Awards and dinner is a very special occasion when community and club members are honoured for their service efforts. Two community members, three club members and a past club member received Paul Harris Awards, the highest honour a Rotary club can bestow. The following are the recipients: Julian D'Angela for his ongoing work with Ancaster Film Fest and continued financial support of a variety of area charities; Jennifer Montesanto for being a foster parent to 5 dogs in training for the Lions International Foundation Guide Dogs; Ken Beel, Roger Stewart and Derek Price for their continued behind the scenes support of almost all community based club projects, fundraisers and fellowship events; and Alycia Moore for her great work as club Youth Services director the previous year.
Host Bob Neibert organized the dinner and introduced guest speaker Kevin Rempel.
Sledge Hockey, the Sochi Paralympics and a bronze medal for Kevin Rempel.
What an inspirational speaker for the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club Paul Harris Awards! Kevin gave a history of his motor cross racing until the accident that ended it all. Then his turn to sledge hockey and the Paralympics in Russia. A great never give up story.
Catherine is new to Ronald McDonald House and her role as executive director. She feels the role has changed her. Her focus is on ensuring the home has everything required to help these families through their time. Growing up, her dream job was work in New York – Glamour Magazine! She has had a successful career which brought her to New York with a French magazine, where she thought this was it! She realized that ‘that’s not what it is all about’. She became affiliated with Ronald McDonald House through previous role and loved the amazing charity and felt like it changed her. Catherine started as interim director of donations…..looking to increase donor relations. Being in the home with families, changed her and she felt that this was an opportunity to make a difference and far more important that anything she had done previously. The opportunity to see families at time of diagnosis and life changing experience is shocking, and humbling. Approximately 1/3 of families have babies in neonatal ICU. Families are often confused and scared. Their lives begin a ‘not normal time’ and we want to make life seem a little more familiar. We are the only home in Canada with a chef and chef’s kitchen! Families can make meals, do ‘normal things’. Ronald McDonald House currently has a family right now who have been there for over 200 days from Timmins….parents and sibling. Previous family stayed over 1 year – all while their children are being treated at Mac. This is their home away from home. The Ronald McDonald House is on average at 80-95% occupancy. It cost’s the program about $159.00 per night to serve a family, however the families are charged only $12.00 per day. The program ‘Nights of Comfort’ supports families who are unable to pay this fee.
The program Rotary will be participating in is ‘Meals that Heal. Members have signed up for 6 meals. The families love ‘typical’ time like dinner……everyone comes together. Our team of six will have about 60-100 people served dinner that evening. We will tour the building and join the chef to help. Everyone will be given a duty. Greatest take away will be the interactions with families – who can’t say thank you enough! Meal time makes families feel happy, normal. Families who leave can often be their greatest donors as well. Families love the volunteers and try to say thank you. Not all stories have a happy ending…..but all families leave saying thank you for help provided and time they have with their children. The club made a donation to Ronald McDonald House/Meals that Heal in the amount of $2500.00 with donations from individual members and club.
Mieke thanked Catherine and presented her with $2500.
Mieke Ewen - recorder, Harold Grunenberg - greeter, Ken Beel - desk and Ernie Romain - sergeant-at-arms. Guests: Catherine Bridgman, Lynne Morrow, Grace Correia
Attendance: 27
Happy Dollars
Ernie told of his ‘happy and sad story of the morning’ - celebrating his contribution during the Centennial year with his oldest daughter’s 49th birthday (as per Ernie – conceived on Valentines Day), however sharing the disappointment of loses by the Argos, his Alma Matter Western, Maple Leafs (not a surprise there), and the Raptors. Phil Wood was celebrating the 4th year anniversary of his ‘new’ knee that is still feeling great! Joe Guedes had a successful city inspection for his ‘never ending renovation’.
Steve Roblin has returned from golf adventure in Jacksonville with no sleep for 6 days – and wondering if it may be his last adventure as he announced his family is happily expecting their third child!! Bill Armstrong thanked Dave Carson for his enjoyable Spectator editorials and Ross B shared the newest possible Rotary fashion and is looking for feedback from members. Shirley is just happy, and reminding all members that next Tuesday is the Paul Harris dinner – therefore no morning meeting. All members and spouses are encouraged to attend this special annual event. Ralph apparently even dreams of Rotary, as he is sending his emails to Ernie at 5:20 in the morning. Bob Morrow brought his lovely wife Lynne to accompany him this morning, after returning from a great time on 5 week river and ocean cruises. Vlad was pleased to share news of a new grandchild, born last Friday. Jessica paid her penalty of forgetting to put name tag away after giving Grant the same lecture; and, Jan shared that the St. James Holiday House Tour has 5 homes and is occurring the first Saturday in December……see Jan for more details!
Announcements:
1. Shirley – received an invitation from the Dundas Civitan Club – November 28th 6:30 pm at Golf Club. More details to follow from Shirley.
2. Dave Carson – Grace visited from Conservations Authority/Eco Park – Conservation Authority was looking for someone to take lead on a Trillium Grant for a viewing platform near the industrial canal, looking for non profit club to put their name on it. They will prepare the application and the money will go to the Conservation Authority. Board okay with this – ensuring the whole club was as well. Motion made by Dave, seconded by Paul. All in favour vote.
3. Motion forward for Community Services donations – Motion by Mieke Ewen, Seconded by Bob Morrow. (Routes $1500, Wesley $1000, Community Services $1000, Salvation Army $2000).
4. Winter Carnival – Ken asked for volunteers for committee for the annual Winter Carnival. Also, sign damaged at the park. City will replace it…..with some changes – city will give us money to do this. Carnival generally set for the Saturday of Family Day weekend
Shirley Molloy led our program. Members read aloud prepared written excerpts and Shirley showed video clips to provide information about Canada’s contributions to the wars in the last hundred years. Each of these “vignettes” set the stage for individual members to share personal recollections and family stories.
Remembering World War I:
George Gould recalled an uncle who had saved people from a bombed hospital. Ralph Montesanto talked about the powerful experience of being in Ypres and Passchendaele.
Shirley remembered her grandfather being active in the Legion and selling poppies every year.
Paul Clifford recalled his father-in-law who had been member of the Royal Flying Corps at a time when there were no parachutes. He survived though and even tried to enlist in World War II. Ken Beel worked with someone in Manchester who had been in the Royal Observatory Corps. He also described how in his city nobody ever talked about the First World War yet the damage to shell-shocked soldiers was evidenced in their shuffling manner.
Bob Neibert read the famous poem In Flanders Fields. We were reminded that the poet, John McCrae, had been born in Guelph in 1872 and went to the University of Toronto. The poem was written following the death of a friend who was buried in Flanders. McCrae himself died in 1918 and was buried in France.
Remembering World War II: Phil Wood talked about his father who tried to get into the Navy at 15 and was turned away. Waiting a year, he then joined the Air Force, becoming a tail gunner in a Lancaster Bomber. Paul talked about the horrors of the battlefield in Hong Kong and how so many young “green” troops were sacrificed. George related a story about his grandfather in a convoy throwing over lifeboats to those in the water after their ships had been destroyed. Ken reminded everyone of our legendary Rotarian Ken Turner’s senior position in the military and his accountings of the cost of war.
Remembering Afghanistan: Shirley outlined Canada’s part in the international efforts following the 2001 attacks on the United States. Forty thousand Canadian soldiers served from 2002 to 2014, with 158 killed. The presentation ended with a video clip of a military nurse’s recounting her experience in Afghanistan.
Bill Armstrong greeted everyone and Bob Neibert took attendance. Ernie Romain was Sergeant-at-Arms. The meeting recorder was Jessica Brennan.
We all welcomed Randy Abel with hugs; very glad to see him following the difficult time he and his family have been through with the passing of his daughter and the recent fire at his house. Randy thanked everyone for their support, thoughts and wishes in the loss of his daughter, Lindsey. He also gave the members an update on the impact of the house fire.
Happy Dollars: Jessica gave Happy Dollars to celebrate her sister, Marion’s, 66th birthday and the 95th anniversary of her father’s birth. Wayne was happy that he, Ralph and their wives had attended a Rotary Foundation dinner. Scott was happy to report that his daughter has received honours two years in a row at Dundas Valley Secondary School, noting her 98% in History. Former History teachers Ernie and Art were pleased. George’s son received an excellence award in tutoring from University of Waterloo, named after Sir Sandford Fleming. Keeping on the history theme, Ernie gave George a pop quiz on Fleming. He was remembered as the inventor of Standard Time and retroactively promoted to Prime Minister. Shirley was happy because she’s always happy.
Appreciation: As it was her last day, we took a moment to thank, Cathy, for her service and support over the many months in attending to our breakfast meeting needs.
Announcements: Wayne presented recognition to Bob N. and Shirley from the Rotary Foundation for our club’s achievement in “every Rotarian, every year”. Bob N. reminded everyone that November is Rotary Foundation month and that donations can be made easily online. He also reminded everyone of our club’s Paul Harris dinner later this month on the 24th. Ken took us on the “long and windy road” to his and the club’s attempts to transfer money for one of our projects.
Mieke received a pin in recognition for her recruitment of our new member, Don.
Our club President, Shirley Molloy, then led us through a series of vignettes outlining Canada’s involvement in the wars of the last century as we observed Remembrance Day.
The Dundas EcoPark continues on its path to completion. Grass and trees were planted, weeds cut and the greenhouse art decor erected next to the chimney, the only part left remaining from the Velduis Greenhouses. The two Dundas Rotary clubs agreed to donate $60 000 to help the Hamilton Conservation Authority with its long-term goal of the EcoPark.
Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers is funded through the Ministry of Labour Prevention Office. Michelle Tew is a nurse and works in that program in Hamilton. She explained that the influx of seasonal agricultural workers started in the 1960’s mainly because our population preferred full time rather than seasonal employment.
Typically some 35,000 agricultural workers come to Canada annually from Mexico, the Caribbean and South America. The majority work in Ontario from Niagara to Leamington. These workers are subjected to long hours at minimum wage with no added compensation for overtime. Employment Standards need to change for this population which would also help Canadians.
In 2006 Agriculture came under the Occupational Health & Safety Act. While there is OHIP and WSIB coverage these migrants are hesitant to apply for fear of losing their job and being sent home. They cannot apply for Canadian Citizenship.
Michelle is focused on the plight of those afflicted with eye problems. Many of these migrants suffer from scarring over the cornea known as Pterydium also known as surfer’s eye. Others need corrective lenses but OHIP does not cover the exam unless the individual is diabetic. A worker may resort to buying glasses from the display at a drug store without seeing an optometrist.
Michelle is passionate about finding solutions for the problems these workers face including literacy, establishing clinics that are accessible as to time and location, prevention based workshops etc. As Michelle pointed out these workers come here to contribute to our economy and quality of life. What can we do for them in return?
Ross Bannatyne was the Recorder, Glen Mumberson the Greeter, Wayne Massey on the Desk and Ernie Romain the Sergeant-At-Arms. There were 24 members in attendance this morning plus three guests namely David Kelday (Marie-Louise's personal feeder), Barbara Montesanto (way too early for her) & our speaker Michelle Tew.
Happy Dollars: Ernie was celebrating the Leaf’s victory; Hugh announced that Dr. K. Shankardass received a Physician of the Year Award;
Steve Roblin was happy that he saw Steve Palmer on Halloween & had coffee with former member Alycia who promised to pay us a visit;
Ralph announced a fundraiser for Refuge Hamilton Centre for Newcomer Health taking place on Nov 19th. Tickets are $30.00 so contact Ralph if you need some; Shirley paid a fine because she had to leave early; Phil enjoyed his bacon despite the advice of the World Health Organization; Paul commented on Dr. Shankardass’s award & the fact that he saw former member Rob Brown yesterday. Paul is still looking for his jacket; Mieke was happy to announce that her cousin delivered her first baby Brittany Jordan
Announcements
Shirley announced the Memorial Service for David Lowery & other Rotarians which took place at the District Conference. Members were invited to sign the card which will be delivered along with a candle from the service to David’s wife.
Members were reminded about Meals that Heal & the sign up sheet was circulated. We need three more volunteers - one to cover Sunday, Nov 29th & two for Sunday December 6th. Please contact Ross to indicate your interest Michelle Tew was introduced and thanked by Ralph Montesanto. Michelle, an Occupational Health Nurse, spoke on Global Eye Health Needs Right Around the Corner ie The Case of Ontario Migrant Farm Workers.
A resident of Shanghai, China for 18 years, our guest speaker Randal Eastman is a partner in Dragonfly Therapeutic Retreats with 16 locations in China.
Randal grew up in Dundas, received his BA from McMaster in 1988 and his MBA from Western in 1993. He has facility in a number of languages: French, German, Russian and Mandarin.
A Rotarian since 1993, Randall is a Past-President (2009-10) of the Rotary Club of Shanghai China. He is also the Rotary International Special Representative to China, leading Rotary’s Service Club Development within mainland China.
Randal began his presentation noting that Rotary in China is almost as long as the history of Rotary itself. Randal’s club, the Rotary Club of Shanghai, China was chartered in 1919.
Rotary’s viability in China reflects the fortunes and politics of the country. At its height, there were 32 Rotary clubs. Randal showed us a picture of Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary, visiting China in 1935. However, during the Chinese Revolution of 1949, many Rotarians fled to Hong Kong and Taiwan and Rotary ended in the country.
Randal described the relatively recent and slow buildup of Rotary service in China. There are 7 clubs now and a promising future, with interest mounting as evidenced by the number of Rotaract and Interact groups, and four provisional Rotary clubs. There is also hope for legal recognition as Rotary develops a good reputation with local governments which are seeing Rotary providing excellent service in China. At present, Rotary membership is limited to ex-pats with Chinese citizens not permitted by the Chinese government to be members.
Randal also outlined the North Korean Soccer project from its origins to its impact. The project grew from an idea and the energies of a young Australian boy. Randall had a number of photos from a visit to the area. He thanked us for our generous personal and club donations to the project.
Randal concluded his presentation with a call to action. He asked us to consider continuing our support of the North Korean project with donations for soccer balls and uniforms but to also consider supporting the purchase of clean cook-stoves and solar water heaters for the same area.
Ralph Montesanto thanked Randal for his presentation and for the work he does on behalf of Rotary.
Today 24 of our members welcomed three guests: Marie-Louise’s husband, David Kelday; and, our guest speaker, Randal Eastman with his father, Bob Eastman. Everyone was greeted by Don Davidson and signed in by Mieke Ewen who pitched in at the last moment. Ernie Romain was Sergeant-at-Arms. The meeting recorder was Jessica Brennan.
Happy Dollars: Ernie gave Un-Happy dollars, listing all the Toronto teams that had lost over the week-end. Paul would be happy when the jacket he left at Art in the Park is located and returned to him. Our guest speaker, Randall, was happy to be at his first Rotary meeting ever in southern Ontario. Shirley was happy that she had been at the Rotary conference in Ellicottville, NY and to have been able to participate in the inter-faith service that recognized recently departed Rotarians, especially noting our very own David Lowery. Ralph was also happy that he had been to the conference, noting the workshops that were focused on personal development. Ross and Mary also attended the conference.
Marie-Louise was happy to be here, especially after breaking both her wrists. Her husband, David, was both her “right and left-hand man” helping her navigate eating her breakfast.
Joe was happy to be a Rotarian at our club because it is the only way he would know what the world looks like at 7 a.m. Dave was happy for the sunny days.
Announcements: Ross reminded people about Meals that Heal opportunities at the Ronald McDonald House. A sign-up sheet was sent around. Others are to email their availability directly to Ross.
Wayne Massey introduced our guest speaker, Randal Eastman, the Rotary International Special Representative to China. Originally from Dundas and currently a resident of Shanghai, China, Randal gave us an update on Rotary in China and specifics about the Korean Soccer balls project which our club had been involved in.
After the meeting Derek Price and Randal chatted about China.
Punctuating his talk with photos, Scott Vance outlined his life in Dundas since 1968. His first photo was of his parents’ wedding day. Scott’s father was in law enforcement and grew up in North Hamilton. His mother was born in Scotland.
As a young boy, Scott played hockey but around 13 years old his father dared him to try figure skating after a remark Scott made about how easy his sister’s figure skating looked. Scott found out not only that it was athletically challenging but that he loved it and was very good at it. From 13 to 25 years old, Scott devoted his energies and talent to it, managing a gruelling schedule of school and on and off ice training. Ultimately, Scott participated at the highest levels, eventually coming in 5th in the Canadian championships in pairs skating. He competed at the time of the emerging pairs powerhouse of Lloyd Eisler and Isabelle Brasseur.
Then Scott worked for Litzen’s Sports for 10 years in their Mississauga office. That led to other opportunities to where he is now in optical sales. His current territory is huge but the potential market is large too, with an ever increasing aging population needing glasses.
Figure skating is still in Scott’s life with his daughters skating and his leadership in the Dundas Figure Skating Club.
Bill Armstrong, Scott’s sponsor to the club, thanked Scott for his presentation and his contributions to Rotary, reminding us that even Scott’s connection to Rotary comes through figure skating with the DFSC involvement at the Rotary rink in the Driving Park.
Today our 22 members and one guest were welcomed by Nic Shultz and marked in by Steve Roblin. Our Sergeant-at-Arms was Ernie Romain. The meeting recorder was Jessica Brennan.
Happy Dollars: Ernie started off by listing a number of things he was happy about: his birthday, the Leafs win, the Blue Jays still being in the playoffs and the results of the Federal Election. Our guest, William Knox, was happy to be home. Bruce was ridiculously happy because his youngest daughter just got engaged with a lovely young man who actually asked Bruce for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Bruce was also happy because regardless of the election results he was happy to live in Canada and to be able to exercise his democratic rights. Wayne’s happiness was due to his birthday and golfing and having dinner with his children. George was just happy and did not elaborate. Steve was happy to have been at Game 5 of the Jays and Rangers series. Shirley was happy that there were more women at the meeting this week.
Announcements: Phil reminded everyone of the Chicken BBQ at St. Mark’s this coming Friday (October 23). Steve announced a community meeting for that evening on policing in Dundas.
William Knox, supported by his sponsor, Carlotta Cisneros-Knox, was inducted as a member of our Rotary Club by our President, Shirley Molloy, Ralph Montesanto and Paul Clifford. Following the ceremony, William was congratulated by the membership in attendance.
Shirley Molloy introduced our guest speaker, Scott Vance, one of our very own, who as a new member gave his Classification Talk, highlighting his figure-skating passion and career.
Recorder—Ross Bannatyne, Greeter—Paul Clifford, Desk—Harold Gruneberg, Sergeant–at –Arms—Shirley Molloy, Guests & Visiting Rotarians—John Henley
Attendance—19 plus Guest Speaker
Happy Dollars: Ralph acknowledged our lone female in attendance—Shirley; Steve Roblin spoke of his 9th Anniversary as well as his visit to New York City for the Global Citizen Festival; Vlad is back & we were glad to see him; Phil is happy to have a break from teaching this week; Paul spoke about scary politics; Glen is glad to be back from the cottage; Dave is looking for help this weekend in cleaning up at the Community Garden; George lamented that the flu bug struck his wife last week; Bob Neibert confirmed that Kevin Rempel will be the guest speaker at The Paul Harris Dinner on Nov 24th; and, Shirley is happy about The Blue Jays winning ways.
Announcements: Steve Roblin was awarded a pin by Shirley for bringing in Nic as a new member; Phil announced that he is selling tickets to the Chicken BBQ @ St Mark’s on October 23; Art announced the Routes Scrap Metal drive on October 17; and, Ross reminded everyone present about our 6 Meals that Heal commitment at Ronald McDonald House & circulated the signup sheet.
Ralph introduced our guest speaker, John Henley and thanked him for his efforts including coming in ahead of time to familiarize himself with the Club’s Audio Visual equipment.
John Henley return this week to present “My Life in the Movies Part 2”. He showed a 90 second trailer featuring him in “Arthur Moore and The Lone Wolf” which he explained was a Sheridan College Project filmed in the Rockwood Conservation Area. He then treated us to a display of magic featuring a rope trick.
Back to the film industry he remarked seeing the Support Group parked currently at St Mark’s United Church and the important role it plays in the Film Industry. He proceeded to show us a Call Sheet that details all of the activities for the day as well as the participants. Those involved often start their day at 5:30 am wrapping up some 13 hours later. This can go on for two weeks at a time.
John took us through his journey of more than a dozen of his favourites over some 80 appearances.
“The Lonely” was his most recent film shoot receiving an award at The Chinese Film Festival. He was also involved in a narration film earlier this year.
Lastly was a description of cutouts and dolls used as stand ins for actors. John quipped that a studio used the faces of some actors on these and subsequently had to pay the actors for the privilege.
Our club is soon going to be known for its “comings and goings”!! We welcomed back Sergeant at Arms, Ernie, from his cottage and travels in California. Shirley returned from her Caribbean cruise and a well deserved rest and Ross is home from his final summer at his cottage, having decided it was time to sell. Ken is home from his holiday in Spain and France which included rock concerts and opera and Art enjoyed NYC, including an outdoor Metropolitan Opera concert in Times Square. But we also said farewell to Bob Morrow, leaving tomorrow for 5 weeks in England to celebrate his 50th Anniversary(with Lynne) and Barb, who leaves next week for 6 weeks at her Florida home.
As well as from all of the above, happy dollars were given by Dave C. for all the work Ken did to see the completion of our EcoPark project, by Bruce for his summer at the cottage and the celebration of his 37th Anniversary (with Claire), by Bill who bumped into Kevin Beagle who gave him a donation to pass on to the Abel family and by Carlotta who sadly told us of Marie Louise’s fall yesterday which resulted in broken wrists – we wish her a speedy recovery.
Reminders: Paul Harris Dinner is November 24th - save the date
Sign up for the Ronald McDonald House dinners
Routes Scrap Metal Drive is October 17.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Our guest speaker, John Henley, was introduced by Ralph.
The meeting ended with our thoughts and prayers for Peter and Sandra Dendekker.
John Henley treated us to stories and pictures of his “Life in the Movies” as a background actor. This is a second career for John who performed as a magician from the age of 10 in England and continued his magical career upon immigrating to Canada, teaching his skills and performing to audiences, large and small. He described his acting career as an exercise in “hurry up and wait” and spends many hours on sets, sometimes doing crossword puzzles but also enjoying some roles working with well-known actors. John's presentation was well received and he is back next week for the sequel, "Life in the Movies 2".
Greeter for today was Don Davidson and covering the desk was Carlotta Cisneros-Knox. George Gould was the Sergeant-At-Arms and Barbara Busing was the recorder. We were a small group today with no guests other than our guest speaker.
Happy Dollars today were from Scott who was celebrating a birthday of 39+ years. Happy Birthday Scott! Paul Clifford gave a “concern” dollar and spoke to some serious concerns with the current election. Bob Morrow contributed and noted the club was sending $2500 to Ronald McDonald House, a mix of Club Service dollars and generous donations. As well one more window needs upgrading at Ellen Osler Home: can you help? Call Bob for details. Ralph Montesanto gave a Happy Dollar for his and Barb’s participation in a recent RI Zone meeting in Providence R.I. Dave Carson reminded us of the Food Drive this Saturday AT ST MARK’s……8am for set up if you can help. Art gave a Happy Dollar after returning from a 2 month vacation including the highlight of visiting Iceland. He also plugged the Routes Scrap Drive on October 16. George Gould is back at the work he loves: working with kids. He is at Cootes Paradise Elementary until Christmas.
Announcements: Besides the ones in the Happy Dollars section Joan Ballantyne joined us again to see if more of us wanted to attend the Dinner and/or Dance in support of Lindsey. It is happening this Friday, October 2. Contact Joan is you want tickets.
David Carson introduced and thanked guest speaker Grant Linney.
Today's guest speaker was Grant Linney a retired teacher with strong interest in his topic of Climate Change. The title of Grant’s talk, “The World is Watching: Why Canada Needs to Make Climate Change a Top Election Issue” tells you about one of the main messages he concluded with: Act now and vote (wisely) on October 19. Through his presentation Grant guided us to better understand the damage done by burning fossil fuels, resulting in a world that is heating up and causing multiple negative impacts on life/humans. He challenged us to consider that we need a second Industrial Revolution to focus us on solar and wind energy. He noted that Germany (solar) and Norway (wind) were being quite successful in transitioning away from fossil fuels. What kind of legacy do we want to leave our children and grand-children? We can no longer “pass the buck” and “download” to the next generation Grant noted as we are running out of time. These few pictures capture some of the key points he spoke about. The audience was very quiet during this talk. You could tell he had hit on a topic of concern to us all.
The World is Watching: Why Canada Needs to Make Climate Change a Top Election Issue
Diana Billings, one of the 30 artists at the 3rd annual Art in the Park, enjoyed her day in spite of the rain. Her bubbly character helped brighten the day.
Don Davidson director of development and communication for St. Joseph's Villa Foundation was inducted into the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club. Don is an Ancaster resident and recently started his position at the foundation. The induction ceremony was conducted by assistant governor Bob Morrow, club president Shirley Molloy and membership director Ralph Montesanto. Mieke Ewen is Don's sponsor.
Leanne Collett from the Hamilton Conservation Authority spoke of the need to redirect storm water runoff from the sewer system to a more natural drainage that puts the water back into the air and soil. In urban areas runoff is 55% vs 10% in forest areas. Redirection can reduce flooding, erosion and pollution if done correctly. She suggests unhooking roof drains from the sewer system, building pollinator and rain gardens that absorb runoff and using rain barrels to harvest roof water for irrigation. Leanne is passionate about storm water stewardship in Dundas and is available to come to resident homes to help plan what they could do to reduce excess runoff going into the sewer system. For more information contact http://conservationhamilton.ca/stormwater-stewardship-in-dundas.
Derek Price, Ken Beel, Carl Fraser, Bill Stewart and Carole Beel prepare the concrete base that will support the large art piece representing a greenhouse in the new Dundas EcoPark.
The following week, Ken and Ralph added the next part of the pour.
Thanks to the efforts of Keith and Christine Green of the Dundas Rotary Club and the sweat equity of Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotarians Ken Beel, Derek Price, Randy Abel and Roger Stewart (not in photo) the replacement Rotary Clock is up and running in the Dundas Driving Park.
Rotary Clock Up and Running in Dundas Driving Park
Marguerite Ward the executive director of the Ellen Osler Home and Chantel Malcolm the program coordinator informed us of one of the best kept secrets of Dundas. To most of our surprise, the home is a federal half way house for female prisoners. It is such a surprise because the women fit so well into the community and their rate of recidivism is extremely low. The home is run by the Salvation Army and has been in operation for women for 14 years. Before that it was for young men. The major focus of the home is to reintegrate women into the community. Some are there for 2 - 3 months while others are there for up to 2.5 years. The women face many barriers to integration and need to relearn everyday things like buying groceries, taking a bus or going to the library. Often employment and housing are difficult to find but they do succeed with help.
Assistant governor Bob Morrow, district governor Kevin Crosby and club president Shirley Molloy induct Marie-Louise Kelday (sponsor Carlotta Cisneros-Knox) and Nic Schulz (sponsor Steve Roblin) into the club. Marie-Louise is a retired French language teacher and Nic is executive director of Corner Stone Standards Council.
District governor Kevin Crosby brought his vision for District 7090 Rotary clubs. In order to, "Be a Gift to the World", he asked each Rotarian to use his or her passion to service to make the local and international communities a better place for individuals. He recognized that the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is vibrant and engaging for members and that we are actively increasing the number of females and younger business, professional and community leaders as members.
Club foundation director Bob Neibert presented Kevin with club donations of $5000 and $1000 towards the Rotary Foundation's Annual Fund and Polio Plus program respectively.
District Governor Kevin Crosby Brings Rotary International Theme to Club
Art McCabe accepted $700 to support a classroom of inner city students to visit the Warplane Heritage Museum and take part in a day long learning experience.
Community Service Director Bill Armstrong made the presentation.
Club Donates $700 to Accessible Learning Experience for Inner City Schools
Youth Services Director Alycia Moore introduced three of the five students the club sponsored to SLAPSHOT and RYLA youth leadership programs (Emma Louth-RYLA and Mackenzie Peirce-SLAPSHOT were unable to attend this morning's meeting).
Sahil Sawnani and Seye Oduyale both 4th year biochemistry students at McMaster University and co-presidents of the McMaster Rotaract Club attended the week long RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) program in Fredonia NY. They both spoke so highly of the program, the friends they made, and the things they learned about leadership, trust and themselves and how RYLA was now a new defining moment in their lives. Both young men are planning to be doctors.
Abbey Lewis a grade 10 student at Dundas Valley Secondary School attended SLAPSHOT a three day leadership session held at Canterbury Hills in Ancaster ON. Through ice breakers, ropes courses, karaoke, personality quizzes and other leadership activities she learned about her leadership style and the many programs that Rotary sponsors world wide; and, she did this while building new friendships and having an amazing experience.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is a strong supporter of youth, with RYLA and SLAPSHOT being just two leadership programs and school awards that Youth Service Director Alycia promoted.
Each year members of the club celebrate the end of the Rotary year with a BBQ. For the second year in a row it was at the home of Randy Abel and Joan Ballantyne.
Thank you to Grant our greeter and Ernie who ran the desk. Another 7 members paid their dues for the first half of the next Rotary year. President Bob passed around a sign up sheet for the end of year BBQ on June 23 at Randy's house. If you did not sign up please do so next week indicating the number attending and your choice of steak or salmon. President Bob then presented Bill with a Rotary Membership Award, level bronze, for sponsoring Scott Vance into the club. He also recognized Ernie and Wayne for their continued support of The Rotary Foundation.
Paul had happy dollars for his grandchildren's accomplishments. His youngest was accepted into the 6 week Advanced Sailing Program which is of Olympic caliber. He was 1 of 6 accepted. And yet another granddaughter chosen as 1 of 200 across Canada for another sailing program. Not finished yet living through his grandchildren he announced a granddaughter accepted into the Toronto Children's Choir.
Wayne completed the 23 annual Massey golf tournament and tied for first place. Ernie visited his 99 year old uncle who was in great shape attributing it to smoking and drinking. Ernie also had words to say about an 8 person Public Works Committee that investigated the wall in front of his home that was torn down over a year ago. He is still waiting for a resolution to repair it that is acceptable to both the city and him.
Jessica's son turned 23, graduated in music at Mohawk and was accepted into McMaster's music program. Still on the music theme, Jan announced that daughter Jen graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree. Jan also returned from a great Mediterranean cruise; and, Meike took her kids to their first Ti-Cat game at Tim Horton's Stadium.
The program this morning was on Vocational Service. The guest speaker was our very own Derek Price who wore a guest badge to highlight the fact.
What a great life story. Derek Price started his classification talk with his birth in Wolverhampton, England during a WWII air raid. He first saw his father, who was in the air force, 4.5 years later. He, his younger sister, mother and father were a close knit family after the war and managed just fine during the post war rationing years. After taking his 11+ exams he was one of 3 out of a class of 46 who passed into the higher education stream eventually being hired by a large corporation that sent him off to school to become an engineer. After two years with Rolls Royce he decided to take his engineer ticket to go to sea but decided the tramp steamers he was offered were not what he wanted. However, he longed to travel the world.
After interviewing with a jobs placement agency he was offered positions in Rhodesia, Tasmania and Canada. He choose Westinghouse in Canada. Arriving in February he thought he was at the North Pole! Luckily things warmed up, he met Ann and they were married, eventually adopting a boy and girl.
After qualifying in Canada in the area of fluid dynamics he continued with Westinghouse until 1974 when he moved to Fischer-Ludlow in Burlington working his way up to company president. Derek travelled the world as president selling the company's catwalks and other steel wares in Turkey, Kuwait, and other middle east countries, each with a very different way of doing business. His interest in travel continues during his retirement and he and Ann are often in another land.
Derek's passion for soccer drew him to Dundas to play and eventually to live. He joined the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club 10 years ago, believes it is a unique club and that its members give hope to folks in need.
Congratulations to Ernie Romain for attaining the Paul Harris plus 7 level and to Wayne Massey for attaining the Paul Harris plus 2 level. Both Wayne and Ernie are regular supporters of The Rotary Foundation and are congratulated by club president Bob Neibert.
Paul Harris Awards to Ernie Romain and Wayne Massey
A beautiful day with a great view of the golf course! SAA Bruce gave a quick review of the events for last month: shredding, fireworks and lobster rib fest. Yes, members were very busy planning the events and volunteering. They were all Saturdays too.
Birthday wishes were given to Paul, Derek and Glen. Glen then gave his happy dollar as a thank you to George and Mieke for working the bar at lobster rib fest. Derek said, "Being here is a happy day not just my birthday", as he surveyed the view of the golf course. Paul quoted a line, "Old men forget", and then proceeded to recall great memories from June 6, 1944. Thirty -two years later he first joined a Rotary club. Art found 3 keys at lobster fest, reminded us that he helped start the event 21 years ago and was no pleased that he could hand off the cooking to Scott Vance. Bill said the silent auction went well and Harold was just happy with the entire event. Joe returned to the building housing the old Valley City Manufacturing, a place where he worked 25 years ago. Now he is renting office space there.
Following happy dollars president Bob led the induction of Carlota into the club.
Following the induction we held a club assembly where each director gave an update. Community service director Bill explained that his entire budget of $13 000 will be spent this year with the last $700 sponsoring a a classroom of students to War Plane Heritage. He has also organized a club visit there for November 3 as part of our Remembrance Day theme. More information on this as we get closer to the day.
International service director Bob outlined the global grant of $2000 to go with the club's $3000 for the Mexican orphanage; and the $2500 that was wired to the Rotary club of Shanghai for soccer balls for North Korean children. He also reminded us that the club continues to set aside $3000 per year for a major international project in 2016-17. Bob also started a Rotary wine fellowship and advertised a motorcycle rally called the Cross Egypt Challenge.
President Bob gave reports for youth services director Alycia, vocational services director Marnee and The Rotary Foundation director Jan. The club sponsored 2 students to SLAPSHOT, 1 to Adventures in Citizenship in Ottawa and 3 to RYLA. June is graduation month and the club has two Ken Turner Awards of $500 each being presented by Bob Morrow. There are 4 grade 8 awards of $50 each and presenters are needed. We had one off site meeting this year with 2 being planned for next year - the new brewery in Dundas and the war plane museum. We were also reminded that each time a classification talk is given this is part of vocational service. Besides our individual giving this year to the Rotary foundation of between $3000 - $4000, the club gives 20% of its budget. This amounted to two cheques, one for $5000 and another for $3000 giving the club a total credit of about $12 000 - $13 000.
Treasurer Ken reported that we had $42 000 in this year's budget and all has been accounted for with a new total of $9000 into contingencies for an international project and $4000 in reserve. The wire transfers to China (2 tries) and Croatia (5 tries) were interesting. Since the club moved to the golf course attendance has improved and the administration account has gone from a deficit of $900 to $2000 on the good side. He did whine a bit, reminding all members to pay their $100 dues for July and January before the end of June and December. Why the whine? Because he got tired of chasing some of us.
Club service director Jessica reminded everyone of the upcoming BBQ on June 23 at Randy Abel's home. More information and directions to follow later. There will be no morning meeting that day.
Public relations and membership director Ralph gave a hand out of the various media coverage the club had the past three months. He also reported that we inducted 7 new members this year and lost 5 giving the club 40 active members at this time. Alycia has put in her resignation as living in Guelph is not conducive to being in a Dundas club.
The club inducted its newest member this morning, welcoming Carlota Cisneros-Knox into the Family of Rotary. Her sponsor Grant Armstrong, club president Bob Neibert assistant governor Bob Morrow and membership director Ralph Montesanto conducted the induction ceremony with the help of all club members present.
Carlota's classification is Business Supplies: customer service.
From cooking, to serving, to eating, the 21 Annual Rotary Clubs of Dundas Lobster and Rib Fest was a great success drawing a capacity crowd of 750 to the Grightmire Arena.
Scott Vance and Hugh Boyd helped to cook the lobsters.
Platinum sponsor, Scotia Bank, prepared the pasta.
The many sponsors had a place of honour.
Rotarians and volunteers served and cleaned up.
And the crowd ate, visited the silent auction tables and danced the night away to the sounds of Banned from Heaven.
He is turning 83 but Paul Clifford continues to epitomize what it means to be a Rotarian! Paul visited Woodgreen Community Services in Toronto and saw first hand how an organization that provides wrap around services can help vulnerable women rise out of a poverty of hope and take on the challenge of completing an education. Through a screening process women are selected to attend one of George Brown, Seneca or Sheridan College for four years. They receive a subsidized apartment, full day free day care, school fees paid and social services to help if there is a problem. Over the four years they receive skills training, a formal education, internship and employment.
What Paul is trying to do is replicate this idea in the Hamilton area. He is spreading the message while talking to some movers and shakers in the area to determine if the concept will fly. It is not inexpensive, costing about $75 000 per year per family, but the end result for the Toronto Homeward Bound indicates a spending of $1 saves $4 in the future. Paul would like help. Contact him if you are interested at pclifford1@cogeco.ca.
Homeward Bound:How Educating Vulnerable Women is a Win Win for Society
We welcomed Jackson Palmer, Stephen's son, and Carlota to this morning's meeting. Ralph presented Stephen with a special Rotary pin to acknowledge his sponsorship for Steve Roblin. SAA Bruce reviewed a Netflix and dentist flick tooth by tooth.
Happy dollars from Barb who was glad to be back from Florida (ya, right!), from Glen for the big push on wine for the draw and from David Carson who now has a big garden of his own to tend.
Jackson Palmer will be off to Disney with his grandparents; and, Joe and Paul are celebrating birthdays.
Alycia was looking for help with giving awards in June to the elementary schools. Let her know if you could help. Bob Morrow will cover Dundas Valley Secondary School to present the Ken Turner Award. Alycia is also looking for drivers to transport RYLA students to Fredonia NY on June 14 and pick them up a week later. This is a significant drive; so, two different drivers would lessen the burden.
Steve Roblin asked, after the meeting, to send members information about Telling Tales. This will come as a separate article. And, the last four Rotary hats were given to ticket winners.
SAA Bruce then introduced Paul Clifford who spoke on a new project he is championing called Homeward Bound. Once again, when Paul took the podium he exemplified what it means to be a Rotarian!
Join us for this amazing event where over 20 Rotary Clubs work together to promote this amazing FREE festival and literacy throughout the year.
We have over 150 Rotarians that volunteer for this awesome and fun event. If you are interested in volunteering, or know of anyone (like those teens that need those volunteer hours) who would like to volunteer simply email Julie Shea at jshea@personalmortgage.ca.
Can't volunteer? Get the word out. All the details are in the piece below which was taken from the Telling Tales website www.tellingtales.org
A Day To Celebrate Stories – Sunday September 20th, 2015
LET_YOUR_IMAGINATION_SOAR-3-march10-2015
This year’s illustration was created by Canadian illustrator Bernice Lum. Bernice was born in Toronto and is currently based there. She is a graduate of the Sheridan College Graphic Design Program. Bernice has illustrated for Oxford University Press, Chirp and Chickadee Magazines, Kids Can Press and Bloomsbury. She has had over 40 books published while continuing her commercial work with clients in the United Kingdom, North America, Japan and Korea.
An Inspiring Location
Take a step back in time at Westfield Heritage Village: host to Telling Tales Festival for the last seven years. Westfield’s natural surroundings and unique collection of historic buildings make it the perfect location to bring stories to life. Telling Tales performances take place at nine different stages throughout this picturesque village.
Authors and Illustrators & Storytellers… Oh My!
This year’s festival brings 30 of Canada’s top authors, illustrators, storytellers and musicians together to share their stories and talents with children of all ages. There is truly something for everyone: from babies to teens, parents and grandparents, from beginning readers to avid readers, and even to reluctant readers!
Books really come to life when presented by these engaging authors. They are some of our most talented children’s authors in Canada, and they’re also some of the funniest and most entertaining too. Read along, play along, dance, sing and have fun!
Lots To See, Hear and Do
Nine stages invite you to roam around the Village, enjoying music, games, and historic characters. Pose for pictures and chat with Anne of Green Gables, Alice in Wonderland, Tinkerbell and other characters from your favourite stories.
Books, Books, Books
Buy a book from the Bryan Prince Bookseller’s tent and have the author sign it – what a prize for your bookshelf! Add some books to your home library for only a dollar or two, or bring a gently used book and “swap” it for a different one! Either way, at our Giant Book Swap & Shop kids can take home a new-to-them book.
Play & Learn
For the little ones there is a bustling Children’s Activity Centre in the Large Meadow with a special focus on creative, literacy-based play. Exhibitors, the Library Bookmobile and a vintage fire engine are sure to delight kids young, and young-at-heart. As an added bonus there are lots of contests and prizes during the Festival!
Westfield Heritage Village is buzzing with activity. Check out the steam locomotive, buy old-fashioned candy at the general store and even see how horseshoes are made at the Blacksmith Shop. All of Westfield’s fantastic costumed interpreters bring history to life by showing you what pioneer life was really like.
Mark Your Calendar now for Sunday, September 20th, 2015.
We welcomed Carlota Cisneros Knox, Grant's guest, Denise Christopherson our guest speaker, and Claudia Canestrelli, youth exchange student staying with Barb and Ralph.
Sergeant-At-Arms Bruce thanked Ken and his entire team for the fabulous fireworks event this past Sunday. He also paid tribute to all the non-Rotarians, family and friends who volunteered.
Happy dollars from Phil who celebrates his 43 anniversary. He also reminded us of the upcoming bake,plant and garage sale at St. Mark's Church this Saturday, May 23. Art was pleased with glow stick sales which helped raise $2700. He also praised the 12 volunteers who helped sell: Roger and Carol, and Sue and Dave from our club. Art talked about World championship Hockey and the USSR which brought in Ernie and his comments that five players from the Whitney Dunlop team were from Timmins. That in turn brought in Jessica who was in Montreal where the population was mourning the elimination of the Canadiens from the Stanley Cup. She was in Montreal celebrating her sister's 60th birthday.
Vlad returned from Croatia and was pleased to report that the money the club gave his home town Rotary club was used to repair a school gym that was destroyed by floods. He also gave the Paul Harris Award presented recently at our Paul Harris dinner during the Croatian club's meeting. This is an all male club and the Paul Harris was given to a woman doctor from the community. It turned some heads but drew an at-a-boy from our guest speaker Denise.
Glen reported that ticket sales for the Lobster Rib Fest are continuing and money should be turned in to him by next week's meeting. He reminded everyone to bring in wine for the draw.
Ken, who does a lot of work for the Dundas Museum, promoted the museum's May 23 event which runs from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. It is a family day with critters to pet, hot dogs, and old stuff - probably the kids' grandparents.
Bill announced the following message: Attention All Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club Members and Volunteers
ISSUE Number #1
After our successful Sunday Fireworks event – our Lost & Found operation is not yet finished
We have acquired two pair of prescription glasses.
A. FOUND: One Pair of Ladies Dark Glasses and One Pair of Foster Grant regular glasses.
B. LOST: A Set of Jeep Car Keys (note: I have the name and number of the owner)
Several lost items were found and returned to their rightful owners that night (with thanks and no problems)
Thankfully we had no reports of injuries, incidents or lost children.
All’s well that ends well.
ISSUE Number #2
We are getting very close to the date of our Rotary Lobster Rib Fest. There are a few loose ends to tie up.
a. Ticket Sales info and money must get to Glen Mumberson ASAP
b. Wine for the wheelbarrow raffle is needed - to Glen Mumberson ASAP
c. Silent Auction items are still urgently needed by Bill Armstrong ASAP
d. Volunteer workers are still being recruited by Harold Gruneberg
Jessica introduced our guest speaker, Denise Christopherson, CEO of the Hamilton YWCA.
Denise Christopherson, CEO of the Hamilton YWCA, outlined the many services the YWCA provides. Some of the services are child care, transitional living, developmental services, employment training and supervised access. The focus of her presentation was, "Why we need to invest in women." The Women and Diversity EXCLerator Project looks at women's representation in leadership positions in the local area. It gives initial data for nine sectors which will provide a benchmark for future progress. The key finding is that women remain underrepresented in all forms of senior leadership with only the voluntary boards and executive sector approaching parity with men. Women need commitments from organizations and government; they need role models; they need mentors and coaches; and, "Leaders must be reflective in analyzing their organization's recruiting and advancement practices internally and externally, and ask, are we doing enough?"
EXCLerator Project: Denise Christopherson, CEO Hamilton YWCA
We welcomed Carlota Cisneros Knox once again. Carlota is interested in becoming a Rotarian and is a guest of Grant Armstrong. Sergeant-At-Arms Bruce started off by congratulating the shredding volunteers for another successful event. It is a day that provides a service to the community and makes money for the club. Happy dollars from Stephen with the birth of his daughter Louise. All is well in the family of three and Stephen now has a bigger work load. Jessica reported that her son has recovered from his fall down the stairs and the ensuing concussion. Shirley was pleased to be at the meeting with no meds. Yeah. No back pain! And Bruce's grandson turned 2 today.
Glen asked for confirmation regarding actual lobster rib fest ticket sales. Please let him now how many tickets are confirmed and how many are not. Today if possible. He also suggested that for the next two weeks rather than a happy dollar members contribute a bottle of wine for the draw. Paul thanked the club for its ad in the HARRRP Dancing on Sunshine booklet. He also thanked Carl for the Aligned Capital Partners Inc. ad. Bill thanked donators for auction items for the lobster rib fest and asked for more. The auction raises significant funds during the event. Harold asked for more volunteers for the event. Please let him know what you, your family or friends would like to do.
This Sunday is the Victoria Day Fireworks. We expect close to 12 000 in attendance and need a full complement of volunteers. Let Steve Roblin know if you can work. We need folks just about everywhere - at the gate collecting donations, for security, for collections, etc.
Ralph held a draw this morning for Rotary hats. The winners were Ken, Bob Morrow and Wayne.
Jan gave Rotary Foundation stickers to Stephen (he left to take care of the children), Ross and Carl. She also reminded those members who have yet to donate to The Rotary Foundation to do so before the end of the Rotary year so that our club can be named as an Every Rotarian Every Year club. Even $10 will do. Every single member has to contribute for this to happen. We missed it last year.
Bob Morrow our assistant governor informed us that at the Waterdown Rotary Club's Paul Harris Dinner our very own Jan Southall received an award for the work she has done each year with their Rib Fest. He then took the podium as guest speaker talking about Rotary connections.
Assistant governor Bob Morrow spoke about how Rotary makes connections. He spoke from personal experience, highlighting the many countries where he has done make up meetings. His connections were Paraguay, Chile, China, Portugal and Mexico. Each of these make up meetings helped him make contacts for his occupation or gave him contacts to support his role as the club's international service director. He reminded the members that the club has set aside $9000 over the past three years in an effort to have the $15 000 required to apply for a global grant from The Rotary Foundation in 2016-17. One of the five countries will likely reap the benefit of the grant as the club learns more and decides which way to go.
The shredding truck arrived just before 9:00 AM to a waiting crowd. After an hour and a half 8000 pounds of personal documents were safely shredded. The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club holds a shredding day each May and again in the fall. The community is very appreciative and although the fee is $6 per small bank box, many individuals make a further gift to support the many local and international service projects the club supports, including Rotary International's pledge to eradicate polio.
Peter Davis and his daughter Meredith are assisted by Rotary Youth Exchange student Claudia Canestrelli as they prepare their documents for delivery to the shredding truck.
By 1:00 PM over 9000 pounds of documents were shredded and sent for recycling.
Ron Ballantyne is a Professional Engineer and a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. He talked about designing the Sidewall Hovercraft, a prototype developed in the 1960s. This "air lubricated" vehicle was something new whose concept came from the floating Hoover vacuum cleaner. Ron walked the club through a stream of management vs engineer development issues that always came back to the fact that the engineer was right.
We welcomed Claudia Canestrelli, Rotary Youth Exchange student from Italy, sponsored by the Hamilton Rotary Club and finishing her last two months at the home of Ralph and Barb Montesanto. As well, Joan Ballantyne was here to introduce our guest speaker, her father Ron.
Sergeant-at-Arms Bruce was back from Florida where he learned not to talk politics especially if surrounded by republicans. Barbara is off to Florida to keep the balance in tact. There were plenty of happy dollars this morning. Ernie spent a week in Phoenix where he golfed surrounded by rattlesnakes, cougars, coyotes and swarming bees. Bob Morrow thanked those who contributed to soccer balls for China and recalled his Kenya experience on the golf course where the local rule was a free lift if ball closer than 3 feet from a cobra. Paul Clifford was happy to meet past Rotarian Rob Brown in town. And, two retirements were announced: Wayne Massey sold his business and David Mattchett will golf his way into retirement while in Ireland.
Joe returned from 6 months away with most time spent in Arizona in his RV He thanked the bulletin editors for continuing to keep him in contact with the club while he and Anne were away. Glen is once again a great grandfather as he celebrated the birth of a great granddaughter. Part of his celebration was to remind us to bring in wine for the lobster rib fest. Also, bring money for your tickets to next week's meeting.
David Carson has officially opened the community garden and thanked the boy scouts for their assistance. Ken attended many Rotary club meetings while in Florida and was looked on poorly when he informed one club that the Pledge of Allegiance was written by a socialist. Nice going Ken! And Ralph was treated to the vibrant singing of Happy Birthday when he announced that this morning was the big day.
There were three announcements: Ralph asked for volunteers for this Saturday's Shredding Day and received a full complement; Bill distributed silent auction forms for the lobster rib fest and continues to look for donations; and, Jan distributed another three Rotary Foundation stickers to those who made recent contributions.
Joan then introduced her father Ron who graduated as a naval architect in Glasgow Scotland. Ron spoke about developing a new hovercraft back in the 60s.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary club held its 15th annual Paul Harris dinner and celebration this week. The event is named for the founder of Rotary, Paul Harris, who met with three other people for the first time in 1905; they "rotated" their luncheon location, giving the organization its now-famous name. The club honoured some Rotarians and also non-Rotarians from the community and made a special presentation to Susan Lowery, in memory of her late husband and Rotarian, David Lowery.
For their contributions to the Stars of Dundas, the club honoured Erin Bree Pierce LeBlanc and Joan Ballantyne.
For contributions to various community programs, awards were presented to Jim Sweetman (environmental – given by David Carson) and to Max Ratevosian and Melania Lawliw (arts – both given by Wayne Massey).
An award was presented “in absentia” to Dr. Anka Masek Tonkovic and will be given in Croatia to the recipient by Rotarian Vlad Veckie later this summer.
The club was honoured to have as its guest speaker, Glen Grunwald, the director of Athletics and Recreation at McMaster University. Glen was a former NCAA basketball player and captain of the 1981 champion Indiana Hoosiers. His career has involved General Manager's roles with the New York Nicks and Toronto Raptors. Glen's talk was an inspiration to the members and guests.
Bill Armstrong, Scott Vance's sponsor, president-elect Shirley Molloy, assistant governor Bob Morrow and membership director Ralph Montesanto shared a laugh as the rest of the membership formed a large circle for Scott's induction into the club.
Scott lives in Dundas and coaches figure skating. His full time occupation is in the "glasses business" where he is a wholesale distributor to optometrists.
Today was a busy day for the Club. First we thank Ralph for stepping in at the desk and for Jan acting as our Sergeant at Arms. We welcomed today our guest speakers Laurel Thompson and Helen Dam from Able Sailing.
Our first order of business was to install Scott Vance as a member of our club. Scott's classification is wholesale distribution. Bill is his sponsor.
Welcome Scott.
HAPPY DOLLARS this week included some from Grant as he was not charged anything (!) by Eccles for some adjustments to his wife's car. Dave Carson was glad to make it safely back to Canada after a false start on a brand new plane. The flight was 4 hours delayed due to the triggering of an escape chute just before take off.
Safe flight once in the air thankfully. Laurel, one of our guests , thanked us for our $500 donation to Able Sail and Shirley was thankful for 5 good days. Ross was happy to be back and Mieke for her winning hockey team ( aka as the Habs…yeah!) . Wayne is pleased that the Income Tax Act which was temporary when first put out, is more and more complex and challenging for us non accountants! Phil was happy to see the greens being trimmed, Steve was hoping the Raptors will do better this next game he is attending, and Ralph reported he played 37- 9 hole games while in Florida, as well that Barb is recovering well. Never mind that his car wouldn’t start and is being towed today (Eccles?? Free? Let us know next week….Bruce you better get back here soon).
ANNOUNCEMENTS this week included:
FIREWORKS sign up sheets were circulated. Ken told us he was pleased to cultivate and share the good relationships with the City staff. 8 food trucks are lined up for the event giving us 10% of their revenues.…come hungry and eat at the vendors!
LOBSTERFEST WINE needed AND TICKETS for sale available to/from Glen. Sign up for duties on line or at the next regular meeting.
ECO PARK is starting up again with a planning meeting concerning the structure design (welcome back Vlad)
PAUL HARRIS DINNER with guest speaker Glen Grumwald, is next Tuesday. Bar opens at 6 pm. Event is being held here at the DVGC. Please pay Jan.
R I FOUNDATION Stickers available for those who have made a contribution to Rotary International this Rotary year. Everyone please give as you can. Steve Palmer you were absent for the presentation of your sticker, but Jan is not forgetting about you.
MOTION was presented by Alycia, supported by Bob Morrow and seconded by Art Samson and unanimously supported by the club members, to give $2000.00 to Telling Tales for the September 2015 event.
Ellen Boyce from the noon club was welcomed as a guest this morning along with Kevin Blain, Parks and Rec’s Supervisor from the City of Hamilton who has been very helpful to our club.
HAPPY DOLLARS
Today’s meeting got under way with an underwhelming number of Happy Dollars. George had to work the crowd hard! Thanks however to Jessica for noting she had a wonderful time at the District education program on Saturday with Shirley and driver Bob M.. Ernie thanked Bob M for resuming his humorous emails noting it is a sure signal that Bob has returned from his winter vacation in Portugal. Bob then reported good news on the biopsy report on the tissue removed from his arm in March. Art gave to the pot to remind us of the Routes Scrap Metal and Electronics Drive this weekend 9-1 at the Westoby Arena on Olympic Drive
PROGRAM
We unanimously supported the new Rotary International Constitution at our vote this morning. President Bob noted that we will still be required to have our own By Laws .
Ellen Boyce and Bill Armstrong both spoke to the Lobsterfest event and the need for all member participation and sign up to assist in the varied roles: donating auction items, selling tickets, and bringing a bottle of good wine ( $15+ Please) for the raffle. As well securing donations for the auction from others, and/or sponsorships of the event. Please see Roger for more details on sponsorships which is an area of enhanced focus this year. FYI, thank you to our first Platinum level sponsor….Scotiabank! Besides signing up to help at the event there is also need for renewal of leadership which is shared with the noon club …..Art made an impassioned plea for younger members to take over the cooking job which he has been anchoring for 19 years and Ellen made the request for Volunteer Recruitment leadership to also change hands. So……please sign up yourselves and family members who can help out at this great community event which does not run on thin air ( which was really the message to us all!) and consider stepping up into a leadership role that may interest you.
Ken Beel then spoke to us about our Fireworks event and its history since 2008 when we took it over from the City. Thanks to their on going support ( $29,500 this year) and the 5 year agreement we have with them which runs to 2019, we have a major ‘feel good” community activity to be proud of. As Ken noted we have made $60,000 since 2008 including approximately $15,000 each of the last 3 years as the event has grown and attracted upwards of 10-15 thousand people annually. As well local not for profit groups ( e.g. fellow Rotary clubs, St John’s Ambulance etc.) have benefitted by our ability to pay them for their services and assistance. Volunteers are again needed….40-50 of them. Please sign up your friends and relatives who help us make this a fun, family friendly, safe event! See Bill Armstrong to volunteer for Security duties and Steve Roblin for Gate/Collection duties. No meetings attendance required
HAPPY DOLLARS George is very proud that his 2 sons have been nominated for a music award and for one of them for getting a substantial scholarship for graduate school! Bob Morrow shared a thank you note from the Ronald MacDonald House for cheese we gave them after the Stars of Dundas event. As well he presented a banner from a Portuguese Rotary Club he attended and at which he spoke ( after ample samples of Portuguese wine we are told). Phil thanked Steve for his technical assistance this morning and Harold noted that we can all sign up for Lobsterfest duties while Glen remided us to bring in a bottle of wine for the wheel barrel. Our Paul Harris speaker will be Glen Grenwald, the Athletic Director at McMaster. Jan is happy to collect the money now or at the door for this event Bob Neibert thanked those who sponsored him for the ride last week and noted the teams collectively raised $40,000. Way to go Bob!
President Bob also welcomed our 3 guests from the City Tourism and Culture Department: Director Bridget McIntosh along with Kirsten and Sara her staffers. All three met with the fireworks committee afterwards to plan for the Victoria Day weekend event.
Community Services director Bill Armstrong and President Bob presented a cheque for $300 to Jeff Leder of the Dundas Little League. The club is a regular annual supporter of Little League.
SPEAKER for the day was our own "Dr. Phil". He spoke to us of the origin of the iron ring worn by Canadian engineers. After engineers were blamed for the collapse of a bridge between Quebec City and Levis, in 1903 and again in 1914, leaders of the profession banded together to suggest a creed for engineers and by 1925 the first 6 engineers were given a ring in a special ceremony. Rudyard Kipling was the author of many parts of the ceremony that is used to this day, that reminds engineers of their obligations to themselves as professionals and indeed of lessons for life. Phil told us that engineers are reminded during the ceremony of several important qualities they should always note; that: there are limitations to human knowledge, need for humility, ethical and professional behavior, pride in their profession, hard work, respect for their elder engineers and that these are also "life lessons". At McMaster's most recent ceremony, which only engineers or their designates may attend, there were 600 presented with this symbol of professional pride. This event takes place at all Canadian Universities near the end of the winter term. In our club both Dave Matchett and Phil wear such rings (N.B. not made of iron....some debate about proportion of metals used!) although those trained elsewhere in the world can apply to receive a ring if they so wish. Thanks Phil for sharing this background with us. Your pride in your profession truly shone through.
Our,speaker this morning was our own Mieke Ewen who did a great job telling us about her roots in Dundas that go back to when her great grandmother was 3 years old. Mieke noted that she knows many people in our club: Roger, Dave M, Mr. Samson and Mr. Gould in particular and has connections at Blackadar LTCH, The Villa where she now works, and with various volunteer activities in town at St Mark’s, Dundas Minor Hockey and as a soccer coach to name a few. She is busy with 3 children , daughter Audrey whom we met last week, twin sons who are now 9 years old, a dog named “Habs”, and her husband who manages a Tommy Bahamas store. Not to mention her nursing management job at St Joe’s Villa that keeps her focused and working with seniors which she loves. She shared her love of always learning something new,and of family and community, and we are pleased she has joined our Rotary family.
See you all next week when we hope to welcome back some of our snow birds!
Today we welcomed 2 guests: Marilyn Armstrong (wife of Bill) and Carlotta Cisnero. And we had a special treat: an Acting, for the Acting, Sergeant at Arms, Ernie Romain who stood in for George who was standing in for Bruce. Condolences to George on the recent passing of his aunt.
Lots of Happy Dollars today: First for Dave Carson who was a guest editor in The Spec yesterday writing about carbon taxing. Well done Dave! Wayne noted his personal carbon footprint, to get to his basement office, is much smaller than his wife's, as she is currently golfing (etc.etc.) in Florida. Bob Neibert admitted that he has been in Windsor ON, England, and Chicago recently with 3 different school groups , wrestling, rugby and jazz music respectively , so has not been very diligent about his carbon foot print. You might want to read his email to all of us about a significant ride that is coming up this Thursday. Jessica admitted that she loves Staples and particularly the Waterdown one which has more bling than the Ancaster one we are told, as well as excellent customer service ( thank you Carlotta!). Needless to say that prompted Grant to contribute a BIG Happy Dollar and for Harold to follow suit as his daughter now works there. Please sign up for Lobsterfest was Harold’s second message. Phil was happy about basketball at Michigan State and Glen finished up noting his non existant carbon footprint and reminded us all to bring in a bottle of wine for the Wheel Barrrel draw at the Lobsterfest. All in all Ernie did very well collecting money for bling and carbon and other good laughs this morning. See the picture of him and Harold that almost stole the show !
Announcements included: April 28th is the date of the Paul Harris dinner for which Jan is collecting numbers and $60 pp. We are aiming for Every Rotarian- Every Year donations to the Foundation so again….please see Jan. And one more announcement that we are signing up artists at this time for Art in The Park ( September 13/15) so please have them contact Jan if you know of anyone interested.
Dave Carson gave a talk on the Mustard Seed- a new community cooperative food retail store located on York Boulevard; Dave has recently become a board member there. The rationale behind the store is:
We want to eat more local foods, but they are hard to find in normal supermarkets
We want to buy more wholesome & organic foods, but can’t afford the premium prices
We want to know where our food comes from, and how to use it well.
We want to see our food dollars helping our farmers, our environment, and our neighbours.
The Mustard Seed is a not-for-profit grocery store, placing member and community benefit alongside profitability as hallmarks of success. Its goal is to support the local community by encouraging local food producers and processors and to provide a place where local, healthy foods can be purchased at fair prices. It also seeks to encourage local employment and pays a living wage to all employees.
You do not have to be a member to shop there but if you are, you obtain discounts on your purchases and can take advantage of member specials.
We had a bright green St Patrick’s Day meeting, thanks to hats, bow ties, and badges provided by Jessica Brennan. We were joined by two visitors from McMaster Rotaract Club and Thie Convery and Kanwal Shankardass from the Noon Club. . Ernie Roman added to the Irish flavour by singing a song and dancing a jig. Not to be missed. Acting SAA George Gould collected Happy Dollars, starting with his own to celebrate his birthday and beer count of 530 different beers tasted. Derek was back from a UK trip, where the daffodils are already flowering. Barb celebrated grand-daughter #2. Alycia celebrated her new puppy – A Border Terrier and Jessica told us of her son’s successful graduation concert at Mohawk.
Announcements from Jan Southall reminded us to nominate Paul Harris winners from the Club or community for our dinner on April 28th. Bill Armstrong asked for volunteers for the May 30th Lobsterfest to give their names to Harold Grunenberg, and to start assembling Silent Auction items.
We had two speakers at our March 17th meeting, Taylor from McMaster Rotaract and Thie Convery from the Noon Club. Taylor described the work of his club in raising funds for the National Service Dogs and for Prostate Cancer through the Movember activity. He encouraged us to attend their Parisian themed Gala taking place on March 27th at the McMaster Faculty Club; tickets $60 with funds raised going to TrueVision Ghana, an organization helping children impacted by AIDS. If you go, take a soft toy for donation to Ronald McDonald House.
Thie gave us an update on End Polio Now which has raised $1.4 billion since inception in 1985. It has succeeded in reducing worldwide polio cases from 350,000 a year to 333 in 2014. Polio is now only occurring in 3 countries – Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Funds raised by Rotary are now being matched 2:1 by the Gates Foundation.
Thie then promoted the Rotary District 7090 Million Dollar Dinner in which members are encouraged to make a pledge of $10,000 US to the Foundation, with many different ways to make the donation as a one time, multi-year or bequest donation. Contact Thie if you can consider this donation at 905—627-9970 or thie.convery@ipcsecurities.com
17 members and one guest (prospective member Scott Vance) heard some interesting stories with Happy Dollars. Steve Roblin avoided major losses in Las Vegas when his bank called to check on an illegal withdrawal. Barb Busing announced the birth of one grandchild and the forecast of another four in the near future. Jessica celebrated International Womens' Day last weekend.Paul Clifford distributed a quote from Ben Franklin - "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety" - and warned us of the implications of Bill C51 in this regard.
Jan Southall reminded us of the Paul Harris Dinner on Tuesday April 28th and that we had the opportunity of nominating a club or community member for a Paul Harris award. She also reminded us of the need for contributions to the Rotary Foundation. Bill Armstrong noted Lobsterfest there is a planning meeting tonight and George Gould (acting Sergeant at Arms) asked for volunteers on the Fireworks organizing committee.
Roger Stewart entertained us with his re-classification after 13 years of membership. He reflected on his early life and events that influenced his development. They ranged from childhood bullying, a hit & run accident and his first job at a local garage. Baseball bat wielding robbers taught him life lessons about pain and fear. These events proved to be positive and life forming leading to his first career with the Post Office, his Presidency of the Letter Carriers Union at aged 21, marriage, family and life as a local property magnate by aged 28. This brief paragraph cannot do justice to the amusing stories Roger had to tell - so watch out for Part 2 at a future meeting.
Our guest speaker Trudy Cowan - Director of Volunteers at the Bob Kemp Hospice gave us a good overview of the many palliative care programs offered by the Hospice. She spoke with passion about the benefits of the work to those in need of palliative care and also how their family and friends benefited. She mentioned the many programs, not only the sort of residential care that our former member David Lowery enjoyed, but also the Day Hospice Program, the Bereavement Support group, the Healing Steps walking group, the Musical Therapy Program and their support for Camp Erin.
Following her talk, Community Service Director presented Trudy with a cheque for $1000 to support the Hospice.
23 members assembled on another cold morning. We welcomed Trudy Cowan from the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice.
Happy dollars were collected by stand-in Sergeant-at-Arms George Gould; Glen enjoyed his grandson’s 2nd birthday party, Steve was back from a trip to Turks and Caicos and told us how he had surprised his father with a painting of Taylor’s Tea Rooms which included a sign his father had painted. Roger offered to sell the whole building to Steve. Barb was glad to be back from a two month stay in her new condo in Florida while Vlad had a more realistic view of our winter and had been on a quick trip to sun in the Dominican Republic. Having reached 65 Phil was glad to report on half-price GO fares to Toronto. Shirley was happy to report that her daughter had just been awarded a Pan_AM contract.
Past President Jan Southall distributed Rotary Foundation badge stickers and encouraged members who had not yet made a foundation to make their contribution.
23 members assembled on another cold morning. We welcomed Trudy Cowan from the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice.
Happy dollars were collected by stand-in Sergeant-at-Arms George Gould; Glen enjoyed his grandson’s 2nd birthday party, Steve was back from a trip to Turks and Caicos and told us how he had surprised his father with a painting of Taylor’s Tea Rooms which included a sign his father had painted. Roger offered to sell the whole building to Steve. Barb was glad to be back from a two month stay in her new condo in Florida while Vlad had a more realistic view of our winter and had been on a quick trip to sun in the Dominican Republic. Having reached 65 Phil was glad to report on half-price GO fares to Toronto. Shirley was happy to report that her daughter had just been awarded a Pan_AM contract.
Past President Jan Southall distributed Rotary Foundation badge stickers and encouraged members who had not yet made a foundation to make their contribution.
We welcomed Scott Vance from the Dundas Figure Skating Club. Scott is a guest of the club and considering joining Rotary. He was here with Bill Armstrong. Bob Morrow gave the invocation reminding everyone that this is World Understanding and Peace Week. Sergeant-at-Arms George called for happy dollars. Bob Neibert is off to OFSSA wrestling with 5 team members and then to England with his school's rugby team. Phil was happy McMaster basketball won big and the school's wrestling team did likewise. Alycia had tickets to her husband's Georgetown Rotary Club and won the door prize - a trip for two to the Myian Riviera in Mexico. Ernie survived 5 days in Timmins and will soon spend some time in Florida to warm up. Forty-eight years ago today saw Derek arrive in Canada. It was very cold that day too. Paul informed us that school bus drivers in the state of Missouri no longer need a licence to drive bus. And, Jessica invited all to attend the Routes Gala this Friday.
Following this, Jan introduced Alycia the club's youth services director.
Alycia Moore, club youth services director, outlined the various programs encompassed in the youth services directorate. Although Earlyact, Interact and Rotaract are not part of this club, we do support youth leadership activities and regularly send individuals to SLAPSHOT in Ancaster ON, RYLA in Fredonia NY and Adventures in Citizenship in Ottawa ON. The club hosted its first youth exchange student, Nico Papp in 2010-11. Nico is from Argentina. Our first outbound was Claire Harkness who went to Australia. The next year Lisa Kammemer from Austria was here and Emily Hall visited Denmark. Alycia's main focus was on youth exchange, hoping to get the members reengaged in hosting in the future. Alycia herself was a youth exchange student 10 years ago with her placement in Germany where she learned to speak German.
Host Bob Neibert spoke of his family's experiences with Nico and Marnee Maroes spoke of Lisa's stay with her. Ralph Montesanto who hosted Nico showed a slide presentation during fellowship and breakfast of all four youth exchange students. He then turned the computer and projector over to Nico who was Skyped into the meeting from his home in Cordoba Argentina. Nico answered a list of prepared questions ranging from who he is and when he was here, to non host members who took him to their cottage, the zoo, hockey games or golfing. He then outlined the highlights of the program for him. Nico also give his view of the type of student who should be considered for youth exchange. He suggested he or she should not be shy, should be comfortable when away from home and should not be on exchange if there are significant issues in their own home. To close the session, Ralph turned the mike over to club members who had a number of questions for Nico, ranging from his Canadian football skills to his dream to open a wing and 7-Up restaurant in Argentina. Skyping Nico live into the morning meeting was a first for the club and with a two hour time difference Nico did not have to get out of bed too early.
Ernie was this morning's Sergeant-At-Arms and collected plenty of Happy Dollars. He is off to Timmins and Glen paid so that Ernie remembers to come back. Phil had Valentine dinner at the golf club and said it was great, although nothing like the upcoming pancake dinner tonight at St. Mark's Church. Tickets are available at the door for $6 each. Derek is back from South America and enjoyed a temperature change from 30C to -27C. Shirley was glad to have husband Mike back from Guyana; Jessica's sister from Calgary and her long-time partner eloped to Las Vegas and saw Elvis. Dave Carson is back from skiing in Switzerland and David Matchett returned from Montreal and had his train break down for 12 hours. George reported that Stars of Dundas raised just over $10 000 and Mieke attended a family wedding on the Family Day weekend.
Carl was pleased with the winter carnival, the ice sculpture, the turn out and the many club members who helped out. He also said he was out of money so could not pay the happy dollar. Vlad paid it for him but could not believe that Carl was out of money! Wayne went snowmobiling in Rockwood where it was just as cold in the warming shed as outside. Paul remarked that after his talk last week he had contact with a number of folks from his past. Interesting how it all comes together. And Bob Morrow finished his last day with the Canadian Space Agency.
Ernie had another Happy Dollar, but not so happy. On the way back from a Raptors game in Toronto he hit a huge pothole on the Gardner Expressway that wrecked his car. He needed to be towed and his experience with scavenger tow trucks and the OPP was interesting.
Steve Roblin then introduced guest speaker Danielle Mably who brought us up to speed on the Youth Routes Centre.
Danielle Malby, program director of the Routes Youth Centre located in the Dundas Recreation Centre, outlined the various programs offered for 8 to 19 year olds in Dundas. Through peer tutoring, fun workshops, movie night, no electronics night and a wild card night of guest speakers, the program looks to provide a safe place and guidance for youth and help them find socially productive and satisfying "routes" to pursue in their lives and living. There are 121 youth in the program and each evening 10 to 15 come to the centre. Throughout the year there are special events like summer trips once a week, talent shows and various fund raisers like leaf raking or a scrap metal drive. The budget for the year is around $120 000 and it comes from a variety of donors including service clubs. The annual gala dinner this year is February 27 and tickets are available for $50 each. For more information go to the website http://routesyouthcentre.ca.
Club community services director Bill Armstrong presented Danielle with $1000. The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is a regular supporter of the Routes Youth Centre.
At the club's winter carnival on February 14 Bill Armstrong, community services director, presented Scott Vance, VP of the Dundas Figure Skating Club with $400. Each year the club entertains at the Dundas Rotary Rink during the Family Day weekend Winter Carnival.
Iceculture Inc, a world class ice carving company had one of its artists carve Robear, the Dundas Rotary Ice Rink mascot. Carver Yen spent four hours working with three 300-pound blocks of ice. Starting with a chainsaw and working with hand tools, an electric grinder and a blow torch he created a master piece. Iceculture Inc. has created ice sculptures throughout the world and our club was very fortunate to have them on site February 14 during its winter carnival.
Paul Clifford a charter member of this club and a Rotarian for 39 years gave a snap shot of his early years growing up during WWll and moving through various levels of education until receiving his doctorate in geology. Born in 1932 Paul was almost passed off to his aunt to be raised because his father was out of work and struggling to support his family. In 1940 Paul was evacuated from London to avoid the bombing raids and moved in with a farming family in Cornwall. He said this was good because there was food on the farm, not like the ongoing rationing in the cities. He learned to shear sheep and use horses to plow. At age 11 he took the usual scholarship exams and headed off to school in another city but moved again because of regular bombing. In fact a bomb landed less than 150 metres from Paul as he was looking out a window of the school. It blew out the window but did not harm him. He continued his education focusing on languages and just by chance read an interesting history book that led him to change to sciences and geology in particular. He came to Canada in 1954 and started teaching at various universities before settling on a 34 year career as a geology professor at McMaster University. Paul is a consummate volunteer giving significantly of his time and money to a variety of community organizations that help those in need of food, shelter, clothing and safety.
Well, the morning started with plenty of excitement. The fire alarm went off at the club and the fire department was dispatched. Nothing serious but we ate five alarm bacon! Lynn Gates from Little Hats was guest of the club. Bruce thanked everyone who helped with the Dundas Stars show. There were 133 tickets collected at the door and the event was outstanding. Happy dollars from Bob Morrow who was back from a 9-day cruise; from Carl Fraser (who was absent) indicating there would be an ice sculptor at the winter carnival; from Art who again reminded us to think about attending the Routes Gala on February 27; and from Phil who had tickets to St. Mark's Pancake Dinner on February 17. Dave Matchett was off to Montreal to see the Leafs and Habs play; and, Jessica will be receiving the Legacy of Merit Award. Randy has two tables filled for the Rockton Dinner Theatre on March 21 but might be able to purchase more tickets if anyone else is interested.
Community services director Bill Armstrong and president Bob Neibert presented Lynn Gates from Little Hats with $400 to assist with the purchase of materials. Lynn indicated that last year there were 400 knitters in Little Hats and they made 4436 hats, gloves and scarves for babies to adults. Most of the items were delivered to shelters and inner city schools.
The annual Rotary Stars of Dundas presented a revue that appealed to all ages. Stephanie Eccles and sister Stacey Bishop returned for their 11th year awing the audience with When You Say Nothing At All, Poker Face and Say Something. The trio of Vocal-Tude kept us smiling with Peaceful Easy Feelings and Will the Circle be Unbroken.
Steven Andrews, a member of Vocal-Tude brought down the house with You Raise Me Up - so much so that he brought tears to the eyes of EmCee Bruce Eccles.
The young entertainers were amazing. Thomas Nunan sang a song he wrote, The Hero That You Chose, as well as Anything. Avery Schmalz’s voice was meant for the St. James Anglican Church acoustics, singing I found a Boy and People Help the People.
The dance trio of Julia Vance, Severn Keen and Audrey Ewen gave an Arabian Nights performance and Severn Keen a solo to Touch the Sky.
The baby grand piano filled the church with the sounds of The Entertainer and Fur Elise played by Adam Eldridge. And Elyssa Armstrong and Amy Goodes sang a duet of This is Where.
Nav Pooni rocked the room with his guitar, singing Suspicious Minds and Blackbird. And organist Richard Hansen reminded the audience that they were in fact in a church with his renditions of Jesu Joy of Mans and Introduction and Fugue.
Magician, Brandon Love preformed two acts that had the audience scratching their heads, wondering how he did them. Brandon also performed for individuals during the pre-show and intermission wine and cheese social.
During the event the two Rotary clubs in Dundas made a $5000 presentation to St. Joseph’s Villa in support of 12 new beds that recently opened.
The Stars of Dundas was produced by Joan Ballantyne. Besides choreographing the show, Joan put her powerful voice into singing For Good and Time To Say Goodbye. Stars of Dundas is an annual opportunity for the club to highlight local talent and raise funds for local and international service projects.
We welcomed Tim Speed from Canada Warplane Heritage Museum and Bill Stewart a friend of the club who was the contractor for our ice rink. A happy dollar from George whose one son was accepted into the masters program at Waterloo and other son whose band is celebrating expanded recognition. David Carson was happy to head off to Switzerland to visit his daughter and 3 year old granddaughter and maybe do a bit of skiing. And Wayne and Helen will celebrate their 48th anniversary this week. Announcements from Art who was promoting the Routes Youth Gala on Friday February 27 and Phil who invited all to the St. Mark's Pancake Supper on February 17. Tickets for the events are $50 and $6 respectively.
Club Service Director Jessica introduced and later thanked our guest speaker Tim Speed. There were a number of follow up questions for Tim concerning the museum's High Flight Project, a possible club visit to the museum and even Paul Clifford's question about flying in a chipmunk.
Remember to get tickets and attend the Dundas Stars event this Saturday at St. James Anglican Church in Dundas.
Project High Flight is a learning experience run by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Tim Speed, a volunteer with the organization explained the program and how it brings inner city grade 6 students to the museum to give them an experiential lesson on the properties of air and the characteristics of flight. As well there is a program for grade 3 and 10 students.
Project High Flight is looking for sponsors, whether service clubs, corporations or individuals to provide $1250 that lets 2 classes of grade six students get bussed to the museum, take the classroom lessons and activities and have a hot lunch. More information is available at warplane.com
Steve Roblin is one of the club's newest members and his sense of humour, positive attitude and easy-going nature were evident as he told us a bit about himself and his occupation. He is a consummate sales person, seeing the best in people as he brings them together to make deals. From his first candy enterprise in elementary school, through his efforts with the World Cycling Championships held in Hamilton, to running a travel company for students, to attending teachers' college in Australia, to a construction elevator operator in Italy, to this present day with Judy Marsales Realty, Steve loves the dynamics of sales and meeting people. His concern in real estate is how little effort folks put into selecting a sales agent for one of the biggest buying or selling opportunities of their lives.
Following the usual fellowship before breakfast our morning greeter Alycia gave the invocation. We jumped right into happy dollars and there were many. Wayne, who gave a Toronto Leaf's shirt his dad had to his son said the last time the Leafs won a championship was the year he and Helen were married. Harold was happy to empty his pockets of change. Bruce was at his cottage and winter had taken its toll - no water, chimney broken and hydro disconnected. Vlad was just glad to be back. Dave Carson is arranging to go to Spain to see his daughter and granddaughter. Jessica wrote three music exams last year and received her ARCT in voice. Got an award too! Alycia returned from her honeymoon in St. Marteen and is looking forward to getting a new puppy from the east coast. Not sure how those two things relate. Derek's happy dollar was a suggestion to raise breakfast from $14 to $15 so we wouldn't need to keep giving the loonie change.
Randy is promoting a club fellowship event at the Rockton Dinner Theatre for March 21. Cost is $35 a person. Let him know ASAP if you want tickets because they go fast. George reminds all to sell the Rotary Stars tickets and let him know how many you sold so that food and refreshments can be ordered. He said we really need to sell more tickets as the numbers appear down to date. Paul distributed HARRRP notices of its upcoming gala at Liuna Station on February 27. Cocktails, dinner and dancing. He welcomes support of members. Cost is $100 per person.
Peter Dendekker welcomed us this bright, sunny and cold morning on desk duty and Mieke Ewen gave the invocation. We welcomed Elysia Armstrong, Grant's daughter, who joined her dad before heading off to her grade 6 class.
After the usual fellowship, breakfast was served. Sergeant-at-Arms, Bruce was back from Florida where he just purchased a house. Derek too returned from his holidays in the south for his first meeting at our new location at the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club. Mieke announced that St. Joseph's Villa received its first resident into the new 12 beds that our club helped support and has committed to for the next two years. Bob Morrow was celebrating the birth of his daughter 46 years ago; and, Grant's oldest son celebrated his 14th birthday while Grant minded the store. Randy is back at teaching and Joan is glad to get him out of the house.
George was busy distributing more Rotary Stars tickets and Ralph encouraged all members to email their friends and neighbours inviting them to our 11th annual Rotary Stars event on February 7.
Community Services director Bill Armstrong gave a report outlining that the $13 200 annual budget has spent or committed $11 325. Money has gone or will go to Dundas Community Service, Dundas Valley Secondary School, Girls Dynamo Basketball, Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice, Salvation Army, Routes, Wesley Urban Ministries, Dundas Figure Skating Club, Little Hats That Grew, and Able Sail. Bill has $1875 left in his budget.
President Bob asked members to think about what kind of monthly fellowship event would interest them. Randy suggested the Rockton Dinner Theatre in March would be a possibility and will look into acquiring tickets. Other ideas were a potluck at a member's home (one was held in December at Wayne and Helen Massey's), a wine tour or the O' Canada show in Niagara Falls.
President Bob also asked for suggestions to assist Vocational Service director Marnee Maroes in planning program. Suggestions included new member classification talks, mini classification talks from long serving members, off site visits (Peter will look into visiting his company, Aerloc Windows on Head Street) and career days at the high school.
Jessica Brennan, program coordinator, then asked members for speaker suggestions, handing out a month by month Rotary International theme calendar - September: Basic Education and Literacy, October: Economic and Community Development
December: Disease Prevention and Treatment, January: Vocational Service, February: Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution, March: Water and Sanitation, April: Maternal and Child Health, May: Youth Services. Jessica collected the suggestions and will accept more.
President Bob was the greeter this morning and past president Shirley staffed the desk, collecting $14 as the new charge for breakfast.
We welcomed back Ernie and Paul who hammed it up for the camera. Glad to have you back!
A big crowd this morning as we gathered at our new location at the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club. As we entered Jessica provided hats and horns to add to the the festive nature of our first meeting here. Bob Morrow lead a well thought out invocation to us as Rotarians and to our new location. Announcements from George Gould who along with Randy and Joan are coordinating the Rotary Stars event. President Bob handed out tickets to be sold. If you were absent today please ask him next week for yours. This is a major fundraiser and ticket sales help generate revenue. Also, Shirley has tickets for the Dundas Community Services fundraiser on January 15. It is at the Dundas Little Theatre.
Happy dollars from Phil who was thinking of his father who passed away 25 years ago; from Harold who was excited that Canada won gold at the world Junior Hockey Tournament; and, from Stephen who recently met Marty, his University of Western Ontario co-writer of a play written 12 years ago whom he had not seen since university days. Paul was happy to be back after 7 months off and Art who informed the Dynamo Girls Basketball team that the head coach of the Canadian National Basketball team is Lisa Thomaidis from Dundas.
Past president Shirley then asked us, "What inspires you?" Here are the responses: George - the number of people in the club who are committed to doing a variety of things in the community; Phil - we are selfless and community minded. Humility and giving back is what it is all about; Grant - my family is my inspiration and I want my children to learn to give back to the community like my father Bill taught me; Bob Morrow - connections made through other Rotary clubs like the folks who helped me in Florida getting my car fixed or in Paraguay helping me find a translator; Ralph - the way Rotary can open doors to the world through travel to distant places where a big world is made much smaller by meeting Rotarians and their families; Jessica - just look at today. We have a new venue. Marnee brings her mother. We all volunteer eagerly. We recognize the talents of women like the girls on the basketball team; and, Shirley - I am inspired by each one of you in what you do and offer: friendship, community, making things happen.
Today was the first meeting of the new year and the beginning of our new location at the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club. The food was delicious, the room perfect and the view outstanding. Being the new year, club service director Jessica Brennan provided hats and noise makers as part of the celebration.
Some of the members:
Ernie Romain and Jan Southall;
Stephen Palmer, Mieke Ewen and Steve Roblin.
Randy Abel, Wayne Massey and George Gould discuss the upcoming Rotary Stars event of February 7.
We welcomed the Dundas Dynamo Girls Basket Ball Team to breakfast. The club has supported the team for several years. The girls are under 13 and play in tournaments throughout Ontario.
Pat Consoli from Dynamo accepted $500 from community services director Bill Armstrong.
Having the girls' team present was special because Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary is a proud supporter of youth in the community.
We had a fabulous evening of fellowship and song at the annual Christmas party. Thanks to Jessica and her busy bees: Barbara and Norm, Ken, Bill, Roger, Randy and Joan, Ross, Bob Neibert and everyone else that had a hand in set-up and take down. The location is perfect and the food so abundant that the extras were dispersed that evening to a Hatt Street shelter. Thanks for all the toys and food. Bill looked after getting them to the Salvation Army.
Lots of happy faces.
Our club is what we make it. And, it is really great. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah.
Singing and fellowship were the order of the evening as the club held its annual Christmas party at the Dundas Museum. The karaoke machine was the crutch needed to get everyone into the mood.
The men and women took turns to see who could outperform the other. Voting tended to be polarized. This was the club's last get-together for the year. Starting in January the club meets at the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club.
Once again, the members and guests at the annual auction in support of St. Matthew's House came through. First, they donated the auction items and then proceeded to buy them back. With the able lead of auctioneer Bruce Eccles and his trusty side kick Roger Stewart $4503 was raised through purchases and donations. East Side Marios put on a great breakfast to give folks the strength to raise their hands and bid on items, usually way more than the items were worth. All to a good cause.
Steve Leighfield, the executive director of St. Matthew's House, shared in the good fun and was very pleased with the outcome.
Sergeant-At-Arms Bruce called the meeting to order and Jessica welcomed the thirty-one members plus Waterdown Rotarian Norm Reed. This was a try-out of the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club for our breakfast meetings. The food was great and the room brand new and welcoming.
Barbara and Norm returned from six weeks in Florida and are ready to go back for the winter. Wayne said this was the last week he would need to pick up Bruce for the morning meeting as Bruce will soon be able to drive again. Bruce of course was pleased to get behind the wheel again. Bill reminded us of the St. Matthew's House auction at next week's morning meeting and to bring guests and more auction items. Carl returned from San Diego and six days of golfing.
Ken and several other members attended the celebration of life for David Lowery last Saturday and Ken was reminded of coal, horses and trains. Marnee bought some stocking stuffers at Barbara and Paul's sweater sale and Alycia is settled into her new house now that she and her husband built a bar in the basement.
Grant thanked everyone for their concern over Julie's hospital stay and said things were getting back to normal. He and Bill along with son Liam who was dressed as Robear attended the McMaster University Children's Hospital Christmas party on Saturday. A great experience for Liam, although after four hours he was sweating a lot in the bear suit. The kids really loved him. Phil and Robear pose for Grant's photo. The bear suit Carl bought to promote the Rotary Ice Rink gets a lot of community service work.
President Bob chaired the rest of the meeting and introduced community Services Director Bill who presented a number of motions to the members for approval. All were for $1000. Passed: Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice, Dundas Community Service, Salvation Army, Routes Centre. As well, Bill introduced several other upcoming donations: Wesley Urban Ministries $500, Dundas Dynamo Girls Basketball $500, Dundas Figure Skating Club $400, Little Hats That Grew (knitting volunteer material) $500, Able Sail (disabled assistance) $500, and Dundas Valley Secondary School donation to support the play, "Spelling Bee".
President Bob presented treasurer Ken's proposal to put $20K into an interest bearing account and then introduced International Service Director Bob who presented 2 motions: $1750 for the Rotary Club of Osijek, Croatia for flood relief. Vlad contributed $1000 of this amount to support relief efforts in the community where he grew up. And, $3000 to assist with the purchase of beds and mattresses for the Casa Hogar Orphanage in Manzanillo, Mexico. This is contingent on getting a $2000 District Grant plus $500 from the Rotary Club of Manzanillo. Both motions passed.
President Bob gave a brief review of the Eco Park Tailgate fundraiser and will give a more detailed account in January. He also informed members that Rob Reid resigned from the club due to moving out of the area and being unable to make Tuesday meetings due to his job commitments.
Incoming President Shirley read out the proposed board for 2015 - 2016. Any TBD positions still need a candidate. If interested please see her. President, Shirley; President-Elect,Ross; Foundation, Bob Neibert; Secretary, David Carson; Treasurer, Ken; VP, TBD; Membership, Ralph; International, Bob Morrow; Community, Bill but looking for replacement; Vocational, Marnee; Youth, Alycia; Club, Jessica; PR, TBD.
The meeting closed with a reminder that next week is the St. Matthew's House auction. Bring guests (with money to spend) and more articles to auction off.
Hi Folks. The club is now on a new version of Clubrunner and I (Ralph) continue to try to learn it. To that end I am sending out another First Light, laid out a bit differently and with some photo links.
Also, this Tuesday we are meeting at the Dundas Golf and Curling Club at the far western end of Dundas, just before the railway bridge. East Side Marios through its most recent owner Mike has been good to us over the years but he is thinking of giving up the room we use some time in the future and the club is looking at the golf club as possible new meeting location. Please try to attend this Tuesday at the usual time as we will be making a decision whether or not the golf club is a viable option. There are other items on the agenda as well. See you around 7:10 AM December 2 at the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club.
Sergeant-at-Arms Bruce called on Mieke to say grace with 19 in attendance. David Carson expressed the club's sympathy for the passing of member David Lowery. Funeral arrangements will be forwarded to members once they are finalized.
Happy dollars from Phil for Mac's big win. He will head to Montreal for the Vanier Cup. Ralph announced that Barb's health is improving each day. George is finishing up his VP stint and will go back to painting houses. Mieke is happy her health test results showed everything is OK. Art praised hockey greats Oliver and Quinn who recently passed away.
Bill reminded everyone of the call for items to be auctioned for St. Matthew's House on December 9 and the need to bring a guest that day. Art asked if the tailgate party for the Eco Park should continue next year. The consensus was, wait until we find out what the event raised. Jan reminded everyone that next week's morning meeting is at the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling club. Same time.
Jan then presented Bob Morrow with his Paul Harris plus 6 pin before introducing him as our guest speaker.
During Bob's presentation he called on Vlad to talk about supporting the Rotary Club of Osijek , Croatia regarding the serious flood experienced in the area; and Wayne to talk about supporting Casa Hogar, Mexico to purchase beds and mattresses for the 100 children cared for at the orphanage.
Club International Service Director Bob Morrow reviewed Rotary International's 6 areas of focus and outlined how our club decides on a project. There might be a member who champions the project or has made contact with other Rotarians in the area to be served, or the club is continuing a previous project or is looking at The Rotary Foundation suggestions.
The club currently has put aside $6000 towards a base amount of $15 000 needed to access a Rotary Foundation Global Grant for 2016 - 17. The International Service Committee will examine four possible projects - Casa Hogar Orphanage in Manzanillo Mexico, a project for children in Arica Chile, a China water project for Tibetan farmers or a dialysis centre in India. Each of these suggestions has a club member or local contact associated with it.
We welcomed Gary Caldwell from the Dundas Rotary Club and guest speakers Sharon Levy-Cohen from the Hamilton AM Rotary Club and Patti Cannon from Arts Hamilton. There were 28 in attendance this morning.
Assistant Governor Bob Morrow paid the club an official visit this morning. He informed us of the upcoming Rotary Leadership Institute taking place on December 5 at Mohawk College and encouraged members to go to the district website and register for this learning event. Our club will pick up the registration cost because it feels the training is worth taking. Bob also asked us to mark our calendars for next year's district conference on October 23 - 25 in Ellicottville NY, and the April 11 and May 2 district training events in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls NY.
President Bob informed us of the upcoming St. Matthew's House Auction on December 9. He encouraged us to look for auction items and to have some guests join us that morning to support the cause. The Christmas party is December 16 at the Dundas Museum starting at 6:00 PM. He also gave us the good news that the City of Hamilton has contracted with the club to host the May fireworks for the next 5 years. This event is now our major fundraiser.
Happy dollars from Ralph who reported that Barb is now home from the hospital and recovering from a serious bacterial infection. Randy who said the Air Force Club fundraiser is this Friday as is the tree lighting in the square at 7:00 PM. Steve Palmer who announced another child is on the way. David Mattchett who along with Sue visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Jessica who has been hired as a facilitator to train trustees through out the province. She also had a big 65 birthday party for her sister.
President Bob recognized Bruce and Ralph with special Rotary pins for sponsoring new members. Then he introduced our guest speakers and thanked them after their presentation on Imagine in the Park.
Sharon Levy-Cohen from the Hamilton AM Rotary Club and Patti Cannon from Arts Hamilton spoke of Imagine in the Park, an arts festival for children aged 3 - 12. Since its inception in 2011 to this past year, attendance has grown from 1000 children to 2700 who participate in a variety of hands on workshops presented by various artists in literature, music, visual, dance and theater. The festival which takes place at Gage Park in Hamilton on the first Saturday of June is free. The $13 500 budgeted to run the festival comes from sponsorships ranging from $500 to sponsor an artist, $750 for an artist and tent, to $1000 for a complete workshop. Yes, Sharon and Patti would like financial support from our club or us as individuals but they would also like us to promote the event to our families and friends and actually volunteer the day of the event. For more information go to imagineinthepark.com
A festive crowd met this morning as we welcomed past member Andy Coburn and on leave member Paul Clifford. SAA Bruce was in good spirits as he is rapidly recovering from yet another new knee surgery.
Lots of happy dollars this morning. Vlad returned from Myrtle beach playing golf; Bill's favourite three football teams won; Wayne is recovering from jet lag after being away in the Mediterranean area for a month; Derek who was just happy to see everyone return from vacationing; president Bob for all the returning members; Dave Carson, Paul and Peter for seeing Bruce; Carl for lending the Robear suit to McMaster Children's Hospital; Andy for just being here; Alycia for her new home in Guelph; and Bob Morrow who returned from a month cruise without needing a liver scan.
Bruce gave a great introduction for Paul who was the Remembrance Day speaker, honouring him for the fabulous work he does in the community.
President Bob thanked Paul with a personal letter and a donation to St. Matthew's House on Paul's behalf rather than the usual cup.
After Paul's talk members offered their own recollections for Remembrance Day. Ralph expressed his difficulty reciting In Flanders Fields while standing in the cemetery off John McCrae Way in Flanders. Bruce told of reading his grandfather's war records. Ken spoke of John Bertram's and John Craven's agreement to manufacture war machines to make gun barrels. Jan remembered that her father could not join the army because he worked at Bertrams. Carl saw a telegram in his grandparent's medicine cabinet saying their son was missing in action in Italy. Derek who was four at the time saw his father for the first time when he returned from Italy. And, David Carson recalled his dad wanting to meet a war buddy in Toronto who was with him during his training accident as a marine commando.
Club member Paul Clifford gave a thoughtful, educational and timely overview of Remembrance Day. Started in 1916 by an army padre for the Unknown Soldier Cenotaph the day was designed to give us the opportunity to express collective grief and gratitude. Paul gave a history of the various cenotaphs throughout the world and reminded us that although we collectively honour the dead and living members of our military on this day, we should keep them in mind every day. Paul talked about the major wars, police actions and conflicts of our military but he also reminded us of all those everyday folks who supported the war efforts through their factory or farm labours. The recent loss of two Canadian soldiers (one from Hamilton) on home soil by terrorists reminded us that remembering to remember is heightenedwhen things happen close to home. Following Paul's presentation many club members told short personal stories as they remembered.
Remembrance Day: A time to bring to mind or keep in mind
We all were as mesmerized as Jackson by Dr. Tom Doyle's presentation regarding 3D printing. Here Jackson is watching while the 3D printer that Dr. Doyle brought with him is "printing" a small smile-y face that Jackson later took home with him.
Peter, as a newer member, introduced himself to our club. While we've been pleased to have him around regularly for the past while, it was great to get to know him better.
Peter's parents immigrated from Holland in the 50s. He and his family are active members of the Dutch Reformed community and Peter talked about the experiences of being part of a relatively new immigrant group in Canada. For example, he said that he and his community are now becoming more engaged with the community at large, which he is pleased to be part of. He is active on the board of his children's school. Peter and his wife have 4 children, ages 6 through 15.
Peter's dad bought the company he worked at. While Peter was at Queen's, his dad became ill and Peter decided to come home and help with the family business and has been there ever since. Though it is hard work, he loves the opportunity to work with his family (4 sisters, a brother, and his dad). Their company manufactures commercial windows, for example, for hospitals and schools. They are located on Head Street and employ 65 people.
Peter reminded us about being thankful for what he have and about giving back to the communities we are part of.
Jessica welcomed our newest member David Bakker and our soon to be inducted guests Steve Roblin and Mieke Ewen. Our Sergeant-At-Arms Bruce returned from California where he developed a taste for California wines. Today he celebrated that infamous day four years ago when he had his motorcycle accident. Next week he gets another new knee, that being his fifth operation in four years. Shirley thanked those who helped out with the food drive and promoted the 3rd Annual Hope in the City Breakfast on November 13 where Rex Murphy is the speaker and Susan Clairmont is the EmCee. Tickets are $50 each.
Carl had a stay in the hospital because of a racing heart. When he woke up the doctor had cauterized 5 extra nerves in his heart and now, no more racing heart! David Mattchett won the Trevor Garwood Jones Golf Tournament and Alycia and Matt purchased a new house.
Art congratulated everyone for their efforts with the Ti-Cat Tail Gate Party. Our club sold 210 tickets - all at $50 each. He also promoted the Routes Scrap Metal Drive on October 18 and the All You Can Eat Wings on October 25.
Dave Carson reminded everyone of the work days on October 18 and 25 for the Eco Park. Be there for 9:00 AM. Small tree planting on the 18th and path construction on the 25th. Bring a rake that day.
After the induction of Steve and Mieke President Bob lead a discussion on the golf course site. Pros and cons were discussed and a motion will go out to club members by email in the near future. After discussion on a previous issue of setting up an emergency fund for surprise expenses the members passed a motion that $2000 be set aside from the gross budget before each area of service receive its percentage.
Steve Roblin and Mieke Ewen were welcomed into the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise and became the newest members of the club. Steve is a Real Estate Agent with Judy Marsales and Mieke is Assistant Director of Care at St. Joseph's Villa.
Ralph Montesanto, Membership Director and sponsor for Mieke, and Stephen Palmer, sponsor for Steve join Assistant Governor Bob Morrow and Club President Bob Neibert in the induction ceremony for Steve and Mieke. Following their induction members individually welcome them to the club.
Steve Roblin and Mieke Ewen Inducted Into The Club
The Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise and the Rotary Club of Dundas worked together to host a Hamilton Tiger Cat Tail Gate Party on October 4.
Over 300 party goers joined the festive afternoon for music, food and refreshments prior to the Tiger Cats vs BC Lions football game at the new Tim Horton's Field. Thanks to the Hamilton Air Force Association for partnering with the clubs, to Hillfield Strathallan College for supplying the buses to the game and to the Tiger Cat organization for a break on the price of tickets. Funds raised go towards the new Eco Park in Dundas.
The Ti-Cat Cheerleaders added to the scene and took part with Francis Manias in the football toss.
And the face painter worked her magic on Randy Abel getting him into the festive mood.
We welcomed David Bakker, Dr. Hugh Boyd, Jennifer Banks and Mieke Ewen from St. Joseph's Villa, and Danya Scime guest of Bill Armstrong. Happy Birthday today to David Mattchett and Happy Anniversary to David and Sue later this week. Wayne talked about a flier he received from an orphanage in Mexico that is expanding; Danya is grandmother to her 3rd granddaughter and suggested we watch Cable 14 to hear the various candidates running for town councillor; Vlad is back from several months in Croatia and raided his granddaughter's piggy bank to pay his Happy Dollar; and, President Bob thanked all the volunteers who made Art in the Park run smoothly on Sunday. He also offered special thanks to whomever had the rain go away so that the crowd of over 900 would show up.
Art reminded everyone to get the TiCat Tail Gate tickets sold and turn in the money to him. We are all in section 213 on October 4 and the ticket is for the tail gate party, the bus and the game. Shirley asked for volunteers for the food drive on October 4 and suggested that since many members will be busy that day at the tail gate party they could go to the food bank on Friday afternoon October 3 to help get the boxes ready.
President Bob then called all members to form a circle for the inductions of David Bakker, Dr. Hugh Boyd and Jennifer Banks.
Following the inductions there was a club assembly where each director outlined progress in his or her area of responsibility.
Three members of the St. Joseph's Villa Leadership Team were inducted into the club this morning. In a formal ceremony Ralph Montesanto the club Membership Director and sponsor for the three individuals, President Bob Neibert, and Assistant Governor Bob Morrow inducted David Bakker, Dr. Hugh Boyd and Jennifer Banks.
David is the President of St. Joseph's Villa.
Dr. Boyd is the Medical Director.
And Jennifer is the Director of Care.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is a long time supporter of St. Joseph's Villa, a long term care residence in Dundas and also the town's largest employer.
During Art in the Park club president Bob Neibert presented Pam Jurilj from the Dundas Civitan Club a cheque for $400. Members of Civitan join Pam and Bob for the presentation.
The rain cleared, the sun shone and the people came. The second annual Art in the Park drew a steady crowd. One of the visitors indicated that, "This is very good for Dundas."
Artist Fred Amalfi drew a steady crowd as he almost sold out his entire works.
Where was everybody this morning? Even with visiting Rotarian Ellen Boyce from the Dundas club we had just 16 members.
Ellen informed us Selnick's Blinds at the corner of Governor's and Creighton Roads has given her club a number of blinds to sell as a fund raiser. If you are interested it's this Saturday. She promises good deals. Ellen also was promoting the Trevor Garwood Jones Golf Tournament on September 23 at Dundas Valley. If you are a golfer there is still room. Both Ellen and Art spoke of the upcoming Ti-Cat Tail Gate Party on October 4. If you have tickets please get them sold and bring the money to the September 23 meeting. This is a significant fund raiser for our two club's share of the Eco Park project. Also, volunteers are needed for the Tail Gate Party. Go on www.clubrunner.ca/dundas and click on volunteering and drop down to the event. Use Ellen's sign in name, Ellen Boyce (note the space) and use the password dundas1, then click "book" and enter your name. Remember to click "save". Randy suggested you promote the tickets on facebook, twitter or any other electronic means you have. Art was passionate! Sell your tickets.
Jan and Bill spoke of Art in the Park this Sunday. Our community services committee will be giving $1000 to the Rotary Creekside Parkette to be built next to Amica. Jan could also use some more volunteers that day.
Ralph thanked those who volunteered for Shredding Day on Saturday. Bob Morrow, Derek, Joe, Barbara, Bill, Wayne, David Carson and Ralph emptied enough boxes to shredded 4500 pounds of paper and sent it to recycling while making a lot of community members happy and netting just over $900 for the club. Jessica thanked Art, Alycia and Ralph for joining her at Telling Tales on Sunday. Along with financial support our club continues to have members do some sweat equity that day.
Dave Carson reminded everyone to put October 18 into their calendars. That's a work day when we build pathways and plant trees. Let him know if you are able to work.
Bob Morrow then gave a lesson on international service, one of the pillars of Rotary.
Bob Morrow, club director of international services explained what World Community Services is all about and how our club can prepare for a major project in a developing country. In order to access a Rotary Foundation Global Grant our club must have a minimum of $15 000 that the District and Foundation can match. The club has been budgeting for this the last two years. There are, however, specific criteria we must meet to be approved. The project must benefit a large number of people, offer self help, meet one or more of the Foundation's six areas of focus, be Rotary sponsored with a Rotary club associated with the project location, and be self sustaining. The club International Service Committee consists of Bob Morrow, Wayne Massey and Peter Dendekker. Next month they will present some options for us to consider as we plan for a major international project which meets one of the long term goals of the club.
A rainy day but we still shredded over 4500 pounds of documents. The community continues to thank the club for providing this service. Start getting ready for early May when we will be back.
Geroge did the sergeant-at-arms duties this morning and started happy dollars with his own. He is back to school as VP at Sir Osler School and enjoying the ups and downs of school start up. Phil started back into teaching engineering at McMaster and still looks happy to be back. Bob Morrow celebrated the 50th anniversary of his first day of teaching. He has been retired from the job for a long while but retires from his last occupation with Tomatosphere this Thursday; and, Dave Carson heard from his daughter who is in Barcelona. Stephen spent his 5th anniversary in Boston and relished in the Feast of St. Anthony held there. Quite an experience! He also did some old fashion peach preserves and teased us with the possibility a jam for all. Alycia has now been married for a week and a half and in spite of the monsoons during photo time managed to get the pictures taken.
Announcement: From George about a possible date of November 21 for Stars of Dundas - Is the church available? Ralph got more volunteers for this Saturday's shredding day. He has enough now. He also reminded members of the "No Morning Meeting" on September 30 so that members can visit other clubs in the area. For those who missed district governor Jack's talk he will be at Caledonia on Sept. 30, Hamilton AM on Oct. 1 and Hamilton on Oct. 2. President Bob has more Art in the Park signs and needs more help on Sept. 21. Please see him if you are able to work that day.
The board meets Wednesday at Ralph's house at 6:30. Also, this Friday is second Friday and those interested in the usual social can gather at East Side Marios at 5:00 PM.
Grant Armstrong was sponsored into Rotary by his father, Bill.
Grant said as a young high school student he was shy but acting in school plays let him pretend to be someone else. Well, it certainly helped overcome his shyness. He is now able to turn a two minute conversation into 15 minutes! As a university student he worked part-time in retail, later taking on a job in Vancouver selling hospital style modrobes. He then started working for Staples and is now the manager of the Waterdown store. He is very proud that his store received the Community Service Award from the Waterdown Chamber of Commerce. His is the first big box business in Waterdown to receive the award. Grant had a preconceived idea about Rotary from his dad Bill that the service club was all encompassing. He has since realized that each person has something to offer, some more than others at a particular time in their lives and that the strength of a club is based on the collective group. Grant is married, has three children and lives in Dundas.
First day of school! Dave Carson covered as Sergeant-at-Arms for Bruce. President Bob re-circulated the sign up sheet for Art in the Park and asked anyone with posters to put them up or return them. Dave read a thank you note from Derek DeGelder. "Dear Sunrise Rotary Club: Thank you for sponsoring the Citizenship Award at the Sir William Osler grade 8 graduation. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness. I enjoy working with people and I will continue this throughout high school. Thanks again. Derek DeGelder."
Dave informed us that the Dundas Community Services Food Drive will be held on October 4. This is the same day as our Ti-Cat Tailgate Party. However, they could use our help in the morning before the tailgate party starts. Dave gave an update on the Eco Park and reminded us that October 18 volunteers are needed to build the pathways and plant the trees the club purchased.
Ken told us of the Lions clubs' ongoing useable glasses drive and suggested members might have old glasses around the house they could give to their glasses provider to be forwarded to this cause. Jessica, the club point person for the upcoming Telling Tales event on September 14, is looking for volunteers to join her and Art at Westfield Heritage Village. Although Ralph did not mention it, Saturday September 13 is Shredding Day. If you have not already volunteered and can, please let him know.
Happy dollars from Jessica who wished us a Happy New Year! Why? Because it was her birthday last week and now school started. Phil too is back to school at Mac, heading up the first year Engineering program. He also has a teaching assignment: second year Chemical Engineering. Derek was happy that the music at Mac is turned off at 11:00 PM. And Randy is back at Sheridan College as a professor. Bill's three football teams won: Saskatchewan, Hamilton and McMaster. Dave had a wonderful week with his granddaughter who with her family is off to Spain. And, Carl is meeting at city hall to present his 271 name signed petition to keep a leash free dog park open.
Dave then introduced President Bob who through the magic of his cell phone data plan brought us a TED Talk on microfinance.
President Bob Neibert brought the power of his cell phone to the morning meeting and created a hot spot so that we could watch Jessica Jackley on a TED Talk, www.ted.com/talks/jessica_jackley_poverty_money_and_love passionately ask us to engage poverty to help others and to listen to their stories. She set up the KIVA website, www.kiva.org/ and in less than eight years grew its microfinance budget from a half million dollars to over $150 million. She has talked personally to goat herders, seamstresses and farmers in developing countries and with loans of around $100 helped these entrepreneurs raise their standard of living. Almost 97% of the loans are paid back in full, far better than traditional lending institutions.
The Rotary Foundation also offers microcredits and matching grants, www.rotary.org/en/document/728 . As well, there is a Rotary Action Group for Microfinance and Community Development, www.ragm.org .
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club through Community Service is a sponsor for the Ancaster Film Fest. August 24th was the date for our sponsorship recognition and Ralph Montesanto and Bob Morrow represented the club at the film Belle, an excellent depiction of the beginning of the end of slavery in the British Commonwealth.
Bob is seen here with Julian D’Angela, (although not a Rotarian, Julian is a recipient of a Paul Harris Fellowship…he also received a senior’s award from the City of Hamilton for his volunteer work.
President Bob reminded everyone of the upcoming “Art in the Park”, our first major event of the year scheduled for Sunday September 21st. A sign up sheet was distributed for assistance with set-up and collections.
Ralph Montesanto indicated that six to eight members are required for the September 13th Shredding Day. If you have some Saturday morning time available, please let Ralph know.
Happy Dollars
Barbara Busing contributed a happy dollar as a way of thanking President Bob for his excellent work in handing out Art in the Park information cards.
Stephen Palmer accomplished what only one in 12,000 golfers manage to do by recording a hole in one! While many of us will at least attempt a hole in one, not many of us will attempt to match Joe Guedes zip lining adventure. Clearly worthy of a happy dollar.
The International Rotary Youth Leadership Awards were held this year in Sydney Australia with Claire Harkness attending. IRYLA is a global leadership event in which young leaders, aged nineteen to thirty, from around the world connect with Rotarian teachers, mentors and facilitators. Claire began her presentation by thanking the club for providing her with this unique and outstanding opportunity. She shared with the members details of learning the true meaning of leadership, of values and passion and the implications of leadership in a multi-national and multi-cultural world. Claire indicated that she was particularly pleased to be able to work in a group tasked with Peace and Conflict Resolution. The trip to Australia was a homecoming of sorts as Claire had previously spent a year in Australia as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. This trip provided an opportunity to visit her host town and to reconnect with her four former host families. Claire is returning to Centennial College for her second year in nursing. Great presentation.
Our presenter today was club member and Assistant District Governor Bob Morrow. Bob has enjoyed an outstanding career and has received numerous awards, including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award. Suffice it to say, Bob knows geography. A quest lecturer, Bob has been a destination lecturer on cruise ships with a focus on Bermuda, the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Alaska and South America. Club members thoroughly enjoyed his presentation on the Bermuda Triangle. Informative, entertaining, often humorous and as one would expect, very well presented.
Effective this year, the club has embarked on a plan to dedicate one monthly meeting as Rotary Day. To that end, and as August is membership month our Director Membership, Ralph Montesanto led the group through a membership exercise. Ralph presented the group with an excellent collage of photos taken over a number of years which served to highlight some of the significant and very real benefits of Rotary membership; community service (both local and distant) fellowship and the building of lasting friendships. In a workshop exercise, members were asked to identify potential new members and to commit to involving two of those in either a meeting or other Rotary activity prior to the end of the calendar year. Great exercise, well received by the membership.
Aldo Lombardi likes to help the disadvantaged. He says, "It feels good and is the right thing to do." Aldo is the owner of Canadian Tire Store #27 – the one in Dundas. He told us about his family background, his emigration to Canada in 1974 (about the time of the Chilean uprising and political upheaval), his businesses in both Canada and Chile … and his commitment to doing some “Rotary-style” work in his cultural homeland.
Last year, Aldo put up a sign and asked for used bicycles for an orphanage in Arica, in the northern part of Chile. The response from Dundas residents was fantastic, getting over 300 bikes which he fixed up for distribution! He added wheelchairs, walkers and crutches to this year’s container … as well as many more bicycles. He even has around 45 that he is giving to CityKidz. Aldo’s presentation was well received by the members who thanked him for his commitment to doing “service above self”, a condition he said he got from his father who expected him to deliver excess farm produce to a local orphanage when he was just a young boy on the family farm.
We welcomed Stephen Palmer's son Jackson, noon club members Judy Shepalo and Thie Convery, and our guest speaker Dr. Brenda Vrkljan. Judy and Thie spoke of a project their club is doing to build a parkette next to Amica. The park is designed by Adam Bienenstock who plans interactive facilities. Adam has spoken at our club before. This one is for ages 8 to 88. The club is looking to raise a minimum of $400 000 (hoping to get $600 000) and already has $200 000. Judy and Thie are asking our club to consider assisting financially and also asking us to spread the news that funds are required.
Happy dollars from Bob Morrow although it started as a serious dollar because he said he had a sudden hearing loss for no reason. The happy part was the speed that the health system had to start dealing with the issue.
Carl was pleased to have a family visit, talking about Milverton, shaving a beard and getting married.
Young Jackson Palmer took the train to Toronto Island, Shirley has her Youth Exchange student safely back in Japan, Phil barely missed getting caught in a Tornado in Bayfield, Ralph enjoyed a great cottage vacation with the Masseys and Morrows, and Thie spoke of crewing for triple crown swimmer Marilyn Korzekwa who had a big article in today's Spectator.
Jan has registration cards for Art in the Park and asks us to distribute them if we are going to any art shows.
The media perpetuates a negative stigma about older drivers and Dr. Vrkljan's research through Candrive is examining the real facts.
Through a series of cognitive tests, computer GPS links to cars and in car cameras, hundreds of volunteers 70 and over are helping to amass data on senior driving habits. As well, she is putting her skills as an occupational therapist to research on vehicle design and aging. When a senior loses the right to drive there is a huge psychosocial impact, from depression, social isolation, loss of self esteem to an changes in the patient/doctor/clinician relationship. Many seniors who are forced to stop driving report it as worse than death or cancer. So, driving is really important to them. Her research is ongoing and anyone over 70 who wants to be part of the study is asked to contact her at McMaster University.
Dr. Brenda Vrkljan: Shifting Gears - Changing Perceptions About Older Drivers in Canada
The visit began with the induction of Bob Neibert as Club President; Bob followed with the induction of his new Sunrise Club Board.
Assistant District Governor Bob Morrow then introduced District Governor Jack Amico, who we learned was both a Sicilian and one of the worst golfers in New York State.
DG Amico thanked Bob for his sterling work as ADG and presented him with a special tie. He then told us that his inspiration to be District Governor from some of the great project work done by others in the District, such work in Haiti by Roy Sheldrick, immunization work in India and hospital building in Nepal. His theme was “Rotary attracts people who care” and all Clubs had the common thought of “They Care”
DG Amico went on to list all the great projects that the Sunrise has done in recent years and made particular mention of the contribution to the District and Rotary as a whole by Club members Wayne Massey, Ralph Montesanto and Bob Morrow.
We were then asked to build on RI President Huang’s theme of “Light up Rotary” in making Rotary work visible to everyone in the Community. DG Jack emphasised that “Peace through Service” comes from building up the basic needs of communities around the world with clean water, good housing, and healthy people. With these capacities, people do not need to fight.
DG Jack asked us to have a Rotary Day in the community to make ourselves visible and invited us to the Buffalo Club’s day on August 23rd, where we could watch the Blue Jay’s, hopefully improving, farm team.
Finally we were all invited to attend a new type of District Un-Conference this year, namely the Downtown Buffalo Rotary Bash on October 25/26 with great speakers and entertainment.
Shirley thanked DG Jack for coming to speak to us. President Bob and Past President Jan then presented a cheque to DG Jack for the Rotary Foundation. (Pictures below)
Our meeting today focused on the visit of District Governor Jack Amico. After the introduction of Jack and his spouse Mike, Sergeant at Arms Bruce extracted a few Happy Dollars from Club Members before the formal part of the meeting.
Happy Dollars – from Phil who was looking for candidates for an Aging Driver Study being done by a McMaster researcher. If you know of an aged driver (or are one!), particularly one with arthritis or other health issues impacting driving, who is prepared to participate in a study, please let Phil know. Other dollars were from Shirley, who was happy to get a good night’s sleep as her husband was at the sleep clinic, Barb who was back from a week at the cottage, Derek who won in Dundas vs Rest of World Golf and Ken who told us of David Lowery’s planned escape from Bob Kemp Hospice for a drive out for coffee.
Our meeting this morning focused on youth activities. It was with real pleasure that we were able to welcome the four youth representatives who participated in sponsored activities this year, Jackson Holmes, Emma Lawson, Oonagh Burns and Mason Puppa. In addition we welcomed parents, Matt Holmes, Jennifer Lewis-Lawson, Brian Burns, Dawn Burns and Monica Caldwell-Puppa
Presentations
Past President Jan presented Carl Fraser with a Rotary International pin in recognition of those who brought in new members. Jan also presented Jessica Brennan and Rob Reid with year- end awards for their great contributions in the past year.
Bob Morrow presented Jan the Rotary Presidential Citation, Member Engagement and Rotary Club Central awards.
Happy $
Barb was more that pleased to point out that her son has returned from China with wedding plans upcoming.
Phil Wood has accepted a position as Director of first year Engineering students at McMaster. Phil is apparently not intimidated in his new role despite being outnumbered one thousand to one.
Ralph reminded everyone that the second Friday social event this month will be held at his house, 20 Highland Park Drive. Bring refreshments of your choice, some food to share and perhaps a lawn chair. The event starts at 5:00pm and ends when the neighbors complain.
Dave reminded us an event also scheduled for Friday pm (starts at 7:00pm) sponsored by the Dundas Club entitled “Lavender & Music”. Proceeds are to benefit the Eco Park.
Rob Reid contributed a Happy $ (?) to tell us that following yesterday’s heavy rain he was faced with a flood situation at home.
Barry Stoltz, in memory of his father.
Bill Armstrong and his wife have joined a Seniors Wellness Program at McMaster.
And finally, Shirley “Mellow” Molloy is well, mellow, following a week’s vacation..
Jackson Holmes, Matt Holmes, Jennifer Lewis-Lawson, Emma Lawson, Brian Burns, Oonagh Burns, Dawn Burns, Mason Puppa, Monica Caldwell-Puppa
Jack Holmes provided an excellent account of activities and lessons learned from his attendance at Adventures in Citizenship held in Ottawa. This program provides 200 youth from across the country an opportunity to explore shared values and the implications of freedoms we enjoy as Canadians. A tour of parliament hill and local museums,and a French Canadian meal (complete with square dancing) were enjoyed by all. Jack pointed out that hearing from a veteran of the Afghan conflict and a native community group in addition to the opportunity to meet many people from across the country provided participants with new and powerful insights. Great presentation.
SLAPSHOT – Mason Puppa and Emma Lawson
Student Leadership Award Program for Students High On Training
Mason Puppa and Emma Lawson attended this Ancaster event with 100 other participants. The weekend event provided high school students with personal and leadership development activities. The group included 50 Canadian students and 50 from the USA.
Mason and Emma provided club members with an enthusiastic and positive outline of their experience. Outstanding motivation speakers and trust building exercises in particular left participants with the belief that everyone can become a leader. Good lesson and a great presentation.
World Affairs Seminar – Oonagh Burns
World Affairs Seminar is the vision of Rotarian Dr. Dale Brock whose vision was to bring about better understanding of world problems among a select group of young people from around the world. Students from 14 countries attended this week long event at Carroll University in Wisconsin. The focus of 2014 was World Health – Issues and Responsibilities. Oonagh outlined for the members some of the highlights of what was clearly an outstanding experience. Seminar leaders such as well- known speaker Eric Plattsburg who spoke on how to achieve happiness in life and others who spoke on the benefits of meditation left a strong impression on the participants. Of particular significance were a group of speakers, one of whom was blind, another deaf and a third who is schizophrenic who spoke on how to be positive. Very moving. A presentations on how Rotary is very close to eradicating polio was also a feature. Apparently the week was not only educational and challenging, it was also a great deal of fun. Great presentation.
Our presenter today was Maria Topalovic. Maria spoke to the group on Contributions to Sustainable Communities. Maria provided a most interesting an informative perspective into a topic that is of concern to all.
Maria, an environmental professional completed a Masters of Engineering and Public Policy at McMaster and is a resident of Hamilton. In addition to her work with Holcim Canada she is also Chair of the Hamilton Sustainability Network. Holcim Canada manufactures cement, aggregate and ready mix concrete and provides construction services to many of Canada’s largest infrastructure projects. Corporate social responsibility is a major force in this organization. To that end the company operates local Community Advisory Panels in communities where facilities are located. The company works alongside local communities on initiatives related to education and training, sustainable community development and improvements in local infrastructure. Maria suggests a typical day could a range of activities from taking field samples and data analysis to working collaboratively with a varied group of stakeholders.
The Hamilton Sustainability Professionals Network (SPN) was established to engage both individuals and groups that work in or study the field of sustainability. The purpose is to provide networking opportunities to allow collaboration on projects and potentially to develop new projects to further sustainability in Hamilton.
Spinal cord injury affects 86 000 Canadians with 4300 new cases a year. Over 50% are caused by traumatic events. Dr. Audrey Hicks is the founding director of the Mac Wheelers, an innovative McMaster University program that provides locomotor and strength training to the injured.
This twice weekly program helps develop strength, aerobic capacity and perceived quality of life. Individuals with spinal cord injuries who are inactive have increased risk of secondary health complications. Because it is linked to the kinesiology department at McMaster, a significant number of volunteer students are available to provide one-to-one assistance which is at the heart of the program. Manual and robotic assisted body weight supported tread mill training help improve the functional walking ability of the 65 weekly participants.
The Mac Wheelers program is integrated into both the academic and research streams at the university. Besides undergraduate student volunteers there are opportunities for kinesiology theses and research projects where the Mac Wheelers members serve as study subjects for numerous research projects each year.
There are challenges: sustainability and funding being the key ones. What is needed is a steady stream of money to continue the project which started in 1999. The equipment is expensive and although the volunteers are free, there is a cost involved in keeping them well trained to work with spinal cord injuries. As well, the program is expanding into the MS population.
Alternate sources of funding are needed and Colleen Cupido,the director of experiencial education and business development is tasked with finding these sources to keep the program going.
Go to http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/pace/programs/mac-wheelers for more information on how you can be part of the program or help to support it.
The Mac Wheelers: The best equipped wheelchair accessible exercise program in the country
Twenty-seven members and guests were present this morning not including Joe and Irene who dropped by to make donations to the upcoming lobster rib fest. We welcomed William Playdon guest of Marnee, Pam Mulholland guest of Ken, and Kelton Freidrich our guest speaker. Happy upcoming birthday to Joe.
Bill asked for and received the members' OK to donate $1000 to Dundas Community Services. He also indicated that he had plenty of auction items but was still accepting more. Glen thanked everyone for the 40 or so bottles of wine for the draw. Please give him your ticket money and any unsold tickets. We need those unsold tickets to be sold at the door to walk ins. Don't just return the tickets to the meeting next Tuesday! Give them to Glen before the event starts.
Ken met a couple from Toronto at the Dundas Museum who purchased a house in Pleasant Valley as their "weekend home". They like the Valley Town so much that it is now a place for them to vacation. Shirley's exchange student is off to Algonquin Park for the leadership camp. That leaves she and Mike alone to celebrate his upcoming birthday.
Bruce went golfing for the first time this spring and was happy with his game. Probably not as happy as Barbara who recently retired and returned from vacationing in France.
Phil then introduced guest speaker Kelton Freidrich who was later thanked by David Carson.
A soon to be built engineering and student centre at McMaster Univsersity uses the integrated design approach rather than the traditional design approach. Kelton Freidrich, the project facilitator, says the approach starts with the architects and engineers as well as the other stakeholders working cooperatively from the onset of the project to cooperatively design the bulding.
The Gerald Hatch Engineering Centre for Experential Learning is all about the hands on approach from the original design to the building's actual use. The triple bottom line brings together the project, the people and the planet so that decisions are made to benefit all three.
The 20 000 sq. ft. complex is budgeted for $8.5 million of which Mac's engineering students are contributing $2 million and another $6.5 million will be donated. For more information go to eng.mcmaster.ca/excel
ExCell… A Model of Sustainability and Educational Integration
Between 10 000 and 12 000 people attended the annual Fireworks at the Dundas Driving Park on Sunday May 18. Awesome! Outstanding! These were typical comments as the crowd made its way out of the park after the display ended. The bands entertained and the food trucks added to the ongoing family picnics that preceeded the fireworks. The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club coordinates this annual event for the City of Hamilton.
Along with the usual breakfast this morning, the cook made a pizza with egg and ham. Different and really good. We welcomed Peter Dendekker, guest of Bruce, and Dr. David Galbraith our guest speaker.
President Jan started off by thanking everybody who volunteered for the fireworks. It was a very successful event that could not have happened without both the members and their family and friends. Special thanks to Ken and George for coordinating the event. George also thanked everyone and Ken indicated that we grossed around $14 000 from the gate, food trucks and 50/50 draw.
Thanks also to William Pleydon, Marnee's friend who took all of the above photos.
Jan reminded us of the June 10 meeting with the noon club. She needs to know if you will attend. No morning meeting that day. Board members please note the meeting on May 28 at Jessica's home. Glen asks that unsold lobster rib tickets be returned next Tuesday and that all money collected so far be handed in to him. Bill needs more auction items.
Happy Dollars from Shirley who brought three exchange students to work at the fireworks; Bob Morrow for his birthday; David Carson for his daughter's birthday; Phil and Barb who celebrate their 42 anniversary and Derek who is a great granddad. Ken also received a phone call from David Lowery who checked on how the club did at the fireworks. Even at the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice David is thinking of us.
Ralph's unsung hero is Bill Armstrong who looks after security at all our events, manages the silent auction at the lobster rib fest,is on the board and marches in the annual Remembrance Day parade.
Hamilton is greener than many think with fantastic urban forests networked throughout the city says Dr. David Galbraith, head of science for the Royal Botanical Gardens. As part of the Niagara Escarpment UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve the beautiful natural surroundings integrate people with nature. It gives us a sense of place where we can live, remember and renew our connections with nature.
With the purchase of the Peasant View property the area is now the only wetlands of the Great Lakes that are connected to the escarpment. The establishment of the Eco Park System has linked many different agencies together to help buffer against change while managing the development and natural areas. Egrets, osprey and bald eagles live within the city limits and the natural areas expand as regrowth returns. Engaging the community through stewartship and development projects like the Rotary Clubs of Dundas are undertaking in the Velduis property will help preserve and regrow the area of Dundas that was once part of the Desjardins Canal. People can live healthier lives through smart development.
The Cootes to Escarpment Eco Park System: Protecting our Remarkable Natural and Cultural Heritage
Today was a club assembly where the board gives a snapshot of the club's efforts over the past four months. There were 24 members and guests present. We welcomed Pete Dendekker and Charles Long guests of Bruce, and Sydney Van Bakel, Marnee's daughter who will use her architectural skills to help with the club's Eco Park project. We also welcomed back past president Joe Guedes who has been travelling with Anne for the past 10 months. This was the club's first opportunity to present Joe with governor Kevin's Head, Hands and Heart Award.
Bruce filled in as Sergeant-at-Arms with two jokes and then did a mini classification. We learned he was born in Ancaster, married in 1978 and started his business 30 years ago in 1984. We can also call him, "Stupid Canupid". Ask him why if you were not at the meeting this morning.
Ross also did a mini classification. He was born in 1944, attended Westdale High School and after a year at the University of Buffalo went into the insurance adjusting business. In 1979 he started Bannatyne and Company which grew to a staff of 15. Ross specialized in errors and omissions claims and sold the business in 2004. Ross and his grandson Thomas helped out at shredding day on Saturday.
Announcements: George needs more volunteers for this Sunday's fireworks. Please ask your friends to help out. Be at the park for 6:00 PM. Glen asks that you bring any unsold lobster rib fest tickets to next week's meeting. Also bring your money. He still wants more wine for the wheelbarrow draw. Bill is also looking for more items for the auction.
Happy dollars: Glen attended his grand-daughter's wedding; Joe is back; Wayne Massey played golf with his family; Bill was pleased Montreal beat Boston; and, Carl is back from New York City and his visit to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Club Assembly: Art reported the tailgagte party is planned for October 4 prior to the Ticat game. Tickets cost $50 each and will get you into the game as well as the bus there and back. This is an opportunity for the two Dundas Rotary clubs to raise $10 000 towards the Eco Park. Get you friends to buy tickets and share in the party. Bill reported that Community Services has given out $10 000 of its $12 000 budget. The last remaining donation will be made to St. Joseph's Villa Foundation at the Lobster Rib Fest. Rob had a written Youth Services report. The club has supported Slapshot, a student to the World Affairs Seminar in Wisconsin, Claire Harkeness' registration to the International RYLA conference in Australia, a student to Adventures in Citizenship in Ottawa. As well, there are elementary school awards for June and the Ken Turner Award yet to be presented.
Barbara's International Services report was given by Jan (Barbara is in France). The $8000 budget has spent $1000 for disaster relief to the Philippines, $1000 for Wells in Haiti and $250 for a student linked with the Mercy Foundation. $3000 of the budget will be set aside with last year's $3000 to build up a sinking fund for a future international project that meets The Rotary Foundation criteria of $15 000 minimum club contribution for a matching grant. The club continues its support of the Ripple Program with a $2000 donation for a new school in Los Tarayes, Guatemala.
Vocational Services director Irene is on leave but reports two off site visits: the Dundas firehall and the Dundas Museum. Shirley reported that the club and members have now donated just under $12 000 to The Rotary Foundation. The Paul Harris Dinner was a success, awarding five community PHF and one to club member David Carson. She also indicated the club wants to be an EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) club which means not only must the club give an average of $100 per member (club donations included) but each member must make a personal contribution, even as little as $10.
Treasurer Ken reported this year's budget set at $40 000 was increased by $5000 to accomodate the Eco Park contribution. So far $28 000 has been committed. To date we raised $11 000 towards next year's budget. There is $8000 in the club's foundation account.
Ralph distributed a report on Public Relations and a Unique Value Proposition follow up summary of the Membership workshop from January. He reminded everyone that it is the individual Rotarian who suggests names of possible new members. Please use the Unique Value Proposition summary when looking for possible new members. Ralph also indicated that the recent shredding day netted over $1300 and along with last October's shredding day brought over $2100 into the club. The community likes the service and is waiting for the fall shredding day.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is a regular supporter of the Dundas Food Bank. Shirley Molloy from the Salvation Army accepts $1000 from club Community Services director, Bill Armstrong.
The semi-annual shredding day was once again a great success and much appreciated by the community. Sydney and Adam Van Bakel assist Ray Dunmore place his documents in the shredding bin.
Sue Matchett watches as technician Shawn Mueller operates the shredding truck.
Besides providing a service to the community, the club raises funds for various service projects including the world wide elimination of polio. Here, president Jan Southall accepts payment from Mick and Lil Stewart. The fall shredding date is tentatively scheduled for September 28
We welcomed our guest speaker, David Carter from Innovation Factory, as well as Bruce Eccles who returned from several months in the south. SAA Dave thanked Shirley and her team(Bob Morrow and Ralph) for organizing a great Paul Harris celebration. Dave also distributed donation cards from the club's visit to the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice last week. President Jan followed up with a thank you letter from Tom Tustian one of the club's Paul Harris Fellows and a thank you from Sue Lowery for our visit to see David and the hospice. Jan thanked Bob Neibert for driving to the district assembly on Saturday and Wayne McHale, Bob Morrow and Ralph for attending with them. She circulated a flyer about a fundraiser for a young boy with a rare disorder. It is May 14 at Copetown Woods for anyone interested in going.
George and the club need volunteers for the fireworks on May 18. Please put your name and anyone else from your cirlce of friends who can work that evening on his list. We need close to 50 volunteers and our club does not have that many members!
Community Services director Bill moved that $1000 be donated to the Dundas Food Bank. Motion passed unanimously. Glen thanked all the wine donators but needs more for the draw at the Lobster Rib Fest on May 31. He has a few tickets left if you need more.
Shredding Day is this Saturday from 9 to noon at Eccles Uptown. There are 6 or 7 volunteers so far. Let Ralph know if you can spend an hour or so helping out. Ralph celebrated his birthday as did Alycia's fiancee Matt who turned 30, just 37 years younger than Ralph. Alycia and Matt have their Stag and Doe this weekend.
Ralph's unsung hero this week is Roger Stewart. He provided the trailer for our float in the Cactus Parade a few years ago, regularly does the wine and food for our socials and events, decorates the Christmas Tree at the rink, and provided the machinery and operator to build the Rotary Community Garden. Roger is always there to help.
Phil is off to university visits in the US and will take in a Pirates game. Carl is off to NYC where he will see the Mets play and Grant and family are off to a quiet and relaxing week at Disney World in Florida. Quiet and relaxing...yeah right!
Bob Morrow visited Olympia, Greece and ran (jogged, walked) the 212 m long track. And, Wayne Massey did his last, last minute income tax shortly before the deadline. He managed to get this done after planning a busy in-house retirement party for Helen on Saturday.
David Carter, executive director of Innovation Factory leads an organization that helps enterpreneurs make smart decisions.
Where else can an up-and-coming business or enterpreneur get free advice and improve the chances of succeeding? Innovation Factory is the catalyst to carry an initial idea through discovery, validation, efficiency and scale. As well, it can help small and medium sized existing enterprises expand product lines and improve operational efficiencies. By bringing together a variety of resources Innovation Factory builds an ecosystem that drives economic growth in the information and communication, health sciences, advanced manufacturing, energy and environment, and the social sectors. Using business and professional volunteers and executives in residence pitfalls can be avoided and money and time saved. Innovation Factory is part of the Ontario Network of Enterpreneurs. Go to innovationfactory.ca/ for more information.
A wonderful evening of celebration as the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club honoured community and club members with Paul Harris Fellowships at Copetown Woods Golf Club.
And the award winners are:
Tom Tustian presented by Lynne Morrow
Rob Roi presented by Barbara Busing and Kanwal Shankardass.
Wayne Gale presented by Mike Dixon, Bob Morrow and Ralph Montesanto
Sue and David Carson presented by club president Jan Southall and Ralph Montesanto
Barbara Montesanto presented by Bob Morrow, Ralph Montesanto and Kanwal Shankardass.
Before the Paul Harris presentations Bob Morrow introduced guest speaker Dr. Mike Dixon, project leader of the Space and Advanced Life Support Agriculture Program.
And club Rotary Foundation Director Shirley Molloy presented District Governor Kevin Crouse with a $1500 contribution towards The Rotary Foundation's Polio Plus program.
What a great meeting we had this morning at the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice. With the help of Kylie in the kitchen and several other volunteers the hospice put on a fabulous spread for breakfast. Way more than we were expecting. During the meeting the club affirmed the board's motion to donate $2000 towards this year's Telling Tales. As well, the following were again promoted: Scrap metal collection May 3 at Olympic Arena (electronics too), shredding day May 10 (Ralph needs volunteers), and silent auction and lobster tickets. After breakfast Jan Nichols gave a short history of the hospice and then a moving video featuring David and Sue. Afterwards, everyone took a tour with David as our guide.
David was in high spirits and sends you his greetings.
Club member David Lowery has stage four prostate cancer and is staying at the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice. At his suggestion the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise held its morning meeting at the hospice. David and his wife Sue were in high spirits as they welcomed Bill Armstrong and club members to this outstanding palliative care home. Jan Nichols, the Director of Development and Community Relations, outlined how the hospice came to be and how the Rotary Club of Hamilton-East Wentworth donated $100 000 towards the building campaign. Seven years later, the compassion and care of the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice helps individuals and families learn how to die a good death.
With 10 beds, a community outreach program of 100 volunteers and a new program for children at Camp Erin, the hospice supports those with life-limiting illnesses and charges nothing. As part of the club's visit members previewed a video for the upcoming Paint the Town Red Gala. Both David and Sue are highlighted in the video. Fundraisers and donations provide a significant part of the hospice's budget and along with the Paint the Town Red function there is the June 14th Dr. Bob Kemp Hike for the Hospice and a new, "I support the hospice because ..." donation card.
David was in such positive spirits that he even gave two bottles of wine to Glen Mumberson to go towards the upcoming Lobster and Rib Fest Dinner on May 31.
There were 20 members plus our guest speaker, David Heidebrecht in attendance. Bill Armstrong filled in as Sergeant-at-Arms for David Carson who was home doing grandfather duties for his second grandchild - a granddaughter. President Jan indicated that five members were going to the District Assembly on May 3. There is still room for more to attend and the club will pick up the registration fee. Jan also asked us to look for potential new members. We need to identify them and put their names forward to the membership committee. Jan also reminded board members of the meeting this Wednesday at Barb Busing's home, 46 Giffin Road in Dundas, just off Moss Blvd and Governors' Road
Art explained the October 4 Eco Park fundraiser selling TiCat tickets. On his committee are Grant, Bill and Ross. He is looking for a couple more. Ken reminded us that our Eco Park commitment is not just cash but includes sweat equity, our wisdom and the leveraging of our contacts for in-kind work or products. Ralph announced the shredding day on May 10. He will need 5 or 6 volunteers that day. He also indicated the special meeting on April 29 at the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice. Around a dozen members will be able to attend that morning at 7:15 to visit David Lowery and tour the home.
Bill reminded us that lots of volunteers are needed to make the Victoria Day fireworks event a success. Please ask family and friends to help. George Gould has the list of volunteer opportunities. Glen has Lobster Rib Fest tickets and asked for wine for the draw. Bill, of course, is still looking for auction items. Shirley indicated there is no morning meeting at East Side Marios next Tuesday because it is the Paul Harris Dinner at Copetown Woods.
International Services director Barb read a note of thanks from Roy Sheldrick for the club's $1000 donation to the water and sanitation projects in Haiti. On a happy dollar note, Barb retires next week. Randy had a sad dollar because his schedule change means he has classes for the next 8 weeks and will miss the morning meetings. Shirley is playing den mother to a Japanese girl who is on youth exchange at her husband Mike's Rotary club. Jan returned from a week of cruising in the Caribbean and Alycia will be off to NS and PEI for a conference; David Matchett returned from visiting his son in Vancouver; Wayne's Massey's wife Helen has retired; and Jessica's son Desmond is following his dream honouring his musical talent.
Ralph continued his "Unsung Heroes" happy dollars, highlighting Derek Price for his efforts with Art in the Park and the Eco Park. As well, Derek was also involved in other community work, helping to remodel the Dundas Museum and advising on the Grightmire Arena remodelling.
Following happy dollars, program coordinator Phil introduced guest speaker David Heidebrecht.
David Heidebrecht grew up in Dundas and attained a Masters degree in Globalization Studies at McMaster University. David's company, David Heidebrecht Project Solutions is based on the collaboration model. He travelled to Africa and India and uses photography to focus attention on a variety of issues from BC's Northern Gateway Project and the Sacred Headwaters to global health issues and the Stream of Dreams. Living in Hamilton, he wants to help shape the future of the city, from bike parks, to two-way traffic, to light rapid transit, to the Eco Park. He uses his blog and Twitter to share ideas and viewpoints and believes that McMaster University has a significant part to play in making Hamilton a better city. Based on the number of questions following his presentation it was clear that his passion for a better city is shared by club members.
Find out more about David on his website, DavidHeidebrecht.com
Fostering a Collaborative Approach to City Building in Hamilton
We welcomed Kelly Biagi, our guest speaker and Roy Sheldrick from the Ancaster Rotary Club. Ralph collected for the upcoming Paul Harris Dinner on April 29 and Glen continued to disperse Lobster Rib Fest tickets. Ken returned from three months in Florida and immediately got into the Victoria Day Fireworks mode asking for volunteers - club members and their friends, relations and neighbours. Please put May 18 into your calendar when all hands will be needed.
Today is Wayne McHale's birthday and he is soon to have another grandson. Mary-Lou is also celebrating a birthday later in the week. Roy Sheldrick turned 80 last month and is now a great grandfather. George turned 60 in March and is glad to be back after several weeks absence. Wayne Massey was happy that his wife Helen has only two more days left until she retires.
Ralph had a happy dollar for a club unsung hero. He recognized Glen for all his work over the past years as coordinator of Entertainment Books, manager of Lobster Rib Fest tickets, and purveyor of wine for wheelbarrow draws along with a host of other behind the scenes activities that keep our club functioning.
Following Happy Dollars, program chair Phil introduced our guest speaker Kelly Biagi who was later thanked by Dave Carson.
Roy Sheldrick from the Ancaster Rotary Club accepted a cheque for $1000 from International Services director Barbara Busing as the club's continuing effort to support the Water for Life project in the Artibonite Valley of Haiti. To date Roy has raised over $2.2 million and drilled 252 wells that are managed by local community committees that keep them running, even after 17 years. Our support will go towards his latest Rotary Foundation grant to build cisterns in 16 mountain villages that are not accessible by roads. The cisterns will store rain so that villagers will not need to walk 4 - 5 hours to get drinking water.
Kelly Biagi, a masters student at McMaster University in the School of Earth Sciences completed a two week trip to Antarctica aboard the Ushuaia as part of the Students on Ice Program. After flying from Toronto to the southern most city of Ushuaia in Argentina she and a group of other students crossed the Drake Passage for nine days of exploration and zodiac excursions to Elephant Island and the Antarctic peninsula. As part of the trip she enrolled in an onboard course where she took water and ice core samples. She studied air and water temperatures as well as phytoplankton which is abundant around sea ice and icebergs and forms the basis of the food chain for krill, penguins and whales. Kelly talked about global warming, the greenhouse effect, the giant ozone hole above Antarctica and the fact that the peninsula has warmed 2.5 degrees C in the last 50 years.
Kelly had plenty of photos she took of penguins, whales, seals and ice bergs. She even had one of her taking the ultimate polar bear dip in water that was 0.3 degrees C.
To the End of the Earth and Back: Exploring Antarctica
We welcomed guest speaker Bob Knuckle and Ralph's guests Premlata Rao and her daughter Sahana. It was great to see Barry Stoltz return after a long job related absence. A number of club members visited David Lowery at the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice and David took the time to send an email to president Jan asking her to thank the members for thinking of him and for the flowers.
President Jan reminded everyone to look at the district website, Rotary7090.org, and register for the upcoming May 3 District Assembly - a chance to learn more about Rotary at both the club and international level. All members of the Lobster committee are reminded of the meeting at 5:00 PM today at the Dundas Museum. Glen has tickets for the event and everyone is asked to pick up enough for their group.
Art spoke of the October 4 fundraiser with the Tiger Cats. More about this later when the committee has details. This is tied to the Eco Park as a fund raiser. Derek indicated that the design is almost approved for the viewing platform at the "chimney" in the part of the Eco Park that the two Dundas Rotary clubs will be sponsoring.
Happy dollars from Glen who is a great grandfather for the third time; from Jessica who among other things loves the Quebec blood sport of politics; and from Grant. Grant talked about, "Just 3 kids". You really had to be there to get the full impact of what he was saying!
Bob Knuckle has written 11 books and 12 plays. He started in 1992 and actively chose to write in the style of Ernest Hemingway with simple sentences and less flowery language. He was so taken with Hemingway that he has read much of Hemingway's work. He wanted to write a play about Hemingway but the man was too enormous to get into a two hour play. So, he decided to look at one facet of Hemingway's life and now he is in the process of producing his latest play, Hemingway and His Women. Rehearsals have already started at Marion Hall in Freelton in preparation for the play's opening at the Dundas Little Theatre May 22 - 24 and May 29 - 31. The play is directed by Willard Boudreau and tickets are $20.
Sergeant-at-Arms Dave read a number of facts he gleaned from the internet that must be true. By the time he read the third one Jessica remarked, "April Fools". Happy Birthday to Sue Carson and Randy Abel. President Jan asked all members to look at the District website for the upcoming District Assembly on May 3. It takes place at the Niagara Falls Convention Center in Niagara Falls NY. All incoming club officers should attend as well as any other club member who wants to learn more about Rotary. The club picks up the cost. Jan also read a thank you note from Julie Densham of the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board Foundation for our recent contribution.
Glen has Lobster and Rib Fest tickets for sale. Please pick up enough for you and your invitees. The two clubs expect to sell over 800 tickets for this our major fundraiser of the year. Glen also needs wine for the raffle at the event. President-elect Bob Neibert promoted the Second Annual Art in the Park which is scheduled for September 21. He is looking for committee members for the event.
Ralph read notes from Joe Guedes who is still driving his RV through the southern states and from past youth exchange student Nico Papp who spent three months in California working in the hospitality industry at Lake Tahoe. Nico just became an uncle and is now back in Alta Gracia Argentina going back to university. Ralph also asked everyone to distribute the email flier of the May 10 shredding day to their circle of friends and acquaintances.
Shirley reminded all to remember to make their contributions to The Rotary Foundation and to attend the Paul Harris Dinner on April 29 at Copetown Woods Golf Course.
David Matchett visited David Lowery who is now at the Bob Kemp Hospice in Hamilton. David would welcome any club members who would like to visit him at the hospice.
There were a number of Happy Dollars this morning. Bill commented on Dave Carson's article in the Hamilton Spectator as did Derek who said his coffee group at Tim Horton's were all talking about it. Wayne Massey's grandson turned 17 today and Jessica celebrated her sister's 5th anniversary living with her and how upbeat David Lowery was at the Christmas party.
Bob Neibert made a donation to offset the carbon tax for his flights to Cuba and Alycia completed her marriage course at her church - a good sign that things are moving forward.
Following announcements and happy Dollars our program coordinator Phil gave a great introduction to Ryan Moran our guest speaker who was also president of the student union at McMaster University during Phil's tenure there. After Ryan's captivating talk, Phil thanked him.
President Jan Southall and club Community Services director Bill Armstrong presented Charlotte Shipley from the Routes Youth Centre with a VIP package for the upcoming Allan Cup Hockey Tournament that takes place in two weeks. The package includes two tickets to all games, opportunities to meet the players and a hockey sweater. Charlotte said she would hold a draw to honour exceptional behaviour of Routes students and to encourage past Roots students to return for a visit.
Ryan Moran is a very creative, young individual who is a marketing and media strategist. He captivated club members with his enthusiastic and research based information on Hamilton. Invention, innovation and creation are his buzz words. Ryan has two jobs. He works for Factor(e) a design studio on Lock Street that has 16 full-time employees who are focused on creative freedom, open collaboration and uncompromising quality. His second calling is Hamilton Hive a network for young people (15 to around 40 years old) that links young professional groups in Hamilton. He is confident that this group of young professionals has the ability to direct change in Hamilton. Hamilton Hive has four strategies for youth: Attraction, Retention, Engagement and Development.
For more information check out the websites, Factore.ca and Hamiltonhive.ca
Twenty members and our guest, Andrea Buttars joined us this morning. Announcements from Glen included distribution of Lobster-Rib Dinner tickets and a call for wine to raffle for the May 31 event. Barbara informed us of the thank you letter from the Ripple Effect Program for the club's recent $2000 donation to help with the construction of the Los Tarayes school in Guatemala. The club will also be making a $1000 donation to Water Wells in Haiti at the lobster dinner. Ralph took part in the 10th Annual World Water Day Walkathon with Roy Sheldrick. The event, a partnership with The City of Hamilton and the water department raised $20 800 this year combining to a total of $190 000 since 2005. Bill, who is chairing the silent auction at the May 31 event is looking to add to the three auction items he has so far. He indicated that the club will also donate several Allan Cup Hockey tickets to Roots. And, Carl and crew removed the last remaining lights and bulbs from the tree at the skating rink. He was pleased to announce that there were no black flies or mosquitos last Saturday.
Happy dollars from Phil who won the 50/50 draw which was reintroduced this morning and a Happy Birthday to Lynne Morrow. Randy is finishing of his acting stint at the Rockton Dinner Theatre and Bill has just about seen the completion of his bathroom renovations. With that our Sergeant-at-Arms Dave announced he is now a great uncle and turned the program over to Phil who introduced guest speaker, Andrea Buttars.
Andrea Buttars, program director at Wesley Urban Ministries outlined the various support programs that help children, youth and families, regularly assisting 1250 individuals on a daily basis. Programs cover three areas: Children Youth and Family, Housing and Homelessness, and Neighbourhood and Newcomer Services. With over 30 programs in 19 locations the organization is committed to making a long term impact. Using evidence based research to plan and make decisions Wesley Urban Ministries works with newborns to seniors and is responsive to both individuals and neighbourhoods. In 2013 it launched the first social enterprise that offered interpretation and translation services for a fee with the funds used to help others. Another addition to the services provided is assisting up to 320 refugees a year that come to the City of Hamilton.
The organization has a full time and part time staff of 200 with an additional 150 providing relief services. The largest majority of funding is provided by various levels of government with smaller amounts coming from foundations, businesses and individual donations.
Wesley Urban Ministries: Homelessness and Poverty in Hamilton
Sergeant-at-Arms Dave welcomed Roger and Ralph back from extended vacations. President Jan announced that the Rotary Leadership Institute would be held on March 29 and if anyone was interested in attending the session near Lewiston NY that the club would cover the cost of registration. A number of club members have taken the courses and more are encouraged to do so. Shirley reminded everyone of the Paul Harris Dinner on April 29 at Copetown Woods. She is also looking for nominations both in the community and within the club to receive the award. If you have someone in mind please let her know ASAP. Dave also reminded everyone that rain barrels would be for sale on April 5 at St. Mark's Church. This Friday is the 10th annual World Water Day Walkathon. Roy Sheldrick, Mr. Water Wells in Haiti, welcomes all walkers to this 5 k event at the water plant in east Hamilton. And, Carl will be removing any lights and balls from the Christmas tree in the park that have not already been removed by collectors. Be there for 9 AM if you want to help. Shirley wondered if east coast time was that much different since it is now MARCH.
Happy dollars from George who celebrated his 60th birthday on the weekend. George wanted to drink 300 different beers when he retired three years ago and has already surpassed that number. How does he stay thin? Stephen saw George renting a carpet cleaner after his party and wondered if it had anything to do with the 300 beers. Jessica welcomed George into the over 60 club.
Alycia did a make up in Georgetown and was excited that her Rotary Exchange host sisters will be coming to her wedding. Bob Morrow who is Mr. Tomatosphere, wondered why the Barstow Pregnancy Clinic which is using the tomato seeds was unable to getting any to germinate. Seems odd. Ralph returned from Florida three weeks early to help look after his mother-in-law who was discharged from hospital but unable to return to her home and is now living with Barb and him. And, Phil was just happy that the temperature today would go above freezing.
A side note to board members: the board meeting you might have in your schedule for this month will not be taking place. Next board meeting is April 23.
Following announcements and happy dollars the 19 members in attendance welcomed Wayne McHale to do his classification talk.
Wayne McHale has been in the club less than a year and already has stepped in to help edit the weekly newsletter. Next year he will take on the role of director of public relations for the club. It was clear from his classification talk that learning for Wayne is an ongoing expectation. He talked about his 35 years as a certified general accountant and how his various positions with Moore Corporation, a business form company, has been an ongoing apprenticeship - from working on the floor, to plant supervisor, to cost accounting and internal auditing through to plant controller. As the company restructured he became plant and logistic manager at one of the 19 plants operated by the company and then VP Commercial Print for North America and VP Operations and Logistics Canada. Eventually the 120 year old company was sold to a US company and Wayne's job was over. Following that he started a printing business acquisition company that ran for two years before becoming GM for Ricoh a company with head office in Japan. Wayne said the Japanese have a different style and are very good at what they do and he continued to learn from them. That was his last job as an employee and ended his 35 year career as an apprentice. He is now running his own consulting company, Wayne McHale and Associates, which provides small business mentoring and networking.
Wayne is married to Michelle, has two sons, Eric and Dan, and three grandchildren (with another on the way). Family is very important and they enjoy every opportunity to be together especially at their cottage in Quebec.
Wayne is a die hard Habs fan, loves to golf and travel and is extending his 35 year apprenticeship as he teaches himself how to play guitar.
Jessica Brennan reminded members that a duty roster to the end of June had been distributed.
Shirley Molloy - Paul Harris Dinner planned for April 29th will be held at Copetown Woods. Shirley also asked that members complete a form for nominations for Paul Harris awards and return them as soon as possible. Members are reminded that cheques for foundation (Every Rotarian Every Year) should be made out to Rotary Foundation of Canada.
Jan Southall reminded those present of a Lobsterfest meeting and to ensure that everyone sign up for volunteer activities in this most important undertaking.
Rob Reid provided an update on youth activities as follows:
Attending Slapshot Program in Ancaster, Emma Lawson and Mason Puppa
Attending the Adventures in Citizenship in Ottawa – Jackson Holmes
Attending World Affairs Seminar at Carroll University, Waukesha Wisconsin – Oonagh Burns.
Dave Matchett reported on progress on the Eco Park initiative which is now at the design review stage.
Happy $
Phil Wood – a contribution and a reminder that St. Marks Church has arranged a trip to Uncle Tom’s Cabin on April 9th.
Grant Armstrong – thanks to Dad to use of his appliances.
Shirley Molly – thankful that her appliances are working.
Derek Price – for a paperless society (tongue firmly in cheek)
Wayne Massey – wife’s retirement delayed..
Our guest speaker, Joey Coleman – happy to be here.
Our guest speaker today is Joey Coleman. Joey is Canada’s first crowdfunded local journalist, covering all things Hamilton with a specific focus on civic affairs. He covers every single Council, committee, and major sub-committee meetings. In addition he covers Police Services Board and the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. Born and raised in Hamilton as a ward of the children’s aid society, Joey credits the East Hamilton Boys and Girls Club with providing a positive and impactful set of experiences. Follow a three year term in the military, Joey attended university and became active in student politics. He joined McLean’s magazine covering higher education and worked for the Globe and Mail prior to assuming his current role as an independent journalist. Joey is of the opinion that journalism is moving to a more public service aspect and away from sensationalism and appealing to advertisers and is in fact a pioneer in this movement.
Janet Southall suggested members set aside Sunday September 21st to attend the second annual Art In The Park event. This will be held at the Dundas Driving Park.
Janet also let the membership know that Claire Harkness has been approved to attend the Australia conference.
Harold Gruneberg passed around a Lobster Rib Fest volunteer sheet requesting that members indicate how they wish to contribute to this important event.
Happy $ were contributed by:
Carl Fraser – both Carl and wife Linda celebrated birthdays.
Phil Woods – reminding us of a pancake dinner at St. Marks United Church.
Shirley Molloy – reminder of the Paul Harris Dinner April 19th.
Randy Abel – who has taken on a role with the Rockton Dinner Theatre. Break a leg Randy!
Grant Armstrong – his store, which recently received a community service award will be the site of an International Women’s Day networking event.
Derek Price – just returned from (Rotary South) Florida.
Dave Matchett – in support of Canada’s Paralympic Team. Go Canada.
Our guest speaker today was Randy Kay. Randy provided a detailed history of the relationship between McMaster University, Royal Botanical Gardens (RGB) and the intended versus ultimate use of a unique landscape. Specifically, the talk dealt with land currently identified as McMaster’s parking lot “M” and its former identity as Coldspring Valley Nature Sanctuary. The land was purchased by McMaster from RGB in 1963. The land was deemed necessary to accommodate future parking requirements. As it turns out, the need was grossly overstated and to this day the lot remains significantly underutilized. The good news is that efforts to restore the land to its natural state have resulted in progress. This spring McMaster will be removing hundreds of parking spaces to create a 30m naturalized buffer between the creek and parking. This is a good start, but falls short of the potential to erase the footprint of excess parking and rehabilitate the beauty of this river valley to its more natural function; as a floodplain, as specialized habitat for at risk species, a natural system integral to the health of Cootes Paradise. McMaster researchers are interested in creating an on-campus outdoor research facility and are being encouraged to take the next logical step to make this innovative teaching facility a reality.
Happy Birthday wishes were extended to Bruce Eccles.
Barbara Busing - International Report : $ 1,000 for Wells for Haiti and $ 2,000 for Ripple Effect approved by the Board and members present. In addition, a donation of $ 250 was made to Team Ghanna.
Jan Southall presented Barbara Busing with her “Head, Hands and Heart” award.
Claire Harkness would appreciate donations to help reach her goal of $500 for Relay for Life. The link to her fundraising page is provided for your convenience.
Reminder that April 29th is the Paul Harris Dinner which will be held at Copetown Woods.
Happy Dollars
Phil Wood and Wayne McHale in recognition of grandchildren’s birthdays.
Alicia Moore is pleased to report of a new career opportunity for her brother.
Bill Armstrong is pleased to report a Chamber of Commerce Award (Waterdown) was received for Son and member Grant’s Staples Canada store.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner - apparently a great time was had by all resulting in Happy $ from Bill Armstrong, Dave Carson, Vlad Veckie and Shirley Molloy,
From Paul Clifford on having two grandsons who have now served as Pages in Ontario Legislature
Shirley Molloy, a difficult start to 2014, but thankful for the chance to complete a much anticipated vacation
Bruce Eccles in recognition of an outstanding effort from all members of Team Canada.
Our guest speaker today was Julie Densham. Julie is a Foundation Development Officer with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. The goals of the HWDSB Foundation are to serve the Hamilton-Wentworth community with passion and commitment, with a shared vision towards excellence.
The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board Foundation is a registered charitable organization and is the charitable arm of the Board. Established in 1976, the Foundation is committed to enhancing the school experience by providing a welcoming and inclusive environment that nurtures personal achievement. The Foundation believes strongly that all students deserve an equal opportunity to reach their potential in educational and personal endeavors. For a large number of students in the City of Hamilton, poverty is a significant barrier to success. The Foundation works in tandem with donors and community partners to alleviate some of the short term effects poverty has on children.
Saturday night "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" was hosted at two of our members' homes - Bob and Lynn Morrow and Dave and Sue Carson. Surprise guests enjoyed fine food and fellowship and just a little wine!
Pictured below are the diners at Bob and Lynn Morrow's place.
President Jan offered her congratulations to all those involved in a very successful Winter Carnival held on Saturday February 15th at the Dundas Driving Park. Carl Fraser commented specifically on the success of the Horse and wagon rides, the fact that 21 litres of cider were consumed and that next year he will not be a horses backside. A very successful, well attended event.
Art Sampson reminded everyone of the Routes dinner on February 28th.
Happy birthday wishes were extended to Ross Bannatyne
Happy Dollars.
- Carl Fraser for the Winter Carnival success.
- Barbara Busing announcing her retirement.
- Bruce Eccles on just returning from Florida and on leaving next week for another 2 month stay
Our guest speaker today is Dr. Callum Peever, B.Kin., D.C.. Dr Peever spoke to the group on the Rotaract Club of Mississauga. The Mississauga club, chartered in 2001, currently includes over 50 members and is a winner of the Project of the Continent Award. This is a high energy club and is engaged in many activities in the community. Rotaract which was started in 1968 targets members in the 18 to 35 age group and currently includes over 8,700 clubs in 163 countries. Rotaract brings a number of benefits to Rotary including assistance with projects, youthful ideas and enthusiasm and help in sustaining Rotary clubs. In addition to involvement with the Rotaract Club, Dr. Peever is actively involved the community working to improve the lives of those less fortunate. Callum works out of the Westdale Chiropractic Clinic.
President Jan welcomed guest Elinor Anthony. Elinor is a member of the Little Hats That Grew, a group dedicated to knitting hats, mitts and scarves for children. In 2013 a total of 5,354 items were knitted.
Bill Armstrong reminded everyone of the need for silent auction items.
Winter Carnival is this Saturday February 15th at the Dundas Driving Park. Horse and wagon rides, hot cider and a demonstration skate by the Dundas Figure Skating Club are all part of the fun. Bring your friends.
Jan reminded board members of the meeting scheduled for next week. Please cofirm attendance with her. Location is TBD.
Art Sampson has your ticket for the Routes dinner on February 28th. Ticket prices are $50.
Tickets for the HARRP dinner on February 21st can be obtained from Paul Clifford. Tickets for this event are $100.
The Dundas Rotary Club is presenting a travelogue on March 4th at 7:15 p.m. on Korea-Land of Contrasts. Tickets are $8.
Happy Dollars
Alycia wishes everyone a happy Valentines Day
Jessica, Vlad and Marnie all contributed due to duty roster issues.
The meeting today took place in a newly decorated room at East Side Mario's - the walls being hung with dozens of pictures reflecting the Italian theme of the restaurant.
Announcements
We were reminded of the following events that our members are involved with
Feb 15th – Winter Carnival in Dundas Driving Park – free, please advertise and bring kids, grandkids etc
Feb 21st HARRP Dinner – tickets $100, available from Paul Clifford
Feb 22nd Sunrise Rotary Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner – free – still room to be a guest or a host, contact Dave Carson
Feb 28th Routes Dinner – tickets $50 , available from Art Samson
Happy Dollars
Wayne and Helen Massey celebrate their 47th anniversary today. Marnie returned an Orlando visit and cruise to find her driveway shovelled – a small consolation for the cold weather. Barb Busing also returned from cool Florida where at least there was no snow. Rob Reid was happy to recount his recent attendance at the Grocery Industry annual fundraiser where over $1M each was raised for two charities. Grant Armstrong was happy to have received a Community Service Award – watch out for him on TV next week. Dave has made his largest bowl ever at his pottery classes at Dundas Valley School of Art
Today’s speaker was our own Phil Wood who gave an updated classification talk which included his sabbatical year adventures. Phil began by telling us how he had spent a happy 31 years at McMaster University – first as a Professor in Chemical Engineering, then in academic administration as Director and Chair in Chemical Engineering and then Associate Dean of Engineering. In 2002 he made a career change to AVP of Student Affairs, a non-academic post responsible for developing students as growing citizens and running a wide range of services such as residences, athletics, food, career services. Some of his happiest moments were in sport – hiring coaches, winning a Vanier Cup ring and broadcasting Marauders Basketball.
In July 2013 he began a year’s sabbatical with a trip to the UK, seeing many famous sites and attending a wedding best described as “like Downton Abbey”. Another trip to California involved visits to Stanford and Caltech, both impressive institutions.
Phil is now back to more serious work while on sabbatical, participating in the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, developing methods to assess learning outcomes.
Phil ended by previewing our club speaker program for the next few months – he is lining up some prestigious speakers on very interesting subjects.
A bitterly cold morning at -5F but it was warm in our meeting room. Today we inducted Grant Armstrong and immediately put him to work in one of the membership brainstorming groups that kicked off the clubs drive for more new members.
Reminders of the HARRRP Gala from Paul Clifford, the Guess Who's Coming to Dinner event on February 22 from Dave Carson and the Lobster Rib Dinner on May 31 from silent auction manager Bill Armstrong. A Happy Dollar from Jessica Brennan to formally pay for last week's; Randy Abel who is once again a grandfather; Bruce Eccles as a thank you to Ross Bannatyne for ordering new shirts; President Jan who just returned from Mexico and Ralph who is off to Florida. Dave Carson fined Ross for sending out a Youtube on the virtues of the proposed XL pipeline and then proceeded to give his opinion on why the pipeline is bad. He was immediately ganged up on and forced to pay a fine also.
The membership drive committee planned for a brainstorming session with club members to help them focus on the importance of sponsoring new members to the club. After inducting Grant Armstrong as the newest member, groups were assigned four questions: Why did you join the club? What is unique and valuable about membership here? Where do you think the best possible new members will come from? What should the club as a whole and you as an individual member do to bring in new members?
Ralph Montesanto facilitated the session and Glen Mumberson scribed to large chart paper. Many excellent ideas were generated and these will be collated and distributed to both the membership committee and club members. Today's session was the kick off to a membership drive.
Membership Meeting - The Importance of Being a Sponsor
Grant Armstrong, manager of the Staples store in Waterdown, is the newest member of the club. Grant and Julie live in Dundas. Bill Armstrong, his father, is his proud sponsor. This is the first father and son team in the club.
Come out with your family for a fun afternoon as part of your Family Day weekend celebrations.
Saturday, February 15 at the Rotary Ice Rink in the Dundas Driving Park will see music, hot cider, horse and wagon rides and a demonstration by the Dundas Figure Skating Club.
The rink is open for skating and ice skates are available at The Pad food booth. Be there between noon and 4:00 PM.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is pleased to report a number of our most recent Community Service donations:
- The Dundas Routes Centre (A community based organization assisting local Youth)
- The Dundas Food Bank (A needed community service)
- Dundas Dynamo (A Bantam Girls basketball league)
- Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice (A safe healing program for bereaved individuals in need)
- Hamilton Association for Residential Recreational Redevelopment Programs - HARRRP
- St. Mathews House of Hamilton (In support of their efforts to address community needs)
- The Ancaster Film Festival (To assist in promoting enhancement of local cultural needs)
Additionally, the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club will soon be making other worthwhile donations, targeted to a variety of organizations that will assist those organizations in doing the good work they do for our community.
- The St. Joseph’s Villa Foundation (to assist with their Long Term Care Facility Expansion plans)
- The Salvation Army of Dundas (To assist in addressing a myriad of community needs)
- Dundas Community Services (A worthwhile community Service that actively tackles local needs)
Plus a number of other (yet to be named) community groups and associations who focus their volunteer efforts upon the Youth, Seniors and Needy within our community.
We welcomed Mike Ulmer our guest speaker and soon to be inducted member Grant Armstrong. Upcoming events were promoted this morning. Dave Carson is organizing a Guess Who's Coming to Dinner for February 22. This is a fun evening not to be missed. Tell Dave if you are available for the February 22 social. Carl Fraser indicated that our Winter Carnival is scheduled for Saturday February 15 from noon to 4:00 PM. Music, hot cider, horse and wagon rides, skating and a Dundas Figure Skating Club demonstration. Tell your friends and family to be there. Art Samson and Paul Clifford did their thing for Routes and HARRRP. The Routes Gala is February 28 and costs $50 pp. Guest speaker is 1988 Canadian Olympic basketball player Barry Mungar. The HARRRP Gala is February 21 and costs $100 pp with a substantial tax receipt.
Happy Dollars from Jessica Brennan who completed her Royal Conservatory of Music Vocal Teaching Part 1. It was obviously a great deal of work because she threw in $10. Derek Price returned from Cuba; Stephen Palmer is out to dinner at Quatrefoil; and, Bill Armstrong is happy Seattle is going to the Super Bowl. Wayne Massey's wife Helen was asked to extend her retirement date to the end of April. Good news for Wayne because travel medical insurance is still paid for their upcoming trip to Florida. Vlad Vecki is going south and then cruising. Glen Mumberson tossed in a couple bucks just because we were short on cash to pay for breakfast.
And a notice from Ken Beel our treasurer who is in Florida. Membership dues for January to June are due now. So far only 11 have paid the $100. Please bring your money next week.
Dave Carson our SAA then introduced our guest speaker, Mike Ulmer. After his presentation Bob Morrow thanked him on behalf of the club.
Mike Ulmer, worked as a sports reporter for the Toronto Sun and Maple Leaf Sports. His passion now is written communication and he outlined his ten commandments of effective business writing. 1 - You can do this. 2 - Do not try to sound smarter than you are. 3 - Let your verbs do the work. 4 - Do not use new or big words. 5 - Build your house. 6 - Do up your fly. 7 - Use simple punctuation. 8 - Vary your sentence length. 9 - Respect your reader. Proof your work. 10 - Print out your work. Have someone else read it.
Five and six need explanation. Build your house stresses that 50% of one's message comes in the first few sentences. Take care to make this happen. Do up your fly means don't look foolish. Watch words like it's and its, their and there, we're and were.
Mike stressed that we cannot afford to write poorly and poor writing never goes away. Members commented that social media is destroying good writing, reading aloud is a good way to proof read, and watch those auto correct features on word processors that change words and meanings.
A small crowd welcomed DG Kevin Crouse and guest speaker Jim Sweetman. We heard some really pleasant news and some not so good news. Rob Reid indicated that Claire Harkness will be attending the RYLA convention in Australia. She will be a fabulous ambassador and the club will pick up her registration fee. Fred Amalfi will be recognized at the upcoming Real Estate Board Gala for 40 years in the business. Now the bad news for the club. Kathy Starodub, a long time member is joining the Ancaster Rotary Club. We are sorry to see her leave us but understand that she is no longer a Dundas High School principal and she does live in Ancaster. Barb Montesanto and Marilyn Amalfi are celebrating birthdays this week, Helen Massey will be retired come the end of the month, and Dave Carson returned from a week in Cuba.
If anyone finds an extension cord from Bob Morrow's block heater lost somewhere between his house and downtown Dundas please return it to him. And, if anyone is interested in coordinating a Guess Who's Coming To Dinner please tell Jan.
It was a special meeting as assistant governor Bob Morrow introduced governor Kevin Crouse who recognized a number of members with the Head Hands Heart Award. Barb Busing, Kathy Starodub, Joe Guedes, Bill Armstrong, Jan Southall, Rob Reid and Bruce Eccles were honoured. As well, at previous district events Ralph Montesanto, Shirley Molloy, Bob Neibert and Wayne Massey received the HHH Award.
Jim Sweetman spoke of the importance of citizens becoming active in how their local government operates. His work with the Hamilton Civic League is one of his main foci now that he has retired. The HCL is, "an inclusive, non-partisan league of Hamiltonians dedicated to increasing community participation in local democracy, supporting an informed, involved, engaged electorate, and promoting transparent, accessible, accountable local government". The league's activities include community values and priorities surveys, promotion through Cable 14 and a finance sub-committee.
Looking over the last six years Jim gave a breakdown of voter participation by wards. Our own club's Ward 13 had the highest voter turnout of around 46%. The city's Elections Office does not believe it is its job to increase voter participation rates so this is one of the goals of the league. The finance sub-committee uses public data from Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in order to help assess the city's financial health.
The next steps include a complete community values and priorities survey and the publishing of the results. Then, to publish a councillor accountability scorecard followed by candidate debates. To see and complete the survey go to www.CivicLeague.org
Members had a number of comments for Jim including the constant issue of the need for parity which causes taxes to rise and the need for open data from the city so that there is more transparency in how it operates.
Congratulations to the recipients of the Head Hands Heart Award. District governor Kevin Crouse presented certificates to Ralph Montesanto, Bruce Eccles, Jan Southall, Kathy Starodub, Bill Armstrong, Rob Reid, Joe Guedes and Barbara Busing. Wayne Massey, Bob Neibert and Shirley Molloy received their awards earlier at the district conference. The HHH Award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions through their dedicated work in Rotary to their clubs, local communities, District 7090 and to the global community.
A small but enthusiastic group this morning as we welcomed back Phil Wood from his leave of absence. Also welcomed was Norm Reed from the Waterdown Rotary Club and Grant Armstrong, Bill's son, who is interested in becoming a member of the club.
Our guest speaker, Catherine Lensen, was unable to attend this morning for her classification talk; so, Sergeant-At-Arms, Bruce came up with the idea that each member tell of the best thing that happened during 2013. We learned something new about each person. Here's a bit of what each said:
Bruce - Birth of his grandson Thomas. Barbara - Second son engaged after 9 years of courtship. Mary-Lou - A new transmission on a two-year old Volvo. Carl - Now has 53 reps in his new company, Aligned Capital Partners. Norm Reed - bought a place in Florida. Derek - Second grandchild is 26 and Derek is happy to be still around. Wayne Massey - Helped his daughter find a new house and then renovated it for her. Ralph - House exchange for nine weeks to New Zealand. Dave Matchett - Turned 60 and glad to be alive and able to visit Ireland. Bob Morrow - Saw his 600 000 Tomatosphere seeds returned from the International Space Station after two years on board. Wayne McHale - After 11 grandsons he now has a granddaughter. Bill - Saskatchewan won the Grey Cup and he got a new car. Art - Celebrated 50th anniversary, cruised New Zealand and Australia and got a new hip. Phil - Retired from Student Affairs at McMaster and going back as an engineer. Grant Armstrong - Hosted a Grey Cup party with his large family. Paul - He and Barbara have persisted! Bob Neibert - His son Michael has been guest speaker at a number of cancer survivor functions and been asked to speak at more. Ken - attended a number of work related funerals and pleased to see living colleagues he has not seen for a number of years. Ask him about his stint on a coroner's court. Ross - His niece had a child. Glen - Great grandson number two was born and is taking his first steps. Harold - Back to work full time and helped Julienne during here recovery from a knee replacement operation. Jessica - Three sisters got together in Dundas with their families for the first time in four years. Shirley - Great trip to Texas to the Johnson Space Centre, hearing about Chris Hadfield and feeling great about being Canadian. Jan - Her daughter returned to university and a great nephew was born.
Happy Dollars: Phil was glad to be back after an extended leave of absence. Bob Morrow used Ken's hat when painting a ceiling, Glen's sticky thing when putting back baseboard; and has already broken his New Year's resolution by not walking to Rotary this morning (-8 F). Wayne Massey's grandson turned 16 and needs a job. Shirley was happy Phil is back and Bruce told a funny fishing story involving a fish scale and a new born baby that weighed in at 21.8 lbs.
Announcements: Norm promoted the Waterdown club's upcoming Robbie Burns Supper at the Carlisle Golf Course on January 25. Cost is $60 per person and Bob Morrow has 16 tickets. Eight are already spoken for. Paul promoted the 3rd Annual HARRRP Gala on February 21. Tickets are $100 each. Not to be left out, Art promoted the Routes Gala on February 28. Cost is $50. Carl is working on Winterfest at the park and will have more information at a later date.
President Jan reminded board members of the meeting on Wednesday January 8, 6:30 PM at Ken Beel's home. Also, Governor Kevin Crouse will be at the club next week to present Head Hands Heart Awards to some of our members. Oh, and by the way, semiannual dues of $100 are due now.
What a great job Jessica Brennan did as chair of this year's Christmas celebration party. Over 40 members and guests gathered at the newly renovated Dundas Museum to celebrate and party. And let their hair down they did! It was obvious that everyone was ready to just let loose.
A number of folks took advantage of a guided tour of the museum given by museum board member Keith Greene that began and culminated in the new auditorium/meeting room.
Joan Ballantyne our DJ and Randy provided the sound system and music while Roger Stewart and his team looked after the bar and the catering. Everything was great!
We sang, we laughed, we ate and drank.
We danced.
Some even gave away little secrets.
It was wonderful to see David Lowery able to attend after a long stay in the hospital. As our choir of members sang, "Dancing around the Christmas Tree", we did!
Today was the annual St. Matthew's House auction.There were 24 members and six guests present. The club welcomed Barb Montesanto, Helen Massey, Lynne Morrow, Colin Reed, Norm Reed and Cindy.
As festive as the morning meeting was, there was also sadness in the room as we remembered the passing of Wayne Migus who died yesterday after a short illness.
Before the auction, President Jan indicated that Telling Tales made a $9000 donation to Early Literacy, Summer Literacy Camp and Adult Literacy. She also noted that the club was kicking off a membership campaign with more information to follow.
Shirley is celebrating a birthday today and is also selling tickets to Dundas Little theatre to help support Dundas Community Services. Tickets to 39 Steps for the January 16 presentation are available for purchase at $35 each. This special presentation includes refreshments and hor d'oevres during intermission.
Please note that the next morning meeting is not until January 7, 2014. The Christmas party is December 17 at 6:00 PM at the Dundas Museum. Please let Jessica know if you will be attending. The cost is $25 per person payable at the door.
The members of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise once again gave great support to St. Matthew's House through the club's annual auction during today's regular morning meeting. Members brought in a variety of items to be auctioned and through the skilled and humorous auctioneering of Bruce Eccles managed to buy back everything and raise $3415 in less than an hour. As well a number of members made personal donations totalling over $1500 directly to St. Matthew's House.
Special thank you to Paul Clifford for his continued liaison with St. Matthew's House. Paul and Barbara Clifford also managed to raise over $6000 during a show of knitted goods and special preserves held in their home. Thank you to our special guests and all the members for digging into their pockets to both purchase items for donation and then generously bidding.
Roger Stewart attaches the star to the top of the Holiday Tree beside the Rotary Ice Rink in the Dundas Driving Park. While the tree was being decorated, Matt Stein from the City of Hamilton was busy flooding the rink in preparation for the new season of free skating. Skates are available at the food booth; so, come on out and enjoy the rink.
Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotarians and Ruthy rally around the decorated tree.
We welcomed Wayne McHale who was later inducted into the club and Kamal Shankardass from the Dundas Rotary club. As well, Lynne Morrow and Barb Montesanto joined in to hear the presentation on New Zealand.
As part of the usual induction ceremony club members formed a circle to respond to the induction questions and shake Wayne's hand. Here are several who are standing in front of Christmas stockings. Who do you think will get a piece of coal for Christmas? Looks like a police lineup!
Happy Dollars from Jessica as she announced that she was named the Chair of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board; from Carl who returned from a week in Florida golfing at Saw Grass. He drove towards the famous island green but went over into the water. Fred congratulated Jessica on her appointment but wondered if the board had a height requirement. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Announcements: Eco Park meeting on Wednesday December 4 at 6:30 at Ken Beel's house. Bob Neibert, incoming president, announced a partial slate of officers. Jessica reminded all of the Christmas party on December 17 at 6:00 PM at the Dundas Museum and of the upcoming St. Matthew's House auction on December 10 during the regular club meeting. Please bring items or services to be auctioned. Carl asked for volunteers to be at the ice rink on Saturday December 7 at 9:00 AM to help decorate the Christmas Tree. If anyone knows of a large star for the top of the tree please let Carl know. And, Ross made a last call to order golf shirts or fleece jackets with the Rotary and club name on them. By the way, if you are bringing guests to the auction please email Jan so we can have sufficient food prepared. Also, Jessica needs to know if you will be at the Christmas party. Same reason.
As a start to a membership drive president Jan asked everyone to write down some names of potential new members. Please start developing your lists. Following that, SAA Dave introduced guest speakers Bob and Ralph.
President Jan Southall and assistant governor Bob Morrow along with club Rotary Foundation director Shirley Molloy conducted the usual formal induction ceremony to welcome Wayne McHale into the club. Wayne is a management consultant and looks forward to serving the community as part of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise.
Bob Morrow and Ralph Montesanto used their recent trip to New Zealand to highlight the value of one of Rotary's nine structured programs. Using the Oreo cookie model they sandwiched the New Zealand trip between information on Rotary programs. The club's past experience with a Rotary Friendship Exchange in 2009 between New Zealand and District 7090 lead to a personal house exchange between Barbara and Fergus Cumming of Rotorua and Ralph and Barb Montesanto. Bob and Lynne Morrow who met the Cummings in 2009 and 2010 hosted them on either side of the house exchange and spent a month in New Zealand with the Montesantos.
Using photos taken during their trip, New Zealand's geography, geology, products and culture were highlighted - from plate movement that causes earthquakes, volcanoes and geothermal landscape, to sheep, dairy and deer farms, to logging, vineyards and kiwi production. Of course, Maori culture and All blacks rugby were part of the story.
The dormant volcano below was snow covered even though it was late spring in New Zealand.
The presentation closed with a review of another Rotary program called Rotary Fellowships with several fellowships highlighted that might interest specific club members.
We welcomed guest speakers Fab Giuliani and Jo-Ann Savoie and soon to be inducted Wayne McHale. President Jan was absent this morning. Her mother, Wilma, passed away. Visitation is this afternoon from 2-4 and this evening from 7-9 at the Cattell Eaton Chambers Funeral Home in Dundas. The funeral is Wednesday November 27 at St. James Anglican Church in Dundas at 1:00 PM.
SAA Dave wished Lindsay Palmer a Happy Birthday before telling us the many dates in history the Tiger Cats aka Tigers lost the Grey Cup. Art mentioned some of their wins and Bill couldn't lose seeing that he is a Saskatchewan boy. Happy Dollars from Shirley because the TiCats made it into the Grey Cup. Barbara spoke with David Lowery who hopes to go home from hospital in a couple weeks. Ken will be visiting David on November 27. If you want to join him be at his house by 4:30 PM and ride with him. Barbara was also pleased to have babysat the last few days even though her daughter-in-law was in hospital. Wayne Massey returned from a vacation in Cuba where he played golf almost every day. Ken had a warm fuzzy for Wayne as he congratulated him for all his efforts with the program and advertising for Rotary Stars which turned a profit of just over $10 000.
Three motions were put to members, each requiring approval because the amount of donation was over the $500 limit for a director. Director Bill asked for $2500 for St. Joseph's Villa to go towards new beds; Director Rob requested $1000 to send another student to Adventures in Citizenship in Ottawa; and Director Barbara requested $1000 towards disaster relief in the Philippines. All three passed with the Philippines donation being further examined to see if it can be increased by a Burlington auto dealership's possible match.
Ken informed us of the meeting at his house on December 4 at 6:30 to discuss the Eco Park;and, the Christmas Tree decorating in the park on December 7 at 9:00 AM. Everyone was reminded to bring auction items next week to be sold at the St. Matthew's House auction on December 10. See if your friends or better still, a possible new member, would like to join you that day.
Next week will be the last day to order a golf shirt or fleece jacket with the club logo. See Ross for details.
Detective Fab Giuliani and Sergeant Jo-Ann Savoie from Hamilton Police Service introduced the club to the family and the first house being constructed under the Habitat for Humanity and Women in Law program. The family of eight presently lives in an apartment in Hamilton and having two disabled children and only recently an elevator has caused some mobility issues. The family was selected for a Habitat for Humanity house to be built at 7 Knapmans Drive at the Beach Strip. The City of Hamilton donated the land and the building permits are in the works as the organization works to raise $200 000 in cash and in-kind services.
As part of the process, the family must do 500 hours of volunteer service either for the house construction or at the Reuse Store. Habitat for Humanity holds the mortgage and the family makes the usual mortgage payments, albeit with no interest. After around ten years they will be able to sell the home under certain mortgage conditions.
Fund raisers like the upcoming Vegas Meets Hamilton Gaming Night on February 11, 2014 at Carmen's Banquet Centre will be pooled with service club, individual and corporate donations. Fab and Joanne are very excited about their roles in promoting the build and encouraged our members to get involved either financially or through in-kind donations of installation work or building products.
We welcomed Em Del Sordo our guest speaker and Wayne McHale a possible new member. Bill manned the desk and Kathy delivered the prayer. Shirley was acting SAA collecting a goodly sum of Happy Dollars and reverse reward prizes during her, "Did you know session". President Jan reminded everyone of the banners at the front which indicated the club's outstanding success within the district for EREY and a silver award recipient for contributions to Polio Plus. She and Shirley also reminded all that November is Rotary Foundation month and encouraged members to make their donations to the foundation. Jan also reminded board members of the meeting on Wednesday November 20, 6:30 PM at Ralph's house, 20 Highland Park Drive. Other announcements were the change of date for the Christmas party to December 17, and the St. Matthew's House Auction on December 10. Ross also had golf shirts and fleece lined jackets to examine. Next week too. Order yours from him.
Happy Dollars from Alycia who got engaged on the weekend as did Kathy's oldest son (not to each other); and, George whose sons won on the Rising Star Contest and will be on national TV December 28. Bill can't lose on Grey Cup day. You see, he hails from Saskatchewan and likes the Tiger Cats as well as the Roughriders. Paul received an email from Fergus Cumming that linked him to some friends he met in New Zealand many years ago; Ralph had a great time in New Zealand and is happy to be back at the club after nine weeks away; and, Jessica's partner is celebrating a birthday.
Bob Morrow would like to get a table of eight to the Robbie Burns' dinner put on by the Waterdown club on January 25. Barbara Busing will be travelling to Florida more often now that she and Norm purchased a condo there. Art was promoting Hamilton Rotary club calendars; and, Ken gave an update on David Lowery who has been in the hospital for several weeks.
Shirley's game was well received and all the losers were happy that the winners each had to pay one dollar - Now that is novel. Following principal Del Sordo's presentation, Kathy thanked him.
Em Del Sordo, the principal of the newly named Dundas Valley Secondary School spoke passionately of the new school that will combine the staff and students of Parkside High School and Highland Secondary School in a yet to be built/renovated school at the Highland site on Governor's Road.
The two schools have a great history in Dundas, replete with the passions and traditions built over the years. Em's vision is to work with the social and emotional aspects of closing a school, involving all of the students, staff, parents and feeder schools so that the transition to the new school will provide the best program for the 1100 students. Construction will begin in the spring of 2014 with most students attending Parkside except for those requiring the technical courses that Highland operates. In September of 2015, when construction is expected to be complete, all students will move to the new school, with new school colours, a new mascot, new sports facilities and science labs and maybe even an auditorium to make it truly a school for the entire community.
Today’s meeting was offsite at the newly renovated Dundas Museum on Park Street. President Jan began by thanking all those who contributed to the Dundas Stars event last Saturday. Many members were involved in making it a big success.
Board members were reminded of the upcoming meeting and asked to submit agenda items to Jan.
Wayne Massey (pictured below with halo! and Jan and Shirley holding awards) reported on his attendance at the Rotary Foundation Dinner where he accepted awards for the club recognizing both our meeting the Every Rotarian Every Year target and a Polio Plus contribution of over $2500. Member Ernie Romain was also recognized for his Paul Harris contribution.
Paul Clifford reminded members that the Christmas Auction is coming soon and asked members to bring auction items to club meetings over the next 3 weeks. The Auction will take place on December 10th and the Christmas Party on December 3rd at the Dundas Museum – this is a swapping of dates to ensure that our master auctioneer is available for the Christmas Auction.
Dave asked for members to contact him to participate in the working team that will plan the EcoPark project.
Happy Dollars were not collected as we moved straight into our Museum tour.
Curator Kevin Puddister gave us an excellent review of the history of the Museum and then a guided tour of the renovated facilities. Briefly the place in which we met was built in 1873 by Alexander Witherspoon and from 1912 until 1975 was the home of Dr & Mrs Pirie. The Pirie’s donated their orchard to become the location of the original museum which was opened in 1956. In 1974 Dr Pirie’s former office building was moved to the site and in 1975, on the death of Mrs Pirie, their home was purchased by the museum.
The recent renovation and expansion resulted in the Pirie house being incorporated into the full working of the museum (until recently it was rented out as a home), the construction of a new foyer, full accessible access and major new archive and display spaces. Funding came largely from a Provincial grant with some Fed dollars for the accessibility structures (elevator etc).
Pictured below is Curator Kevin showing members Wayne and Ross a topographic model of Dundas Valley.
Our November 5th meeting honoured Remembrance Day, which takes place next Monday. We began with the usual prayer, anthem and toasts, adding toasts to our Veterans and all who serve and have served in the Canadian Forces.
Announcements
Donations of wine are still needed for the Barrow of Wine raffle at the Dundas Stars event next Saturday; please drop them off at Art Samson's, 30 Osler, Unit 6. Tickets are still available from Alycia for the event, please keep promoting and selling tickets.
Dave Carson told members of the new Dundas Fresh Food Fund, raising funds for fresh produce at the Food Bank. Please see him for Gift Cards.
Ken Beel was honoured by the Lieutenant-Governor for his work on the upgraded Dundas Historical Museum at the opening last week.
Happy Dollars
Alycia celebrated her birthday today and members tunefully sang their congratulations. She noted how great it was to have been a Rotary Exchange student as she had greetings from all around the world for her birthday. Bruce Eccles was happy to be back from his European cruise. Paul Clifford, on a sad/happy note, remembered the difficult times had by his father and two uncles during WWII, and that they all happily survived through it all.
Club vote
President Jan reviewed the motion presented to all members last week on the donation of $30,000 cash and $30,000 in kind to the Dundas EcoPark project over the next two years. After a short discussion, the motion was carried.
Remembrance Day
In the place of the normal guest speaker, Bill Armstrong, Dave Carson, Steve Palmer and Bruce Eccles offered memories, photos, souvenirs and stories about the experiences of their parents and grandparents in the two World Wars. Paul Clifford had personal memories of his time as a young evacuee from London.
Pictured below is Steve Palmer wearing the wartime US Submarine officer's cap of his wife's grandfather.
The Remembrance Day Parade takes place next Monday in Dundas, from the Fire Station to the War Memorial at the Community Centre.
A good group of members turned out on the first really dark morning, a preview of Halloween later this week. President Jan announced that members are invited to the re-opening of the Dundas Museum & Archives on Saturday at 11:15 am. There will also be a public open house from 1 pm to 4 pm on November 2nd and 3rd. Jessica stated the three finalist names for the amalgamated high school and asked for feedback on these; Dundas Secondary School, Dundas District Secondary School, or Dundas Valley Secondary School. Bob Morrow reminded members their Foundation contribution was due soon and started the process with his cheque. Visiting New Zealand Rotarian Fergus Cumming presented Jan with a badge from his Club and said his farewells, as he is leaving for home next week.
A joke competition was won, not surprisingly, by Fred Amalfi, who told us of the new Husband store being opened in the neighbourhood. He was presented with a magnificent trophy after a close round of judging.
The Club voted on, and approved, a motion to donate $5000 to the EcoPark project. A motion to support the larger project (a description has been circulated to all members) will be voted on next week.
Rotarian Keith Green presented some fascinating pictures and stories of the history of the Dundas Volunteer Fire Department going back to its formation in 1833.Hand pumps and horse drawn fire carts were the start, with volunteers assembled by the ringing of a bell, which can still be seen hanging in Dundas. By 1898 the Fire Station was at its current location and in 1913, with the advent of electricity, fire alarm pulls were located in different parts of the town. Keith told us of some of the major fires that have occurred in Dundas - the 1881 fire in which a complete block was lost at Cross and King and others at Central School, the Golf Club, Valley City and St James Church.
Keith is shown here in front of one of his pictures of the people really attracted to fire trucks, the young people of Dundas.
Most interesting was Keith's work to restore old fire trucks and present them to the public. Through diligent work, many hours and dollars, he has assembled a collection of five former Dundas fire trucks models from 1929, 1937, 1947, 1956 and 1961, with the ultimate goal of creating a Dundas firefighters' museum. Keith can arrange to have fire trucks attend Rotary events.
Today we welcomed guests Anthony Cassano with Lily and Abbey from the Dundas Dynamo Basketball Club. They thanked us for our support and told us of their success in basketball - 5th in Ontario and in some fundraising they had done for the community. They presented President Jan with a thank you plaque.
Happy Dollars today started with a lot of athletic activity - Alycia Moore ran her first half marathon in just over 2 hours while Steve Palmer's young son make his first long walk - no longer a 40 lb carry. Shirley's daughter made the CN Tower stair climb in 30 minutes. Dave Carson was happy that the Community Garden was cleaned up and closed for the season. Bob Morrow was back from New Zealand, had given 3 Rotary talks and brought greeting from the Christchurch Club, still recovering from the earthquake in 2011. Visiting New Zealand Rotarian Fergus Cumming recounted his recent and extensive travels around the US and Canada.
Thanks were given to Ross, Glen and the absent Ralph for organizing the successful Shred Day last Saturday. Reminders to all on Rotary Stars November 9th - Buy your tickets and please bring wine to meetings in the next 2 weeks for the Barrow of Wine draw. Rob Reid presented a plaque received from the tri-athlete who recently ran in the London (UK) Iron Man race - we have supported his club.
Club Assembly
The club discussed the motion introduced by the Board to support the Dundas EcoPark project. After a good discussion the original motion did not pass. A new motion was then introduced, and passed as follows "The Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise jointly supports the project with the Dundas Rotary Club subject to a satisfactory agreement with the Hamilton Conservation Authority". Jan/Dave/Ken to work with the HCA to obtain such an agreement to present to then club at which time a decision / vote would be made on the level of financial support and /or in-kind support to be given to the project.
Another successful shredding day held by the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club. The club holds the event twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall. It gives the community a place to safely dispose of private documents while adding a few dollars to the club's services budget. Thank you to club members Ross Bannatyne and Glen Mumberson for ensuring the smooth running of the shredding day. Also thank you to Scott Eccles for the use of his auto services. Look for the next shredding day right after income tax season in 2014.
Today we convened at the Hatt St Firehall – apparently the first time in the City of Hamilton that a Rotary meeting has been held in a Firehall. We were welcomes by Fire Captain Ralph Kerekesh and Safety Officer Jennifer Janicas,
Shirley had organized a Timmies breakfast for the small crowd. President Jan reminded us of Shred Day next Saturday and Rotary Stars on November 9th. Tickets can be obtained from Alycia Moore, please continue promoting and selling! Please also remember to bring wine for the Stars Wine Barrow draw.
Next week is an important Club Assembly as members are being asked to vote on a significant contribution of work to the Dundas EcoPark project.
Captain Ralph told us a few facts about the Hamilton Fire Service and the Dundas Station
Hamilton has 525 Fire suppression staff.
3 – 5 minutes average response time to a fire.
One of the most highly rated services in Canada, resulting in low insurance premiums.
In Dundas a crew of 4 are on duty 24/7 – they have one active firetruck and two available as backfill/spares along with the antique 1929 Bickle Fire truck.
Rural Dundas is supported to 6pm after which volunteer crews take over from other stations.
The station recently underwent a $1M plus renovation and is shared with EMS staff.
Fire Safety Officer Jennifer gave us some more statistics and fire safety food for thought.
26,000 calls for help in 2011. 207 structure fires. 73% were in residences.
81% of injuries and 95% of deaths were in residences. Fire emergencies mainly stemmed from complacency, ignorance and lack of education. Leading causes were kitchen fires, electrical faults, arson and smoking.
Smoke alarms are now mandated one on each floor of a home, including the basement, If you don’t have this – get them installed.
This was brought home by a short video shown to us of a re-creation of a house fire where a life was lost because there was no smoke alarm on the ground floor – occupants had less warning and by the time they tried to exit the fire had spread and temperatures risen to unsurvivable levels.
President Jan reminded all members to return the Engagement Survey this week.
We welcomed visitor Dr Kanwal Shankardass and congratulated Barb Busing and Bob Bell on their anniversaries this week.
Jan presented Joe Guedes with his Foundation Pin, reflecting the usual past-President job he has this year. Jan also reminded Board members of the meeting Oct 16th at Wayne Migus's home and to review the documents on the Eco Park as it represents a major undertaking by the Club.
Dundas Stars November 9th - Dave Lowery has tickets, all members are asked to sell, sell, sell! Art Samson is collecting bottles of wine for the Barrow of Wine Draw.
Shredding Day is October 19th - Please post the flyers ..see Glen for the times you can help.
Happy Dollars
Jessica thanked Steve Palmer and Dave Matchett for contributions to the new park at Dundas Central School. Bruce introduced "unhappy dollars" as a result of his experience in licensing his two business locations in Dundas. Dave Matchett reminded all of East Side Mario's 2nd Friday supper this week and Bill acknowledged Routes Centre Open House at their new location. No longer radio-active, Fred wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and told us he had a full-house this weekend. Derek noticed that the displays at the Dundas Museum looked the same as his house as a child, treadle sewing machine, black iron fireplace and so on.
Jessica's bio describes the training she offers in presentation skills, communications, media relations, political advocacy and campaign fundamentals. Jessica also offers her services as a voice coach and singing instructor. She is currently Vice-Chair of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.
But Jessica did not spend much time talking about the things in her bio. Instead she gave us a funny and heartfelt classification talk which showed that the foundation of her work and her life was her family. She talked of her Irish background and the way her early life was imbued with the joy of singing in the family. She explained to us how she came to be such a passionate advocate for those who are under-represented - how her role was not so much to represent them, but to enable them to represent themselves. Politics was always discussed around the dinner table and Jessica has run for political offices federally, provincially (unsuccessfully) and as a school board trustee, successfully.
Jessica showed her character in action in getting the whole Club to join her in singing "The More We Get Together, the Happier We Are" to close her talk.
Jessica and Bob Neibert declared Tuesday "Purple Day" - and asked to be photographed showing purple shirt,tie, jacket and hair!
Today we welcomed Fergus Cumming who is exchanging houses, clothing and wine cellars with Ralph Montesanto. Fergus is a past District Governor and gave us a potted "classification" talk describing his ancestors, his youth and how he came to be a land surveyor, civil engineer and town planner. He told us of his recent trip to Newfoundland and how, knowing the National Anthems of all the Commonwealth Countries, he fits in at the Rotary meeting on his travels. We missed his wife Barbara (did he exchange his wife too??) with whom he spent many years working in Fiji - a country administered from New Zealand prior to its independence.
Fergus finished by doing a quick comparison between Ontario and New Zealand - in terms of sheep, people and land area - New Zealand only scores in the sheep department. He then showed a short movie of the some of the Rotary activities in Rotarua and pictures of the beautifully restored Rotarua Museum - a Rotary project. This is pictured below.
We welcomed our guest from New Zealand, Fergus Cumming and also welcomed back Barry Stolz from his shoulder surgery and recovery. Birthday greetings were given to Harold and to member spouses Michelle Stolz and Lise Gould;
Announcements
Members were reminded of the following upcoming events
- Food Drive - October 5th; drivers needed; be at the Community Centre 8:30 on Saturday
- Shredding Day - October 19th; please contact Ross if you can help on this event
- Routes Youth Scrap Metal Drive - October 19th; drop your scrap metal off at Olympic Arena on you way the the Shredding event!
- District Conference Niagara Falls - October 26th - 28th; please let Jan know if you are going
- Dundas Stars - November 9th - tickets will be ready next week @ $30 each; start pre-selling!!!!
Jan distributed a survey (which will also be emailed to members) on Club Participation and Engagement. PLEASE COMPLETE AND RETURN TO JAN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Happy Dollars
Bob Neibert had to leave early but left a Happy Dollar to help out the less wealthy members of the club. Art Samson was happy to report on the move of the Routes Youth Centre to the Dundas Community Centre, 15 years from the time it was first planned. Shirley had just enjoyed a relaxing week in New York City. Bruce told a joke about fisherman Fred. Fred Amalfi assured us he was not the fisherman in the story- but then told us how he had been taken in for questioning by US Homeland Security while crossing the border last week because he was still radio-active after a special blood test earlier in the week.
A good crowd came out on a fine sunny September morning. We welcomed back Art Samson, man of steel, who was mobile again after a hip replacement 6 weeks ago.
Announcements
President Jan congratulated the Club on the outstanding success of the Art in the Park activities. She thanked all the members who worked on it, particularly Ken Beel and Derek Price who have worked tirelessly for the past year to prepare the show. Pictures below are Auctioneer Bruce Eccles with his assistant Bob Niebert.
Bill Armstrong proposed two donations from the Community Fund - to the Routes Youth Centre and to the Dundas Food Bank. Both donations were approved by the club members present. The will be officially presented at the Dundas Stars event on November 9th.
Jessica Brennan reminded everyone that the Community of Dundas has been asked to vote on the name of the new combine High School. Please go onto the school board website and make your suggestions.
Happy Dollars
Art was glad to be back with titanium in his leg - Barb Busing said today would have been her mother's 100th birthday and she and her siblings were all talking and remembering today. Fred celebrated his wedding anniversary with a novel way of accumulating the number of years of marriage. We also celebrated Dave Matchett's birthday and the wedding anniversaries this week of Ross, Shirley, Dave (again).
References from Dave's talk.
Here are the sources for Dave's talk described below for your reading pleasure.
Unburnable carbon 2013: Wasted capital and stranded assets
Club Member Dave Carson gave a talk on the links between the growing concerns about climate change, the fossil fuel industry and the potential risk to pensions and investments.
Dave used the four way test to review climate change
Is it the truth? - yes - climate change is happening and it is caused in large part by human activity in burning coal, oil and gas.
Is it fair to all concerned? No - we are already seeing the harm from extreme weather - floods, droughts, storms; the poor and the least developed countries have the fewest resources to deal with it
Will it build goodwill and better friendships? No - there are already warnings conflict will arise from mass migrations as populations respond to droughts, floods, with more potential from sea-level rise
Will it be beneficial to all concerned? No - mining for fossil fuels benefits many of us, while harming local populations and destroying the environment
The harm from climate change leads to the conclusion we need to de-carbonize our economies. Many organizations like the IMF, the World Bank, the International Energy Agency have identified that if we are to keep global warming below 2 degrees (and all governments have signed up to this need) then we need to leave the majority of fossil fuel reserves in the ground. The problem is that all the large scale energy companies stock prices are based on full valuation of all their reserves. Is there a "carbon bubble" that might burst, stranding the assets and causing a collapse of the stock value?
Dave proposed some policies that we should all support to help mitigate the impact on us
Support conservation policies and investments – the cheapest energy is the energy we save
Support a carbon tax; only by providing people with financial incentives to reduce carbon emissions will we finally take action
Support renewable energy in the form of wind, solar, geothermal, tidal and appropriate biomass
Dave also suggested reading some more and forming one's own opinion on this important subject, and provided links to a number of sources.
Unburnable Carbon - the impact of climate change on energy company values
There was frost on the rooftops as we convened today. We expressed condolences to Bruce Eccles on the passing of his mother. Several birthdays and anniversaries are being celebrated this week - Bob Neibert, Catherine Lensen and Dave Matchett all have birthdays and Paul & Barbara Clifford (56 years) , Bruce and Claire Eccles (35 years) and Barry and Michelle Stolz (10 years) celebrate anniversaries.
We had an email from Ralph who "tramping" through New Zealand and from Bob Morrow on the arrival of Fergus and Barbara Cumming, Ralph's home exchange from NZ. We debated whether to have our Christmas Party and St. Matthew's Auction on different days or the same night. The majority decision was to have them on separate days as in prior years. We were reminded of the Food Drive on October 5th, there is a need for help - the last food drive in the Spring did not yield the usual amount because of the reduced number of volunteers.
There is a Board meeting tomorrow at Bill Armstrong's.
Art in the Park on Sunday promises to be a great event - there are over 30 exhibitors. Rotarians were asked to wear black pants/white shirt - their Rotary badge will also be available along with a flower.
Happy Dollars
Paul Clifford "chequed in" to celebrate his 56 years, Glen celebrated that he was not having to push entertainment books this year and George recounted his Murphy in-laws party - quite the celebration. Everyone else kept their hands in their pockets today!
Dressed in her red jacket covered in badges and key chains, Emily gave us an introduction to her year in Denmark on a Rotary Exchange. (She had originally been scheduled on an exchange to New Zealand but the island of Zealand in Denmark became her final destination.) We saw photos of her first exchange family - both their main home and their summer house. Distances in Denmark are much shorter than Canada - the summer home 2 1/2 hours away was considered a long way.
The view from her Rotary meetings was of the sea and the Swedish coastline so close. We were surprised to learn that the Rotary District she visited was the "largest in the world" because it included Greenland as well! Emily was impressed with Copenhagen - where all the buildings are 5 stories or less and many are painted very colorfully (pictured above). She also visited the Island of Samso where the people are self sufficient in food and energy - they even export power generated from their large wind farms (Picture below). Emily had so many photos to show us that she did not finish her talk and was invited back to show them some other time.
Emily was introduced by Rob Reid and thanked by George Gould.
Bob Morrow, dressed in his colourful Kenyan kaftan gave a brief talk on the role of the District Assistant Governor in Rotary.
But before this, to give us our money's worth - he talk of another Service and recited the poem by Robert W. called The Ballard of the Ice-Worm Cocktail.
We then heard about the ADG job which is devoted to helping to develop District Goals, particpating in the Foundation Program, visiting clubs on a regular basis and promoting District events. He encouraged members to attend the forthcoming District Conference in Niagara. Information on this is on the District website.
Then we were treated to another Robert Service poem recited by Bob, this one was the cremation of Sam McGee. Accompanying both poems were some interesting pictures of life in the Yukon gold rush. You can hear Johnny Cash doing a Bob Morrow imitation of this poem on Youtube.
Bob Morrow on District Assistant Governor - and some Robert Service poetry
The room was buzzing today with 24 members and one guest - Maggie the catering queen. It was probably the weather news that today was going to be the hottest of the year in Hamilton.
Announcements
Jessica Brennan asked as many as possible to volunteer for Telling Tales at Westfield Heritage Village on Sunday September 15.
George announced the date of the Dundas Stars event this year - to be held on Saturday November 9th.
David Lowery reminded everyone of the need to make Art in the Park a big success on Sunday September 22nd - if you haven't volunteered, be ready for the call.
Happy Dollars
Fred was fined for bringing his mobile billboard and parking it outside East Side Mario's today. Joe was happy to have returned from his road trip but would not reveal the dent in his bank account from the all diesel fuel used by his palace on wheels. Glen was also happy to have returned from his summer cottage but a little perturbed to find his name deleted from the membership roll. Bruce said the Ancaster Rotary Golf tourney last Sunday was a fabulous well attended event - the 16th year with fine weather. Apparently Ralph has made it to New Zealand and was already sampling NZ wines when he woke Bob Morrow up at 5:30am this morning. Carl was happy to celebrate his wedding anniversary this week while George Gould was back at work as a temporary VP at school to pay for a new kitchen. Rob Reid was under pressure as he had just moved without enough preparation due to a vacation in San Francisco - and none of his furniture fits.
We welcomed Jan Nichols, Sandra Strauss and Gregg Crealock this morning. All three are Rotarians and part of the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice which was today's program.
Announcements. From President Jan: The Rotary Foundation Grants Seminar is October 5. Bob Neibert and David Carson will be attending. She also invited anyone else who wants to learn more about grants to attend. The Trevor Garwood-Jones Golf Tournament is coming up in September and she is looking for our club to put in one or two teams to support the Rotary Club of Dundas' new event. From David Lowery: The volunteer list for Art in the Park is filling nicely. There are just a few spots left so if you have not yet put your name down, now is the time. From Jessica Brennan: Telling Tales is just a couple weeks away on September 15. Jessica is collecting new and gently used children's books and has the list of volunteer jobs. Please see her if you can assist with either.
Happy Dollars. Wayne Massey's oldest grandson turned 19 and was entered in a smash-up derby. He is fine. The car is not. Wayne continues to work on getting his daughter's new home remodelled. Good news is it is almost finished and the dog he has been hosting has gone to another home. Kathy Starodub is off to Yellow Knife. Bob Morrow just came through Yellow Knife on his way back from putting his foot in the Arctic Ocean. Ralph is off to New Zealand and Shirley took her granddaughter to Spring Ridge.
Shirley then introduced guest speakers Jan and Sandra. The video on the club website does not come through to First Light. Enter the following into your browser to see the Camp Erin, Hamilton bereavement camp for children and youth. http://youtu.be/0bOE9jhzi64
Jan Nichols, Director of Development and Community Relations for the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice shared the hospice experience. The hospice offers supportive bereavement programs to help individuals work through their grief. There are over 300 visiting volunteers who provide two visits a week to homes; there is a day program that gives a hot meal and entertainment; and a residential program with 10 beds.
As well, there is a new program for children and youth dealing with the loss of a loved one. It is Camp Erin Hamilton. Sandra Strauss is the director of the camp. She tugged at our heart strings as she gave examples of some of the 43 children who attended at the host facility, Camp Winona in Bracebridge. Every child there had experienced the loss of a loved one. Children and youth deal with grief differently then adults. Adults immerse themselves for a long period whereas children and youth are puddle jumpers. They jump back and forth from grief to play.
The video tells the story.
The Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice receives 61% of its funding from the Province of Ontario. The remaining funds are raised through sponsorships, support from individuals and service clubs, and special events. One of the events is a draw for a BMW 750i valued at $150 000. Budds BMW, one of the key supporters of the hospice was represented by Gregg Crealock who is also a director of the hospice. Club members purchased a number of tickets at $25 each or five for $100.
Our guests this morning were Lisbie Rae and Doreen Crombie from Grandmothers of Steel and Alycia Moore who was inducted into the club. SAA Dave Carson highlighted birthdays of David Lowery, Art Samson and Jessica Brennan and the members followed with the singing of Happy Birthday. Also celebrating significant milestones are Stephen Palmer with 4 years of marriage and Cathy Starodub with 38 years.
Jessica asked for input about combining the St. Matthew's Auction with the Christmas party. If you have an opinion please let her know. She also is circulating volunteer sign up sheets for Telling Tales. If you are available please get your name on the sheet. David Lowery continues in his quest for volunteers for Art in the Park.
On Sunday the first annual Rotary Family Picnic was held at Randy and Joan's home. 49 Rotarians, partners, children and grandchildren attended. The weather was fabulous and everyone had a great time. President Jan thanked Randy, Barry, George and Ralph for putting it together, Chris Montgomery for the cooking and providing the RoomToGo, Barb Montesanto for the salads and Joan and her family for putting together the children's activities.
Happy Dollars from Jessica for being thrilled she has outlived most of her friends; from Fred Amalfi and Wayne Migus for their stay at Bruce's cottage; David Lowery for saying goodbye to his granddaughter after a month's stay; and, to Catherine Lensen who had her father visit from China.
One of the highlights of the club is the opportunity to induct a new member and we formally welcomed Alycia Moore.
Following the induction our guest speaker Lisbie Rae was introduced. After her presentation on Grandmothers to Grandmothers she was thanked by Barbara Busing.
In 2010, Lisbie Rae took part in a walk in Manzini, Swaziland jointly organized by the Stephen Lewis Foundation and Swaziland Positive Living along with 42 Canadian grandmothers, members of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign of the Stephen Lewis Foundation and thousands of grandmothers from 13 African countries who were raising funds and awareness about the AIDS pandemic and the role played by African grandmothers. While there she spoke of her meeting with a grandmother who lost 8 of her 9 daughters and was looking after all of their children. She is typical of African grandmothers.
Over 23 million Africans have AIDS and the Stephen Lewis Foundation has over 300 projects in those African countries, many of them dealing with orphans. The approach is holistic, melding education, accommodation and economics.
In Hamilton there are three Grandmothers to Grandmothers organizations - Lisbie's is called Grandmothers of Steel. Joining her this morning was Doreen Crombie its co-chair. For more information contact one of the following: www.stephenlewisfoundation.org, www.grandmotherscampaign.org, www.grandmothersadvocacy.org, or www.unaids.org .
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club inducted Alycia Moore as its newest member. Alycia's classification is Veterinary Services. Carl Fraser, her sponsor, informed members that Alycia was a Rotary Exchange student to Austria in 2005 and that her father was president of his Rotary club. As is the club tradition all members rise and form a circle with president Jan Southall , sponsor Carl Fraser and Rotary Foundation representative Shirley Molloy conducting the formal ceremony. Afterwards, Alycia shook hands with all members present who welcomed her into the club.
Today's guests were Rotarian Joan Bell, executive director of the Hamilton Conservation Authority, Alycia Moore guest of Carl Fraser and Allyson Wenzowski from the Dundas Rotary Club. SAA David Carson wished Bob Bell a Happy Birthday, Ralph and Barb Montesanto a happy 45th anniversary. He then wished he and his wife Sue a happy 40th anniversary.
Allyson was offering Cacti for adoption at $5 each with the funds going to support the EcoPark and David Lowery continued his quest for volunteers for Art in the Park this September 22. Carl Fraser contributed Happy Dollars for he and Mary-Lou Emmett who did the Edge Walk at the CN Tower on the weekend. They both showed photos of them dangling high above the city of Toronto. Dave Carson was happy his daughter was back from a 16 day canoeing trip with her husband and 18 month old daughter. And Barry Stoltz says Ralph and Barb have been married 7 years longer than his age.
President Jan reminded members of the 6:30 PM board meeting this Wednesday August 21 at Ken Beel's home. David then introduced our guest speaker Joan Bell.
Joan Bell, Executive Director of the Hamilton Conservation Authority outlined several opportunities for the club to consider if it decides to support the Dundas EcoPark. The Dundas EcoPark is part of the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System that will connect 4700 acres of land already in the system and restore the former Veldhuis property on the Desjardins Canal.
Joan suggested that the club consider supporting Pod 6 and/or Pod 7 in the drawings of the Veldhuis part of the project. Pod 6 includes the chimney swift viewing shelter and Pod 7 is the hardwood forest and meadow. The estimated costs are $80 000 and $64 000 respectively.
She also suggested that the club might apply for an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant of $75 000 for a community planting event on the property.
The Hamilton Conservation Foundation has raised $800 000 of the $2 million needed to purchase the connecting lands for the EcoPark System and needs to raise $2 million to complete the Veldhuis Landscape Restoration Plan.
Do you really know what your Rotary club has done over the years? Who were the first members? What projects were done? Who were the presidents? How did the club raise money? Who has been honoured with awards or fellowships?
Well, this morning Shirley Molloy put members to the test, distributing 35 questions for each table of Rotarians to answer. Ralph Montesanto kicked it off with a slide presentation of the club's charter celebration helping new and senior members get ready for the questions.
Here are the questions? Do you know the answers?
1. Who was the founding member of Rotary? Added bonus: What year?
2. Where is Rotary International located?
3. Who is our present District Governor?
4. What year was Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club chartered?
5. Who was one of the female charter members?
6. Name five male charter members?
7. Can you name our Club presidents?
8. Who served as District Governor in 2010-2011?
9. List three Community Projects that our club has carried out?
10. Name three community events that we run?
11. What organization does our Annual Christmas Auction support?
12. Student Awards presented by our Club are in recognition of which past member?
13. Name two Youth Events that our Club supports?
14. What International Project have we supported for the past four years?
15. Our Club has hosted two Group Study Exchanges. Which Countries?
16. One of our Club Members led a Group Study Exchange. Who & Which country?
17. Our first inbound exchange student was from Argentina, who was it?
18. Who was our first outbound exchange Student, and to which country?
19. What literacy event do we support each year?
20. Name five club members who have received a Paul Harris Fellow Award?
21. Name five community members who have received a Paul Harris Fellow Award?
22. Which Club members have received the District Head, Hands & Heart Award?
23. Who is our newest Club member?
24. What is Rotary’s motto?
25. What are the five avenues of service?
26. Name three of our fundraisers?
27. What is the Four Way Test?
28. What year was the Skating Rink constructed, and at what cost?
29. What is this year’s Rotary Theme?
30. What is the name of our Rotary monthly publication?
31. Where is the International Convention being held in 2013-14?
32. Name two links on our clubrunner site?
33. Name two Rotary Foundation Programs?
34. What is our newest Club endeavour, and when is it being held?
35. What is the object of Rotary?
After giving each table 15 minutes to go through the questions, Shirley took up the answers. Every member, novice or experienced, saw a part of the club they did not know or had forgotten.
We welcomed Wayne Sidsworth a past member of the club, Cooper Watt from Dundas Little League, Alycia Moore guest of Carl Fraser, Joanna Turchin from the Ancaster RC and Joan Ballantyne guest of Randy Abel.
Joanna thanked the club for its input with her club's efforts to built an Ancaster splash pad. Her club raised $250 000 to add to the city's $150 000 and the splash pad opened this summer. As well, she was selling tickets for the annual Cow Paddy Bingo. Jessica Brennan reminded everyone of the upcoming Telling Tales on September 15. Our club financially supports this literacy event and she is looking for volunteers and new or gently used books. David Lowery also asked for volunteers for the club's Art in the Park on September 22. Ralph reminded all of the upcoming first annual Rotary Family Picnic being held on Sunday August 25. It looks like about 40 adults and children will be attending at Randy Abel's home in Rockton. Last minute registrations are welcome to attend.
Ralph filled in as SAA for vacationing David Carson collecting Happy Dollars. Shirley attended her husband's Rotary club event in Burlington tasting many great foods and wines. Barry thanked everyone for their kind words and best wishes regarding his father's stroke. His dad is still in the hospital. Bruce was happy to see Wayne Sidsworth here today and is pleased that Wayne has moved back to Dundas and is considering rejoining the club. Ken said there are some fixing up jobs still to do at the Dundas Museum and asked volunteers to show up this Saturday, August 17 at 9:00 AM to help out. Bob Neibert is off to China with a group of HSA students and Fred informed us of his time at the Spectator when he helped supervise 700 students in Montreal during the FLQ crisis. David Lowery continues to enjoy his granddaughter's visit and their many trips to area shopping malls (yeah right!). Jessica is celebrating her 30th birthday 30 years later with her like aged colleagues and Randy started his full time job as a professor at Sheridan College.
Ralph showed photos of the club's charter celebration from the spring of 2000 and the pictures were a lead in for many of Shirley's 35 questions on the history of our club, the district and Rotary in general.
Cooper Watt from Dundas Little League thanked the club for its support of one of the 21 house league teams playing this year at Martino Park in Dundas. This is the league's 60th year in town. President Jan accepts the team plaque.
We welcomed Kevin Beagle from the Rotary Club of Dundas and Alycia Moore, guest of Carl Fraser. SAA Dave wished Agnes Samson a Happy Birthday and did his, "On this Day" routine and told a couple of engineer jokes that got groans from most everyone. Happy Dollars from president Jan who spent a great week at a cottage in Southampton. Of course while there she attended their art show and promoted our upcoming Art in the Park. Wayne Massey was happy he worked at his daughter's new house.
Kathy Starodub announced that youth exchange student Lisa left on Saturday for home and returning student Emily would be presenting to the club in September. David Lowery continues to ask for volunteers for Art in the Park on September 22. Kevin Beagle promoted his club's first annual Trevor Garwood-Jones Golf Classic on September 24 at Dundas Valley. The cost is $200 pp and sponsorship opportunities are available.
Dave Carson brought in a fresh picking from the community garden to show members before taking the produce to the Salvation Army Food Bank; and, Stephen Palmer saw his old travelling friend who spent the last 10 years in India and Indonesia and returned this past weekend for a short visit. Following announcements and Happy Dollars Ralph introduced Stephen to do his classification talk.
Rotary classification talks always give a great insight into club members and Stephen Palmer is an interesting guy! His mother is the daughter of an American submarine captain and was a black jack dealer when his father met her. They married and lived in Lynden where Stephen grew up. He attended Western University studying finance and philosophy. Working part-time at the Garden Gallery in Dundas he worked his way up just by chance to be the flower buyer for a multi-store greenhouse. He spent 3 years at this part-time job and travelled extensively throughout the world when he was not working. He loved India.
Upon his return to Dundas he bought a house, wooed his sweetheart and got a full-time job at Ippoloto Group in Burlington where he was a produce buyer specializing in asparagus. He is married to Lindsay and has two young children. Of course marriage, a house and children required an occupation that paid more; so, Stephen qualified to be a financial planner and was hired by CIBC Woodgundy. He has been with them for the past 3 years.
Stephen believes in continuous learning and relies on his "work dads" at CIBC and his uncles who are in the financial planning business to provide insights and guidance. His mantra is, "Ever increasing stream of income" and he puts that to good use as he helps area farmers who are retiring from farming to transition their farm capital to investments.
As a new member of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club Stephen wasted little time to actively become involved, volunteering for most club events and fundraisers.
We had a good crowd today including Keith Green from the Dundas RC, Alycia Moore a guest of Carl Fraser, Bernadette Curtis a guest of Art Samson, and Dayton Bell our guest speaker. SAA Dave Carson wished Barry Stoltz a belated Happy Birthday and did his regular feature, "On This Day". The 1966 event caught the attention of Ken and Derek who knew right away that England won the World Cup. Bob Morrow even knew the score was 4 - 2.
President Jan read letters from Olivia Schuir, the Parkside High School student who received the Ken Turner Award and from DG Kevin Crouse as a follow up from his club visit. David Lowery, recently returned from England asked for volunteers for Art in the Park; secretary Wayne Migus reminded everyone that dues are due and to remit next week if still in arrears. Ralph asked for a commitment one way or the other from everyone regarding the August 25 family picnic. There are still a few members who have not emailed him. He also informed members that Barry's father suffered a stroke on the weekend and is in hospital.
There were plenty of Happy dollars. Carl Fraser just returned from the east coast where he visited his mother in NB and then drove to NS to play golf on the Cabot Links golf course. Having a caddie is obviously not about the type of car he was driving! Keith Green thanked Ken, George and Derek for helping out at the museum renovations with their handiwork. He also said the Rotary firetruck is available for club use. Ken Beel, after hearing what Carl's caddie made decided he wanted to be a caddie. Barb Busing was pleased that her son is engaged to his long-time girlfriend; Irene Pasel's son just completed his MBA with honours; and, David Lowery has his granddaughter staying with him.
George Gould is in the good books with Lise. They watched the Bachelorette show and saw that the resort where the show was taped is the same one that they recently stayed at when celebrating their 25th anniversary. And past president Joe who has been away in Portugal most of June and July is off to NF in his newly purchased deluxe RV.
Dayton Bell, environmental manager at Gerdau Steel in Cambridge, gave an enlightening presentation on mini-mill steel making. Gerdau Steel is an international steel company that recently celebrated its 112th year in business. It has plants throughout the Americas as well as Europe and Asia. It is the 10th largest steel company in the world with 45 000 employees and produces 25 million tons of steel. The Cambridge plant has 245 employees and a capacity for 300 000 tons.
As environmental manager Dayton made contact with the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club through Dave Carson and the rain barrel sale. Dayton purchased a number of rain barrels for an employee draw as part of the plant's Earth Week program. Environmentally, the plant uses methane from an old city dump to mix with natural gas in the preheating of scrap metal used in the electric arc furnaces.
Mini-mills use electricity to melt scrap. He compared integrated mills like the large steel plants we see in Hamilton to mini-mills. Integrated mills have a huge capital investment, use coal (coke) and iron ore, produce several million tons of steel per year and need to be close to rail or ship transportation. On the other hand, mini-mills require a much smaller capital investment, use electricity and scrap metal, and produce smaller amounts of steel that are then rolled into a large variety of specialty sizes. The biggest difference in the steel produced is that integrated mills using iron ore have fewer impurities and can be rolled thinner.
The other big difference is an integrated plant cost millions of dollars to shut down and restart whereas a mini-mill can shut down and restart as part of its normal operation. In fact, the Cambridge plant works with its electricity suppliers to shut down when required to lessen the electrical load during high peak days.
Derek Price thanked Dayton for his informative and interesting presentation and said it was great to hear from an organization that was making money rather than asking for money.
Today's meeting in the Dundas Driving Park was an educational one. Instead of the usual speaker, members were subjected to a quiz about the Driving Park by Shirley Molloy. Scores were very low, and all members were encouraged to brush up on their Dundas history. After the quiz we learned some additional information from members; Art explained how Parkside School had originally been in the Town of Flamborough, that the border with Dundas ran between the school and the Park. Ken Beel gave us a great description of the symbolism of each part of the benches built be the club in memorial of Linda Powers.
For those that missed the test, or got the wrong answers, here is a selection of information provided by Shirley.
The Dundas Driving Park goes back as far as the mid 1860’s At that time is was one of Canada’s earliest race courses for harness racing. The property had been owned by George Rolph who was owner since 1822. In 1886 the Town of Dundas recognized the need for a municipal park. The property was purchased on Feb. 7, 1887 for $3500.00. A new bylaw, #388, was established setting care and maintenance for the new park, but the park, however was neglected for years. In 1905 a Citizen’s Committee was established to oversee the care of the park. Over the next ten years some major developments happened: Lawn Bowling, Grandstand/Bandstand and Wading Pool were installed.
In 1909 a log cabin was donated by Col. J.J. Grafton for use as a picnic kitchen. The cabin used to be owned by George Rolph in this profession of Justice of the Peace. The cabin burned down in 1964.
In 1911 the famous park gates were put in place. This quote was made by the of the day Mayor W.H.Moss (1907-08) “The finest park of any small town in this fair Domain”. In 1915 the park came under the care of the provisions of the Public Park Act and a Board of Management had to be appointed by the Town. Thus the Citizen’s Committee was disbanded.
1949 was eventful, a tennis court was added and a fire destroyed the grandstand. In 1953 the band shell was erected thanks to an anonymous donor. Last but not least, in 2008 the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club added a major feature to the park – the Outdoor Skating Rink.
Pictured below is "Art in the Park" - member Art Samson by the Rotary Clock
Today's meeting was held on a fine morning in the Dundas Driving Park. Around 20 members were welcomed by a breakfast organized by Shirley Molloy.
Pictured below is the Driving Park statue; Ken Beel told us of the long and expensive process to get this statue placed in the Park.
President Jan Southall asked everyone to continue to promote Art in the Park on September 22nd. Colourful posters are available for posting around town. (Confusion continues with some members as to whether Art in the Park refers to a new statue in honour of our esteemed former Councillor Art Samson, or a show of artistic talent.)
Jan also asked for a strong level of attendance on August 20th as Joan Bell, from the Hamilton Conservation Foundation will be coming to present some possible projects in the new Dundas EcoPark that we may consider as a Club project. As this will involve considerable investment of effort and dollars by the Club, all members are asked to attend if possible.
A few Happy Dollars were collected along with several fines for those who forgot to wear their name badge. Dave Lowery had just returned from a vacation in Yorkshire, where the temperature was very hot for the UK. Joe Guedes also returned from his European Tour, ready to leave on a gas guzzling trip in his new motor home. Jessica Brennan informed us that younger members of the community think that she attends a fun event every Tuesday morning, the Sunrise Rodeo club. Dave Carson was happy to have power back after a three day outage, and reported on the fine crop from the Community Garden. The picture below has been submitted to the Dundas Star, and shows Aidan and Anna, the children of garden helper Jen McPherson from Dundas In Transition.
Marvin Caplan is a member of the Rotary Club of Hamilton, an ex city councillor, and past president of the Social Planning and Research Council. While on city council he was dedicated to public health both locally and provincially, starting the Settlement and Integration Services Organization and the Community Action Program for Children.
Marvin believes Ontario does not have a health care system; rather, it has an illness care system where solving problems is rewarded instead of preventing problems. He says money determines health. Not provincial money but an individual's personal economic standing in the community. Children born into intergenerational poverty have a lower self image than children born into wealthier families where a positive self image has more to do with good health and success.
Poorer children never learn to "swim". Not swimming in the literal sense but acquiring the tools to positively navigate society. He says there is a correlation between social issues and poverty. He would rather see the provincial government put more money into teaching children to read so that when they are adults they would be more likely to get higher paying jobs and move out of poverty. Again - prevent problems rather than fix problems.
Jan and her daughter Jennifer set each table with Rotary napkins, horns and noise makers and jazzy centre pieces to help usher in the new Rotary year. Guests today were Jennifer Evans, Gui Richard and Cathy Lensen.
Jan informed us that Dave Carson, this year's Sergeant-at-Arms, was absent this morning as he is in the hospital having his gall bladder removed. We wish him well.
Happy dollars from Irene who just returned from a Baltic cruise, and Barbara who was in Ottawa celebrating with family over the announcement that her sister will be receiving the Order of Canada. Barbara also thanked club members who volunteered for the Waterdown/Flamborough AM Ribfest over the long weekend. Bob Morrow noted that this coming Friday will mark the 50th anniversary of the day he proposed to Lynne, and Paul thanked the golfers who played in the HARRRP tournament last week.
After the cheque presentation to Dundas Community Services and the installation of the new board, the club inducted its first new member of the year followed by President Jan's address to the club.
Assistant Governor Bob Morrow installed the new board of directors for the Rotary year 2013 - 2014 and then gave Jan Southall her President's pin. Jan, in turn, called all directors and chairs to the podium and presented them with pins to formally welcome them to their roles on the board.
Since this is the beginning of a new Rotary year, president Jan treated it like New Year with bubbly (non alcoholic), noise makers and flashy table decorations. In her address she praised the club and its members, noting that we are well respected in town and enjoy each other's company. She said it was healthy to disagree during discussions on deciding and planning events but once decisions were made our club comes together to get things done.
Jan's daughter Jennifer helped put together a brochure showing the board of directors, the president's goals for the year and the proposed budget for 2013 - 2014. Her four main goals are: to support and strengthen membership; to support our major events; to study possible multi-year projects with consideration of adopting one during the year; and, to support and maintain our club commitment to The Rotary Foundation.
She closed the meeting having us toss and catch several balls including a small globe, reminding us that many things go on at one time in the club as we Engage Rotary and Change Lives.
President Jan and Bill Armstrong induct Cathy Lensen into the club as the first new member for the Rotary year 2013-14 which began on July 1. Cathy was a member of the Dundas Rotary Club which meets at noon but found the morning time of the Sunrise club more convenient.
President Jan Southall and club community service chair Bill Armstrong present $1500 to Gui Richard from Dundas Community Services. The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is a regular supporter of DCS.
Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is excited to be hosting “ART IN THE PARK” – September 22 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Cove. Local artists will be showcasing their art. You will be able to enjoy wine and beer and contemplate that piece of art you want to add to your home! There will be a live art auction at 3 p.m. Local artists, Ivor and June Lynch and Bob and Sandra Greenwood have been offering their advice and expertise to the event organizers. All art will be original! The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is known for the Rotary Skating Rink in the Dundas Driving Park and for the Fireworks on Victoria Day also in the park. And now for ART IN THE PARK. Artists interested in participating can get information from info@pictureperfectcakeart.com or jsouthall@cogeco.ca.
We certainly had a room full of guests this morning. Marnee emptied her house bringing her mother Eleanor who is visiting from Edmonton, husband Daniel Yeulett, children Sydney and Adam Van Bakel as well was youth exchange student Lisa. Lisa's host parent Lorraine Reid joined their table. As well, Judy Dolbec and Sharon Levy-Cohen from the Hamilton AM Rotary Club attended.
Judy Dolbec promoted her club's 28th annual BBQ and Auction. This year's theme is, Rotary Round Up, a cowpoke event held at the Ancaster Fair Grounds on August 16. Tickets are $95 pp. Contact Judy at judydolbec@sympatico.ca for tickets.
George thanked everyone for the support given him this past year as he planned various social events. Art took on the role of guest speaker. He spoke passionately of the renaming of the new high school asking us to write to the board and make sure the word Dundas is included in the name. He indicated that today the Routes Youth Centre is moving to the community centre. He also informed us that Merle Caldwell, wife of Dundas Rotarian Gary passed away on the weekend and a celebration of life will be held on Sunday June 30 at the Flamborough Hills Golf course.
President Elect Jan distributed questionnaires to those who have not yet completed them; Marnee was happy her mother is visiting and her son will graduate high school and turn 18; Barbara's youngest son and spouse returned from China; Rob is now the proud owner of a house; Bill and Marilyn celebrated their 44th anniversary; and, Jan and Irene will be having a birthday later in the week. Also, president Joe is in Lisbon at the RI convention.
Next week, Stephen Palmer is on desk duty.
After Lisa cut her cake and passed around slices, she summed up her year as our club's Rotary Youth Exchange student.
Lisa Kammemer, the club's youth exchange student, cuts the bon voyage cake as host sister Sydney Van Bakel and youth exchange director Rob Reid look on. This is Lisa's last club meeting and her chance to say goodbye as her year long exchange with the club draws to an end.
Lisa started at the beginning, noting that her mother was an exchange student and encouraged her to apply. She left Austria and arrived in Toronto where Kathy and Keith Starodub and Rob Reid met her at the airport. After several days with the Starodubs she moved to her first host family, Shelley Hall mother of exchange student Emily who is in Denmark this year. Following that she moved to Lorraine Reid's and host sister and brother Nicole and Andy. She went to her first football game and spent time at the Reid cottage on Lake Erie. Her next host family was Francis Manias and Thie Convery from the noon club. During her stay here she had two weeks at a friends cottage in Parry Sound where she spent Christmas. Then off to her last host family, Marnee Marose and Daniel Yeulett. She got to Toronto, Niagara Falls and Ottawa.
When she first arrived in Canada she was scared but everyone helped her feel welcome. Besides her first football game she went to her first baseball and hockey game, ate her first peanut butter sandwich and rode the first time on a yellow school bus. She loved her Highland Secondary School experience.
The Rotary District 7090 Youth Exchange program has students from 17 countries staying for a year in Ontario and New York. The group of students meets several times a year: in Algonquin Park for a winter leadership camp, Jamestown and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Buffalo and a trip to New York City. Her Algonquin experience included a sauna and dip in the lake through a hole in the ice.
Lisa's English improved greatly from her first introduction to the club. She spoke fluently and it was obvious that she is able to think in English. She became a bit emotional through her presentation as she recalled all the great people she met and the good times she had. She thanked Rotary International for its youth exchange program, her host club, the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club and everyone who took time to house, feed and make her feel welcome.
Bill Armstrong thanked Lisa for a great presentation, asked her to keep in touch and said goodbye on behalf of the club. He presented her with a book of Dundas, signed by club members. Use this link to see Lisa's presentation:
Of course, there was no meeting the morning of June 18 because we were meeting at Joe and Anne Guedes' home for the annual BBQ. Between setting his yard with tables and tents and then the next morning taking everything down, president Joe was packing for the Rotary International Convention in Lisbon, Portugal. He and Anne left shortly after clean up!
Club socials are always a great time to chat, eat and enjoy a little refreshment.
Club members and significant others gathered at the home of Joe and Anne Guedes for the annual end of year BBQ and social. After tasty appetizers prepared by Maggie, a goodly amount of refreshments including great martinis, and a great steak dinner, president Joe thanked each director and chair for their efforts this past year.
Folks gathered under the tents,
or under the umbrella.
Youth exchange student Lisa was there.
The club's fellowship events are always enjoyable and help make the club stronger.
President-Elect Jan, President Joe and Anne Guedes attended the district awards presentations and governor changeover luncheon at Salvatore's Italian Restaurant in Depew NY on Sunday. Jan received her president's pin from incoming governor Kevin Crouse and Joe accepted the Presidential Citation on behalf of the club from governor Rick Sterne.
At today's meeting we welcomed Kathy Lensen from the Dundas Rotary Club, Youth Exchange students Lisa and Claire and our guest speaker Bill Parkes.
President-Elect Jan distributed an Inventory of Interests and Activity and Project Development questionnaire to members and asked that everyone complete it and return it to her. She also displayed two posters for the upcoming Art in the Park on September 22 and distributed Art in the Park application forms and exhibitors information. Jan will give her year overview as president on July 2 and our new district governor Kevin Crouse will be visiting on July 16.
George reminded everyone of the upcoming end of year BBQ on June 18 at Joe and Anne Guedes home, 15 Fleming Avenue, Dundas. The cost is $25 pp. Please let George know if you will be attending. You can pay at the event. By the way, there is no morning meeting next Tuesday.
Joe circulated the Presidential Citation (only 28 of the district's 70 clubs received the citation from RI President Tanaka) and indicated that Wayne Massey and Ralph received recognition at the awards ceremony. Joe also reminded board members of the meeting this Wednesday at Dave Carson's home.
There were a number of Happy Dollars. Randy becomes a full-time professor at Sheraton College starting in August; Lisa is off to Niagara-on-the-Lake with the Youth Exchange students before heading off for a one month trip of the USA; Claire was excited that her mom got engaged; and, Phil finishes 11 years as VP at Mac and will be on a six month sabbatical during which time he will be on leave from the club.
Art is the proud grandfather of twins - a boy and a girl; Ralph gave Bob Morrow his name badge which makes it official that he is the new assistant governor for Area 3; Dave Carson was happy for the rain which keeps the community garden growing; Wayne Massey found time to see his granddaughter dance even though he attended five Rotary meetings in the last six days; and Derek is back from Europe.
Program chair Dave then introduced our guest speaker Bill Parkes.
Bill Parkes is the executive director of the Hamilton Association for Residential and Recreational Development Programs. He gave a brief outline of the services provided by HARRRP through its many free programs at the former St. Peter's Anglican Church on Main Street in Hamilton. This past year over 15 000 individuals took part in the various programs at no cost to them. Click on http://harrrp.ca to see the many varied opportunities for recreation that are offered. Funding is provided by the United Way, the Hamilton Community Foundation and the donations from individuals and service clubs. The charity continues to offer its breakfast program and is starting a new summer camp at the Benneto Community Centre.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club donated $1500 to HARRRP last year to help pay for access ramps to St. Peter's.
Club president Joe Guedes accepted the RI Presidential Citation from district governor Rick Sterne on behalf of the club for meeting the criteria set out by RI President Tanaka.
Past club member Kevin Crouse, now from the Brantford A.M. Rotary Club, received his district governor pin from governor Rick Sterne. Kevin in turn presented Rick with his past district governor pin. Kevin takes over as District 7090 governor on July 1.
Incoming Governor Kevin welcomed the 2013-14 club presidents and presented each with a special pin commemorating their new position. Jan Southall, the club's incoming president is on Kevin's right.
Assistant Governor Wayne Massey completes his three year term this year and was presented with the first Head Hands Heart Award by Becky Crouse, Kevin's wife.
PDG Ralph Montesanto also received Head Hands Heart recognition for his district level efforts with club visioning, assistant governor training and Rotary Leadership Institute facilitation.
Club Honoured at District Awards and Governor Changeover Celebration
Wow! The place was electric this morning with 33 Rotarians and guests present. We welcomed Jeff Neven our speaker, Reverend Paddy Doran, Kathy Lensen from the Dundas noon club and ex-club member Andy Coburn.
President Joe thanked the club members and the many volunteers for all their efforts to make the Lobster and Rib Dinner such a success. The arena was packed with 800 guests, many of them enjoying one of the four new pasta bars. This one was staffed by Norm and Barb.
Here Dave serves pasta overseer Fred.
Randy has several cases of wine left over and asked for buyers. Some of course will be used for the upcoming BBQ on June 18 at Joe's house. George reminded us that everyone should have that on their calendars as it is the end of the Rotary year party. It costs $25 pp.
Talking about the bar, Rotarian Chris Montgomery who we do not see often at meetings because of work commitments put in a full day tending bar at the lobster and rib dinner.
Many Happy Dollars this morning had the same theme, expressing delight that Andy was visiting the club. Supporting that cause were Bruce, Viola, Bob Morrow and Shirley. Wayne Massey competed in the 19th annual Massey Golf tournament and won. Jessica's son got a summer job making futons. She also was happy to have worked with Bill as his deputy sheriff for the silent auction. Viola managed to hold down two jobs to pay off a visa bill and Paul Clifford who is the club's oldest and longest serving Rotarian recognized three Rotarians in the room as his ex students.
Bruce never mentioned it but he is going in for more knee surgery tomorrow to remove a steel plate and some scar tissue. On Saturday he and Jan were busy selling bar tickets.
Before introducing guest speaker Jeff, the club made a presentation to Reverend Doran to help support the Canterbury Hills Conference Centre.
Ross Bannatyne, chair of community services for the club, welcomed Reverend Paddy Doran who is overseeing the day-to-day operation of Canterbury Hills Conference Centre in Ancaster. Each year Rotary District 7090 holds its high school leadership program called SLAPSHOT at the centre. Ross presented Reverend Doran with $1000 to help with the operation of the facility which also runs a summer camp for youth.
Jeff Neven, executive director of Homestead Christian Care gave a brief history of this non-profit charity that focuses on providing housing for individuals with developmental disabilities. From its start in 1976 with one 7-bed group home on Locke St. in Hamilton to its present day, 220 units spread through 2 group homes and 6 apartments in Woodstock and Hamilton the organization continues to grow. The old Driftwood Tavern became 46 unit affordable housing and a community development centre called the Prinzen Flats and Perkins Centre. Thirty six of the residents were considered to be homeless, with most suffering from mental health issues and many experiencing addiction issues and physical and mental disabilities. Living under the philosophy of, "What are you good at?" and " How can you contribute?" over 80% of the residents have been in their units more than a year and have become involved with the centre's programs.
Jeff indicated the charity purchased a number of properties on Main St. E. with the intent of developing another 100 or more apartments across from the Perkins Centre. To help finance the cost, over half a million dollars was pledged in the last month as personal loans to help leverage government grants to build the structure. He invited anyone interested in earning 4% on their investment to consider being part of this new project to support affordable housing in downtown Hamilton.
We had a small crowd on this rainy morning with only 19 members, Lisa and guest speaker Adrian Dieleman. Today was special for Joe and Paul as they were both celebrating a birthday. Of course, we all sang Happy Birthday to them. As is Paul's custom (as well as many others in the club) he made his donation to The Rotary Foundation on his birthday.
Ross asked for the members' OK to give $510 to Dave Carson for the community garden. We did this because Dave's request was over the $500 limit that chairs can commit without club approval. Dave also read a letter from St. Mark's thanking him and us for rain barrel funds given to the church to help cover cost of the water used for the garden.
Fred, who is looking after a pasta station this year at the lobster/rib dinner, asked his volunteers to be at the arena at noon on June 1 to go through a dry run. Fred was a little startled at how few volunteers were at today's meeting. If you are one of them or want to be one please email Fred and let him know.
Happy Dollars from Bruce who played a couple mid 80 rounds of golf last week and from Joe who is getting used to driving his new home on wheels. Dave then introduced our guest speaker, Adrian Dieleman, who spoke about Ontario Christian Gleaners.
Adrian Dieleman has been a volunteer with The Ontario Christian Gleaners since its inception in 2008. Their motto is, " Using Ontarios's surplus produce to feed the hungry". Over 750 volunteers help out each year with 40 - 80 at a time gathering each week day to sort, wash, dice, dry and package vegetables for distribution to needy areas such as Guatemala, Haiti, Ghana, Romania, Philippines and Sierra Leone to name just a few. Almost all the produce comes from growers with some coming from food processors and distributors.
Once the various vegetables are prepared and dried they are put together in fixed proportions to create a dried soup mix. These three pound bags are packaged four in a pail with 60 pails on a skid shrink wrapped together for world wide distribution. Once received the contents of each bag are placed in 25 L of water, soaked for 6 hours to rehydrate and then boiled for 1 h. After another 2 - 3 hours of simmering 100 bowls of soup are ready.
The plant is located at 1550 Morrison Road in Cambridge ON and Adrian says volunteers are always welcome. A shift is from 8:00 a.m. to noon and anyone from high school age up is welcome to just arrive at the plant to work.
One of the things they need are square plastic pails with matching lids in which the bags are shipped. The pails serve multiple duty once the soup mix is removed - from water haulers to cement mixers to tables. These types of pails can be found at the local deli, restaurant, coffee shop or any food preparation place.
Adrain indicated that the soup mix is given away at no cost and any expenses incurred are covered by church and community donations. For more information go to www.OntarioGleaners.org
Jim McDonald and Dave Carson harvest last year's crop. Below is a letter to Dave from the Chair of the St. Mark's United Church Board.
Dear Dave,
On behalf of the Congregation and Church Board, I wish to thank you for the cheque for $540 you recently presented to us on behalf of the St. Mark's Community Garden, the Dundas Sunrise Rotary Club and Dundas in Transitions. We understand that this money represents a share from the sale of rain barrels.
As an "open and loving community" we value the continuing opportunity to partner with all of you in this community garden project.
Best wishes for another successful year
Andrew Cranbury, Chair of the Board
At the club meeting of May 28, members agreed to give Dave $510 to help cover the cost of fresh soil, 4 extra beds and deer fencing.
Club member Shirley Molloy accepts a $1000 donation to the Salvation Army Food Bank from Ross Bannatyne, chair of the club's Community Services Committee. The next Dundas food drive is Saturday May 25. Volunteers should be at the Dundas Community Centre at 8:00 a.m. ready to pack food or go house to house.
Highland Secondary School student Jake Northey was sponsored by the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club to attend Adventures in Citizenship in Ottawa. The Rotary Club of Ottawa runs the program and this year 220 youth from across all provinces and territories of Canada gathered in Ottawa for four days of tours of the parliament buildings, mock elections, and inspirational speakers. Jake was billeted with a host family, got to sit in the Prime Minister's chair, listened to ambassadors from The Netherlands and South Korea, attended a new Canadian citizenship ceremony where he got to reaffirm his Canadian citizenship, and toured the University of Ottawa.
Adventures in Citizenship Participant Jake Northey
David Lowery has prostate cancer and wishes he were more aware of it back in 2008 when he was first diagnosed. He never thought about it prior to diagnosis, had regular digital rectal exams and was healthy. It came as quite a shock when he had his first PSA blood test that was very elevated; and, after 4 months of waiting for useful medical advice was sent to the Juravinski Cancer Centre for a biopsy that confirmed he was into the aggressive stage of the disease. At that point, intervention was started.
One in six males will be diagnosed with prostate cancer with 70%-80% having a slow growing version that will likely not cause death. The remaining 20%-30% will have the aggressive form and will likely die of the disease. David feels that at present the medical system is geared towards the 80% group during the initial doctor/patient contact. During his 4-month wait his PSA went from 30 to 50 as his condition worsened.
David says no one really knows what causes prostate cancer but men over 60, those of African descent and those having a family history are at higher risk. He suggests that men at risk regularly need to have both the DRE and the PSA test.
Since being diagnosed, David has started another career. His new career is dealing with cancer. It has become a full-time job, with doctor visits, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone treatment and recovery. During the four years he has had periods of remission but the cancer never went away and has now spread to his spine.
When David retired in 2007 as an engineer he joined the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise looking for a way to serve his community. He does that but his new career, one that he neither chose nor knew was coming, tends to get in the way.
We welcomed Aleta Agpalo as a guest of the club. Aleta is working with membership director Derek as she learns more about joining the club. As well, Lynne Gates was present to accept the club's support for Little Hats That Grew.
Happy Birthday to Wayne Migus who also asked us for more wine for the June 1 draw. Bill reminded the lobster/rib committee of the meeting today at 5:00 p.m. at the Rotary Centre. Youth Exchange student Lisa circulated a sponsorship form for the Niagara-on-the-Lake event. Derek asked all volunteers to be at the Rotary Rink in the park by 6:30 p.m. on May 19, and Jan asked volunteers to wear the white jackets that Ken provided.
Joe asked board members to be at the monthly board meeting which is this Wednesday May 15. Note the location has been changed. It is now at his office on Moxley Road. Also, remember the June 9 awards dinner in Depew NY. Go to the district website and register if you are interested in attending. Fred informed us that there would no longer be mussels at the lobster dinner. This is being replaced with pasta stations.
And one big happy dollar from Bruce who has his first grandchild - Thomas Frederick.
Ralph thanked all the volunteers who helped with the Shredding Day on the weekend. A special thanks to Bruce and Scott Eccles who provided the site and the sign boards. The truck arrived at 8:00 a.m. and finished around 2:30 p.m. Here Bob, Derek, Ken and Joe wait for the shredding truck to return from emptying its load. The first truck was filled and another 2700 pounds went into the next load. When the invoice is in from Integra Document Destruction that donated the truck for the first four hours, we should clear around $2000 and made a lot of people happy that they could safely get rid of those personal papers.
It was a pleasure today to welcome Lynne Gates from Little Hats That Grew. And grow it did, from one person knitting 50 hats and gloves per year to 192, mostly women, knitting over 4600 items this past year. These are distributed through a number of charities and at needy schools in the area. Lynne said Little Hats is really a double charity. It serves the needy for hats, scarves, blankets, etc. but it also provides senior women with a purpose. They are often shut-ins and knitting for a cause gives them a daily purpose. Once a year the group gathers at Binkley United Church to hand in their wares and enjoy a potluck dinner. Lynne asked that anyone who knows of stashes of wool that are not being used should contact her and put the wool to good use.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is a regular supporter of Little Hats That Grew and today Community Service Chair Ross Bannatyne presented Lynne with a cheque for $500.
Club member Paul Clifford gave a history of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a topic that few of our members knew about. From its start in 1933 until its present day the authority built and manages dozens of dams and various power generating facilities along the Tennessee River Valley and its many tributaries. Started by an act of the US Congress the
TVA now provides power to 9 million people in 7 states. The dams also provide erosion relief, flood control, navigation on over 1000 km, increased fish stocks and improved farming and logging.
Back in the 30s most of the valley was well below the poverty level with fewer than 10% of the population having electricity. Because of the project that number rose to 90% in a few short years. The TVA helped the process by building transmission lines into rural areas and buying large stocks of appliances which it sold to the inhabitants for just above cost.
Now the TVA has over 12,700 employees with sales of $11.2 billion a year. When it was started in 1933 most Republicans voted against it. Today, President Obama is talking about privatizing the TVA and it is the Republicans who want to keep it.
For more information please go to http://www.tva.com/abouttva/history.htm
We had a full house this morning with plenty of guests: Miranda and Pam Jurilj from Dundas Junior Civitan, youth exchange student Lisa Kammemer; Sydney Van Baker Marnee's daughter, Mac Carson from the Dundas Rotary Club, and Danielle Mably from the Routes Youth Centre.
Announcements: Paul Clifford promoted a golf tournament at Century Pines on June 26 at 8:00 am in support of HARRRP; Harold passed around sign-up sheets for the Lobster Rib Dinner Dance on June 1; Bob Bell asked for any unsold or not-committed tickets to be returned as there is a waiting list for the June 1 event; and Wayne Migus thanked those who had brought in wine for the draw but indicated he need more; and Bill needs more items for the auction. Ralph asked for volunteers for this Saturday's shredding event. If you are available to work and have not informed him please let Ralph know when you can attend between 8 am and 1 pm. Lisa Kammemer returned from a great youth exchange weekend in Jamestown NY and is planning to attend a June 15 event for exchange students in Niagara-on-the-Lake. She passed around a sponsorship form. Shirley reminded us of the community food drive on May 25 and encouraged all to make their donation to The Rotary Foundation either to her or online. And, president-elect Jan thanked the seven club members who attended the district assembly in Niagara Falls NY.
Happy Dollars from Bruce who returned from a long stay in Florida and was able to tell a funny joke; Dave Matchett who was pleased to see Vlad at the meeting looking no worse for wear after his medical scare; Art who returned from a month-long cruise around New Zealand and Australia; Bob Morrow who is invited to the Canadian Space Agency in Montreal to watch Chris Hadfield return from the space station to Kazakistan. Fred spent some time with Wayne Migus in a walleye fishing tournament. No fish were harmed because of their efforts. Visitor Miranda had a nice story to tell about special needs children under her care; and, Carl is off to Chicago for a meeting but will find time to attend a Cubs game.
Following Happy Dollars, Art introduced guest speaker Danielle Mably.
Miranda Jurilj accepted $500 to help with the work of the Dundas Junior Civitan Club. The club assists individuals with developmental disabilities offering a number of social activities like Club 95, Valentine's and Hallowe'en dances. Members also do community work like helping plant gardens for seniors at St. Joseph's Villa. Miranda asked us to attend their Dinner in the Dark at St. Mark's United Church in Dundas on June 1. Cost is $15.
A safe place to help guide youth towards socially productive and satisfying lives. This is the mission and goal taken on by Danielle Malby the new program director for Routes Youth Centre. Around 100 youth, not all there at the same time, work on relationship building in this safe, caring, social environment. This is an after school program that involves a number of structured and unstructured activities. Those over 14 do dinner and discussion, boys night out, girls night out, and sports with each program designed to help kids talk, discuss and generally have fun. There is also a program for those 14 and under called kids talk where youth have an opportunity to eat, talk and learn appropriate behaviour. Of course there is also a drop in time when homework can be completed.
A number of youth start the program to complete community service hours because of group home and probation referrals. After completion of their mandatory time they often stick around because they enjoy what is happening.
Participants raise funds through a scrap metal drive, leaf raking and a canteen. More formal funding comes from patrons, grants, donations and corporate sponsors. The centre has been housed in the Salvation Army building but is actively looking for a new home for June.
Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotarians Bill Armstrong and Ross Bannatyne presented Danielle with a cheque for $2000. The club has supported the Routes Youth Centre for several years.
We welcomed Claire Harkness and Chuck Waterman as guests this morning. Claire is the new poster girl for Juvenile Diabetes and will be participating in the June 9th walk at Pier 4. She was looking for sponsors and a number of members contributed with others to go online to make donations.
Announcements: Bob Morrow informed members of the Food Drive coming up on Saturday May 25. Ralph asked for volunteers for Shredding Day which is Saturday May 11. Please let him know by email if you can be there between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM. Wayne Migus is collecting wine for the Lobster-Rib dinner and Bob Bell needs unsold tickets returned because there is a shortage of them for sale. Derek is looking for volunteers for the May 19 Fireworks in the Dundas Driving Park. He needs all club members to be out that evening of at all possible.
President Joe put forth a motion that was passed at the last board meeting asking for $2000 for Telling Tales. This was passed by members present and will make our club a silver sponsor once again for this outstanding literacy event held in September.
There were a number of happy dollars. Jan is happy that George covers for her; Shirley spent a week in Texas with time at the Johnson Space Center; and, Dave was pleased with all the help last Saturday preparing the community garden. The photo shows Stephen Palmer's son helping fill a wheelbarrow at the community garden.
Wayne Massey is glad April 30 has arrived and tax forms will slow down. Barb Busing is also pleased for her husband Norm who also does taxes. Barb is getting ready to head to China this week and was happy Bob Morrow is doing a talk today on China. And, Kathy's husband turns 60 this week and they celebrated in Niagara-on-the-Lake on the weekend.
If you ever wondered what was under that covered plot in the community garden all winter, this was it. Carl harvested carrots and lettuce.
Today we visited China through the camera lens of Bob Morrow as he recalled his recent visit to that country of over 1.1 billion inhabitants. As is Bob's usual custom, he wrapped the photos into a package of history, geography and civics. He talked about the huge changes over just the past 15 or 16 years as the country rushes from a rural to an urban society. In some cities, buildings over 15 storeys are being erected at the rate of 15 per week bringing with it traffic congestion and pollution issues.
The country's gross domestic product has increased to the point where most households save over 25% of their income. With this extra cash there is plenty of investment in the country and the standard of living is rapidly improving. Travel by the Chinese within China is on the upswing with many high tech roadways and super fast trains linking the country. His photos showed spectacular new high rise buildings with a young population in up-to-date clothing styles surrounded by leading edge communications technology.
Bob felt the country is successfully separating the concepts of capitalism and communism and working within them to become the number one trading partner in the world. His many photos showed the greening of China, the links with its past, the rural and the urban, and, the influx of international companies.
China is dealing with environmental issues of air pollution, garbage and serious erosion problems. As well, there are ongoing problems with other countries over boundaries. All these things aside, his photos indicate a country worth visiting and one which will soon move out of the classification as a developing nation.
Sergeant at Arms Bill started the announcements and happy dollars with a congratulations to David and Sue Lowery who recently celebrated their 47th anniversary. He reminded all those involved with the fireworks in the Driving Park of the meeting this Thursday April 25, 6:00 PM at Ken Beel's house.
Dave Carson asked for helpers this Saturday April 27 to prepare the community garden for spring planting. Bring a wheel barrow if you can and be there between 8:30 and noon. Dave also informed us that he is now on the board of Environment Hamilton.
President Joe displayed a club banner he received from Bob Morrow during Bob's visit to the Rotary Club of Dr. Philips in Florida. Joe also asked members to put June 9 on their calendars. This is the awards dinner and district governor change over at Salvatore's Restaurant in Depew NY. Our own Kevin Crouse who was a member until a couple years ago will be the new DG. Our club will also be receiving several awards. Joe also told us he is the proud owner of a 41 foot long RV.
You might want to give Harold's wife Julienne a call. She is in the hospital after receiving a new knee on Monday April 22. Wayne Massey was happy that he found a house for his daughter who can now move out once again. Bob Bell came clean, saying he left his name badge at home.
Jessica Brennan was happy to have helped with the ground breaking ceremony for the new play ground and community resource at Dundas Central School. Paul Clifford was also at the ceremony and was happy to talk with Adam Bienenstock who is the designer of the project and an old friend of Paul. You might recall that Adam spoke to the club several months ago about the project that club member Stephen Palmer is leading.
Following happy dollars, Dave Carson introduced today's program on Earth Day and The Story of Stuff.
Congratulations to Rob Reid as one of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club’s selections to receive a Paul Harris Award. The following is the introduction for Rob, as written by Kathy Starodub.
Tonight it is my pleasure to present a Paul Harris Award to Robert Reid. When Rob joined Dundas Valley Sunrise, he brought with him lots of Rotary experience by way of his parents’ involvement in their home area of Simcoe. And, he also brought his very talented children and their mom, Lorraine. Nicole and Andy became, for a time, featured dancers at Rotary Stars, and although they have moved on, Rob is still integral to the successful mounting of that fundraiser. So, reason number one for a PHA.
During this past Rotary year, Rob has had the enviable task of New Generations Director – with all the moving parts (literally) in that portfolio. Was it because he and his family had hosted our first inbound youth exchange student, Nico Papp? Was it because Lorraine hosted our second inbound, Lisa Kammemer. Or does Rob possess those qualities that make exceptional Rotarians: a sense of responsibility for the well being of young people, a willingness to accept challenges with grace, and an ability to work with a wide variety of personalities – patiently, thoughtfully and creatively. Rob has been dauntless in the tasks in the New Generations portfolio and he has gone beyond the pale. He has volunteered to do it again next year. Reasons #2,3 and 4 I think.
Please join me in recognizing Rob Reid as one of the 2013 Paul Harris Award winners.
Club president Joe Guedes was honoured at the annual Paul Harris Banquet for reaching the $1000 contribution level to The Rotary Foundation. Joe will proudly wear his Paul Harris pin as he and Anne head off to the Rotary International Convention in Portugal later in June.
President Joe Receives His First Paul Harris Fellow
Today's meeting was a club assembly. Each director and chair gave a brief report to members outlining activities over the past few months. A full report was sent to all members by club secretary Bob Morrow following the assembly.
Before the assembly the club recognized Carl Fraser as a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. It also recognized Rob Reid as one of the club's choices for its annual Paul Harris Award because of his efforts as club director of New Generations Service. Neither Rob nor Carl were able to attend the formal ceremony at the Paul Harris banquet the previous week.
Happy dollars from Barbara who spent time with her brothers; Viola who went for a cooking school weekend in Stratford; and, Bob Morrow whose $5 knock-off Rolex has now cost him about $30 to repair. Vlad returned from a vacation in the Dominican Republic; Shirley is happy her medical procedure is over and Ralph is in the middle of baby sitting his three grandsons while the parents are vacationing for a week.
Happy upcoming birthdays to Claire Eccles, Pam Bell and Mary-Lou.
Things that are coming up: Shredding on May 11, Fireworks at the park on May 16, Lobster/Rib Dinner June 1. The Flamborough AM club is hosting, "Climb Mount Kilimanjaro" at the Dutch Mill Country Market, 533 Millgrove Sideroad at 6:30 PM April 24. And, the Dundas Rotary Club is selling organic fertilizer at $10 per bag.
President Joe Guedes and club Rotary Foundation chair Shirley Molloy presented Carl Fraser with his latest multiple Paul Harris pin. Carl has donated to The Rotary Foundation every year since becoming a Rotarian. His efforts help provide The Rotary Foundation with the funds necessary to meet its educational and humanitarian programs in local and global communities.
Club Honours Carl Fraser for His Continued Financial Support of The Rotary Foundation
Ernie Romain continues to be a strong financial supporter of The Rotary Foundation. During the annual Paul Harris Awards banquet Ernie was honoured with a multiple PHA. District Governor Rick Sterne and Dr. Kanwal Shankardass District Foundation Representative present Ernie with his latest pin.
The Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise celebrated its annual Paul Harris Awards banquet at Copetown Woods Golf Course. Six individuals were honoured as Paul Harris Fellows. A PHF can be awarded whenever a $1000 contribution is made to The Rotary Foundation. Joe Guedes, this year’s president of the Rotary club received his award for reaching that threshold. Club members, Carl Fraser and Ernie Romain were both honoured as multiple Paul Harris Fellows for their continued support of The Rotary Foundation.
TRF is the engine that helps finance many of the service projects Rotary clubs perform in local and international communities throughout the world. This past year the Dundas Valley Sunrise club and its members contributed $15 000 to TRF and another $3000 towards Rotary International’s number one goal of the worldwide eradication of polio.
The DVSRC also selected a number of individuals for Paul Harris recognition for the work they do in the community. One such individual is Donna Wignall a retired special education teacher from Dundas Central School. Donna is a recipient of the Agnes Earnshaw award for teaching excellence, and a school environmentalist who has a stone plaque in the playground at the school honouring her work. She was a driving force with Friends of Dundas Library helping them raise over $28 000 from the annual book sale. She is a 27 year volunteer for the Cancer Society, a leader at the Dundas Granite Curling Club, a valued volunteer at St. Marks United Church and a community volunteer recognized by Dundas Community Services.
Another individual honoured by the club is Russ Powers. Russ is a chartered member of the DVSRC and was presented with a Paul Harris Award for his many years of service to the community as an elected representative on Dundas and Regional councils, Hamilton City council and Member of Federal Parliament. As well, Russ tirelessly cleared the way through city channels so that the club could built the Rotary Rink in the Dundas Driving Park and offer the annual Victoria Day fireworks there.
The third individual of a PHA is Claire Harkness, who in her thank you speech said she, “Thought only old people got this award.” Claire was the clubs first Rotary Youth Exchange outbound student and took a year off her studies at Highland Secondary School to travel and live with host families in Australia, all paid for by Rotary International and the club. Her regular monthly reports were so detailed, well written and peppered with interesting photographs that club members anxiously waited to receive them. While in Australia Claire revised her career plans and now intends to become a nurse. She is back at Highland completing her high school diploma.
Since the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club’s charter in 2000, the club and its members have contributed over $130 000 to The Rotary Foundation and named 34 community members and 35 club members as Paul Harris Fellows.
We welcomed Larry Kurtz our guest speaker and Lisa our Youth Exchange student. Returning from vacation were Derek Price, Ken Beel and Ralph Montesanto.
Ralph announced that he was looking for two volunteers to help revise the club brand - the banner, name badges, etc. If interested please let him know. Dave Carson reminded all to pick up the rain barrel they ordered this Saturday April 6 at St. Marks between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM. There will be a few extra rain barrels for sale for $50 each if you have not yet placed an order.
Bob Bell distributed more Lobster/Rib Dinner tickets and urged everyone to start selling them. Bill Armstrong continued his request for auction items for the June 1 event. Shirley Molloy gave a last call for the Paul Harris dinner next Tuesday April 9 at Copetown Woods Golf Course. That being a major club event, there will be no regular morning meeting that day.
Ralph is looking for helpers for Shredding Day May 11. Please let him know if you can do a shift. He will also be emailing a flyer to club members and asks that you resend it to you email contacts that live in the area.
Happy dollars were received from Barbara Busing who spent a joyous Easter with her 5 month old granddaughter. This was tempered by the passing of her ex mother-in-law. Dave Carson also spent the weekend with his granddaughter. Ralph returned from 10 weeks in Florida where he managed to eke out a slim golf victory over Barb.
Following Happy Dollars, Dave Carson introduced Larry Kurtz, the exchange director of Friendship Force International.
Have you ever wanted to explore new countries or cultures? Do you like to learn first hand through home hospitality where local hosts welcome you into their homes? If so, then Friendship Force International might be for you.
Larry Kurtz, the exchange director for the local Friendship club talked about the organization and how it has programs in 377 communities in 56 countries. For $20 a year you could join the local club and learn about the options that are available. Larry talked about his personal experiences visiting Brazil and how the host club arranged a moon lit walk on the beach that he would never have considered doing alone. While in Kentucky last year he was at a theme based exchange called Blue Grass and Bourbon and got a first hand look at the horse racing industry. This June, the local club is hosting a group from Turkey and has an extensive itinerary arranged to give them the feel of this area.
The local Friendship club has one out-bound trip of two weeks visiting two separate countries. It has two separate one week in-bound hostings. Usually there are around 20 people, with many singles joining the group.
This is a unique program of home hospitality where international travellers are hosted in the homes of local families. For more information go to www.thefriendshipforce.org or contact Larry at kurtz_larry@hotmail.com.
Using some beautiful pictures of the Dundas Valley area, Anuja presented the work underway on the Dundas Valley 50 Year Vision project. This project was for the whole valley - over 5400 hectares, not just the 1464 hectares of the Conservation Authority. The project has the following main goals
Managing our natural lands in conjunction with others
Preserving our history and cultural heritage
Keeping our culture vibrant to day and in future
Providing for recreation - balancing environmental protection with access and use
The project seeks to engage everyone in the community and deal with the above goals, while also addressing some significant challenges; these include
Climate Change
Deer population
Invasive species
The growing volume of visitors to green spaces.
The strategy is long term, but work is underway dealing with protection of lands, education of needs, economic viability and financing the work. The HRCA is in an 18 month planning and early implementation phase and seeking community involvement. The next opportunity to get engaged is an Open House on April 4th at the Ancaster Public Library at 6pm.
Anuja is pictured below with the bobolink, a threatened species in the Valley
Bob Morrow announced that his Tomatosphere project has one a "Best Promoted Science Project" award. He was off to the ceremony later today. He showed us a poster of Bob Thirsk with his 600,000 seeds.
We were reminded to support Rotaract Fund Raising Dinner on April 5th at MacMaster (tickets from Joe Guedes) and the District Assembly on May 4th - Jan is organizing car-pooling and hopes her 2013/4 Board members will attend. Dave Carson promoted the Rain barrel Sale on April 6th in aid of the Community Garden at St. Marks; he also asked for a few volunteers for the sale - 9am - 1pm or whatever you can spare.
Happy Dollars
Phil Wood is now an Honorary member of the MacMaster Student Union, in recognition of his work as VP of Student Affairs and his years of service to the University. Steve Palmer celebrated the fact that the fund raising for the Dundas Central School Community Park has gone really well.
Shirley sought sponsors for her entry at the Burlington Rotary Bowlathon in aid of Joseph Brant Hospital. Unlike the storms in Orlando, it was dry in Dundas today. At a before breakfast chat we heard that, like Tiger, the clubs seem to be working for Ralph as he's winning against Barb again!
Bob Bell introduced our Speaker this week, the Reverend Linda Nash from St. Mark's United Church in Dundas
Linda's career has moved from being a radiation therapist to becoming a pastor. In her journey she has become increasingly concerned about nuclear war, initially through Physicians for the Prevention for Nuclear War and Project Ploughshares. She observed that many working to raise awareness and motivate governments through rallies and protests appeared to engender some aggression and hatred against their own leaders. Feeling this was wrong, Linda looked to another way, through Peace Vigils in which she has participated in recent years. She described "Intention Experiments" in which dedicated people could focus their minds as a group and have some impact on wars underway in remote countries.
Linda asked us to think about the power of the mind - we have seen ways in which one person can influence the world for the worse; how much better if we use the power of the mind for good. Some of our members gave Linda their personal examples of using this approach. We were asked to consider how we can change our thinking, from letting our minds control us to controlling our own minds for the better. Mindfulness becomes the first step towards inner peace. And quoting Confucius, Linda asked us to consider how our inner peace can lead to peace in the home, peace in the Nation and peace in the World.
Some helpful approaches - simplify different aspects of our lives - accept "what is" and move on - practice gratitude and saying thank you.
Members asked for references to two books mentioned during today - The Essential Spirituality (The seven essential practices to awaken heart and mind) by Roger Walsh and The Magic (The Secret) by Rhonda Byrne
Today we welcomed guests Jeff Kozac (Dundas Little League), Lisa Kammerer (Rotary Exchange), Rev Linda Nash (Speaker) and Anna Schaeffer.
The meeting started with a presentation by Bob Bell to Jeff Kozac of a cheque in support of Dundas Little League. Jeff told us how this helped teach the joys of baseball to upwards of 300 children and how greatly they appreciated the support of Sunshine Rotary.
Announcements and Happy Dollars
Sergeant at Arms announced that last week was George Gould's birthday, though we don't know how he celebrated it! President Joe reminded us of the Rotaract Fundraising dinner on April 5th, the District Assembly on May 4th and the Board Meeting tomorrow. George reminded us of the need for helpers at the annual Fireworks display - please let him know how you can help fill positions such as traffic direction, sales, money counting, etc. Former President Shirley reminded us of the Paul Harris dinner on April 9th - she needs an RSVP from all who intent to go so she can notify numbers to the Golf Club. And BillArmstrong continues to look for Lobsterfest Silent auction items.
Happy dollars were received from just three people ( I guess all the other happy people were in Florida??). Shirley was very happy for the successful outcome from her daughter's emergency appendicitis operation last week. Bob Morrow was back from TWO!! cruises, one of which he said was work....Bob compared his cruise ship with the Aquitania on which he came from the UK in 1948 when it was still fitted out as a troop ship. Nothing compared with the Allure of the Seas (which Wikipedia says is the largest cruise ship ever constructed) - Bob said even he could not check out all the bars on the ship. Finally, Viola was happy to be back after an illness which has increased her empathy with sick people.
March Break week meeting had a reasonable turnout given the absence of vacationers and snowbirds. We had four guests, Jenna from McMaster Rotaract, Wade Genders, our speaker, Ken Hall from the noon club and one other from the Downtown Club.
Announcements
Jenna announced the Rotaract Annual Dinner / Fundraiser taking place on Friday April 5th; proceeds to the John A. McDonald School breakfast program. Tickets are $55, see Joe Guedes. President Joe Guedes reminded us of the upcoming important Rotary events - the Leadership Institute on April 20th at Niagara Community College and the District Assemby on May 4th, also in Niagara. Please see Joe if interested in going.
Bob Bell had three announcements - he presented to us some of the material requirements of the new Central School park (presented to us last year by Adam Bienenstock). They are looking for contacts / discounts on stone, sand, sod etc. Bob reminded us that he had lots of Lobsterfest tickets for sale, please promote them among your friends and colleagues (Bill Armstrong also begged for silent auction donations). Finally Bob reminded us that Rev. Linda Nash of St. Mark's Church would be visiting us next week as part of the Peace Forum activity promoted by the Rotary International President this year.
Dave Carson promoted the rain barrel sale taking place on April 6th; the sale is organized by Dundas in Transition and is in aid of the Rotary Sunrise Garden at St.Marks and St. Mark's Church. If you want to order a rain barrel, go to www.rainbarrel.ca and search on the Dundas location.
George Gould is coordinating Fireworks in the Park this year and asked everyone to think about the volunteer help they could give in tasks such as parking, glow stick sales, money counting, security and any other suggestions. Let him know.
Happy Dollars
Steve Palmer paid a self imposed fine for wearing weekend socks on a work day; he is under pressure as a single dad this week while his wife is in Las Vegas. Glen was happy to announce for the second time he is a great grand father. No one asked him how he got such an early start on this process. Wayne Migus was looking tanned and (?happy) to be back from his vacation. Jessica had several things to be thankful for. Her husband lost an argument with a deer while driving on Governors Road last week, but was happily uninjured. Her son scored >90% in his first term at Mohawk studying music. We know where his musical talents come from, as Jessica also reported that she had received a scholarship - The Regional Music Teachers Award - as a result of her successful Grade 10 Royal Conservancy. Dave C was enjoying a new fitness regime at the new Anytime Fitness Club in Dundas while Phil was (not?) sorry to be absent next week as he was required to go to a Student Affairs conference in Orlando. Finally Art is going to be away for 6 weeks while he circumnavigates Australia and New Zealand - he said it had been on his bucket list for a long time.
Wade Genders introduced his talk in a lively and interesting way - starting with a journey through the solar system. We visited Mars, where the CO2 in the atmosphere contributed to extreme cold and Venus, where it contributed to very high barometric pressure and temperatures. Bringing us down to Earth Wade pointed out that the CO2 in our atmosphere had risen from 280 parts per million to 390 parts per million in the past century, at the same time as the population had gone from 1.5 billion to 7 billion. The implication - if we carry on without changing, our planet's atmosphere may become unlivable.
Wade then reminded us of the wonderful air filtration system provided by the photo-synthesis of all plants that removes CO2 from the atmosphere. Parks are places that do this for us and Hamilton has a wonderful opportunity to create an urban park that would be four times the size of New York's Central Park. The Dundas Eco-Park is the heart of the larger Cootes to Escarpment area. It would bring many social, environmental and economic benefits to the City, and preserve a diverse and beautiful natural area. The project is lead by the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority / Conservation Foundation which has already raised $1.8M of the expected $5M cost. More can be seen at www.dundasecopark.ca
In the Q&A session we learned that Art Sampson had been very instrumental in protecting much of this land from urban development several years ago and that it was now under the control of the Niagara Escarpment Commission.
From the website - The 1,346 hectare (3,325 acre) Dundas EcoPark will include restored and rehabilitated lands along the north shore of the Desjardins Canal, including the former Ben Veldhuis Greenhouse complex. The Dundas EcoPark is part of the Cootes to Escarpment Park System which provides the only continuous habitat connection from Lake Ontario to the Niagara Escarpment not broken by a series 400 highway.
Sergeant at Arms Bill Armstrong welcomed our guests Drs Shankardass, Redwood-Campbell and Shaik; - in a three-for-one deal they had all come to speak about Banda Aceh (see below).
Announcements
DR Shankardass announced the data for the Trevor Garwood-Jones Golf Tournament to be run by the noon club, on Tuesday September 24th. Shirley reminded us of the Paul Harris Dinner on April 9th and again looked for Rotary Foundation contributions so that we could make EREY again this year. President Joe Guedes told us of the "release Your Inner Rotarian" meeting on March 14th in Buffalo (contact Joe if more details needed) and the District Assembly on Saturday May 4th. Please let others know if you plan to go so car pooling can be arranged. Carl is looking for help to (finally) take the lights off the Christmas Tree at the rink this Friday at 8 am.
Happy Dollars
A small take this week - Harold is off to ski at Sun Peaks and will miss his desk duty next week, Fred was most envious that Wayne Migus was away on a cruise. And Joe Guedes was back in retirement having spent four weeks of 6:30 am to 11:30 pm days working in Parry Sound.
Today we heard from Dr. Kanwal Shankardass, who has played a key role in a collaborative global health project in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Dr Shankardass introduced our speakers, Dr. Lynda Redwood-Campbell and Dr. Sameer Shaikh. Banda Aceh was devastated by the 2004 tsunami (the picture below shows some of the damage) and we heard of the project which aims are to improve health of vulnerable people though medical education. Our sister Rotary Club in Dundas is working with McMaster University and Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh to help re-establish the medical education and providing funds for the operation of a health clinic, an orphanage, an elementary and secondary school and some start-up small businesses at the Yayasan Centre.
Dr. Sameer Shaikh, (below) who is undertaking a medical residency at McMaster, worked in Banda Aceh last year. He described the Yayasan Centre, the services it offers and some of the obstacles faced in getting the medical centre up and running. The orphanage / school is in operation and providing basic needs to 51 students from very poor families. The new computer lab has been set up with four work stations installed and another 10 planned, giving the students internet access and helping to further their ongoing education. More IT capacity is a definite need.
Dr Redwood-Campbell (photo above) - a Professor in Primary health care and Family Medicine, described the partnership between McMaster and Syiah Kuala University to develop curricula for both Family Medicine and Disaster Planning. Given the vulnerability of Indonesia to earthquakes and other natural disasters, the latter curriculum fills an important need in both understanding the risk and vulnerability of an area and then how to deal with the mass casualties that result from a disaster. Dr Redwood-Campbell also described an exciting new project for which they are seeking Canadian Federal funding, which is to use mobile technology to train health care workers; this is particularly appropriate because there is a very high level of cell-phone use in Indonesia.
Dr Kanwal Shankardass - update on work in Banda Aceh Indonesia, post 2004 tsunami
Today we welcomed April Morganti, a resident of Dundas, who is the Partnership and Community Engagement Manager with the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. Jessica introduced April with some very nice words about her work.
April's main purpose in visiting us was to say thank you for the work done by Rotary in the community. She noted how many things the different Rotary Clubs in Hamilton do with, and for, students and thanked us for programs such as Rotary Student Exchange, RYLA and Career Days. April encouraged us to work with her to plan in areas that was of interest to our members. She has a wide ranging job involving, for example, enabling Literacy programs, access to arts and a "girls only" program to enhance their self esteem and avoid bullying.
Two example areas where volunteers are needed are
- in the pre-Kindergarten to grade 2 literacy program; elsewhere in Hamilton this one-on-one volunteering has resulted in great improvements in reading skills
- in Hamilton Partners in Nutrition, which could benefit from some committed consistent volunteers with coordination and management skills.
A fairly vigorous Q&A followed where we all tried to put Jessica, as our very own school board trustee, on the spot.
April Morganti - Partnership with the School Board
Today we welcomed two visitors, our speaker April Morganti and George Stuart, from Orlando Florida, who shares father-in-law duties with Art Sampson.
Club Announcements; Wayne Massey reminded everyone about the District Assembly, which is to take place on Saturday May 4th. Wayne asked particularly that prospective Board members attend for training so that they can properly support Jan Southall when she assumes the Presidency next year. We were also reminded of the Peace Forum taking place in Toronto this weekend. Dave gave early notice of a Rain Barrel sale taking place at St Mark's Church on April 6th - proceeds to support the Church and the Community Garden there.
Happy Dollars: Pictured below is the stand-in Sargent-at-Arms Bruce Eccles collecting today's Happy Dollars. No fines were collected by Bruce for people who still had their Christmas lights up. We heard from Barb, who was back from a cold week in Arizona and Roger back from his winter sojourn in New Brunswick where he had a rare sighting of a bobcat (the animal sort), a picture of which he had published in the local paper. Phil Wood's grand-daughter celebrated her 4th birthday. Both Paul and Art were very pleased with the turnout at their galas - Paul with more than 400 at the St.Matthew's Gala and Art with 200 for the Routes Gala. Steve Palmer - who likes handling money - had his first taste of desk duty.
A small group of hardy Rotarians who made it through rain and sleet this morning welcomed Kamal Shankardass from the noon club and our speaker Chris Krucker.
There were no announcements – none of the “senior team” of past, present and future Presidents and Vice-Presidents was present, so the kids played hooky and moved straight to Happy Dollars.
Wayne Massey was back from 2 weeks trying unsuccessfully to help Ralph improve his golf game; apparently alligators got in the way. Bruce, Bill, George and Kamal had all returned from vacations in the sun – George having renewed his wedding vows of 25 years on the beach in Antigua. Dave had returned from skiing and was looking forward to some sleep after babysitting his new granddaughter over Family Day weekend. Art was happy with the highest ever number of tickets sold for the Routes Dinner this weekend, but could not afford a Happy Dollar, so Jessica obliged. Carl brought us up to date on the tricky funding negotiations of the Grightmire Arena project – which should now proceed in two phases.
Chris Krucker is a local farmer operating from Manorun Farm in Copetown. Chris informed us how the simple subject of food had become more complicated – how we have to understand food safety (because of bacteria, chemicals used, the supply chain and impacts on long term health) and food justice (can everyone get enough, have good access, while protecting the environment and paying farmer workers fairly?).
He then contrasted the global food system we have come to expect (coming thousands of miles with potential for recalls and a wide variety of pest borne diseases) with the alternative of buying locally grown food (coming just a few miles, buying directly from the farmer, eating in season and organically).
Chris showed statistics which demonstrated the high and growing debt load of farmers contrasting it with their low and declining incomes; this perhaps explained the data on the reduction of the number of farms and farmers.That was the bad news.
Chris then described the life he enjoyed on his version of “old MacDonald’s farm” growing a wide range of crops for sale at the farm gate and through his Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). In the CSA, around 150 regular customers pre-pay for weekly amounts of a season of fresh vegetables. His CSA can provide these for 25 weeks a year. Chris has a successful operation which gives an enjoyable way of life but not a lot of cash. He encouraged us all to use Dundas Farmers Market, which he noted was the best one in Hamilton. Chris concluded with words for prospective farmers – have money in the bank (or a good off-farm job), seek the best price for your produce, spend as much effort marketing and selling as farming and be sure to grow a very diverse range of crops to avoid any one crop failure impacting the business.
Chris Krucker - Ontario 21st century Farming Challenges
PDG John Van Laar brought us a wonderful message on the Philippines. His emphasis was on a group of children who basically live in the city waste facility. One statement which really hit home was “Happiness [for these children] is finding food in the garbage”. John has dedicated the rest of his life to speaking for these children. His club (Rotary Club of Collingwood Sunrise) and others have helped the children in several ways. First, they brought in food for the children; next, they established an educational program for the squatter children to help them get out of their current situation. The implications of NOT having an education are severe and range from glue sniffing to begging to turning to terrorism and crime. John and his group have applied for Rotary Foundation matching grants over the past six years and have been very successful in bringing some needed change to the poor rural areas of the Philippines. His closing statement was “What you do for yourself dies with you; what you do for others lives on.” It is fairly obvious why John is a Rotarian.
Where have all the snowbirds gone???? Today, we had a great meeting, but our numbers were down! Lots of folk away, escaping the cold.
We were joined today by four guests – PDG Bob Bruce, Aleta Agpalo (guest of Derek Price), and PDG John and Cora Van Laar (guest speakers)
Reminders – Ice Carnival is this Saturday and we need assistance from noon to four. The program looks fantastic but we will need some hands on deck to assist with the operation; don’t worry about not knowing what to do … someone will direct you!
Dave Matchett is walking in the World Water Day walk (March 23); there is still time to sponsor Dave on his walk. Another reminder of the two galas on the 22nd of February – Routes and HARRRP; and another one the following night for Haiti.
PDG Bob Bruce thanked the club for their contributions to the Rotary Foundation; already we are at $200 per member and we hope also to be a EREY club.
Fred Amalfi filled in for president Joe Guedes and for Bill Armstrong as SAA. Bill’s mom died yesterday at the Hamilton General Hospital; the club expresses its deepest sympathy to Bill, Marilyn and family. Bill has been a wonderful, caring son over the past few years with both mom and dad in local nursing homes.
This morning’s CCCCCCOLD weather was warmed considerably by the generosity of individuals in the club and by the stories told at the club’s regular meeting. We welcomed Art Duerksen, a guest of Harold Gruneberg, John Attridge from the Dundas Rotary Club, Lisa – our exchange student, and guest speakers Bill Stewart (always a friend of Rotary, and PH recipient), and Maureen Ellis.
Sergeant At Arms Bill collects a happy dollar from Fred Amalfi as Fred tells of his recent boat cruise. John Attridge sold his ice-melters (excellent, by the way), and noted this evening’s travelogue. Art Samson and Paul Clifford battled it out for supremacy in the gala event area – Art for the upcoming Routes event at the Community Centre, and Paul for HARRRP (is that the right number of “r’s”??) on the same evening, February 22. Bruce Eccles is off to Florida to get into the best mind-set to face the prospect of further knee surgery. Brother-in-law George Gould is going to Antigua … and taking wife Lise … so they can renew their wedding vows after 25 years. Stephen Palmer is back from golfing in Florida and Carl Fraser reminded all to keep the 16th of February free from noon – five for the annual Winter Carnival.
The club passes along its condolences to Sue and Dave Carson; Dave’s mother passed away recently in the U.K.
Lasts but not least was the non-announcement about Paul Harris Fellowships. Each year, the club gives PH fellowships to individuals both within and outside of Rotary who have “made a difference” in our community, above and beyond normal work duties.
If you have an individual that you would like to nominate for this year’s event (April 23), please fill in the forms available at the desk … or contact Shirley Molloy with the information – the name and rationale and contact information.
Aside: Ralph thanks Bob for covering for Dave who is covering for Ralph for First Light. It is 75 F in Florida. Golf is great and the pool is warm. Too bad it is cold in Dundas!
Maureen Ellis, Paul Harris Fellow and past president of the Dundas Rotary Club spoke to the club today about some new initiatives associated with The Villa. Maureen, who joined the Villa staff as a young teenager and has now been with them for 31 years, indicated that she was “addicted” …. to seniors! Maureen compared the present situation at The Villa with her first experiences when two rows of parking were for residents who were much more mobile than the clientele in the 21st century.
In addition to providing long term care for residents, St. Joseph’s Villa also has programs to “make people better” (Bruce Eccles’ mum went in in a wheelchair and came out using a walker – much improved. The long-term care is augmented by programs for the community – the warm water pool, fitness, respite care and programs for those with and caring for Alzheimers patients. The respite program was started by the Dundas Rotary Club; in 2012, there were 116 people served in this capacity.
Bill and Maureen approached the club for its assistance to add 12 more beds to St. Joseph’s Villa. The cost will be approximately $2 million, with $600 000 raised so far.
Maureen Ellis and Bill Stewart, St. Joseph's Villa Foundation
Today we welcomed guests Roy Sheldrick, Terry Cooke and Lisa Kammerer.
We were reminded of the Winter Carnival at the Driving Park on Saturday February 16th and the HARRRP Gala on February 22nd (tickets from Paul Clifford) before launching into Happy Dollars. Bruce, Viola and Harold reminisced about the great cruise from which they had just returned. The visit to Haiti was an eye-opener for them all. Viola noted that there was an organized group of Rotarians on the cruise - could this be an idea for the Club? George passed on thanks from St Matthew's House for the Christmas toys and Paul informed us that they were re-opening a much improved Food Bank this week. Jan returned from a week in Punta Cana and earned a significant number of credits for clearing Ralph's driveway of snow. Dave C is off to visit his Mum in the UK and then for a week skiing in Switzerland.
Following Happy Dollars, Barbara Busing presented a cheque for $1000 to recent Queen's Jubilee medal recipient Roy Sheldrik towards the Water Walk. In thanking the Club, Roy re-iterated the positive contribution Rotary is making to Haiti. His project has now drilled 240 wells and is now working on digging latrines and teaching about sanitation. He quoted one Haitian as saying "When Rotary came to our village, babies stopped dying".
We were please to hear from Terry Cooke, President and CEO of the Hamilton Community Foundation today. Terry introduced the history of the Foundation from the mid-1950's - when it started with a $200 dollar donation - to today's assets of $125M, and how it represented a powerful force for good in Hamilton. While it covers a broad range of activities, from education, to the environment, to the arts, the specific focus today is poverty and how it is influenced by education and health outcomes.
Terry noted that there are great signs of "renewal" in Hamilton - the number of new developments, Arts renewal, improvements in air and water quality for example. However there continues to be "two solitudes" in Hamilton; for some every opportunity is there, while in the Inner City the student drop-out rate is 40%-50% and people face a 21 year life expectancy difference.
Terry emphasized that, while philanthropic activities are important, real progress requires that charitable works are aligned with and supported by public policy changes. Money alone cannot fix problems. While Hamilton is in transition, we still need to move the needle further. The Foundation plays a role in injecting new ideas and then supporting improvements.
Terry was thanked by Jessica Brennan who enthusiastically gave some recent examples of how the Foundation is stimulating change for educators.
Today we heard about the work of the Junior Civitan organization from Highland student Miranda Jurilj.
Junior Civitan International, the junior branch of the Civitan Organization, is a service club that was founded in Portland Maine in 1927, with the first Canadian branch in Toronto in 1957. Now there are over 400 Chartered Clubs and 12,000 members worldwide. Junior Civitan's purpose is to provide all members with personal and career development opportunities while improving schools and communities through volunteer service. A major focus of their projects is to help people with developmental disabilities.
Miranda spoke of the many projects that Junior Civitan undertakes; most appropriately for this time of year they run Sno-Do, a cross country snowmobile event, to raise money for people with developmental disabilities and Miranda has raised over $6000 this year for this event. One of the main beneficiaries of Junior Civitan fundraising is the Civitan International Research Centre - one of their research projects was instrumental in the discovery of the effects of folic acid in preventing birth defects.
Miranda is President of the Dundas Junior Civitan and also of Canadian West District of Civitan. A small club (with only 13 members) it was nevertheless voted the 2nd Place Most Outstanding Club of the Year last year.
Miranda Jurilj of Junior Civitan - and Dundas Youth Volunteer of the Year 2012
Dr. Joe Wang, president of New Tang Dynasty Television, gave a history of Chinese culture up to the 1949 communist Cultural Revolution. Speaking of past dynasties, including the Great Tang Civilization of 1500 years ago, he walked us through the main belief systems of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism and how they all coexisted because of the belief in Oneness of Man and Heaven.
He spoke of the cultivation of the self, Yin and Yang and The Five Elements. He introduced a travelling production of the performing arts called Shen Yun that plays all over the world (except China). It just recently played in Hamilton and will be in at the Sony Centre Toronto January 17 - 20. The production tells the story of China through traditional dance and historically accurate costumes depicting the country's history and legends.
The performance does not play in China because it does not hold to the values of the communist state regarding culture and in particular the story of Falun Gong.
As president of NTD Television, Dr. Wang is head of the world's largest independent Chinese TV network and brings uncensored information to the global Chinese communities.
Happy New Year from President Joe. Club members were in fine spirits this morning as they greeted everyone with a Happy New Year. Besides guest speaker Jelaine Foster, we welcomed Kanwal Shankardass from the Dundas Rotary Club and Norm Read from the Waterdown club. Norm invited members to attend his club's Robbie Burns supper on January 25 at the RBG. Tickets are $60 each and you can contact him if interested in attending.
It looked like Fred Amalfi was starting a new tradition this morning as he held court from his special chair. Some of us were prepared to kneel before him and kiss his ring.
Dave Matchett invited everyone to the monthly social at East Side Marios for Friday January 11 at 5:00 PM; Glen Mumberson thanked everyone for their support with Entertainment Books saying the club made around $1600; and, Derek Price reminded everyone that dues are due. Following these announcements it was happy dollar time. Shirley Molloy was glad to be back. Joe had 22 days on holidays and was only able to contribute pennies rather than dollars since he spent too much. Bob Morrow is off to Florida for a couple weeks.
This was the first meeting since the two week break for Christmas and if your "buddy" was absent you might want to follow up with him or her.
Following Happy Dollars, Program Chair Dave Carson introduced guest speaker Jelaine Foster.
Jelaine Foster, a new member of the Hamilton AM Rotary Club and a member of the District 7090 Group Study Exchange team to Brazil in May 2012 took the club on a tour of Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. After a 17 h flight and 7 h drive the GSE team arrived in Rotary District 4660. The team consisted of team leader Angela Hintz, and team members Amy Lawrence, Steven Davis, Meaghan Moore and Jelaine Foster. All team members except the team leader were non Rotarians at the time of the exchange.
The Rotary Group Study Exchange is a cultural and vocational opportunity for four young professional or business non Rotarians to visit another country for one month with travel costs paid by Rotary International. Jelaine is the South Western Ontario business Developer for Kaplan Test Prep, a company that provides tutoring, classes and text books to students planning to attend graduate school. While in Brazil, Jelaine visited many schools, factories and universities as well as live with Rotarian families and sample the local culture and sites.
Brazilians from Rio Grande do Sul tend to classify themselves as either a gaucho or gaucha before calling themselves Brazilian. Jelaine said they love food, especially Churrasco, a BBQ with lots of salt and fat. Their buffets are legendary. During the team's visit they stayed at Rotary clubs in the areas shown by the red star on the map.
A happy and boisterous crowd this morning as we welcomed Joanna Harkness, her sister and guest speaker Claire Harkness, Lisa Kammamer this year's exchange student, Bridgett McIntosh from the City of Hamilton, and Nancy Harkness from the Hamilton Rotary Club.
Sergeant At Arms Bill congratulated December birthday members Shirley, Fred and Dave Carson. He also expressed happy anniversary wishes to Bob and Sharon, and Bob and Lynne (two different Bobs!).
Nancy Harkness, Claire's mother thanked the club for sponsoring Claire as its first youth exchange student and presented $100 to the Dundas Valley Foundation, the club's charitable arm.
Lots of happy dollars were collected. Bob Morrow announced that at 7:30 AM on Wednesday Canadian astronaut Chris Hatfield blasts off for the space station and will return in May with 600 000 tomato seeds that have been orbiting the earth for two years. He also was pleased that the Tomatosphere program which he coordinates received a $25 000 award for the best promotion of science in Canada.
Dave Carson was happy that the food box program packed its 1000th box. George thanked everyone who helped with the Christmas party and announced that the donated gifts were taken to St. Matthew's House. Paul Clifford thanked everyone for the funds raised at last week's auction and that the money will be used by St. Matthew's House to help 1800 families this year.
Irene is back from two weeks in Australia and New Zealand where she did some cruising; and, Joe and Anne are off to the Caribbean where they will begin a cruise of all the islands beginning with Saint.
Wayne and Helen held their big family dinner on the weekend; and, Bob Bell celebrated the wedding of his mother-in-law and her boyfriend who were married after a 30 year courtship!
Kathy read a note from Emile Hall our youth exchange student in Denmark; Derek reminded everyone that club dues are due for January 1, 2013; and Jan announced the new board would be voted on in January. The last announcement was from Sergeant At Arms Bill who reminded us that there are no meetings December 18 and 25. Come back on Tuesday January 8. 2013.
President Joe Guedes inducted Stephen Palmer into the club with the assistance of Stephen's sponsor Ralph Montesanto, director of The Rotary Foundation Shirley Molloy and club members. Stephen lives in Dundas and is a financial advisor with Wood Gundy.
As well, the club welcomed back Viola Mueller who changed to the Dundas noon club a couple years ago and has now returned to the morning club.
Club Inducts Stephen Palmer and Welcomes Back Viola Mueller
it is amazing to see the positive impact Rotary Youth Exchange can have on an individual. Claire Harkness' last slide on her well delivered presentation about her exchange to Australia summed it all up.
Claire said two things change her life over a year ago. The first was when club New Generations director Jan Southall called to tell her she was the club's selection for Youth Exchange. The second was when she received an email from the District 7090 Youth Exchange committee informing her that, "your country of destination is Australia."
She was hosted in the town of Belmont with four different families, each giving her different perspectives on the country and different travelling experiences. Being 9670 miles from home turned out to be pretty easy with reverse homesickness coming to the forefront upon her return home a year later.
Claire felt she was an excellent ambassador for Canada and developed a strong patriotism for her home country while on exchange. When she was away, the Rotary motto Service Above Self was put into practice as she was involved in many Rotary activities including prostate awareness, end polio, Mother's Day flower sales, neonatal fund raising, a science and engineering challenge and the Rotary District Conference.
Claire built strong connections with people including her four host families and the large group of Rotary Youth Exchange students in her Australian Rotary district and in District 7090. She closed her presentation with a comparison between Canada and Australia and noted that the beaver is Canadian while the kangaroo and emu are Australian. Both the kangaroo and emu are unable to walk backwards, are on the Australian coat of arms and fit the Australian motto to always move forward.
She thanked the club for selecting her as its first outgoing youth exchange student and presented the club with a banner from the Rotary Club of Belmont.
Claire Harkness Returns for Youth Exchange Presentation
St. Matthew's House club champion Paul Clifford and auctioneer Bruce Eccles entertained members and guests as they managed to loosen bidders' pockets to raise almost $3400.
From holiday gift baskets and various refreshment packages, to pottery and jewellery, to singing lessons and tools, Bruce put everyone into a festive mood with his off the cuff remarks and good humour. Items sold were donated by club members and friends of the club and included gift certificates from East Side Marios, Picones, the Bangkok Spoon and Soccer World.
Part way through the auction, bruce took a break so that Ross Bannatyne, director of club Community Services could make two cheque presentations of $1000 each to Out of the Cold and the Salvation Army Food Bank.
Sister Nancy Sullivan from Out of the Cold accepted,
as did Shirley Molloy from the Salvation Army.
One item was auctioned with funds going to The Rotary Foundation. Shirley Molloy managed to have a new pair of lady's figure skates autographed by Catriona Le May Doan the Canadian gold medal Olympic champion in speed skating. Shirley also included a photo of Catriona as she signed the skates. Of course, Rotary Rink champion Carl Fraser was the successful purchaser.
As is the club custom, the morning meeting was cancelled the day of the Christmas party. Members and guests met in the evening at the Carnegie Gallery in Dundas for a wonderful buffet, refreshments, carolling and a time to just talk and renew friendships.
The socials held throughout the year offer a great opportunity to stress fellowship, one of the key strengths of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club.
It was a wonderful evening at the Carnegie Gallery as the club held its annual Christmas social. George Gould coordinated the evening and Roger provided the refreshments and food. Maggie and her team put on a fine table that was the centre of attraction as everyone arrived with an appetite.
George Gould's son provided the Christmas songs and of course the carollers took advantage of the opportunity.
Forty-two Rotarians and partners enjoyed the time to chat and renew friendships.
More photos are on the club website. If you were present, see yourself in action. If you couldn't make it, see what you missed.
Next week is the St. Matthew's House Auction. If you will be bringing a guest please tell George Gould, Director of Club Services by Friday December 7 so that he can inform the kitchen at East Side Marios of the expected attendance.
There was good turnout this morning with 30 in attendance. Sara Collyer from Neighbour to Neighbour was the guest speaker and Martin Schure from the Ancaster AM Rotary Club received a $1000 donation from Community Services Chair Ross Bannatyne to help with the Ancaster Village Green Splash Pad that the Ancaster AM club is championing. Martin thanked us for our contribution but was also appreciative of the assistance given by Carl Fraser and others associated with our rink to help them when dealing with the City of Hamilton.
David Matchett, Chair of Family of Rotary, reintroduced the Buddy System where everyone is paired with another club member. David gave a list of reasons for this pairing, one of which is to call your partner if he or she is absent to make sure everything is all right. George reminded us of the Christmas party on December 4. Bring a toy for donation, $25 per person and arrive for 6:30 pm. No morning meeting next week. If you were not at today's meeting please let George know ASAP if you will be at the party so that food and refreshments do not run out.
Paul Clifford continues to seek out auction items for the December 11 St. Matthew's Day special. You can drop them off at his house or bring them December 11 with your name and item value attached.
Barb Busing, Chair of International Services, informed us that our third and final $4000 payment to the Ripple Affect was made. She also asked for and received the OK to forward $1000 to Haiti Water for Life, the program administered by Roy Sheldrick and the Ancaster Rotary Club. By the way, Roy is in Haiti now.
Shirley Molloy, Rotary Foundation Director, reminded everyone that November is Rotary Foundation month. She would like to continue being an EYER (every year every Rotarian) club. You can give her your donation or go on The Rotary Foundation Canada website, www.clubrunner.ca/trfc/ and donate by credit card.
Glen Mumberson has Entertainment books he would like to clear our. The price has dropped from $30 to $20 and there are several Toronto books. The price is less because three months have already passed.
Bruce Eccles thanked everyone who contributed to the success of Rotary Stars, especially those who purchased advertising in the program, Rob Reid for the talent and cheese, Roger Stewart for the refreshments and all the kitchen help for the food. Steve Deighton's name did not get in the program but he donated the sweets from Sweetness Bakery.
Phil Wood had an unhappy dollar, what with Mac losing the Vanier Cup. He was pleased, however, that the game had the largest TV audience ever for a Canadian college football game. Jan Southall promoted Hairspray where her daughter plays the lead role. Last performance is Saturday December 1. And, Bob Bell, sporting a new moustache, was happy to have cruised with his wife.
Following happy dollars guest speaker Sara Collyer outlined the work done by Neighbour to Neighbour.
Sara Collyer is the operations manager of Neighbour to Neighbour on Hamilton Mountain. The Neighbour to Neighbour Centre improves the ability of residents to be self-sufficient and enhances the quality of their lives through programs and services in the areas of educational services, family support and food access. Sara's presentation this morning focussed on food access and education.
At present 13 schools are involved, 9 with community gardens where children plant and harvest crops and learn about food production. Along with a visiting program and single mother program for family services and the educational component which includes a used book store and tutoring classes, the community food programs serve 1200 families a month.
There is a free grocery store with carts and aisles where shoppers use their food points to purchase what they need and want. There are 17 community gardens, the 9 in the schools plus 8 donation gardens and family plots. There are 15 community kitchens where groups learn how to cook and use fresh crops as well as get to eat the results of their efforts. A mobile food bank delivers food to the disabled, the elderly and the ill. There is a farm program where individuals can visit farms and purchase fresh produce with money from Neighbour to Neighbour, and, a free market where donations are provided by the farmers. As well, 1600 families are provided with a Christmas hamper each.
Neighbour to Neighbour has a budget of about $1 million, has 9 full-time equivalent staff and over 600 volunteers. Some funds are provided by federal and municipal grants with the remainder through charitable donations.
The 9th Annual Rotary Stars was a fabulous presentation of musical skills by local artists of all ages, with a focus on youth - from violinist Daniel Allain and his guitar-strumming father Joe, to Alexandra Botelho on the accordion and virtuoso Arthur Kapron on the piano to the operatic voices of Mei Lin Chen, Makayla Colonello and Patrick Bowman. Musical and broadway hits by Lauren Reny, Alma Sarai, Catharine Bowman, Andy Reid, Avery Schmalz, Russel Niessen, Tristan McGuirk, Abigail Veenstra, Alyssa Giammaria, Emily Hampson, and Stephanie Sedlbauer, mesmerized the audience. Stacey Bishop, James Gould and MacKenzie Meyer were awesome. Jessica Brennan accompanied by her husband Lonnie Magee had the audience in the palms of their hands. A great Rotary event held at St. James Anglican Church.
Before the show and during intermission the crowd mingled over wine and cheese and helped support the fundraising event by purchasing arm-lengths of tickets for a refreshment draw.
Well that was different! East Side Mario's was locked up tight this morning and after a ten minute wait we were just about ready to leave the sidewalk and go home when Ross Bannatyne emailed Bruce that he had zipped down to Adeline's Family Restaurant at the corner of King and Main Streets and it would accommodate all of us. With that, everyone headed there except Bob Morrow who stayed back to redirect if necessary. Twenty six of us almost filled Adeline's to capacity but on almost no notice proprietor Kim Smith and assistant Lorraine prepared bacon, eggs, sausage, potatoes, toast and coffee that fit the bill.
Standing for O'Canada and grace the group looked like it was paying homage to FreeWheel Cycle across the road.
Happy dollars from the following: Phil for the Marauder's big win and upcoming game. He also said TSN has a special on last years Vanier Cup called the Greatest Game ever that will be aired this Thursday evening. Talking about airing brought Dave Carson to his feet saying his daughter will be on Cable 14 several times today starting at 4:00 PM and highlighting chiropractors. Wayne Massey will help his wife Helen celebrate a milestone birthday tomorrow; Bruce recently received a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award; and, Shirley presented the club with the Every Year Every Rotarian banner and its third place recognition banner from The Rotary Foundation for contributions of $331.05 per member.
Joe distributed a flyer from Divine Presentations. The company sells gift baskets ranging from $30 - $150 each. The good news is the company will donate 15% back to the club for each basket that our members purchase. Glen has a few Entertainment Books left that he would like to sell.
Art said we had collected 24 bottles of wine for the Rotary Stars of Dundas draw. He also said there was a full time job opening at the Routes Centre. If you know anyone with a social work/recreation background looking for a job then direct that person to Thie Convery.
George reminded everyone that the Christmas Party is December 4 at 6:30 PM at the Carnegie Gallery. The cost is $25 per person. Unwrapped toys would be welcome for distribution to Ronald McDonald House.
If you have not yet sold tickets to Rotary Stars of Dundas for this Saturday's show please do so now and let Bob Neibert know how many you have sold. This is our number two fundraiser of the year with almost all the money coming from sponsorships; so, lets fill St. James Church.
Bruce and Ralph saw Theatre Ancaster's musical Hairspray and recommended it. Jennifer Evans, Jan Southall's daughter, plays the lead role and sings, dances and acts like a professional. Tickets are still available until December 1.
Following breakfast, Steve Palmer introduced his neighbour and guest speaker, Adam Bienenstock.
Adam Bienenstock owns Bienenstock Design and Consulting Inc. and has worked for the last 3.5 years to set the stage that will transform the playground at Dundas Central Public School into a healthy, educational, environmental and barrier-free community resource. Adam is committed to a natural playground, not just because his children attend the school but because children need to move away from asphalt playgrounds and have moments in nature more often.
When he was a child the average roaming distance from home was 5 - 8 km. Now it is 150 m. Children today do not exercise much, spend around 52 hours a week in front of a computer screen and tend to be obese. Projections suggest that our children will have a shorter life span than us unless changes are made.
The new playground at Dundas Central School is expected to be built by the end of the summer of 2013. Along with improved drainage, it will have grass, logs, boulders and topographic change that will provide upper-body gross motor challenges to the children. A quote from his handout states, " The plans will transform this under-utilized barren space into an ecologically restored and historically significant natural stopover for flora and fauna. It will be a healthy classroom of the past and the future created by and for our community."
Adam estimates the cost of the project to be $300 000 but with in-kind support provided by his company and community volunteers providing sweat equity, supplies and equipment, just over $ 46 000 in cash will be needed and this is already in hand. Interested individuals or businesses can contact him at adam@naturalplaygrounds.ca. Below is a sample of the company's work.
The Rotary Clubs of Dundas and Dundas Valley Sunrise were recognized at the District 7090 Rotary Foundation dinner on November 16 for being Every Year Every Rotarian clubs. That means the club has an average donation to the Rotary Foundation of at least $100 per person and each Rotarian makes a personal contribution. The Dundas Valley Sunrise club was also recognized as the number three club of 70 with overall giving to the Foundation's Annual Fund of $331.05 per person. Shirley Molloy and Ellen Boyce accepted the EREY banners.
Joe and Anne Guedes and Youth Exchange student Lisa Kammemer enjoy the fellowship and meal at Salvatore's Restaurant.
Ralph Montesanto was one of six district Rotarians honoured with The Rotary Foundation District Service Award.
We had a full house this morning and welcomed Steve Palmer and Lori Chapman who are both interested in becoming Rotarians. As well, Dundas Rotarians Kamal Shankardass and Ellen Boyce attended. Barry Stoltz brought along his 10 year old son Ethan; and, we were joined by guest speaker Karen Oakes of the Delhi RC and her husband Wolfgang. Youth Exchange student Lisa was present and Wayne Migus returned after a couple months recovering from an operation.
Club members offered condolences to Vlad who lost his wife Anna after 42 years of marriage.
Thank you to Bob Neibert who graciously filled at the desk for Wayne Massey who was working with Bruce to put the Rotary Stars of Dundas program together. Ralph announced on behalf of Barb Busing that $4000 from the International Services budget is going to the Ripple Effect program to complete the playground and retaining walls for the school in Guatemala. He also distributed a number of Guatemalan Worry Dolls that Gord and Deb LeMaistre who run the program gave him for our club. Ralph announced International Services is contributing $500 to Rotary districts in New York and New Jersey that were devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
Chair of Community Services, Ross, recommended donations of $1000 each to Hamilton Out of the Cold, Ancaster AM Rotary Club for its new splash pad and the Salvation Army. Members gave their vote of approval.
Bob Neibert asked members to get those Rotary Stars of Dundas tickets sold. So far we are only half way there with less than two weeks left. Art reminded everyone to bring in a bottle of wine for the draw on November 24 during the event. Next week will work if you remember.
Paul remind us once again to vote on the Aviva website for Primary Care at Risk Youth; Dave Carson was proud to see Bill in RCMP uniform lead the Remembrance Day colour parade; Bruce has his first grandchild and received an ultra sound on his cell phone before the birth while in Vegas; and, Phil touted the Marauders Football victory in the Yates Cup and is up for his one year check after his knee operation.
Doing good in the world is the message of The Rotary Foundation and Karen Oakes District 7090 Rotary Foundation director carried that message to the club.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is a great supporter of TRF having every member contribute and giving sufficiently to make the club and its members the third highest givers in a district of 70 clubs. TRF offers Humanitarian, Educational and Polio Plus Programs and is changing how it does business. Future Vision is the new direction with more funds returned to the district to be managed locally rather than by TRF directly. In the past the club has accessed district simplified grants for the ice rink and has indirectly used TRF grants through its contributions to water wells in Haiti and the school in Guatemala. Its annual contributions to Polio Plus have helped bring polio almost to the point of world wide eradication.
Karen thanked our club for sending members to training and reminded us that if we want to access funds for the Rotary year 2013-14 we need to have our application in by February 1, 2013.
Rotarian and retired RCMP Staff Sergeant Bill Armstrong led the colour party at the annual Dundas Remembrance Day parade. A huge crowd attended on a warm sunny morning as the parade moved from downtown to the Cenotaph. After the playing of the Last Post a loud cannon blast shook the quiet causing a young child to ask , "Mommy, are the bad guys coming?" Mom replied, "No honey, we are safe!"
Rotarian Shirley Molloy, representing the Salvation Army, was one of many who placed a wreath at the foot of the Cenotaph.
The club welcomed a number of guests this morning. David Lark, President of the Hamilton McMaster Rotaract Club and Audrey Tan also from Rotaract where joined by Jeff Kozak, president of Dundas Little League and our guest speaker Claire Short. Lisa Kammemer our Youth Exchange student joined us before heading off to school; and, Steve Palmer who is interested in joining Rotary was a repeat guest.
David Lark informed us that the HM Rotaract Club has 50 members this year, up more than quadruple from last year. He sent a copy of the club's newsletter and the following was taken from it. "Although we have had a very busy couple of months, the year is still fresh and we have many more events and projects planned. We will be hosting our second annual Movember themed event on November 29th at Stonewalls in Hamilton. Our Annual Gala is also another major event coming in Mid-March. We look forward to seeing many students and Rotarians at this fabulous themed dinner. We are also proud to report the continued success of the Homework Club at Sir John A MacDonald High School. Three days a week volunteers from our club assist ESL students in this beneficial and rewarding program."
Jeff Kozak left two plaques of the Little League team the club supports.
President Joe announced the upcoming Rotary Leadership Institute to take place December 1 at Niagara Community College in NY. A number of club members have already taken various parts of the RLI program and any others interested should look at the district website for registration information. The club will pick up the registration cost because an educated Rotarian is our best ambassador. Joe also announced the upcoming GSE farewell dinner this Thursday in Grand Island NY. Rotary International also puts a float into the Rose Bowl and interested Rotarians can donate $1 to put a rose on the float.
George reminded everyone to pick up their tickets to Stars of Dundas and to get out there and encourage friends and neighbours to buy tickets. This is one of the club's major fundraisers of the year. To that end, Art asked everyone to bring a bottle of wine to our next meeting to go in the wine raffle during the November 24th event. George also asked all to put December 4 in their schedules as this is the Christmas party at Carnegie Gallery. The cost is $25 pp.
Shirley promoted November as Rotary Foundation month, a time when many club members make a donation to the foundation. She also invited all to attend the Foundation Dinner on November 16 at Salvatores Restaurant in Depew NY. Shirley thanked everyone involved with the recent visit of the GSE team for their efforts.
This being Barb's birthday she dropped her foundation cheque in the happy dollar bell. She and Lisa are sharing birthday celebrations.
President-Elect Jan asked anyone interested in taking on an added position of responsibility within the club to talk with her. She will soon be putting forward the slate of officers for next year. Paul asked us to go to the Aviva site to vote for a nurse practitioner program to be held in schools. Use this link to see more http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf15906. He also reminded us of the February 24th gala that HARRRP will be holding.
Jessica had several happy dollars related to the Dundas Learning Centre for the intellectually handicapped. Her sister recently travelled to Costa Rica with the centre and had a great time despite the heavy rains and flooding. Jessica also thanked the organizers for a well run This is Rotary that helped clarify and expand on the Five Avenues of Service.
SAA Bill reminded all those helping plan the annual Lobster and Rib Dinner that there is a meeting tonight (Tuesday November 6) at 5:00 PM at the Rotary Cattell Centre. With that, David Carson introduced our guest speaker, Claire Short.
Claire Short, a 17-year volunteer at Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, chose to talk about people not machines as he presented a major project the museum is undertaking to interview and videotape 360 Canadians and 10 Dutch citizens about their wartime experiences.
Claire introduced us to David Goldberg who passed away several years ago. David enlisted as a pilot, took his training in Dunnville, was shipped overseas and flew over France. He was shot down, eluded the enemy and was eventually picked up by the underground who transported him over the Pyrenne Mountains. He was with a large group trying to escape but 24 of them chose not to cross the mountains. They were never heard from again.
Dorothy Laidman, also deceased, helped construct the tail of the the Fleet Cornell aircraft during the war. She volunteered at the museum for years and even when in a retirement home would get a ride to Mount Hope to continue her work.
Cec Brown got his wings in 1942 and became an instructor on the Harvard. He shipped overseas on the Louis Pasteur and was a member for RAF 403 Squadron. He helped paint the black and white invasion stripes on the planes just before D-Day. The stripes were there to help identify friendly aircraft during the invasion. Cec was an entrepreneur who managed to ship some fine champagne from France to England while returning home in his plane.
In 1944 the Dutch were starving and a pact was made with the Germans who were also starving, to allow massive food drops called Operation Manna. Cornelius Van Tureno who was nine at the time remembers starving and eventually after the war being sent to England to be cared for and nourished back to health. He later came to Canada.
Claire closed the Remembering Remembrance Day program reminding us that the allied effort was a giant jigsaw puzzle that involved those on the front line as well as those back home. From the troops to the support staff, from the factory workers to the farmers, they were all needed and he asked us to honour the veterans, their families and all those that helped.
Derek Zuccolo and children Alexander and Sophie are helped by Rotarians Glen Mumberson and Peter Davis as they prepare documents for shredding. The next Dundas Valley Sunrise Shredding Day is May 11, 2013.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club now holds two annual shredding days for the safe destruction of personal papers and documents. On November 3, a steady stream of Dundas citizens brought their files to Eccles Uptown where Integra Document Destruction safely shredded them. Thanks to club members Jan, Joe, Derek, Peter, Ralph, Ken, Glen, Barry and David Carson for their help that cold Saturday morning.
The red End Polio Now ponchos helped promote Rotary International's number one corporate goal while helping fend off the cold.
Integra Document Destruction employee Scott kept the truck running while Rotarians filled the bins.
I'm doing well :) Right now we have a week off of school - it's our October Break. Like March Break back home, except in October ;) And it's kinda for the same reason - they made this week so that the kids could help their family and friends harvest the potatoes!
School is interesting and challenging...on Friday we went on a mandatory trip. It was a hike through the local area to see the different mills and learn about them on the way. I, luckily, found an English brochure about the mills at the beginning of the walk, so I was somewhat able to follow what was being said, but still not all the way there. For the most part I just took the time to see what was around me - they really do have nice forest areas!
This week I didn't really have a question - we had small conversation in Danish. Mostly it was him speaking in Danish and when I could, I would reply in Danish, but when I couldn't, I would reply in English and we would carry on our conversation.
It's always raining or dreary in Denmark! We were actually lucky to have sunshine on Friday during our trip! But yes, it is starting to turn cold - especially in the mornings. Which isn't so fun when you have to bike to school.
The Danes 'fall holiday' is the October Break - that's about it (well, besides Halloween). They don't celebrate Thanksgiving, and actually, this year I forgot about it! I had forgot about it until someone on Facebook mentioned the Rockton Fall Fair. I ALWAYS know it's Thanksgiving weekend when the Rockton fair is on...and this year I didn't have the constant reminder of the fair, therefore I forgot the holiday. So, my host family was a little disappointed that they wouldn't get 'the Canadian Thanksgiving', but I told them that we could do it on the American date - it really is the same thing, just on a different weekend.
I'm not sure if it was shown (the man jumping) on TV in Denmark - I would assume it was - but I know it was definitely all over the internet. I'm actually at my family's summer house right now, so I didn't get to see it live, but I've seen many videos already!
In class, we almost are always using our computers - whether it to be checking Lectio (the site that our school uses. Lectio translated into English is actually "homework"). It's nice to be able to have the internet at our finger tips and look up things and use the internet and our computers as a handy resource, instead of having to leave the class to use a computer in a lab or something.
The only way I can describe Lectio is FirstClass on steroids. It is handled much more nicely and you can actually navigate your way around the site - unlike the confusing FirstClass.
I seen some of the pictures from the District Conference on facebook! I'm interested in knowing what happened! I know it's far in advance, but I'm looking forward to meeting all the newbie exchange students for our district for next year! :)
I'm not entirely sure how large my school is. It's a private school, so the grades range from JK/SK age to 18/19 in age (grade 12/13), and on top of that, all the kids in the International Department. I know in my grade there are 3 classes with about 20ish students in them. And I know that it's about the same with the 2.g and 3.g classes as well. Give or take a few. And yes, I will be in the same school all year! I'm very thankful for that :)
The club welcomed guest speaker J. Neysmith and Steve Palmer, guest of Ralph. Ralph reminded everyone of the new member and potential new member wine and cheese session taking place on Wednesday October 24 at St. Thomas Catholic Church hall in Waterdown from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. If anyone will be attending please let him know right away.
Bruce promoted the 9th Annual Rotary Stars of Dundas at St. James Church on November 24. Cost is $30 per adult (wine) and $15 per child (no wine). Bob Neibert has tickets. Bruce also was the auctioneer at a fund raiser for the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice. He sat next to Sharon Lacey and promised her that all club members would send her an email telling her she is missed.
Bob received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal this week and we are all proud of him.
Barb Busing has her first grandchild and now has bragging rights for her. Jan's daughter Jennifer has the lead role in Theatre Ancaster's upcoming musical, Hair Spray; and, Fred informed us that Wayne Migus is steadily improving and should be back soon.
Paul spoke highly of Lincoln Alexander and said he was a great man who will be missed. Dave Carson has closed the community garden and thanked everyone for their support, saying he has received great community feedback. And Joe expressed Shirley's thanks for making the GSE visit a great success and Bruce set a new record on stuffing 5 GSE visitors and their luggage into a van.
Board members are reminded of the meeting Tuesday October 23 at Bob Neibert's home.
J. Neysmith loves sub Saharan Africa and through Hands Up Out of Poverty his trust fund supports women and girls in that area. Why women? They make communities run. They are the mentors of all children, inculcate values and a sense of family; and, when educated stay to their villages. The villages tend to be small with most black women under 30 years of age. Almost 90% have HIV but unlike their male counterparts they seldom get AIDS. There are very few men in the villages, most leaving for economic reasons and never returning. This leaves the women pretty much the dominant force.
J. Neysmith does much of his work through churches and small NGOs. His trust finances rain water harvesting so that gardens can be irrigated; purchases goats that can be milked; and, brings electrification to isolated communities. The electricity alone means lighting for schools and refrigeration for medicines. The women who raise crops or milk goats often have more than enough for their families and are able to sell the extra to earn money.
His trust uses 100% of the funds donated to help the women and girls with none used for administration. Here is his wish list for those who want to help: dairy goat - $100, solar panels for medical clinic lighting - $600, pedal powered pump - $150, water storage tank - $500, 20 textbooks - $100, bicycles with heavy duty carriers - $135, rough terrain motorbikes for delivery of medicine and veterinary supplies to rural villages - $5100.
Neysmith believes there are three big world issues, not just in developing countries but often in first world countries. They are food security, potable water and education. His trust and co-operating trust called The Jubilee Charitable Trust put their efforts into helping the poor in Africa.
The club welcomed Kamal Shankardass from the Dundas Rotary Club, Mark Chamberlain our guest speaker, and Dundas Dynamo reps Anthony and Lily Cassano, and Abbey Maillet. Of course, Lisa Kammerer our youth exchange student was in attendance.
Sergeant At Arms Bill congratulated Bob and Pam Bell on their 20th anniversary and Norm Reid and Barb Busing on their 4th. Derek reminded everyone of the upcoming, This is Rotary, for new and potential new members on October 24 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. If you and your guest will be attending please let Derek know ASAP. Bob Bell thanked everyone for their contribution of toys for the District conference Toy Box. He is still accepting toys but you need to bring them to his house now. President Joe also reminded all of the District conference this weekend. Registration can be done on line until noon October 9.
Dave Carson indicated that October 20 from 9 - noon will be clean up at the community garden. And, Jan encouraged all to attend the GSE dinner Sunday October 14 at the Air Force Club. Cost is $10 per person. Let her know ASAP if you plan to attend and have not yet informed her.
A letter from Steve Baker the President of Dundas Dynamo:
Thank you very much for your sponsorship of the Atom's girls' rep team. The funds go towards offsetting some of the costs of the various tourneys they enter, the uniforms, gym rentals, etc. Our rep program would not be successful without the many local companies who generously contribute. In recognition of your sponsorship your company name and logo was printed on the girls warm up jerseys which are used at every tournament. We also have a plaque recognizing your sponsorship that you can put up at your place of business to thank you.
The Atom team had a very successful season - winning medals in 5 tournaments that they entered including 3 Gold medals. The team finished the year 5th in the province which is a wonderful achievement. The girls also gained valuable skills in team contribution, responsibility and leadership. Thank you for your contribution.
Ross Bannatyne, Chair of Community Services for the Rotary club presented a $500 cheque to Anthony Cassano and team members Lily Cassano and Abbey Maillet. Anthony in turn presented Ross with the team plaque.
Dundas Dynamo Basketball Thanks the Club for Sponsorship
What a great welcome awaited the GSE team as they arrived at the Dundas Air Force Club accompanied by their host families. President Elect Jan Southall set the room ready for a traditional Thanksgiving celebration and Maggie and her team cooked up a fabulous dinner of turkey, ham and all the trimmings. Bob Morrow was Emcee and tied the GSE visit to the recent district conference in Brantford reminding us all that Peace Through Service happens when our wishbone connects to our backbone and we make things happen.
GSE team leader Alfredo (Boboy) Campos is a civil engineer and project sales consultant and a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Teresa in District 3800. Boboy would like us to look for joint projects our club and district can do with his district. Boboy is staying with Thie Convery and Francis Manias.
Team members are non-Rotarians aged 25 - 40. Pamela (Pahm) Balasabas is a police officer with the National Police, has been a police officer on the Presidential Detail and is presently part of the training team for police. On a recent visit to Hamilton Police Service she already picked up some ideas to help in her training role. Pahm is staying with David and Sue Carson. Maria (Kit) Kwe is a university professor, magazine editor and journalist. Her area of interests are environmental issues and reproductive health issues for the underprivileged. Kit is hosted by Barbara Busing and Norm Read. Anna Karenina (Dos) Roque is a marketing specialist working for Asus computers. Previous to this she was a DJ on a Manila radio station. She likes the great space in Canada and how young adults are involved in politics. Dos is staying with the Carsons. Arcie Mallari is the founder and executive director of a foundation that helps children of the dump. He lived for three years on the largest dump in the Philippines so that he could help first hand the children and families living there. He is working with local schools to help educate the children and raise the grade nine registered students' English from a 4th grade level. Arcie is staying with Ian and Jane Smith.
During each GSE introduction one comment regularly was said. Canadians sure eat big servings! After all, it was a Thanksgiving dinner.
Welcome to Group Study Exchange Team from the Philippines
Mark Chamberlain outlined a way our communities can be healthier and safer. It is called Complete Streets. Complete Streets are safe, comfortable and convenient for travel for everyone, regardless of age or ability - motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and public transportation riders.
Regardless of the mode of transportation 50% of trips are less than 5 km and 28% are less than 1.6 km. If just driving is considered, 72% are 1.6 km or less. That being said Complete Streets looks to design roadways so that all forms of transportations can be used including walking and cycling. The health benefits of walking and cycling are proven, with countries using these methods more often having a decrease in obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.
To accomodate the Complete Street approach cities with a higher population density work best. A reduced speed limit of 30 km/h, more transportations options and an optimum population density can provide not only healthier and safer communities but also improved economic growth and lower municipal taxes.
Mark closed by reminding club members to match what we want our communities to be to the way streets are designed.
The club welcomed Susan Hoag-Smith, James Lefebre and David Schurman from First Ontario Credit Union. Norm Reed from the Rotary Club of Waterdown and our youth exchange student Lisa were also guests. Sergeant At Arms Bill gave birthday greetings to Harold and Barry's wife. Bob Morrow gave the first happy dollar. He, Wayne, Art and their spouses returned last night from three weeks in China. He indicated that it was one of the best trips he had ever been on. He is also available to come to your house and show you the 2500 photos he took.
Bob Neibert had a great grand opening of the senior school at Hillfield Strathallan with Michael DeGroote pledging another $6 million towards the school. David Matchett celebrated 36 years of marriage and Bruce 34 years. Phil was pleased the Marauders beat Western and Shirley was glad the food drive was over and successful. She is now off to Hawaii for a couple weeks. Glen is back from Canmore BC and has Entertainment Books for $30. Joe too is back from holidays in Portugal and Spain and was grateful to Jan for covering for him during his absence. And, it looks like Harold has picked up another contract.
There were a number of announcements. Shirley thanked everyone who volunteered for the food drive and was still looking for a volunteer driver for the GSE trip to Dundurn Castle. Jan is collecting $10 from those attending the GSE dinner at the Air Force Club on Sunday October 14.
Derek reminded everyone of the new member orientation session on October 24 at St.Thomas Catholic Church hall in Waterdown. This is a wine and cheese event and he asks that you let him know who you will be inviting. Bruce is looking for set up and clean up help for Rotary Stars on November 24. And, Bob Bell needs your toys for the toy box auction at the District conference. Joe asked members to attend the conference and to go the district website to register. It is in Brantford. Very close to home.
Joe also attended the district grants seminar in East Amherst NY on the weekend with Ralph. Our club is now qualified to apply for Rotary Foundation grants, which is something that is listed as a goal in the club's long range plan.
Following announcements and happy dollars Dave Carson introduced guest speaker David Schurman who was later thanked by club president Joe.
Next week Phil is the greeter and David Carson is at the desk.
David Schurman, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of First Ontario Credit Union, said that credit unions and Rotary have similar mottos: People Helping People and Service Above Self. The first credit union started in Quebec in 1901 with a deposit of 10 cents. Since then credit unions have grown considerably with over 10 million Canadian members. First Ontario emerged in 2000 from an amalgamation of several other credit unions and now has 90 000 members in 15 communities in the Hamilton and surrounding area. A new location will be opening on King St. in Dundas this December.
David compared Canadian banks and credit unions noting that both offer a safe haven for money but that credit unions are even safer than banks because of the higher capitalization (4% vs 3%) and stricter rules of operation. Credit unions also have unlimited deposit insurance for registered funds like RRSPs. First Ontario presently has $3 billion under management, offers free checking and is proud that the money lent out stays within the area to assist people helping people.
You can watch David Friday mornings on CHTV's Finance Friday.
The club was pleased to see Lisa our youth exchange student from Austria. Lisa gave a happy dollar saying she had been to Toronto and Lake Erie with the Reids, was settling into school at Highland and had ridden in a yellow school bus. Sergeant At Arms Bill wished Happy Birthday to Bob Neibert, Mark Draak and David Matchett. He also gave anniversary congratulations to Fred, Ross, Paul, Carl, Barry, Barbara, Shirley, Bruce and Dave. Seems like September was a good time to get married. We wonder if Carl will make number 31 since he went to painting class on his anniversary whereas the others celebrated with dinners and travel.
Shirley reminded everyone of the Food Drive this Saturday and volunteers are needed. The GSE takes place October 14 - 17 with a dinner at the Air Force Club on Sunday October 14. She still needs a driver for October 17 to transport some of the GSE to Niagara College. Derek asked everyone to look for possible new members and to let him know so that they could be invited to the "This is Rotary" wine and cheese on October 24 in Waterdown. Bruce has a firm date for Rotary Stars. Put November 24 in your calendar. He would like this to be more of a variety show and asks for names of possible local entertainers who might volunteer to perform.
Ralph asked everyone to email the Shredding Day flyer for November 3 to their contacts. Let him know if you are available to volunteer that Saturday between 8:30 and 1:30. Bob Bell asked for toys to be brought in for the Toy Box that will be auctioned off at the district conference with funds raised going to The Rotary Foundation. Thank you to Pam Bell for coordinating the toy collection and getting the box ready. The conference, October 12 - 14 in Brantford, is close to home and you can attend for all or part so please go to the district website and register.
Dave Carson invited members to attend the Dundas Valley 50 year vision and strategy meeting on Wednesday September 26, 7:15 pm at the Dundas Library. He was introduced later as our guest speaker for the morning program.
Dave Carson was introduced by his sponsor Shirley Molloy and gave a history of his work experience from July 16, 1969 until present day. July 16 was the day the moon launch took place and it was also the day he graduated from university. Dave took a "sandwich" course in the UK which is similar to coop. His first job was at British Leyland in an old spitfire factory and of course his first car was a mini. He started as a junior systems analyst working with an IBM80 solving business problems. He left there for a plastic company and was head hunted from them to teach documentation standards. That company sent him to Poland for a month and in 1976 he came to Canada to work at Bell Canada where he continued his information technology career. Within three years the company sent him and his family to Saudi Arabia where he helped its telecom industry as it developed digital telephony technology. He continued to work for Bell and its various iterations, retiring from CGI, an outsourcing company where he spent his last five years working in Tampa Fl.
Dave saw the development of computers from the mainframe to mini computers to personal computers. He progressed through digital telephony to outsourcing, visiting many exciting parts of the world. His travels took him to Kuwait, Africa, India and Nepal to name just a few.
Since retiring a couple years ago Dave has become very involved in social issues within the community. He is a member of Dundas in Transition, the Hamilton Food Security Committee, the Food Box and Rotary Sunrise Community Garden as well as developing a climate chart for Hamilton.
Charter member Duncan Macintosh visited the club after a 3-year absence and was the guest speaker. Ancaster Rotarian Joanna Turchin promoted her club's Cow Patty Bingo which takes place this weekend at the Ancaster Fair. Think about how it might work and that would be it! We also welcomed back Ross Bannatyne after more than two months at his cottage.
Sergeant At Arms Bill opened with words of wisdom from Lee Iacocca. "How much clean air do we really need?" Spoken by a true automobile manufacturer in the mid 70s. There were several announcements. Jan reminded everyone of the District Conference taking place in Brantford on October 12 - 14 and encouraged all to go on the district website and register for the event. It is close to home and a great opportunity to celebrate Rotary. If the entire conference won't work then go just for part. The dinner speakers on Saturday evening is a couple that scaled Mt. Everest. They actually passed, on their way down, the lady from Mississauga who died during her attempt. The conference organizers are also asking each club to come up with a toy box full of toys that will be auctioned at the conference with monies raised going to The Rotary Foundation. There were no volunteers at the time but maybe someone will take this on. Let Jan know if you can coordinate the toy box effort. Jan also reminded board members of the meeting this Wednesday at Harold's house in Dundas.
Shirley promoted the Dundas Community Food Drive that takes place Saturday September 29. Volunteers are always needed. She also reminded members of the GSE from the Philippines that will be visiting from October 14 - 17. If you are available to drive please let her know. She also distributed a sign up sheet for the dinner with the GSE team on Sunday October 12 at the Air force Club. It is $10 per person.
Ralph asked everyone to look for a possible new member to bring to the October 24 This is Rotary event. Please let him know if you will be inviting someone. Once again, it is a wine and cheese (beer too) information evening. It runs from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at St. Thomas Catholic Church Hall in Waterdown. The four Area 3 clubs are picking up the costs. Ralph also promoted the upcoming Shredding Day scheduled for November 3 at Eccles Uptown. Tell your friends, neighbours and business associates.
Paul and Barbara celebrated their 55 anniversary (and his 80th birthday) on Saturday with the party raising $4400 for St. Matthew's House. Barb Busing's oldest son turned 30 and her young son is in China. His school was closed recently because of ongoing street riots over the China Sea boundary concern with Japan. Talking about China, Ralph gave an update from Wayne Massey who is in China with Bob Morrow and Art (and their wives). Wayne also described the rioting in Xi'an.
Following announcements and happy dollars, Duncan Macintosh took to the podium. After completing his talk he was thanked by David Matchett.
It is three years since Duncan Macintosh resigned from the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise and as this morning's guest speaker he was welcomed back as an old friend. He said he was going to do his classification talk again but update it to include his ownership of Soccer World. The Soccer World dome on Frid Street in Hamilton was built in 2002 and costs around $2 million. It is held up by air generated by large fans. Duncan sleeps with his cell phone because if the fans shut down because of a power failure or other mechanical issue he has 8 minutes to fix it before it starts to settle onto the light standards.
Duncan started into soccer as a volunteer when his daughter began playing as a child. Ten years later he coached her team competitively and later became a member of the Dundas Soccer Club executive and is presently in charge of assigning referees. The Dundas area has 50% fewer fields than other Hamilton areas and Duncan was instrumental in helping convert baseball diamonds in Veterans Park to soccer pitches. The installation of lights on a number of fields also increased capacity.
At one time Duncan considered buying property on the escarpment by Highway 5 to build three soccer fields but that was nixed by the Niagara Conservation Authority because it would have taken farmland out of production. So, he did the next natural thing. He purchased Soccer World.
Soccer World is a busy place from Thanksgiving to Easter and is full most evenings. There are 140 men's teams as well as a variety of youth programs. He says the 17 - 24 year old men's teams are often ethnically based and lead to a number of interesting confrontations that police are sometimes called to calm.
Duncan started a developmental program for youth called Little Strikers. This is a U.S. franchise with paid coaches and a structured curriculum. He is particularly fond of the "Wake Up Fred" game they play with 3-year olds to encourage them to kick the ball against the side boards. He also started up summer camps and PA Day excursions and supports inner city students to play league soccer. He even supplies the children with bus tickets so that they can travel to the Frid Street location. The Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise contributed towards the purchase of bus tickets last year.
Members of the club were pleased to see Duncan and encourage him to continue working with youth to involve them in soccer and its social, health and physical components.
Today's meeting saw 21 members plus guest speaker Hazel Breton. We welcomed back Glen Mumberson from almost three months at his cottage. Of course Glen's first official duty was to distribute Entertainment Books. They are $30 each and if you were not present today you can pick up your Hamilton or Toronto books at your next meeting. Bruce indicated that he is going to have his staff learn CPR. This past week one of his employees was at the gym and suffered a heart attack. The staff there knew CPR and kept him alive.
Fred gave an update on Wayne Migus. Wayne is home after a month in hospital and although he lost significant weight he is starting to gain back his health. Paul and Barbara Clifford are celebrating their 55th anniversary and as is Paul's custom he made a significant donation to the Dundas Valley Foundation to recognize the event.
Shirley reminded everyone of the September 29 community food drive. She also indicated that the GSE team would be here October 14 - 17. Rob Reid saw his daughter off to university, was pleased that inbound youth exchange student Lisa is in Dundas and was proud of his son Andy's movie that is being shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. Bob Bell is enjoying every day now that his kids are off to school; and Jessica is thrilled that her son is in the jazz and voice music program at Mohawk College. Keeping with the opening of school, Phil is pleased that last week is now over and that 4000 students moved into residence. He said it was like an ivory snow commercial with 99 and 44/100 % having a safe week of socializing.
Director of Service Projects Bob Bell presented a cheque for $1500 to Paul Clifford for HARRRP. There were no announcements from president Joe who is in Portugal. Also away is Ken who is in Turkey and Bob Morrow, Wayne Massey and Art who are in China.
Dave Carson continued the excellent speakers program by introducing Hazel Breton from the Hamilton Conservation Authority.
Hazel Breton is a water engineer and manager of water resources with the Hamilton Conservation Authority. She brought the topic of global climate change to the local level and stressed the importance of building resilient water sheds. Global warming is a fact and over the last 40 years the temperature has risen almost one full degree Celsius with a prediction of almost two degrees by 2050. Some of this increase is due to the green house effect. Combined with other natural causes that affect temperature variations on a global level this increase in temperature has been accompanied by heavy rains, flooding, severe storms, heavy erosion and extreme drought within the Hamilton Conservation Authority watershed.
The trend is towards more big storms that are approaching those of the 100 year storms that are of extreme intensity and cause devastating damage. At the same time severe drought is occurring. At present the watershed is at a level 2 drought condition, something that has rarely happened in the past.
The ongoing climate change has a variety of impacts on Ontario. It affects infrastructure, water, agriculture, health, forests and ecosystems while putting communities at risk. To deal with the issue the HCA has a 4-part climate change strategy: understand the problem, share information, integrate into existing policies and develop new policies. Those living in the watershed can do their part to deal with climate change. They can mitigate the problem by reducing green house gases, they can adapt to help cope with current impacts and they can learn more about the situation by going to www.conservationhamilton.ca or www.climatechangehamilton.ca.
In closing Hazel indicated that the planet is approaching several tipping point. She suggested that we beware emerging technologies, secure input from those closest to the ground, integrate sustainability and apply governance to effective sustainability.
Hazel Breton: Climate Change And The Hamilton Conservation Authority
Emily emailed Kathy an update on her travels in Denmark. See below for her information!
Hej Kathy!
Again, sorry for the delay in my monthly report, but I just got back from Intro Camp on Sunday, and have been busy catching up on sleep and missed homework (but mostly sleep).
I’m having a great time in Denmark! Everyone is so nice and I’ve already had so many opportunities. I have already been to Copenhagen a couple of times and plan to go back there with friends from school and exchange friends.
This weekend coming up I will be going to my host family’s summer house! They try to go as often as possible, but they think the 1 ½ hour drive is unrealistic to go every weekend. This, for me of course feels kind of silly because a 1 ½ hour drive is nothing! But, anyway, we are spending the weekend there, and then on Monday my family is taking me to Tivoli. It’s an old amusement park that is in the center of Copenhagen – and from what I’ve seen of it it’s absolutely beautiful!
I’ve started my Danish lessons – every Tuesday and Thursday until (I believe) the end of November. This evening will be my second Danish lesson with my class.
While at Intro Camp, we had 6 hours of Danish lessons a day except for Friday – we went to Aarhus on Friday! But the best part was it didn’t feel like 6 hours of Danish. Our class was about 20-25 exchange students, and one amazing teacher! All the teachers that were teaching the exchange students were in their mid-twenties to early thirties and they all knew their stuff. Our teacher especially made it fun for us to learn. And, it wasn’t straight forward teaching, we also had time were we just had conversation. Conversation about teenagers in Denmark, or custom things the Danes do or how they act, what was appropriate when, etc.
All in all, Intro Camp was a great week and I wish it could have lasted way longer!
As for the rest of my time in Denmark, I still can’t believe I’ve been here almost a month! Tomorrow will be my anniversary of leaving Canada…I’m not quite sure how I feel about that, though. I mean, I’m very very very very very excited and happy to be in Denmark, but it’s just weird to think I’ve already been away from my family a month! I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything, but as normal, I do miss my friends and family.
Right now I’m actually emailing you in my math class, and it’s, again, weird with what they’re studying…if what they are doing right now is what they are learning, than I’ve learned this already and can follow even though the teacher’s speaking Danish!
Well, I better go now…I should probably be paying more attention even though I already kinda know how to do this math…
Tak!
Emily
Report from Emily in Denmark, our Outbound Exchange Student
A small crowd welcomed the first day of school and guest speaker Emily Thompson. Sergeant At Arms Bill Armstrong worked hard to collect happy dollars to make up for the breakfast cost shortfall.
Bob Morrow put a new spin on shop locally going to Booth's Furniture rather than the market. He also informed the club that the Morrows, Masseys and Samsons would be in China next week. Phil Wood saw 4000 students move into residence at McMaster and said, "So far so good!" He also was pleased with Mac's big football win over Guelph University. George Gould left his son in residence at Waterloo and said his wife cried all night. David Lowery celebrated his birthday last week and had a magician perform during the family event. Wayne Massey was in Guelph following detour routes and trucks that were dropping student furniture on the road in front of him.
Ernie Romain was back from a couple months at his cottage and indicated that it has been 50 years since he graduated from Western. Kathy Starodub returned from a month's vacation during which she celebrated her 60th birthday and 37th anniversary. She had her brand spanking new Samsung LS2 phone which she was still trying to figure out. She did manage to get an update on the phone from Youth Exchange Student Emily Hall who said things were going very well in Denmark.
Barry Stoltz was happy for his table, Emily Thompson for being present and Joe Guedes who will be heading off to Portugal, Spain and Morocco with Anne. Art Samson reminded everyone of the Routes Youth Centre fundraiser at Dyment's Farm on Friday September 14. He has tickets.
Ralph Montesanto was happy to see his granddaughter move into residence at Brock University and that Wayne Migus was back home after a month in hospital. Ralph had announcements on the upcoming Telling Tales on September 16 and was looking for volunteers and gently used or new children's books. A new and potential members evening is planned for October 24 in Waterdown to learn more about becoming a Rotarian. He asked that all members consider inviting someone to the event. He also promoted a fall shredding day that is tentatively scheduled for Saturday November 3.
George Gould reminded everyone to check the new duty roster on the website and too find coverage if unable to attend at their scheduled date.
The video that is in the next part of the newsletter might not show up. Copy and paste http://youtu.be/3PyekZgaA6w into your browser to see the flash mob at the RYLA dinner.
Kathy Starodub introduced RYLA student Emily Thompson a Parkside High School graduate and second year student at both Wilfrid Laurier University where she is taking business and at Waterloo University where she is taking mathematics. Emily, along with James Gould were last year's club sponsored Rotary Youth Leadership Award recipients.
Emily began by thanking the club for its sponsorship and then gave an overview of the weeklong program at the State University of New York Fredonia campus. Fifty RYLArians learned their leadership styles (Emily is technical), took part in daily speak up sessions explaining their "defining moments", worked through a variety of trust games that built teamwork, and set personal goals.
They learned of family dynamics and how to problem solve through compromise, avoidance, collaboration and accommodation. Each student was involved in committee work to plan such things as the daily newspaper, special sessions and the Rotarian dinner. During the dinner they surprised the audience with a flash mob.
Emily indicated she wanted to join the Rotaract club at Waterloo, had built close connections with 50 RYLARians who were strangers, and is able to talk in front of people with more confidence. She said the experience was great and that the group continues to network through Facebook.
We welcomed Rick Sterne our district governor and today's guest speaker, Jessica Brennan soon to be inducted, Grant Armstrong guest of dad Bill Armstrong, Nancy Harkness from the Hamilton Rotary Club, and Claire Harkness last year's Youth Exchange student.
Sergeant At Arms Bill Armstrong is back from vacation and announced some celebrations - birthdays for Art Samson, Jessica Brennan and David Lowery, and an anniversary for Kathy Starodub.
Rotary Minutes were given by Bob Morrow and Jan Southall. Bob spoke of DG Rodger Allan's visit 15 years ago to the Dundas Rotary Club where Bob was the only one in the room who put up his hand when asked about a new morning Rotary club. He said it was at that moment our club was conceived. He also spoke of his experience in Paraguay where a letter to the Rotary Club of Asuncion asking for a Spanish/English translator lead to a phone call from the club president a couple days later. That call lead to a long friendship, personal tours of Paraguay and a translator who turned out to be Miss Paraguay. Jan spoke of the Youth Exchange program and our first outbound student Claire Harkness. Jan reminded everyone of the great monthly reports Claire would send and read from several of them. The power of Claire's words as she described her personal growth during her year in Australia is a testament to the value of the Rotary Youth Exchange program.
Members were anxious to contribute Happy Dollars this morning. Rob Reid because the Metro budget was approved and he can now take a vacation; Vlad Veckie was happy just to be back from Croatia; Fred Amalfi was happy because Vlad was here; Jessica Brennan because of her pending induction; Phil Wood because 4000 Mac students are moving into residence; and, Nancy Harkness because the club supported Claire and because she met inbound student Lisa Kammerer.
Barb Busing's niece was married; Derek Price saw dancing and Zumba on the ice rink pad; Grant Armstrong because he is back in Dundas and the kids can walk to grandma's and grandpa's place; Shirley Molloy is counting down to her vacation; and David Carson for an article in The Hamilton Spectator on the Food Charter.
Ralph Montesanto announced the Telling Tales sign up sheets, book collection and advertising spots email that was sent out on the weekend. He also asked for volunteers to attend a workshop on September 29 to qualify our club for Rotary Foundation grants. Art Samson had tickets to the Routes Youth Centre fundraiser at Dyment's Farm on September 14 from 6:00 pm to midnight. Tickets are $30 each. And, Shirley Molloy reminded everyone of the GSE visit starting on October 3. Anyone interested in driving should contact her.
Following the induction of Jessica Brennan, assistant governor Wayne Massey introduced district governor Rick Sterne.
Governor Rick Sterne assisted president Joe Guedes and sponsor George Gould for the induction of Jessica Brennan into the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club. Jessica is a long time Dundas resident and is a trustee on The Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. The club tradition when inducting a new member is to stand, form a circle, and actively take part in the induction ceremony. Welcome Jessica!
Immediate past president and club Rotary Foundation director Shirley Molloy, presented governor Rick Sterne with the club's initial contribution of $7500 for The Rotary Foundation. The club gives 20% of the funds raised to support the Rotary Foundation. This past year, between club and individual member contributions, the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club gave $15 228 to support TRF making the club third in foundation giving among the 70 Rotary clubs in District 7090.
Assistant governor Wayne Massey introduced district governor Rick Sterne who immediately thanked the club for being so strong and vibrant. After the short and powerful video song, Tell Me Why, governor Rick introduced RI president Sakuji Tanaka's theme, Peace Through Service. President Tanaka asks us to find peace by working on peace and conflict resolution/prevention, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, and economic and community development.
Rotary International's number one corporate goal continues to be the eradication of polio worldwide. To that end India is now over one year polio free with only Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria remaining with endemic polio. Rotarians worldwide have raised over 1.2 billion dollars to help in the polio fight and raised over $215 million to put with the Gates Foundation's $405 million donation.
Governor Rick had all members stand and give High Fives before outlining his High Five Program that asks Rotarians to have fun, think outside the box, focus on people, program and projects, make The Rotary Foundation their charity of choice, and, ask someone to join Rotary.
He said the district could achieve peace through service by doing the following: Encourage every Club to complete a PeaceThrough Service Project; develop a District 7090 Peace Through Service Project; establish a District Peace Through Service speaker’s bureau; select a Peace Scholar; and, encourage members to attend a Global Peace Forum.
Governor Rick asked members to focus on New Generations and learn about The Rotary Foundation's Future Vision plan. He closed by saying the club should easily achieve the Presidential Citation since it was already doing most of the requirements.
President Joe Guedes thanked Rick, presenting him with an atlas written by club member Bob Morrow. Joe hopes the atlas will help Rick find the remaining 70 clubs he has yet to visit as part of the official governor's visit.
The club welcomed Bill Lawrence from the Rotary Club of Dundas and Shelley Hall, mother of Emily our outbound Youth Exchange student who is in Denmark. Shelley accompanied Lisa Krammerer our inbound Youth Exchange student from Krems Austria. Krems is about an hours drive from Vienna. Lisa arrived last Friday and stayed with Kathy Starodub over the weekend. She will be staying with Shelley Hall for the next two months. We also welcomed Sandra Antoniani our guest speaker.
Bruce Eccles filled in as Sergeant At Arms for vacationing Bill Armstrong. He indicated that his mother had recovered from her stay in hospital. He also could not understand why there was braille at drive through ATMs. Happy dollars were received from Shirley Molloy who attended the Burlington Lakeside Rotary club fundraiser and won a bar fridge and 16 bottles of wine. Bob Morrow dropped in on the Burlington Central Rotary Club to give a gift certificate to Mike Molloy for stepping in at the last minute as guest speaker at our Paul Harris Dinner. Bob Bell made it through a week of camping with his family. His wife did not really want to camp and even though there was some rain she suggested a different packing method for next year - there is still hope.
Phil Wood celebrated another birthday on the weekend and was happy that the town put on the Cactus Festival for him. He also attended Fieldcote and heard Dundasian Ian Thomas perform. Wayne Massey's oldest child turned 45 on Saturday and Jan Southall and a group of 25 spent several days in Montreal. Jan also reminded everyone of the Ways and Means meeting on August 22 and to let her know if anyone wanted to attend.
Fred updated us on Wayne Migus' condition after his recent stomach operation. Things are not good in that Wayne developed a severe infection and is still in hospital.
Rob Reid's son Andy is happy the movie he starred in last year has been picked up by the Toronto Film Festival. Andy is already counting the money he expects to earn from, "I Declare War".
Barbara Busing heard from her son who just arrived in China to begin a teaching stint. The two rats in his classroom did not go over well. Neither did the frogs he saw caught in the street that went straight into a restaurant.
President Joe handed out perfect attendance pins to Shirley Molloy, Harold Gruneburg, George Gould, Bob Morrow and himself. Bob has now taken over from past Rotarian Ken Turner as the member with the longest perfect attendance - 22 years.
Following a presentation of a club banner from Lisa to Joe, David Carson introduced guest speaker, Sandra Antoniani.
Sandra Antoniani is a lawyer who is under contract to the Federal Government to prosecute drug crime in Hamilton. There are between 1000 and 1200 new drug files each year with about 90% of them being the addicts themselves as opposed to high end traffickers. The drugs of choice are cocaine, oxycontin and hydromorphone with heroin making a come back. Addicts tend to have no fixed address, no substantial relationships with family and no employment. They support their habit with theft, break and entry and drug dealing.
Sandra is one of four federal drug prosecutors in Hamilton and she tends to see the same offenders in court on a regular basis. Most often, offenders receive 30 day to 6 month sentences and her concern is the cost to society. Not just the criminal aspects but the court and jail related costs. Often times when addicts go to jail they come out worse than before they went in. While in jail they often lose their housing, their clothing and their pets. They come out of jail and go right back to drugs.
To that end, she joined a new initiative at court called Substance Use Related Crime in Hamilton (SURCH). The aim of the program is to reduce recidivism, increase community safety and deliver a service that is not readily available. SURCH has one full-time employee and a number of volunteers who oversee 100 to 120 addicts a year. The addicts are first interviewed by a court addiction worker to determine if they are likely candidates for rehabilitation, and candidates must be motivated to make changes to their substance use and lifestyle.
Sandra is not only a prosecutor for drug offences but she also has a case load of around 20 drug addicts who are in the SURCH program.
Sandra Antoniani: Prosecuting Drug Crimes While Helping Addicts Come Clean
Today's meeting was not at East side Mario's, rather it was offsite at Ronald McDonald House thanks to the efforts of Sharon Lacey. Twenty members and two guests attended. Bill Stewart, guest of Carl Fraser, constructed the original Ronald McDonald House in 1993. Sydney Van Bakel, guest of Marnee Maroes, did a coop placement there.
George Gould acted as Sergeant At Arms and collected a few Happy dollars. Bruce Eccles, gave an update on his mother's condition. Things looked so bad when she originally went to the hospital that she was given the last rites. Not long after she awoke and indicated that she had to go on facebook and get caught up. She is in hospital and doctors still do not know what is wrong with her.
Fred Amalfi informed us that Wayne Migus had an operation to repair a dislocation of his oesophagus from his stomach. Sounds pretty serious. George Gould returned from two weeks in New Brunswick and New York. George is so sharp he noticed that they were really different. Art Samson did not give a happy dollar but indicated later that the Routes Youth Centre is holding a corn roast, hayride and dance at the Dyment farm on September 14 from 6:00 PM to midnight. Tickets are $30 each and he has them for sale.
Thank you to Bob Morrow who waited at East Side Marios to direct anyone who was unaware of the offsite visit. Good thing he was there to redirect Ernie Romain.
Following grace by David Lowery and a McDonald's breakfast we had guided tours of Ronald McDonald House.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club holds several meetings each year at various offsite businesses or service providers and today's regular meeting was at Ronald McDonald House. Sharon Lacey, chair of Vocational Services arranged the offsite club visit to the newly built and renovated Ronald McDonald House conveniently located adjacent to McMaster Children's Hospital. She arrived with a large box of breakfast fare purchased at a local McDonalds.
As members arrived at Ronald McDonald House they were greeted by Director of Development Debbie Logel Butler and development officers Sarah DeLuca, Whitney Albright and Janice Shearer (not in the photo). Debbie gave a brief overview of the new facility before breaking the Rotarians and guests in groups and visiting the common areas.
The reconstruction increased the number of rooms from 15 to 40 and added several family meeting and recreational rooms, a new state of the art kitchen and dining area, a theatre room and a family kitchen where up to three families can prepare their own meals. The piece de resistance is a wonderful children's play area where adults must be accompanied by a child to enter.
The new facility cost just over $13 million with $8.6 million coming from government infrastructure funds and the remainder through fundraising. Unfortunately an additional $1.5 million needs to be fundraised because the project was unable to be completed by the final dates established by the federal government and that funding was removed.
With the increase in the number of rooms the annual operating budget has gone from $600 000 to just over $1.5 million. Families pay $12 per night which is just a fraction of the $139 per night it costs. McDonalds contributes 20% of the operating cost with fundraising accounting for the remaining 80%.
Families are referred through the Children's Hospital Social Work department based on the severity of the child's illness and the distance the family home is from the hospital. Stays vary from one night to one year. Local families have the opportunity for short stays to give them respite from bedside vigils. A Family Room at the hospital is also managed by Ronald McDonald House.
Ms. Logel Butler indicated that volunteers are always needed and interested individuals can phone 905 521 9983 ext. 2110 for more information. As well, there is a full-time chef in the kitchen and he welcomes volunteers to assist in meal preparation.
The Hamilton Ronald McDonald House is the second largest in Canada and is always full. Individuals, service clubs and businesses are encouraged to donate their time or money to give families the opportunity to stay close to their ill child when at McMaster Children's Hospital.
Small crowd today with 20 members and our guest speaker. Fred Amalfi was acting Sergeant At Arms for Bill Armstrong who is cruising somewhere along the coast of Alaska. We welcomed back David Lowery who was off ill for several months. David was delighted to be back and is able to once again walk and drive. Art Samson returned after five weeks at his cottage. He read a short synopsis of the meaning of life which accounted for why he sits on his porch and barks at folks who walk by.
Wayne Massey is still trying to get rid of trumpet plants in his yard. David Carson had a great vacation in British Columbia cruising the inside passage and Bob Morrow is thinking of his upcoming trip to china.
Barry Stoltz is back to work after almost four weeks vacation and Derek Price is happy that his old home country is winning so many Olympic medals. Talking about medals, David Carson praised the women's soccer team for their fine effort.
Barbara Busing was pleased that her two boys were visiting and will soon see one of them off to China. She also had a note from Shelley Hall informing us that Emily arrived in Denmark early on Sunday morning and is now at her first host family. Phil Wood's son joined him on a bike ride on the rail trail but of equal importance helped Phil install a range hood over his stove.
Bob Bell will soon be off camping and canoeing with his wife and family. He is hoping he does not have to resort to a resort when the camping experience wears thin. Wayne Magus had a great day fishing with Fred and caught several salmon which they are smoking. Let's hope it does not affect their lungs!
David Carson, our program director reminded everyone that next week's meeting is offsite at Ronald MacDonald House. Same time, different location. He then introduced our guest speaker, Richard Allen.
Richard Allen is the director of Renew Hamilton, a project of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce. Renew Hamilton's mission is to document, promote and accelerate the regeneration of Hamilton's built and natural environments with a particular focus on our downtown and adjacent neighbourhoods.
This renewal of restorable assets message will be promoted through video presentations of case studies and story telling, education and a speakers series. Richard is looking for young professionals, entrepreneurs and innovators to come to the downtown area along with a corresponding increase in residential density. Presently there are 24 000 people that work in the downtown as well as a number post secondary students. Richard has a three year horizon in which to get the message out. Renew Hamilton is working with several partners including LIUNA, History and Heritage, the city and province, mechanical contractors and McMaster University. The main areas of focus are the Gore, Witton Lofts, Ovation and Treble Hall.
The challenges in the downtown core include public safety, deteriorating building and viable shopping. Progress is occurring but slowly. Local individuals and firms are investing in the renewal but infrastructure changes and improvements along with improved public transport and street-scapes are needed.
Renew Hamilton was born out of a series of Hamilton Economic Summits and its vision sees Hamilton as Canada's top midsize city measured by our ability to attract talent and investment.
Barry Stoltz, on desk duty this morning, introduced our guests: Ashley Greenwood and Paul Reeve from Routes Youth Centre; and our youth exchange student Emily Hall and her mother Shelley. After breakfast Sergeant At Arms Bill Armstrong told another joke - much better than last week's!
Happy Dollars from Bruce Eccles who just sold his Harley-Davidson motorcycle; Marnee Maroes who celebrated an anniversary but did not tell us which one. She also thanked Bob Morrow for the photos of Emily that she put on a digital photo frame for Emily to take to Denmark next week.
Roger Stewart returned from a couple weeks in New Brunswick where he has a home on the river. He was impressed with the bar closing time in Halifax - 4 AM. Carl Fraser played golf at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club as a guest of Golf Canada. Playing from the Canadian Open blocks he shot a 96.
Shirley Molloy told us about a Rotary Club of Burlington fundraiser called Lakeside A La Carte. Tickets are $110 and the event is Sunday August 12 from 1:00 to 5:00 PM. President Joe Guedes informed us that The Rotarian promoted an app that tells where Rotary clubs meet. Marnee then informed us that one is also available on Clubrunner.
Ralph Montesanto asked us to look for an article and photo in the Star Journal either this week or next showcasing the Rotary Sunrise Community Garden and the produce going to the Salvation Army Food Bank.
Rob Reid helped us celebrate Emily Hall's last meeting before leaving for Denmark and that was followed by Ashley Greenwoods presentation on the Routes Youth Centre. In case you are unable to view the attached video please go to the club website.
The club's outbound youth exchange student Emily Hall made her last visit to the club before heading off to Denmark later this week. She was joined by her mother, Shelley, as the club bade farewell and good luck to her. Emily will be gone for one year and club members look forward to hearing back from her on a regular basis. President Joe Guedes presented Emily with a cake which was shared by all.
Marnee Maroes presented Emily with a digital photo frame with pictures collated by Bob Morrow; and, New Generations Director Rob Reid presented Emily with some funds from the club so that she might enjoy some extras during her yearlong stay.
Youth Exchange Student Emily Hall and Mother Shelley
Ashley Greenwood and Paul Reeves from Routes Youth Centre presented on the Power of One - the difference a community, a service club, a youth centre or an adult mentor can have on a youth as he or she receives a voice of reason and support.
The Routes Youth Centre located at the Salvation Army Dundas site has both casual and structured programs for youth aged 7 to 19. This past year over 100 youth were regular participants taking part in programs like Girls Night Out and Boys Night Out where they talk about issues such as anger management, body image, and self worth. They also take part in the Routes Reaches Out program where participants logged over 450 hours of volunteer service.
Many of the youth lack continuity in their lives. They are not accepted, have home problems or are bullied. Others just want a safe and friendly place to hang out and play pool and video games. Some of the youth are making steps to go back to school, move on to post secondary education or look for jobs.
Ashley stated that the act of friendship between a mentoring adult and a youth is a positive and powerful tool. She closed by asking us to watch a video showing her charges expressing why Routes Youth Centre is working for them.
Jim McDonald, a new member of St. Mark's United Church in Dundas, harvests fresh vegetables from the Rotary Sunrise Community Garden. The garden is a joint effort by the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club, St. Mark's United Church and Dundas in Transition. Half the garden plots are designated to support the Salvation Army Food Bank in Dundas. Shirley Molloy of the Salvation Army states that all produce coming to the food bank from the garden is being distributed to clients. The food bank is currently handling about 400-450 clients per month at the Dundas location. In addition to the community garden, it provides approximately 50-60 Good Food Boxes to families and needs to purchase potatoes, carrots, and onions every other week. The Good Food Boxes are available the fourth Friday of each month.
Food coming from the Rotary Sunrise Community Garden is going out nearly as fast as it is coming in, usually the same day. Jim's harvest includes green onions, cabbages, cucumbers, summer squash, potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, swiss chard and herbs.
Steady Harvesting at Rotary Sunrise Community Garden
Productive Cooperatives Haiti (pcH) is a division of the Foundation for International Development Assistance (FIDA) a Waterloo Ontario NGO. Today's speaker, Cheryl-Ann Webster is the public relations spokesperson for FIDA/pcH.
Cheryl used her personal experiences through multiple visits to Haiti to bring the message of productive cooperatives that create independency rather than dependency. She spoke of one of the 29 cooperatives that the NGO has started in Haiti. Over the last 18 months a newly formed cooperative in the town of Duchity, about a nine hour taptap (taxi) ride north of Port au Prince, has grown from 120 members to over 2000. During that time. the cooperative has increased literacy of its member through 54 literacy centres and has helped increase agricultural yields by 40%. The organization believes sustainable development is accomplished through economic development with a cooperative business model and a democratic election process within each cooperative.
Quoting from a booklet Cheryl distributed gives an overview of resources. "Resources are provided to communities who are motivated to advance themselves economically by forming a productive agricultural cooperative including: cooperative development training, agricultural training and credit loans, and capacity building through adult literacy training."
FIDA/pcH is currently applying to CIDA and other organizations and service clubs to raise $3 million to continue establishing other cooperatives throughout Haiti. She estimates it costs about $500 per farmer for each of the three years for training costs to get the program self sustaining.
Today, Claire Harkness, our “rebound” exchange student, spoke to us about her experiences as an exchange student in Australia.
Claire has recently returned from her year-long exchange. She had great pictures of her many experiences and the beautiful locations. She stayed with different host families, each with their own personalities and offering different experiences; all of whom Claire now is part of their family. Claire enjoyed going to the meetings of her host Rotary club.
Many things were different about high school in Australia compared to Claire’s home school here in Dundas. In particular, the 2-week rotating schedule was something Claire never got used to. Also, though she appreciated the ease of not having to choose outfits each day because her school had a uniform, she also said the uniform itched! Though there were challenges and cultural differences she noticed, overall Claire remembers making close friends and joining in on school activities, such as the Trampoline team.
Claire had so many experiences to share. She toured across Australia by bus with the other exchange students who were spending the year in Australia, who came from all over the world. She met and pet kangaroos, went to Tasmania, tried different foods (and brought home a favorite cookie, Tim Tams), went skydiving and ziplining, and climbed the Sydney harbour bridge. There also were amusement parks, surfing, mountain climbing, a helicopter tour, and spending time in the Outback.
Claire brought home many souvenirs. Next time you see her, ask her to show you some of her fabulous pictures.
Claire finished her presentation by thanking Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary club for the opportunity to go to Australia and our support of this learning experience.
Don McLean, Director and co-founder of Environment Hamilton gave an overview of the Aerotropolis, a 4574 acre section of land surrounding Hamilton Airport. The city expects the 1635 acres of employment land (mainly warehousing, trucking and wholesaling) to generate 25 000 jobs and raise $60 million in net taxes per year. It also sees future airport growth reaching 9 million passengers per year.
In 2010, city council approved the plan by a 14 to 2 vote. Since then there have been dozens of appeals to the Ontario Municipal board with multiple phase hearings still ongoing. Many individuals and businesses have different agendas regarding the aerotropolis. There are a number of costs and risks associated with the plan. Over $350 million for internal roads and pipes; $125 million for a trunk sewer; and millions of dollars for storm runoff control. At present, the current capacity would service about 20% of the area. Overall, costs are expected to be at least half a billion dollars.
Over the years the actual experience of the airport would not seem to support the growth forecasts with the uncertainty of the global and provincial economies being such variables. Besides, McLean states that there are 1840 acres of greenfield serviced business park land already available throughout the city.
The Airport Employment Growth district sits on the highest piece of land between the escarpment and Lake Erie and is the head waters to four streams with much of the land classified as prime agricultural. Pollution and the loss of food production land are key concerns.
McLean's overall presentation was to raise awareness of the issues and to consider a smaller and less costly (both in dollars and to the environment) plan that could be revisited in the future as conditions change.
Don McLean and the Hamilton Airport Employment Growth District
Assistant Governor Wayne Massey inducted Joe Guedes as the 2012-13 president of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise. President Joe's first official duty was to present Past President Shirley Molloy with her Past President's pin. He then introduced each board member, presented a Rotary pin honouring the area of responsibility and asked the board member to give a short explanation of his or her focus for the year.
Joe reminded everyone that the new Rotary International president is Sakuji Tanaka from Japan and his theme for the year is Peace Through Service. Joe said that the work our club does providing clean water, education and wellness all help to bring peace to the people we serve.
Joe spoke of district governor Rick Sterne's High Five focus for the year - to have fun; to think outside the box; to remember the 3Ps (look after our own people, have interesting weekly programs, and have projects both locally and internationally); to support The Rotary Foundation financially and in its programs; and, to invite someone to a meeting to share the Rotary experience.
Joe's personal goals for the club include presenting financial support in a more visible format beyond the club walls; ensuring all members get copies of board meetings; and begin implementing the Strategic Goals and Objective for 2012 - 2017. He said, "We should do what we can" and he promised not to drop the ball.
Long-time Dundas resident, Rotarian and ward councillor Russ Powers gave the club the most recent 2011 Dundas census update. The population is 24 907, an increase of 513 over the past 10 years. 97.5% of the community is white and 75% Christian. Children under the age of 15 represent 18.2% of the population and their numbers are declining with a family size of 1.1. 18.1% of the population are 65 or older. Dundas has the highest percentage of singles in the city and 11% of females are lone parents. It has the second highest Jewish population in Ontario.
The median income is the second highest in the city at $32 000 per person but the poverty rate at 11% is also the second highest. 11% of seniors live in poverty and 9% of children. As a service club, this kind of data can be used to help the club in its long range planning for local community service.
After all the statistics Russ reminded everyone that Dundas has a proud heritage, coming into existence in 1787 and then incorporating in July 1847. Dundasians love to get together as evidenced by such events as Buskerfest, the Cactus Festival and the Winter Carnival. This coming Canada Day Russ knows of at least 17 street parties that are planned.
Russ closed by reminding us that we are a community that cares for and looks out for each other.
Joe and Anne Guedes once again provided their home for our end of year BBQ. Mary-Lou Emmett coordinated the event and the weather gods shone upon us. Around 50 members and guests enjoyed great fellowship, food and refreshments. Thanks to Roger and Maggie for the food and drinks; Joanne for the great martinis; Ralph for the tents; and to all the helpers who picked up the tables and chairs, did set up, take down and clean up.
President Shirley thanked Joe Guedes, Bob Morrow, Bruce Eccles, Ralph Montesanto, Paul Clifford, Roger Stewart and David Carson for their efforts over the past year and expressed her thanks to the club for helping make this a great Rotary year.
Incoming District Governor Rick Sterne and incoming District Governor Elect Kevin Crouse and his wife Becky helped the club celebrate a successful year.
Have a look at the BBQ Photo Album on our home page to recall the great social event or to see what you missed.
Gordon Neufeld, owner of Direct Outcomes, helped us understand the KOLBE Index and how it can help individuals and teams work to a higher potential. The premise is that we have an instinctive style of action that is inborn. Our task is to identify where our strengths lie within the four categories of instinct and to use them to the maximum. The categories are: Quick Start, Fact Finder, Implementor and Follow Thru.
Quick Starts are risk takers and entrepreneurs who jump right in to trial and error. Fact Finders read, watch, question and learn before making a decision. The Implementor likes the concrete hands on approach while the Follow Thru individual is more of a systems analyst type who plans out everything.
Gordon suggests everyone should know their instinctive styles and play to their strengths. When putting together an organization or team, be sure to team up with others who are unlike yourself. That way all four categories of talent are in the package.
The KOLBE Index can also help youth as they think about careers and the appropriate education. Interested individuals can go to Kolbe.com for more information and for a fee of $50 can take the test online to determine their Kolbe Index result.
KOLBE - Using One's Inborn Instinctive Style of Action
Shirley Molloy, Director of Community and Family Services for the Dundas area was this morning's speaker. Shirley's territory includes Hamilton west of Highway 403, Dundas, Ancaster, Waterdown and Flamborough. Shirley started by reminding us that one quarter of all shelter beds in Canada are provided by the Salvation Army. In the Hamilton area, shelter beds are only part of the support services the Army provides.
The Army has two food banks in the area with the Dundas food bank serving over 5000 visitors last year up from 2700 in 2007. Some of the other programs offered in Dundas are: Cafe 55 for seniors, Home With a Heart that works to manage a home and restore family relations, Backpacks for Kids that gives supplies to students, Christmas Hampers that helped 400 families last year, Red Cap Management for children with anger issues, emergency food, The Roots Youth Centre, and zumba and yoga classes. The Ellen Osler Home, a halfway house for incarcerated women, is also in Dundas.
Other programs in the broader Hamilton area include teen pregnancy support at Grace Haven, a men's shelter at the Booth Centre, correctional services counselling for inmates and families, suicide prevention and a family tracing service. The Lawson Ministries, a residential and day program for developmentally challenged individuals and the Mountberry Adult Day program which provides respite care for alzheimer's patients are two other services. The Army also provides emergency disaster assistance and the Hamilton team is presently in Thunder Bay and Kirkland Lake dealing with flooding and fires respectively.
Besides looking after the local Salvation Army office in Dundas, Shirley is also the president of our Rotary club.
Ross Bannatyne, Chair of Community Services, presented Ashley Greenwood with $1000 to help support the Roots Youth Centre. The club is a regular supporter of Roots and appreciates the work it does with youth from the community.
Donna Stevenson, owner of Boomer Match to Business, worries that businesses, professions and service organizations will lose much of their expertise within 8 to 10 years as 50% of the boomers retire. To offset this loss, she has 25 boomer experts in her company who help organizations meet this challenge.
There are four major influences affecting the work force. They are 4 generations in the work force; over 40% of senior positions are held by boomers; generations X and Y have different views on work and different ways to communicate; and, studies have shown that less than 25% of businesses and organizations have succession plans.
By 2020 Generation Y will be 50% of the workforce and they are young and inexperienced. Her solution is to hold boomer leaders accountable for developing future leaders following a number of best practices. They need to set up cross functional teams, define the composition of their current workforce, develop a plan for attracting and retaining leaders, research "next" practices, and define leadership values.
Once the demographic makeup of the organization is reviewed potential future leaders need to be identified and an assessment made of current boomer leaders who will make the best coaches/mentors for the emerging leaders.
As part of the continued dialogue on club renewal and improvement, this morning's meeting was a club assembly. A draft of the strategic goals and objectives for the next five years as well as vision and mission statements were vetted with members. The three major areas of focus for 2012 - 2017 will be the club, the local community and the global community.
Ken Beel, spokesperson for the group commenting on the local community offers suggestions to the educational and vocational, and, health and wellness goals.
Chris Montgomery brought one of Room To Go's portable toilets to his classification talk so that folks like Carl Fraser could see that these are pretty upscale facilities.
Randy Abel, Chris' sponsor into the club introduced him as a longtime friend. Chris grew up in Dundas and graduated from Highland Secondary School. Chris loves sports and oversees the Dundas Men's Slow Pitch League.
Upon leaving high school Chris was hired into a portable toilet rental business. Not the plastic type but the kind that celebrities and dignitaries would expect if they were throwing a party. Chris is now a partner in, "Room To Go". And go the business has! Over the last 15 years it has gone from 20 portable units to well over 200 with several units costing in excess of $80 000 to manufacture. It is nothing for the company to use a crane to lift a massive unit over a house and place it in a back yard for a huge wedding celebration.
Chris gave some interesting facts about his units. He buys the completed units or retrofits just the shells from a company in Texas. The construction market is his largest client base although weddings and galas are substantial. At a wedding he also supplies two service folks dressed in fine clothes to ensure the facilities are always clean. Oh, by the way, the law says if the waste is made in a particular region it must be disposed of in that region's sewage plant.
Room To Go ships from Windsor to Sudbury to Kingston and even set up at Deerhurst for the G20 Summit of world leaders.
Chris Montgomery Tells Us About Himself and His Occupation
Heather Almas from Rockton hands David Matchett her old digital camera and telephone. Electronic waste recycling is one of the environmental issues the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise has taken on this year.
Integra Document Destruction Inc. once again donated a truck and operator to help the club in this fundraiser and service opportunity. Thank you to owners Adam Johnston and Shawn Shapton. A total of $1986 was collected during the 4 hours of operation. With only $67.80 in expenses for posters the event raised $1918.20. Many folks asked if we could run a similar day in the fall as they found it a great service. Adam Johnston, one of the owners, was receptive to the idea. During the event, the community learned more about the work of Rotary to eliminate polio worldwide and many gave significantly more than the $5 per box. This year we raised the same amount of money as last year but in just one day rather than the two days last year.
The e-waste collection was successful for its first effort. GreenTec provided the container and shipping. The large shipping container was filled one row high. All items will be recycled with nothing going to landfill. The club will receive $0.05 per pound for these materials. Other electronics like cell phones, cameras, ink cartridges and laptops were collected separately and are paid at a significantly higher rate. The club should realize between $300 and $500 for the e-waste diversion program. Thank you to David Matchett for leading the way.
Thank you to Bruce and Scott Eccles who let us use their lot and signs. Thanks also to the following club members who gave up a Saturday morning:
Jan Southall, Peter Davis, Bob Morrow, Kathy Starodub, Dave Carson, Andy Coburn, Glen Mumberson, Derek Price, Russ Powers, Ross Bannatyne, Bob Bell, Shirley Molloy, Barry Stoltz, Bruce Eccles and David Matchett.
Today we visited The new Good Shepard buildings on Pearl St. in Hamilton. Thanks to Sharon for organizing this.
We were welcomed by Brother Richard and given a lavish breakfast. He introduced to all the sparkling new facilities and told us stories about some of the past experiences of supporting people in need.
Martha’s House is a 40 unit shelter for women who have experienced domestic violence; it has a unique style based on their prior experience - residents are provided their own family unit so that they can focus on solving their particular crisis and avoid conflict situations that come from shared facilities. Residents stay on average 6 weeks until they can be moved to second stage housing, which are apartments in various locations across the City. They are provided with counselling, children's programs and supported employment programs while in the centre.
Mary’s Place
Mary’s Place is a 20-bed shelter for women 18 years of age or older in need of safety, support and/or emergency shelter. The staff of Mary’s Place support women in coping with such diverse issues as homelessness, poverty, mental illness and violence.
Seniors and Affordable Housing
We then toured the two new housing facilities, a seniors centre, and a rent geared to income apartments. The seniors centre is currently being occupied and will shortly have an extensive medial support centre developed within the building, with doctors, nurses and specialized care for needs such as diabetes. The affordable housing has 1 and 2 bedroom units and is based on residents paying a rent geared to income that equates to 80% of market rates.
All the units are brand new and fully equipped. For seniors, special care has been taken with accessible bathrooms and other facilities.
After the tour Brother Richard gave us a brief summary of the costs involved'; all levels of government have been involved in providing the >$51M of capital funding but there is still a shortfall of around $3M to be raised. Operating costs of around $13M a year are only covered in part by government funding; around one third must be raised through fundraising. Keith Rutherford of their development Office distributed information on the ways in which bequests and donations can be made to Good Shepard to assist in this.
Finally there was a prize draw; Bruce Eccles was the lucky winner of a knapsack while Fred Amalfi won some fine looking wine.
We all left very impressed with the scope and quality of the services being provided at this new location of Good Shepard.
Gold Sponsor: $5,000 to $14,999
Benefits include major logo recognition on:
Festival bookmark – over 120,000
produced (April 30 deadline)
Festival website throughout the year (starting
mid‐May)
Festival poster– (July 16 deadline with
distribution in early August)
Festival program (July 30 deadline with
distribution at festival)
Festival insert (c. 225,000 through Hamilton Spectator
and Hamilton Community News)
Signage at the Village gates and VIP tent
Plus optional 10x10 exhibitor space (value $400)
Optional preferred advertising rates with The
Hamilton Spectator for festival insert –
circulation 120,000 and distributed for free at the
event.
Silver Sponsor: $2,000 to $4,999
(In‐kind contributions qualify)
Benefits include logo recognition on:
Festival bookmark – over 120,000
produced (April 30 deadline)
Festival website throughout the year (starting
mid‐May)
Festival poster– (July 16 deadline with distribution
early August)
Festival program (July 30 deadline with
distribution at festival)
Festival insert (c. 225,000 through Hamilton Spectator
and Hamilton Community News)
Signage at the Village gates and VIP tent
Optional preferred advertising rates with The Hamilton
Spectator for festival insert – circulation
120,000 and distributed for free at the event.
Bronze Sponsor: $1,000 - $1,999
Benefits include name recognition on:
Festival website
Festival program (July 30 deadline with
distribution at festival)
Festival insert (c. 225,000 through Hamilton Spectator
and Hamilton Community News)
Signage at Village gates & VIP tent
Optional preferred advertising rates with The
Hamilton Spectator for festival insert –
circulation 120,000 and distributed for free at the
event.
Advertise in the Telling Tales program:
Program is 8 .5 x 11, full‐colour, 32 pages, print run 2,000
Deadline to book – July 16—Book Early, space is limited!
Deadline for ad in print ready format ‐ July 30
Options Available:
Outside back cover ‐ $2,500
Inside front cover ‐ $1,750
Inside back cover ‐ $1,500
Full page ‐ $1,000
Half page ‐ $650
Quarter page ‐ $350
Business card size (8 per page) ‐ $200
Exhibitor opportunities:
Take a 10’x 10’ plot of land for $500 and
promote your business .
Bring your own table, chairs and tent or rent from
designated rental company .
Early bird price of $400 for space booked and paid
for before May 30 .
Book early – space is limited!
Optional preferred advertising rates with The
Hamilton Spectator for festival insert –
circulation 120,000 and distributed for free at the
event.
Telling Tales Sponsorship Opportunities
There are also opportunities for Platinum Sponsors ($15,000+) or Literacy ($350—$999).
Please e‐mail us at support@tellingtales.org with your pledge today. An invoice will be sent upon request.
All curious enquiries welcome.
Cheques should be made payable to: Rotary Club of Hamilton Sunset/Telling Tales—Charitable No. 87239‐9761 RR0001
About the Telling Tales Festival
Our Mission is to build a national festival that promotes children’s stories, music and a love of reading, while
raising awareness and support for literacy in our community.
• The fourth annual Telling Tales Festival will take place on Sunday, September 16, 2012, at the very picturesque
and historic Westfield Heritage Village in Rockton, Ontario. The Festival features more than 20 of Canada’s
leading children’s authors, illustrators, storytellers and musicians. Aside from the opportunity to meet these
stellar presenters, get their autographs, and chat with costumed literary and history characters that roam the
village throughout the day, Festival attractions include a Giant Book Swap, Children’s Activity Centre, contests,
prizes, and more
• We conservatively estimate that 7,000 children and their families will visit this year (up from 6,000 in 2011)
• Both the Hamilton public and Catholic school boards are committed to boosting attendance by offering free
transportation and lunch to our visitors from high priority schools. Once again we expect to be able to give
over 1,000 of these special guests a wonderfully unique and memorable family experience
• Telling Tales is an award winner! The Festival Won the 2010 Tourism Hamilton Award of Excellence for
Medium Festival of the Year, was named Recipient of a Rotary International Zone Award for a project that
“builds community and bridges continents” and is Nominated for an FEO Top 100 Festivals of Ontario 2011
Award
• Our marketing message reaches families from across Hamilton and the surrounding regions of Brantford,
Burlington, Oakville, Milton, Kitchener, Cambridge, Guelph, and London
• From May through mid-September our marketing campaign reaches out to the Hamilton community and
beyond to capture over 1,500,000 people. Our campaign is supported by our media partners – CHML/Y108,
CHCH and The Hamilton Spectator – and an extremely strong network of community partners and
supporters that include Hamilton Conservation Authority, Tourism Hamilton, Canadian Children’s Book
Centre (a national organization), local school boards, Hillfield-Strathallan College, daycares, community
centres, YMCA of Hamilton, Burlington, Brantford, Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, local
businesses and over 10 local Rotary clubs
• Every aspect of our marketing campaign (including our fast-growing Facebook page, Twitter feed and You Tube
site) is designed to drive people to our popular website www.tellingtales.org (3,000 unique visitors last
September)
• Telling Tales is the true story of a whole community working together to raise readers.
• We invite you to join us! Our full package of sponsor options and benefits is available now…
Our Guest speaker this morning was the Hamilton Spectator columnist Jeff Mahoney.
Jeff spoke of the changing nature of newspapers, due largely to the influence of social media and the internet.
He discussed the challenges all newspapers face with the disconnect between the printed page and internet websites. Of all the students that Jeff currently teaches, virtually none of them read the printed newspaper but rely on the internet for their source of information.
Advertising revenue, the life blood of newspapers, continues to be the major source of income for newspapers, however the advertising done on the internet does not generate any revenue.
The cost of producing a larger newspaper increases the cost, while the space of the internet is of course unlimited.
Jeff said that Hamilton is going through change, just like the newspaper business. He is a firm believer that words allow people to see pain, joy and look into the future.
Our world will always need words, no matter what form they might turn into. IMHO
The written word is still powerful, opens our eyes and can change people.
Dr Don Wells from McMaster spoke on Living Wages, Better Jobs, Economies, Families and Communities. The idea of a Living Wage is being promoted in Hamilton by McMaster Community Poverty Initiative, the Hamilton Round Table on Poverty Reduction, The Hamilton Community Foundation, Social Planning Research Council and Workplace Planning Hamilton.
There is a perception that we are returning to the “dirty 30’s” in terms of the degree of income inequality. A living wage is targeted at working people who are below the poverty line and is based on local costs for food, rent, transportation and prescriptions. It does not cover things like saving for retirement, pets, holidays etc. In Hamilton there are approximately 30,000 working poor, 50% of whom have children. Calculations suggest that a living wage is $14.95/hr compared to the current minimum wage of $10.25/hr. These calculations can be seen at www.livingwagehamilton.ca
We heard about the barriers to a living wage, experience in US and UK and some of the benefits to business and the community.
Barriers include existing contracts and the need to maintain pay differentials. US experience has 140 municipalities adopting this concept and none then abandoning it. If Hamilton were to adopt it, we would be the first large City in Canada. Benefits to employers include less turnover, absenteeism, recruitment and training costs and a perceived improvement in corporate social responsibility. Communities benefit through the economic multiplier effect as people spend their extra pay, there are fewer stressed two job parents who cannot care for their kids and fewer kids grow up suffering inherited job insecurity and health problems. There is less need for food banks, lower healthcare costs, a more vibrant econmomy and a better investment environment.
Hamilton has consultations underway and City staff are research the costs to the City. In recognition of paying a living wage, companies can be accredited silver (full time employees covered) , gold (plus part time employees) and platinum (plus contract employees). We are asked to learn more, visit the website and if discussion required to contact Tom Cooper, Director of the Round Table.
Today's guest speaker was Keith Rutherford. Keith has had a long career in the financial world and had generously given much of his time to volunteer activities in the Hamilton Area. He has recently joined Good Shepherd in the Major Gift and Planned Giving role and is a member of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners.
The Good Shepherd began a men's shelter in Hamilton in 1961. The mission of Good Shepherd is to help those less fortunate, to build them up and to help them establish a new outlook on life. The Good Shepherd is now in five countries around the world and is the largest social agency in Hamilton. There are currently 2,500 volunteers and 400 support staff to run the agency. Keith reminded us that 90 cents of each dollar donated goes to programs and services.
The mission of the Good Shepherd is to strive to enhance the lives of others, to reach out to meet their needs. It serves 325 hot meals a day, six days a week. The services provided those in need are remarkable in nature and scope.
The Family Support Centre houses 20 homeless families, providing schooling, housing, medical help, counselling and cultural interpretation services.
The Youth Service Branch assists 700 street youth a year, helping them to find shelter, providing education, life skills and a safe place to come. The goal with youth in crisis is to get them back into their own homes within 24 to 48 hours whenever possible.
Good Shepherd Square is a centre for women and seniors. As well as providing affordable housing, the Square attempts to create a supportive community that strives to support and encourage all those living there.
In conclusion, Keith informed us that the creation of a Legacy from individual donations allows those who are donating the chance to enrich peoples lives and to contribute in a meaningful way to creating a better future for all.
Today's speaker was Mike Nickerson who presented some of his ideas contained in his new book, Life, Money and Illusion.
His premise is that the Human Species has now filled its habitat; that our forests, fossil fuels and environment are currently stretched to the limit. Mike stated that he believed that Life is not hard to maintain and that we should be able to live on earth as long as the sun is a viable star.
We must gain satisfaction in our lives so that our need to draw on material things is reduced. We must deal with our materialism and begin to manage our use of materials in cycles again. He posed the question, how do we make this change happen? It is time for us to take on this responsibility.
Mike discussed how he felt that we must integrate a new value system, one that allows us to live lightly and manage our material world in order to respect our children and grandchildren.
A great transformation must take place soon. Live lightly, enjoy life and manage our resources.
Today’s speaker was John Chehade of the Concussion Management Program. John was a middle line backer at University of Waterloo and at Western. He introduced his talk by showing clips of him getting concussed in a Mustang’s game. Sport Canada estimate that of every 17 players 1.5 will get a concussion at some time. As a result of growing awareness a program of testing (neurocognitive baseline testing) has been introduced and is gradually becoming mandatory (in the US all but 7 states have some form of mandated or even legislated testing). John described how a standard – the Zurich 2008 Consensus – had been established.
While 80% of concussions have their symptoms resolved in 7-10 days, without proper understanding of the signs and symptoms, people can return to activity too soon. This results in a much heightened sensitivity to future concussions. Players under the age of 18 have a developing brain and much more caution should be exercised with their concussions. It is hard to tell between usual kid behaviour and real concussion. The “return to play” decision should only be made by a qualified physician. The physician’s work is made easier by having results of baseline (before) and after concussion test results.
John’s organization has testing programs available and he finished his talk by generously donating $2,500 worth of testing time to Dundas organizations to be selected by Rotary.
Glen Whitwell, member of the Bay Area Science and Engineering Fair (BASEF), introduced our speaker, George Geizy, head judge of BASEF.
The majority of participants are in Grades 7 and 8. While the projects are incredible, it is the students themselves that are truly inspiring due to their enthusiasm. This regional science fair is non-profit, for grades 7 to 12, and encompasses the surrounding regions of Hamilton, Halton, Brant, Haldimand, and Norfolk. BASEF is 100% volunteer run.
BASEF began in 1961 and was founded by the Junior CC, the Hamilton Spectator and McMaster University. Its mission is to encourage and reward interest in science, engineering and technology; this is achieved by promoting science and technology to youth.
Winners from this fair are eligible to attend the yearly Canadian science fair and International Fairs as well. Other benefits for students include career promotion, building self confidence, and mentorship initiatives are available. There also is a partnership with the round table for Poverty reduction, in which at risk students are matched with post secondary mentors. There are many success stories, for example, Eva Vertes, Natalie Raso, Kayla Cornale, and Ben Gulak.
This year a record number of 330 projects and 470 students have been registered. There is $140,000 in prizes this year. The fair is March 28 to 31 at Mohawk College; public viewing is on the 31st from 9am to noon.
There are many opportunities to be involved. You can promote the contest, you can participate as a judge or other volunteer, and you can consider financial sponsorship.
Our visiting speaker was Alan Griffiths, from Mohawk College’s Sustainability Office. Alan described the work involved in preparing Mohawk’s Environment Plan and how plan development involved all the stakeholders and the local community. The goal of the plan is for the College to reduce carbon emissions by 20% over 2007 levels by 2020. It prepares Mohawk to be a community leader in environmental stewardship and enables reductions in energy costs which can be re-invested in student programs. (You can read the complete plan at http://www.mohawkcollege.ca/Assets/Environmental-Sustainability/Mohawk+College+EMP.pdf )
Alan described how the most important part was to develop a sustainability CULTURE on campus and see how involving both students and staff enables a culture change. Alan described the process of developing the plan through a year of consultations which resulted in Board of Governors approval in November 2011. He is now establishing the sustainability office and budget to meet the plan, which has eight “pillars” and subsequent actions. These pillars are
- Waste management and paper conservation
- Facility operations and future buildings
- Procurement
- Local Food, Health and Wellness
- Transportation and vehicle emissions
- Alternative energy
- Tracking, reporting and communications
- Change management
Alan was happy to report that the plan was already showing benefits, with several accomplishments since it was launched in activities such as car pooling, bike sharing, and electronic waste collection.
Bill Armstrong presented a cheque for $400 to Scott Vance of the Dundas Figure Skating Club. The club has been in existence for almost 60 years and presently serves around 300 skaters, some as young as three years old. The figure skating club performed at the Rotary Rink on Family Day to help the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club celebrate its Winter Carnival.
Club member Bob Morrow gave an informative presentation of a recent trip to South America and Antarctica. His trip started in the little fishing village of Horcon, Chile where horses pulled fishing boats in and out of the Pacific Ocean. After boarding a ship in the nearby port of Valparaiso he set sail along the Chilean coast to Punta Arenas before crossing the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula. After four days of cruising the area the ship made its way to the Falkland Islands and then Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Bob showed spectacular photos of the icy landscape of Antarctica, its mountains, glaciers and icebergs. Some of the icebergs were as large as the town of Dundas! He talked about penguins, seals and sea lions and had a variety of photos that brought the talk to life. His favourite is the rockhopper penguin.
He closed the presentation stating that the continent is claimed by many countries that adhere to the Antarctica Treaty. Issues include global warming, depletion of ice sheets, reduction of the krill population (food for penguins and other sea animals), the ozone hole, pollution and shipping.
Michael Dickson from the Dundas Little League was presented with a $300 cheque by Community Services Director Ross Bannatyne. The Rotary club offers financial support to the league each year to help the 300 youth who play organized baseball.
Michael Shea, Chair of the Local Health Integration Network, introduced Donna Cripps the CEO who gave an overview of the LHIN. The Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant LHIN is one of 14 in the province. It covers 6600sq. km and serves 1.4 million residents. It has the oldest population of the 14 LHINs and some of the sickest individuals. Its function is to plan, fund and integrate health care while always considering the experience of the patient progressing through the various service providers.
With 10 hospital corporations, 86 long-term care facilities and 138 other health care providers the LHIN manages a $2.6 billion dollar budget of which $5 million goes to administration costs. Its nine member board of directors is appointed from the local population by an Order in Council.
The key principles under which it operates are local decision making, a coordinated approach to health care management, a reduction in duplication, improved access and public accountability and transparency. Thirty-three FTE employees replaced the 80 that ran the previous organizations and operates through an agreement with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and, formal agreements with each of the health care agencies within its jurisdiction.
The Access-Restore Program, Rapid Access Clinics, Alternate Level of Care, and Community Referral by Emergency Medical Services are just several ways LHINs are working to reduce health care costs while improving patient service.
Members suggested several ways to further improve patient care and Donna agreed the suggestions were positive and would be considered.
A beautiful and sunny Family Day drew a large crowd to the Rotary Rink at the Dundas Driving Park. Carl Fraser and his team of Mary-Lou Emmett, Kathy Starodub, Roger Stewart and Bill Armstrong planned a great afternoon of family fun. Horse drawn wagon rides, free apple cider and head bands, several bands and a figure skating show by the Dundas Figure Skating Club added to the enjoyment of skating on a warm day. The free use of skates supplied by Carl and managed at the Pond eatery by Roger were appreciated by novice skaters. Robear, the Rotary Rink mascot, a.k.a. Brandon Lesyk (Bill's grandson) entertained young and old.
Arcelormittal Dofasco will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in Hamilton on September 27, 2012 and Tom Vert the GM Primary Manufacturing spoke about what it takes for a company to stay in business for 100 years. He started by informing us that only 0.2% of companies ever make it to 100. Dofasco or its predecessors was purchased by Arcelor and then by Arcelormittall and is now part of the largest steel making organization in the world. The Hamilton plant produces four million tons of steel a year and one in four new cars in the world are made with its steel.
Tom talked about the characteristics required for a company to stay in business for 100 years. It must be flexible, people focused, willing to take risks to adapt to external forces and look to the long term. The motto here in Hamilton is "Our Product is Steel, Our Strength is People" and this has served the company well. It does not rest when it comes to innovation and is always looking for new and better products. Recently it was able to lower the overall weight of a car by 14% and still keep it strong. This led to a direct saving in fuel efficiency for vehicles. Environmentally, the company looks to improve water and air quality on an ongoing bases and is the largest recycler of scrap steel in Canada, processing over one million tons per year.
There are 6000 employees in the Hamilton plant who have profit sharing for their retirement, a recreation centre on the Hamilton Mountain and an annual Christmas party and summer BBQ that attract over 15 000.
The company is a great supporter of community. It contributed $7500 to the Rotary District Conference in 2008 and supports the Roots Centre through a $5000 contribution, two things that are close to this club.
Tom Vert General Manager Primary Manufacturing Arcelormittal Dofasco
Thank you to Kathy Starodub, New Generations Director, for inviting Highland Secondary School business students to visit the club this morning. We welcomed Hayley Nicklin, Jacob Tigchelaar, and Claire McClung to share breakfast and fellowship and get a taste of what Rotary is about. Tom Vert, General Manager Primary Manufacturing for Arcelormittal Dofasco was guest speaker. The club is interested in establishing an Interact Club at Highland. The students joined Tom and President Shirley Molloy as they viewed an historical copy of Dofasco Illustrated News
Be at the Dundas Driving Park on the afternoon of February 20 to help celebrate Family Day. The club will hold a winter carnival from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at the Rotary Rink. We plan to have Steve Parton and the Relics for music, horse rides around the park and a figure skating display. There will be hot cider and Robear will make an appearance. Plan to be there!
Today's meeting was a club assembly dedicated to the club's efforts to build a long range plan. We called the process, "Dialogue for Club Renewal and Improvement". We reviewed the questionnaire distributed back in October and the introductory visioning session held at St. Joseph's Villa in November. Following that we broke into groups, examined each section of the questionnaire, prioritized the questions in those sections, selected the most important and listed ways to improve that choice for our club. The results were reported and collated for distribution to all club members.
Thanks to Sharon Lacey, Director of Vocational Services, we were able to meet at the McMaster Innovation Park at 175 Longwood Road in Hamilton. Ruth Liebersbach, CFO at MIP was our host and guide. After an elegant breakfast of fruit, danishes, smoked salmon and boiled eggs, Ruth outlined the purpose of the MIP. She introduced it in three words: connect, collaborate, commercialize. The intent is to help market businesses, help develop ideas and financing links and help give technological grads a place to incubate their ideas. By having a variety of advanced manufacturing and bio sciences located on the same site it becomes easier to build synergies among the various players.
After her brief introduction, Ruth took the 33 Rotarians in attendance on a walking tour of the administrative building. We saw labs, meeting rooms and a variety of business enterprises. The facility also has a large gym that is available 24 h a day for both the people who work in the building as well as anyone else who would like to become members. She also took us to the heat exchange room where deep wells beneath the building provide the heating and cooling for several facilities within the complex. Once the complex is fully developed it will contain a hotel as well as multiple buildings like the Ontario Centre for Excellence, the automotive/hybrid engine plant and the mini steel mill.
Rotary Youth Exchange student Nico Papp returned home to Alta Gracia, Argentina on January 6 and settled in to his usual routine. Nineteen days later he and his mother Dina met Ralph and Barb Montesanto, Nico's last host family, at Cordoba Airport in Argentina. The Montesantos had just completed an Antarctic cruise that disembarked in Buenos Aires and felt that it was the perfect opportunity to visit Nico and his family.
After taking a walking tour of some Cordoba highlights they drove to Alta Gracia about 45 minutes away where they were hosted by Nico's mother, father and brother. Nico had told us all at the club of the big meat BBQs his dad cooked up and sure enough his dad Estaphan made a fabulous BBQ of sausage and short ribs. Our tours of Alta Gracia included the Jesuit ranch, the Che Guevera Museum, a holy site dedicated to the Lady of Lourdes and local parks and golf courses. Back at the house we lounged away a sunny afternoon in their back yard swimming pool. After a two day visit we headed back to Cordoba Airport for the trip home. Although we were the ones able to visit the Papp family they wanted to mention their thanks to the Neibert and Reid families who also were Nico's hosts.
Being able to visit Nico and his family was a real twist on the youth exchange experience.
There was a full house at the Carnegie Gallery in Dundas as the club held its annual Christmas party. Maggie put together a great spread of foods that repeatedly drew guests to the table. A trio of Mohawk College students provided background music and accompanied the Rotary singers in the Christmas carol sing along. For many club members it was their last opportunity to say goodbye to Nico Papp, Rotary Youth Exchange student from Argentina. Sharon Lacey is shown with Nico signing the keepsake photo album designed and edited by Robert Morrow.
Over the past year, Nico Papp our Youth Exchange student from Argentina has attended almost every morning meeting but this morning he was not just welcomed but was the centre of attention. Today was his last morning meeting before returning home to Alta Gracia in Argentina and he was the speaker and most honoured guest.
In a very well organized talk he started by thanking the club, his host families, the schools he attended, the entire district youth exchange group and then the club and its members. He said he has great memories that will last him the rest of his life and that he is thankful that families who did not even know him before he came to Dundas would open their homes and care for him so much.
His power point presentation had photos of each of his host families - the Neiberts, the Montesantos and the Reids and some of the activities they shared. Eating dinner twice a day was a new experience for him at first. Back home he ate at 10:00 p.m. so when eating at 6:00 he was ready again before bed. He spoke highly of all his host parents and their families, enjoying Florida and the cottage, down hill and water skiing, live entertainment and challenging games like ping pong, crokonole and golf. He enjoyed his host brothers and sister and will really miss them. He also liked the philosophical discussions he had and the way his host parents would drive him places so that he could meet with other friends he had made.
And he did make many new friends. Some through his stay at Hillfield Strathallan College and others at Highland Secondary School; and, of course there were the other district youth exchange students that he met with as part of the district youth exchange program. These were very important bonding and socializing times for him. He can now say that he has free hotel rooms in 35 countries.
After Nico finished his presentation, each of his host families spoke a few minutes about their experiences with Nico and reinforced how positive the experience had been for their families and how important it was for the club to continue in the program.
Nico was given two presentations. The first came from his football coach at Highland where Nico played on the school team that won its first championship in over 25 years. Michael Samson gave Nico a football signed by the entire team. The second was a personalized book of Nico's stay with the club prepared just for him by Robert Morrow.
Kathy Starodub, the club representative to Telling Tales, was on hand for the December 8 presentation of $14 000 from the Telling Tales Literacy Fund to support three causes. The Fund awarded $14 000 to a new Books for Babies Initiative, to a free Rotary Summer Literacy Camp that allows 250 more students to attend, and to the Hamilton Literacy Council. Here, Kathy proudly hands over $5000.
Longtime Rotarian Paul Clifford reminded us of the upcoming anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. He started by asking how many in the audience had visited the memorial and there were several who had. Paul then spoke of the lead up to the attack and its aftermath.
As WWII raged on, the USA took a non-interventionist approach. They knew Japan was involved in China but felt safe from Japanese attack. As early as April 1941 the US was warned by its ambassador that his Peruvian contacts indicated Japan would attack Pearl Harbour. The US did not take this warning seriously and combined with poor communications among various departments and the lack of Japanese language translators who understood the nuances of the language failed to act on the intelligence. At 7:30 a.m. on December 7 six Japanese carriers, 300 planes and a number of heavy cruiser support ships surprised the US navy, sinking or destroying many ships and aircraft. At about the same time, the Japanese invaded the Philippines, the Malaysian Peninsula and a number of Dutch possessions in the south Pacific.
This was an abrupt wake up call for the USA and its non-interventionist policy. As bad as things were, many of the ships attacked were moored so that they could be salvaged and repaired; and, the carrier fleet was at sea doing training operations and was spared the surprise attack. Six months later at the Battle of Midway the US destroyed many of the Japanese carriers that took part in the raid.
To date there have been five commissions of inquiry trying to determine how the surprise attack happened and who to blame. Paul indicated that the attack on Pearl Harbour is one of the most often written about topics.
Mark Draak, owner of Wide Eyed Communications in Dundas and promoter of Treasure Venture is the club's newest member. President Shirley Molloy and Bill Armstrong along with sponsor Ralph Montesanto and the entire club took part in the induction ceremony. As is the club custom, once Mark was given his Rotary pin and club name badge he shook hands with all in attendance. Mark's classification is advertising. Mark will be the program speaker at a future club meeting when he gives his classification talk.
There were plenty of guests this morning with spouses, partners, co-workers, youth exchange student Nico, our two Rotarians to be and McMaster Rotaractors in attendance. We laughed and talked and had a great time. Bruce Eccles worked his magic on the audience and was helped by David Lowery, Paul Clifford and Ken Beel. Their combined efforts raised $5317 from the auction plus another $1683 in cash donations for a grand total of $7000. Thank you to everyone who donated items for the auction and thank you to all the buyers. All of the money raised goes to St. Matthew's House.
Our St. Matthew's House auction saw a full house this morning as many partners and guests of club members joined in this annual fundraiser. Before auctioneer Bruce began pulling money from our pockets, Director of Community Services Ross Bannatyne presented a cheque for $500 to Bill Gregory from the Diabetes Society. Bill has spoken to the club previously and welcomed the club donation to assist the society help over 400 children with diabetes enjoy summer camp.
The 8th Annual Rotary Stars took place on Saturday November 26 at St. James Anglican Church in Dundas. The evening begin with a pre show social followed by performances by local youth and young adults. Rebecca Hammon, Stephanie Eccles and Stacey Bishop sang several songs together. Jeremy Guther sang, played piano and guitar and did an inspiring rendition of Hallelujah. Sophie Koegler and Olivia Koegler performed Beyonce and Aguilera songs. Ross Colborne played classical guitar and Andy Reid sang, I'll be Here". Daniel and Joe Allain played guitar and violin and young Jake Sims sang pieces from Billy Elliot and Les Miserables. The first half of the evening ended with Arthur Kapron captivating everyone with the piano sonato, "Tempest".
Following an intermission of cupcakes from Sweetness Bakery and cheeses from Metro the second half of the program began. Pianist Lynda Garner accompanied vocalists Alyssa Giammaria, Emily Hampson, Jessica Clement, Rachel Romanoski, Preston Vandramin and Venessa Girard (photo shown). These young adults all act and sing in a variety of professional stage performances. They, like all the other entertainers, donated their time and talents to make Rotary Stars a successful venue to showcase youth talent and a significant fundraiser for the Rotary club's many charitable endevours.
Thank you to Bruce Eccles and George Gould for being EmCees, to Rob Reid for lining up much of the talent, to Bill Armstrong for coordinating ticket sales, to Randy Abel for coordinating the refreshments, to Wayne Massey for putting together the program and to Art Samson for the wagon of wine. There are many others who helped out, preparing the food, organizing the seating in the church, serving at the bar, taking tickets and cleaning up. Thank you. Nothing can really be done well without your help behind the scenes.
Steve Miazga, CAO of the Hamilton Conservation Authority, spoke of the deer hunt in the Dundas Valley Conservation area and the relationship between the conservation authority and the Haudenosaunee of the First Nations. He talked about a deer management study completed in 2009 at Iroquoia Heights and the Dundas conservation area. The Ministry of Natural Resources suggest a deer population in Southern Ontario should be around 0.12 deer per hectare. Dundas Valley has 0.35 and Iroquoia Heights has 1.21. Both these numbers suggest a significant overpopulation of deer in each area.
A Deer Management committee between the conservation authority and the Haudenosaunee negotiated a general protocol in 2001 on how best to manage the First Nation treaty rights and the conservation authority's public safety issue regarding hunting. The protocol agreed to where to hunt, the time to hunt and the number of deer that could be taken. The hunt is underway at this time, having started on November 14 and finishing on December 21. The public has been advised that the hunt takes place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during this time period.
Steve spoke of the problems the authority is experiencing with individual's whose property borders on conservation land who insist on feeding deer. This just reinforces the population growth in the region because of the easy food supply. With over 500 deer in an area that should support around 200 the issue of damage to property and vehicles is ongoing. Steve also indicated he is working with the City of Hamilton to include wildlife linkages between open areas to allow for animals to move freely and safely between the various open spaces enclosed by development.
Deer Hunting in the Dundas Valley Conservation Area
Nick Markettos is an engineer and Assistant Vice President for Partnerships at McMaster University. He stated that McMaster is in the top three Canadian Universities for research dollars with almost $400 million in 2010. McMaster's goal is to form partnerships both locally and internationally to promote a culture of commercialization of research. Through an interdisciplinary approach the university is focusing on six major areas: The McMaster Auto Research Centre; Water Research; Sustainable Energy; Interactive Digital Media; Food, Activity and Health; and, Remote Care and Space Medicine.
Over the past few years the university has worked steadily to develop the McMaster Innovation Park on Longwood Road in West Hamilton. To date a number of building are completed and several others are in the pre-construction phase. The centre is a place for collaboration and application for research contracts and start up companies with commercialization and knowledge transfer being the primary outcomes.
McMaster is a leader in research, having the world's most powerful electron microscope, its own nuclear reactor and over $310 000 in research funding per faculty member.
At the end of the meeting Nick was asked if our club could visit the Innovation Centre and he welcomed the visit.
Today's program gave pause to reflect on Remembrance Day. Following a minute of silence Barbara Busing read John MacRae's poem, In Flanders Fields. Our guest speaker was club member Paul Clifford who spoke of Canada's contribution to WWII. At the start of the conflict Canada had a standing army of 4500 with around 40 000 in the militia/reserve forces. By the end of the war it had the third largest navy and an airforce of 40 squadrons. Paul spoke of Canada's army and its major efforts: Dieppe and Ortona, Italy and the significant human losses incurred during these campaigns.
Following Paul's talk, Ralph indicated he visited Ypres and Passchendaele and read, In Flanders Fields, at the grave site of the soldier said to be the inspiration for MacRae's poem. Although Ralph had read the poem many times for school Remembrance Day programs he indicated how difficult it was to read while standing in the cemetery at John MacRae Way surrounded by the history of Canada's fallen soldiers.
The Remembrance Day program closed with a request by Russ Powers to attend the November 11 ceremony at Memorial Square in Dundas and watch the parade work its way to the Cenotaph of the soldier statue at the Dundas Community Centre. He indicated that the ceremony is changing annually as the veterans of the world wars and Korea pass on and the veterans of more recent conflicts join the parade. He asked us to be there for the 10:30 AM start.
As is the usual club tradition when inducting a new member, the entire membership gathered in a circle with Chris Montgomery, President Shirley Molloy, sponsor Randy Abel and Ralph Montesanto filling in for Past President Bruce Eccles at the podium. The induction requires every member to reply as well as the sponsor and inductee as Shirley and Ralph read through a scripted program. Chris attended the new member orientation held earlier in October and is in the sanitation business. Welcome to the club Chris!
Bob Monroe, our area representative for The Rotary Foundation, was this morning's guest speaker. He stated that we are an exceptional club when it comes to The Rotary Foundation, supporting the Annual Programs Fund and PolioPlus both financially and through direct involvement in its programs. The club donated over $12 000 to the APF and over $2000 to PolioPlus. He then went on to present Wayne Massey with a Paul Harris Plus One Pin for his personal donations that reached the $2000 mark.
Bob explained that the new Future Vision program was coming to the Rotary world for the Rotary year 2013-14 and that clubs and districts need to be ready. Our club should start thinking now about a major project where we could use District Designated Funds. These funds could be used for both international or local projects provided they met one of the six focus areas that the foundation will support.
The six areas are peace and conflict prevention and resolution; disease prevention and treatment; water and sanitation; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; economic and community development.
Award winning investigative reporter and journalist of the year Steve Buist spoke about the series, "Code Red", which appeared in the Hamilton Spectator 18 months ago. Steve, along with data mapping expert Neil Johnson were able to gather over 400 000 pieces of data from Hamilton hospitals and examined the health information and death records in each of the city's 130 neighbourhoods. They found startling differences!
From the "best" neighbourhoods to the "worst" neighbourhoods the average age of death went from 86 years to 65.5 years. Similarly the number of emergency room visits went from 1291 per 1000 residents to 97 per 1000. High school drop out rate went from 267 per 1000 to 3 per 1000.
Best and worst were defined by socio-economic criteria and poorer neighbourhoods tended to be closer to hospitals. Individuals often are single parent, have poorer jobs, no vehicle, and no family doctor.
Steve closed with several observations. He indicated that the Ontario government tended to have plenty of money to fix health problems but very little to prevent problems from happening in the first place. For example, the government health plan would not cover anti-smoking medications to help get people off smoking, yet paid for a vast number of treatments once a person developed a smoking related problem. Similarly, only 15% of the cost of a school breakfast program is funded by the government, leaving the community school to find the rest, even though research shows that students who have a good breakfast are healthier, learn better and have better graduation results. Of course, breakfast programs are needed most in poorer communities.
The Code Red series is 18 months old but is still generating much interest as various groups try to understand how best to be of help.
Thank you so much for your kind words and support!
We visited the San Miguelito School on our recent trip (we are not yet home) and, despite the rain and mud, the school is nearing completion. The school looks great, and the support from the community is overwhelming.
We hope to have the school operational for the start of the school year Jan. 15, 2012. The community and the Rotary Club are working on the costing for the next phase which will include another classroom, washrooms, and a kitchen.
IXMUCANE, the Spanish NGO working in the area has offered 3 scholarships to students from this school. The scholarships provide room and board in Huehuetenango for students to attend middle school. IXMUCANE is also providing teacher training for the teachers of San Miguelito, and 2 representatives met with us at the school.
A more detailed report will follow once we get home and get our pictures sorted out.
Thanks again to you and the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise for your continued support on this great project.
San Miguelito School construction is well underway in the small mountainous village of Santa Euela, Huehuetenango in Northwestern Guatemala! Materials were delivered to as close to the site as possible, which was 120 metres from the storage shed. All the materials, including the sand and cement were hauled to the site by men & women in the community. Both men and women from the community are providing unskilled labour to help build the 5 new classrooms.
A woman hauls sand on her back to the site
The picture of students with their teacher shows the walls about half complete.The faculty and students are anxiously awaiting the completion of the school. There are approximately 120 students who attend this school, but if history repeats itself, there will be alot more students attending once this new school is built.
On August 31st more pictures of the school construction were received showing great progress! The school is nearly ready to receive the metal roofing! The Rotary Club of Huehuetenango and the Community of Santa Euela are anxiously awaiting the arrival of 7 Canadians who plan to visit in the fall. The visitors, members of the Rotary Clubs of Kenora and Watrous and 2 employees of CRCID will travel to Huehuetenango to meet with Rotarians, members of the school's parent council, municpal leaders and teachers.
Funding for construction for this school was provided by District 5550 Rotary Clubs of Gimli, Brandon, & Kenora, and District 7090 Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise as well as a grant from District 5550 World Community Service Foundation and matching funds from CRCID.
Ripple Effect is currently seeking funding for Phase 2, which will include a kitchen, washrooms, and furnishings for the 5 classrooms. If you or your club would like to help, please contact Gord LeMaistre at glemaistre1@hotmail.com or John Berringer at theberringers@kmts.ca
Rotary Clubs of Kenora, Gimli, Brandon and Dundas Valley Sunrise all contributed to the funding for this Ripple Effect project. The Kenora Road Race also donated, and a District 5550 World Community Service Grant was also secured. All these funds were matched with CRCID funding which brought the funds available to $58,000, enough to bring services to the site, level the property and construct the 5 new classrooms. Fundraising is on-going as washrooms, a kitchen, principal's office, library/computer lab, and playground are all required. Furnishings are also needed.
Miriam Cahn, a social worker with VON, spoke about the 20% of the population that are informal caregivers who provide 80% of the home care to family members. If their efforts were paid for, the cost would be 5 billion dollars. The most common caregiver is an adult child caring for a parent and is often caught in the sandwich, trying to work with his or her own children and parents.
Club member Ken read a job description for the position of caregiver that Miriam provided and it was clearly a position that no one would apply for because of the demanding nature of the work and the long hours. Mariam told us that the caregiver job is very stressful, especially for women. Those of us who are caregivers and those of us who know caregivers should watch for caregiver burn out. Help them feel appreciated and not alone; use the CCAC to provide day care, overnight or long term respite care; use meals on wheels and other services available in the community. She distributed a number of handout resources and reminded us that, "Martyrs have a good reputation but often live short lives."
The coach of the Dundas Dynamo Girls Basketball team and two team members joined the club for breakfast this morning. Anthony Cassano, Lily Cassano and Abbey Maillet were pleased that our club supported their team last year and accepted another cheque for $500 from Community Services Director Ross Bannatyne to continue the club's support of the team. Coach Anthony showed a poster that is displayed at each of the team's many games and tournaments. They placed eight in Ontario last year. President Shirley accepted a plaque from the team which will be in the club display case.
Em Del Sordo and Margot Burnell Cimba from the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board gave an overview of the Pathway Programs offered by the school board. The program consists of Cooperative Education, the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, Specialist High Skills Majors, and the Dual Credit Programs. Most of their presentation centred around the SHSM and the Dual Credit pieces.
SHSM buddles 8 to 10 courses together in Grades 11 and 12 to allow students to focus their learning on a specific sector. Sectors include Arts and Culture, Aerospace and Aviation, Construction, Energy, Environment, Health and Wellness, Horticulture and Landscaping, Hospitality and Tourism, Information and Communication Technology, Justice, Community Safety and Emergency Services, and Manufacturing. To receive the SHSM designation on their diplomas, students must complete industry recognized certifications, complete units of work related to their sector of choice ( Math, English, Science) and at least 2 credits through Co-op.
The Dual Credit Program is offered through Mohawk College. Here, students earn credits that count towards both their high school diploma and a college diploma.
The purpose of the Pathways Program is to offer more ways to help students focus on their learning and support their learning. Apprenticeship, College, University, Workplace and Community Living are all choices students can make to further their education and prepare for the world of work.
Pathway Programs at Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board
What a vibrant group of young professionals! The GSE team from Brazil consisting of team leader and businessman Alex Bakof, geography teacher Alessandra Luther, judges' assistant Claudio Filho, graphic designer Gustavo Hansel and attorney and teacher Larissa Marafiga gave a spirited presentation of Rotary District 4660, their home state of Rio Grande do Sul and their personal and professional lives.
They said that all Rotary clubs share the same common goals but that the Dundas Valley Sunrise club was definitely a fun loving club. The team arrived Sunday and staying with club members Derek Price and Ann, Barb Busing and Norm, and Krista Deverson from the Dundas club.
Brazil is a country of over 200 million people and the team's home province has around 12 million. Agriculture, agribusiness, cattle and commerce and service industries are the main employers. Gauchos, churrasco (meat BBQs), and chimarrao (herb tea) are embedded in the culture.
The team is visiting a number of vocational and cultural sites including Highland Secondary School, Loewith Farms, Websters Falls, Don Zver Pottery, Hamilton City Hall, Dundas highlights, a plastic manufacturer and a lawyer's office. There is also a BBQ in the Dundas Driving Park.
On Wednesday morning the group is picked up by the Grimsby Rotary Club. Thanks go to David Lowery for coordinating the team's visit and ensuring everything ran smoothly.
Laura
Lukasik opened her talk by emphasizing the numerous initiatives and literacy
programs that are happening in the City.
In
spite of the increased use of technology that is available today, it has not
been accompanied by an increase in literacy. On a Literacy scale of
1----5, 3 would be High School
Level. Today, 42% of Canadians are not
at the High School level of literacy. This figure has not worsened in recent
years, but nor has it improved, and it is clear that literacy failure leads to
poverty.
The
Hamilton Public Library has developed a
whole new department that is focused on creating Literacy outreach programs. Whist there are many Adult
Basic Education Programs in Hamilton, family literacy remains a problem, if the
Family role models are illiterate.
So,
the outreach programs are focussed on encouraging literacy in young children up
to the age of 6 , to prepare them to be ready to read as soon as they go to
school. Encouraging
parents to read to a child at least 5
minutes a day awakens an interest in reading as well as being a good bonding
experience. The Libraries are working with Daycare facilities to encourage
literacy in young children.
Moms
visiting a family Physician are now
given a book and encouraged to start reading to their baby.
In
addition to the Literacy programs,” Interface” literacy is also being taught to
help people cope with computers, I-Pads and Bank Machines, etc. Hamilton
wants to be the best place to raise a child.
Irene
Schmidt (nee Pasel) thanked Laura for
her informative talk.
Hamilton Public Library System and Literacy - Laura Lukasic
“Think Recycle” – the Recycling of
Electronic Waste. ( 13 September, 2011)
By David
Lowery
“Think
Recycle” is a division of Greentec, a leading provider of e-waste recycling and
reverse logistics services. Kimberly Hoover started her talk by showing a
picture of a Shipping Container full of electronic waste, to illustrate how
effectively their program is working. Environmental responsibility is central
to their efforts. The business started out in 1995 by recycling the ink
cartridges from printers, and grew from there, to recycle all electronic waste.
Check out the web site www.thinkrecycle.com where partnership
programs are available for collecting e-waste across North America.
Typical
partners in the recycling program are Schools,
Businesses and organisations such as The Canadian Diabetes Society, in
addition to City Transfer Stations. Whilst “Green” is the trend, it needs to be
the “Norm”. Partners
in the recycling program earn money from their efforts. Twenty cents to $150
dollars can be earned by the collector, for qualifying items
such as Cell Phones, Print Cartridges, MP3 players, Laptops & Digital
Cameras.
Items
collected by “Think Recycle” are sorted
into a “Refurb.” category, or dismantled to scrap. Think recycle is also
a partner with American Forests and The Canada Tree Foundation, and will
sponsor the planting of one tree for every 24 qualifying cell phones or print
cartridges received.
To
date, they have over 20,000 registered partners and have sponsored the planting
of over 30,000 Trees in North America.
Electronic
Items that selected for “refurb” have any memory data “blanked”. Such items
could end up in local Refurb. Outlets
but most will be shipped overseas, where possible. Think Recycle is focused on
expanding their recycling program, and the Company is Certified
to ISO 14001.
John
practices Law and has an office in Hamilton. He was previously a member of the
Hamilton Rotary Club from 1985 to 1997. Johnwasalso affiliated with Easter
Seals, including being a Board Member for many years, and also President.John chose to base his talk around the Rotary Four Way Test and what it means to him in his Professional and domestic life.
The
history of the Four Way Test is interesting. During the great depression in the
1930’s, a Chicago Business man, Herbert P Taylor, felt a need to inspire his
colleagues to maintain good practices, in the face of severe commercial
pressures to survive. Mr Taylor created four principles for his colleagues to
consider in their daily activities. These four principles were later adopted by
Rotary in 1943 and became the Four Way Test, which has since been translated into
many languages.
As
a Lawyer, John has adopted the four way test in his own practice and firmly
believes that his involvement in Rotary is not just for the opportunity to
network.
The
returns from giving far outweighthe
cost of giving.
Carl
Fraser thanked John for his informative talk, and advised us that John had
previously done some Legal work for our club, although this was not well known.
John
started by emphasising that Club membership Worldwide, is now a big issue.
Japan has lost many members, The USA has lost many members overall, in spite of
many new clubs being formed. Our own District has lost 288 members, although
there was a small gain of 24 members last year. Membership retention is an
issue for us all to be concerned about and should be a focus of each Club.
Fellowship among members , helps to retain members. Every Club is encouraged to
increase membership, and hopefully attracting more female membership because of
the natural diversity of skills and interests that they bring.
A
one percent increase (or decrease) of membership in North America, results in a
$600,000 change in money generated. Our Club was congratulated by John for
being an above average supporter of Rotary International.
A
focus of Rotary International, is World Peace, that will benefit our grandkids
and the generations to follow. So much of the World is still starving and good
Water, Food and Sanitation is needed in so many places. Nor should we forget
that such needs are also great at home, as well as overseas. Rotary aims are
now shifting from a Project basis, to a Program basis, to help improve Living
and Learning conditions Overseas.
The
Polio Plus program is achieving success in many Countries. The last case in
India was reported on January 17, this year. Biological tests are showing that
in areas
infected until recently, that the
virus is not now present in raw sewage. In one state alone in India,
vaccinations were required for 500,000 new births in one year. The logistics of
administering an effective vaccination
Program are huge. There were 612 Polio Cases worldwide last year, and so far
this year the number is down to 300 cases. The last case of Polio is now
expected within the next 18 months. We will then be living in a World free for
the first time from Polio, and this success will have been significantly aided
by Rotary.
Wayne
Massey thanked John for his Talk, and then perfect attendance pins were awarded
to :-
Joe
Geddes, Wayne Massey, Cathy Starodub, Harold Gruneberg, George Gould and Carl
Fraser.
Shirley
Molloy presented John Heise with a Cheque for $7500 for Rotary International.
Sharon
Lacey presented Sandie Heise with flowers, to end an interesting meeting.
Club member Bob Morrow who is our resident expert on Group Study Exchange (GSE) gave an interesting presentation, taking into consideration the Rotary Foundation view of the program as well as his personal experiences as the team leader that went to Bulgaria in 2008. As is his usual style he got us hooked by using humour. He started of with some funny lines used by UPS service technicians as they respond to the pilots who want them to fix or repair planes. He had us laughing and listening before he even mentioned GSE.
He reminded us that GSE is a Rotary Fundation program that pairs districts throughout the world and has a team leader who is a Rotarian along with 4 - 6 professionals, 25 - 40 years old, who are not Rotarians or linked by blood to Rotarians visit each other for four weeks. These visits are both cultural and vocational although in the future they will be even more vocational in nature.
The Rotary Foundation pays for the travel costs of the team and lets the district decide on the team composition. Team members must be flexible, tolerant and open minded and be able to get a leave from their jobs for the month. There are pre-training sessions to prepare the team for the cultural and language differences they will experience.
He closed his presentation with the video the 2010 team prepared for its exchange to South Korea and asked our members to look for possible team members and to consider being the team leader for the 2011-12 exchange to Brazil. The Dundas Valley Sunrise club is asking the District 7090 GSE Committee if it can host the Brazilian team for several days in October/November.
In January 2011, Dave Carson and Jim Sweetman brought the concept of the Good Food Box to Dundas after being part of Poverty in the Valley and the Community Food Stakeholders Committee. Dundas Good Food Box is a non-profit fresh fruit and vegetable distribution system. At present, it buys in bulk from the Ontario Food Terminal in Toronto and the fruit and vegetables are repackaged into boxes which are sold for $15 each. Each month around 90 - 100 boxes are distributed. The Salvation Army gets about half and individuals pick up the rest through direct sales. The boxes are packed once per month at the Dundas Baptist Church and volunteers are always needed. At present, there are about 30 Good Food Box communities in Ontario. This is a joint effort of Dundas in Transition and Environment Hamilton Eat Local project. The long term goal is to establish direct links with local farmers and get produce directly from them.
Dave Carson, a member of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise, also spoke of the Community Food Continuum and its three stages: Short term relief, Building capacity and empowering individuals and community, and Systemic shift for sustainability.
Minor League baseball at Martino Park is a big thing in Dundas and the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise is proud to support the organization. Ralph Montesanto met with the Blue Jays, a team of 9 and 10 year old boys and girls that the club sponsors. The team is coached by Greg Boyko and Natalie Charette. Andy Prentice, who is the catcher, presented Ralph with a plaque in recognition of the club's support.
Jessica Brennan, local trustee on the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, spoke of the Accommodation Review Committee (ARC). The committee's task is to provide recommendations to the board that will give students the best learning environments for the 21st century. The committee considers facilities, program and transportation in its fact finding and deliberation.
Trustee Brennan spoke more specifically about the West ARC which encompasses Ancaster, Highland, Parkside and Westdale High Schools. She indicated that the committee is about a third of the way through the process and intends to have a report ready for the board in January 2012 so that the board can make a decision by the end of the school year.
A staff report supported the closure of Parkside with the students being dispersed to Highland, Westdale and Ancaster. The committee is leaning towards the closure of both Highland and Parkside and the construction of a new school somewhere in town.
She suggested that the Rotary club might want to offer its suggestions to the committee. Meetings are Sept 20 and Oct. 11. Call Trustee Brennan at 905 628 2714 if individual members want to give their opinion.
Ralph Montesanto was treated to a minor league T-Ball game by the Red Sox. The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club sponsored the team and Carter Pond thanks Ralph for the club's support. Coaches George Johnson and Beverly Pond work hard to help the 5-year olds learn the game and have fun. There are six teams in the league convened by Sue Frankum. They play at Edwards Park on Mercer Street.
This morning's meeting was held in the Dundas Driving Park and catered by The Pad in the Park. Club Administration Director, Mary-Lou, along with the assistance of Kathy Starodub provided a friendly setting of blue and gold table covers and a draw of summer toys. Roger and his assistant Maggie provided a wonderful breakfast that was befitting of the warm sunny morning. Besides the dedication of the benches to Linda Powers, the club also held an assembly and received reports from President Shirley and the directors present. Youth Exchange student Claire Harkness and mom Nancy were also present as Claire prepares to leave for Australia in the next few days.
Longtime Rotarian Ken Turner passed away on August 1. Ken was in his 102 year. Up until 2010, Ken was an active member of the club and was named the first Honourary Member upon his resignation at 101 years of age. Ken was a charter member of the club and its first treasurer. Wayne Massey included Ken in the opening prayer and Sergeant-at-Arms Fred Amalfi reminded the members of Ken's 100th birthday where he held court and welcomed all of his guests. The members stood and gave a minute of silence and quiet recollection in honour of Ken.
Russ Powers rededicated a pair of benches in honour of his wife Linda. The benches were built using material from Joe's and Vlad's companies and were originally installed over a year ago. Skateboarders did some damage to the benches and some repair was required as well as a resetting of the benches in concrete. The site was a favourite place for Russ and Linda to listen to the concerts held in the bandshell and Russ was sure that Linda was sitting on one of the benches listening to his rededication.
Over sixty Rotarians and guests gathered at the home of Joe and Anne Guedes to celebrate the end of another successful Rotary year and enjoy fellowship and great food. The weather was perfect, the steaks and salmon delicious, and the refreshments flowed. Highlights of the event, over and above the general good times, were the presentation of a Service Above Self Award to Paul Clifford for his continued support of The Rotary Foundation, the Dundas Valley Foundation and his community work with HAARP; a Paul Harris Award to Harold Gruneberg; and, the Presidential Citation and Lighthouse Award accepted by President Bruce Eccles on behalf of the club. Bruce also thanked everyone for a fantastic year and for helping him through a difficult time after his accident. He received a standing ovation as the club's show of support and appreciation for his work as president.
Nan Bruce, co-chair of the District 7090 Visioning Committee, presented to the club as a follow-up to a previous board meeting discussion on the topic of visioning and strategic planning. She outlined the need for clubs to look ahead 3 to 5 years to determine what they would like to become and set in motion a plan to get there. She indicated that it was important for all members to be involved in the process and to have their opinions heard. She also said that Rotary International was asking clubs to do regular long range planning. She and her committee are available to hold an evening session with a broad cross section of club members to help them brainstorm ideas and move towards a club vision.
Discussion after her presentation included the need for everyone to be involved and that the club's ability to react to community needs be maintained in any long range plan. Dicussion also centred on the need to educate all members on the work already accomplished by the club since its charter in 2000. The board will include the topic of visioning and strategic planning for further discussion at its next meeting.
Alexandra Pedersen presented an excellent summary of her research work in Guatemala, dealing with the views of the indigenous people to the processes of "development with a North American twist". She outlined some of the problems facing this country in Central America and looked especially at a number of areas including Canadian investment in Guatemala, femicide, agriculture and education. Alex ended her inspring talk by noting that as Rotarians we could be of assistance - building schools, inquiring about our investments (and whether or not the mining companies have good relationships with indigenous people), and raising our own awareness of the role of multi-national corporations in developing nations...EXCELLENT Presentation...thanks, Alex.
Recent retiree Andy Coburn announced to the club that new opportunities have arisen and he is going to be doing some teaching at the University of Toronto ... we assume in dentistry! Congratulations to Andy on his retirement and best wishes for many years with both personally and professionally fulfilling opportunities.
Now PAST president, Bruce Eccles was pinned by President Shirley Molloy at the meeting. Shirley thanked Bruce for his leadership last year and indicated that Bruce's situation was most difficult but that he was an inspiration to us all ... well ... almost all ... SAA Fred seemed to think that attendance has gone up since Bruce vacated the preidency!
Bob Worcholz of the Burlington Club came to receive a cheque for THE MOBILITY CUP - an event for disabled sailors. The budget this year is $300 000 and we even learned that Bob knows the name of the body of water between Hamilton and Burlington - HAMILTON HARBOUR
Susan Jasper, a Rotarian from the Hamilton "Martini" Club, is the driving force behind Telling Tales, a community festival that promotes children's literacy. Susan reviewed the previous two festivals held at Westfield Heritage Village in Rockton where attendance grew from 4000 to 5000 children and family members. The goal of the organizing committee is to use literacy to break the cycle of poverty and to empower people. The first year the festival raised $20 000 and last year it raised $45 000 of which funds were used to promote literacy in the area. Telling Tales won a Tourism of Hamilton Award and was presented with the best community project in Rotary Zones 24 and 32 as well as being written up in the Rotarian Magazine.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club has supported the children's literacy festival financially and with sweat equity since its inception. This year the club has moved up to a Silver Sponsor. Club members are encouraged to check in with Kathy Starodub who will coordinate volunteers and the collection of gently used books for the September 18 event. Everyone is asked to invite their family and friends to attend. It is a great day to be entertained by original children's authors and period costumes in an authentic heritage village. Best of all, there is no charge to attend.
This morning, being the first club meeting of the Rotary year 2011-2012, saw the induction of President Shirley Molloy and the new Board of Directors. Past District Governor Ralph Montesanto presided over the induction ceremony and Assistant Governor Wayne Massey presented Shirley with her President's pin.
President Shirley said she had giant shoes to fill as she replaced outgoing President Bruce Eccles; but, she has been working on it for the past three years, having attended President Elect Training the first two years as someone else's replacement and then as incoming President. She assured the club that this had nothing to do with where she grew up and that extra instruction was not required. She then reminded everyone that the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is one of the best clubs in the district and that all members are leaders of the club and have put their faith in her to harness their collective efforts. She is committed to the club and the position of President.
She thanked Bill Armstrong and Bob Morrow for their assistance and insight over the past year, and Assistant Governor Wayne Massey for his great work with the area Presidents and Presidents Elect.
Her challenge to the club is to, "Reach Within to Embrace Humanity" and she reminded all, that when we give, we gain.
Her goals for the year include strengthening the family, doing what we do best, embracing change, growing membership, continuing our international efforts, looking for a new community project and continuing with the Youth Exchange Program. Strengthening the family means everyone in the club is active and our families are involved in at least two club events. Doing what we do best includes having fun, looking at community needs and following through, dreaming, supporting each other, fundraising and working as a team to harness our skills and talents for service to others. Change requires the club to be visionary, to have every member look to where we are going and determine how we will get there. Membership growth requires at least three new members but also a focus on involvement so that retention is maximized. Internationally the Ripple Effect program in Guatemala will continue and locally we need to use the visioning and strategic planning process to lead us to the next big community project. And our first involvement with the Youth Exchange program with Nico and Claire is proving to be a wonderful experience for the club and we need to look at its continuation.
In closing, President Shirley reminded all that we should be proud to be Rotarians and we should tell others of our excitement as we "Reach Within to Embrace Humanity".
Our youth exchange student Nico Papp enjoyed a surprise birthday cake during this morning's Rotary meeting. Nico turns 18 on July 8. Members sang Happy Birthday and he blew out the candles. The meeting closed with a piece of cake while speaker Hugh Andrew spoke of Ecuador.
Russ Powers introduced a surprise guest, Hugh Andrew, who was visiting from Ecuador. Hugh moved to Ecuador two years ago after disposing of his furniture and moving there to be of service to the local community where he lived. In particular, he has contact with a small school in a rural area and was looking to the club to support the school when the club considers its international projects.
After visiting the club for several weeks, John Logan was officially inducted into the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise. Along with his sponsor Carl Fraser, and Bill Armstrong and President Shirley Molloy, club members took part in the formal ceremony and welcomed John as the first new member of the Rotary year 2011-12. John is an attorney who practises law in Hamilton.
The first annual awards ceremony initiated by District Governor Karen Oakes was held on Sunday June 26 in Blasdell NY. Over 80 Rotarians and guests attend the luncheon and witnessed the awards presentations. Our very own Assistant Governor Wayne Massey presented the Presidential Citation to the Dundas, Dundas Valley Sunrise, Waterdown and Flamborough AM Rotary clubs. Accepting the awards on behalf of their clubs are from left to right, Ian Donnely from Dundas, Lena Aggus and President Gerry Aggus from Waterdown, Margaret Robertson, Pat Keelan and President-Elect Frank Keelan from Flamborough AM and Assistant Governor Wayne Massey from Dundas Valley Sunrise.
Hamilton fire inspector Francine Levstek reminded us of the importance of fire safety in our homes. She said that the most important things we should have are working smoke alarms on every floor. Besides being the law, they can help keep us and our families alive. She also talked about the importance of having carbon monoxide detectors.
The five major causes of fires in the city are smoking, cooking, candles, electrical and open air burning. Smoking fires tend most often to be fatal because they tend to happen when someone smokes in bed and falls asleep. Cooking fires usually happen when a pot is left unattended on the stove or in the oven. Burning candles should never be in a room without adult supervision. Children, pets or simply a faulty container can cause a candle to set fire to the surrounding area. She also reminded us that electrical appliances should all be CSA or UCL approved. This is not always the case when purchases are made at discount stores and it is up to us to look for the approval sticker on the merchandise. Open air burning is not legal in the urban area of the city without a permit and simple things like the backyard "chimeny" are illegal.
Regardless of how much care we take to prevent fires they still might happen. To that end we should all have a plan for escape. Everyone in the home should know the plan and there should be an alternate route just in case. She also reminded us that we should have a working multi purpose fire extinguisher of at least 5 lbs capacity that is easily accessible.
Francine talked about her typical day on the job which would include actual on site inspections and the significant paperwork required to follow up. Her area of inspections are lodging homes, nursing homes, groups homes and similar multi residential buildings.
Congratulations to Wayne Massey for being the first Dundas Valley Sunrise member to complete the three parts of the Rotary Leadership Institute. Over the past 18 months, District 7090 offered Rotarians the opportunity to built both their leadership skills and their knowledge of Rotary and its many programs and service opportunities. Wayne attended three all-day Saturday sessions, taking Parts 1, 2 & 3 of the program. This is the first graduating class of RLI with 18 Rotarians from across the district receiving recognition. District Governor Karen Oakes congratulates Wayne as he receives his diploma from RLI chair Dick Earne and PDG Pravin Suchak. More information on RLI can be found in the June issue of the District Newsletter.
Wayne Massey Graduates Rotary Leadership Institute
Elske de Visch Eybergen is a staff member on the Shalem Mental Health Network and is on the community resource team with the West Hamilton Wrap Around Program. The program has three families or individuals in the Dundas area that facilitators work with to help them overcome personal challenges while remaining in their homes and neighbourhoods.
Elske introduced Bernadette Morgan, the mother of one of the familes, who shared her personal story. She has a spinal condition as does each of her three boys. She talked about how she advocates for her children and others with disabilities and how Wrap Around has become her extended family to help her look for solutions to some of the problems she faces.
Besides learning about the work the organization does in the community, it was clear that Elske was here to advocate for Bernadette and her family and to seek assistance with repairing her house and getting her oldest son a job.
This morning club members formally welcomed Wayne Migus into the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise. President Bruce led the induction with Past President Bill assisting. Wayne has been attending club meetings for several weeks and was a volunteer during the Victoria Day fireworks. Wayne lives in Ancaster and runs a company in Brampton that hires workers for manufacturing companies. Fred Amalfi is Wayne's sponsor and now his mentor. As is the club custom, everyone formed a circle around the room and took an active part in the induction ceremony. After being pinned with the Rotary logo, Wayne circulated around the room and shook hands with all members. Welcome aboard Wayne.
Shirley Molloy from the Salvation Army accepts a $2000 donation from the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club Community Services Director Peter Davis. The funds will be used to purchase food for the many individuals and families in the Dundas area that rely on the Dundas Food Bank to supplement their food purchases.
Thanks to the generosity of ex-Rotarian Wayne Sidesworth, the club was able to raise $2000 from the tickets for four to Florida that Wayne donated to the club. Today, the club gave half the proceeds to the diabetes society. Bill Gregory who was guest speaker this morning, accepts the $1000 from club president Bruce Eccles.
Club member Carl Fraser introduced Bill Gregory who told us a story of a grandfather who 14 years ago learned that his infant grandson had Type 1 Diabetes and how devastated he was at learning of the illness and how desperate he was to help his grandson. After getting hold of himself, grandfather Bill put his marketing director skills to work to help his grandson and other children with the disease. He started helping Camp Huronda, a 110 acre permanent camp in Huntsville that can serve 400 children with Type 1 Diabetes. His first job was to secure a nutritious drink from a major food supplier for no cost. He got more than the camp could use and shared the excess with cancer camps for kids.
Bill talked about the heros in our world. They are not the baseball players and media stars; rather, they are normal people who help others. They are the mother who wakes up during the night to check on her child, or the Rotarians who serve in their communities. He asked us to live by five principals for service: show enthusiasm, be visible, network, partner and thank often.
One of the best ways to motivate is to tell stories that capture someone's heart. That's what Bill did this morning.
Today, we all sat in silence as Nora Lopez told her story of the arrest, detention and disappearance of her husband in Honduras. Nora's story began in 1981. She was married to Jose Eduardo Lopez and was raising a family. She was assistant manager of a large hotel and her husband worked during the day and attended school in the evening.
One night in 1981, Jose went to school after work but did not come home. Nora managed to find out that a co-worker had seen him picked up by a police car and taken to DNI (the military intelligence branch). She went to find him but was told he was not there. She went back the next day and worked her way into the holding area and saw her husband in a cell. After continuing to question the security commander she managed to have her husband released but heard that he was marked for death because he read papers that had articles against the government. When released, Jose had severe marks of torture on his body. In 1982 the couple learned that he was on a death squad list and he left for the USA as a refugee. He applied for Canadian refugee status in 1983 but was denied and returned to Honduras to be with his wife and family. On Christmas Eve Jose was abducted and never seen again. Two years later Nora was granted Canadian refugee status after having several attempts on her life. In 1993, Facts Speak For Themselves, gave the details of her husband's abduction and disappearance and named the people responsible.
Nora is now promoting a scholarship fund to help educate Hondurans in a post secondary setting. It is called the Jose Eduardo Lopez Memorial Scholarship. She feels that the best way to change things in her old homeland is to educate its youth. After her presentation, a number of Rotarians made a cash contribution to the fund.
Outbound and inbound youth exchange students Claire Harkness and Nico Papp are this morning's guest speakers.
Claire Harkness thanked the club once again for selecting her to be the club's first outbound youth exchange student. Claire is into competitive sports in a big way being a cheerleader and figure skater; and, playing football (boys tackle team), soccer, basketball, badminton and baseball. She also volunteers with Hamilton Out of the Cold and Design Hope. At the end of August she will be on her way to Belmont Australia for a one year stint. Belmont is a small suburb between Lake Macquarie and Newcastle, about 150 km from Sydney. Claire has been in email contact with her first host family and is looking for the full Australian experience. In preparation as an outbound student she attended the winter camp in Temagami and the Jamestown NY and the Buffalo weekends with other youth exchange students. These are all part of the leadership development necessary for Rotary youth exchange students. Her goal for the year besides being an ambassador for Canada and Rotary is to become more mature, independent and brave as well as develop into a better leader.
Nico Papp has been attending club meetings since he arrived from Argentina in early February. He too attended all the leadership experiences for youth exchange students. Nico gave a lesson on Argentina, talking about its geography (very hot in the north to very cold in the south - penguins), its economy (some industry but mainly agriculture and minerals) and its politics (a democratic republic with executive, legislative and judiciary branches). Nico's lives in Alta Gracia, a city of about 50 000 with his mother, father and younger brother (his sister lives in Spain and his other brother in Los Angeles). He noted that Alta Gracia was home to revolutionary Che Guevara and many tourist continue to visit his house. Nico completed his stay at his first host family - the Neiberts and just started at the Montesantos. He thanked the Neiberts for their hospitality and for taking him to Florida on the family holiday. He also thanked Andy Colburn for taking him skiing and Bob Bell for the trip to the Toronto Zoo.
Both students are riding in the Niagara-on-the-Lake to Niagara Falls Bike Trek from June 3 - 5 and would appreciate any sponsorship club members would like to give. Funds raised go to support the District 7090 Youth Exchange Program. Bob Neibert thanked Claire and Nico for their presentations.
The atmosphere at the Dundas Driving Park was one of good old-fashioned fun Sunday night.Police estimated 13 000 people came out to enjoy Hamilton’s only fireworks display this Victoria Day weekend.The area was teeming with children running around chasing each other, throwing their glow sticks in the air, making it obvious that everyone was there to have a good time.
A vintage fire engine was on display for the children.Keith Green, 56, was there to supervise the antique truck.“My old neighbour growing up was a firefighter and used to take me to the station and let me polish this truck.”The old fire truck was clearly a hit with the kids as there were never less than 30 children on it at any given time.“I’m going to have a lot of chrome to polish after this,” said Green.
This was the first year Patricia DeCecco of Hamilton came to the event. She came to the park with her three girls, aged 6, 4, and 9 months, along with her friend’s family. All of the kids were excitedly soaking in the events in the lead up to the show.“We kind of have the Kate Gosselin thing going on right now,” said DeCecco.
It was a nervous beginning to Sunday, however, with showers in the morning.Russ Powers, a Rotary member and Hamilton city councilor for Dundas, was the chair of the fireworks committee for the Rotary Club and said that he was checking with Environment Canada regularly.“The guy at the Hamilton airport brought up his satellite image and assured me that by 2:30 there would be clear skies.”
Joe Rastin and his team at Victory Fireworks of Richmond Hill arranged the display.“My goal is to entertain the crowd, so I want to make sure that I do everything properly,” says Rastin.He estimated that there were over 4000 shots in the show.In order to ensure the best performance Rastin and his team lit each shot by hand, in order to have more control over the effects.
Rastin and his team did not disappoint and neither did the weather.The show started shortly after the sky turned dark.The crowd of families quickly huddled on their blankets and chairs as the first few flashes and bangs broke through the clear night sky.The expected oohhs and ahhs were audible with each bang and star spattered burst throughout the nearly 23 minute long show.
Casandra Romanescu-Vintu of Hamilton was at the park celebrating her 23rd birthday with friends.“It was really nice of them to put on a fireworks show for my birthday,” she joked.
Also enjoying the show was little Michalina, 8, who is visiting from Poland with her mother.Even though she speaks little English her pleasure in the show translated clearly.She did not sit down once during the display, standing in fixed attention, wide eyed throughout the symphony of explosive colours.
“You don’t need much to make people happy,” remarked Ivona Dudek of Dundas.She described the anticipation for the show like waiting for Christmas as a child.
This was the second year that the Rotary Club has organized the Victoria Day celebrations.“Dundas has been holding annual celebrations for Victoria Day since the late 1800s,” said Powers.When the opportunity came for the Rotary Club to organize the event they felt compelled to carry on this tradition into the amalgamated city of Hamilton, he said.
The Rotary Club was encouraging donations to be made at the gate of the park.Through donations and glow stick sales they raised over $10 000 for their various initiatives, said Powers.“This is a true community event,” he said.“We put on the show to draw in families and friends” with the funds slated to be reinvested in the community to help its people.
Group Study Exchange is a vocational program that is designed to link people and cultures and help build world peace. Katie Deverson's visit to South Korea as part of this year's GSE team certainly fulfilled those criteria. Katie is a registered nurse in pediatric critical care at McMaster Children's Hospital. She is also a photography lover and took many great photos of South Korea.
Bob Morrow a member of the district GSE committee and a past GSE team leader introduced Katie to the club.
She gave an overview of the variety of foods she ate while in the homes of various host families, indicating that she enjoyed everything even though it was quite different from her usual foods.
She was quite taken by the DMZ or Demiltarized Zone, a 4 km strip of land that separates North and South Korea. The constant and very evident military presence is something most Canadians are not familiar with. She visited Cherowon, Yanggu and Sokcho which were close to the DMZ. She was close enough at times to take photos of the North Korean Soldiers across the DMZ who were in guard towers.
Katie taked about High Five Moments. The temple stay in Sinheungsa had the GSE team in monk uniforms doing evening prayers and 108 bows to Buddha. She said this was very spiritual but quite a workout. Hiking in Seorakson National Park and walking the beach on the Sea of Japan were highlights. In Donghae and Samcheok the team had a cabin by the water and was able to share in a grand Canadian style BBQ where they made instant connections with their hosts. The last High Five Moment was at the district conference in Wonju.
Katie thanked the club for sponsoring her and allowing her to learn about culture, religion and her vocation from her South Korean experience. She said she learned more about herself in the 30 days than she thought was possible.
President Bruce and Fellow Rotarians – Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise
Greetings to all.I wanted to send a special, albeit belated, note of thanks to all of you for the wonderful job that you did in organizing the Paul Harris Dinner on April 27th, 2011.On behalf of Wolfe and myself thank you for your hospitality once again.We enjoyed visiting with so many of you good folks, and being part of the celebrations of the evening.
The event was very well organized with the details well considered and communicated prior to the evening with my thanks.I felt the evening conveyed the well deserved recognition, while also serving to inform those in attendance of the significance of the Paul Harris award and the relative recognition pieces.The food was fabulous, and the ambiance of the Copetown Woods Golf Club was a wonderful backdrop for your affair.Good work by all!
Thie Convery holds her Rotary Foundation Regional Service Award for outstanding service in polio eradication that was presented to her by Assistant Rotary Foundation Coordinator Bob Bruce and Rotary District Governor Karen Oakes at the district’s assembly held in Niagara FallsNY.
Thie’s LakeOntario swim last year raised over $170 000 across Canada. This was enough to give the oral polio vaccine to over 350 000 children throughout the polio endemic countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria.
Along with the over 200 district Rotarians who shared this moment were club members Bruce Eccles, Harold Gruneberg, Wayne Massey, Derek Price, Lathy Starodub, Joe Guedes, Ralph Montesanto, Bob Morrow, Shirley Molloy and Dave Carson
Their excitement was contagious as last year's RYLA candidates spoke of their experiences. Rachel Meyrink who is studying business at the University of Western Ontario said the leadership camp was a remarkable life changing experience. She now feels she can go after her dreams and take the necessary steps towards what she wants to do.
Emma Kamermans, a graduate of Mohawk College Interior Decorating is now studying Interior Design at Sheridan College. She thought the sessions were inspirational. The group of 40 young adults from Ontario and New York got up early, had breakfast and began various leadership sessions. She felt the training gave her more confidences and helped move her from a follower to a leader.
Derek Ingram is now a general labourer at a custom steel fabrication shop in Hamilton. He also helps train seeing eye dogs. He said he was the sensitive one in the group and he had the club in stitches with his subtle humour. Along with the leadership experiences he had, he was most pleased with the network of friends he made on the Fredonia University site of last year's Rotary Youth Leadership Awards program.
All three RYLArians said they did not know anything about Rotary before attending RYLA and that they would now be keeping an eye out for the Rotary logo and look into other Rotary experiences such as Rotaract.
RYLARIANS Excite Us with Their Memories of Last Year
Rebecca Crouse attended this morning's meeting with District Governor Nominee Nominee Kevin Crouse and was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow. During our Paul Harris Dinner a few weeks ago Kevin was the guest speaker but Becky was unable to attend with him. The club gift to Kevin was a Paul Harris Award for Becky for the many times she hosted the club end of year BBQ and for the great work she does as a Superintendent of Education. Becky was introduced by Bill Armstrong and the award presented by Area Foundation Representative Bob Monroe.
The following is President Bruce's introduction of Steve Deighton for a Paul Harris Award.
It gives me great pleasure to ask one of our club members to come forward and receive a Paul Harris Fellowship Award.
In 2008 Steve Deighton took over the role as President of the Dundas Cactusfest committee. Many folks knew it was time for some new blood with fresh ideas; but, no one was too excited about taking on this task.
Steve took on this often thankless role and the Dundas Cactusfest has never been better. Not only did Steve bring fresh ideas, he brought all kinds of new talented performers and exhibits to the festival. In fact the festival now goes for several more blocks along King Street.
Steve is the Owner of GoBee Industries Inc. and very generously donated $10,000 to the Rotary Rink in the DundasDrivingPark several years ago.
In 2009 Steve had a very difficult setback with the tragic loss of his good friend Jeffrey Roche and his wife Hannah. To make this even more difficult, Jeffrey was Steve’s Vice President and right hand man at Go-Bee.
To honour Jeff & Hannah’s memory Steve established the Jeffery G Roche Memorial Award. This award will support a student atthe KingsUniversityCollege who has demonstrated involvement in extracurricular activities that illustrates their appreciation for life.
You see, Steve not only got his staff at Go-Bee through this nightmare he also continued with his commitment to the Cactusfest.
Needless to say Steve does not sit still. He not only found time for his family but he also started a new company - Sweetness Bakery in 2010. He continues to add new locations and is working on a mobile unit. Steve is an entrepreneur, a businessman and a valued member of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise.
Grace Dumayne who is helped by new Rotarian Dave Carson said she did 15 years of cleanout and made two trips from home to the shredding machine. The Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise made houses roomier on May 7 by shredding more than 18 000 lbs of personal and business papers which were then sent for recycling. The club raised more than $2000 to be used towards Rotary International’s efforts to eliminate polio throughout the world. The club plans to make this an annual event right after tax season.
Councillor Russ Powers gave a collage of his activities over the last year as the Dundas representive on the City of Hamilton council. What follows is his snapshot summary.
Former DDHS playfield and 236 King St. W. (old Shell site) acquired and developed as Fisher’s MillPark and Matilda Street Natural Playground, respectively.
HCA (with funds from City) purchased Veldhuis Greenhouses for passive parkland (demolition has taken place).
Dundas Farmers Market will open for its 3rd season in June.
Transfer of Victoria Day Fireworks to the DundasSunrise Rotary Club.
New outdoor natural ice rink opens in SanctuaryPark with one in Little John Park planned for winter of 2011/12.
Spencer Creek Trail.
Tree planting in SanctuaryPark & various creek cleanups takes place.
SpencerCreek channel improvements along Mill St.
Cootes to Escarpment Protection Plan is approved.
Fire/EMS station at Memorial Square rebuilt.
New Shoppers Drug Mart opens on King St. W.
Development:
Current:Newcombe Dr./Davidson Blvd Extension.
1000 Creekside Dr.
MariMat Homes (former UniversityGardensSchool site).
Shuitt Homes (former PleasantValleySchool site).
17 ½ Park St. E. (Chicken Coops).
In the Works or Proposed:
397 King St. W. (DDHS – 43 condos).23/25 King St. E. – rental units
16 King St. E. (DQ – 46 condos).1 Lynndale Ave. (Dundas Living Centre).
24 Brock St. W.10 Bond St. N.
Delsey St. subdivision.104 King St. W. (old post office)
Initiatives:
Dundas Transportation Study (King& Hatt Sts. & Governors Rd.).
Dundas Tourism Group – tear off maps and brochures
LRT Study.
Ongoing/Concerns/Controversial:
HHS’s ER elimination & Urgent Care facility – impact?
St Joseph’s Estates (2 towers) – awaiting OMB decision.
2555 Creekside Dr.
Area Rating dealt with.
Ward re-distribution will be considered during this term of Council.
On Wednesday April 27, Copetown Woods Golf Club was the scene for the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise’s annual Paul Harris Awards Dinner. Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary, is the name sake for the award presented to individuals who have given tangible and significant assistance towards the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world. The event, coordinated by Rotarian Bob Morrow and EmCeed by club president Bruce Eccles was both a club social and a time to honour worthy individuals.
Rotarian Ernie Romain introduced three community members for awards.Brian Mullen, retired Director, Human Resources, Arcelor-Mittal Dofasco Inc. served as Chair of the Industry-Education Council Hamilton-Wentworth, Chair of Skills Canada-Ontario and board member of the Hamilton Community Foundation, Goodwill-Amity Hamilton, the Good Shepherd Centre and the Canadian Mental Health Association, Hamilton Branch.
John Mathioudakis, owner of Westbooke of Ancaster was a founding member of the Rotary Club of Ancaster AM, board member of the Chedoke-McMaster Children’s Hospital, the Wesley Open Golf Committee, Hamilton Health Sciences, and the Caledonia Corvairs Junior C Hockey Club, Co-chair of Mackids Invitational/Ron Joyce Mackids Invitational and the Greek Canadian Community Golf Tournament, and an assistant coach/manager of Hamilton Minor Hockey.
Paul Johnson served as Executive Director of Wesley Urban Ministries before joining the City of Hamilton as Director of Neighbourhood Development Strategies. He was Project Manager for the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, Chair of Hamilton’s Best Start Network and the City of Hamilton’s Human Services Planning Initiative. He continues to referee basketball at the local and provincial levels and was the play-by-play voice of the McMasterUniversity basketball team in the 1990s.
Rotarian Paul Clifford introduced Bryan Prince, owner of the Bryan Prince Bookstore in Westdale. Bryan was honoured for his longtime efforts to promote literacy and critical discussion. In 2002 he was given a LIBRIS award from the Canadian Booksellers Association for being the best bookstore in Canada. Bryan, who recently retired from the business, backpacked throughout India last year. He thanked the club with the traditional Indian expression, “Namaste”.
Rotarian Wayne Massey introduced club member Bill Armstrong for a Paul Harris Award. Bill is a past president of the club and is chair of the Rotary Foundation Committee. He coordinates the silent auction at the June 11 Lobster Dinner and as a retired Staff Sergeant in the RCMP takes on the role of security coordinator for any of the club’s major events like the upcoming fireworks at the Dundas Driving Park where upwards of 10 000 people will be in attendance on May 22.
Rotarian Steve Deighton who was unable to attend this evening will be honoured with an award at a later date for his contribution to the Dundas Cactus Festival as chair of the event for the past three years.
The guest speaker for the Paul Harris Awards Dinner was Kevin Crouse. Kevin was a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise before moving to Brantford and becoming a member of the Brantford Sunrise Rotary Club. Kevin will become a District Governor in 2013 – 2014. He spoke passionately about how a club is made up of silent warriors who make things happen in both the local and international communities they serve.
Kevin Crouse, incoming District Governor for 2013 - 2014 presents Brian Mullen with his Paul Harris pin. Brian, retired Director, Human Resources, Arcelor-Mittal Dofasco Inc. served as Chair of the Industry-Education Council Hamilton-Wentworth, Chair of Skills Canada-Ontario and board member of the Hamilton Community Foundation, Goodwill-Amity Hamilton, the Good Shepherd Centre and the Canadian Mental Health Association, Hamilton Branch.
John Mathioudakis, owner of Westbooke of Ancaster was a founding member of the Rotary Club of Ancaster AM, board member of the Chedoke-McMaster Children’s Hospital, the Wesley Open Golf Committee, Hamilton Health Sciences, and the Caledonia Corvairs Junior C Hockey Club, Co-chair of Mackids Invitational/Ron Joyce Mackids Invitational and the Greek Canadian Community Golf Tournament, and an assistant coach/manager of Hamilton Minor Hockey. Area Rotary Foundation Representative Bob Monroe presents John with his Paul Harris pin.
Paul Johnson served as Executive Director of Wesley Urban Ministries before joining the City of Hamilton as Director of Neighbourhood Development Strategies. He was Project Manager for the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, Chair of Hamilton’s Best Start Network and the City of Hamilton’s Human Services Planning Initiative. He continues to referee basketball at the local and provincial levels and was the play-by-play voice of the McMasterUniversity basketball team in the 1990s. District Governor Karen Oakes presents Paul with his pin.
Rotarian Paul Clifford introduced Bryan Prince, owner of the Bryan Prince Bookstore in Westdale. Bryan was honoured for his longtime efforts to promote literacy and critical discussion. In 2002 he was given a LIBRIS award from the Canadian Booksellers Association for being the best bookstore in Canada. Kevin Crouse, District Governor Nominee Nominee presents Bryan with his Paul Harris pin. Bryan, who recently retired from the business, backpacked throughout India last year. He thanked the club with the traditional Indian expression, “Namaste”.
Rotarian Wayne Massey introduced club member Bill Armstrong for a Paul Harris Award. Bill is a past president of the club and is chair of the Rotary Foundation Committee. He coordinates the silent auction at the June 11 Lobster Dinner and as a retired Staff Sergeant in the RCMP takes on the role of security coordinator for any of the club’s major events like the upcoming fireworks at the Dundas Driving Park where upwards of 10 000 people will be in attendance on May 22.
The April 26 meeting took place at Highland Secondary School where the club met with DECA students. DECA is short for Demonstrating Excellence Celebrating Achievement. The students are part of the business education program and are under the guidance of teacher advisor Kathleen Henderson. Vocational Services Chair George Gould arranged the off-site meeting. Over the past few years our club has financially supported the DECA program by sending students to regional and provincial sessions where they have to solve business problems in both written and oral presentations.
Our speakers this morning were club members who gave brief personal accounts of what Rotary was all about for them. Ralph Montesanto talked about how he was invited into Rotary while a Vice-Principal at Highland and how the weekly luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Dundas was a welcome break from his duties as VP and started him on the road to community and international service. Carl Fraser talked about his MBA and how his financial planning company has been a longtime supporter of the DECA program at Highland. He reminded the students that asking for help is an OK thing to do. And, he tied all this together with the club's building of the artificial skating rink at the Dundas Driving Park. Dentist and New Generations Chair Andy Coburn explained to the students that some occupations tend to be insular and it is great to be part of an organization like Rotary where he could broaden his view of the world. Andy also talked about special Rotary type clubs that occur at university and highschool. This prompted students Bailey Jacobs and Christian Gould to speak with next year's New Generations Chair Kathy Starodub about getting an Interact club set up at Highland.
The meeting closed with Principal Rick Hart thanking us for holding our meeting at the school. He also indicated that he will attend our next regular meeting at East Side Mario's to learn more about becoming a member of the club.
Pat Gillie a member of the board of Crime Stoppers Hamilton and Debbie McGreal-Dinning the police officer assigned as Program Coordinator were today's guest speakers. Pat gave a history of Crime Stoppers in Hamilton from its inception in 1983 to the present. The program which stresses anonymity of callers has lead to 4709 arrests and 9140 cleared cases since it started in Hamilton. Drugs seized and property recovered is over $94 million with a reward distribution of $750 000 over 28 years. The program cost of about $100 000 per year which includes $35 000 in tip rewards is supported almost solely by sponsorships and fundraisers althought the police officer assigned is paid by Hamilton Police Services. Pat was up front about why she here and that was to encourage the club and or its business leaders to become sponsors. Pat and Debbie are holding a recognition certificate and plaque that supporters receive to display in their place of business. If members want more information they are encouraged to contact admin@crimestoppershamilton.com
Today's meeting was a club assembly where we heard progress reports from all directors and chairs. This was a great opportunity for our newsest member, Dave Carson, to be inducted. As is the club's usual custom, Dave was asked to stand with President Bruce, sponsor Shirley Molloy, and Foundation Chair, Bill Armstrong. While Dave listened to the formal induction rites the entire club formed a large circle and took part with Dave answering, "We do" at the appropriate time. After being pinned by sponsor Shirley, Dave made the rounds and shook hands with all club members who personally welcomed him into the club.
On Friday evening the Neibert family hosted the Reids and Montesantos for dinner in order to meet youth exchange student Nico Papp and to spend some social time together. Over great appetizers, a fine dinner and dessert everyone talked and enjoyed each other's company. Bob and Sharon are Nico's first host family. In mid May Ralph and Barb will host Nico for two months before the Reids welcome Nico to their family. Later in November the Montesantos will re-welcome Nico back to their home until late December when he will complete his vist to our club with a two week return to the Neiberts. Of course, all through his stay with his host families club members are encouraged to include Nico in their plans. When planning to include Nico please be sure to discuss it with the host families before finalizing any details.
This morning we learned about the club's newest member, Phil Wood. Phil is a long-time Dundas resident and is presently the Dean of Students and Associate VP of Student Affairs at McMaster University. Phil grew up in Brantford and attended the University of Waterloo in chemical engineering. During his 4th-term he was a teacher's assistant at Paris District High School and spent some time teaching before becoming a teaching assistant at Waterloo University. After graduating he went to Cal Tech to complete his PHD. From there he moved to Lansing Michigan and taught at Michigan State University where he became a huge basketball fan. Shortly after spending a summer at Dow Chemical he moved to McMaster University, eventualy becoming an academic administrator in the engineering department, then the chair of chemical engineering and the associate dean. He is proud that he was able to graduate 13 PHD students, 5 of whom are now teaching at various universities. He is a strong believer that a professor can be an excellent teacher as well as a strong researcher. As associate VP of Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Phil is responsible for all student services at McMaster.
Phil is married to Barb and has two sons and one granddaughter. He has played recreational hockey for years, calls the play-by-play for Mac basketball and hosts, "Soul in the Hole", on CFMU 93.3 McMaster radio. Phil knows many of our club members and looks forward to many years of service as a Rotarian.
Classification talks always provide insight into the club's members. Today, new member David Lowery told us his story. Born in England during WWII he grew up in an industrial environment surrounded by the steam trains of Darlington and Stockton. He was an average student until his senior year when he passed his "O" levels and went to work as an apprentice in a manufacturing company. He was lucky enough to be sent to higher level education by the company and completed a 4-year degree in mechanical engineering. He worked for the company for 10 years, having spent a year in Cordoba Spain installing equipment for the company. Ten years later he moved to the midlands of England with his wife Sue and his two boys.The company's motto was, "Export or Die" and he travelled the world promoting and selling the product. In 1981 he left as director of the company and came to Dundas, working two years for a new company before closing it down and starting his own material handling equipment business called Avon. He started manufacturing products for steel companies locally, then to the US and then to Mexico. By the end of the 1990's the company had 50 employees. David and his wife enjoy sailing and boating, especially at their cottage in Midland. David sold the company three years ago, has taken up travelling for pleasure with Sue and is a recent member of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club. At present he is coordinating ticket sales for the Lobster Dinner on June 11.
George Gould, on behalf of Community Services Director Peter Davis, presented a cheque to Sister Nancy Sullivan to assist with the Hamilton Out of the Cold program. The program strives to respond in a meaningful way to the needs of the most abandoned of the city's poor and homeless people with basic physical needs of shelter, food, warmth and the deeply human needs of compassion, dignity and feelings of self worth.
Mark Chamberlain is the president and one of the founding partners of Trivaris Ltd., a commercialization company focused on transforming ideas from concept to sustainable companies and social enterprises. He was also president of Wescam from 1987 to 2003. Mark has lived in Dundas for 25 years, used his ipad at the podium for his notes and spoke about Hamilton and how social, economic and environmental issues are all tied together as the city works to be the best it can.
He said that clearly defining a problem is necessary before trying to find a solution. Issues tend to be very complex and solutions need new ways to bring them together. For example, Ontario has the best illness care but has poor health care. We spend a great deal of money fixing people but not enough keeping them healthy in the first place. We have not clearly defined the health care debate; so, are unable to find a suitable solution to the high cost involved.
Regarding the city's quest for light rail transit (LRT), he said that this is not the issue; rather, it might be the solution to other problems such as the revitalization of the city's downtown. LRT could attract more businesses and the younger professionals who want to work and play in the area where they live. The increase in core density could bring more restaurants and entertainment to the downtown. This combined synergy would increase the tax base and offset or reduce taxes. In the end, the downtown becomes more inviting and a place that encourages positive growth.
Katie Deverson is our club's representative on the Group Study Exchange to South Korea. Katie is 26 years old and for the past two years has been working as a Registered Nurse in the Pediatric Critical Care Unit at McMaster Children’s Hospital. She also works as a nurse for the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence team at Hamilton Health Sciences. Katie grew up in the Hamilton area and obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from McMaster University. Her personal interests include reading, watching movies, yoga, traveling and outdoor adventure sports such as hiking and white water kayaking. Katie has three sisters, whose names all begin with the letter ‘K’, a boyfriend named Mike and three small poodles. Katie's sister was a GSE team member to Belize last year and is now a member of the Dundas Rotary Club. Katie is looking forward to participating in the GSE trip to South Korea. She will be exploring health on an international level so that she can grow professionally and share her experiences with colleagues back home. She will sample the culture and food in Korea, meet new friends and, when she returns, will share her experiences with our club.
The club has provided Katie with funds for the blazer that you see in her photograph. The costs for the GSE team adventure is covered by our contributions to the Rotary International Foundation.
Our Group Study Exchange Team Member - Katie Deverson
The club recently approved a donation of $1000 to the Routes Youth Centre.
[Unfortunately, the photo of Peter Davis and Ashley Greenwood was not good enough for publication ... apologies to Ashley and Peter...it has nothing to do with them and much to do with a camera just back from repair which was not calibrated properly]
The club was treated to a visit by two visitors from the Canadian Friends of JHospital Albert Schweitzer. Brittney McCarter and Ann Holton graced us with their presence; Brittney was the presenter. she showed a great understanding of development aide and her experiences as a volunteer and her love of volunteering were evident in the presentation. Brittney has spent time in Moshi, Tanzania teaching English and computer skills as well as volunteering at local orphanages (and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro).
The Hospital Albert Schweitzer was started in 156 and serves 300 000 people in the Antibonite Valley of Haiti. It is a hospital BY Haitiiants for Haitians. The focus areas for the hospital include surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, nutritional rehabilitation, high risk maternity and prosthetics. They have 14 full-time staff and rotating international staff who come to do specific tasks. With assistance from a US medical firm, the Hanger Clinic makes and provides prosthetic limbs.
However, the hospital is also an integral part of the local community reaching out to do training in a wide variety of areas from midwifery to agroforestry programs to animal husbandry and clean water.
In Brittney's presentation it was interesting to see friends of Rotary and friends from Dundas including Roy Sheldrick and Mick and Lil Stewart who were at the hospital on a volunteer basis.
L'hopital Albert Schweitzer - a different perspective
I have received communications from many of you inquiring as to the status of our fellow Rotarians and Rotary friends in Japan, and as to what Rotary is doing in response to these tragic events and what your clubs and districts can do to help.
While I regret to advise that we do not have full assurances of the safety of all our fellow Rotarians and their families, we do have encouraging information with respect to a large percentage of our Youth Exchange students in that country. We have received confirmation of the safety of over 70% of the North American students living in Japan, and are aggressively pursuing information on the remaining students. We will continue to keep all of you appraised as we receive further information on both Rotarians and students. In the meantime, please keep all of these friends foremost in your thoughts and prayers as we offer our heartfelt prayers for all affected by this unthinkable tragedy.
Within hours of the first word of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, The Rotary Foundation took the following action:
TRF Chairman Stenhammar, on behalf of the TRF Trustees, decided on Friday, 11 March 2011 to::
·Immediately establish a Rotary Japan and Pacific Islands 2011 Disaster Recovery Fund through TRF to be used in lieu of the regular World Fund match for Matching Grants and Global Grants for disaster recovery projects related to the earthquake and tsunami impacting districts in Japan and other Pacific island nations; this also applies to donations from corporations and non-Rotarians.
·Permit the fund to accept both cash contributions and DDF donations.
·Clarify that TRF will not provide Paul Harris Fellow recognition for donations to the fund.
·Confirm that all Matching Grants and Global Grants related to disaster recovery in Japan and other Pacific island nations must adhere to the policies and guidelines stipulated in the TRF Code of Policies and grant terms and conditions; this includes the restrictions on construction.
·Request the general secretary to provide a recommendation for consideration at the April 2011 Trustees meeting in regards to how the disaster recovery funds will be utilized among the affected districts, e.g. even percentage split, weighted percentage split, first come/first served, etc.
·Extend the 2011-12 Matching Grants application deadline to 30 April 2011 for grants related to these disaster recovery projects.
·Waive the minimum percentage of funding requirement of the international (overseas) sponsors for Matching Grants related to these disaster recovery projects, thereby permitting districts in the affected areas to contribute more than 50% of the total DDF and/or cash designated for the grant project.
For those of you with further questions regarding this action, I would encourage you to contact Harvey Newcomb in TRF Programs directly for the most accurate and current information.
All of Rotary's senior leadership is very aware that this action is not totally what you want for our organization's immediate response. It is the very nature of Rotarians to want to help and to be at the forefront of taking the most immediate and effective action possible in response to any need. However, we must respect the fact that we are not first responders, and that we are not equipped to provide the services required in these critical early days. For that, we must all look to and support as each of us sees fit, the agencies that ARE capable of providing crucial aid and services appropriate at this time.
I would encourage each of you to share this message with your clubs, and to in turn recognize the monumental task ahead to rebuild this devastated country. The long term sustainable projects that will restore fundamental infrastructure and human services are what we do better that anyone else. Please promote this awareness and encourage both financial support and programmatic planning by all clubs to be prepared to conduct the rebuilding that will restore some acceptable standard of living for these devastated families in the longer term.
Thank you all for your magnificent display of compassion and urgent desire to help. You demonstrate all that is special about Rotary and the Rotarians that comprise our membership.
The club welcomed a friend and "regular" visitor - Roy Sheldrick - to its meeting and presented Roy with a check for his well project. In addition, members of the club pledged over $440 towards Roy's involvement in an upcoming "Walk for Water". It is always a pleasure to have Roy visit with the club; he is a respected Rotarian who has raised a great deal of money to help develop safe water solutions for the people of Haiti.
Art Samson updated the club on the financial needs of the Routes Youth Centre. The club has already decided to give $1000 to Routes (and this will be presented at the meeting on March 15). However, Art was asking for help on two fronts - assistance with personnel for the board and financial assistance from individuals. If club members are interested, they are encouraged to get in touch with Art directly.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club gave $1000 to Dundas Community Services. DCS was represented by Phil Clay, chair of the current board of DCS. Phil reviewed some of the key programs that DCS operates including a driver program for those in need of transportation, friendly caller services and coordination of so many more programs that are significant for both youth and seniors in the Dundas area.
Peter Davis, Director of Community Services, was on hand to present the cheque to Phil on behalf of the club.
The club welcomed Nico Papp from Alta Gracia in Cordoba, Argentina. Nico spoke to the club and presented President Elect Shirley Molloy with a banner from Argentina with a graphic of the hills surrounding his city in the background.
On March 8th, the club welcome Katie Deverson, the club's second GSE team member (the previous one was Lindsay Puddicombe). Katie is off to South Korea at the end of the month and will come to the club and make a presentation when she returns.
The club wishes Katie well in her endeavours in South Korea - she will provide us with a link so that we can follow her progress on Facebook.
On March 1, the club inducted a new member - Dr. Phil Wood. Phil is the Dean of Students at McMaster University and is a professor of Chemical Engineering andAssociate Vice-President of the university. In his space time, he is the Academic Director of McMaster's Centre for Leadership in Learning. He hosts his own radio programme on 93.3 - CFMU (but also available on the web) ... it is called "Soul in the Hole" and airs on Wednesdays.
Marcel Mongeon (from the Ancaster AM Club) is a gifted speaker who brought us a myriad of information on the topic of copyright and "intellectual property" which was both informative and inspiring.
This morning both the inbound and outbound youth exchange students were introduced to club members. Nico Papp from Argentina was introduced by Bob Neibert whose family is hosting Nico. Nico took a few minutes to tell members how pleased he was to be here and how he looked forward to his year. Claire Harkness and her mother were introduced by Jan Southall. Claire will be going to Australia in September for one year. She told the club of her excitement and the fact that she would do everything possible to be a great ambassador of Canada.
Una West spoke to the club about an organization she helped start called the Compassion and Peace Association of Canada (CAP). The organization works to assist youth with mental health issues that often lead to suicide. She stated that about 1.5 million children and youth in Canada suffer from a diagnosable psychiatric disorder with less than 20% receiving therapeutic intervention. CAP runs a website and organizes monthly meetings so that youth with mental issues can communicate with each other and seek support.
Testamonials like the following give proof to CAPs work: "This website gives everyone a safe place to come and let our hair down. It is here that we can vent or swim in our emotions. No judgment is past against any of us." "When the world gets cold and you feel the universe has forgotten you, just come on here because there is bound to be someone online that feels the same as you or has dealt with a similar problem."
The organization is looking for support and anyone interested in helping out or in need of the services can contact CAP through the websites, www.compassionandpeace.ca or www.compassionandpeace.org
If you have been watching the news you undoubtedly saw the devastation of the earthquake in the south island of New Zealand in the city of Christchurch. Our Friendhsip Exchange visitors, Fergus and Barbara Cumming, who visited with the Montesantos for three days last year are from Rotorura on the north island of New Zealand. Ralph has been in touch with them to see if the earthquake damaged their area. Barbara replied and gave an update of the situtation and some follow up to a house exchange that might take place.
Hi Ralph and Barbara,
Everything is Ok in our area and we are fine. We have no family in the Christchurch area. The Rotary family is in contact with the DG of that area and other senior Rotary people to provide what assistance we can. Rotorua is organising motel and other accommodation for families to get out of Christchurch for a short time. Phones and emails have been working non-stop almost.
6pm TV news tonight confirmed 98 dead and 226 still missing. The whole country is deeply concerned for the trauma and grief being experienced by the people of Christchurch.
We fly from Rotorua to Invercargill through Christchurch next Tuesday for the Royal Federation Justices of the Peace National Conference, so may be able to see some of the devastation first hand as we land and then take off again from Christchurch. Fergus is one of 3 nominated for the position of Vice President and this will be voted on either late Saturday or Sunday morning. Once the outcome is known them we will have a time frame to work towards re house exchanges.
Trust you have had or are still having a great holiday in Chile away from the cold winter of Ontario.
Our youth exchange student has arrived from Cordoba, Argentina. Bob Neibert met Nicolas Papp at Toronto Airport last week and took him to his house where Nicolas will be living for the next 2-3 months. Nicolas' first stay was extremely short because the next day he had to leave for the youth exchange leadership camp in Timagami. Nicolas is now back and enjoyed meeting the other exchange students and getting accustomed to the cold temperatures and snow of the north. On Tuesday March 1 Bob will present Nicolas to the club.
Bob Wercholoz spoke to club members on January 18 about the Mobility Cup 2011, an opportunity for disabled sailors to put their sailing skills to the test. What follows are his speaking notes.
Imagine leaving the confines of your wheelchair and going sailing!
This is what many of our sailors look forward to every spring.
Are you aware that 15.5% of Ontario’s population has some type of disability?
You probably know someone in your family or an acquaintance that falls into this category.
I am one of these people due to a hearing loss. Our Able Sail programs are there to teach and enable people with physical disabilities to get out on the water and go sailing. This opportunity allows these sailors to compete on a level playing field with able bodied sailors!
“Freedom and Possibility”
Sailing is the fastest growing sport for people with physical disabilities.
From August 29 to September 2, 2011 an exciting world sanctioned sailing regatta will be held on the waters of Burlington Bay. It is called the Mobility Cup 2011. This event is truly international, with competitors not only from US and Canada but Europe, Australia and New Zealand. This is a joint venture between RHYC & BS&BC.
The Sport became a Paralympics Summer Games event in 2000 with a class of dinghy sailboat called a 2.4. This class will be competing for the North American Championship at this regatta. In addition, the Liberty Class will be competing for the Canadian Championships for the first time ever.
The event is open to all, regardless of disability or skill level and experience. One class of the 3 types of boats is designed to have a companion sailor to support the competitor, but not the actual sailing of the boat.
We anticipate 75 to 85 athletes will compete in this event. They will be accompanied by caregivers, family and friends; this will likely result in up to 300 people attending.
Mobility Cup has become an international fixture, promoting the establishment of new and growing sailing programs across Canada.
The History of this amazing sport goes back to Rick Hansen’s ‘Man in Motion’ campaign. He received the gift of an ‘Able Sail’ boat from Dame Margaret Thatcher at Expo 86 in Vancouver. Rick donated the boat a couple of years later to Sam Sullivan, the former paraplegic Mayor of Vancouver with the stipulation it had to be used for people with physical disabilities.
Sam promptly founded the first ‘Able Sail’ program in Canada. This is known as the Disabled Sailing Association of B.C.
The rest as they say is history!
(Please read on for the remainder of his presentation)
John Preston and Anne Pearson were the guest speakers at the December 21 meeting. They are members of a steering committee that is working and advocating on behalf of all future residents of the Dundas Living Centre. The Dundas Living Centre is a home away from home to support young adults with cognitive and/or physical disabilities. The plan is to build the centre in front of St. Mark's Church on Governor's Road. The land is in the process of being purchased and they are now looking at ways to fund the $7 million needed to construct the building. They came to our club to inform us and to ask for any advice.
At present, there are over 500 people on waiting lists to get into group homes in the Hamilton area. Many parents are very concerned with what happens to their child after the parents are gone. This 36 unit facility will have private suites and bathrooms all grouped together every 4 or 5 suites with a common room for socializing. The steering committee expects to have the building completed within three years.
President Bruce and Wayne present Paul Clifford with his Paul Harris Fellow + 2. Paul is a great supporter of The Rotary Foundation and a tireless worker for our club and many other causes in the Hamilton area that focus on giving assistance to others who are less fortunate.
Rob Reid presented a cheque for $250 to assist Jacqueline Janas with the cost of her trip to Ottawa where she attended the Forum For Young Canadians. Jacqueline is a Grade 11 student at the Westdale Secondary School French immersion program and one of the performers at the recent Rotary Stars event.. She said a highlight of the forum was meeting the Senators on Parliament Hill. Jacqueline then treat us by singing Silent Night in German, French, Polish and English.
President Bruce and Paul Clifford present $6150 to Canon Wendy Roy from St. Matthew's House. Money was raised the previous week at the annual auction in support of St. Matthew's House. Canon Roy said that last year her organization helped over 5200 family members and she praised our club for helping people we never get a chance to meet.
Rotary International has named John Hewko, an attorney with extensive international experience in both the private and public sectors, to be the global humanitarian service organization’s new top executive, serving as its general secretary. Rotary’s Secretariat supports the activities of more than 33,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas, with a combined membership of 1.2 million men and women. The Rotary Foundation annually distributes over $180 million to fund a variety of educational programs and humanitarian projects throughout the world.
Hewko is a former partner with the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie and was vice president at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. government agency established in 2004 to deliver U.S. foreign assistance to the world’s poorest countries. He begins work on 1 July at a key moment in Rotary’s 106-year history.
“I am delighted to be joining Rotary and honored to be able to participate in the organization’s mission to promote world peace and understanding by addressing some of the root causes of conflict, such as poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, and the global water and sanitation crisis,” Hewko said. “Rotary’s global membership of 1.2 million business and professional leaders -- supported by a dedicated, professional staff -- is a powerful resource that is making a meaningful global and grassroots contribution to that goal. Just look at what Rotary already has accomplished in the area of polio prevention and eradication.”
As RI's general secretary, Hewko will play a lead role in the implementation of the organization’s newly revised strategic plan that envisions Rotary’s expanded engagement in areas such as maternal and child health, water and sanitation, disease prevention and treatment, basic education and literacy, economic and community development, and peace studies and conflict prevention/resolution. His tenure could also see the successful conclusion of Rotary’s principal humanitarian initiative: its 25-year campaign to eradicate the crippling disease polio, a goal that is more than 99 percent complete.
The annual St. Matthew's House auction was once again lead by auctioneer Bruce Eccles. Bruce is now home from hospital/rehab and this was his first morning meeting attended since his accident. Through his efforts and the kind donations of others in attendance on December 14 the club raised $6150 which will be turned over to St. Matthew's House at our next meeting, just in time to help out for the Christmas season.
Rotary Stars was held on November 21 and if you cursor down a couple stories you will see an article describing the event. This is just an update after the board meeting of December 15. Treasurer Ken reported that the event raised $8977.49, the most since we started 7 years ago. There were 300 tickets sold with about 200 in attendance. A number of folks purchased tickets in support of President Bruce and his recovery from the motorcycle accident but did not attend.
Thank you to the following sponsors whose support pushed us to new heights of fundraising: GoBee Industries (Steve Deighton), St. Matthew's House and Hamilton Association for Residential and Recreational Redevelopment Programs (Paul Clifford), Carole Beel, Metro (Rob Reid), Comprehensive Business Services (Wayne Massey), Richardson GMP (Sharon Lacey), Chameleon Graphics, Stone Ridge Insurance Brokers ( Peter Davis), Marinete Enterprises Inc. (Joe Guedes), Hadrian Manufacturing Inc., Rob and Patti Brown, Colin Wood and Diane Davis-Wood, Jessica Brennan HWDSB, Dundas Minor Hockey Association and Councillor Russ Powers.
Of course a special thank you to the club's sustaining sponsors - Eccles Auto Services Inc. (Bruce Eccles), The Plan by Investors Group (Ernie Romain), GoBee Industries Inc. (Steve Deighton), Fraser Financial Consultants (Carl Fraser) and Pro Act Consulting Group Benefits and Financial Plans (Mary Lou Emmett).
Peter Davis did a great job as chair of the event and Wayne Massey pulled it all together with the printed program and sponsorship packages. The food and beverages were a class act thanks to Roger Stewart and of course the entertainment itself was outstanding. Thank you George Gould for stepping in as emcee while Bruce looked on from his wheel chair.
This was the first year the club ran the event without Erin Bree Pierce who coordinated and supplied much of the talent in the past. Her mentorship got us ready to do the event on our own and we thank Erin for getting us ready.
Bob Neibert introduced guest speaker Dr. Angela Sheng Director Chair of the Confucius Institute at McMaster University. Dr. Sheng spoke about the institute being a partnership among McMaster, the Beijing Language and Culture University in China and a consortium called HANBAN which consists of 12 ministries in China. This is one of many institutes world wide that is designed to encourage the study of the Mandarin language and Chinese culture. Dr Sheng informed us that there were over 1.4 billion people who speak Mandarin and there are 1.3 million people in Canada that speak Chinese. Locally, in the southern Ontario cencus tract there are over 160 000 people who speak Mandarin and another 240 000 who speak Cantonese. The institute is working within the McMaster Humanities Department to encourage the community to learn to speak Mandarin for fun, to know their neighbours better, to learn the culture through films and games, for travel, jobs and business. She also indicated that learning the language helps ward off Alzheimers disease. She told us to expect to see more Chinese tourists in Canada because China recently designated Canada a tourism destination country. This brings improved opportunity to learn more about the Chinese people and to build business and cultural relations.
There were several follow-up questions to Dr. Sheng and Jan Southall thanked her and Leah Qian, her assistant, for coming to our club. It should be noted that the fourth Object of Rotary is, "The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service". The Confucius Institute at McMaster is a good fit with the mission of Rotary International.
Today's meeting saw visiting Rotarians Theo Herpers from the Netherlands and Kamal Shankardass from the Dundas club. This is Theo's second visit to the club, being here earlier in June. Sergeant-at-Arms Kathy asked George to visit the Rotary Stars event held on Saturday. George thanked everyone who helped and said the evening was a great success. Happy dollars from Marnie whose daughter is driving; Vlad who celebrated 40 years of marriage to Anna and spent the weekend at Great Wolf Lodge with his granddaughter; Glen for reintroducing us to Entertainment Books; Allyson for her kudos to Paul Clifford's daughter for her great singing; and, Russ who returned from out west where snow and bitterly cold temperatures are moving this way.
Bob presented a club banner to Acting President Wayne from his visit to Northern Lights Rotary Club in Edmonton while he too was out west shivering in the cold and snow.
We welcomed Steve Miazga, CAO of the Hamilton Conservation Authority, as today's guest speaker. Russ introduced Steve as a man with a passion for the environment that he combines with a background in planning.
Steve outlined three areas of foci for the authority: flood control and erosion prevention, the Dundas area and other areas in the watershed.
The authority is a major land owner with 11 000 acres under its control. This is managed with a $16 million budget of which $12 million is self generated and not from taxation sources. Monitoring water quality, improving fisheries, protection of natural areas, land use planning and landowner stewardship are all part of flood control and erosion prevention. In the Dundas Valley there are 3000 acres under its control. Over 4000 children each year take part in its outdoor education programs. As well, Websters Falls has a new lookout that supports the physically challenged and the Crooks Hollow Dam removal and streambed restoration are underway. The big thing on the agenda at present is the Eco-Gateway plan and the Veldhuis property.
Other areas of foci for the authority are the East Mountain Trail Loop, the Eramosa Karst Conservation area, and of course the more than 120 waterfalls that grace the area.
David Matchett thanked Steve and opened the door for him to return to further expand on the work of the Hamilton Conservation Authority.
With a full house at St. James Anglican Church, the Rotary Stars event entertained and enthralled the over 200 guests with songs, violin, guitar and piano from over a dozen young performers. Cheeses of the world, wine, beer, soft drinks, fresh fruit and shrimps helped everyone mingle before the show and during intermission. This was the seventh annual Rotary Stars that Bruce Eccles has championed from the beginning. What a great treat for everyone present to have President Bruce arrive in a motorized wheel chair to enjoy the music of these talented youth and to express his delight at being able to be there as he continues his long recovery from his motorcycle accident over six weeks ago. Thank you goes to all the performers who gave freely of their talents and to the many Rotarians who made the evening the success that it was. Thank you also to Rotary District Governor Karen Oakes and Wolfgang who enjoyed the evening and the opportunity to speak with President Bruce.
The Dundas Dynamo Basketball team received $500.00 to help with its youth program. Coach Anthony Cassano and two team members, both from grade 4 at St. Augustine School, joined the club for breakfast. Abbey Maillet and Lily Cassano received the cheque from Community Services Chair Peter Davis.
Lorne Ellis from the Boy Scouts gave us a history of the Boy Scout movement from its beginning in the UK as an opportunity to help young boys aged 12 - 16 who where old enough to leave school but not old enough to start work. To prevent gangs of youths from forming, Badden Powell got kids off the streets and to camp. Many boys of this age were later shipped to Canada and Australia by the British government of the time and were known as the Bernardo Boys.
Boy Scouts give young boys (and now girls) vocational training and this was the beginning of the badge program. In the early days the badges were the dairyman's badge and steel worker's badge. During the war years badges were radio, air mechanics and coast watchman. In the 1960s, conservation became the focus with badges on atomic engineering and rope spinners. The badge system changes to address issues of the day. The main focus of badges today address personal responsibility, personal fitness and wellbeing, and respect and learning about diversity.
Boy Scouts are facing a number of challenges ranging from more economically disadvantaged children, increased liability issues, co-ed facilities and co-ed leaders, and declining volunteers.
Lorne concluded his presentation by thanking the club for the work that it does for youth by providing healthy outdoor activities like the Rotary Ice Rink in the Dundas Driving Park.
Canadian veteran Reverend William Thomas was today's Remembrance Program guest speaker. He asked a simple question. "Why remember?" His answer was that we should not live in the past but have the past live in us. When one generation fails to pass on information the link is often lost.
He went on to tell a story about Ian Robertson Wares who falsified his age at 16 to join the forces for WWI. He was found out and sent back to school, but two years later joined the Lord Strathcona Regiment. He was sent to France with the cavalary and was part of the last cavalary charge of any war. Modern machine guns cut the regiment to pieces and Ian Wares was killed. His story was forgotten until the age of the internet when it came to light again. As Reverend Thomas was telling this story his voice broke several times. It was not until the very end of his talk that he told us this was his nephew and that his son was named after him.
Bob Monroe, the Area 3 Rotary Foundation Representative, visited the club this morning to present two Paul Harris Awards. Bob Morrow received a PH + 5 and Ralph Montesanto a PH + 3. Mr. Monroe thanked Bob and Ralph for their continued service to Rotary and their ongoing support of The Rotary Foundation.
November is Rotary Foundation Month. As a club we are great supporters of The Rotary Foundation. We access its money, support its programs and donate regularly. The club applied for and received two District Simplified Grants, one for benches for the ice rink and one for the rubber matting. Each was for $2000. As well, one of our members, Bob Morrow, was Group Study Exchange leader two years ago and Ralph hosted a GSE team member from Bulgaria. We have yet to apply for a matching grant but might do so if we move to the Ripple Program in Guatemala as our international service project.
On November 5, Bob and Lynne Morrow, Wayne and Helen Massey and Ralph and Barb Montesanto represented our club at the annual Rotary Foundation Dinner. This year it was held at Salvatore's Italian Garden in Depew NY and saw 180 Rotarians and guests in attendance. Rotary International Past President Wilf Wilkinson was the guest speaker. During the evening, the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club and its members were honoured several times. Wayne Massey was thanked for serving three years as Area 3 District Foundation Representative and presented with a Rotary Foundation Service Award
Awards continued as the club received recognition for being number three of 73 clubs in the district in per capita giving to the annual programs fund with an average of $262 per member. The club gives 20% of its annual budget, around $5000, to the foundation. The rest is made up from personal donations from our members. Many members are sustaining members and give at least $100 US each year. As a club we missed out on being one of the six Sustaining Member clubs because not everyone is prepared to meet the $100 per year donation. We also missed out on the Every Rotarian Every Year Award which five other clubs received. The EREY award goes to a club that averages $100 per member but has every member give something, even just $10. Maybe next year we can meet the criteria and become an EREY club.
The club was also honoured for being one of 19 district clubs that donated at least $2000 to the PolioPlus challenge. One of the highlight of the evening was the presentation to Thie Convery for her swim of Lake Ontario to raise money for polio. A cheque for $52 000 was presented from the Dundas Rotary Club to District Governor Karen Oakes and then to Bill Patchett, Rotary Zone 24 Polio Challenge Coordinator. That money was raised by contributions to the club from people sponsoring Thie's swim. As well, Bill Patchett reminded us that another $130 000 was raised from other clubs across Canada because of Thie's efforts.
Each member of the club is asked to go on the Rotary website, rotary.org, and go to the member access section. You enter your email address and password (you can get a password if you do not have one) and see your personal account. If you have not done this recently, Rotary Foundation Month is a good time to do so.
The regular meeting of November 2 was held at the Dundas Museum and Historical Society with coffee and snacks provided by Domestique Cafe. Thank you to Allyson for arranging this vocational meeting as we learn more about the businesses and community organizations in our town.
After the usual happy dollars and business items led by Sergeant-at-Arms Kathy, the meeting was turned over to Carolyn Westoby, administrator of the museum. Carolyn is a master story teller and led us through the 1956 opening of the museum to present day through "snap shot stories" of the history of the area from the 1800s onward. She even sang, "Follow the drinking gourd", a song for the underground railroad that helped point to the North Star. After the formal presentation members were free to tour the museum and everyone is encouraged to return with their families to see the latest displays.
The following is a letter from Past RI Vice President Monty Audenart regarding the official opening of the school in Afghanistan that our club supported with $500.
Dear Rotary Friends,
On November 3, 1910 the first Rotary club meeting in Canada was held in Winnipeg. Today is a great day to celebrate Canada's Rotary Centennial Project. Our Rotary Centennial School in Afghanistan was dedicated on Sunday September 26th, five months ahead of schedule and under budget.
Representing us again was Rotarian Fary Mohini of the Rotary Club of La Jolla Golden Triangle. Fary was in Jalalabad to among other things, inspect our school and make recommendations to upgrading the lavatories, install a drinking system for the students, obtain quotes to install a playing field, and convert a room into a nursery to attract more female teachers. The Dedication was attended by a number of government and school officials, many respected elders, and local Rotarians. The ceremony had considerable local media coverage.
In their speeches, the elders emphasized the importance of the education in Islam and equal opportunities for boys and girls. They expressed their gratitude, appreciation and 100% support to the Canadians for their generous gift and mentioned that their children will never forget they are sitting inside their class room instead of sitting under trees and rain. They asked that this message be conveyed to everyone responsible for funding the school and how grateful they are and that they need us to help them to educate their children to achieve a better and peaceful future.
While funding for the project is complete, any funds received past the project completion date are being targeted towards improving the school. We just passed $290,000.00. THANK YOU!
With the opening of this school, we begin to touch the future, as many, many lives will be enriched by what they will be taught there.
Governor Karen Oakes accepts a $5000 club donation to The Rotary Foundation. Each year the club sets aside 20% of its budget to support TRF and its humanitarian and educational programs. President-Elect Shirley, Rotary Foundation Acting Chair Bill and Acting President Wayne make the presentation.
Past President Bill Armstrong accepts the Presidential Citation from District Governor Karen on behalf of last year's president Rankin MacGillivray. The Presidential Citation is given to a club by the RI President for meeting the conditions set forth by that President.
Bigger Better Bolder. That was the message District Governor Karen Oakes brought to the club during her official visit. Karen was introduced by Assistant Governor Wayne Massey and immediately remarked on how our club was meeting the theme of RI President Ray Klinginsmith by Building Communities and Building Bridges. She commented on the skating rink, fireworks display, the Vietnam orphanage and today's donation to the Rotary Club of St. Marc to help fight the recent cholera problem.
She reinforced Wayne's announcement that our club will be receiving awards at the annual Foundation Dinner on November 5 for being the third highest giving club per capita in the district with a total donation this past year of over $12 000; and for donating at least $3000 to the Gates Foundation Polio Challenge.
Karen reminded us that it is every Rotarians responsibility to bring in new members and expressed her pleasure at being able to induct a new member this morning. Karen was thanked by President-Elect Shirley Molloy and presented with a personalized book about our club that was prepared by Bob Morrow and signed by club members.
Following the regular meeting Karen met with the Board of Directors and again congratulated the club for the way it finds opportunities to serve in both the local and international communities.
Bernie Schmidt, a Rotarian from The Rotary Club of Iqaluit in Nunavut, presents Acting President Wayne with a club banner. Bernie is the Executive Director of Iqaluit Health and Social Services and is a regular visitor to our club.
District Governor Karen Oakes and her partner Wolfgang Lindemann visited the club this morning for the governor's offical visit. Karen, sponsor Paul Clifford and all club members in attendance helped induct our newest member David Lowery. The club welcomes David and his wife Sue to the Family of Rotary.
First an update on President Bruce. George reported that the breathing tube was taken out on Sunday. Bruce is now able to talk and sit up. The hope is that later in the week he will be moved from Critical Care to Intensive Care. This is all good news in the healing process.
Happy dollars from Andy for his fly fishing experience; Lori for taking her parents to Vancouver on the train and then driving the California coast from San Francisco to Carmel; and Wayne for dry walling his daughter's house. Also today is Wayne's birthday!
The Dundas Valley School of Art is holding a fundraiser on October 24 and Kathy, Sharon, Mary-Lou and Roisin are taking part as photographers. You can sponsor them if you want. Also, please pick up a new application for your police check. The one given out previously is out of date.
Our guest speaker this morning was Jim Brandle, CEO of the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre at exit 57 on the QEW in Niagara. The centre is an independent not-for-profit organization whose mission is to advance horticultural research and innovation to support a healthy future. Horticulture in Ontario is a $2.1 billion business made up of 29% field vegetables, 24% greenhouse flowers, 19% greenhouse vegetables, 11% nursery and sod, 9% fruit, 7% mushrooms and 1% honey and syrup. Jim commented that half of the nation's mushroom supply comes from Ontario.
Vineland works with stakeholders across the horticultural value chain from grower to distributer and retailer to the consumer. Its intent is to link science and business and connect research with innovation to improve food supply and distribution through techology.
Although this all sounds pretty technical, Jim gave a spirited and interesting presentation and had us thinking about the importance, to our food supply, of production, marketing and genomics.
An extra piece of information that was in Jim's handout indicated that the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre has facilities to host conferences and meetings.
What is Group Study Exchange?
Announcing GSE 2011- International Exchange Program for Young Professionals
Mar.26 - Apr.26 2011 SOUTH KOREA. APPLICATION DEADLINE OCT. 29 2010.
The Group Study Exchange (GSE) program of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is offered by Rotary District 7090 as a unique cultural and vocational experience for business and professional men and women in the initial years of their careers.
In 2011, a GSE team from District 7090 will travel to Rotary District 3730 in South Korea . From March 26 to April 26, 2011 GSE team members will visit South Korea and participate in four primary activities:
Vocational Exchange - Witness their respective vocations in action by meeting and spending time with peers in comparable professions and careers;
Cultural Exchange - Experience daily living with host Rotarians and their families while exploring social, economic and cultural aspects of South Korea;
Fellowship Exchange - Share ideas and understandings along with personal and professional expertise;
Rotary Involvement - Participate in Rotary meetings and events in host countries by sharing information about their home communities and personal and professional lives.
Who is Eligible?
A Group Study Exchange Team consists of four non-Rotarian business or professional people and a Rotarian team leader. To qualify as an ideal GSE team member you are:
between the ages of 25 and 40;
employed full-time for a minimum of two years.
employed in or a resident of Rotary District 7090;
a citizen of Canada or the USA; in good health;
able to express yourself clearly and logically;
enthusiastic about your chosen vocation and exemplary in your work;
open-minded, tolerant, and flexible;
comfortable as part of a team with a schedule that is physically and emotionally demanding;
free from all personal and work responsibilities between March 26 and April 26, 2011;
be able to travel with your employer's consent.
Rotary members and spouses and lineal descendants of Rotarians are NOT eligible.
Why should I participate?
Individuals who participate in Group Study Exchange seek new perspectives and vision along with fresh ideas and firsthand experience with the culture, commerce and governments of countries around the world.
As an eager young professional, this is your opportunity for a unique and rewarding skills-building and personal growth experience that is sure to benefit you and your organization for years to come.
How do I apply for Group Study Exchange 2011?
Contact a member of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise to indicate your interest. Application forms may be downloaded from rotary7090.org.
What is provided by Rotary?
Round trip air ticket
Group travel while on the exchange
Lodging and most meals in host countries
What is required of me?
Before departure, you will be responsible for participating in group orientation sessions; obtaining necessary travel documents; and acquiring appropriate immunization. Upon return, you will be required to submit a report and may be asked to speak publicly about your experience.
Personal expenses incurred before, during and after the tour will also be your responsibility. These include: transportation to and from the airport of departure and return; excess baggage charges; insurance; medication; unscheduled excursions; additional travel; other incidentals.
GSE - An Opportunity for Your Employer
International Experience is a valuable asset to young employees. It enhances a global perspective for multinational organizations. It promotes open-minded thinking through contact with business and professional people of other cultures. It fosters creative approaches to problem solving by broadening the employee's outlook. It improves an employee's professional skills through exposure to alternative methodologies.
In addition, GSE provides a great public relations opportunity to expand community awareness of your organization. Inform the local news media that one of your employees will be traveling to another country to learn extensively about its institutions, culture and business practices. Also, arrange a media interview with the employee upon return, or provide an article with photos reporting on his or her experiences while abroad. The employee may be invited by your community's Rotary club to speak at one of its meetings. As well, it is an opportunity for your organization to develop and recognize your top-performing young staff members for the global environment in which they will be working. Consider GSE the pinnacle of professional development and recognition programs for your organization.
Your application must be received by October 29, 2010.
It was great to have Duncan Macintosh return to a club meeting to introduce Peter Davis. Duncan sponsored Peter into the club back in October 2008. It has taken a long time to have that shy guy Peter get in front of us and tell us about himself and his vocation. The highlights of his talk were the meeting of his future wife back in grade 9, their marriage and their two children. Peter completed his BA at McMaster then took cartography. He worked in purchasing and production for a construction company but in 2006 made a career change to insurance. He presently works for Stone Ridge Insurance Brokers out of an office in the Ancaster Power Centre. His favourite place is a ten acre island in Georgian Bay that has been in the family since the mid 50's. He recently purchased a new motor boat to get him back and forth to the island. Peter is very interested in curling along with both his children. The sad part of Peter's presentation was hearing about the loss of his high school sweetheart and wife Elissa to cancer in 2002. Peter is really enjoying the club and has been involved in many activities and projects since his induction. He is presently Chair of the Community Services Committee and co-chair of the Rotary Stars Committee. Service Above Self is more than just words to him. He closed his presentation with a photo of his dog. That completed the circle because he got the dog as a pup from Duncan
Sergeant-At-Arms Kathy started us off with her own happy dollar for the opportunity to get together with almost all her grandchildren and family on Thanksgiving Day. Fred too commented on a great Thanksgiving. Rob Reid was pleased that his daughter's visit to the hospital in Boston was productive. The doctors there agreed to take her on as a patient for her leg troubles. Glen informed us that Entertainment Books were all sold and that he would be gone for three weeks to China (also going with Ross and their wives). Bob Bell celebrated his 18th anniversary and Barbara her 2nd. Allyson's trip to the Rockton Fair provided her with some great photo opportunities especially for the cake decorating contest. Tomatospere continues to be alive and well and Bob Morrow says another half million seeds are scheduled to blast off (and return) to the international space station. Now, the part you have been waiting for. George Gould reported on President Bruce's condition. Bruce is in Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto after a severe motorcycle accident near Perry Sound. It appears he was cutoff by a car and drove into it, breaking both knees, his wrist and fracturing his fifth vertibrae. He also gave his tongue a huge bite and is dealing with that gash. He has since had operations on the knees and wrist; and, has his head in a hallo for his spine. Some bone marrow made it into his blood stream and this has reduced the amount of oxygen he is getting. As a result he will be on a respirator for at least the next two weeks. The hallo is on for the next 12 weeks. It looks like he will be in the hospital for 6 or 7 weeks. He had his family at the hospital for Thanksgiving Day but has difficulty communicating with the sore tongue and his wrist in a cast. Besides his concern for Claire and his family, he was worried about how he would stay on as president of the club. He has been reassured that we have a plan. The Board met after the regular meeting and agreed to the following: Past President Wayne will take on the duties of president for October and November with Past President Bill looking after December and January; and, Bob Morrow dealing with the regular administrivia of the job.
Family of Rotary Chair Joe asked everyone to continue to update their personal information on the club website and to join in celebrating second Friday this week at East Side Mario's around 5:00 PM. New Generations Director Andy said Bob Bell joined the committee and their big efforts would come in the spring with Slapshot, RYLA and school awards. His comments on Youth Exchange led to Club Service Director Jan's report on progress made with Youth Exchange. Applications are now in the two Dundas secondary schools and she expects to have someone selected by mid November. She and Bob Morrow also presented two bylaw issues. One was the change from Youth Services to New Generations and the other was a new section on email meetings of the board. Both items were passed. Assistant Governor Wayne invited everyone to attend the annual Rotary Foundation Dinner at Salvatore's Italian Gardens in Depew NY on November 5 at 6:00 PM. The cost is $60 pp. The other main items were Shirley reminding us to have our police checks updated using the forms she distributed and Peter giving us each four tickets to sell for Rotary Stars on November 20 at St. James Church.
To cap off this part of the meeting perfect attendance pins were presented to the following members: Ken Turner 42y, Bob Morrow 20y, Wayne Massey 5y, Harold Gruneberg 3y, Carl Fraser 2y, Bill Armstrong 2y and Lori Edey 1y. President Bruce then moved us into the club assembly and promptly listed in rapid succession at least 100 different things he has had to attend to as club president. Being president is an awesome responsibility! Treasurer Ken reminded us that over the last five years we averaged about $200 000 per year in fundraising with most of this going to the rink. Our annual budget this year is about $29 000 with 20% going to World Community Service, 40% to Community/Vocational Service, 10% to Youth Service, 10% to Literacy Service and 20% to the Rotary Foundation. Major fundraisers were Entertainment Books $2407, Rotary Stars $5582, Lobsterfest $15 460 and Fireworks $4566. Membership Director Barbara informed us that the club was now at 47 members with the resignation of Viola who found it easier to attend the noon hour meetings. Today we had 36 members present, a pretty full house but still below 80%. Barbara also indicated that she would be assigning each of us a buddy so that we could call each other when a prolonged absence is occurring. Public Relations Director Ralph said his goal was to promote to both internal and external audiences the club's service projects, activities and other Rotary information. Keeping the website updated weekly and distributing a weekly newsletter were high priority items as well as working with Program Chair David to have a number of Rotary information sessions.
Before we moved to our first club assembly of the Rotary year Sergeant-at-Arms Kathy called for happy dollars. A number of members attended the Hockeyville tournament between the Sabres and Senators and spoke highly of the event and the prominence it brought to Dundas. Allyson attended a Stephen Lewis Foundation Dinner in Troy and talked about grandmothers of AIDS victims looking after 17 children while still making pottery for sale to support the family. Shirley spoke highly of the Dundas Community Food Drive on the weekend and said there should be enough supplies on the shelves to carry on until Christmas. She also reminded us of the Routes Scrap Metal Drive on Saturday October 23 from 9 - 2 behind the Olympic Drive Arena. Ernie just returned from Dubai where it was extremely hot, but not hot enough to stop him from playing golf. He visited the largest mosque in the world where the rug weighed 47 tons. He was also surprised by how many cranes were not in operation and how many new building foundations remained unfinished.
Bob McConkey and Cassandra Stewart from Habitat for Humanity, Hamilton, were today's guests. Bob spoke to us about how the organization was started in 1976 in the USA and has grown to include more than 100 countries. The Hamilton organization has been building homes since 1985. Habitat gets the land, material and labour donated and requires the family that will be receiving a house to work 500 hours as their contribution to the project. Habitat targets hard working low income families to receive a home and the organization holds a no interest mortage that is repaid based on the family's income.
Not too many people we know are on a first name basis with an astronaut but that is what our own Bob Morrow is. Through his work with Tomatosphere and the Canadian Space Agency Bob has met several astronauts. Canadian astonaut Bob Thirsk has phoned Bob from the space station and last week was at a meeting in Dundas that Bob Morrow organized. It was at this meeting that Bob Thirsk presented our very own Bob with a special plaque saying, "To Bob Morrow with appreciation for your invaluable contribution to Tomatosphere and Canada's first long-term mission" It was signed by Bob Thirsk.
Orphanages in Vietnam, Ukraine and Mexico; hospital equipment in Paraguay; support for victims of rape in The Congo; a school roof in Kathmandu; a limb clinic in Dhanbad India; water wells in Haiti; a school in Afghanistan. These are just a few of the international causes our club has supported in recent years. But if someone were to ask what is the main focus of international support for the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club we would not have an answer at this time.
The club received a thank-you from Ryan Wilson who was last year's receipient of The Ken Turner Award. Ryan was a student at Parkside High School. Here are his words of thanks. "The Ken Turner Award was given to me this year and I am truly grateful. The award is extremely thoughtful and I am glad to have been thought of in the same light as Ken Turner - Not to mention the money. It will be a large help in funding university. Many thanks, Ryan Wilson."
Paul and Barbara Clifford gave members an overview of what is required if the club decides to become part of the District 7090 Youth Exchange Program. In the 1980s the Cliffords hosted exchange students on three occassions with students from England, Denmark and Mexico. Paul outlined the expectations from a technical perspective, discussing timelines for outbound and inbound students, the application form, the need for club counsellors and 3 - 4 host families. Barbara talked about the actual hosting of the students.
What a treat we had today hearing from Youth Exchange student Ashleigh Gureckas. Ashleigh finished High School at Bishop Tonnos in Ancaster and headed off to Kanazawa Japan for one year before she starts Trent University this September to study psychology. Dressed in her red jacket and adored with pins from youth exchange students from all over the world, Ashleigh gave a spirited summary of her stay in Kanazawa complete with photos of her host families, Japanese cultural sites and the many friends she made at her new high school.
Tom Bontje, Chair, Dundas Valley School of Art, Arthur Greenblatt, Executive Director, DVSA, Nancy Gray, Chair, Carnegie Gallery, and Clare Crozier, Chair Dundas Museum and Archives were here to promote the Dundas Community Arts Foundation and its Heart of Dundas Campaign to raise $8.5 million for the school of art, the gallery and the museum.
What better way for Clare Crozier, President and Board Chair of the Dundas Museum and Archives to introduce the role of the museum than by telling a story about one of the community's earliest settlers. Ann Morden came to the Dundas area back in 1780 after her husband Ralph was hanged for treason in Pennsylvania on November 25, 1780. Ralph was arrested for helping Robert Land escape after his first trial for aiding Major General Benedict Arnold in his escape from General Washington. General Arnold had planned to turn over his fort to the British but was found out before it could happen. It turned out that the prosecuter at Ralph Morden's trial was his brother-in-law who wanted to prove his loyalty to the new government and pushed hard for Ralph's execution.
President Bruce along with Viola, Allyson and Ralph visited the Rotary Club of Dundas at lunch today to honour Thie Convery for her Swim To End Polio. Thie received a standing ovation from everyone present and a cake to help celebrate the event. President Bruce presented her with a cheque for $1000 in addition to the $2000 the club budgeted for polio eradication before Thie's swim. Bruce expressed the feeling of everyone in our club when he gave her a big hug and thank you.
Thie Convery is a Sudbury girl who graduated from McMaster University and set up her own financial advisory service in Dundas. About a year ago, Thie was having dinner with some Rotarian friends and enjoying a few Irish whiskies when she said out of the blue, "I think I'll swim Lake Ontario to raise money to end polio." The next day, after the effects of the whiskey had worn off, she googled, "swim in Lake Ontario" and determined that meant a 52km sanctioned swim from Niagara-on-the-Lake to the CNE grounds in Toronto.
Today's meeting saw Ross Cruickshank and Thie Convery from the Dundas Rotary Club as guest speakers. End Polio Now was the topic. Ross talked about his youth back in the 50s when polio was a feared disease in Canada; a time when almost every classroom had one or two students crippled from the disease or missing because they were confined to an iron lung or were dead; a time when swimming pools were closed down in the heat of the summer so that the virus would not spread through the crowds of children.
July 27, 2010.
Barry Forth, co-chair of Dundas Hockeyville, reminded us that Hockeyville Canada is a Kraft Canada country-wide competition where communities vie for $100 000 plus an NHL preseason hockey game in the local arena.
The competition started with 650 entries and was narrowed down to 12. Then voting began and Dundas moved to the top 5. More voting followed and after over a million votes, some of which were done by our club members and their families, Dundas was victorious.
July 13, 2010.
The club had a real treat today as club member Bob Morrow took everyone on a trip to Skagway, Alaska and Dawson City, Yukon. He used poet Robert Service to create a Klondike sandwhich though the Ballad of The Ice-Worm Cocktail and The Cremation of Sam McGee. In between, his photos of the gold rush era and modern times helped members experience the history and geography of the land.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is pleased to welcome Bob Bell as a new member. Bob lives in Dundas with his wife Pam. Several years ago he was a member of the Kitchener Rotary Club and when he moved to Dundas was looking to renew his Rotary experience. Bob's classification is Insurance and Estate Planning. He works for Sunlife.
July 6, 2010.
This was the first meeting of the Rotary year and President Bruce Eccles' first duty was to induct Bob Bell into the club and the Family of Rotary. As is the club custom, all members stood, formed a circle and were part of the formal induction ceremony. Once Bob received his Rotary pin, he walked inside the circle and shook hands with each club member.
February 9, 2010.
Ken Turner turns 100 years young.
Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club celebrated the 100th birthday of Ken Turner. Ken has had perfect attendance in Rotary for close to half a century!
Congratulations Ken and Many Happy Returns!
PDG Bob Bruce joined us at our regular club meeting and updated us on the Polio Plus Project. For four years, Bob was the Director in charge of the Foundaton at the District Level and he has served the district so well that he has now "moved on" to be an assistant Foundation representative at the Zone level
Devin Tuinstra, a young Hamilton entrepreneur, gave an extremely well organized and thorough talk on Web Marketing. Devin stressed the importance of the five components of Web Marketing
Bill Armstrong explained to the club how in his year as president, the club was able to attain a Presidential Citation - an award given to the club, but only with the leadership illustrated from the president of that particular year.
Past President Bill Armstrong accepted two awards at the recent District Conference - in this photo, Bill is seen showing the club the award that we received for best Cooperative Project - the Ice Skating Rink, of course - which was in cooperation with the City of Hamilton
Hamilton mayor Fred Eisenberg was the guest speaker at Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club this past Tuesday morning. Mayor Eisenberg talked about the challenges and opportunities facing the city,
Lynn Bouvier is a Research Biologist with the Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada. She has a M.Sc. in Marine and Freshwater Biology. Lynn took part in the Rotary Group Exchange to Paraguay and /argentina from May 10 - June 6, 2009.
Jenn Evans and Marnie McFadden gave a presentatin to the Club on their participation in RYLA. Jenn is a musicology student at Queens and Marnie is a photography student at Sheridan.RYLA 2009 was held from June 14-20, 2009 at SUNY, College in Fredonia, New York.
Janice Mills, recently retired from a carer in nursing and halth care administration, talked to the Sunrise Rotary Club on Tusesday, July 28 about the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Healh Integration Network (LHIN). She is a charter member and past president of the Rotary Club of Brantford Sunrise.
Stuart (Sunny) Forsyth, a graduate of the Australian National University spoke about abundantwater.org. Sunny has been conducting in-the-field research for abundantwater.org for the last twelve months.
Tuesday, July 14th saw Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club hosting the weekly meeting in the Dundas Driving Park. The guest speaker was Dundas lawyer, David Ramsbottom.
On Tuesday, July 7th, the Dundas Concert Band and the Dundas Pipes and Drums celebrated the opening of the Stan Rodgers Band shell/Rotary Skating Rink.
Jeff Taylor from Eccles Auto Service provided club members with an excellent introduction to the world of hybrid automobiles, starting with the pioneering work of Porsche in the 1800's and leading up to the 21st century.
Mae Radford and Anne Lindley did a presentation to the club on Community Support Services offered by the VON, an organization that has been serving our area since 1897!
The Dundas Rotary Ice Rink opened on Saturday, February 7th with a ceremony filled with fun and festivities. The ceremony is featured in a photo journal (click on the right side of the page...and click on each image for a larger version). A story and phots appear in the Dundas Star on February 13.
Steve Deighton brought a wonderful surprise to our last meeting - a cheque for $3600 for the ice-surface. This was in addition to the cheque submitted by GOBEE Industries earlier in the Rotary Year. Watch this space for a REALLY big announcement in the next few days
Mark spoke to the club on February 3rd, and explained some of the basics of chiropractic and how people might bridge the gap between one's vision of life and reality
Dr. Pradeep Kumar spoke to the club on January 27th and brought a message associated with speech disabilities in India. Dr. Kumar reminded the club that if a problem in India affects 5% of the people (which speech disabilities do), then we are talking about 50 000 000 people!
At our regular meeting on the 27th of Januay, Carl Fraser and Steve Deighton unveiled the sign which will have a permanent place in the Dundas Driving Park. In the accompanying photo, President Bill Armstrong and Steve Deighton displayed the sign for the club members.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club recently delivered a cheque to the Dundas Community Services. Robin McGinlay, a board member, accepted the cheque on behalf of the organization
Rankin McGillivray, president-elect, brought his own brand of humour and a high level of expertise when he presented a "reclassification talk" to the members of the club. Rankin is the president and CEO of N-Ray in Dundas and has witnessed his company grow exponentially in the past few years. Dealing with neutrons, Rankin's company provides a "snapshot" of many items for industry; examples include aircraft engines and very large bullets!
Steve Deighton and family (and friends and employees) joined the club on Tuesday to celebrate the company's donation of $10 000 to the development of the Dundas Rotary Rink.
Courtesy of Bob:
The cement seems to be all laid...
Excellent article in the Hamilton Spectator on the 24th
Photo should be in the Dundas Star this week-end
Bill Armstrong presented a cheque for $5000 to District Governor, Ralph Montesanto as the club's initial donation for the 2008 - 2009 year towards its foundation donations.
District Governor, Ralph Montesanto, visited the club and provided the club with an overview of the activities at the District level, the goals of Rotary International, and some of his personal adventures leading up to his role as District Governor
Ashley Greenwood from the Dundas Routes Centre vied with Kevin Crouse as the most passionate person in the room and made a fine presentation to the club about returning to the BASICS for troubled youth.
Lindsay Puddicombe (Puddicombe Farms and Estate Winery in Stoney Creek) and Bob Morrow provided an overview of their trip to Bulgaria as part of the Group Study Exchange Program, sponsored by Rotary
Lena Smye is the Director of Marketing & Fund Development for The AIDS Network which serves Hamilton, Halton, Haldimand, Norfolk and Brant.The AIDS Network provides accurate, up-to-date information to individuals and groups, in an effort to reduce the risk of transmission and increase the understanding of HIV/AIDS and related issues.
Polly is the Director of Marketing & Commuications for DECODE Entertainment Inc., a DHX Media Ltd. Company.
DECODE was founded in 1997 and is a supplier and co-producer of family teleivision shows.DECODE has some 900 television and home entertainment license agreements with more than 200 clients worldwide.
David spoke to the club about Greenpeace.David is a graduate of Highland Secondary School and the University of Waterloo.In September David will start graduate studies at York University.For the summer of 2008 David is working for Greenpeace.The Greenpeace office in Hamilton is located at the Skydragon Centre in Hamilton.
Jessica Gruneberg and Deanna Sokoloski attended the RYLA Conference held at Brock University from June 2 to June 7.RYLA stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.Clubs throughout the District sponsor young people (18-25) for a week-long residence program on leadership.
Richard is the funeral director at Marlatt Funeral Home & Cremation Centre in Dundas.Marlatt's is part of the Dignity Memorial group of funeral homes.Dignity Memorial has over 1,000 North American locations and over 17,000 employees.
Mark Stevenson is an independent producer and videographer living in Dundas. Mark works on contract for a variety of media corporations including CNN, CTV, CBC, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and the Discovery Channel. His speciality is environmental issues.
Roisin is a Sales Representative for Halpern Enterprises, importers of fine wine and spirits. Roisin's sales region covers the Golden Horseshoe area of Lake Ontario.
Irene is a Certified Menopause Practitioner and a Consultant, Nutritional & Compounding Pharmacist.She has a B. Pharm. Hons. RPh.and is employed by Rexall in Hamilton (formerly Day Night Pharmacy). Irene has won several awards for her work, including the 2007 OPA (Ontario Pharmacists Association) Award.
Sergeant Paul Evans, Division 3 - Crime Manager - Sector 3, of the Hamilton Police Service was the guest speaker.Sgt. Evans has been a police officer for fourteen years.He has had extensive training as a use of force officer, crowd control officer, community relations officer, and youth crime officer.Sgt. Evans spoke to the Club regarding the Ontario Use of Force Model.
Hugh is a lawyer and the director of Hamilton Mountain Legal & Community Services.Hugh's presentation, "Legal Aid 101" covered the services provided by Legal Aid.Hamilton has three community legal clinics, Dundurn Community Legal Services, Hamilton Mountain Legal & Community Services and McQuesten Legal & Community Services.The clinics offer a variety of legal services to low income residents of Hamilton.
Lou Proscia, who took over the practice of Dundas Rotarian, Dr. John Macrae, talked to the club about his practice which involves chiropractic, massage therapy, x-ray, and physiotherapy.
Mark Mullins spoke to the club about alternatives to waste management, an obviously pertinent topic given the recent concerns in this area. The talk provided an excellent overview of waste management and opportunities for improvement which at the same time provide energy sources.
Dr. Colin White joined the club and spoke about his early work in this exciting field...especially his work with hands which found their way into lawnmowers and snowblowers...very visual!
Carolyn Wiens, charter president of the VERRRY active Norfolk Sunrise Rotary Club spoke to us about Dignitas International and their ChachokaAIDS program.
Mike Gregor and Heather Coburn spoke to the club on Tuesday, March 4 about their marketing club's prowess and their plans to compete in a large marketing competition in the United States.
Often, we are told, the young people of today have little idea about where they want to go in the world...norwhat they want to do with their lives. This cannot be said of local triathlete, David Mackie. David is a grade nine student at Highland Secondary School, but already he has amassed more than 200 ribbons and medals through his favourite sport - the triathlon.
His Worship, Mayor Fred Eisenberger, spoke to the Dundas Sunrise Rotary Club on Tuesday, emphasizing the need for changes in the direction that the New City of Hamilton is going. In his remarks, Mayor Eisenberger spoke about the need for change both "organically or by design. Hamilton is unique in its situation regarding new development and is poised for much new development in the next few years". The mayor noted that the tax base for the city was in a ration of 70:30 in the past, with the majority of the tax monies coming from commercial and industrial. Today, that figure has been reversed with almost 70% of the tax base coming from residential sources.
Andy Skrypniak, the Director of Membership for the District spoke to the club about membership. The trend in Rotary has been declining membership but our club is a "Beacon of a Postive Ray of Hope" as our club is increasing in numbers.
The speaker at the Jan. 8th meeting was Ron Rodgers with his classification talk with the help of his daughter, Kylie Rodgers. Ron is the Executive Director of Rock "Reach out Centre for Kids" which is changing the face of children's mental health, one child at a time.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club again showed its wonderful community spirit by raising over $5700 for St. Matthews' House on the last official meeting date for 2007.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club had its Christmas Party at the Carnegie Gallery again this year, with festivities organized by Roger Stewart et al, and including wonderful singalongs and scrumptious food from our own Chef and Wife of Dundas.
Our guest speaker on December 4th was Rolph Gerstenberger, the President of Union Local 1005, which is the union representing Stelco employees. He has been the President of the Union since 2003 and he gave us a history of the Union over the past 35 years since he has worked for Stelco and also his term as President. He spoke of the "close of a chapter" in Hamilton and Canada as the Company was sold on November 1, to US Steel and that Stelco was the last Canadian owned steel Company. The last 4 years have been traumatic for the workers at Stelco which included the consequences of the Company filing for bankruptcy and then the sale of the Company. He spoke of the continuing role of the Union in the days ahead.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary club at a recent meeting presented cheques to area associations. Cheques were presented to:
Susan Jasper of the "Design Hope" organization which helps to bring the homeless out of the cold.
Trix Harrison to buy wool for "The Little Hats That Grew" which gives hats, scarves & slippers to needy children.
Shirley Molloy of the Dundas Salvation Army for needy families in the Dundas, Waterdown, Flamborough and Ancaster areas. This need has risen 63% over 5 years.
Carl Loewith received a cheque for Dundas Community Services, which helps seniors, disabled and youth in the Community.
Registered charities are permitted to issue an official charitable donation receipt for gifts of property to that charity. The receipt is for the "value" of the property.
Sharon Lacey was recognized at the Nov. 20th meeting by Rankin MacGillivray as the "Chair" of the successful "Diamonds on Ice"
Fashion show. Not only did she orchestrate the event (losing a lot of sleep), she was also a model on the Runway. Rankin presented her with the framed front cover of the "Vague" Magazine as it would have been if it had been published.
Roy Sheldrick, our area representative for the Rotary International Foundation brought his humour, knowledge (and wife of 52 years, Norma) to the club on the 13th of November. Roy emphasized the need for "every member, every year" to give $100 to the Rotary Foundation.
A representative of the Dundas Little League made a surprise visit to the club this week and presented El Presidente with a photo of the team that we sponsored in 2007 and lauded Carl Lehman for his work with these young people....congratulations to the club for its work with the youth of the community and to Carl Lehman for his contribution in this area.
Ken Beel returned to the club from a sojurn in Australia. Not a single "g'day" or references to shrimp on the "barbie". However, Ken did do some REAL work in Australia, sponsoring a new member for a club and helping out (as is his usual style) with a foundation related to victims of the Bali bombing.
Welcome Back, Ken!
Fred Passmore, wine expert and WWII veteran provided a sobering message for Remembrance Day. Fred's memories and provocative comments about war ... and peace ... certainly put November 11th into perspective
Bill Oates provided a most enjoyable walk down memory lane (for him) and an interesting introduction for himself to the members of the club. Bill is a CA ... but has had a most interesting career.
In May, Robert Morrow took a cheque for $500 to the Rotary Club of Asuncion Sur in Paraguay. The District World Community Service director called this morning to indicate how the money has been spent.
Does this look like Chris Garofalo to you??? Well, it isn't. Chris called in the second string (well...his boss, actually) to assist with his classification talk. We were all very impressed with John's presentation, his passion for his job and his commitment to the community as a regional manager for Investors Group. John is a former UWO football player who has worked with IG in Brampton, Guelph and Hamilton
Chris Garofalo weaved and stickhandled his way through his classification talk to open up Vocational Month in Rotary. Chris is an investment planner with Investors Group; previously, before a career-ending accident, he was with the St. Louis Blues hockey organization. He completed his academic career at Laurentian and lives in Dundas with his wife, Lisa, and his two boys - both of whom are avid hockey players.
Duncan Macintosh, in his usual thoughtful and entertaining manner, advertised the upcoming DIAMONDS ON ICE fundraiser, scheduled for November 13 at Michelangelo's. Tickets are $55.00 or $500 for a table for 10.
Kathy Starodub showed up on Tuesday the 25th with a cast on her arm ... which she got while VACUUMING!
At the same time, we learned that Dave Matchett had a mild heart attack on Saturday the 22nd ... and will be out of commission for a while. He is recuperating now at home and feels good after the insertion of a stent to open up an artery.
Jennifer Tee is recovering from surgery at home and is expected to return soon.
To both of these members, go our best wishes.
Jennifer Middleton, a RYLA graduate from 2006, spoke to the club on her upcoming trip to Mozambique. The RYLA group from that year took up the challenge to continue their leadership ventures in a program that will have a lasting effect on children in a developing nation. We look forward to hearing from Jennifer upon her ... safe ... return.
Recently,we had a speaker talking about the amazing changes that have been happening in dealing with children who are deaf, especially using the Cochlear Ear Implant. It was definitely nice to hear that the number of students who spend their times at Ontario's "Schools for the Deaf" has been dropping dramatically, as students with hearing difficulties are integrated into the school system.
Susan Lamont brought her WAAAAY too bubbly personality (for 7.15 a.m.) to the club and a wonderful message about the new programs being offered at CityKidz as well as a big "thanks" to the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club for its consistent support.
Ron Rodgers and Irene Pasel were inducted as new members to the club on August 21st. Please welcome them to the club when you meet them. In particular, if you were not at the meeting on August 21st, please introduce yourself (or re-introduce yourself as the case may be with Irene, a former member who has returned to the area) to these two new Rotarians.
Every year, the District Governors visits all of the clubs in their respective districts. This week, we had the pleasure of the visit of DG Bob Leek (2008 - 2009). Bob oulined some of the key messages and goals that have been set by Rotary International president (and Canadian), Wilf Wilkinson O.C.
If there was ever a doubt about a club having fun ... just check out the serious looks on everyone's face as we tried out our new induction ceremony (aka The Big East Side Marios Wedding Ceremony)
District Governor Elect Ralph Montesanto escorts a "cool" character down King Street in the Cactus Festival Parade while Jan Southall distributes goodies to the children.
The Cactus Festival Parade saw many Rotarians in attendance, serving in a variety of ways. See the photo journal for more pictures.
The Cactus Festival Parade is an annual event which brings out the whole town...and was a wonderful way to get the town to know about the new ice surface.
Carl Baldauf, an Ambassadorial Scholar, who is from Grimsby, and was sponsored by the Grimsby Rotary Club, spoke to the club on his experiences at the University of London, studying political communications. Carl also enlightened the members of the club regarding the Ambassadorial Scholarship Program and indicated some of the salient features of the program...
As we have heard before, some of the best talks we hear on Tuesday mornings are from our own members. Certainly Judy's classification talk met that particular standard.
Carl Fraser of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club explains some of the plans for the renovation of the Dundas Driving Park which will involve the building of a new ice-pad for recreational skating.
The 2007-2008 year was kicked off in nice form with a Vocational Visit to the Dundas Valley School of Art, organized by Alison Wenzoski. At the meeting, the club inducted its first member for the new Rotary Year, Bonita Kearns. We all welcome Bonita to the club and look forward to her contributions to the working of the club and the community at large.
Alison Wenzowski took the members of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club on a tour of the Dundas Valley School of Art as part of the Vocational Program offered by the club on a regular basis.
Bruce Eccles received two District awards - club champion and club jester. We're not sure that we can separate out the two functions, but what we DO know is that Bruce has provided excellent service to the club, both in initiating fundraisers (such as the Dundas Stars event), and keeping us rollicking on Tuesday mornings.
Ernie Romain was inducted into the Paul Harris Society, pledging $1000 US per year to the Rotary International Foundation. Congratulations, Ernie. Anyone else interested in joining the PH Society should contact Russ Powers.
Joy-Anne Collings spoke to the club about wines ... and was gracious enough to provide us with additions to our wheelbarrow full of wine for the lobster dinner. Joy-Anne did a wonderful job in providing us with valuable information for our next visit to the LCBO. If you missed this talk, you can get an update from Fred Amalfi who kept copious notes.
The regular Tuesday meeting was turned over to the theme of "oldies and goldies" whereby we learn some of the past foibles of our noted members. This Tuesday, on a moment's notice, we learned about:
Jim Hudson, Executive Director of the Bay Area Restoration Council, spoke to the club about the positive aspects and the challenges relating to the clean-up of Hamilton Harbour. Jim, a former Rotarian from Minneapolis, used the four-way test to structure his presentation.
Do you know there are four bank accounts where your club funds are deposited? With three treasurers in the club managing these four accounts it becomes very important to first: know where you want the money to go; and second to tell at least one of the treasurers.
Sean Van Koughnett has been Associate Vice-President, Students at McMaster University since 2013. In this role, he is accountable for the student experience at McMaster and has oversight for departments such as Athletics & Recreation, Student Success, Student Wellness, Student Accessibility, Indigenous Student Services, Housing and Residence Life, and Student Accessibility.
Kelly Daynard is Executive Director for Farm and Food Care Ontario. Farm and Food Care Ontario is a registered charity working as a coalition of farmers and associated businesses. It is funded by members, partners and projects. Its vision is to earn public trust in food and farming.
Every third Monday in February, the residents of Ontario, Canada, celebrate a provincial-mandated holiday known as ‘Family Day’. For the past fifteen years since the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club funded, built and opened the outdoor ice rink known as the ‘Dundas Rotary Skating Rink’ in our community’s Dundas Driving Park our Club has co-hosted “Inside/Outside Dundas” with the Dundas Museum & Archives. Our Club offers outside events such as a figure-skating demo, free hot chocolate, food trucks, Shoot2Score – a hockey-themed game for all ages and gift bag draws. Perfect winter weather attracted over 750 attendees to our ‘Outside’ event while almost 600 visited the ‘Inside’ events…a perfect example of a joint endeavour.
Russ King, Lori King and Nicole Ryan, corporate members of AED4Life/BERRN Consulting gave a demonstration of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and AEDs (automated external defibrillator), at their headquarters at 55 Head Street in Dundas. Several times a year the Rotary club will do off-site meetings at an area business or organization as part of its vocational service program. 
Mike McDonald, CEO of The Bruce Trail Conservancy, welcomed the club to its headquarters at 55 Head Street in Dundas. Several times a year the club visits organizations or businesses in the area as part of its vocational service program. Mike outlined the role of the organization and the size of the area that it manages. Its website 
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Jeremiah Brown was born in Hamilton, has family from Ancaster and attended McMaster University. He currently lives in Peterborough. He and his wife had their first child while they were attending McMaster. He might have followed a predictable path to a settled life. But what kind of story would that be?
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President Jessica thanked Reg and Loretta for visiting the club and she and Foundation Director Ross presented Reg with a club donation to The Rotary Foundation for $4000.
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Lastly Marlee spoke about the International Conference in Batavia. Details include a Friday night Tailgate Party, Haunted tour and Wine tasting. Saturday is all about Rotary with seminars, and a bike-a-thon. We will also be assembling 50,000 dry meal packages to donate to the community and local food banks.
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Filomena is a proud Hamiltonian, the daughter of a Steelworker raised in a family that knew the meaning of hard work. She grew up in Hamilton and only left the City when she went to University. Filomena obtained her undergraduate degree in Philosophy from The University of Waterloo and then studied at Western University where she obtained her Law Degree.
Ernie went to the closet for a sporty, purple sport coat. It drew comments from George (who claimed that his mother made him a jacket once that may have looked worse) and Carl.
Bill and Marilyn and Joe and Anne are both celebrating their 47th wedding anniversary today (June 21st). Grant also announced that it will be Marilyn’s birthday on Friday.
Wayne got together with his three brothers over the weekend and caught an 8 pound pike.
Steve introduced Joe Morgan our youth exchange student who is going to Japan. Following his presentation Shirley thanked Joe and presented him with a club banner.
Joe Morgan, a 16 year old student at St. Mary’s high school is our club’s outgoing Youth Exchange student. He will be heading to Japan in August and is busily learning some Japanese as everything he does in Japan will be in Japanese. Joe first heard about about RYE when a club representative made a presentation at his grade school graduation. He is from a large Dundas family (7th of 9 kids) and his family has had some exposure to Japan through the Kids For Kaga Program. (Kaga is a Japanese city that has been twinned with Dundas and is a short distance from his exchange city of Kanazawa).
Ken, Bill, Ralph Montesanto and Ross Bannatyne pour concrete into the forms.
The Eco Park work is a joint project by the two Dundas Rotary clubs..JPG)
Check this out for full details.
Dave Carson has a new dog, and Irish Red/White Setter that he has named Bristol.
Grant’s son and Bill’s grandson (often our mascot Robear) won the junior football championship representing the Dundas Valley Secondary School Gryphons (aka the Highland Hawks). Jessica was quick to correct Ernie (and other former “Highlanders” of the new name).
Ralph talked about the $250 donation that we made to the sea cadets (also $250 from the noon club) for their help at the Lobsterfest. Wayne just bought a new car and apparently walked all the way to Kensington market in spite of that purchase..jpg)
Phil has just returned from a two week trip to England where he attended his niece’s wedding in Wiltshire. He was also honoured by the McMaster Engineering Department.
Bill talked about his rewarding career with the RCMP. He was born in Saskatchewan in 1944. His father was in the Air Force and his mother’s family were farmers. Bill grew up on bases all over the country and joined the RCMP in 1964. He joined Rotary in 2001 courtesy of sponsor Ralph Montesanto. He first met his wife Marilyn as child. They won first prize as a bride and groom in a Halloween costume contest when they were about 5 years old. Their families moved apart soon after though.
Almost exactly 14 years ago (June 4, 2002), Jan became a Rotarian. Since then, she has taken on many leadership position in our club, including President. Jan began by illustrating her family’s very deep roots in Dundas and their strong commitment its community life. Jan grew up downtown Dundas, one of five children (1 boy and 4 girls). Both parents were involved in town politics and community life and encouraged Jan and her siblings to do the same. Jan’s father held many elected positions, including Regional Councillor. After he retired, her mother became Councillor for Dundas. The family was always involved in election campaigns and canvassed probably every single house in town many times. Jan’s brother became a member of Flamborough Council. 
Art enjoyed his recent trip to eastern Canada but found the maps inadequate. He appealed to New Brunswick-born Carl for an explanation. Carl simply replied that he himself didn’t need a map because he knew where he was going.
Mieke’s daughter was also in the dance recital. Her family enjoyed the recent Buskerfest especially as one of her sons busked by hip-hop dancing and doing “the worm”. 
Wayne reported that at the annual Massey Family Golf Tournament held in memory of Wayne’s father went well. Wayne and his son won. 
Bruce was pleased that the Stag and Doe for his daughter was fun and successful. Shirley was simply happy to be sitting at the Happy Table.
Welcome back to Mary Lou, and congratulations to Jessica's husband who retired from McMaster and was celebrated last Friday after a distinguished career in Economics. Ralph also thanked Josh Campbell from Scotia Bank a Platinum sponsors for the Lobsterfest, Wayne for installing a new Rotary sign on Governors Road, and reminded us of a memorial golf Tournament on June 15th for which he has more information. Grant was thankful that his son is learning the value of community service,
with a shout out to Grandpa Bill's role modelling too. Dave Carson thanked Roger for the use of his post digger later this morning, to dig 44 holes to fence in the Community Garden.
Shirley thanked Ralph and Glen in particular for their efforts to make the Lobsterfest so successful. Wayne was happy his brother also had a birthday yesterday and that he is closing today on the sale of his former mother-in-law's house.
Derek enjoyed the sound of "Ernest" versus "Ernie" which he considered worthy of a Happy Dollar. 
After an interesting discussion on what a writer of novels does, Bob Morrow thanked Gillian.
Gillian Chan is a Dundas resident and author of many short stories and books for young adults. Gillian was an engaging speaker who clearly loves words and can both write and speak with eloquence. She gave us insight into how she became a writer. Her experience was that first she loved reading (no TV) and made use of the local libraries. She loved making up stories from a young age and listening to those of her father with his WW2 experiences, as well as her mother's South African/Irish life events. Like an athlete she noted that writing takes discipline and practice. Mornings are spent asking questions, and writing, while afternoons are for research on the questions, and many times, tearing up previous work and starting over. Gillian noted that stories are an innate part of being human and that we all create stories in our conversations. Stories help us make sense of the world as we may see the world in different time frames or settings, but always from the shared human perspective. Gillian's works include books set in historical contexts as varied as France, Cootes Paradise, L'anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland, and Vancouver - each with a different focus of time, place and history but always with a focus on the story of the lives of her characters. Check out her website www.gillianchan.com
The biggest crowd ever (The Hamilton Spectator estimated close to 19 000) enjoyed a beautiful evening of explosive delight as the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club and The City of Hamilton put on a spectacular 25 minute fireworks display at the Dundas Driving Park.
Bands, food trucks, mascots and a stilt walker gave visitors plenty of diversion until the fireworks went off at 9:35 p.m.
Thank you to all those visitors who made contributions to the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club as they entered the park. The funds will help support the many local and international service projects the club plans each year.
It was a wonderful morning …. VERY spring-like and welcoming. We greeted the “family” of Mieke Ewen – her father and her uncle, Thijmen, who was our guest speaker. It was just a lovely morning to celebrate life.
Mary Lou is back! Looking good, feeling healthy, and welcomed joyously. Derek Price is just back from Europe, visiting his sister. Ken Beel is back from a car ride across much of the US southwest with a focus on Baton Rouge (architecture), San Antonio (engineering) and New Mexico (horseback riding).
Art McCabe from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum thanked our club for the contribution we made to their recent project that allowed students to visit the Museum. The project raised $48,000 with nearly half of that coming from 18 service clubs; ours being one of them. In all, 1300 students from 30 schools were able to participate. Art brought some thank you cards from the students for us to see. 
Along with 24 of our members, we had two visitors: Art McCabe, from The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum; and Bob Knuckle, our Guest Speaker, from the Dundas Little Theatre.
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Ralph reported on a fox barking in his street early in the morning, perhaps announcing Ralph’s birthday this Thursday. Ralph was also happy about the recent Shredding Project which collected 8000 lbs in paper and raised $3000. Jessica was happy that the Raptors had made it to the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs even though they seem to give us heartaches in 4th quarters. 
Art McCabe from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum thanked our club for the contribution we made to their recent project that allowed students to visit the Museum.
Bill Armstrong introduced our Guest Speaker, Bob Knuckle. In addition to being the current Chair of the Dundas Little Theatre, Bob has authored 11 books of true crime stories. It was in this capacity that Bill as an RCMP officer and Bob had met. Bob has also written and produced 15 plays. For today’s talk Bob gave us an outline of the history of the Dundas Little Theatre and described an upcoming special event. Dundas Little Theatre first began showing its productions at a local high school in 1960. Eventually an opportunity presented itself in using the old swimming pool site for a theatre. Along with raising over $350,000 in 1978 and having the architect Trevor Garwood-Jones volunteer design, Dundas Little Theatre opened in its new setting in 1980 with a play from Somerset Maugham. .JPG)
Club president Shirley Molloy and Marie-Louise Kelday ran the desk and collected the fee as community members brought their documents to be safely destroyed.
Mieke Ewen and Liam Armstrong unload vehicles and prepare to transport to the shredding truck.
Ethan Stoltz and Joe Guedes prepare boxes to take to the waste transfer station recycling bin.
Dundas resident Carol looks with interest at the live camera of her documents going through the shredder.
Integra Document Destruction operator Shawn shows young Tim how the system works. Over 8000 pounds of documents were safely destroyed and diverted from landfill to recycling. It was amazing how many residents did not ask for change from the shredding cost of $7 per small bank box. They said, "It's the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club and it does good service work in the community. Please keep the change."
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Nice purse Carl! He reminded Rotarians that the Winter Carnival is taking place the afternoon of February 13th…same day as the Rotary Stars of Dundas. Most of it is organized however he can use some help with advertising in addition to helping out the day of the event for various tasks including handing out apple cider. Four to 5 Rotarians are required as volunteers. There will be music, skating demonstrations and horse drawn wagon rides. And best of all, no charge to the community. So, send an email to all your contacts in the area and invite them to attend. Remember, bring their skates!.JPG)
Marie-Louise began her talk by welcoming Rotarians in 5 different languages! She is a true Canadian as her history goes back a few hundred years to 1660 when her ancestors first arrived in Canada. Mary-Louise’s French-Canadian personal history began when she was born in Blind River in 1950. Her father came from a family of 13 children and her mother a family of 10 which translates into her having over 100 first cousins. Growing up in a large family provided Marie-Louise with strong family bonds and this is why family is a very important part of her life.
Recorder: Don Davidson, Greeter: Grant Armstrong, Desk: Bill Armstrong, Sergeant-At-Arms: Ernie Romain
Our snowy Tuesday morning meeting saw a good turnout for Brainstorming – How to become Fearlessly Creative and have Better Ideas more Often with Dundas residents (and guests) Brandon Love and Joel Hilchey.
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Today’s annual auction for St. Matthew's House brought in a full house of over 30 members and guests. Our long list of guests included Colin Reid, Norman Read, Linda Ingraudo, Fred Amalfi, Carole Beel, Lynne Morrow, Helen Massey, Marilynn Armstrong, Sue Carson, Steve Leighfield and Jim and Sheila Sweetman. Everyone was greeted by Bob Morrow and signed in by Jessica Brennan..jpg)
The high bidder of the day award went to Norm Read with a $350 bid on an original Fred Amalfi painting (http://www.fredamalfi.com) with a $270 bid on the antique box picnic package filled with fine wine, brandy and beer.
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Jessica was looking forward to coming today, happy to have Brandon Love (not her son's friend from high school…..case of mistaken identity or an episode of Bewitched!) Jessica shared her Ronald McDonald House experience where she had a blast chopping carrots and potatoes!
Jessica also wanted it noted that she and Marie Louise do not share a hairdresser! Shirley went to a baby reveal on Sunday and is excited for her daughter, who is expecting a daughter of her own. Ralph has Lobster Rib Fest tickets in time for Christmas – date for this is May 28th, 2016!
Bob Morrow – International – We received a banner from the Croatian Rotary club that Vlad visits. We supported that club dealing with severe flooding in its community. Challenges with getting money to orphanage in Mexico but Ken and Bob are getting through this! Still looking for a big project, but no rush - looking at a number of areas for this project and hoping for a contact in the area of the project. The Canadian government also looking to bump up funding, but the process is difficult as well. Bob was most excited about his international scotch…..at a good cost.
Ross – Discussed liability insurance – especially when we work with children. As president elect, Ross is looking for individuals interested in vacant positions and as vice president. Other positions include Jessica as president elect, Ross as president, Dave Carson as secretary, Wayne as treasurer, and Shirley past president and director of the foundation. Dave reminded members that Invoices will be coming for next year subscriptions…….to be paid ASAP please!.JPG)
A great fellowship time as we support Ronald McDonald House. For a donation of $300 the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club was able to send 6 club members to help prepare the food for families staying at Ronald McDonald House while a child is at the McMaster Children's Hospital. The club and individual members contributed enough to send 5 other teams of six over the next week. Grant Armstrong, Jessica Brennan, Roger Stewart, Carol Campbell, Barb and Ralph Montesanto and chef Shawn Rocchi and Chris were today's team.
Social dress up evenings are always lots of fun. Fellowship at 6:30 at the Dundas Golf and Curling Club followed by dinner, an inspirational talk by Kevin Rempel and the awarding of six Paul Harris Fellows.
Use this link to see Kevin Rempel playing sledge hockey at the Sochi Paralympics.
What an inspirational speaker for the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club Paul Harris Awards! Kevin gave a history of his motor cross racing until the accident that ended it all. Then his turn to sledge hockey and the Paralympics in Russia. A great never give up story.
Catherine is new to Ronald McDonald House and her role as executive director. She feels the role has changed her. Her focus is on ensuring the home has everything required to help these families through their time. Growing up, her dream job was work in New York – Glamour Magazine! She has had a successful career which brought her to New York with a French magazine, where she thought this was it! She realized that ‘that’s not what it is all about’. She became affiliated with Ronald McDonald House through previous role and loved the amazing charity and felt like it changed her. Catherine started as interim director of donations…..looking to increase donor relations. Being in the home with families, changed her and she felt that this was an opportunity to make a difference and far more important that anything she had done previously. The opportunity to see families at time of diagnosis and life changing experience is shocking, and humbling. Approximately 1/3 of families have babies in neonatal ICU. Families are often confused and scared. Their lives begin a ‘not normal time’ and we want to make life seem a little more familiar. We are the only home in Canada with a chef and chef’s kitchen! Families can make meals, do ‘normal things’. Ronald McDonald House currently has a family right now who have been there for over 200 days from Timmins….parents and sibling. Previous family stayed over 1 year – all while their children are being treated at Mac. This is their home away from home. The Ronald McDonald House is on average at 80-95% occupancy. It cost’s the program about $159.00 per night to serve a family, however the families are charged only $12.00 per day. The program ‘Nights of Comfort’ supports families who are unable to pay this fee.
Mieke thanked Catherine and presented her with $2500.
Mieke Ewen - recorder, Harold Grunenberg - greeter, Ken Beel - desk and Ernie Romain - sergeant-at-arms. Guests: Catherine Bridgman, Lynne Morrow, Grace Correia
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2. Dave Carson – Grace visited from Conservations Authority/Eco Park – Conservation Authority was looking for someone to take lead on a Trillium Grant for a viewing platform near the industrial canal, looking for non profit club to put their name on it. They will prepare the application and the money will go to the Conservation Authority. Board okay with this – ensuring the whole club was as well. Motion made by Dave, seconded by Paul. All in favour vote. 
3. Motion forward for Community Services donations – Motion by Mieke Ewen, Seconded by Bob Morrow. (Routes $1500, Wesley $1000, Community Services $1000, Salvation Army $2000). 
4. Winter Carnival – Ken asked for volunteers for committee for the annual Winter Carnival. Also, sign damaged at the park. City will replace it…..with some changes – city will give us money to do this. Carnival generally set for the Saturday of Family Day weekend 
George Gould recalled an uncle who had saved people from a bombed hospital. Ralph Montesanto talked about the powerful experience of being in Ypres and Passchendaele.
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Bill Armstrong greeted everyone and Bob Neibert took attendance. Ernie Romain was Sergeant-at-Arms. The meeting recorder was Jessica Brennan.
Appreciation: As it was her last day, we took a moment to thank, Cathy, for her service and support over the many months in attending to our breakfast meeting needs.
Announcements: Wayne presented recognition to Bob N. and Shirley from the Rotary Foundation for our club’s achievement in “every Rotarian, every year”. Bob N. reminded everyone that November is Rotary Foundation month and that donations can be made easily online. He also reminded everyone of our club’s Paul Harris dinner later this month on the 24th. Ken took us on the “long and windy road” to his and the club’s attempts to transfer money for one of our projects.
Mieke received a pin in recognition for her recruitment of our new member, Don.
Our club President, Shirley Molloy, then led us through a series of vignettes outlining Canada’s involvement in the wars of the last century as we observed Remembrance Day.
Typically some 35,000 agricultural workers come to Canada annually from Mexico, the Caribbean and South America. The majority work in Ontario from Niagara to Leamington. These workers are subjected to long hours at minimum wage with no added compensation for overtime. Employment Standards need to change for this population which would also help Canadians..JPG)
Michelle is passionate about finding solutions for the problems these workers face including literacy, establishing clinics that are accessible as to time and location, prevention based workshops etc. As Michelle pointed out these workers come here to contribute to our economy and quality of life. What can we do for them in return?
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Ralph announced a fundraiser for Refuge Hamilton Centre for Newcomer Health taking place on Nov 19th. Tickets are $30.00 so contact Ralph if you need some; Shirley paid a fine because she had to leave early; Phil enjoyed his bacon despite the advice of the World Health Organization; Paul commented on Dr. Shankardass’s award & the fact that he saw former member Rob Brown yesterday. Paul is still looking for his jacket; Mieke was happy to announce that her cousin delivered her first baby Brittany Jordan.jpg)
Michelle Tew was introduced and thanked by Ralph Montesanto. Michelle, an Occupational Health Nurse, spoke on Global Eye Health Needs Right Around the Corner ie The Case of Ontario Migrant Farm Workers.
A resident of Shanghai, China for 18 years, our guest speaker Randal Eastman is a partner in Dragonfly Therapeutic Retreats with 16 locations in China.
Randal also outlined the North Korean Soccer project from its origins to its impact. The project grew from an idea and the energies of a young Australian boy. Randall had a number of photos from a visit to the area. He thanked us for our generous personal and club donations to the project. 
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Joe was happy to be a Rotarian at our club because it is the only way he would know what the world looks like at 7 a.m. Dave was happy for the sunny days. 
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John Henley return this week to present “My Life in the Movies Part 2”. He showed a 90 second trailer featuring him in “Arthur Moore and The Lone Wolf” which he explained was a Sheridan College Project filmed in the Rockwood Conservation Area. He then treated us to a display of magic featuring a rope trick.
John Henley treated us to stories and pictures of his “Life in the Movies” as a background actor. This is a second career for John who performed as a magician from the age of 10 in England and continued his magical career upon immigrating to Canada, teaching his skills and performing to audiences, large and small. He described his acting career as an exercise in “hurry up and wait” and spends many hours on sets, sometimes doing crossword puzzles but also enjoying some roles working with well-known actors. John's presentation was well received and he is back next week for the sequel, "Life in the Movies 2".
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Marguerite Ward the executive director of the Ellen Osler Home and Chantel Malcolm the program coordinator informed us of one of the best kept secrets of Dundas. To most of our surprise, the home is a federal half way house for female prisoners. It is such a surprise because the women fit so well into the community and their rate of recidivism is extremely low. The home is run by the Salvation Army and has been in operation for women for 14 years. Before that it was for young men. The major focus of the home is to reintegrate women into the community. Some are there for 2 - 3 months while others are there for up to 2.5 years. The women face many barriers to integration and need to relearn everyday things like buying groceries, taking a bus or going to the library. Often employment and housing are difficult to find but they do succeed with help.
Community Service Director Bill Armstrong made the presentation.
Sahil Sawnani and Seye Oduyale both 4th year biochemistry students at McMaster University and co-presidents of the McMaster Rotaract Club attended the week long RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) program in Fredonia NY. They both spoke so highly of the program, the friends they made, and the things they learned about leadership, trust and themselves and how RYLA was now a new defining moment in their lives. Both young men are planning to be doctors.
Abbey Lewis a grade 10 student at Dundas Valley Secondary School attended SLAPSHOT a three day leadership session held at Canterbury Hills in Ancaster ON. Through ice breakers, ropes courses, karaoke, personality quizzes and other leadership activities she learned about her leadership style and the many programs that Rotary sponsors world wide; and, she did this while building new friendships and having an amazing experience.
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Congratulations to Ernie Romain for attaining the Paul Harris plus 7 level and to Wayne Massey for attaining the Paul Harris plus 2 level. Both Wayne and Ernie are regular supporters of The Rotary Foundation and are congratulated by club president Bob Neibert.
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Rotarians and volunteers served and cleaned up..jpg)
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Host Bob Neibert spoke of his family's experiences with Nico and Marnee Maroes spoke of Lisa's stay with her. Ralph Montesanto who hosted Nico showed a slide presentation during fellowship and breakfast of all four youth exchange students. He then turned the computer and projector over to Nico who was Skyped into the meeting from his home in Cordoba Argentina. Nico answered a list of prepared questions ranging from who he is and when he was here, to non host members who took him to their cottage, the zoo, hockey games or golfing. He then outlined the highlights of the program for him. Nico also give his view of the type of student who should be considered for youth exchange. He suggested he or she should not be shy, should be comfortable when away from home and should not be on exchange if there are significant issues in their own home. To close the session, Ralph turned the mike over to club members who had a number of questions for Nico, ranging from his Canadian football skills to his dream to open a wing and 7-Up restaurant in Argentina. Skyping Nico live into the morning meeting was a first for the club and with a two hour time difference Nico did not have to get out of bed too early.
Danielle Malby, program director of the Routes Youth Centre located in the Dundas Recreation Centre, outlined the various programs offered for 8 to 19 year olds in Dundas. Through peer tutoring, fun workshops, movie night, no electronics night and a wild card night of guest speakers, the program looks to provide a safe place and guidance for youth and help them find socially productive and satisfying "routes" to pursue in their lives and living. There are 121 youth in the program and each evening 10 to 15 come to the centre. Throughout the year there are special events like summer trips once a week, talent shows and various fund raisers like leaf raking or a scrap metal drive. The budget for the year is around $120 000 and it comes from a variety of donors including service clubs. The annual gala dinner this year is February 27 and tickets are available for $50 each. For more information go to the website http://routesyouthcentre.ca.
What a great job. Looks just like Robear.
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Pat Consoli from Dynamo accepted $500 from community services director Bill Armstrong.
Singing and fellowship were the order of the evening as the club held its annual Christmas party at the Dundas Museum. The karaoke machine was the crutch needed to get everyone into the mood.
The men and women took turns to see who could outperform the other. Voting tended to be polarized. This was the club's last get-together for the year. Starting in January the club meets at the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club.
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Lots of happy dollars this morning. Vlad returned from Myrtle beach playing golf; Bill's favourite three football teams won; Wayne is recovering from jet lag after being away in the Mediterranean area for a month; Derek who was just happy to see everyone return from vacationing; president Bob for all the returning members; Dave Carson, Paul and Peter for seeing Bruce; Carl for lending the Robear suit to McMaster Children's Hospital; Andy for just being here; Alycia for her new home in Guelph; and Bob Morrow who returned from a month cruise without needing a liver scan.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club is a long time supporter of St. Joseph's Villa, a long term care residence in Dundas and also the town's largest employer. 
Bob Morrow, club director of international services explained what World Community Services is all about and how our club can prepare for a major project in a developing country. In order to access a Rotary Foundation Global Grant our club must have a minimum of $15 000 that the District and Foundation can match. The club has been budgeting for this the last two years. There are, however, specific criteria we must meet to be approved. The project must benefit a large number of people, offer self help, meet one or more of the Foundation's six areas of focus, be Rotary sponsored with a Rotary club associated with the project location, and be self sustaining. The club International Service Committee consists of Bob Morrow, Wayne Massey and Peter Dendekker. Next month they will present some options for us to consider as we plan for a major international project which meets one of the long term goals of the club.
Thanks also to William Pleydon, Marnee's friend who took all of the above photos.
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Announcements
Our guest speaker today is Dr. Callum Peever, B.Kin., D.C.. Dr Peever spoke to the group on the Rotaract Club of Mississauga. The Mississauga club, chartered in 2001, currently includes over 50 members and is a winner of the Project of the Continent Award. This is a high energy club and is engaged in many activities in the community. Rotaract which was started in 1968 targets members in the 18 to 35 age group and currently includes over 8,700 clubs in 163 countries. Rotaract brings a number of benefits to Rotary including assistance with projects, youthful ideas and enthusiasm and help in sustaining Rotary clubs. In addition to involvement with the Rotaract Club, Dr. Peever is actively involved the community working to improve the lives of those less fortunate. Callum works out of the Westdale Chiropractic Clinic. 
Alycia Moore Classification Talk
Sergeant at Arms Bill started the announcements and happy dollars with a congratulations to David and Sue Lowery who recently celebrated their 47th anniversary. He reminded all those involved with the fireworks in the Driving Park of the meeting this Thursday April 25, 6:00 PM at Ken Beel's house.
Using some beautiful pictures of the Dundas Valley area, Anuja presented the work underway on the Dundas Valley 50 Year Vision project. This project was for the whole valley - over 5400 hectares, not just the 1464 hectares of the Conservation Authority. The project has the following main goals
Emily emailed Kathy an update on her travels in Denmark. See below for her information!
Today's meeting was not at East side Mario's, rather it was offsite at Ronald McDonald House thanks to the efforts of Sharon Lacey. Twenty members and two guests attended. Bill Stewart, guest of Carl Fraser, constructed the original Ronald McDonald House in 1993. Sydney Van Bakel, guest of Marnee Maroes, did a coop placement there.
The Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club holds several meetings each year at various offsite businesses or service providers and today's regular meeting was at Ronald McDonald House. Sharon Lacey, chair of Vocational Services arranged the offsite club visit to the newly built and renovated Ronald McDonald House conveniently located adjacent to McMaster Children's Hospital. She arrived with a large box of breakfast fare purchased at a local McDonalds. 
Richard Allen is the director of Renew Hamilton, a project of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce. Renew Hamilton's mission is to document, promote and accelerate the regeneration of Hamilton's built and natural environments with a particular focus on our downtown and adjacent neighbourhoods.
The club's outbound youth exchange student Emily Hall made her last visit to the club before heading off to Denmark later this week. She was joined by her mother, Shelley, as the club bade farewell and good luck to her. Emily will be gone for one year and club members look forward to hearing back from her on a regular basis. President Joe Guedes presented Emily with a cake which was shared by all.
Ashley Greenwood and Paul Reeves from Routes Youth Centre presented on the Power of One - the difference a community, a service club, a youth centre or an adult mentor can have on a youth as he or she receives a voice of reason and support.
Jim McDonald, a new member of St. Mark's United Church in Dundas, harvests fresh vegetables from the Rotary Sunrise Community Garden. The garden is a joint effort by the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club, St. Mark's United Church and Dundas in Transition. Half the garden plots are designated to support the Salvation Army Food Bank in Dundas. Shirley Molloy of the Salvation Army states that all produce coming to the food bank from the garden is being distributed to clients. The food bank is currently handling about 400-450 clients per month at the Dundas location. In addition to the community garden, it provides approximately 50-60 Good Food Boxes to families and needs to purchase potatoes, carrots, and onions every other week. The Good Food Boxes are available the fourth Friday of each month.
Productive Cooperatives Haiti (pcH) is a division of the Foundation for International Development Assistance (FIDA) a Waterloo Ontario NGO. Today's speaker, Cheryl-Ann Webster is the public relations spokesperson for FIDA/pcH.
Today, Claire Harkness, our “rebound” exchange student, spoke to us about her experiences as an exchange student in Australia. 
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