• Sep 18 -   Ken will present the club’s proposal to the County Accessibility Committee for a Mobility Mat to provide access to Wellington Rotary Beach for the mobility-challenged.
• Sep 20 -   Lyn will meet with ADG Sandi Ramsay and local Rotary club presidents. Cooperation on local initiatives to be discussed.
• Sep 28 -   Potluck Fellowship event at Shawn and Julie’s
• Oct 1 -     Mike has assembled a team of Rotarians to assist with traffic control for the County Marathon
• Oct 14 -   Pumpkinfest is going ahead this year. Howard is assembling a team for pumpkin-weighing and we’re looking for a volunteer to take the lead on prepping and decorating our float for the parade.
• Oct 15 -   This year, the Rotary Foundation Walk is at the Milne Dam Conservation Park in Markham. Let’s discuss how we want to support this initiative.
• Oct 19 – David Andrews: World Polio Day 2023 will be livestreamed from The Rotary Global Classroom, Durham College in Oshawa, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Open to all Rotarians. https://durhamcollege.ca/globalclass/class/world-polio-day-2023-updating-rotarys-efforts-to-eradicate-polio-worldwide/
• Oct 20 – District 7070 Conference begins in Oshawa. To encourage attendance by more members, unbundled pricing is being offered. You can attend just some parts of the conference if you are unable to attend the whole thing. I will circulate the program and pricing options.

ROTARY MINUTES Sept 12

There were two guests, Mary Camp and Lois Ward, to listen to John Burns, our 2023-24 District Governor address the Club.

Ken passed around a signup sheet for members to indicate what food they would bring to the potluck on Sep 28 at Shawn’s house.

Mike passed around a signup sheet for the members to volunteer to help with the County marathon traffic control.

Trudy read a lovely thank you email from Hugh Campbell giving an update on Sharon’s condition, a thank you for the memory book we gave her and saying that with the dinner/dance coming up, she/he was thinking about it since she had been so active in the earlier years’ planning.

District Governor John Burns introduced himself as “Special Agent 7070 John Burns” to imprint his name in our mind. He quoted the International President, Gord McInally, who said that as we are creating a new beginning, it should be a bridge to the next year and this continuity would advance the good ideas of the past leaders. The International goals for this year are threefold:

• Empower Roteract with their eagerness to be leaders.
• Empower girls to become strong empowered women.
• Encourage Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in our clubs.

John continued to quote RI President Gord who said that End Polio Now continues to be a prime focus as recent signs of the wild polio virus are showing up around the world. We need a renewed sense of urgency.

RI President Gord gave another example of Rotary in the World. In 2006 in Thailand, after the 2004 tsunami, he was presented a seashell from one of the survivors of the disaster as a thank you for the Rotary effort that gave the people hope. In 2023-24, he expects to create new hope in the world, not just in material things, but mentally, if you admit that you need help. This made an introduction to a program of Wellness in mental health that Rotary is going to do to take care of its members and help others. Gord has a personal interest in this as he has had problems in his own family. He hopes it will help bring peace in the world, end the stigma of asking for help and by helping others, help ourselves. Make “Ordinary” into “Extraordinary” as we are all in this journey together -  DG John Burns ended with the presentation with the call to arms,  “Will you go with me?”. David McKinnon responded that our Club has formed a Health & Wellness Committee which will engage speakers who have an unusual impact.

DG John emphasized the District Conference in Oshawa at the Marriott Hotel, Oct 20-22. The program will be emailed to all members.

In response to David MacKinnon’s request for wellness speakers, David Burns said he would supply a list who could speak to the Club by Zoom.

The 50:50 ticket drawn did not draw the ace of spades.

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