President Linda led the meeting today.

Everyone is in good health today. But there may have been the odd dancing Kleenex and sniffle.

John J officiated. The pot is an amazing $965. Joslin and Todd both failed to tease out the ACE of Spades. Tom the editor had the same last 3 digits as Todd but alas the wrong colour of ticket.

Chris Wood announced that her son had a new baby earlier today. It's a Girl.

Jim McPherson got a ten dollar bill with a woman on it. Wondered if it was counterfeit. No, the picture on it is Viola Desmond and it is worth more than the ten dollar bill with the guy on it.

Matt Morris is still living in the fast lane. He had a great retirement party last night at the Blackshop. Erica did the roasting. She now is the longest serving member at their office.

 

 

Paul was not present. Caitlin picked up the slack and told a great one liner about how to make a Kleenex dance.

Linda said we were hosting a 3 Club meeting on January 17th. There will be a very interesting speaker that day. Same time and place as our regular meeting.

         Also the President's Levy is at Chad's house on January 20th. Whoops, I forgot to get the exact address but it is somewhere in Preston.

Neil Main in his position as Fire Chief presented an award of a plaque and coin  to  Mike Thomas' daughter Lauren. She had distinguished herself by providing CPR to an unconsious person and calling 911. Paramedics came and the person survived. The award was accepted by her dad, Mike.

Joslin asked us to start thinking about sponsorship for the Fun Run occuring the first week in June 2019.  Let Todd or Joslin know if you can confirm a sponsorship.

Jeff said thanks to the club from Rina for Helping with the Bridges dinner and those that provided for the care packages. Dr Kim had the dental end covered. Caitlin was Jingles. Gord said thanks to all from the Bridges.

Tom Everett had 2 announcements. 1/ The Curling Bonspiel is March 7/2019 2/ If you are doing a donation to our club Foundation in the 2018 year, make sure you get the cheque to Tom in the next week.

 

Linda said that our fellow Rotarian Gary Dyke has resigned his job in Cambridge and will continue his municipal career in Kingston.

Roger introduced our guest speaker Will Pugh.

Will has been with a Burlington Rotary Club since 1993. He has been on various Rotary committees and was District Governor in 2015-2016. He is now in charge of the Youth Service Programmes for our district 7080 and is here to talk about this aspect of Rotary. The only downside is that he remains a die-hard Maple Leafs Hockey fan.

He spoke about the Youth Programmes:

1/ Interact for 12-18 yr olds, mainly High School kids and they need a mentor.

2/Rotary Youth Exchange. For Gr 11ers who spend a year away. Cost is $3000 for a club to support a student.

3/ Roteract: Caitlin is in charge of this for our club. It is for young adults 18-30 who want to make a difference in the community. Like a Rotarian but they don't pay dues  but may eventually become Rotarians or engage in some other community support activity.

4/ The old Group Study Exchange has morphed into the New Generation Service Exchange. Larry Brokenshire was involved in this activity in the past.

5/RYLA: It is a one week leadership training programme held near Orangeville for age 18-25 yrs.

 

These programmes help participants but also come back to benefit Rotary.

They build life skills, professional skills and leadership skills. Older Rotariancan pass their skills to younger Rotarians. They foster international understanding and good ethical standards. They provide opportunities for service at home and globally.

 

Thanks Will. That was a great talk. And you told a joke that was quite up to scratch. I have it for you, Paul.

 

Linda wished everyone an enjoyable holiday and said the next meeting is Jan 3rd when the one and only Don Fanstone will do his ' New Years Prognostications'  Hope he has some good news for us.

 

See y'all next year.