Bulletin

 
 

Friday, September 18, 2020

 
Messages this week from our Club President, Tracey Curtis
 
  • Our meetings now begin with a respectful Land Acknowledgement, recognizing that the land we stand on was occupied for millenia before settlers arrived. Read more on our website here.
  • Our dear member and friend, Bernie Kiely, passed away peacefully on September 17, 2020 in his 90th year. This very week marks Bernie's anniversary of being a trusted and true Rotarian for 50 years! As a former Executive Director of the Separate School Board, he was well known to many in our community. We send our sincere condolences to Beth and Marty Fairbairn, and the rest of their family. Bernie will be missed at our club.
  • Dianne Dance, Chair of our club's Indigenous Awareness Committee, announced three activities related to ORANGE SHIRT DAY:
>   what it is and why September 30 is an important occasion (read about it on our website here); 
>   a Rotary-sponsored free 1.5 hour webinar on September 30 at 4pm to learn more (pre-registration here); 
>  our speaker next week, Rotarian Nicole Mascherin, addressing the impact of her mother's trauma from residential school experience, and Nicole's explanation for Why I can't 'Just get over it'. Not to be missed. Bring guests to our club meeting on Friday, September 25. 
  • Also learn more about our club's active Indigenous Awareness Committee on our website, here, with thanks to Barb Holmes.
  • Lobsterfest 2020 is all systems go for Saturday, September 26, thanks to our amazing committee! Meal orders need to be placed as soon as possible (deadline has been extended until 9am on Thursday, September 24 for last-minute requests). The fabulous online auction closes at 6pm on Saturday, September 19 and bidders will receive confirmation whether they had the winning bid or not. Pickup (or delivery upon special request) is on Saturday, September 26 between 5pm and 6pm. Tracey expressed our club's enormous appreciation to the Lobsterfest Committee for their incredible work.
  • The Rotary Digital Duck Race 2020 tickets are on sale. Have you ordered yours yet? The digital duck race takes place on Thanksgiving, and there are great prizes. Proceeds of this fundraiser are being shared between the Rotary Club of Guelph Wellington and our own club, the Rotary Club of Guelph. Details are on our website here.
  • Have you obtained your copy of our  Centennial Book yet? 66 copies have been sold so far. If you aren't sure where or how to get your copy, please email Terrie Jarvis.  Book details are here.
 
  • Tracey draw attention to the RCOG-Trillium club's centennial year recognition of 100 volunteers. They are inviting additional nominations for non-Rotarian volunteers. Click on this form and enlarge it or email info@trilliumrotary.org for more information. Volunteers approved by their selection panel will be recognized at a Trillium club Zoom meeting and also receive a letter, certificate and $100.   
  • Board Meeting Feedback. Our club's board of directors meets on the third Tuesday evening of each month. The last meeting was on Tuesday, September 15. In addition to the points already mentioned above, President Tracey shared that a key focus remains on fundraising. Sparkles 2020 is under discussion, and the committee is taking a proposal to City Hall to hold the event in a Covid-compliant way, and without fireworks. Regrettably, our member Eric Freeman has resigned from our club as his work takes him more to the Cambridge area these days. Tracey thanked Eric for his fantastic support while a club member and board member. 
Club member celebrations this week
 
 
 
 
 
 
Send birthday wishes to:
Carl Jadeski - September 22
Jim Fryett - September 24
Bernhard Vanderkamp - September 25
Jim MacKenzie - September 27
 
 
ROTARY ANNIVERSARIES
September 25 would have been the 50th Rotary anniversary for Bernie Kiely. What an honour to have had his support for 50 years!
Program this week
 
This week's "Up close and personal" (what used to known as a classifiation talk) was with our newish member, Sharon Ninaber, who joined our club in December 2019. 
 
Introduced to the club by Tracey, it turns out that Sharon already had a lot of Rotary contacts through her work and travels, and as Mahmud would later say, she was a Rotarian at heart even before she joined. 
 
In a highly engaging talk, Sharon related many different parts of her active life, along with entertaining comments and anecdotes. The following summary barely scratches the surface of her talk. It appears that Sharon doesn't dabble - she clearly jumps right in to whatever she does! 
  • Her family: married to Jack for 30+ years, and four children.
  • Growing up in Fergus, living at various times on the East coast and West side of Canada, now in Guelph for the past 10 years.
  • Becoming a part-time pastor, same as Jack, and jointly running   church services on Sunday afternoons at The Manor (yes, the strip-club Manor) in Guelph for four years. 
  • Being born with an entrepreneurial spirit, always being an organizer and taking on "side jobs".
  • Unfortunate timing with her latest business venture, Palm Plates, the import of "100% guilt-free disposable dining. These gorgeous plates were created from fallen palm leaves & heat pressed into different shapes/sizes without the use of harmful toxins and chemicals. Best of all, they are fully compostable and biodegradable!" (and Sharon is now sitting on a large quantity of them since COVID halted large functions - email Sharon for details!) 
  • Her latest business 'by accident' ... import and sale of Moringa Powder, a super food.
  • Her absolute, passionate love of Africa with trips and ongoing relationships built in Lesotho, Uganda and elsewhere. Sharon's dear friend, Jeslor Ssozi, actually joined our Zoom call from Uganda - he runs a school for some 200 kids, and has 40 orphans living with him.
  • Sharon fundraises with compassion and determination for the causes dear to her heart, especially schools and orphanages like Jeslor's, and also that of Pastor Patrick elsewhere in Uganda. Bunk beds needed at the orphanage? No problem - Sharon got that done, too. Plus fundraising to pay for bricks for the new school (windows, doors and roof to follow ... stay tuned).
 
  • It's clear that Africa and its children and their caretakers occupy special places in Sharon's expansive and generous heart.
All too soon, time ran out at our meeting, leaving us with the notion that there is still a lot more we will learn about this fellow Rotarian as we get to know her better! We are truly delighted to have her in our club.
 
Our Sergeant At Arms, Mahmud Hassain, thanked Sharon for her wonderful introduction and naturally "fined" her for being Too Good To Be True! 
 
Before our meeting concluded, Ab Moore, Luisa Del Rosario and Domingo Bernal, all active in our World Service programs, said they'd like to have follow-up conversations with Sharon ... as soon as possible. 
 
"Magic is about to begin," I thought to myself.  - Editor.
Program next week
 

Nicole Mascherin, president of the BEL Rotary Club (near Peterborough) is a second-generation residential school survivor. In a powerful talk, she will share the difficulties she experienced as a child growing up with a mother who was dealing with trauma experienced at St. Anne’s residential school, and explain Why I can't "Just get over it". This special presentation has been arranged by our club's Indigenous Awareness Committee. Bring guests! 

Bulletin Editor
Terrie Jarvis
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