Gossip Sheet # 37 - March 27, 2003
Editor: Bill McKay

Program: Employment Help Centre - Jeannette Thompson

President Elect Brian St. Hilaire is in the chair and asks Chris Bangham to give the blessing followed by quite a good version of the national anthem, and a toast to the Queen and the people of Canada.

Jeanette Thompson, Roger Segalin and Lee Howden

Head Table: Jeanette Thompson, Speaker; Larisa Brodsky -Introducer; Roger Segalin, Sgt. of Arms; Lee Howden, moral support for speaker, and Peggy Davidson who introduced the guest Vlada Romanoff.

Birthdays: Ed Silver, Jack Coopman, Mark Zammit, and Bill Campbell came forward to accept their birthday roses accompanied by a dreadful attempt at what appeared to be a ‘round’ version of Happy Birthday. In noting the difference in the type of roses President Elect Brian pointed out that the previous supplier had closed the shop and this was a new supplier. The sponsor remains anonymous.

Birthdays Next Week:
Mar 30 Chris Bangham
Mar 31 Bernie Cooperman
Apr 3 Nancy Ferris
Apr 4 Terry McDougall

Ten Day Notice:
George Robertson - Classification -Executive Director-Senior’s Residence (Anchor Pointe), Proposed by George Shepherd.

Announcements

The chair reminded the assembly of the change of date and venue of next weeks meeting. It is a joint meeting of the 7 local clubs and will be held Wednesday, April 2, 12 noon at the Quality Inn Parkway on Ontario St.

Brian advised that the club had sent a card of condolence to Rick Mauro on the passing of his mother.

He welcomed Karlene Petrucci back from an extended illness and much time in the General Hospital.

Peter Banwell came forward to announce that he was substituting for Ross Macdonald in the appeal to the members for support of the Polio Eradication fund raising campaign. He reported that as of today 61 members had made donations or pledges to the amount of $12,700 for a total of $25,400, after the club’s matching donation. This is a good start but well short of the goal of $43,400. Peter then went on to reveal that his childhood era was in the 40's when polio was a great danger in Canada. He recalled seeing a schoolmate succumb to the disease so severely that he was incapacitated for the rest of his life. He reminded us that Jonas Salk discovered an effective immunization drug and generously declined to patent it so that every child could receive the protection. Peter was thankful that he was able to receive this protection. This selfless example by Jonas Salk and our motto “Service above Self” may have been the inspiration for Rotary to start the campaign to eradicate the disease in 1985. The goal now is to make the entire world Polio free by 2005. Peter concluded with a quote ”We have been offered a chance to put our footprint in stone, do not let the opportunity go by.” Take heed.

Happy Dollars

Elizabeth Forsythe, resplendent in red, professed that she did not tell jokes because she could not remember the punch line, but proceeded to explain that she, and especially her husband David, were happy at the prospect of their teenage daughters both going away to school later this year due to the infamous “double cohort.” One has received acceptance from a university and the other is anxiously checking the mail.

Leslie Murch was happy to have helped coach the Ontario Under 14 Tennis Team to the All Canada title in Montreal. Her son was a team member. This was the first win for Ontario in 10 years.

Bill Finley was happy that his youngest son reported it was relatively peaceful in Qatar and therefore safe, but Bill was unhappy that the editor ruined his joke last week. (I declined to repeat it because I could not spell hermaphrodite, I gave it 3 stars but am taking one back out of spite. To be fair, Bill had warned me he was going to take a shot, my mistake was to sit at the same table)

After being coerced into expending a loonie, Bill McKay recovered enough to use the moment to thank Eugene Gillies and John Kerklaan for recent help in their respective fields of expertise.

Maurice Gomme was not exactly happy to report he had been diagnosed with prostrate cancer but was happy that the treatment including a drug costing over $1000 was covered by OHIP. He also was pleased with the many offers he received to transport him to Hamilton for his 6 weeks of treatment. Maurice, you deserve the best treatment for all you have done for the General Hospital and other organizations.

Nancy Ferris was happy to see Karlene Petrucci back and looking so healthy. In addition Karlene’s company is moving Nancy to St. Catharines.

Cam Hathaway paid 3 happy $ but I missed the source of the happiness.

Roger Segalin was happy to have received several thoughts of condolences on the passing of his mother, however late. It seems his mother passed away in 1995. The well-intended condolences were a matter of miscommunication for his father in-law is gravely ill.

50-50 Draw: the pot, reported at $514, is still available, as Norm Kreger could not find the Queen of Spades.

The signal for early leavers was followed by what seemed to be a mass exodus and this prompted Don Fraser to comment that the Duck should be extremely full.

Program
Employment Help Centre - Jeannette Thompson

Jeanette Thompson, Larisa Brodsky and Lee Howden

Larisa Brodsky had been well prepared to introduce Rudy Masswohl and Jeanette Thompson of the Employment Help Centre, however, Rudy had taken ill and was unable to attend.

Larisa carried on with a fine introduction of Jeanette Thompson who is the coordinator of the Canadian Access for International Professions and Skilled Trades (C.A.I.P.S.) mentoring programme, which is affiliated with the Employment Help Centre (EHC). She also introduced Lee Howden, group facilitator at the Help Centre.

Although the literature does not say, and neither did Jeanette, and no one asked, I suspect that the funding for this worthwhile organization (EHC) comes from government grants. The brochure indicates it is non-profit, community based, and provides job search support for adults over 24 who are unemployed, underemployed, or changing careers. They offer advice, access to communication equipment, workshops, information on job markets and a Job Match Service. For employers they offer consultation, referrals, reference checks, hiring incentives, and apprenticeship facilitation.

C.A.I.P.S. is a joint venture of EHC and the Welland Multiculture Centre and its goal is to address the unique needs of Internationally Trained Professionals and Skilled Trades Persons in finding employment in the Niagara Peninsula. It does this by providing information, learning, and mentoring opportunities. They help by matching applicants with mentors, help them to find out how their international training can be accredited, and help them network and research with other international workers. It’s literature thanks Human Resources Canada Jeanette informed the audience that she receives daily inspiration at a website “Find a Mentor.org”. They are looking for mentors in all the professions plus computer science & technology, graphic design, construction, speech pathology, cosmetology, and social work. Mentors are only required to volunteer a total of 18 hours over 3 months in 1 1/2 hr segments.

Lee Howden, although not expecting to speak, was delighted to have been asked, and very briefly spoke of having discovered a different perspective when he realized the various reasons why people disrupt their lives to emigrate to another country.

George Park reminded the members that he had participated as a mentor to a pediatrician and had her as his guest at one of our meetings. He felt it was a worthwhile effort and was much appreciated by the lady. John Nitsopoulos also helped by providing employment for the ladies husband. George suggested that his was not a very onerous task, requiring less than the recommended 18 hours.

President Elect Brian St. Hilaire and Mark Zammit

The absent Rudy Masswohl had been the motivator for our Career Retraining Committee The stalwarts of the committee are George, Larisa, and Mark Zammit, all professionals trained in other countries, and therefore well versed in the problems of securing accreditation and finding employment in a new country.

Mark Zammit thanked the speakers and Brian passed on the usual bottle of the region’s finest.

Community Announcements

The presidents of Brock University and the St. Catharines Chamber of Commerce invite you to attend a lecture by Christopher Fullerton, BA, M.Pl, entitled St. Catharines in the 21st Century: Development Opportunities and Challenges in a Changing World. This is part of the President’s Community Luncheon Series. It takes place Tuesday, April 15, 2003 at the Quality Inn Parkway. Cost is $25 per person. Phone Julia Gottli 905-688-5550 ext. 3245 or e-mail: jgottli@brocku.ca

Sounds like a must hear for the movers and shakers in our club.