The Fortarian. Rotary Club of Thunder Bay, (Fort William)

Transcription

1 November 15th, 2017 The Fortarian Rotary Club of Thunder Bay, (Fort William) 2017/2018 Board of Directors Website President: Therese Lim Directors: Jerry Williams Treasurer: Boris Cham Solade Nicol Secretary: Joan Krisko Dave McColl President Elect: Sante Sottile Dave Knutson Past President: Bob Hookham Sharon Badanai Meets: 3rd Tuesday of each month, Bruce Nugent George Jeffrey Boardroom 200 Brock St. East, 6.30pm Allocations Committee Committee Chair: Peter Stetsko Meets: 2nd Tuesday of each month, Weiler Maloney Nelson Board Room 12 noon. Rotary House Lottery Committee Chair: Dave Knutson Meets: 1st Tuesday of each month, Weiler Maloney Nelson, 12 noon. Weekly Dinner Meetings Mailing Address Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Thunder Bay, ON Airlane Hotel and Conference Centre P.O. Box W. Arthur St. Thunder Bay, ON Canada P7B 6T6 Note: For July and August, meetings will be on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday only. Newsletter Editors Erle Wheatley & Brian Phillips Meeting of November 15th, 2017 President Therese called the meeting to order. Sargent at Arms Terry Cameron Guests. Andrew Lusztyk, Together Project 1 Page

2 Together Project Irene introduced our guest speaker, Andrew Lusztyk of the Together Project. Andrew Lusztyk is the Co-Founder and Matching Director of the Together Project, a non-profit organization that seeks to build better integrated communities by connecting Government-Assisted Refugee newcomers and Canadians for social and settlement support. Andrew has a background in building bridges across the public, private and social sectors to find solutions to social, economic and environment al issues and has worked across Europe, Africa and Canada. He holds a Masters Degree from the London School of Economics. The Together Project connects Government-Assisted Refugee newcomers and Canadians for friendship and settlement support. The Project matches Government-Assisted Refugees with Welcome Groups of five or more volunteers. The objective is that newcomers will strengthen communities with perspective, new ideas and rich culture. There is a minimum three month commitment. Community connections are important to foster a sense of belonging for newcomers. Field trips and other planned events provide opportunities for newcomers and volunteers to explore the community together. The program encourages friendship and self-sufficiency and support through: 2 Page

3 Language support Community resource access Social networks Employment support Community connections Locally, the Together Project is working with the Thunder Bay Multi-Cultural Association to offer programs to allow refugee newcomers to acquire the skills they will need to succeed. A training workshop was being held in Thunder Bay on Friday November 17 for volunteers learn how to engage safely and effectively with refugee newcomers constituents. More information can be found at the Together Project website at President Therese thanked Andrew and urged the attending Rotarians to consider participating in the project. Fines Cynthia was the Finemaster. Of course, a happy dollar was kicked in by Irene! Fines were levied for not having your Christmas shopping done yet and for not wearing red. Allocations Peter provided an update on a number of funding requests that came to the Tuesday, November 14 Allocations Committee meeting. Recommending funding for: George Jeffery Children s Centre Navy League Cadets Deferred requests from: Lakehead Express Soccer 3 Page

4 Willow Springs Board of Director Voting Fort William Rotarians should have received the electronic notification for voting for the new members of the Board. Please contact Stephen if you have any problems with casting your vote. Christmas Parade The Christmas Parade was scheduled for Saturday, November 18. The Parade is fully staffed and will be evaluated in the coming months. Lighter Side Terry Cameron shared a wee joke about a Scottish widow. Rotary District Conference The Rotary District Conference is scheduled for Thunder Bay for April 26 to Volunteers and sponsors are still needed! Upcoming Important Dates Satellite Club Dates: November 20 RFDA November 27 Roots To Harvest at the new location, the old Monty Parkes building. December 4 Shelter House Club dates: December 11 Shelter House Christmas Dinner December 14 Tri-Club Christmas Party at Nor Wester Hotel No December 13 meeting December 17 Rotary Christmas Sing December 20 Rotary Family Christmas Party April 26 to 28 District Conference June 23 to June 27 Rotary International Conference in Toronto 4 Page

5 50/50 Draw Bruce s number came up, but the Queen of Hearts remained elusive. He really appreciated the sincere support received from his fellow Rotarians when he drew the five of Clubs. President Therese closed the meeting. Editor Brian Phillips Scribe Bruce Nugent Photo - Irene Sottile 5 Page