Please remember to submit your Rotary engagement activities [makeups] for projects, tasks, committee meetings, fellowship events, fundraisers, meetings at other clubs, etc. to Liliane Danielson - ldanielson705@gmail.com.
PRESIDENT'S REMARKS "Rotary Vocational Service Month"
President Natalie MacDougall
The board met for a little over an hour at Osprey Links last week – thanks to Jeff Rogerson for being such a formidable host; we had great food, great drinks and great conversations!
At the meeting, we discussed a request we received from Harriet Madigan and the other Honorary Colonels for financial support for the upcoming Armed Forces Days June 16 and 17. This will be a larger celebration than usual, with this being Canada's 150th birthday. The Snowbirds, Skyhawk Paratroopers and the CF18 demonstration team will be part of the show. As we have in past years, the board has agreed to support the event, by providing up to $3K to cover food expenses for the students attending on Friday. There may be opportunities for Rotarians to be more involved in the celebration, and participate in various ways – more to come on this.
We also received a request from the North East Region Hospital Foundation, to be considered as a charity when the Catch the Ace initiative is up and running. According to the request, the community of North Bay and area needs an investment in new and upgraded medical equipment used in the screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care for patients with cancer. These needs range from two new CT scanners and colonoscopes, to anesthesia machines and pain pumps. The government does not fund medical equipment. We’ll be responding to the request in the near future, thanking them for the proposal for consideration. We do have other financial commitments that we will need to honour, if we move forward with the Catch the Ace fundraiser.
Barb originally joined Rotary in July, 2008 and was a member for a number of years, before taking a year off when her job with the Canadian Cancer Society became very busy. She is the Director for the Northeast and Northwest Regions overseeing operations for 7 offices, also including Barrie and Newmarket.
Organizationally, the Canadian Cancer Society is going through a National restructuring as they amalgamate all of their operations. Presently the Society is embarking on a merger with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation which will benefit both cancer charities.
On a personal note, Barb was born and raised in North Bay. She and husband Andrew have been married for 22 years. They do not have any children, but golden retrievers. They are very active into skiing (Nordic and downhill), running and triathlon.
Most recently, January 4th, Barb and Andrew were part of a group of 24 from North Bay who travelled to Orlando to participate in the "Dopey Challenge" [Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend]. This is a 78.3 km race over 4 days - 5 km – Thursday; 10 km – Friday; 21.1 km (half marathon) – Saturday; and finally a 42.2 km (marathon) – Sunday!
We completed all 4 races even though Disney cancelled the half marathon due to weather. The North Bay crew went out and ran the 21.1 km course anyway - "so we would truly earn our medals". Besides earning all those medals, Barb said she did it for the 'personal challenge'.
The weather on marathon day was 0 degrees at the start and only got up to 4 degrees – great for the Canadians although people did run in parkas.
The 5 and 10 km races had 12,500 runners, while that number increased to 26,500 for both the half and full marathons.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Honduras Project - Yvonne and Bob are returning to Honduras on 5th February to continue the project they joined 2016, headed by the Rotary Club of Peterborough. This year's project is focusing on assisting with two local schools with educational supplies, playground equipment, sustainable gardening, and teaching girls [ages 18-25] skills to assist with micro-business enterprises. The following lists a few much needed supplies, not in order of priority, (except for cash): Cash, to be spent in Honduras; wooden or hard plastic toys, (no batteries required); simple games that involve learning , (matching cards, math/alphabet cards, things to count/sort); pencils, erasers, scissors, rulers etc.; sewing machine in working order, with extra supplies, needles etc.; sturdy shoes for children; bras for girls; baby carriers and slings. Note, we are NOT bringing clothes this year. Any assistance is much appreciated. Yvonne Weir will be at Rotary on the 23rd January. Please call Yvonne at anytime 705-493-3323 or by email - yweir@sympatico.ca.
Adventures In Citizenship (Ottawa, April 30-May 3) - Please contact Henry Drenth (Cell:705-494-6935) if you can provided a ride for our Citizenship Student to Ottawa on April 29th. There is no bus service from North Bay on Sundays.
Rotary Youth Leadership Award [RYLA] - YMCA Geneva Park, April 21-23 - Please contact Henry Drenth (Cell:705-494-6935) if you can provided a ride for our RYLA Student to Geneva Park in Orillia on April 21st and/or back to North Bay on April 9th.
.jpeg){kind=logo}
