President Rick

President Rick Merritt brought the meeting to order and Angus Adams led us in a Grace selection which was appropriate for our St. George’s Day luncheon meeting.

Don Shaw made sure we were in tune for O’Canada and we toasted Her Majesty The Queen and Canada.

Vicky Rudachuk

Vicky introduced our guests and our member in the spotlight Karen DeRoche.

Karen’s classification is Marketing services and she has 20 years experience in the Publishing and Marketing fields. She has also won several awards for her graphics and webdesign. She owns KGR Marketing Group out of Beamsville and noted that the letters in the company name are taken from her and her children’s initials. Karen sees Rotary as a way of creating a larger network of people in her life and a way of giving back to the community. She has a special interest in the area of helping children and is on the Children’s Committee.

Karen De Roche

Announcements

Letters

Birthday Boy, Blair Pollard

President Rick indicated that in the past week Rotary has received a letter of thanks from the Thorold Activities Group thanking our Club for the donation to their Club. The money will be spent on existing and new programs for its members. The Club also received a letter from Betty-Lou Souter for the $400 raised for Community Care. That was the amount raised from our Soup and Sandwiches Lunch Fundraiser a few weeks ago.

Notice of Upcoming Meetings

President Rick noted that the Ribfest Committee will meet on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 at 5:00 PM at Rodman Hall. The Civic Affairs Committee will meet at 11:00AM on Thursday, May 3rd in the usual Board Room just prior to the regular Lunch Meeting.

Notice of Upcoming Events

The Algoma-Rotary Golf Tournament will be held on Monday, June 18, 2007 at Lookout Point Country Club, Fonthill – 18 holes of golf with cart, noon lunch, dinner all for $175, lots of prizes, great course, good cause, all good. Money goes to the Niagara Peninsula Children Centre and the “New Hospital Campaign”. Please note: We still need prizes or sponsor a hole.

Happy Dollars

Walter Sendzik

Water Sendzik did happy dollars.

Liz Palmieri was happy to tell us that her Chorus Niagara group will be raising funds by singing their hearts out at the Sears Court at the Pen Centre Saturday, May 12th.

Larry Iggulden was happy to announce that he was reelected as Chair of the Police Board.

Eugene Gillies was proud to announce that his better half Sheila was recently elected President of The Maycourt Club of Canada.

Jim Denham was happy for the arrival of the “Ice Dogs” and for Larry but most of all, the kids are now sleeping through the night.

Oraine De Rosa was happy to have Dr Ken Taylor treat her last week.

Jagdish Mehta was willing to pay a dollar to find out what St. George’s Day was all about.

Vicky Rudachuk was happy that the Niagara Regional Police caught the person who was breaking into their place of Business.

50/50 Draw

President Rick drew Terry Keller’s ticket and he went on to win about $500 by pulling the ace of diamonds. Congratulations Terry!

Terry Keller

Program

Norma Medulun - Camera One

St. George’s Day Special Event

This year we celebrated St. George’s Day with a special event. Rotarians acted as the live audience for the taping of the half hour “Corgi Show”. The St. Catharines Golf Club was set up to look like the Crossingham Studios on Westminster Abby Street. If you missed today’s Rotary Lunch Meeting, see your local listings. The show will be aired on Cogeco’s All Corgi Channel (Channel 0).

Today's Programming

Today’s “Corgi Show” featured Host Sir James Mansbridge interviewing Sir Wordsworth, President of “The Royal Corgi Rescue Society”.

The interview got off to a rough start when Sir James inferred that Sir Wordsworth had the reputation of being “wordy”. To the disbelief of the audience, Sir Wordworth said that perhaps the servants would label him as “wordy” but in his view he was in fact “concise”.

The interview settled down a bit when Sir Wordsworth recalled his youth. He recalled the good times when he and Mumsy would attend “The South Billingsgate Dandelion Appreciation Festival” where he would enjoy tea and properly toasted crumpets.

When Sir James inquired about the need for the Royal Corgi Rescue Society, the Society President explained that it should not be surprising as there are similar societies such as the Greyhound Society. The Royal Corgi Rescue Society was formed because the sport of Corgi Tossing takes its toll on Corgis. It is well known that by The Official Corgi Throwing Rules, Corgis can only be thrown 60 times or 6 months - whichever comes first. After 60 throws the Corgis get a bit lumpy resulting in an unpredictable lopsided bounce.

When asked how they find proper homes for the Corgis, Sir Wordsworth explained that unlike the Americans who display their Greyhounds on busses and end up in Fish and Chip Shops, the “Royal Corgi Rescue Society” sets much higher standards. For example all applicants must submit a CV, and present letters of reference from 2 Banks, one Lord sitting in The House of Lords and have a proper family estate.

When asked how he became President on the Society, he explained that he became President only after the death of Past President Sir Neville Numbnoggin. Sir Neville died suddenly at a Corgi Throwing match held in St. Catharines. Apparently, a crazed Maltese Fan made a fatal errant Corgi throw that struck and instantly killed Sir Neville.

The second half of the program featured an interview with St. George. When Sir James asked St. George how it was possible that he could come down from heaven for this interview, he explained that he was not really in heaven but has been in purgatory for centuries. Since he has been back, his voice is a bit rough from yelling at all those English Football and Corgi Throwing matches. He is a bit distraught because England has not had any champions for years. Compared to England, he said, the Leaf Fans are lucky. Since he has returned he has had his fill of bubble and squeak but noted that Rotary lunches are worse.

St George was a bit down on the Environmentalists who are now claiming that he made the dragon extinct. Why should he be criticized, he laments, when St. Patrick doesn’t get a bad rap for the disappearance of the snaked in Ireland?

In any regard he explained that the Dragons have not really disappeared. The secret is knowing how to bring them out of their hiding places. Everyone knows that they rescue damsels in distress. It was obvious to all that St. George engaged an actress to play a damsel in distress in the studio. It worked. The damsel did lure a dragon from its hiding place and there was mayhem in the studio. With the damsel screaming in distress you could say the show ended on a high note.

It was a great taping session and after the studio audience applause settled down, Norma Medulun thanked all the cast. President Rick also echoed his appreciation and noted that John Crossingham can now add script writer to his list of accomplishments.

There is a rumor that the English are aiming for continuous improvement. Next year the studio audience will be served a pint of England’s Best Bitter prior to taping and like on Oprah, at the end of the show there will be gifts under every seat. Well - they do call this the “Gossip” Sheet.