President Jim ran the meeting today. Russ gave us the four way test.  In Murray's invocation, he spoke about "singing like nobody is listening", but he didn't actually sing which is a huge break with tradition.

There were 20 members present today, no visiting Rotarians, and three guests:  Pat Singleton, guest of Jeff, Paul McMenemy, guest of himself, and Ray Ward, today's speaker.

George wasn't here today so nobody is sick.

Joe found Russ alive on Saturday night.

Matt is glad Oktoberfest is over, and I believe mentioned some golf heroics but I didn't really catch that.

Florence has a new niece Gabriella (which is Florence's middle name).

Pres Jim as a new nephew and godson, not named James.

 

Former jokester Paul was in attendance but did not offer up a joke today.  But he did hint that he might be returning because our recruiting results have been so pitiful.

Sandra suggested we go to Food for Thought, a fundraiser for the Cambridge and ND Community Foundation in support of mental health.  It's on Nov.10 at Whistle Bear GC.  Details and ticket sales linked here.

Sandra also told us that Nov.3 is Be Kind Day.  Past-President Paul wanted to know if that meant just daylight hours or the full 24 hours.

John J thanked everyone who helped out at Oktoberfest.  He gave a big shout-out to the setup team that surprised him and saved him from an all-nighter.  Those who have lawn signs, please bring them in next meeting.

As thanks for all his Oktoberfest work, Pres Jim gave John some critical supplies for his upcoming trip to Aruba - a beach ball and a bottle of wine.

Pres Jim also reminded us that next week is a Club Assembly.  Guests are welcome but they will have to leave before the main program.  Jim is buying drinks.

Dec.7 - 3 Club Christmas Party at EVO Kitchen, 31 Water Street South @ 6pm.

Today's speaker, Ray Ward, was introduced by Pres Jim.  Ray is President of the Family Crisis Centre of Cambridge-ND and also Staff Sergeant at Waterloo Regional Police.  He spoke about his career in policing, observing that violent serious crime has been trending down for decades, but that petty and nuisance crime has been shooting up.  He attributed this to big increases in mental health problems, drug addiction, and homelessness.  He noted that the three are closely linked.  When one domino in a person's life falls, very often the other pieces fall, creating life situations that are almost impossible to get out of.  Policing today consists largely of assisting people with their personal problems rather than policing and investigating crime.  Cambridge has a significant population of homeless people with these issues.

FCC of Cambridge-ND provides counseling to the broader community, helping people with mental health and drug problems get their lives in order.

As the demand for FCC services has been increasing, funding from sources like the United Way has been declining.  People are donating differently than in the past.  They could use our support, both talent for board and committee operations, and financially.

Go to http://fcccnd.com/ for more information on what they do and how you could get involved.