The meeting was held at the Open Sky Co-operative, 12 Folkins Drive, and began with the serving of a healthy breakfast.

 

 

George was in the chair and led a rousing rendition of “O Canada.”

 

 

50-50 Draw:  Josh picked the Five of Spades – the winning card ! – and generously donated the $109 to Open Sky.  Margaret Tusz-King was happy to receive the donation.

 

 

Birthday:  Stacey is a year older on 6 April, and was suitably serenaded.

 

Happy Dollars:  Josh was happy to have won the 50-50 and to be able to support Open Sky.  Stacey recalled that she joined Rotary one year ago, on the day before her birthday.  Louise reported that her Dad had surgery, is now home and happy to learn that it was not cancer.  Trish was glad to be back at Rotary.  Susan got to ski three times last week. Patricia received a picture from Ireland which proved that for the first time it was possible to get a drink in a Dublin pub on Good Friday. Golf fan George empathized with golfer Tony Finau who got a hole in one in the pre 2018 Masters tournament, then while dancing in celebration dislocated his left ankle.

 

Next Week: 12 April 2018:  Chair: Tim;  Greeter: Tammy;  Introducer: Dale;  Thanker: Josh;  Speaker: Nicole Naish, “Retirement Income Planning.”  

 

Rotaract:  Susan announced that next week there will be a final sale on Rotaract chili.

 

Projects Committee:  Stacey reported that the committee are considering extending the TRHS bursary program to students taking the Tantramar Advanced Program at Mount A. A new sub-committee has been formed to explore ways of donating service rather than money to the community; new members are welcome.

 

Spring Bash is on Saturday 12 May at TRHS. Dianne distributed tickets. Posters are also available.

 

President’s Time:  According to John, Pam has almost worn out her sunglasses.  He will email members on a poetry reading event on 29 April, and an invitation from Saint John Rotary to attend a Paul Harris evening.

 

Speaker:  Charlie introduced Margaret Tusz-King, Executive Director of Open Sky Co-operative, who in turn introduced blue shirt-wearing members of the Open Sky Board and staff.

 

 

She then introduced two persons to be associated with her in an important announcement: Anne Comfort, Director, Accessibility and Student Wellness at the Mount Allison Meighen Centre, and Joceline Young, resource teacher at TRHS.

 

 

Big Sky has received an Autism Speaks Canada Family Services Community Grant. This will involve a partnership between Big Sky Co-operative, TRHS Resource Department and the Mount Allison Meighen Centre. Susan Summerby-Murray will act as a consultant and help with program design. The purpose of this grant is to support service providers to build their capacity to support individuals and families impacted by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

 

The three participants will model a collaborative community approach providing more seamless transitioning from school to school to community for rural youth and young adults. Non ASD university students will be trained as Peer Mentors, and provide supports to ASD students at high school, and to ASD university students in social situations. The Meighen Centre will develop additional supports. There are currently 270 students registered with the Centre, about 11% of the student body.

 

TRHS students will have a new transition skills curriculum. Pre- and post- assessments will measure outcomes. All students will have improved readiness for transitioning at graduation. Results and created resources will be shared.

 

The Autism Speaks grant provided $38,000 of the $40,000 applied for. This leaves the project without resources for the food costs associated with the Mount A skills events, and for data management and analysis that will be required so that results can be measured objectively and accurately. They would like to apply to Rotary for help with these.

 

The work of the Powerhouse Cleaners Co-op here in Sackville was commended: it provides employment in such areas as cleaning homes and business, and car washing.

 

 

John expressed thanks to the speakers. A presentation like this, he said, makes him depressed at the extent of the problem, but exhilarated at the way people are seeking to address it.

The meeting closed with the Four Way Test.