Rotary Club of Kitchener

Bulletin

June 3, 2019

Happy Jar

Cheryl Ewing was pleased that, for the third time, her daughter has trained a dog for a role in a Drayton Theatre production, this time for the play Annie.
 
Karen Redman was happy to be able to attend a meeting after missing several due to work commitments.  She was also pleased to have been able to attend the recent Children's Ground Water Festival, organized in part by our very own Peter Gray and to also attend the AGM of Nutrition for Learning where our club's support of the program at Forest Hill P.S. was recognized.
 
Dave Martindale was pleased to announce that a new Canadian Toonie coin will soon be released in honour of the 75th anniversary of D-Day and that the designer of the coin, Alan Daniel, is his bother-in-law.
 

Bell Ringer(s)

President Richard recognized three members/groups this week for their support of the club - Cam Yule for stepping in and looking after club secretarial duties during Bill's absence; Adrian DeCoo and Cheryl Ewing for running the last of our special club assemblies; and, Darren Sweeney and the rest of the Local Lager committee for organizing and staffing a booth at the Forks and Barrels event at Bingeman Park. 

President's Wine Quiz

Question:  Where will the RI Convention be held in 2020?
Answer: Honolulu, Hawaii

Club Announcements

President-Elect Designate Louise Gardiner reminded members that the RI convention next year is on Honolulu, Hawaii and invited them to join her.  The convention itself is from June 6 to 10 but she has also reserved some spots on a cruise of the island beginning June 13, please let Louise know if you are interested.
 
Darren Sweeney spoke to the success, despite the storms on Saturday, of our participation in the Forks and Barrels event last weekend.  The word is getting out there and sales are increasing, he was pleased to announce that the Conestoga Club featured Local Lager at their recent Rib Fest.  Last year we tied the Barrie club for the most sales and Daren is hoping that this year we will be Number 1.
 
Dave Chatson reminded members of the changes to the club billing process.  When members revive their quarterly statement via email there is a link which allows them to pay directly by credit card.  This is the preferred way for members to now make their club payments.  For now, members can still have the club process the credit card payment but must now provide the card security number on the back.  Federal regulations are making it much more difficult for organizations to store credit card data and this option will likely be withdrawn sometime in the future.

50/50 Draw

Our young pot is starting to grow and was at $290 today and Jack continued to elude Adrian DeCoo, Ross Newkirk and Bill Proctor. 

Program Highlights

Our program today was a report on the district trip to Caborca, Mexico last January.  Hubert Singh and Ross Newkirk from our club were part of the organizing team and joining them today was fellow committee member, Frank Oudesluys from the Rotary Club of Guelph South. 
 
Ross began the presentation with an overview of Caborca and the conditions there.  Caborca is actually a region in the north-west Sonora desert area of Mexico.  The primary economic activity is the growing of asparagus and across the region are small villages of farm workers living in very poor conditions.  Well water is used to irrigate the crops and there is no water service for the villages.  Although the Canadian Government advises against travelling to this area, this was the third trip there and the group has had no issues, the local Rotarians are always with them and are great hosts.
 
Frank spoke about trip to Caborca and the work they did assisting with the National Immunization Day.  For the first two years they flew into Phoenix and drove directly to Caborca, a full day’s trip through desert on poor roads.  This year they decided to fly to Tucson, take a shuttle to Nogales, stay overnight in Nogales and then have the Caborcan Rotarians shuttle them the 2½ hour trip to Caborca.  There is no direct light to Tucson but in the past many trips Frank has made to Nogales, this has not been an issue.  This year, however, bad weather caused some delays and missed connections with some members arriving quite late in Nogales and missing a meal and fellowship with Rotarian friends there.
 
The District 7080 contingent consisted of 13 Rotarians from 8 different clubs who all did finally arrive safely in Caborca.  The next day was the Immunization Day and the group was joined by local nurses and other health workers.  In addition to administering the Polio Vaccine, other vaccines for diseases such as the measles were given along with doses of minerals and vitamins, such as Vitamin D given to some adults as well as some children.
 
The next day the group was taken to an area with the largest number of Petroglyphs in Latin America.  Over 6000 symbols are carved into the rock by Hohokam and Anazazi Indians that lived in the region from 600 B.C. to 1400 A.D.
 
Frank reminded us that District 7080 had previously supplied equipment for a cafeteria in a new Health centre in the area.  The government supplied the building but done of the equipment or supplies needed.  The schools in the area are poorly funded with little if any supplies and equipment as well.  This year we had a Global grant proposal to supply 24 schools, involving over 7,000 students with reading centres.  The objective of the project was to “promote the habit of reading among students from elementary schools in the urban area of Caborca, through the installation of reading spaces in schools, called Bunkos”.  Unfortunately the Global Grant request was denied and the group is investigating what their next steps should be as $10,000 has been committed by clubs in the district and they want to make sure it is put to the best possible use.
 
Hubert Singh thanked Ross and Frank for their presentation and presented President Richard with a banner from the Rotary Club of Caborca.

Closing Remarks & Reminders

President Richard reminded members that our speaker next week will be Police Chief Bryan Larkin and that our year end celebration Turnover Meeting will be on Tuesday, June 25 at the KW Art Gallery.  Members are asked to register and the invitation and link will be sent out within the next day or so.
Speakers
Jun 10, 2019
Waterloo Regional Police Services
Jun 17, 2019
New Club Meeting Structure for 2019-2010
View entire list
Birthdays & Membership Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Bill Krohn
June 10
 
Louise Gardiner
June 17
 
Cheryl Ewing
June 18
 
Mary Rielly
June 19
 
Darren Sweeney
June 26
 
Ray Taylor
June 30
 
Join Date
Bill Proctor
June 1, 2002
17 years
 
Martin Jones
June 1, 2009
10 years
 
Rohit Kumar
June 13, 2016
3 years
 
Neil Swayze
June 22, 2015
4 years
 
Ernie Ginsler
June 30, 2002
17 years
 
Ray Taylor
June 30, 2002
17 years
 
Sponsors
Russell Hampton
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