Messages this week from our Club President, Tracey Curtis
Hello Rotarians. Another week has gone by. Lots of feelings in these times governed by Covid. I myself find that I can be happy and sad at the same time. It helps me to consciously seek and find snippets of joy to be glad about, and I hope you can, too. At the same time, you are not alone if you are feeling a bit "blah". The latest word for that is "languishing" so take note of the good advice shared in the most recent webinar on Finding the Balance during Covid-19. (See below.)
Reach out to others. Your chat could help them, and help you, too!
To brighten your mood, you can always listen and dance along with one of my favourites: Pharrell Williams singing "Because I'm Happy".
This week's O Canada was beautifully sung in Cree by Falynn Baptiste in Saskatoon. A good choice aligned with Earth Day. Listen and watch again here.
________
Announcements:
Many happy returns to:
Brian Martin - April 23
Tom Funk - April 27
Congratulations on these Rotary anniversaries:
Kerry Johnson - 33 years (April 29, 1988)
Kerry is our club secretary, and has served in this critical role for 21 years! He is the quiet backbone of our club, gently guiding new board members and presidents, never in the limelight, but always there with a helping hand. Kerry - there aren't enough ways for our club to say THANK YOU for all you do!
________
And speaking of important people in our club....
MARVA WISDOM IS TAKING A LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM ROTARY
Holding back emotions, Marva explained her need to step back from Rotary for the time being because her plate is simply overflowing. She said that when she took on her current Rotary roles, joined the club's board and agreed to serve as club president in 2022-2023, she was actually anticipating a slow-down in her worklife, especially after concluding the important, intense, multi-year Black Experience Toronto project. But the world has changed in the last year, and Marva now finds herself called upon more than ever to use her facilitation and education skills to support diversity, equity and inclusion, to help with change and healing, while also reserving time for her family and self care. Our meeting's Zoom Room chat-box instantly filled with message of love, understanding and thanks to Marva for all she does, with appreciation for her making the world a better place. Marva, we are proud of you and will continue to follow and cheer you on, and your Rotary family wants to say We Are Here For You. We hope you will "drop in" to our meetings whenever you can and stay in touch.
MATT WEBSTER JOINS THE RCOG BOARD
Thanks to our fairly recent election of new board members, we had a succession pipeline at hand and Matt Webster has graciously agreed to join the Rotary Club of Guelph board with immediate effect, taking Marva's place as a director. Thank you, Matt!
REPORT FROM RCOG BOARD MEETING HELD ON APRIL 20, 2021
Tracey was happy to report on the board's decisions regarding the allocation of interim funds to local charities. Normally, our charitable funds are allocated once a year (through the Budget Request Meeting) but this year, thanks to the extraordinary efforts and success of our fundraising activities, the club had almost $17,700 extra which the board decided to allocate for use in the current Rotary year ending June 30. Committees and members were invited to submit requests by the end of March. Requests were then considered at the April 20 board meeting and decisions made to support the following:
KidsAbility, towards new laptops for conducting remote therapy
North End Harvest Market, emergency food provider
IYSN, towards hiring an Indigenous Youth Outreach worker, and towards setting up the Guelph locations
Wally's Place, towards a new furnace for this group living sheltered home
Tea 'n' Tales, Brian Holstein's summer story telling activities at the Riverside Park Enabling Gardens
HOPE House, towards home delivery of meals to housebound seniors
World Service Committee to continue supporting Rotary backed projects in Cameroon
THANK YOU, Rotarians, for your exceptional fundraising results through Lobsterfest, Christmas Bag sales and Sparkles in the Park. Your Service Above Self has allowed our club to help others even more.
PRIMA FESTA REIMAGINED
Last chance to sign up for this wonderful fundraiser on May 1. Jennifer Dunsmoore hinted about the bonus gift with each dinner, either red or white, to be served in a glass. Each Prima Festa Dinner ticket is $75 with a tax receipt in the amount of $40.
Paul Truex joined our meeting today and thanked everyone for their kind gestures and tributes since Jean passed away on April 11. The family is planning a virtual Celebration of Life on June 17, to be conducted by Rev. Graham Singh, son of our fellow Rotarian, Dr. Ranjit Singh. Details will be shared closer to the time.
ANNUAL BUDGET REQUEST MEETING ON MAY 15, 2021
Attending this online meeting on Saturday, May 15, from 9am to 12 noon will be a fantastic opportunity to learn about the activities and plans in our club. As per tradition, the club's president-elect chairs this meeting, and Mahmud Hassain looks forward to informing us about some exciting new committees and ideas for Rotary year 2021-2022 when he will be our president. Save the date.
RECENT WEBINAR - FINDING THE BALANCE DURING COVID-19
The 10th session was held on Tuesday, April 20. Dr. Nicola Mercer was once again the special guest of Anne-Marie Zajdlik and Helen Fishburn, moderated by Marva Wisdom. The Zoom connection for this webinar was maxed out with 1,000 people signing in, and the webinar was also livestreamed on the CMHAWW Facebook page.
Watch the recorded webinar here on the CMHAWW Facebook page
Read this excellent article that was referred to in the webinar (explaining "languishing")
Also bookmark the CMHAWW Facebook page so you can stay up-to-date with their wonderful tips and advice, including this: #GetReal about how you feel - Name it, don't numb it, in readiness for Mental Health Week, May 3-9, 2021
Last week was "Volunteer Week" and the volunteer organization PIN (People & Information Network) published an article from the Rotary Clubs of Guelph Wellington thanking our volunteers. Read it here.
OTHER REMINDERS:
Rotary District 7080 Virtual Conference on May 29, 2021 from 9am to 12:30pm. Details are here. The theme is "Take Care of Yourself, Each Other, & The Planet." Well worth attending!
Mother's Day Fundraiser helping Food4Kids Guelph. Place orders for hanging baskets from Royal City Nursery HERE. Gift solved while helping a good cause!
Hike For Hospice Wellington.Email Tracey to join our virtual team!
Hospice Wellington is recruitingto hire the right person to take palliative care services into rural communities. If you know of someone who might fit this role, please email Anne MacKay.
The Rotary Club of Guelph Trilliumhas an excellent fundraiser selling rain barrelswith spring and gardens in mind.
The Rotary Clubs of Guelph-Trillium and Guelph-South are well into promoting this year's virtual Tour de Guelph 2021 to raise funds for the Guelph General Hospital, with a target this year of $110,000. 75% of the amount raised goes to GGH, and 25% is split equally between the two Rotary clubs to support their other charities as well.
This virtual bike ride takes place from June 4 - June 24, 2021.
Consider entering to ride, either as an individual or with a team.
Also consider sponsoring our Guelph-South Rotarian Charlie Barnes (84+) in his 50km ride! Triathlete Charlie has been the top Tour de Guelph fundraiser for several years, personally raising almost $11,000 in 2020, and he is already at nearly $7,000 in pledges for 2021, with a goal of raising $10,000. Wow!
If you're happy and you know it, contribute your Happy Bucks on our club's GiveSome pages here. There are four different topics you can donate to:
Food4Kids, IYSN, Indigenous Water First project, or Polio Plus.
________
Program this week - April 23, 2021
KENT MOORE - CLIMATE CHANGE
Our speaker this week was Professor Kent Moore from the University of Toronto, a specialist in Atmospheric Physics, addressing a topic of urgent and existential importance to all of us: Climate Change. His research has led him to study the way that sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers interact with the astmosphere.
Kent was introduced by none other than his dad, our fellow Rotarian Ab Moore, touching on several Rotary connections in Kent's life, including Murray Taylor, Jim Stevenson, and Earl McNaughton, the father of Liz Sandals. Ab himself is well known as an articulate, informed and eloquent speaker, skilled in telling a story in a way that makes it understandable and memorable, so it was no surprise that Kent has inherited this same family talent. Kent had us spellbound with just the right blend of scientific data and every-day explanations for the layperson to follow.
The story of climate change is alarming. It has been known since the 1850s that water vapour and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere absorb infrared radiation, while other gases like oxygen and nitrogen do not. Indeed, without the greenhouse effect of water and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the earth would be 'held fast in the iron grip of frost', so we need them. By the end of the 1800s, scientists were already postulating what the impact on the earth's climate would be if the amount of carbon dioxide increased, and for the most part, their calculations have held up to reality.
Kent went on to discuss some of his scientific expeditions to African weather stations in high mountain peaks near the equator, and showed pictures of how much glaciers there have receded due to higher average temperatures. He also showed stunning photos of icebergs and sea ice.
Today, our planet has the highest levels of atmospheric CO2 compared to the past 800,000 years, and earth is already experiencing some of the predicted impacts of climate change, some of which are irreversible.
Climate scientists now base their predictions on what could happen by the year 2100, depending on what mankind does about it. As Kent explained, the green parts on this graph are up to us. In a worst case scenario, the global average temperature could increase by 4 degrees which would be catastrophic and "existential". In a way, Kent says, climate change and our CO2 emissions are one gigantic scientific experiment for life on our planet.
It is sad to think that we are leaving our planet to our offspring in worse shape than we found it. Kent finds hope in the fact that young people today understand the importance of climate change better than their parents and grandparents, and will act on it, preserving our "Blue Marble" planet for future generations. We hope he is right. We are ALL responsible for the future of our world.
Carolyn Weatherson thanked Kent for his wonderful presentation today and the vividly clear picture he painted for us.
________
Upcoming programs
Check our home page for upcoming speakers. Invite guests!
Friday, April 30 at 12:15pm - Dr. Carrie Bridge, Astrophysicist - NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity Project
Holding back emotions, Marva explained her need to step back from Rotary for the time being because her plate is simply overflowing. She said that when she took on her current Rotary roles, joined the club's board and agreed to serve as club president in 2022-2023, she was actually anticipating a slow-down in her worklife, especially after concluding the important, intense, multi-year Black Experience Toronto project. But the world has changed in the last year, and Marva now finds herself called upon more than ever to use her facilitation and education skills to support diversity, equity and inclusion, to help with change and healing, while also reserving time for her family and self care. Our meeting's Zoom Room chat-box instantly filled with message of love, understanding and thanks to Marva for all she does, with appreciation for her making the world a better place. Marva, we are proud of you and will continue to follow and cheer you on, and your Rotary family wants to say We Are Here For You. We hope you will "drop in" to our meetings whenever you can and stay in touch. 
If you're happy and you know it, contribute your Happy Bucks on our club's GiveSome pages 
Our speaker this week was Professor Kent Moore from the University of Toronto, a specialist in Atmospheric Physics, addressing a topic of urgent and existential importance to all of us: Climate Change. His research has led him to study the way that sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers interact with the astmosphere.
The story of climate change is alarming. It has been known since the 1850s that water vapour and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere absorb infrared radiation, while other gases like oxygen and nitrogen do not. Indeed, without the greenhouse effect of water and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the earth would be 'held fast in the iron grip of frost', so we need them. By the end of the 1800s, scientists were already postulating what the impact on the earth's climate would be if the amount of carbon dioxide increased, and for the most part, their calculations have held up to reality. 
Climate scientists now base their predictions on what could happen by the year 2100, depending on what mankind does about it. As Kent explained, the green parts on this graph are up to us. In a worst case scenario, the global average temperature could increase by 4 degrees which would be catastrophic and "existential". In a way, Kent says, climate change and our CO2 emissions are one gigantic scientific experiment for life on our planet.
It is sad to think that we are leaving our planet to our offspring in worse shape than we found it. Kent finds hope in the fact that young people today understand the importance of climate change better than their parents and grandparents, and will act on it, preserving our "Blue Marble" planet for future generations. 
