November 24, 2016

Posted by Nick Aroutzidis on Nov 24, 2016

December 1 2016: Kevin Silver and Nancy Farr “Club ownership and Rotary House Respite Care update “. Our speaker will be introduced by Nick Aroutzidis (Respite House) and thanked by Ollie Henry.

Head Table: Our President Kevin Silver, invites, Nick Aroutzidis, and several guest, to join him at the head table.

Club Announcements:

Prior to listening to our speaker, the club received seven thank you letters from individuals and organizations who have received financial support or awards from our club. It was very rewarding as a member of this club to hear how much we are appreciated in this community. As well, our AG Dianne Yundt presented the club with two awards from Rotary International:

1.Polio Plus Banner for giving over twice the goal of $1500 US to eradicate polio

ADG Diane Yundt presenting 2 awards to club from District for contributions to polio plus exceeding $1500, and foundation contributions exceeding $100 per member.

2.Annual Giving Award to the Rotary International Foundation because we averaged over $100 US per member to our Rotary charity

Finally, Bert Clifford's brother is in need of transportation to University Hospital in London for dialysis treatment {3x a week}. Can you help out in driving once or twice over the next few weeks? It would be greatly appreciated. Call Bert or Rheo Thompson

Speaker Barbara Hacking speaking on Monarch Butterfly introduced by Ron Shaw right and thanked by Pat Feryn.

This Week: Barbara Hacking's presentation was on MONARCH MAGIC. Barbara is a retired elementary teacher who became fascinated with the Monarch Butterfly. She provided us with a very interesting video showing the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly. It begins with laying an egg on a leaf-milkweed plant . The egg becomes a caterpillar that then attaches itself to a leaf and becomes a pupa{chrysalis}. The pupa hangs upside down, becomes translucent and then begins to split. Soon an adult butterfly emerges.

It was interesting to learn that the Monarch flies to Mexico for breeding -they travel over 3100 kms! The female is distinguished from the male by two black spots on their wings. The population of the Monarchs is affected by our climate. A winter snow storm in Mexico resulted in somewhere between 2-50% of the butterflies perishing. The population goes up and down but has significantly declined over the past 20 years. This is creating widespread problems in the insect world which includes the vital loss of pollinators, such as bees, vital to our food supply. As well, the milkweed is the only source of food for the Monarch, and they are disappearing because of herbicides and people pulling up these plants.

Barbara concluded her presentation by asking us to spread an awareness to others re the plight of the Monarch. She also suggested we could help by planting milkweed plants.

Ron Shaw introduced our speaker, and Pat Feryn thanked Barbara.

Scribe: Wilhelm Zitrone

Guests: Today we welcomed Susan Thomson (FCRC), Laura Pogsen (FCRC), Myrne Inglis - Walkerton Rotary Club and Dianne Yundt - Assistant Governor Area 3.

Draw: The draw prize today was donated by Anonymous (Marks Work Warehouse GC) and won by Jim Snider.

Make-ups: Nothing to report.

December’s Attendance Committee: Fritz Steigmeier (I/C), Clair McCallum, Guy Bellhumeur, Ollie Henry, Paul Roulston, Basil Hurst, John Kechnie, Mike Neilsen, David Rose