Attendance: 13 including 1 guest.
President Basil opened the meeting
Anthem: Gordon
Grace: Peter
Toast to the Queen, Canada and Rotary – President Basil
Guests: Basil introduced our only guest today – Colin Steele. Colin was attending to pick up the food for the Scarborough Food Bank we had collected at our Pub Night the previous Thursday (about 80 lbs. of food). He volunteers there every Friday morning. Basil knows Colin as they used to both belong to West Rouge Soccer Club. Gordon also knows Colin through soccer and meeting in a local pub. They have both known him for over 20 years.   
Announcements:
  • Mike announced that he attended ‘PETS’ – the President Elect Training at RI Headquarters in Evanston (Chicago). He said it was a great experience and of course met other President Elects and had a tour of RI. Apparently there was plenty of scotch being ‘passed around’. He was also able to visit with his cousin while he was there.
  • Basil had several announcements:
  1. We had a wonderful Pub Night in Ballantrae last Thursday and he thanked everyone for their donations to the Food Bank.
  2. Kevin Manuel has organized a ‘TV Auction replacement’ meeting on Wednesday evening at 7.00pm. at 200 Yorkland Blvd. Basil asked for as many people to attend as possible as ideas are needed for replacing this major fundraiser.
  3. A reminder that the Club’s Fireside will be on April 21st at the Highland Yacht Club starting at 6.00pm.
  4. Our Scarborough Community Renewal Organization has organized a Town Hall with Mayor John Tory to talk about the proposed transit network in Scarborough. This Town Hall will be held on Monday March 13th from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at the Centennial Recreation Centre Scarborough, which is at 1967 Ellesmere Road (west of Markham Rd.) We are asking for a large Rotary turnout to support an initiative that we started.
  5. The Rotary Club of Ajax is asking for volunteers and donations for their Food Packaging Drive for Kids Against Hunger. This event takes place on Saturday April 8th from 9.00am until 2.00pm at the Forest Brook Community Church at 60 Kearney Drive in Ajax. You are invited to help package meals for local food banks and hungry kids in other parts of the world.
  6. The Rotary Club of Willowdale is celebrating its 65th Anniversary with a huge gala and fundraiser on Friday May 5th at the Grand Luxe Event Boutique, which is at Bayview South of Finch. The featured speaker is in coming Rotary International President Ian Riseley. Magicians, musicians, a silent auction and a live band with dancing. This fundraising event will support Eva’s initiative, a multisite rescue shelter for homeless youth seeking to build a new life. Tickets are $125, with a portion of which qualifies for a tax receipt.
 
Marbelous Draw: Rocco asked our only woman present (as it was International Women’s Day) Jacqueline to draw the ticket which was claimed by Peter, but he couldn’t find the mutant marble (there are only about 12 left) so was given $5 as a consolation.
 
Sergeant-At-Arms: Frank Allison – recounted his recent annual check-up and the fact that he had got used to what the doctor does when they put the latex glove on and asked everyone else who had got used to it to donate!
Happy bucks: Gerd told us that he and Dorothy were on a hike at Devil’s Pulpit in Caledon, it was steep and rather icy so they had to get on their hands and knees and saw something silver in the ice and after digging out of the ice with his Swiss Army knife it turned out to be a ‘valuable’ Tissot watch. Although he did advertise it close to where it was found nobody claimed it. Roland donated as he was happy about his trip to Barbados. Arthur also donated – he had a trip to Florida where he encountered a lot of Burrowing Owls. Jacob also made a donation as he had a quick trip to Italy, but was disappointed that he had missed a concert just by about 30 mins.  
            
Basil introduced our very own Jacqueline Smith to give her classification speech. Basil noted that Jacqueline was looking at several other Rotary Clubs in Scarborough before she joined us and how lucky we are that she chose us. She is always willing to volunteer including volunteering to be the host for the upcoming Paul Harris Scholarship Awards dinner
 
Jacqueline promised us that her presentation wasn’t going to be a ‘death by powerpoint’ one! She told us that she had various managerial ‘sales’ positions in the private sector, but she always felt unfulfilled. She took a sabbatical and free lanced at trade shows. She had always wanted to become a Life Skills Coach, so while on her sabbatical she got her Life Skills Coach certification. She decided that she wanted to start full time work again and try and combine her previous managerial skills with the life skills coaching. She obtained a job with Goodwill training their staff. Unfortunately Goodwill Toronto closed about two years after Jacqueline started there which was pretty devastating. She is glad she did work there though because that is how she got involved with Rotary (also through Goodwill met her fiancé). She now works as a manager for employment and engagement with Skills for Change. This organization helps new immigrants, youth and people with disabilities find employment. She also volunteers at other organizations and then told us how she ‘ties in’ Rotary’s Four Way Test into her work and her personal life.
When Jacqueline finished her presentation, there were several comments as to how good a presentation it was and probably one of ‘the best’ classification talks. If you were not at the meeting it is highly recommended you listen to her presentation. (It is about 15 mins long.)
 
 
Basil thanked Jacqueline and presented her with one of our anniversary glasses.
There being no further business President Basil closed the meeting.
 
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