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Program: Remembrance Day – Ralph Frayne – HMCS Haida
President Tom called upon Graham Kennedy to say grace and Don Shaw gave his lips a rest for Doug Geddie to show a very moving video presentation with the singing of O’Canada.
President Tom welcomed all and introduced the head table: John Crossingham, Ralph Frayne, our guest speaker, Sergeant-at-arms Larry Ross, member in the spotlight Vicky Rudachuk and Stuart Butler who introduced today's guests.
Guests: We had a number of guests:
Ryan Harper, visiting Rotarian from the St. Catharines Sunrise Club.
Mary MacLeod, guest of John Snowling, Jinnie Gordon, guest of John Potts, Carol Hendersen, guest of Betty-Lou Souter, Steve Tenyenhuis, guest of Rick Merritt, Alexis DeWolfe, guest of Roger Segalin.
Member in the Spotlight –Vicky Rudachuk
Member in the spotlight – member Vicky Rudachuk, joined Rotary in February of 2005 and was introduced by Maurice Gomme. Vicky is married to Blaine MacDougall and has two daughters, Talia and Hilary.
Vicky is the owner of Midas Auto Service.
Vicky has served on a number of Committees: Youth Exchange, Sergeant-at-arms, Dinner & Registration, Auction Advisory and the Outbound and Host Family Selection Committee.
Vicky’s interests include golf, reading, skiing and travel.
Birthdays –
Janet DeVries was not in attendance to receive her birthday rose.
New Member Introduction:
John Potts was pleased to introduce our newest member, Jinnie Gordon, who has lived in Niagara-on-the-Lake most of her life. Jinnie obtained a Business Administration degree in Human Resources from Niagara College and is Co-owner of Academy of Learning on Niagara Street.
She is a member of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Sailing Club and is the Regatta Chair for the 2009 Shark World Regatta being held in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Welcome to the Club Jinnie!
Announcements:
John Potts, Chair of Membership Committee, is taking up the RI President’s Challenge to increase Club membership. John’s committee wants to hear from all new members (those who joined the Club after January 2005) to find out if they have any suggestions to allow our Club to be more new-member friendly.
Alex McKee has agreed to act as a facilitator for the new member focus group.
50/50
Scott Heelis had his number drawn but the Queen of Clubs stopped him from pocketing the $ 68 pot.
Happy Dollars:
Harold Nash took the basket to gather some Remembrance Happy Dollars. But, first Harold was happy to announce he and his wife, Marcia, celebrated 52 years of marriage. Harold dropped $ 100 into the basket, not to celebrate what seems like 100 years of marriage, but to remind us to make our donations to the Every Rotarian Every Year Rotary Foundation Program.
John Snowling – happy for Doug’s video presentation of O’Canada.
Tim Rigby – happy for his knee replacement and how wonderful the hospital staff and doctors were to him.
Editor’s note – Do we expect our former Mayor not to get the red carpet treatment?
Patricia Rooney – Thanks to Doug Geddie.
Rick Merritt – remembrance dollar for Erine Fitzgerald who passed away recently.
Dave Stevenson – remembrance dollar for his father who served in WWI.
Colletta McGrath – remembrance of her grandfather who served in WWI and for a story The Standard did on a young man with a Brain Injury who paints beautiful pictures.
Gregory Bodogh Darte – Happy dollars for all of his family members who served in the War.
Chris Blake – remembrance of family members who served in WWI and WWII and also for his visit to Vimy Ridge.
George Darte – remembrance of his family members who served in time of War.
George Park – remembrance of his father who served in WWI and his lucky escape.
Roger Segalin – happy for his recent visit to France and his visit to Normandy.
Don Fraser – remembrance of his father who fought in WWI at Vimy Ridge.
Glen Norton – happy he was able to outdo Tim Rigby by getting two new Titanium knees.
Lloyd Buckley – remembrance of his brother who died in WWII.
George Irwin – remembrance of his brother who died in his 1st bombing run over Germany.
Doug Geddie – happy to see Doug Foss in full Military dress.
Larry Ross – remembrance for his father’s 6 years served in WWII.
Guest Speaker:
John Crossingham appears to have turned over a new leaf and decided not to take any time away from the speaker by introducing a man we should all know, Ralph Frayne.
Ralph Frayne, the only living crew member of The HMCS Haida, started out on what, at times, would be an emotional story of his time of service in WWII.
He prefaced his story by saying that most Veterans would agree that they try to look at the fun times they had while serving because it helps to forget the fact that it was a time of great loss.
War, however, is not a game or fun, but should be remembered for the sacrifice of others which allow us to have our freedom today.
The use of force is necessary to help keep the peace. In WWI and WWII the allies had no other choice, no other recourse but to go to War.
There are currently 250,000 Veterans in Canada who are dying at the rate of 500 per year.
Ralph is currently 82 years old and first enlisted in the Army when he was 14 years old. He was discharged shortly after they found out his age and told him to go to a different area if he wanted to re-enlist.
He did re-enlist but this time in the Merchant Marine and arrived in Halifax. He would serve on a number of Convoys and thought it might be safer to ride on the Canadian Corvettes that shadowed the Convoys. This prompted Ralph to join the Navy.
He ended up in Liverpool, England at the age of 16 in the year 1941. He wanted to get even with the Germans so he volunteered for everything, although he did not pass the necessary training to qualify for the Commando’s, which had him in Scotland.
After Ralph was assigned to a Corvette he thought they were a horrible looking ship and transferred to a destroyer being refitted in England.
The Haida was a tribal-class destroyer, state of the art ship:
- 377’ long
- 37.5’ wide
- 230 crew members
- 18 officers
- top speed reached 36 knotts
- cruising speed was 15 knotts
- could travel 25,000 miles with its fuel load
- extremely cramped quarters
He was assigned to Convoy duty to Russia, which entailed traveling from Iceland to Russia. He did four such trips in the fall of 1943. An extremely cold run where your face would suffer from frost bite.
Ralph seemed to always find trouble and when he was disciplined by not being allowed to go on shore leave he would simply volunteer for duty that would get his feet on dry land.
He told of how he delivered medical supplies from The Haida to a Russian hospital where the dead bodies were stacked up outside because the ground was too frozen to dig a grave.
Ralph participated in the sinking of 14 ships and did not feel bad at the loss of enemy lives because he knew in the long run he was saving Canadian lives.
The Haida was the most decorated ship, although such an honour was never bestowed on him.
He remembers how the Russian’s gave them a reindeer to take back on The Haida for delivery to a zoo but the animal died while in transit – so they ate it.
At the end of the War, he received a discharge medical unfit certificate, and told of his failing health and that of others who served. Fortunately for him, his doctor was our very own Dr. Don Fraser who got his health back in order.
The most thrilling part of his Naval Service was when he returned to Halifax Harbour and the royal greeting that the returning servicemen received. As he stood on the deck watching the incredible display put on for them, his only thought was “Thank God I am a Canadian!”.
Rob Reid thanked Ralph for his informative talk of his time on The Haida.
President Tom then thanked Ralph in the usual way.
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President Tom and Ralph Frayne |
President Tom provided us with some information on the Group Study Exchange Program.
Announcement:
RI Director Monty Audenart has launched a Rotary International Zone 22 special LA Convention newsletter. This monthly publication will keep you informed on the activities planned in LA.
Next Week –
Donnie Edwards – Ontario Pharmacists Association
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The Veterans are marched in. |
The Inquisitive Mind of a Child
Why are they selling poppies, mummy?
Selling poppies in town today
The poppies, child are flowers of love
For the men who marched away
But, why have they chosen a poppy, mummy?
Why not a beautiful rose?
Because, my child, men fought and died
In the fields where the poppies grow
But why are the poppies so red, mummy?
Why are the poppies so red?
Red is the colour of blood, my child
The blood our soldiers shed
The heart of the poppy is black, mummy
Why does it have to be black?
Black my child, is the symbol of grief
For the men who never came back
But, why mummy, are you crying so?
Your tears are giving you pain
My tears are my fears for you my child
For the world is – FORGETTING AGAIN!
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