The meeting was called to order by Past President Lyn at 7:07 am

 

27 Rotarians were present with 4 on Zoom and 3 guests (guest speaker Shelley Akers, Kathleen Meaney and FOR Liam Smith)

 

Robynne provided her Rotary moment.  She listed the pros and cons of joining the Wellington Rotary Club.  John Heeringa convinced her to join in October 2023.  She noted that since joining the Rotary she has met some really nice people and provided a humorous summary of personality traits of some members.  She described our Rotary members as ‘a collection of gifts in one place’ – that is why she joined Rotary and why she remains a member!

 

 ‘O’ Canada’ was sung.  David Hawkins recited an invocation.  Breakfast was served.

 

Lyn provided an update on the health of members:

Bill Hurst’s wife Karen will have her cast removed in one week.

Bill Mitchell reported that his right shoulder is healing well after a recent fall.

Lyn indicated that she will undergo a hip x-ray soon which she hopes will provide good news.

 

David MacKinnon introduced our guest speaker Shelley Akers.  Shelley has worked at Quinte Transit for approximately 19 years.  Quinte Transit is a non profit organization which has been providing transportation services in our community since 1990.  These services currently range from fixed route public transit to specialized services.  The specialized services are available to elderly as well as physically/mentally handicapped persons and requires pre-booking.  Given the fact that Prince Edward County is vast and sparsely populated Quinte Transit has recently introduced a ‘Rides on Demand’ program whereby an individual could request a ride which would link them up with the fixed transit route.  A Rides on Demand app was recently released in partnership with Loyalist College.  Shelley noted that transit services have facilitated student transfers from Belleville to Picton.  She noted that approximately 20,000 trips took place on Quinte Transit last year (which included 3,000 Rides on Demand and 13,000 specialized trips).  She reported that the cost will vary depending on the route but generally is $5 for seniors and $7 for students.  Operating costs are covered by the County, Ministry of Transportation, fundraising and donations.  Shelley noted that a partnership with Base 31 is in the works.

 

Chris thanked Shelley for her presentation.   

 

Yvonne reported that later this morning we will be bottling maple syrup for our Rotary fundraiser.  She thanked all of the club members who have volunteered to help. 

 

Norm reported that the Diners and Duffers booklets are in and ready to be picked up.

 

Trudy informed members that the Lion’s Club have run out of dark chocolate for their Easter bunny campaign.

 

Michelle reported that she has ‘jelly cat pins’ from France if anyone is interested.

 

Chris is celebrating a birthday this week.  There are no anniversaries.

 

Liz’s ticket was drawn for the 50/50 draw – remarkably she did pull an ace from the deck however it was a club (not an ace!).  So close.