June 7, 2018: Club Ownership.
Head Table: Our President Linda Bathe, invites all major chairpersons, to join her at the head table.
This Week: Today we were entertained and informed by the classification talk of Patricia Redshaw.
Pat Redshaw giving her classification talk on banking.
Pat was a member of the Dragon Boat Sponsorship committee before she actually became a Club member when Robert Ritz saw her skill set and sought her out as a valuable member of the committee.
Pat is currently the manager at the Stratford Branch of the Libro Credit Union on Huron Street.
Pat can truly be described as a resident of South Western Ontario as she has moved 24 times in 21 years, which can be a difficult thing in one’s formative years. Her father worked for Canadian Canners (also known by the Aylmer brand) and operated many of their plants throughout this part of Ontario.
She is the middle child of 5 and said that her brothers and sister became her best friends because they moved around so much. Her parents were active within their communities through the Kinsmen Club and Pat recalls selling lemonade to raise money for a swimming pool in Dresden – a pool where she later became a competitive swimmer.
She spent most of her high school years in Simcoe, Ontario where she spent 1500 hours being a Candy Striper at the local hospital, became involved in the Drum and Bugle Corp. (carrying a rifle), and met and married her high school sweetheart.
Pat began her working life at RBC in order to put her husband through university with a plan to take her turn when he was through school. Unfortunately, the marriage didn’t last but Pat’s commitment to the bank did. She completed her education with the support of the bank through the education programs they offered and alternated between management and lending roles throughout a 37 year career.
During her RBC years, she was directly responsible for organizing the Children’s Hospital Telethon in South Western Ontario. Another highlight had to be crossing paths with our own Berny Nymyer and Norm Briscoe in her travels from branch to branch.
In 1988, Pat married again, and the two families merged, settling in Goderich a year later.
After Pat retired from RBC, she was hired to open a branch of the United Communities Credit Union in Goderich in 2008. She was very active in the Goderich community, chairing the BIA, being involved with the local Y and setting up a charity for supporting families with children with Downs Syndrome, among other activities. When she left Goderich, she was presented a certificate of appreciation for her community work there.
In 2014 the UCC merged with Libro, and 18 months ago Pat was transferred to Stratford, which is also home to three of her five grandchildren. They are all competitive swimmers, including her granddaughter who is setting personal bests within the Special Olympics program.
Pat chose to become involved in Rotary because of the variety of good things that are happening within one organization. She is involved in Dragon Boat, Catch the Ace, and Honour Student Banquet to name just a few. We are happy to have her as a Rotarian!
Pat was introduced by her sponsor, Rob Ritz and thanked by Charlene Gordon.
Scribe: Wendy Anderson
Guests: Laura Pogson – FCRC, Matt Smith – Stratford, Wendy Wilkinson – Stratford, Brooklyn Groenestege - St Michaels Interact, Gabriella Bars - St Michaels Interact, Maria Cabrera - St Michaels Interact
Foundation Draw: Ken Nesbitt won a gift certificate to the Milky Whey Cheese Shop donated by Walt Bathe. Also, Al Wakelin won some Rotary ball caps donated by Bert Clifford.
Make-ups: no report
Rotary Announcements:
Care and Cheer: Norm Briscoe will be moving into Cedarcroft Place this coming Monday. We hope to see Norm back at the Rotary Meetings soon.
Michael Fox: The Club has sponsored the band Sloppy Joe and the Dust Bunnies (featuring Rotarians Michael Fox and John Hood Tidman) to play at the Stratford Rib and Blues Fest. They will be playing on Sunday June 24th…..he will let us know the time.
Elizabeth Gaffney: presented a certificate of appreciation from the Stratford Special Olympics to The Rotary Club of Stratford for supporting travel expenses for athletes.
The Golf Tournament Committee is looking for teams and for hole sponsors for their event on June 13.
Thank you notes were received from the Humboldt Broncos Alumni group for our donation from hockey shirt day and from the Festival City club for our sponsorship of 30 meals at their Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser.
Fireside Chat – June 10th at Katherine Hahn’s home – for Rotary members who have questions about our club and for those who would enjoy an evening of fellowship. Please let President Linda know if you would like to attend.
Past District Governor Maurice Oliver of St. Marys recently passed away. A celebration of life service will be held on June 9th at 11 a.m. at the Elgin Missionary Church, Stratford.
President’s Corner:
We had a thank you from Jean Aitcheson of the Festival City Club for supplying 30 tickets to their spaghetti dinner; Each ticket had a sticker on the back indicating they were a gift from our club. The House of Blessing, Salvation Army and Shelterlink were each given 10 to distribute. The event raised $7000 to support their projects including the hospice.
We were sad to hear of the passing of Maurice Oliver of the St Marys Rotary Club. Maurice was a Rotarian for 53 years and a Past District Governor, Condolences have been sent to the family from our club.
Family and friends are invited to ELGIN MISSIONARY CHURCH, 4192 Perth Line 36 Stratford, on Saturday, June 9, 2018 for visitation from 10 a.m. until the time of the Celebration of Life Service at 11 a.m. Memorial donations may be made to Elgin Missionary Church, Rotary Club of St.Marys, Stratford Rotary Hospice or to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum of which he volunteered many hours.
June’s Attendance Committee: Kevin Silver (I/C), Dave Scott, Gary Lingard, Paul Siberry, Pat Shewen, Doug Page, Pat Feryn, Jerry McEwin, Lisa Breault
