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October 11, 2018: Andrew Williams, “HPHA update”, Jim Young will introduce our speaker.
Head Table: Our President Paul Roulston, invites, Jim Young, Heather Carr, Tony Carter, Guy Chadsey, Stephen Chandler, Bert Clifford and Maryanne Wilson Cox, to join him at the head table.
Today at Rotary: Today’s Classification Talk by Colleen Devine helped us all get to know her better. Colleen’s parents emigrated from London, England, in the post WWII era in the hope of building a better life for their family in Canada. Her mother was of Irish and English decent and her father had Scottish heritage. They resided on a farm near Woodstock and he became a teacher and principal with the Plattsville District School Board. Many families struggled in the 1950’s and her mother provided meals and other support as needed in the community. Her generosity instilled in Colleen the importance of kindness to others. Growing up Colleen enjoyed sports, horses and reading. She attended Teacher’s College, met her husband Robert and they moved to Sarnia, where she focused on raising their son Rob, a gifted student, who now resides in Vancouver.
Guest speaker Colleen Devine introduced by Gerrie Culliton giving her classification talk.
Colleen’s father established her love of nature and gardening through daily walks where she was quizzed about plants, trees and weeds. He was ever the teacher. She convinced him to beautify their old farmhouse by planting a cedar hedge, eventually a double hedge that encircled the property. When she and Robert bought their first house in Byron, they planted trees. Later, she planted trees to disguise the pool fence of their Kilworth house. They fell in love with Bayfield, bought a small house and then a cottage, which they surrounded with a hedge. Summers were spent at the cottage, sailing or motor boating on Lake Huron. The cottage was sold in 1999, but a year later they moved full-time to Bayfield, with Robert commuting to work in Sarnia. She planted trees on the new property and when they bought the vacant land next door she turned to cultivation of hybrid daylilies. Her lilies were featured in paintings and on the local garden tour. Colleen volunteered at her church as a fundraiser, steward and elder. As a hospital volunteer she worked with patients of all ages who had life threatening diseases, learning a respect for their courage and for life.
Colleen and her husband travelled extensively in the US (Savannah is a favourite), Newfoundland, Quebec, Atlantic Canada, the British Isles, France, Spain, Malta, Monaco, Bermuda, the Caribbean, French Polynesia and more. They saw movies filmed in Savannah and met celebrities on many travels, including Robert Downey Jr., Alan Alda, Henry Winkler and the Rev. Al Sharpton. In Rome, they hoped to visit the Vatican, but when Colleen allowed a woman who complained of the heat to go ahead of her in line, the more than 20 people who were with her displaced them. As they tried to re-establish a place in the line-up they lost direction, were confronted by guards and then ejected. They were about to depart for a tour of US National Parks on Sept 1, 2015 when her husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He survived surgery but died of heart failure Sept. 29. She appreciated that they had spent time discussing what she should do in such circumstances and encourages others to have this difficult but important conversation with their loved ones.
Colleen remained in Bayfield for a year following Robert’s death, and though she found it difficult to leave, she decided to move to Stratford, a place they had often visited and enjoyed. She rented for a year; then purchased a new condo on the site of the former Avon School. Since coming to Stratford she volunteers with the Stratford Symphony as a fund-raiser and joined Rotary, where she serves on the Aquabox and Catch the Ace committees. She believes Rotary is “genuine” in the Oxford dictionary sense: “truly what it is said to be, sincere,” and that as a Rotarian she can help make her community a better place to live.
Gerry Culliton, the person who originally brought her to our club last year, introduced Colleen. Mike Gruszczynski welcomed her to the Club and thanked her for sharing her story with us.
Scribe: Pat Shewen
Guests: Today we welcomed: David Braye and Mark Moore (Mitchell RC).
Brent Shackelton buying a Scotch Mist Raffle Ticket. All proceeds to Hospice.
Our newest Catch the Ace winner Mark Moore with last week’s winnings of $1790.
Dan Scarborough announcing this weeks food drive results netting $980
Draw: The gifts today were donated by Nick Aroutzidis and Sarah Hamza and won by Gary Wreford and, Lisa Breault.
Make-ups: No report
Octobers’s Attendance Committee: Peter Roach (I/C), Peter Roach, George Schroeder, Doug Thompson, Angus MacDermid, Gary Wreford, Lynn McKone, Rob Ritz
Novembers’s Attendance Committee: Jim Young (I/C), Marcia Matsui, Dave Skinner, Philip Schroeder, Gerry Thuss, Sue Wakelin, Clark Mitchell, Carolyn Blackburn
