Photographer: Pam Harrison
Dianne chaired the meeting, standing in for Susan F.
Visiting Rotarians: June Woodburn from Timmins, Ontario, Porcupine Club, and Sharon from South Lake County Club, Florida.
50-50 Draw: Dale’s number was drawn but he failed to pick the Eight of Hearts. The pot of $53 carries forward to next week.
Rotary Foundation: A reminder to bring in your filled RF money jars.
Happy Dollars: Wynn who was 30 seconds late was glad to see the meeting started on time; he will miss the lobster party as he is playing in a golf championship. Wayne and Sandy are happy to be celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary. Darrell is going off to fish in Labrador and thanks Dale and Wayne for looking after the finances while he is away. Sergeant-at-Arms Dianne thanked those who covered for her when she was late this morning. George is happy to have his sister June visiting with him for a week.
Sharon was happy to be a rose between two thorns.
Next Week: 24 August 2017. Chair: Bill; Greeter: Marita; Introducer: Dale; Thanker: Jamie (or substitute).
Lobster Party: Final reminder regarding lobster party to be held at Susan P’s cottage on Sunday 20 August at 2 p.m. (eat at 5 p.m.). A map with directions will be emailed to members.
Corn Boil: Advance Notice: Corn Shucking – Friday 1 September, 7 p.m. at Civic Centre (960 cobs – come and try for a new world record). Corn Boil – Saturday 2 September, 9:30 a.m. come and help prepare, serve corn 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Rotary Trees: Pam has planted 12 trees; Marita has planted 17. So we already meet the goal of planting one tree per member, averaged over the whole club.
Rotary Foundation: Our club’s givings in 2016-2017: Auction $1,718 (matched by the club), 50-50 $500, four individual donations $200, for a total of $4,136 ! We give more than twice the District average. A short video “Thank You For Doing Good In The World” was shown.
Fall Fair Parade: Plans are being made to enter one or more sports cars, with Gold Mine cheques on display.
Canada 150 Polio Plus Appeal: Pam has lined up visits to the Hampton, Shediac, Dieppe and Moncton West clubs.
President’s Time: John was glad to be back and reminded members of the District Conference, 22-24 September, in Miramachi. He read part of a long letter (unedited) of thanks from TRHS Bursary recipient Hannah Walton.
Speaker: Dianne introduced Laura Morrell, a 2010 Mount A grad, and now a Program Officer with Elementary Literacy Inc., a not-for-profit charitable organization which aims to improve literacy rates among New Brunswick’s elementary school children.
There are two sections – CLEF (French) and ELF = Elementary Literacy Friends. Over 900 volunteers operate the program in 180 New Brunswick schools.
New Brunswick has a serious literacy problem. Over half the adult population are not beyond Level 2 literacy. We are the second worst in the country. Literacy rates have a significant impact on the state of the economy and on New Brunswick’s future prosperity.
Learning difficulties emerge early; that’s why the program focuses on the crucial point in a child’s reading development – Grade 2. Volunteers receive training and work 2 hours a week for 10 weeks. The program has already proved to be very effective. More volunteers are needed.
Donations are sought from businesses and individuals. E.g. $1,500 would allow a school to offer the program for an entire school year.
After some lively questions and discussion George thanked the speaker for an interesting presentation.
The meeting closed with the Four-Way Test.
Gold Mine P.S. At the Toonie Count last Monday Leslie Estabrooks dropped by to collect her $1,139 winnings from Jamie.
