Rota-Teller | Wednesday March 9, 2016
 
Anthem: Alan Meredith
Grace: Mike Mushet
 
 
 
Attendance: 14 members and 2 guests: Major Ian Miedema and Captain John-Hugh MacDonald, Canadian Forces
 
Toast to the Queen, Canada and Rotary:  President Gerd Wengler
Announcements:        
Next week’s meeting will be held at Park Properties Management, at 12:15. Their address is 16 Esna Park Drive, Suite 200, in Markham. Please respond to the Club Runner invite email so that we have a count of numbers attending.
                                    The memorial service for Jack Holman is on Sunday March 20 at the Scarboro Golf Club from noon until 3:00 PM. Please respond to the Club Runner invite email so that we have a count of numbers attending for refreshments.
                                    Our club has completed all requirements for the Presidential Citation except for sponsoring a Rotaract/Interact club and mentoring students.
                                    An Interact club is being sponsored at the Precious Blood Catholic School in Scarborough. Basil, Arthur and Frank will act as mentors.
 
Marbelous Draw:        Conducted by Frank Allison, drawn by Major Miedema and won by Rocco. The elusive mutant marble continued to elude Rocco, who had to settle for $5.00.
 
Sergeant at Arms:       S/A Kevin Manuel conducted a quiz to compare the cost of a gallon of various liquids to the cost of a gallon of gasoline:
                                    Gasoline                      $3.05
                                    Kool-aid                       $1.85
                                    Low fat milk                $3.79
                                    Budweiser                   $8.88
                                    Red Bull                       $30.69
                                    Absolute Vodka           $58.26
                                    Chanel #5                    $25,600.00
                                    Needless to say, the fine box grew heavy.
                                    Happy Bucks:
Gerd was happy that his dog Sadie can swim in the ocean, and Roland was sad that he fell into a pond in Barbados, but had a great vacation.

Major Ian Miedema was born in Kingston, Ontario but raised in the small town of Cloyne, Ontario.  After graduating high-school, he left home to pursue an engineering degree from Queen’s University.  Graduating in 1999, he soon started working for Atomic Energy Canada Limited as a research assistant.  Shortly thereafter he realized he enjoyed school so much that he went back and completed a Master of Engineering degree from Royal Military College in 2002. 
Jim Boyko introduced Major Ian Miedema who provided a very interesting presentation.
His military career began in January 1994 when he joined an infantry reserve unit, the Princess of Wales Own Regiment, in Kingston, Ontario.  He stayed with this unit throughout his high school and university days. In 2002, he decided to transfer to the regular force and take his commission as an RCEME officer.  After spending time in Kingston on OJT, language training in St-Jean, and Corps training in Borden, he was posted to Petawawa to 2 General Support Battalion (2 GS Bn).  While there, he was employed in a variety of positions, including administration officer, platoon commander, and company 2IC.  During this last position, he was involved in the merging of 2 GS Bn and 2 Service Battalion into the 2 (FG) Service Battalion. 
 
Major Miedema deployed with Rotation 1-07 to Afghanistan as the Senior Duty Officer of the National Support Element (NSE) from January to August 2007.  Immediately following this deployment, he was posted to the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM).  First he was posted to the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) as the Maintenance Officer, then to the Command J4 Cell, and finally to the Command Equipment Management Team.  While at CANSOFCOM, he was promoted to his present rank in 2010.  He deployed to Afghanistan once again in 2011 as a member of a Special Operations Task Force.  In 2012 he was posted to 1 Service Battalion as the Officer Commanding Maintenance Company, and subsequently deployed to Southern Alberta as part of Op LENTUS, providing support and assistance to the floods in 2013.  In the summer of 2014, he was posted to Ottawa as the Executive Assistant to Director General Land Equipment Program Management, and after a year posted to Toronto to attend the Joint Command Staff Program at the Canadian Forces College.
 
He is married to Major Rebecca Miedema, a Logistics Officer, and they have two very active young boys, William and Patrick.  In his spare time, when he can find some, he enjoys traveling, biking, running, volleyball, and skiing. 
 
Please follow this link for the recording of the presentation.
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p911ng08qiz2tql/Major%20Ian%20Miedena%20Audio%20Presentation%20.MP3?dl=0
 
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