Presiding – Frances Stevens
Olga McKellar gave the invocation and also won the 50/50 with the 7 of hearts. There was not much in the pot as Graham Hart had recently pulled the Ace of Spades and won $405. Shortly after Graham won, Robin pulled the Ace of Spades with the new deck and won himself a generous $17. Olga thoughtfully left the Ace so that a new deck did not have to be purchased again.
Guests introduced at the meeting were Immediate Past District Governor Kathy Dick, Tim Whitehead from Cambridge, Brian Connors our guest speaker and a hopeful new member Henry Neustater of Edward Jones.
Celebrating birthdays were Graham Hart and John Currie. Mary Reid was congratulated on her 2 year anniversary with Rotary.
Kathy thanked our Club for its assistance in the tree planting where a goal of 1,600 turned into an achievement of 5,000. She knew our Roses had been successful even while we awaited final numbers. Lastly she wanted to thank our members for their contributions to the PolioPlus campaign.
Happy Bucks included Olga McKellar for her granddaughter’s marriage in Texas and Ted Beynen back from his latest trip to Aruba. Robin Ferro was just happy that he could get out of the office and make a meeting.
It was mentioned that Frances will lay a wreath at the Cenotaph on behalf of the Club.
Youth Exchange interviews will be held next Tuesday.
Brian Connors, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City was introduced by Ron Fraser who had asked him to speak about the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) and Cowan Park.
Brian spoke about 4 different pieces of land. Due to legislation involving flood control the north and south shore will remain part of the UTRCA and the City is not able to buy them. UTRCA also wants to maintain the campground areas. The City has purchased 2 pieces of UTRCA and sees benefits for the community that will hopefully allow for a loop trail and also free access to the water. A walkway across the dam would connect the shores. It is hoped that our boat house would also be under the City.
Organizing our Dragon Boat event should become easier as we will be dealing with the City who will work with UTRCA on the parts that involve them.
Brian spoke of Cowan Park and the $100,000 debt the Soccer Club faced when it asked the City to take over the facilities. It involves the Soccer and Volleyball Clubs plus 50 acres of sports fields. The times of the walking track availability were able to be increased by moving the Admin Assistant there on October 27. Other requests for more staff may be made. Other challenges that the City now faces with the ownership of the facility include long overdue cleaning of the turfs, replacement of lights, and the introduction of new sports to achieve the facility’s full potential.
Brian was thanked for his informative talk and told that 50 children would be immunized against Polio in his name.
There being no other business for the good of Rotary the meeting was adjourned.