The meeting was called to order by President Lyn at 7:07 am
31 Rotarians were present plus 3 guests (Christian Jaehn-Kreibaume, our guest speaker; Gregor Stewart, a potential member; and Liam Smith, a Friend of Rotary member).
A Rotary moment was cited by President Lyn which emphasized the importance of service.
‘O’ Canada’ was sung.
David Hawkins read a prayer.
Breakfast was served.
Lyn provided an update on health of members:
Tim Cox reported that he recently spoke with Geoff Telling who reported that he will be putting his home in ‘Wellington on the Lake’ up for sale and moving to Belleville to be in proximity with his wife.
Liam was asked how Liz is doing following the recent death of Barry Davidson. Liam indicated that she is doing as well as can be expected. There will be a celebration of life for Barry at the Wellington Community Centre on April 19 – all are welcome.
The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall
Norm introduced our guest speaker, Mr. Christian Jaehn-Kreibaum. Christian was born in 1960 in West Berlin and his life was greatly impacted by the social and political influences of the Berlin Wall. He explained that following World War 2, Germany was divided into East and West regions. East Germany was under Soviet Communist control whereas West Germany was overseen by Allied forces. In the early 1950’s there were numerous riots in East German as residents rebelled against the oppressive communist government. From 1949 to 1961 an estimated 3.5 million people moved or fled from East Germany to West Germany. It was noted that in 1959 Germany won the Soccer World Cup, defeating Hungary in the final. This was a source of immense national pride for the beleaguered country.
Christian described the abrupt creation of the Berlin wall (so called ‘Iron Curtain’) on August 13, 1961. Initially the wall consisted of only barbed wire but a brick wall was subsequently constructed. This barrier to freedom for the East Germans consisted of more than a wall however. The ‘death strip’ included the wall as well as watchtowers, bunkers, land mines and dog runs. It was noted that the famous Brandenburg Gates were in ‘no man’s land’ (that is, possessed by neither East nor West. A standoff occurred on October 27, 1961 at checkpoint Charlie as Soviet and US tanks faced each other at the border. Fortunately, military conflict was averted.
The border crossing between East and West Germany was a complicated process were residents needed a passport. There were numerous examples of residents attempting to escape East Germany at this time. Over the duration of the wall’s existence reportedly 12,000 people tried to escape and approximately 5,000 were successful. Many interesting techniques were used to try to escape. A senior citizens group constructed a 160 foot long tunnel under the wall which allowed many Germans to pass to freedom in the West. On September 16, 1979, two men with their wives and children successfully fled East Germany in a hot air balloon!
Ronald Reagan, who apparently was well liked by Germans, issued the famous request on June 12, 1987 – “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” On November 9, 1989, the then Communist Leader Guenter Schabowski was asked about the Berlin Wall and he responded that the government was ‘relaxing’ travel restrictions. This declaration resulted in a virtual avalanche of thousands of East Germans crossing the border – this subsequently resulted in the Berlin Wall coming down.
Christian showed our Rotarian’s a piece of the Berlin Wall which Christine had purchased while travelling in Berlin. Christian provided a personal anecdote of having run in the Berlin Marathon on September 30, 1990. There were approximately 25,000 runners and the marathon route traversed from East to West Berlin. He noted that running from the East to the West of Germany was like passing through a black and white film into technicolour. He provided contemporary images of a unified Germany. Christian emphasized how lucky we are to live in a free and democratic country. He ended with a quote from Andy Dufresne (Shawshank Redemption) – “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
Lyn thanked Christian for his presentation.
Rotary Business
Lyn congratulated Lana on her birthday and retirement party last week which was attended by many Rotarians.
A Rotary Spelling Bee will be held April 15 in Trenton – similar to last year there will be a dinner in conjunction with the inter-club competition. Yvonne, Lyn, Chris, Margo and Howard all volunteered to participate in representing our Wellington Rotary.
Chris and Yvonne asked for volunteers to assist with setting up the chairs at the Wellington Community Centre for next weeks’ Wellness presentation on April 16th.
Under Norm’s guidance, a standing ovation was had for the late Barry Davidson, in recognition of his shining example of ‘service above self’.
Lyn reported that the annual beach clean-up will take place on Sat. April 20 (note: updated from the original date of Sat. April 27). She solicited volunteers. Clean-up will occur from 10-12 am with a barbecue to follow.
Lyn noted that remembrances of Barry will be compiled at next week’s meeting.
Colin reported that the June 13 Rotary Golf Tournament is sold out however he is still taking names of interested golfers on a wait list.
Dawn reported that the first of a series of grade school spelling bees took place at Athol last week and was a success.
Norm’s ticket was drawn for the 50/50 draw – the Birthday Boy failed to produce the ace of spades from the deck
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