President Chad brought the meeting to order. Jim McP did the 4 way test and Dean did the Innvocation. We toasted Canada and Rotary.

Sargeant at Arms Jim J reported 27 Rotarians present, including Honorary Member Bill Barlow as well as 6 guests: Sarah Hunt (speaker); Bob Bedford and his entourage of friends/neighbours/fellow garage sale junkies (Brian, Greg and Ed); as well as special guest Frankie (daughter of Katie).

 

Raffle Meister Johnny Smooth announced the pot is sitting at $185. Paul T and Keith slimmed down the deck for next week's draw. Steve and Brian won the golf tournament prizes still in circulation (two more left for next week) and it appears that Johnny Smooth will be sending this week's bulletin editor a dozen roses for her discretion in NOT including his bag reference. BTW, I prefer white roses.

Dean proudly (and gratefully) announced that he now has a Lifetime Membership with the Cardio Club. An angiogram at St Mary's last week indicated a 99% blockage that required 2 stints to repair. All is now well, thanks to the surgeon and some meds.

Keith attended last week's Kid Can Play golf tournament and thanked the Rotary support that helped raise enough money to put 100 kids through programs. Keith also completed training this week to volunteer with individuals transitioning from homelessness  back into the Waterloo Region community. Circle of Friends is looking for another male volunteer to assist in this program on a weekly basis. See Keith for more info or visit the MCC website https://mcccanada.ca/get-involved/serve/volunteer/be-walking-people-poverty-volunteer

Bob Bedford announced he was happy to be joining us for lunch, introduced his entourage and presented guest speaker Sarah Hunt with another one of his choice garage sale finds.

Honorary Member Bill Barlow announced that he will be inducted into the Cambridge Hall of Fame next Thursday, October 10th and thanked Rotary for the opportunity to be of service and to be acknowledged for this award. 

Linda spoke with Wilf last week who is resuming another round of chemo. While his sight isn't good, his spirits are. Let's keep him and his lovely bride in our thoughts and prayers.

Heidi is back from her 3 week holiday in Austria where she found the hills were truly alive with the Sound of Music and Motorcycles. She and a few cousins covered 2,000 km of Austrian, Italian, Swiss and German terrain and she managed to get video coverage from many family members wishing her father a Happy 90th Birthday.

October 17 - District Governor Lesley Barmania will be speaking on the 2019-2020 Goals & Objectives of District 7080. Our club is hosting this 3 Club meeting. Please make an effort to attend. 

November 28 - Club AGM with Noah presenting on our finances.

November 29  - Club Christmas Party at Galt CC

January 19, 2020 - President's Levy (location TBA)

June 19, 2020 - President's Ball at The Cambridge Mill

Karen introduced today's speaker, Sarah Hunter. Sarah is a speech language pathologist running a private practice, a public speaker and advocate who also happens to be a cancer fighter with a rare chronic cancer called myxoid liposarcoma.  Sarah and her father used to do a canoe trip to celebrate each of her graduations and, as someone with a love for academia, there were many. Sarah was also an avid athlete. A lump the size of a pea that was found in her arm changed her life and now she and her father, Brian (who attended today), ride their bikes together as part of a team to help conquer cancer.

 

Sarah shared her personal journey with us and, explained that only 1% of the 100+ types of cancer are actually Sarcoma - a cancer of the connective tissue. Terry Fox also had a form of Sarcoma (Osteosarcoma).  Sarah came to refer to her cancer as "Bob" and found that it became a more friendly way of discussing her cancer. Her first step in dealing with Bob was to go through 25 rounds of radiation in a 5 week period. Step 2 involved 2 surgeries at Mount Sinai. She noted that cancer doesn't end with surgery as she wears a lympho sleeve daily, continues to do lots of physio, wears finger splints (result of radiation damage to her nerves) and an arm brace at night to keep her hand from spasms.

 

Her experience of living with cancer has compelled her to live life to the fullest and she admits there are good and bad days. Sarah now has her own business as a speech pathologist as she is unable to work full time. As a speaker and advocate, her two key messages are 1) to convey to people that you are never too young t get cancer and  2) to educate individuals about Sarcoma. The reality of her situtation was summed up by doctor as: "We'll take the tumour out, continue to take it out until research catches up to cure it."

 

And so, Sarah has learned to live with cancer but is keen to help find a cure. To date, Sarah and her dad have raised over $45K for Sarcoma Research in the past 2 years by riding in the annual Conquer Cancer ride. This ride covers 220km from Toronto to Niagara Falls and takes place in June. Her team is growing and Sarah continues to be a participant in the research being conducted.

 

Sarah's positive perspective and humour were very apparent and more about her outlook can be found on her blog:  https://deathtobob.wordpress.com/ or in an interview with her shared on the Young Adult Cancer Canada (YACC): https://www.youngadultcancer.ca/profiles/sarah-hunt/ (worth reading, even if you did attend today). 

 

Heidi thanked the speaker and Chad closed the meeting.