Grace celebrating the virtues of youth exchange was given by John Crossingham and in the absence of our choral conductor, Don Shaw, O Canada was lead by Rick Evans.

President Rick welcomed all and introduced the head table: Rick Evans, Brian Donohue, our exchange student, Sergeant-at-Arms Peter Lumsden and Alex McKee who introduced today's guests.

Sergeant-at-Arms Peter Lumsden

Alex McKee

Guests: Visiting Rotarian (and Brian's mom) Meredith Jackson Donohue; James Foote (this year's outbound student), Terry Donohue (Brian's dad), Mary Margaret Murphy (guest of John Lehnen), Russell Donohue (Brian's brother), Jayne and Andre Evans, and Oraine DeRosa (guest of Foster Zanutto)

Birthdays: In spite of Don's absence, a rousing happy birthday was sung for Bob Gosselin and Gregory Bodogh-Darte.

Gregory Bodogh-Darte & Bob Gosselin

Announcements:

Art Wing is recovering well from his 2 nd knee replacement surgery and should be home later in the weekend.

Betty-Lou Souter finally had her surgery to have both her knees replaced and coincidentally at the same hospital as Art.

Rib Fest Chair Ross Burns

Ross Burns reminded us all that it's Rib Fest Weekend and thanked all volunteers involved in the planning and organizing. He also tried to take credit for the positive weather forecast! He reminded those members with Smart Serve to bring their Smart Serve card and pin.

Liz Palmieri

Liz Palmieri outlined the final arrangements for those volunteering. New Rotarians can pick up their t-shirt at the beer tent. Others can use one of the many previous Ribfest t-shirts. There are still a few slots to fill so please sign up. For cash counters, there will be an air-conditioned trailer on-site adjacent to the beer tent. Contacts for volunteers include: Ron Dubciak (security), Terry Wilkes and Dave Feasby (cash and tickets), Wade Stayzer and Norm Kreger (beer), Art Weaver (site cleanup and setup). She finished by thanking all who have signed up.

Judith Barker

Judith Barker added her thanks to the 40+ friends and sponsors of Rib Fest. She also secured the additional help of 6 Rotarians to deliver the sponsorship packages to the final group of sponsors.

President Rick announced that the am Club is canceling next week's meeting. He also announced a board meeting immediately following today's meeting.

James Foote

James Foote spoke briefly about getting ready for his upcoming exchange to Finland. He is already packed and ready to leave this weekend. He also said that he will have a website that will include pictures and stories about his year away. Roger Segalin will make sure that our club's website is linked to James'. (The link is web.mac.com/j_foote ) He thanked John Snowling for helping him get all kinds of St. Catharines and Canadian pins and he thanked our club for selecting him to be our youth exchange student this year. President Rick wished him well presented James with two of our club banners to present to James' host clubs in Finland.

Happy Dollars

Kelly Buckley

Kelly Buckley recounted how we all suffer from Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder (see her for the symptoms).

Larry Ross said he gave his 90 th blood donation today and then wondered from where George Darte, who is also an active donor, secured his ample blood supply.

Kelly Buckley announced that our club has donated 10 pints so far this month and encouraged more members to give.

Harold Nash updated us on Don Fraser's recovery. He said that former member George Goldford saw Don earlier this week and he noted that Don expects to be home very soon. In fact, he thought that Don might have tried to come to today's meeting.

John Crossingham made a major happy dollar gift announcing that the next Group Study Exchange is going to Brazil and is looking for interested Rotarians to lead, he thanked Heather Combe for her vet skills in helping his new sick puppy; he brought greeting from Elizabeth Forsyth who is now a member of the Waterloo Rotary Club; and then he proceeded to offer 5 tips when traveling by bus in Turkey, one of which included a reference to bleating baggage.

Debbie Sevenpifer spoke to Ken Souter right after Betty-Lou's surgery and noted that she was quite giddy (must be the pain medication) and that the surgery went well.

Bill Williams was very happy to announce that his wife Irene's breast cancer was completely removed through her recent surgery.

50:50 Draw Peggy Davidson's two of spades was close but no cigar in her attempt to win the pot, which now stands at $246

PROGRAM

Rick Evans

Rick Evans was Brian Donahue's counselor during his year in Japan and he said there was little interaction over the year, which he believed was due to Brian's resourcefulness and ability to handle most of the problems that he encountered. Rick then read a glowing testimonial from Brian's principal in Japan.

Brian Donahue

Brian Donahue told us he went to Japan with three other exchange students. His first challenge took place in the airport where there was no English signage and few English speakers. However he was greeted by a former exchange student who 14 years ago had stayed at Brian's house and she got him on his way to his connecting flight. He also met our exchange student from last year.

His first host owned a traditional Japanese hotel, had 4 daughters (he must have felt like a kid in a candy shop) and he helped in the hotel on the weekends. He said that the Japanese use up to 8 small plates at each meal which resulted in many many more dishes to be washed, something at which he became quite experienced.

His second host lived in a 300-year-old Buddhist temple that was extremely cold. Brian learned to value the importance of insulation, multiple layers of clothes and furnaces. He was there over Christmas and woke up to find his family had decorated a Buddhist statue as Santa Claus.

His third host family was his favourite as they were a large and very active family where members had lived in the same house for 16 generations. He also liked the fact that there were 6 women who took care of him while he was there.

His last host father was an architect and very active in Rotary.

Schooling was very different in Japan than in Canada noting little class participation and the fact that boys and girls don't speak to each other. His English teacher was a young person from America who introduced Brian to many friends and took him snowboarding.

Brian started and ended his time away participating in the age-old Japanese custom - karaoke. He also developed a fear of Japanese drivers, tried lots of unusual foods, learned how Valentine's Day is celebrated differently and was treated extremely well.

He thanked the club for the opportunity to represent Rotary in Japan.

Judith Barker thanked Brian for his wonderful presentation. Brian then encouraged members to get involved with Youth Exchange by becoming a host family.

President Rick thanked Brian and wondered if Brian's mother was aware that among the many skills he acquired while away, he could now add dishwashing expertise. As a thank you he presented Brian with a certificate noting that a donation to a Rotary literacy project had been made in his honour.

Brian Donahue & Rick Merritt

Chris Blake

Chris Blake offered a Rotary moment by reading a couple of thank you letters from students who were supported by our club. Rachel Kolush received a music scholarship and Jenna Morrison was the Rotary medallist from the St. Catharines Collegiate.

President Rick encouraged all to attend Ribfest and again thanked all involved in the planning.

Next Week's Program: Betty Miller founder of Guardian Angel Program, a program that deals with concerns over the treatment of residents in Ontario's nursing homes.

Ten-Day Notice:

This is a ten-day notice for a new member. Oraine DeRosa is sponsored by Foster Zanutto.

Oraine is Director of Finance at Bridgewater Leasing, which is a medical and small business equipment leasing company.

Other Notices:

Until further notice, the Rotary Club of Fonthill will be meeting at Lookout Point Golf and Country Club on Wednesday's at 7:15am.

Rotary Theme
2007-2008