The meeting was called to order by President Roger at 7:07 am
34 Rotarians were present with 4 guests (speaker District Governor Virginia O Reilly and Assistant District Governor Sandi Ramsay). Roger also welcomed Iza Hansen, who is attending her third meeting as a guest, as well as Picton Rotarian Rob Leek.
Norm circulated an information sheet regarding Diners and Duffers. He encouraged any club member who knows of a potential business contact that might benefit from being included in next year's D and D book to communicate with him.
Cathy noted that the annual pot luck Christmas party is fast approaching. She circulated a signup sheet.
Roger noted that Christine's father recently passed away and offered his condolences. John Heeringa noted that he has completed his final medical treatment for prostate cancer and will be undergoing surgery in the coming weeks.
Liz provided an insight as to why she joined Rotary. In 2007 she was invited by former Rotarian Chris Bowes to attend a meeting. Initially she thought that the Rotary Club was a men's club. However as she settled in she came to appreciate the self-deprecating sense of humour that many of the members possessed which appealed to her Maritime sense of belonging. A moment of particular connection for Liz occurred when she was offered the opportunity to join the Indigenous Peoples Partnership. She became aware of the hardships that many aboriginal youth encounter when completing high school and University. The IPPC established a relationship with Lakehead University and the Rotary Club of Thunder Bay in establishing financial bursary support. Liz noted that one of the first bursary recipients ultimately went on to become President of the Thunder Bay Rotary Club. She continues to be inspired by her involvement in this meaningful Rotary collaboration.
‘O’ Canada’ was sung.
David Hawkins recited an invocation.
Breakfast was served.
Sandi introduced guest speaker Virginia O Reilly. Virginia was born and raised in Cape Breton Nova Scotia and was inspired by her parents involvement in community support organizations. She relocated to Toronto in 1979 to study consumer research and consulting. She ultimately became a partner in a consulting firm in Toronto where she spent her professional career. She joined the Toronto East Rotary Club in 1998 and has held several leadership positions in that organization (including President on two occasions). Virginia and her husband Bob continue to live in East York.
Virginia thanked President Roger and presented him with a Magic of Rotary banner. She noted that she attended a District Conference in Wellington in 2017 and greatly enjoyed the experience. She indicated that she shares this year's Rotary International President Stephanie Urchick's passion regarding membership. She recounted the history behind the Magic of Rotary theme for this year. Stephanie and fellow Rotarians were setting up water purification units in Dominican Republic when a young child noted that it was like magic the way these units could clean contaminated water. Virginia wondered in what way our Rotary club has created magic?
Virginia articulated the goals of the RI President:
1. Grow membership. She challenged each district to grow membership by net 100 members. For our club this would equate to adding 2 net new members this year. Virginia cautioned that each club tends to experience approximately 15% attrition year over year for various reasons.
2. Continue with our polio plus campaign. Recent international pockets of increased occurrence of polio highlight the need to be vigilant in the effort to eradicate this disease.
3. Grow the Rotary Foundation. Currently only approximately 35% of clubs contribute to this foundation. The overall aim is to see this number grow to 40 or 50% in the coming year.
4. Heal a divided world through 'positive peace'. That is, the promotion of peace not through war but via community development and cooperative projects. She noted the erection of peace poles at several Rotary clubs within our district.
Virginia also noted some of the upcoming Rotary events. Specifically she spoke to the Rotary Leadership in person event on March 29, 2025 at Centennial College. She also reminded everyone of the RI convention June 22-25 in Calgary as well as next year's District Conference October 24-26 at the Fern Resort in Orillia.
Several Wellington Rotarians shared ‘magic’ which our club has produced over the past few years. Roger noted the club’s involvement in setting up a mobility beach mat at Wellington beach. Bill Mitchell mentioned the tireless work at our bottle depot which has helped our club donate $600,000 toward the construction of a new hospital in Picton. Yvonne noted the success of our maple syrup fundraiser which raises approximately $15,000 per year for community causes.
Roger provided gift packages for both Sandi and Virginia which included a variety of products from the County. Roger thanked Shawn Ellis for putting the gift packages together.
Chris thanked Virginia and Sandi for their presentation.
Business
Mike noted recent changes in the collection protocols at the bottle depot. He circulated a ‘do and don’t’ information sheet.
David Mackinnon encouraged all to attend the next installment of our Wellness Series of presentations. Holly Dykstra will be speaking on ‘Dementia Prevention’ at the Wellington Legion tonight at 7 pm.
Lyn reported that she met with Lisa Lindsay and signed the sponsorship agreement for the new electronic sign at the Wellington Arena. The first installment cheque ($12,500) was delivered by Lyn to Lisa.
Trudy is celebrating a birthday this week and Michelle Kosoy and Pierre Bouchard are celebrating their 33rd anniversary.
Roger told his joke of the week. The happy toonie jar was passed around.
Bill Mitchell’s ticket was drawn for the 50/50 draw – despite a valiant effort he failed to pull the ace of spades.
The meeting concluded with the 4-way test.
.png)
