Volume 49, Number 46 June 29, 2006

Rotary Club of Toronto West

Rotary Grace – O Lord, we stand for every race, for every creed from every place, to give our thanks and say our grace for food, for health. May peace embrace the world through Rotary?

Last Week – June 22, 2006

A pleasure to have a return visit from Dave Dryden, who talked to us about his father, Murray Dryden’s favourite subject “Sleeping Children Around the World” Dave was introduced to us by Willis Rudy, who spoke about Dave, his father and Dave’s niece who has been a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.

Dave started off by telling us that they were now up to the point where they have provided over 825,000 bed kits for children, and the objective is to have supplied one million by the year 2010. Dave said that the finances set up by his Mother and Father were such that for every $30.00 donated, all of the $30.00 went to providing a bed kit for one child.

Dave then called on Sandra to show and explain just what a bed kit really was, and what the child actually got.

Dave said that he and his team of five others had just returned from Kenya, where they had distributed 3,000 bed kits, they worked with the Rotary Club of Nairobi. He was so pleased because 2 years ago they had been given the opportunity to distribute kits, but their organization was in such disarray that they had to be turned down, and they begged for another chance. Dave was amazed at the improvement, and he was pleased that they had been given the second chance.

Dave went through the complete process of identifying the children, composing the kit, getting quotations, making up a sample kit and having it approved, making up the 3,000 kits and finally distributing them to the children.

They make ten distributions a year, in eight different countries. Out of the ten distributions, eight involve Rotary.

We heard quite a lot about mosquito nets and the importance of having them. Malaria carrying mosquitoes generally are active at dusk, at dawn and between the hours of one o’clock and 4 o’clock in the morning, times when most children are sleeping. They consider that the mosquito net is one of the most important items in the kit.

Dave concluded by thanking Rotary for all they are doing to support Sleeping Children Around the World.

Wine Draw:

Last weeks lucky winner was Don Foster, who immediately turned the bottle of wine over to our guest speaker, Dave Dryden.

Visitors:

. ADG Michelle Guy, Rotary Club of Toronto. Susie Rudy, wife and guest of Willis Rudy. Sandra Dryden, wife and guest of Dave Dryden.

George Emmerson

It is with the deepest regret that we announce the death of George Emmerson.

George was a past president of the Rotary Club of Toronto - Islington (1982-83), and a Paul Harris Fellow.

George left our club when he moved to Alliston, where he had been a Rotarian up to the time he passed away.

He will be sadly missed

This Week:

The last meeting of this Rotary year, and our opportunity to show our appreciation to President Stephen, and to welcome President–elect Susan McCoy as President for the coming year.

Classifications:

1. Shopping Centre – Manager.

2. Landscape Architect.

Birthdays & Anniversaries:

Wedding Anniv. – Dave & Heather McKee – June 25th.

Wedding Anniv. - Willis & Susie Rudy - June 25th.

Joined Rotary – Terry Vango – July 1st.

Members News:

Willis and Susie Rudy announced that they had become Grandparents for the first time.

Mark and Margaret Dawber have returned from a very enjoyable golfing vacation in Scotland. Mark had the opportunity to play the old course at St. Andrews.

Next Week – July 6th.

The first meeting of the New Rotary year, and a time when President Susan will introduce her new Board of Directors.

Spoke Joke:

I walked into my sister’s kitchen and found my nephew Mark having a snack. “Where’s your mother?” I asked.

“She said that she was going to take a shower. Just a minute, I’ll see.”

Mark went to the kitchen tap and turned the hot water on full blast. A very indignant yell came from above. Mark calmly turned off the tap and said, “Yes, she is in the shower.”

R.I. Conference

Having just returned home after attending the Rotary International Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, President-elect Susan McCoy gave us a brief outline of her visit.

Starting off with the wonderful breakfasts they had, which were more like a mid-day meal, but what struck her most was the fact that if you didn’t like herring, you starved. Herring was part of every meal, even the appetizers.

It was an amazing experience hearing about what was going on in Jamaica, in the Philippines and many other countries

The closing ceremonies certainly created an impression on Susan, it was so emotional with so many people in tears. When they showed pictures from different Rotary projects, and when you saw the look on many of the faces, it did bring tears to your eyes.

They finished up the ceremony with the singing of Auld Lang Syne. Susan was holding the hands of a Rotarian from New Guinea on the one side and a tall French Rotarian on the other. Susan commented that his English was about as good her French. There was an overwhelming sense that Rotary needs the world. Compassion has no borders and that no hand is out of reach. We are in a small world, but we play a very big part in it.

Another highlight, was sailing on the North Sea with other Rotarians, a rare experience for her.

Her last wish was that we all join her in our visit to Salt Lake City for the 2007 RI Conference.

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