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Susan Purdy was in the Chair this week. In her opening remarks, Sue tied in her vocation as a veterinarian with a series of jokes about dogs and cats reversing the roles of human and pets. Three guests attended the meeting today for differing reasons. Chris Watts visited to pick up a Charities-of-the-Week cheque for last Mondays Gold Mine Draw. Aaron Cudmore attended for the same reason, except his cheque was much more - he was the big winner. Former Rotarian Patricia Belliveau attended for the second week as she is considering returning to the Club as a member. There were no visiting Rotarians this week. Make ups were recorded for the membership committee and the Golf Mine members. There were no birthdays this week and no Pin Pal stories.  Tammy had her ticket drawn this week. Tammy was looking for the 5 of  . Unfortunately she drew the 6 of  and missed out on this week's pot of $79. Members were generally happy this week. Guest Patricia was happy that her kitchen reno is on schedule, minimizing the inconvenience........John greased the pot in lieu of Wynn's absence. He had predicted and told Joey's that we would have 23 for breakfast this morning and he was bang on (until Trish showed up). He was happy, however, that Trish came and was glad to grease the pot yet again. He admitted being a bit disheveled this morning as he forgot to put his Rotary pin on and to comb his hair.........Susan F. was disappointed that she had to go to BC to get some skiing in this week. Had she know that the North was going to get the snowfall they did this week she could have saved the money and time. To me going to BC to ski would be a better experience than going to Batherst.........Stacey was pleased to announced that she is now licensed to marry people in NB. She just found out because hubby Paul forgot to give her the letter several weeks ago...........  For more news on the Lawyer Front, Ove announce that he has been appointed to the NB Bar for life. Now if he could just get appointed to Ducky's Bar, well!!!!............Susan P talked to Charlie this week and was told that Jean is doing well and may soon be transferred to The Sackville Hospital. Sue also asked members to support Charlie is other ways - dinners, snow shovelling etc!............Edna returned from her trip to Cuba tanned and relaxed. She thanked Trish for covering her in the Marshlands Breakfast program and Gayle for taking on her Cashier duties. Next Week's Duty Roster Chair - Susan Fisher Greeter - Stacey Introducer - Bill Thanker - Jamie The speaker next week is Elizabeth Wells and her presentation is title "Making the Time of your Life"  This week there were two cheque presentations for the Gold Mine Draw.In the left photo, Rotarian Josh Cormier is shown presenting a cheque to Aaron Cudmore for $2,609 as this week's winner of the Gold Mine Draw. The second photo shows Chris Watts accepting a cheque for $652.50 from prospective Rotarian Patricia Belliveau. No committee meetings were announced for the coming week. From the Admin Committee, Dianne drew members attention to the email most members received reguarding the crowdfunding effort taking place for former District Governor Mike Walsh, who is in need of a kidney. A good friend is donating the kidney but the operation is scheduled for Vancouver and the money is needed for travel and hotel expenses. Susan F. reminded people of the Rotaract curling bonspiel on Sunday, March 25th. Detailed info will follow next Thursday. She also announced that the original chartering documents for the Rotaract Club went missing and that the club has now been re-chartered.  President John reminded everyone that the weekly meeting for April 5th will be held at the Open Sky Cooperative Farm.Ove had the pleasure of introducing former 2-term Town councillor Margaret Tuzz-King, who was at the meeting to tell us about Open Sky, how it helps with people suffering with Autism Spectrum Disorder and how our Gold Mine monies might be helping.  The mission statement of the Cooperative is to improve life skills and opportunities for independent living through transitional support of young adults living with mental health challenges or social disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder. Open Sky is a registered charity, dependent upon special gifts from special people. They are particularly thankful for core support from the Greater Moncton United Way, Co-operators Insurance CED Fund, and partnerships with the Governments of New Brunswick and of Canada, and of course for valuable support from the Rotary Club of Sackville! Open Sky was created in 2011 to meet the gap in available services to young people following high school. The Cooperative provides a new alternative to build skills for wellbeing, independence and employment, at the organic farm. It can be difficult to gain independence and find a workplace that works, especially if the person has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ASD employees are more likely to lose their job due to a social issue, rather than a performance issue. The pros and cons of people who are "on the spectrum" from the social and communication difference are: Pros: Won't indulge in small talk when they should be working and they exhibit better focus on their task than others might. Cons: Many workplaces require social relationships, many workplaces demand good communication skills from each employee and many workplaces can be busy, require multi-tasking skills and are unpredictable. The workplace may also include sensory challenges such as noise, crowds and smells along with organizational challenges (lack of clarity of what to do, jobs that require flexibility, on-your-feet decision making, jobs that require unpredictable interactions an promotions that take a person into territory that requires different skills). Each person is unique.  Because it is difficult to find workplaces that work for ASD persons, Open Sky created and models a unique program to teach people how to create their own employment that works for them. Open Sky wants their participants to improve their lifelong independence, flexibility, self-advocacy, generalization of skills across different situations and well being. Hands on training help staff see what people are good at and what they are not good at. Then they can help people find their best solutions.  Margaret was thanked by Morgan and was presented with a book that will be donated to a local library. She was also presented with a certificate and Rotary pen.
The meeting concluded with the 4-way test. |
