The Rotary Club Of Festival City
President:  Bill Helmuth
Minutes of the meeting of August 6, 2013
Guests: From the Stratford Rotary Club we welcomed Bob Martin, Marcia Matsui, Bryan Lapier and Rob Ritz. Margie McCarthy is a guest of Etienne Leushuis. Jennifer Birmingham is our guest speaker.
Door Prize: Dianne Yundt donated the prize won by Jeanne Aitcheson.
Announcements:
1. “Off To School Smiling” is a fundraiser by the House of Blessing to purchase school supplies for children returning to school in September. Donna Hinz will be collecting donations during August to support this worthy program.
2. Polio Immunization and West African Project Fair. Information concerning this event taking place in Togo in October has been emailed to the membership by Randy Matthews for consideration.
3.Dragon Boat Races: The pancake breakfast and coffee service for this event on September 14 will require many volunteers. Keep that day free to help out.
4.Rotary Leadership Institute: The next seminar including parts 1, 2 and 3 takes place in Owen Sound on Saturday September 28. Information and details are being forwarded to the membership in a separate email.
5.Youth Protection Policy: The membership has received an important email from Randy Matthews about the policy which affects everyone working with youth. Please open the attachment and follow the instructions.
 
Weekly Duty Roster:
Date:    Prize Donor     Prayer Reader   Speaker Thanker  Club Greeter
Aug 13  Bill Helmuth     Wayne Young      Jean Aitcheson      Vincent Hill
Aug 20  Brian Rivers     Jean Aitcheson      Laura Pogson        Donna Hinz
Aug 27  Ron Rogers      Peter Moreton       Carolyn Dingman Dianne Yundt
 
 
Guest Speaker: Bill Helmuth introduced Jennifer Birmingham who serves on the board of directors for the Stratford Festival and is owner of the new Bruce Hotel.
Jennifer first started in the B&B business 16 years ago when she operated the Butternut Tree B&B in Tavistock. After 5 years she opened Touchstone Manor on St. David Street. Soon she will be opening her most ambitious project, the luxurious 25 room 4 diamond Bruce Hotel at 89 Parkview Avenue beside the Arden Park Hotel.
The location was purchased after an exhaustive search of all potential properties in and around Stratford. Just as Jennifer was about to put in an offer on the Church Restaurant the 500 Ontario Street property became available.  Preparatory ground work began last November and construction began in January. The dining room portion of the hotel is nearing completion and will open at the end of August. It will be operated by Aaron and Bronwyn Linley who own the Bijou Restaurant. It will be open to the general public.
The cost of the hotel is budgeted at $500 000 per room which is well above the average price for hotel construction. Jennifer is expecting that her hotel will cater to the well-healed traveler who expects the best in amenities. She feels that it is important to cater to this level of clientele who are currently not being served in Stratford. Room rates will be above $500 per night. Room sizes are large and range from 650 to 818 square feet.
The disabled guest has been kept in mind. Wheel chair accessible bathrooms are large and have two sinks at different levels. The large showers are wheelchair accessible as well. One side of the swimming pool has a low transfer wall where a wheel chair bound person will be able to slip from the chair, over the wall and into the pool.
Jennifer has put her artistic abilities to work. Each bathroom will have 27 sq feet of glass mosaic tiles designed by Jennifer. As an example she showed how after taking a photo of some daffodils she enlarged the panoramic photo until the pixels where the size of small glass tiles. Then she constructed the mosaics following the pattern of the pixels.
Jennifer expects to employ about 25 people under the direction of a general manager and she will act as host. The restaurant will seat up to 125 people and will have a lounge to attract the after theatre crowd. The low season will be a challenge but Jennifer is hoping that the hotel will be a destination for weekend getaways during the winter. She is aware that the accessibility of Stratford during the winter can be difficult with road closures. She is willing to hold weddings and small conferences if the whole hotel is booked for the event.
Jennifer expects to hold an open house after completion of the hotel.
Jennifer was thanked by Wayne Young.