Notes by Barry Davidson
Our meeting was attended by 21 in person and by three on Zoom. This was the Club Forum meeting for January. Fruit and yogurt was added to our breakfast menu.
President Ken quickly gave a report of the correspondence received thanking Rotary for donations and the new donations made.
Yvonne gave detailed financial reports for November and December. Full details can be seen on our website in the Member’s section. A motion to accept the November report was moved by Pierre, seconded by David Smith, carried, and for the December report, moved by Kim, seconded by Chris, carried.
The new guidelines for whose name is to be mounted on a plaque on the Memorial Garden had been circulated last week. After considerable discussion about how the eligibility was stated, Ken reminded the members that this is a guideline, not a bylaw for when candidates’ names are presented to members to be considered. This was followed by a motion to admit Dick MacArthur’s name to the memorial, moved by Tim, seconded by Trudy, passed.
The cold weather issue as it pertains to the Bottle Depot operations is to be advertised as governing when the depot will close due to cold weather. Closure is when Environment Canada issues a Cold Weather Alert for the County. This third-party declaration answers any questions the public might have about how the decision was made to close.
Yvonne reported that the planning of the annual maple syrup fund raising project is complete, for a launch in the second half of March. The 750 ml bottle remains at $20/bottle for our sales. The Rotary Club of Sterling has agreed to purchase 500 bottles at $15/bottle for their fund raising project.
Norm was pleased to report that sales of advertising in Diners & Duffers is proceeding nicely. He has recruited nine new sponsors at $125 each and three former sponsors have returned - a winery, a distillery and a golf club. The selling price of the books is unchanged at $35.
A new story for the Storybook Walk is being investigated and some repairs need to be done to the stands. Suggestions for a new book should be given to Norm who is looking after this project.
The Rotary Free Reading Program has been resuscitated by Norm who arranged for a free book to be given to every student at CML Snider School in kindergarten to grade 6.
The Rotary Youth Leadership Symposium (RYLS) is open for youth 17-23. If you have a candidate, tell Ken or Liz immediately. Our club will pay the $350 fee for the three-day conference.
For soup for Family Day, Ken recruited volunteers to approach previous suppliers to encourage them to make soup/chilli for this year. Tim reminded soup providers to also supply gauge 12 extension cords to keep the soup hot. A signup sheet was circulated for volunteers for Family Day. Liz gave more details of the activities planned.
- Free skating 9 am - 3 pm
- Noon - 1 pm free popcorn
- OPP display
- Fire truck display
- Preschool activities:
- A play area
- Computer tutorials
- Free Reading Program tutorials
- County Kids Read - free books
- Crafts by Christine
Information will be in the newspapers this week. Our Committee will have a walk through the facility on the week before and the County staff will do some of the set-up.
Lynn called on a report from members leading various projects:
Barry reported no progress in finding land for a new foodbank and potentially an affordable apartment building. No existing building is suitable or available for renovation for the foodbank.
Tim and Yvonne raised concerns about the use of the Rotary name by Kate’s Rest in promoting their aquaponics project. Phyo reminded them that our club had agreed to collaborate with Kate's Rest in their aquaponics initiative for one year in last April's resolution.
Tim has investigated splash pads in Medoc and Belleville, but before he went further to find a potential site, he wanted to know if the Club would be interested in the project, costed at about $400,000. A vote showed no interest. Tim was thanked for the investigative work that he had done.
The accessibility pad for the Wellington Rotary beach was addressed by John Inwood who said that three things made it questionable for our beach: the slope was steep, the stoney shore was rough and the waves were rough. He said the status of the County beach review committee was unknown. Ken would like to have the supplier speak to the Club and see if a design could cope with our beach environment.
A motion was made by David MacKinnon, seconded by Mike, to donate $1,000 to Hospice Prince Edward, carried.
David MacKinnon gave an update on the Wellness Committee’s work to address the primary health care provider shortage. Shortly there will be 5,000 “orphaned” people in the County and the current system may be ready to implode. The answer that we are working on is to get the Ontario health ministry to fund three nurse practitioners to operate out of three unused examination rooms in the Sandbanks Clinic as a satellite of the Belleville nurse practitioner office. Each nurse costs 30%-40% less than doctors and can see as many patients as a doctor. Our Committee is moving quickly to get approval because the number of orphans are increasing and we are in competition with other jurisdictions looking for the same nurses. We have a meeting with Todd Smith MPP on Friday to get him to “champion”our solution. We are building on our Club strengths to address an issue that is top-of-mind with County residents. Our Club should listen. The Family Health Team, County doctors and the Sandbanks Clinic owner and doctor are all on board. Chris said that we need a professionally prepared Business Plan to make our case and this will cost $5,000 now. Yvonne made a motion, Chris seconded that the Club provide the Wellness Committee with $5,000 to hire someone to prepare our embryonic plan, carried.
Kim asked bottle depot volunteers to keep the sliding door free from ice buildup. An axe has been provided. A notice of a collection request by a Friend of Rotary for a special whiskey bottle is hung on a carton under the table.
Pierre drew his own number for the 50:50 but he did not draw the Ace of spades.
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