Festival City Rotary Newsletter September 4, 2012

Posted by Vincent Hill 
on Sep 4, 2012
 

The Rotary Club Of Festival City

President:  Dianne Yundt

Minutes of the meeting of September 4, 2012

Club email:  festivalcityrotary@gmail.com

Club website: www.festivalcityrotary.ca

Guests: Clark Mitchell is from Stratford Rotary. Steve Stacey is a potential new member. Randy Matthews is a guest of Bill Helmuth. Leticia Figueiredo is our Rotary Exchange Student from Brazil.

Draw Prize: Donna Hinz won the prize donated by Bill Helmuth.

Announcements:

  1. Hosts Required: Carol Rock made the following request:There are 19 Rotary Exchange Students from 16 countries in District 6330 this year. On October 12 they will be in Stratford to attend a play. Our club is responsible for hosting the students over night. We need 5 more homes to host 2 students each. They arrive at approximately 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Hosts are asked to take them home or out for dinner and see that they get to the theatre by 7:30 p.m. They need to be picked up at 11 p.m. and taken home to sleep. The following morning at 8:30 a.m. students will leave for Toronto from the Canadian Tire parking lot. This is a chance for you to experience youth exchange for 1 night. The students are new to our country having arrived here 6 weeks ago, at this point. Not a huge commitment on our part but a delightful one where you can talk one-on-one with the students and learn about their culture while showing them some Stratford hospitality.Please consider this request and call me at 519-271-0737 if you have any questions or are willing to host students.
  2. Area 3 Meeting: Bill Helmuth reported on the meeting in Mitchell Aug 30. The Mitchell club is looking for speaking volunteers for their “Don’t Meth With Me” program. See Bill if you are interested.  Volunteers will also be required for the 2013 Plowing Match to be held near Mitchell next Sept. Groups of 10 volunteers will are required for gate duty.
  3. Fundraising Committee: Chair Louise Spandler requested volunteers to serve on the committee and several people came forward. The committee needs to meet soon to discuss requests which have been made for funds.
  4. Pancake Breakfast: Saturday Sept 15 from 7 AM to 5PM. Note the new times for this event. Kent will be emailing all volunteers next week regarding their duties.
  5. Board of Directors Meeting: Sept 20. Committee reports to be given to President Dianne.
  6. “Touch The Truck” This event mentioned by Jean Aitcheson takes place at the St Marys flats on Saturday from 10 AM to 2 PM
  7. Dinner of the Month Tickets: Tickets for the 2013 draws are available for sale. Get your tickets from Tyler Canal.  The price is the same as this year. $20 each or 6 for $100.

 

Guest Speaker President Dianne introduced Elizabeth Anderson who talked about New Generations, the 5th avenue of service in Rotary which became a service in 2010.
New Generations is designed to encourage 12-30 year olds to become involved with Rotary. It is hoped that by becoming involved at an early age young people will become lifelong Rotarians.  There are several ways in which youth can become involved.
The Rotary Youth Exchange is one way. Our club sponsors 10% of the students in our district. 
The Adventures in Citizenship Program which sends high school students to Ottawa for four days each year is another project we have been supporting. Last year’s participating student will be speaking to our club shortly.
An Interact club in high school is an excellent opportunity for teenagers 12-18 to serve their community. The local Interact Club is at Central Secondary School is managed  by the Stratford Rotary Club.  This year the club raised money for various relief efforts including the Horn of Africa Famine Relief Fund. They sold bracelets, helped with the Rural-Urban night, and manned the coat check at the “Soups On” festival.
Rotaract is for people 18-30 years of age. Most often it is found in post secondary institutions.  Rotaract members mentor students in Interact clubs. They are also a source for Ambassadorial Scholars. Rotaract members often transfer to Rotary clubs.
R.Y.L.A. or Rotary Youth Leadership Awards are given to those aged 14 to 30 who show leadership potential.
Young enthusiastic people, socially connected, knowing how to use technology and with the ability to think in new and creative ways will be of great benefit to the future of Rotary.
Elizabeth extended an invitation to Rotarians to join the New Generations committee. The next meeting will be later in September.
Elizabeth was thanked by Carol Rock.