Rotary meeting minutes February 4, 2025
Notes by Chris Compeau
The meeting was called to order by President Roger at 7:07 am. 31 Rotarians were in attendance (which included 5 on zoom).
John Inwood provided an insight as to why he joined Rotary. John was born and raised in a small community. His father told him “if you don’t chip in and help nothing will get done!” Leo Finnegan invited him to participate in Rotary. He liked the format of the meetings and the focus on community improvement. John has been a Rotarian for approximately 27 years and has enjoyed every moment of it.
‘O’ Canada’ was sung. David Hawkins recited an invocation. Breakfast was served.
Colin introduced the guest speakers, Trudy Brown and Phyo Kyi. Both spoke on their involvement in the recent Canada-Scotland Rotary Curling Fellowship Tour. Trudy began her curling career in Saskatchewan at the age of 5 (at that time girls were not allowed to play hockey).
The Fellowship Tour was founded in 1956 when 12 Canadians and 4 Americans travelled to Scotland. The following year 20 Scots returned to Canada. In 1960 the Tour became a biennial event. The most recent Tour that Trudy and Phyo participated in was in November 2024 when a total of 18 Canadian Rotarians went to Scotland to curl for 3 weeks. The Canadian team members were from Ontario (Kingston to Stratford) and ranged in age from 59 to 80 years old.
Trudy and Phyo spoke to the wonderful fellowship and interpersonal connections that were made on the trip. They provided a photo of the Canadian curling team as well as a map of the sites visited and the daily itinerary. In total they curled at 10 different rinks over 3 weeks.
Trudy noted that some of the venues were dedicated curling rinks while others were modified hockey rinks.
There were 4 sheets curling each day and all scores were tracked carefully. The Canadians won handily and brought back three trophies (the Bob MacIntosh Quaich and Broom, the Duddington Trophy, and the John Cutler Memorial Cup). In fact, one of the only few matches that Team Canada lost was when they had been heavily plied with alcohol at a Scotch Whiskey tasting event the day before!
In addition to curling there was also ample opportunity for sight-seeing. They visited the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Loch Ness, and St. Andrew’s Golf Course. They also attended a Provost reception, Rotary Club meetings and saw the tombstone of Jean Thompson (the widow of Paul Harris). The Tour concluded with a banquet in Stranraer, Scotland. 2022 Scottish Olympic Champion Vicky Wright carried the Scottish flag and Trudy was honored to cary the Canadian flag along side Vicky. The Canadian Team raised more than 5,000 pounds for a variety of charitable causes in Scotland.
Trudy noted that Team Scotland will return to Canada in 2026. She noted that the Rotary Clubs of Picton and Wellington share a ‘seed’, whereby Club sponsorship amounts to $1,000 every 2 years helps to defray the costs of events for the visiting Scottish team. There will also be opportunities for the local Rotarians to host a Scottish team member when they come to Prince Edward County for some curling. Trudy also noted that the out-of-pocket expenses for each curler on the team ranged from $3-4,000.
Gregor thanked Trudy and Phyo for their presentation.
Business
Roger noted that, fortunately, there were no reported health problems with members.
Howard addressed the upcoming Family Day Rotary soup event. There is a need for extra power cords, crock pots and ladles. Margo noted that she has 2 extra crock pots. Dave Robinet will be making cards for the soup/sponsors. On February 17 the setup will be from 930-1045 am with soup service from 11 am to 1 pm. Ken recommended having a sign that emphasizes that the soup is ‘free’.
Kim Lee provided a brief update on bottle depot processing. He provided an example of a ceramic bottle (which should be discarded).
Colin reported that the Rotary Golf Tournament has been set for June 12 with the Legion booked for dinner to follow.
David Mackinnon reported on several wellness committee issues. He noted that the provincial government announced a $1.6 billion dollar injection into Health Care funding to address Primary Care collapse. He noted that the prior work of our committee which focused on enhancing the presence of nurse practitioners in our community may be revisited. He also asked the Hubb to come up with a proposal for increasing daycare spaces in our community. He said that this proposal will aim at increasing home day care in the Wellington area. He also reported on further wellness presentations in the spring. Topics include Lyme disease, mental health and home safety.
Pierre is celebrating a birthday this week. There were no anniversaries.
Margo’s ticket was drawn for the 50/50 draw – she drew the ace of diamonds! (close but no cigar).
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