Happy Jar
1. Bill Proctor was delighted with results from the Car Draw sales at the Bestival in Belmont Village this last weekend where he and Ernie Ginsler sold $2,600.00 worth of tickets. Well Done, Bill & Ernie!
2. Howie Pell was very happy to let the members know that his sister-in-law, Cynthia, had her oncologist check-up that gave her a clean bill of health after her cancer treatments.
3. Louise Gardiner had informed the membership that former member, Marty Levene's family has donated $250,000 in Marty's name to KidsAbility and were honoured with his name being placed on a section of the facility. She also was happy to welcome a visitor, Wayne Kuhn, from Toastmasters which is now formally associated with Rotary International.
Bell Ringer(s)
Paul declared the late Marty Levene, the Levene family and all his Rotarian friends who attended the celebration at KidsAbility last Wednesday as bell ringers.
President's Wine and Beer Quiz
Four names were selected to receive Wine and Beer Quiz prizes this week. They were Adrian DeCoo, Ray Taylor, who were both absent due to other commitments, as well as, Ernie Ginsler who selected four Rotary Local lagers and Richard Bruckeder who selected a red wine.
Club Announcements
1. Lumi Mironescu spoke about the 'Inspiring Women' event she attended last week in Kitchener and another upcoming event in Cambridge in October put on by KW Chamber of Commerce. She also related that Toastmasters is having a Open House this Wednesday at 7:15 pm if members would like to attend.
2. Louise Gardiner asked those members who are connected to Clubrunner to take out their cellphones, so that they could connect to the Rotary Institute web page to receive information on the upcoming RLI Training event on Oct. 19th.
3. Jim Brown updated members on the Online Auction. So far we have three sponsorships and eight donated items. Donations include, from Howie Pell, two handmade quilts donated by his sister, as well as, his own two books. Howie has already reached the target of $500. Well done, Howie. Neil was able to secure a compact shredder from Staples for $100. Russ St. Louis donated four Kitchener Ranger tickets.
Signs will be distributed to members at the meeting on October 7th. Members are reminded to hold off until after the election Oct. 21 to put them out.
The outdoor sign blitz will be on Saturday October 26th. Hubert is hosting this event at PSI Data on Bleams Rd. in Kitchener. More details to follow as we get closer to the date
There are six weeks left until the auction goes live. Please bring donations and forms into any meeting or contact any committee member to drop off an item.
4. Peter Gray spoke about our Dom Cardillo Trail clean up coming up in October. Also, Peter informed members about a request for help with Trail maintenance at the Ken Seiling Waterloo Region Museum. With a show of hands it was agreed we had enough people to help. The Trail maintenance will be on Thursday Oct. 3, 4 PM and we will meet in the parking lot of the Museum. A sign-up sheet will be posted on Clubrunner.
5. Tim Bradich from the Kitchener Westmount club spoke to us about their "Canada Proud" campaign which flies a flag in support for their 'Patriotism for Charity' campaign. For a $100 donation, they'll place a flag on the front lawn of your home or business during three holiday occasions [Remembrance Day, Canada Day and Victoria Day] for 7 to 10 days. If to want to be involved then contact him at tbradich@stantec.com
6. Paul Rostrup informed the members that John Webster and his wife Sheila have agreed to chair the 'In Vino' event this year, so we can look forward to this event in April 2020.
50/50 Draw
Neil Swayze informed the group that the total today was $797.00. Our guests selected the three tickets. Richard's number was drawn first but no luck until Lew Ford had his selected and he turned over the 'Jack of Hearts'. Lew decided to given his half of the winnings to the Car Draw. Thank you Lew!
Program Highlights
Peter Gray introduced our guest speakers, Mary Jane Patterson & MeKenzie Litster, from REEP Green Solutions. They are an environmental organization that helps people live sustainable lives. Their motto of SHOW, DO, CONNECT aims to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. Mary Jane outlined their climate change action plan to attain this goal. Greenhouse gases impact the environment by causing warmer temperatures and higher winds which result in an increase in the number of hot days which lead to more heat waves. The global impact causes a decrease in food production harvests, less clean water and increased forest fires.
McKenzie spoke about "Project Neutral' which is a tool to help measure one's carbon footprint. Members took out their cellphones and were connected to the web browser for Project Neutral. The exercise was to illustrate how one can focus on areas that impact climate change individually. We looked at our households; the way we use transportation; food habits and waste we generate. Your 'Dashboard' shows how one compares to certain standards and what could be changed to help the environment. This was meant to help focus one's efforts towards the 'ZERO WASTE Challenge'. With October being Waste Reduction Month; the challenge is either to have a seven day or 30 day time span in which one collects any waste that is not composted or recycled. This amount can be looked at and compared to standards set by the challenge. REEP also offers workshops on energy consumption of your home through a home energy evaluation , as well as, water conservation audits which are both free. Their workshops also look at building neighbourhood flood resilience by reducing water run-off. You can connect through social media sites [e.g. #measureyourimpact]; project neutral lunch & learn workshop or signing up with REEP and work together on a project.
Peter thanked them for their session and awarded Mary Jane Patterson with our Rotary International Polio Plus certificate in her name.
Membership
Members are advised that the Club Board has approved the application by Jess Perucho to join the Club. His application has been recommended under the classification of "Commercial Lighting Designer". Any member who has any concerns with this membership application are asked to contact either the Secretary or the President.
Closing Remarks & Reminders
Members are reminded that next week there is no meeting. Look for the sign-up sheet for Trail Maintenance on October 3rd. Also, if you have not done so already there is still time to sign up for the Grace Acan luncheon being held together with the Kitchener Conestoga club on Fri. Oct. 4th at Westmount G.C. Please note that you must register as a guest.
