Photographer: Sandy Harper
Marita welcomed everyone and read chapter 1 of Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life … And Maybe the World by Admiral (ret.) William H. McRaven – a book which she highly recommends. The moral is: start your day with a task completed – making your bed up to military standards is a good way of doing that.
50-50 Draw: Sandy’s number was drawn (again !) but she failed to pick the 5 of Spades. Unfortunately this is not Chase the Ace. So the pot of $26.00 carries forward to next week.
Guests: Bob MacLean from Truro. Frank Oulton who came to hear the speaker.
Visiting Rotarian: Nicole from Amherst.
PinPal Stories: Dale was having breakfast in Truro a couple of weeks ago and ran into Rotarian Bill MacLean whom he had met at a Rotary Leadership Training event.
Dancing Lessons: Pat encouraged everyone to come to dancing lessons next Monday night 7:00 p.m. at the Curling Club. It’s fun and it’s good exercise.
Happy Dollars: Susan F was happy that skiing was fabulous last week; she’s not so happy about the coming week. Because of the cold weather, Josh’s grandfather was thinking of selling his cattle; thanks to help from family and friends, and some slightly warmer weather, he’s decided to keep them. Nicole was glad her 2-year old slept all through the night ! She also announced a RBC Wealth Event at the bank, January 15, 6:30 p.m. Dianne was about to leave for Toronto for a family gathering to celebrate Frank’s 60th. She had a nice card from 2006-2007 RYE student Elisabeth Weidner, her husband Andy, and son Paul in Germany. John is happy with a button he got for Christmas, and even more happy for Gemey as the Owens got a 75% increase in its Canada Council grant; the application had emphasized community outreach including the Sunday program supported by Rotary.
News from Pam: As you see, Pam was benched on her way to Portugal. She had an unintended one day stopover in Iceland because of a flight delay. Unfortunately there were only five hours of daylight.
Next Week: 18 January 2018: Club Assembly. Chair – John; Greeter – Josh.
Rotaract: Susan F reported that Rotaract is in full swing again. We have been asked to supply lunch/snacks for a District Forum next weekend. A wine and cheese party will be held next Friday at the President’s Cottage in aid of the student refugee program; please support by attending or donating $10. Details on these events coming via email.
President’s Time: John reported that Gayle is home from hospital and sounds cheerful. Our sympathies to Susan P; a Time of Remembrance for Lorne Booth will be held at the Marshlands Inn on 20 January from 3 to 5 p.m.
Speaker: Dale introduced long-time friend and fellow-student Gary Jollymore, who went to Dal Medical School, then served in the army, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He spoke of his experiences running a methadone clinic with 300 patients in Ontario.
Drug abuse is a growing problem, with people dying in record numbers. It is not confined to the big cities. It is not a problem that will just go away. The speaker described how a methadone clinic operates. Patients must attend on a regular basis, and those who run the clinics are very carefully monitored. Methadone is not a miracle cure, and results are very mixed. There is no clinic in Sackville; patients have to go to Amherst or Moncton.
Those who run methadone clinics “try to do what is right without doing harm.” The danger is that patients may become addicted to methadone. An alternate drug, suboxone, is now also being used. The best that can be offered in most cases is “treatment, but not a cure.”
Charlie thanked the speaker for his insights into a very serious present-day problem.
The meeting concluded with the Four-Way Test.
Gold Mine Presentation: Donald Green was on hand to accept from Marita his winnings of $2,508.
Wendy Burnett received from Marita a cheque for $713 on behalf of the Tantramar Heritage Trust.
