|
President Tom called upon Ron Sloan to say grace and Don Shaw blew the opening note for O’Canada.
President Tom welcomed all and introduced the head table: Brian Stewart, Art Weaver, our guest speaker, Sergeant-at-arms Heather Combe, member in the spotlight Doug Geddie and Cindy Mewhinney who introduced today's guests.
Guests: We had a number of guests:
Karl Vanderkuip, son of Rotarian Rick Vanderkuip.
Kenji Matsumoto, and his father Kosaku and his mother Toyoko, and Albert Cipryk, guests of Youth Exchange.
President Tom Arkell – updated the Club on items discussed at the Board Meeting. Member Alex McGee is chairing an Ad Hoc Committee to look into starting a Rotary Club in Iraq.
Our regular scheduled meeting on Thursday, July 31 has been changed to Friday, August 1 at Montebello Park.
All twenty-four committee reports have been received on time.
Tom thanked outgoing directors Brian Stewart, John Crossingham, Kelly Buckley and Peggy Davidson for their contributions to the business of Rotary over the last two years. He also thanked Past President Rick Merritt who will be leaving the Board.
John Potts – Chair of the Membership Committee summarized the work of the membership focus group that established a mentor program for new members to keep them engaged in our Club. In addition, the Committee Chairs also have a focus on informing new members about what their committees do.
John then had President Tom present new member sponsor pins to the following members: Earl Alton, Roger Segalin, Doug Geddie and Tom Arkell.
Nancy Ferris – very happy she and George biked 820 kms around Lake Ontario in 9 days for George’s 70th birthday and for the Lions Club. Nancy, after 14 years in Rotary is taking a leave of absence while pursing her new job as PR manager at MacDonald’s in Niagara Falls. We hope to see you back soon Nancy.
Kenji Matsumoto – introduced his parents to the Club. His father thanked everyone for their support of his son and welcomed us to visit them in Japan.
President Tom Arkell – thanked Marg Jarrell and Albert Cipryk for hosting Kenji and presented them with a thank you plaque.
|
Albert Cyprik, Margaret Jarrell & President Tom |
Alexis DeWolfe – took the basket and made the first donation to tell us how happy she was that her 2½ year old daughter has learned her last name.
Jim Denham – happy his young son is becoming skilled in operating heavy equipment.
Brian St. Hilaire – happy that our Nevada lottery produced another $ 3,000 for the Hospital Foundation.
Tim Rigby – happy for the family reunion of 124 of his long lost relatives.
Peggy Davidson – happy she survived a dinner cooked by 5 firefighters and that she is leaving Saturday to London for a Scandinavian-Baltic cruise.
John Crossingham – happy to have the Aussie’s in town.
Chris Bangham – happy to be back from his vacation in the UK and their stop off visit in Scotland.
Rick Evans – happy to meet Kenji’s parents and have Albert Cipryk cook them all dinner.
Marg Jarrell – thanked Chris and Doug for helping to make Kenji’s visit memorable.
Glen Norton – happy ($10) that his daughter graduated with her Hons. B.A. and that she may now proceed to medical school.
Doug Geddie – happy to have taken Kenji’s parents on an aerial flight over St. Catharines. Unhappy that the plane’s window blew open and the negative impact on international relations.
Liz Palmieri – happy that Walter Senzik was appointed to the Board of the LCBO. Happy that John Bird was named FACS Volunteer of the Year for his long service to the Board of FACS. Happy that Wade Stayzer is the VP of the Board of FACS.
Kosaku Matsumoto – happy to be in St. Catharines and meeting Kenji’s host families.
|
Tom Arkell with the Matsumoto Family |
Kenji Matsumoto – also happy for his host families and that his parents are visiting.
Jurgen Knoff – happy or unhappy that the German soccer team lost
Aurora Tancock had her number drawn but her luck stopped there.
Bill Cole and Terry Wilkes were present to hear us sing and receive a birthday rose, while Dave Feasby and Ross Burns were not.
Doug Geddie
Doug joined Rotary in 1988 and was sponsored by John Bird and former member Bill Luey. Doug was Club President in 1997-98 and his career in advertising makes him a perfect fit as our TV Auction on Air Co-ordinator.
Doug is responsible for starting the Gossip Sheet, and with Earl Alton, the Rotary/Algoma Golf Tournament.
Doug also did much of the legwork to allow the Club to start the Rib Fest.
Doug is married to Nancy and has two children.
Doug was the 2002 St. Catharines Sportsman of the Year for his work in brining Junior Curling to the city, has been awarded the PHF twice and has his name engraved on the Complin Cup.
Doug truly exemplifies the meaning of being a Rotarian.
Rotary Park – Art Weaver
Brian Stewart introduced Rotarian, Art Weaver who is the Chair of the Civic Affairs Committee. Art has the necessary skills to be the perfect fit for revitalizing the Rotary Park that was initially started in 1984-85. Art has been a tireless worker in moving the status of the Park forward.
Art Weaver provides some historical background on the Park as being a former landfill site in West St. Catharines, on Pelham Road. The Park originally opened its Friendship Garden in 1983. The opening had much fan fare, as the RI president from Japan was present for the opening. The Park boasted a Memorial Park and a Friendship Garden.
Unfortunately, the Ministry of Environment closed the Park due to methane gas and leachatte problems in the Park.
The city is required to remediate the problem by putting a clay capping over the site, which it has now completed.
Art explained the Civic Affairs Committee’s “new vision for the 32 acre Park”. Since the Park is situated in a prime location, it is a natural for hiking, biking, skiing and picnic enthusiasts. The Park is surrounded by many historical sites and has a great view of 12 Mile Creek.
The Park revitalization will provide Rotary with a more positive presentation of its image and can be a rally point for all Rotary Clubs. It can also be a tourism outreach for the City and a destination of Choice for school outings and a stop over for bus tours.
The Park can be used as an educational tool on the benefits of recycling landfill sites, ecological education and surrounding local history.
Art believes the Park is an ideal “passive park” for picnics, hiking, biking, stargazing and bird watching. He hopes that the Carolinian Forest can be revitalized, and that the memorial tree park can be named the Celebration Tree Park where we can purchase a tree for planting.
The June 6, 2007 open house provided positive public input on the Park re-opening.
The MOE has provided its certificate of approval for December 2007.
Art is hopeful that both Federal and Provincial grants are available and that public fundraising will be successful to provide the necessary park revitalization funds.
Art has set a date of October 2008 to have the park reopened during the Hamilton District Conference.
Harold Nash thanked Art for his presentation and the time and effort he and members of the Civic Affairs Committee have spent on the Rotary Park project. Harold then, on behalf of Art Wing’s Awards Committee, presented all members of the Civic Affairs Committee with Board Award Certificates to recognize their efforts on behalf of the Club.
|
Art Weaver & President Tom Arkell |
Next Week:
President Tom’s farewell dinner will be held on Wednesday, June 25
(6 p.m.) at the Brock Pond Inlet.
10-Day Notice:
That commencing July 1, 2008, our Club will provide $ 25,000 times three totally $ 75,000 for the Rotary Park project contingent to the city committing to remediation of the Park.
|
