We've missed a couple of bulletins, so here's a catch up ...
VERY SPECIAL ANNIVERSARIES
Congratulations and many thanks to these Rotarians for their exceptional years of membership and service to Rotary:
Ray Funnell … 51 years
Bob Ireland … 45 years
Dennis Weiler …44 years
ROTARY EVENTS COMING UP
Friday evening, March 6, 2206
The 12th annual ROTARACT GUELPH GALA is on Friday evening, March 6, 2026. WE ARE HOPING THAT OUR CLUB WILL FILL AT LEAST TWO TABLES AT THIS DELIGHTFUL EVENT!Let's support our hard-working younger Rotarians. This year, the Rotaract Gala will benefit Wyndham House (the charity providing youth shelter in Guelph Wellington) and the foster home that Wyndham House is establishing this year. GALA TICKETS are on sale here. Also, the Rotaractors are still looking for sponsorships and items for their silent auction. Terrie offers to be your ‘courier’ if you are able to help the Rotaractors in some way.
Friday lunch, February 20, 2026
At our next club meeting, two new members will be formally inducted into our club, and our program presentation will be from Wyndham House, one of the important charities we support that is also the chosen beneficiary of this year's Rotaract Gala. Join us!
RECENT ROTARY EVENTS
Friday, January 31, 2026
Our club had a jam-packed program with 10 of our club's committees each providing a 4-minute update on their activities. It was very informative but not possible to capture it all for our bulletin. Call to action: ALL committees are encouraged to review and update the contents on their “Committee” page on our website. (Go to our home page RotaryGuelph.ca and look under Committees. And if your Committee is not listed at all, please contact your Committee Chair and Terrie about establishing one!)
Friday, February 6, 2026
Newish Rotarians Francesco Braga and his wife Rita Marinetti-Braga gave their joint “Up close and personal” introduction about themselves. Thank you, Francesco and Rita!
Also on Friday, February 6:
Jacquie Rodden Yetman was formally inducted into our club. Welcome Jacquie! Learn more about Jacquie here.
Monday, February 9, 2026
A bunch of us helped visiting international student, Lucy Kariuki from Kenya, to celebrate her 24th birthday at a surprise luncheon at Symposium, organized by her wonderful host, Rosemary Clark. Late last year, Terrie had met Lucy at an Enactus Guelph meeting on campus, learned that Lucy had been a Rotaractor at her Kenyan university and brought Lucy to one of our club meetings. Our club members immediately “adopted” delightful Lucy as one of our own, took her with them on a club visit to Queen's Park, and currently, Rosemary is hosting Lucy in her home while bringing her to meetings and showing Lucy the local sights whenever weather allows. Lucy is deeply touched by her extraordinary Canadian welcome in our midst!
Also on Monday, February 9, 2026
In the evening, the Rotaract Guelph club hosted an open house for Rotarians at their weekly meeting and shared their club's recent activities. 14 Rotarians attended, representing all 5 of the clubs in our Guelph-Wellington cluster! It was great. Here's a snapshot of the Rotaract presentation. It is amazing how much these wonderful students accomplish in our community on top of their heavy academic schedules.
Tuesday, February 9, 2026
Look who lent his vocal talents to the “Beautiful Noise” band from Village By the Arboretum at their annual fundraiser for the Children's Foundation of GW and Keep Kids Fed At Home (the former Rotary-inspired program Food4Kids Guelph) at Manhattans! Almost $4,800 was raised, helping the program to take more kids off the waiting list to receive weekend food bags. Thanks, Marty Fairbairn! (Also a shout-out of thanks to one of our former Rotarians, Reny Pietrobon, who lives at the VBA with his wife Yvonne, where they encourage residents' support for this food program, while Reny continues to coordinate the weekly delivery of food bags to schools via a volunteer team of drivers.)
Friday, February 13, 2026
The guest speaker at this meeting was Mike Kaufman, a Family & Relationship Coach and Mediator. As he said, “Every relationship has its ups and downs, struggles and triumphs. This is true for family, friends, work, and the wider community relationships we are a part of. What if you could see these relationships in a new light? What possibilities could emerge with this new insight?” Mike's gentle approach guided members to privately map the most important relationships in their own lives, with some tips for thoughtful evaluation.
In our January 23 bulletin, it was incorrectly reported that six of our longstanding club members have volunteered to join the board of our club's charitable foundation. In fact, they are being welcomed as members in the Rotary Club of Guelph Charitable Foundation, while the foundation's current board remains in place. The newest foundation members will be Kerry Johnson, Barb Holmes, Helmuth Slisarenko, Noma Vales, Ben McCarl, and Peter McSherry.
The guest speaker at this meeting was Mike Kaufman, a Family & Relationship Coach and Mediator. As he said,