Last Friday's meeting, February 16th, began with a host of announcements from members of our club. Marva Wisdom talked about the wonderful 80s theme night for hospice that Anne MacKay organized and hosted. Marva also discussed the upcoming ArtsEverwhere festival that is upcoming. For information about the festival, see the story below.
Ruth thanked everyone for the certificate she received and for the warm welcome and standing applause the club gave her at her first meeting back. This led to a second ovation for Ruth. We're all so happy to have you back!
Peter announced that he will not be able to attend the Storm game on March 1st and auctioned off his four tickets. There was competitive bidding between Patrick Grist and Marva Wisdom. Patrick ended up winning the tickets, but he split them between himself and Marva.
Helmuth Slisarenko recounted a funny story about Ruth's stay at Guelph General Hospital. In the story, Ruth, who was a patient at the time, called reception to see when she'd be let out. The receptionist told Ruth that the patient she was calling about, i.e. Ruth, would be let out soon. Ruth thanked the receptionist and told her that "no one tells her anything." The story received heavy laughter and applause from the club.
Brian read a message from Nanita, who has been unable to attend the past few Rotary meetings due to a treatment she is receiving for her health. She says that she hopes to be back out soon and that the club is in good hands with Brian, which he questioned.
After announcements were made, Matt Webster introduced the newest member of our club, Ian Blain. For a full transcript of Matt's speech, please read the story below. After Ian was introduced, Brian pinned the Rotary wheel to Ian's sweater and the club welcomed him.
After lunch, Crista Renner introduced our speaker, Justin Chan. Justin is the Founder of The Community Company, a social enterprise that aligns with his deepest core values.
The Community Company creates sustainable social projects that inspire our community. They help organizations and charities start meaningful conversations around causes that are important to them through community-based projects, custom and branded products, as well as social enterprise development.
Outside of work, Justin was formerly an analyst for Blue North Strategies, providing strategic work, analytics and insights for major charities across North America. He also has experience performing improv & stand-up comedy professionally, plays competitive basketball twice a week, and is learning photography and digital editing. During the pandemic, he began studying chess theory, and is currently ranked in the 98th percentile worldwide. He probably played a little too much chess in 2021. Justin and Crista met at a workshop that Crista ran about creating social enterprises.
Justin began his presentation with a recounting the start of his career: he had just graduated from university with a business degree and was working as an analyst on Bay Street. He had, theoretically, achieved all his early career goals, but he explained that he always felt this nagging sensation.
This feeling began to develop on his daily commute to work: Justin would always take the GO Train into Toronto and get off at Union Station with all the other commuters. On his way to work, however, he would always see groups of homeless people, outside of Union Station and on the streets leading to his work.
Justin discussed how, when he was a kid, he was always told to avoid eye contact with homeless people and walk past them as quickly as possible. Overtime, he began to rethink this advise, why did everyone ignore homeless people?
One homeless person in particular, a young man around Justin's age, changed Justin's perspective. Justin discussed how he'd always walk past this young homeless man, who would often have a sign saying, "I hope you have a good day." But, on a cold Winter's day, Justin didn't see this young man, who was always outside of Union in the same spot. Justin immediately began to worry that something bad had happened to him, and he continued to worry until he saw the young man the next day.
Our or relief, Justin approached him and asked if he was okay. The young man said that he had gone to a friend's place to stay warm. Justin then asked if he'd like to have lunch with him. While eating, Justin found out that this young man was the same age as Justin, the only difference between him and Justin was that he had lived in the foster system and never had the same opportunities that Justin had.
This event led Justin to begin working on what would eventually become The Community Company. The first project that Justin did was a series of Facebook posts where he interviewed homeless people to learn about their stories and who they are. Justin explained that homeless people are often dehumanized, through these stories, Justin hoped to change this.
Justin also discussed some of his newest work. His company was behind the rebranding of the Better Food Company and is still working closely with them to increase their operating capabilities. Justin also helped to create the In Our Back Yard program in Cambridge. This program, run by Cambridge Shelter, employs graduates of their program to give them professional experience while creating a positive impact on their local community. The program has been greatly successful in Cambridge and has been adopted by other social enterprises in Ontario.
Rick Le Feuvre thanked Justin for his wonderful presentation. Brian concluded the meeting.
From May 2-5, 2024 the ArtsEverywhere Festival will take place in Guelph!
As Marva explained in her announcement to the club last Friday, the ArtsEverywhere Festival is the place where conversations, ideas, and artistic experiments come alive in the community of Guelph. From May 2nd to May 5th join members of our community for lectures, conversations, music, artistic performances, circle gatherings, literary readings, exhibitions, and much more. The full festival program will be announced soon, so please subscribe to the ArtsEverwhere email list to receive upadtes.
2023 marked the 20th edition of The Guelph Lecture—On Being, it was an exciting evening that confronted the urgencies of our time through the lens of art and ideas. By bringing together a diverse, informative, creative, and sometimes unlikely combination of people, the festival weekend offers programming that connects to the ongoing work and needs of many organizations and individuals who wish to make the world a better place.
If you are interested in attending, please follow this link for more info: https://festival.artseverywhere.ca/
In this month's Rotary Magazine highlight, we look at the partnership between Rotary International and the United Nations Environment Programme to clean fresh bodies of water. The story is titled, "Central to Life: UN environment body looks to Rotary's reach to protect freshwater ecosystems", written by, Diana Schoberg. To read the full article, in its original form, please consult your February magazine starting on page 12.
In January, the United Nations and Rotary International announced their new collaborative initiative, Community Action for Fresh Water. The goal of this program is to empower local Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact clubs to adopt a body of water with UNEP's advice and expert knowledge. The hope is that Rotary's deep roots in local communities will help to drive the cleaning of fresh bodies of water around the world.
In making this announcement, Rotary International's President Elect, Stephanie Urchick, said, "this partnership will help Rotary spur collective action and raise our profile in our newest area of focus, and make the most of existing assets at Rotary and the Rotary Foundation."
This type of initiative has been seen, on a smaller scale, in the United States, Mexico, and South Sudan, to name a few of the 20+ projects Rotary has undertaken. In the United States and Mexico, local Rotary club's under the direction of Salvador Rico, a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of South Ukiah, California, helped to clean several rivers by working with local stakeholders and industries contributing to water pollution to adopt cleaner practices. One of the rivers that Rico helped to clean was Ameca, in Mexico. This river is where he and his siblings played when they were children until Rico's older sister contracted polio. His family believed the sewage-tainted waters were to blame. Through the power of Rotary, and through his drive to clean fresh waters, Rico has helped to clean Ameca and make it safer for future generations.
This new program will give local Rotary clubs a coordinated plan on how to clean and protect fresh waters in their areas. District funds and global grants have been made available for clubs looking to do river cleanups, habitat restoration, native plantings, biodiversity projects, wastewater treatment,, and lake monitoring.
UNEP believes that Rotary is an excellent partner because, "Rotary, with its global reach, close connection to communities, and action-focused engagement [can] ensure projects create change and have impact."
This story is an excellent example of the impact Rotary can have locally and internationally, and its significance as a partner with impactful organizations such as UNEP. To read the complete story, please consult your February Rotary magazine beginning on page 12.
Last Friday, February 16th, the Rotary Club of Guelph accepted its newest member, Ian Blain. Welcome to the club, Ian!
Last Friday, February 16th, the Rotary Club of Guelph accepted its newest member, Ian Blain. The following is a transcript of the introduction speech that Matt Webster gave for Ian.
Today we are honored to induct Ian as a new member into the ROTARY Club of Guelph. I would like to give a brief bio of Ian. Ian was born and raised in Toronto. He received his BA from the University of Toronto in 1973, attended law school at Queen’s University in Kingston, received his LLB in 1976 and was Called to the Bar in 1978.
Ian married his spouse Carol in 1975. He practised law for a year in Toronto after his Call to the Bar. In 1979 Carol and Ian decided that they no longer wanted to live in the “ big city” so he accepted a position with a firm in Ingersoll, Ontario. Ian practised law in Ingersoll from 1979 to December of 2023. At the time of his retirement the firm was known as Ian R. Blain Law Professional Corporation operating as IRB Law.
While in Ingersoll, Ian was actively involved in community service. He was a member of Big Brothers from 1980-1986. From the mid-1990s up to 2021 Ian served on various boards including The Oxford Housing Authority, The Women’s Emergency Centre, Ingersoll & District Chamber of Commerce ( President 1994-1996) and most recently the board of the Alexandra Hospital ( Chairman of the Board 2017-2019).
Ian has two adult children, Hilary and Roger and two granddaughters, Molly and Megan. His children and grandchildren all live in Toronto. In 2017 Carol and Ian decided to move to Guelph so that we would be closer to our children and grandchildren. Guelph is exactly half way between Toronto and Ingersoll. They were also somewhat familiar with the community since their daughter had attended the University of Guelph. They bought a condo in the Metalworks complex on Arthur St South and moved in April of 2019.
Ian enjoys golf, theatre, classical music, jazz, reading and visiting with his family.
As Ian developed his retirement plans he decided that he needed to meet more people and become involved in the community. He chose Rotary. Ian liked its objectives and was influenced by the fact that Rotary had very active chapters in Ingersoll and Woodstock. Ian very much looks forward to being a member of the Rotary Club of Guelph.
Welcome again to Rotary, Ian. There are several milestones that are life altering. We go through life so focused on career and family. But at some point we realize that we must give back to society, to our community. We believe that joining Rotary is one of those life altering moments. When I was inducted into Rotary, I thought it was one of the most important decisions that I had ever made. And that set the tone for me as a Rotarian. I hope it does for you also. You have been chosen for membership in the Rotary Club of Guelph, because your fellow members believe you to be a leader in your vocation and community.
We look to you to be a liaison between us and the other members of your profession. We expect you to educate us about your classification, and, on the other hand, it becomes your duty to carry Rotary ideals and principles of service to your friends, business associates, and the members of the vocation which you represent. While membership in Rotary is an honor and privilege, it involves corresponding obligations. An important requirement of membership is regular attendance at the weekly meetings. I know it’s not always easy to make the meetings, but only busy people are eligible for membership in our club. One of the great privileges of Rotary is fellowship, and the mutual confidence which it inspires. It is always true that, if you want to have friends, you must show yourself to be friendly. As the old adage goes, “No one is interested in what you have to say, until you show that you are interested in what they say”. Therefore, we commit ourselves to doing our part to make you feel welcome. In return, we expect that you will share the responsibility for the development of closer personal relationships, which will be to our mutual benefit. Good Rotarians must constantly keep before them the primary object of Rotary. “Service Above Self” is our motto, and Rotary expects each member to live up to this ideal. You must live by the 4-Way Test
1.Is it the truth?
2.Is it fair to all concerned?
3.Will it build good will and better friendship?
4.Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
If you live by those rules, you will never go wrong. The community will know and judge Rotary through your example in character and service; and we accept you as a member because we believe the principles and objects of Rotary will be safe in your keeping.
We know that we will receive much from you in help and service which will enable us to be better Rotarians; and we most heartily offer you the right hand of Rotary fellowship. On behalf of the Rotary Club of Guelph and Rotary International, may I welcome you into our Rotary Wheel - - which faces inward for friendship and fellowship and outward in service to our community and to the world.
With the presentation of this Rotary Pin, I declare you to be a member of the Rotary Club of Guelph. (Ask the Club President to assist the sponsor in pinning our new member.)
Fellow Rotarians please stand. I present to you our newest member, Ian Blain.
Thank you Matt for your wonderful speech! Ian, we can't wait to see what you'll contribute to our club!
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