The Rotary Club Of Festival City

President:  Dianne Yundt

Minutes of the meeting of July 31, 2012

Club email:  festivalcityrotary@gmail.com

Club web blog: www.festivalcityrotary.blogspot.com

ClubRunner site: www.festivalcityrotary.ca

Guests: Rob Ritz and Geza Wordofa are from Stratford Rotary. Charlotte Coats is an outbound student to Norway. Jason West rebound student from Holland. Calum Balmain-Matthews is an outbound student to France. Barb Wachtman is from the Fort Wayne Rotary Club.  Doris Barkley is a guest of Deb Stacey-Rivers and Cindy Carlson is a guest of Dianne Yundt.

Draw Prize: Anna Sherwin donated the prize won by Jack West.

Announcements:

  1. Bingo: The next bingo is Friday August 17 starting at 5 PM. The bingo is the “Wizard of Oz” edition. This is in recognition of the premier of the movie on this date in 1939. Volunteers are required. Sign up for the August 17 bingo on ClubRunner or contact Jack West. Wicked witches and flying monkeys need not apply.
  2. Dinner of the Month Tickets: Tyler Canal announced that tickets for the 2013 draws are available for sale. Unlike this year, tickets will be sold only until December. Get your tickets from Tyler now and starting selling.  The price is the same as this year. $20 each or 6 for $100.
  3. Stratford Summer Music: Between Aug 14 and 19 the Culture Kids with steel pan drums from St Xavier’s Private Catholic School in Trinidad will be in Stratford.  Five families are required to host groups of 3-4 children with a chaperone.  Children are aged 7-11 and can sleep together to minimize bed requirements.  If you can billet a group please contact Lana Mau, Administrative Assistant at SSM at 519-271-2101 or email her at lmau@stratfordsummermusic.ca.  For more information about the school visit their website at www.stxavierstt.com

Guest Speaker: Jason West introduced his father Jack who presented a slide show of his May trip to the Netherlands to visit Jason who was a Rotary Exchange Student in the city of Meppel.  The city is about the same size as Stratford.

Photos of fast motorcycles and fast cars revealed Jack’s first love, and tips on driving the autobahns may be useful for anyone planning a driving trip of Holland.

Jack’s keen surveyor’s eye noticed the laser thingys on buildings which detect any foundation movement during the construction of the Amsterdam subway. Jack also noticed that some buildings are slightly out of alignment due to the shifting of the old wooden pilings supporting the buildings in soft soil.

Jack blended World War II photos with his travel photos to show the role of the Canadian Army in the liberation of Holland on May 5, 1945.
Jack’s discovery of why Heineken beer tastes better in Holland than here in Canada wasn’t too surprising. Freshness due to closeness to the brewery and temperature seems to play a role.  Jack was not very revealing about his “tour” of the red light district of Amsterdam. Perhaps this was due to the students present in the room. Altogether a very enjoyable presentation.  Jack was thanked by Louise Spandler.