Volume 52, Number 1 July 3, 2008

Rotary Club of Toronto West

Rotary Grace – O Lord we stand for every race, from 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 26, 2008

We had Doug Williams introduce Adam Wheeler as our guest speaker. Adam was not only a recipient of one of our awards at the 2008 Rotary Youth Awards Banquet, but he was our choice to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award Conference (RYLA).

Adam told us that he attended at Loyalist College in Belleville, May 25-30 2008.

20 young people aged 18-25 were given the opportunity to learn key leadership skills such as teambuilding, and communicating effectively. These activities included an “invisible, silent rope maze” which demonstrated the importance of collaboration and non-verbal communication.

The RYLA participants were also given the amazing opportunity to volunteer with a Rotary sponsored community garden, which supplies food to the local soup kitchen. With the sheer number of people involved in helping to plant, we managed to clear, till and plant a large new garden in a few hours – a task which would have taken the regular staff days to complete!

When they weren’t working or volunteering, RYLA students were busy organizing several evening activities including a campus-wide game of capture the flag, dodge-ball, a movie night and a newspaper reporting on the week’s experiences and events.

They also were able to share their learning with the Rotary Club of Quinte Sunrise, at a combined barbeque, Rotary meeting and RYLA graduation.

Lessons learned include the importance of stepping outside one’s comfort zone to try something new – the only way that one can grow is by challenging ourselves to do something different from the norm, or the “safety zone”. Learning from these challenges helps us to broaden our horizons and become better rounded as people.

One other notable theme of the program, was the power that all people have to make a difference in the lives of others. The program theme was Positive Choices, Powerful Outcomes, and for all of the participants, becoming involved in community service was an easy choice, but it was a positive one through and through, and our actions, as well as those of volunteers everywhere, can have a tremendously powerful impact.

President Brian thanked Adam for a very interesting and educational talk, allowing us to learn more about Rotary, and the good we are doing.

50/50 Draw

Once again Bill Belier had the opportunity to draw for the Joker, but it was not to be. Keep trying Bill.

Visitors

Don Sirko, Rotary Club of Parkdale-High Park.

This Week

We are celebrating the outgoing of President Brian, and the incoming of President Nick Galletto. We also welcome all the friends and relatives of those members in attendance.

Classifications

The reason a couple of classifications are published each week, is not, so that you have to rush out each week and find one of them. It is to spark a thought that you might know one of these job classifications and that you can sound them out about an interest in Rotary. Try it, you may be surprised at the results. This week, they are:

1. Electric Power

2. The Clergy

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Joined Rotary – Terry Vango – July 1st.

Joined Rotary – Don Foster – July 3rd.

Next Meeting July 10, 2008

Past President Brian Hicks on "A Complaint Free World".

Annual Golf Day

Thursday July 24th. Our own Golf Day, at Lakeview Golf Club. Make sure that you come out and try to win our beautiful trophy, Let Mark Dawber know if you will be able to be there.

Golf Tournament

The Rotary Club of Parkdale-High Park is holding their Fourth Annual Golf Classic on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at The Royal Ontario Golf Club. $225.00 per golfer. Two Man Scramble.

Dates to Remember

July 24th. Our Annual Golf Day, to be held at Lakeview Golf Club.

Sept 12th. Scotch Nosing and Noshing.

Oct 24, 25 & 26th. The 2008 District 7070 Conference at Deerhurst Resort.

Spoke Joke

Sitting in a tree one day, a robin said to his buddy, “I’m hungry. Let’s fly down and find some lunch.” The birds found a patch of freshly ploughed ground that was full of worms, and they ate until they were both too full to fly back up into the tree. They decided to just lie right where they were and bask in the sun.

Soon, a big tomcat spied the overstuffed birds. He crept over and gobbled them up.

As the cat washed his face after his satisfying meal he thought, "I just love baskin’ robins."

Outgoing President

It is with pleasure and regret that we come to the end of another year, and another change of President.

Last year, Brian accepted the position, with very little working knowledge of the ways of Rotary. But it was obvious from the start that it was an excellent choice. Brian dove in the deep end, and quickly showed us that he was a good learner, and throughout the year he has attended as many district and community meetings and functions as was humanly possible, learning from each, and meeting as many people as he could.

Our club is better for having him as President,

For better or for worse, I would be amiss if I did not comment on the way that he forever changed the style of dress of Rotarians at our meetings. Fortunately, not everyone followed suit. (Sorry about that one).

But, as things go, we are fortunate to have another dedicated Rotarian in President Nick Galletto to follow on. We wish him well, and look forward to working with him in the year ahead.

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