February 27, 2006 South Mouth
SouthMouth
Weekly Bulletin of the Rotary Club of St. Catharines South
February 27,
Volume Nine, Meeting 25
Reporter: John Teibert
OPENING THE MEETING
Call to Order: President Bob McKay
National Anthem: Andrew Bowles
Toast to Queen and Canada: Matt Taylor
Invocation: Ross Elliott
GUESTS AND VISITING ROTARIANS
Jim Howes introduced the following guests and visiting Rotarians: Mr. John Lehnen from the Downtown Club, Mr. John Currey from Hospice Niagara, Ms Judith Barker from both Hospice Niagara and the Downtown Club, and Mr. John D'Ambrosio, soon to be inducted new member.
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS
Brian Radford, serving as Sergeant-at-Arms, took Gushue Dollars from all of the curlers in the club; fined Matt Taylor for taking too much of Brian's money at Poker; fined John Klassen for bad mouthing lawyers; fined Dan Toppari because Pelham beat Merriton in boys hockey; fined Bob McBride because he DIDN'T spill wine in Matt's new house; fined Mike Grifa for a gas company infraction - Don Beard almost froze before he got his furnace fixed. Matt Taylor did so well at Poker he didn't mind paying another dollar!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
There will be a brief Director's meeting following today's lunch to discuss the Howard Etherington Award.
Bingo, March 11, 2006:
Greg is looking for volunteers.
Diamond-Studded Gala, May 13, 2006:
Andrew Bowles reported that 27 tickets have been sold so far. The tickets are $85 each - a tremendous value. Everyone's help is needed for selling tickets, soliciting items for the live and silent auctions, and volunteering the night of the event. The event qualifies for about four community service hours for high school students, so please let any students know that they can help out at the event.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Rotary Lunch, March 6th, 12 Noon:
Our March 6th Rotary meeting will be held at Kernahan Park Highschool, which is the location of our Success Program. Members are encouraged to arrive early so that the meeting can start promptly.
March 13th, 12 Noon, Guest Speaker Teo Frans, "Olympic Ice Maker."
Director's Meeting, March 17th, 7:30 a.m. at the St. Catharines Golf & Country Club.
District Assembly, May 5-7:
Ron Kozub is still looking for sponsors to help cover the costs of the hospitality suite. To start us off, Ron's company (Wine Garden of Pelham) is contributing the wine at Ron's cost - roughly a $400 savings to the club. Way to go, Ron!
BIRTHDAYS
There was one birthday in February noted - Andrew Bowles. Best wishes for a great year, Andrew!
50/50 DRAW
Julio Batres' number was called, but he drew the Six of Hearts. There is now close to $350 in the pot!
NEW MEMBER INDUCTION
President Bob called on Bob McBride to introduce our 8th new member this year - Mr. John D'Ambrosio. John was sponsored by Ian Forbes. John is the owner/operator of UMC (United Motor Collision). John is married to Cindy and has three children. John's classification is Auto Collision Repair. Welcome to our club, John!
GUEST SPEAKERS
John Teibert introduced both John Currey and Judith Barker.
John Currey is a retired Sales and Marketing Manager with Boreal Laboratories. He is originally from the United States and has settled here in St. Catharines. He is a former Rotarian and now volunteers for Hospice Niagara and serves on their Capital Campaign Committee.
Judith Barker is the Executive Director of Hospice Niagara and has now spoken to our club on an annual basis, keeping us up-to-date on their progress of building a residential hospice in Niagara. Judith is a Rotarian with the Downtown Club.
Both John and Judith thanked our club for our commitment to their project through the Winter Dreams Galas. We have raised in excess of $350,000 in cash and donations in kind. They are extremely excited that we will have Winter Dreams VI (on November 18, 2006 at Queen's Landing) now that their building will be under construction.
They went through a Power Point presentation that highlighted the programs that Hospice Niagara currently operates, the need for a residential hospice, and the cost savings and improved care our health systems will benefit from by establishing a residential hospice.
The building will be located on the Linhaven Nursing Home site. The Niagara Region has rented the land to them at $1 per year. The building will house administration, operate programs, and be a 10-bed hospice care facility. The capital project budget, including equipment is $2.7 million. They have raised approximately $1.4 million during the "quiet phase" of their campaign. They are now in the "public phase" of the campaign and are confident that their goal can be achieved.
They have received approval for annual funding of $580,000 from the provincial government. This will cover 60 per cent of their operating costs.
Construction of the building should start in the spring. John and Judith thanked us again for our support.
Ian Forbes thanked John and Judith for their progress report and good work.
ATTENDANCE
Jim Shannon reported 86 per cent attendance (24 present and six make-ups).
ADJOURNMENT
As there was no further business for the good of Rotary, President Bob adjourned the meeting at 1:30 p.m.