April 7, 2009

Chair - Leo-Paul Arsenault skipped his mini-classification talk because he felt bad talking about himself when the agenda included two weeks worth of meetings (including the business meeting that was to be held on March 31 when Mother Nature had other plans).

Singsong - Bill Kendrick led a cappella versions of The Happy Wanderer and (thankfully) Happy Birthday to Wayne Thompson.

Makeups - Bill Kendrick in Revelstoke , British Columbia .

Guests -Tim Hawkin, guest of Dale Craig.

Queen of Hearts Draw - Katie Irwin handled the duties. The jackpot of $215 was missed by Catherine Rankin (right suit, wrong card - 8 of hearts).

Attendance - Ron Gallant reported an attendance of 75%, a significant increase to the previous week's 19% (but again, we will blame Mother Nature).

International Toast - Derek Key toasted the Rotary Club of Dillibazar Kathmandu in Nepal .

Sunshine Reports

Peter Brown returned Vance's book after only six weeks (which is much quicker than Derek's six years).  Peter attended Rotary in Chicago on March 19.  He brought back a banner.  Cathy Gallant is taking her father to Moncton on Friday for a body building competition.  He is 79 years old. Bill Kendrick is back from Revelstoke, BC where is daughter Whitney got married on top of a mountain.  It was an amazing experience and the ceremony took place on a bright, sunny day.  The highlight for Bill's father was riding co-pilot in the helicopter that brought guests to the top of the mountain. Bill and his wife also got a day of skiing in (and spent the next two in pain).  Vance Bridges spent ten days in Orlando, Florida with some of his children and grandchildren.  They visited all the parks and had a great time.

Committee Reports

See President's report for link to business meeting minutes.

Catherine Rankin reported that there will be a display booth for the Rotary Celebration Garden at the trade show the weekend of April 17-19.  She needs volunteers.  Les Chipperfield reported that Rotarians can sign up on the website for the Dine Around.

Guest Speaker

Vance Bridges introduced Gerald Morneau who gave his classification talk.  Gerald was born and raised on the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River . He received his engineering degree at l'Ecole Polytechnique de Montré al.  Gerald married Marie in 1960. They have three children and five grandchildren. Gerald gave an impressive presentation of his career which was spent working for three companies: Defence Construction Limited, Mace Ltd and Bechtel Corporation. He spent the greater part of his career working for Bechtel (from 1966 until his retirement).  Although he did do some work at the air base in Slemon Park , most of his projects were in the Province of Québec . Among other things, Gerald built wharfs, marine railways, paper mills, metal powder plants and aluminum plants.  During his presentation, he explained and showed pictures of various projects he worked on over the years.  Gerald was thanked by Catherine Rankin.

President's Report

President Sandy Rundle reported that no meeting was held on March 31.  Twelve people showed up but since there was no cook, those who braved the storm enjoyed coffee and Estefy made toast. Estefy is currently visiting with her family in Florida.  She is there for ten days.

President Sandy went over the minutes of the March 26, 2009 executive meeting.  A copy of the minutes are posted in the Members' section of the website, under "Club Documents". See: http://www.clubrunner.ca/CPrg/DxDocuments/admindocuments.aspx?cid=4107&tail=2&dir=b

Sargeant at Arms  

No Sgt-at-Arms showed up. No fines.