1. John Webster was very happy to complete his third marathon in Montreal the previous weekend under hot conditions which taxed his stamina.

 

2. Wayne Boehler was delighted to return home after two weeks in Portugal.

 

3. Ed Fowler was happy to relay that a former Chilean exchange student had invited him to his wedding coming up this year.

 

4. Shawky Falhel made members aware of a fund raiser for St. Johns hospital in support of their hospital in Israel.

 

5. Lumi Mironescu spoke on her ...?
 

Our Bell ringers for this week were Peter Gray for organizing the trail building at the Ken Seiling Museum last Thursday and for Lumi and Hubert's efforts at selling Car Draw tickets at a cold and damp Market last Saturday.

President Paul had two questions for the membership this weeks.

Q1.  If you have used your Club Runner App in the last several weeks?

Ans. Many had.

Q2.  What was the total dollars spent by RI on grants for 2018?

Ans. $50 to $100 million. Actual total $86M on 1306 grants.

1. Neil Swayze gave an update on the Online Auction by first speaking about his visit with President Paul and others to the Westmount club meeting last Friday, Oct. 4 to promote the auction and give out business cards. He outlined the four sponsorships so far by PSI, Memory Gardens, JG Group and Amber Steel, as well as, the "in kind" sponsorship given to any company that offers $1000 in product/service for donation to the auction. Given to National Self-storage for the use of a locker for our warehouse. As of Oct. 7, we have had 60 donations with a retail value of $7500.

SIGNS are to be distributed today with 3 per member to place outside their homes or offices. Oct. 21 will also be a sign distribution day for members to pick theirs up. There is to be a sign BLITZ on Sat., Oct. 26 from 9 to 12 pm . There is a need for 12+ members to help get the signs out. We'll meet at PSI, Hubert's office on Bleams Rd. in Kitchener. Lastly, if members would like a poster for their office or business bulletin boards; Darren has placed a copy on Club Runner on our lawn sign that can be run off and put up.

 

2. President Paul reminded members of the Rotary Institute coming up this month.

 

3. Bill Proctor hilited the club's program of events for this month, as well as, the cluster meeting coming up.

 

4. Bryn Jones requested members to sign up for several dates to sell Car Draw tickets at the market over the next few weeks, as well as, the Kitchener Aud. Nov. 29th date.

 

5. President Paul outlined the number of members who had sold tickets at the market up to Sept. 17. The number was only 15. He reminded members that on Oct. 21 we will have our Early Bird draw at the KW Mercedes dealership so all ticket stubs need to be in on or before that date. Dave Chatson reported that most of our 'mail-in' has been collected.

There was a new deck to start our 50/50 Draw this week with a grand total of $29.00 in the pot. John Webster, Jim Brown and Martin Jones all failed to find the elusive Jack of Hearts.

President Paul took to the podium to give an overview of the first quarter of our year. He referenced the changes that have been taken this year to revise our meeting format and reflect the changing needs of our membership. He emphasized his goal to improve member engagement from 43 to 48 members; to improve communication between members and to create more corporate memberships with an alternate service model. His 'service' goal was to increase participation of members to 25 but has only attained 21. Public relations goal was to offer regular weekly updates through media and website and use official materials.

Key actions for this month is to promote the Rotary Institute; complete the Dom Cardillo Trail clean up on Oct. 28; have members connect on the Club Runner App and have every member sell Car Draw tickets at the market and bring in donations worth $500 for the Online Auction.

Closing Remarks & Reminders