A cheque for the Food Bank was delivered by President Anette, Patti, and Jim to purchase a greenhouse for one of the community sponsors which will operate the green house on donated sites. The green house we donated funds for will have the Rotary Club of London South sign on it.  Anette, Patti and Jim toured the large green house behind the Food Bank to see their operation.  Lots of fresh food being grown on site including a green wall to raise food hydroponically.  In addition to green houses the Food Bank has purchased over 500 green walls for use with the green houses.

 

 

 

Jerry Pribil, owner of the Marienbad restaurant, discussed the problems of the restaurant industry during the pandemic and complexity of reopening.
Jerry talked about the problems of the open/shut process of Ontario’s pandemic response.  Opening for short periods and closing quickly caused food waste and staff layoffs.  The Marienbad donated unused food to the various hostels in London, but the on again off again operation caused his cooking staff to look for more permanent work elsewhere.  Jerry and family took on the problem by making their own meal delivery and doing what they could to maintain staff.
He also talked about the problems of homelessness in downtown and his efforts to put a human face and compassion to those on the street.
He had several suggestions for making the recovery easier for restaurants such as the LCBO changing policy to charging restaurants the wholesale price of liquor.
The Marienbad will be one of the featured buildings for our ornament collection this year.  The building’s history and its unique chimney sweep feature are a unique part of London’s history.
 
His presentation was a useful insight to the problems of the hospitality industry.

Brian Daly provided an overview of the history of treaty rights for First Nations from first contact to the current situation.  Brian works in the Indigenous Rights area of the law with McKenzie & Lake.  He has worked this area of the law for 25+ years including residential school settlements, hunting, and fishing rights and land acquisition.
Treaty rights from first contact have taken different forms.  The early French relations were based on peace and friendship, while the British approach was one of land surrender. Our current system is based on the British model. 
Most of the treaties establish resident areas on reserves which set aside land for bands live on.  Traditional rights for areas of traditional use are not covered by these land surrender treaties, but the courts have ruled on various rights for traditional use, and they can conflict with the Lan Surrender treaties.
The Indian Act also presents additional areas for conflict since the Act requires an elected band administration and this may conflict with traditional leadership roles.
Our constitution adds an additional complication since while once section of the constitution provides affirmation and recognition of First Nations right another section can override these rights through the justification principle.
Brian gave examples of where these conflicts have arisen in places such as Caledonia.   
The results of this complicated mix of rights and legislation along with historic racism have resulted in high levels of incarceration, poverty, and other social problems.
 

Sarah Stewart and Elsie Morden talked about their anti-bullying charity and its work with schools.  

 

Elsie was subjected to bullying as a child which included getting her hair cut while she was at a sleepover and harassment at school.  The bullying led to depression and other problems.  She found an outlet in music and became a professional singer and songwriter.  

 

She has developed a program for school children and put it on across the country. .

We were treated to a sample of her singing as part of her presentation.

 

Sarah is helping her promote the charity as part of her university studies.

Jon Reid told us about his father Jack's history as a POW in Japan and his later life.  Jack Reid was educated as a Doctor and joined the Canadian Army at the beginning of WWII and was stationed in Hong Kong with the Canadian Army.  He was captured in 1941 when the Japanese invaded Hong Kong.  He was a POW in Hong Kong for a year and in 1942 was taken to Japan to serve in the shipyards.  He was tasked by the Japanese to keep the POWs strong enough to work as slave labour in the shipyard.  He was able to keep many POWs off work to save them from exhaustion. 

 

When US bombing started he was relocated to another POW camp where he was interned along with other British and Dutch POWs.  During this internment not only did he save POWs lives but he was able to compose music with other POWs who became life long friends.

 

He was liberated in 1945 and returned to Canada to take up his medical practice.  After starting restarting his medical practice in Toronto he moved to Vancouver.  While working in Vancouver, and before his family joined from Toronto, he met a nurse and started a second family.  This complex relationship with two families continued for some time until his first family returned to Toronto.  This complex man suffered from maladies brought on by his WWII internment and died at the age of 65.

 

The children of the two families made contact and were able to bond in a strong relationship.

Maggie MacNeil, Olympic Champion, described her journey from a young child entering her first competition to winning an Olympic medal.  Along the way she was world champion 14 times big Ten Champion, 2020 Big Ten Swimmer of the year, 2020 CSCAA academic all American and University of Michigan female of the year and many more awards.

 

Maggie described her workouts and a typical day starting with an early morning training session and lasting late at night to work on her studies.  All this is more complicated with Covid.

 

The discipline and time management it takes to accomplish all these awards is inspiring

 

 

At the the March 5th Business meeting a wide range of topics were discussed.  The International Service Committee is reviewing a clean water pilot project in Kenya.  Community Service  plans for a possible District grants fund sports equipment for school in the South of the city. Committee also plans to houour World Environment day with tree planting.

Various fundraising project were discussed with the club including our successful ornament project, specially created tulip bulbs to sponsor Polio Plus, and other fundraiser which require additional investigation 

 

 

 

 

PDG Dennis Dinsmore presented his "Three Hat" description of the Rotary International Foundation which explains the various buckets funds donated to the Foundation go into and their function.  Donations can to into the Endowment Fund, the Annual Fund or a Restricted Fund.  Each has its own application with Dennis described.  He encouraged us all to be annual sustaining members of the foundation.  The easiest method is the automatic monthly donation which provides an regular amount to the foundation and a regular Canadian tax receipt is issued.  This can be arranged at the "donation" button on My Rotary. 

 

Dennis' full power point presentation will be archived on the Club runner document area.

 

The annual "Worst Christmas Present Auction" featuring many of the favourites such as the Monkey Bowl, Flamingo Cookie Jar, and Suggestive Festive Sweaters raised almost $500 for the club.  At the same time we exceeded our goals for the RI Foundation contributions to the Annual Fund and Polio Plus.

 

Several Rotarians and friends have sewn 317 bravery bead bags for the local  children’s treatment center.   Children who undergo tests and procedures earn beads that are stored in their bag till they can make a bracelet or necklace.   The bags are colorful and something the children treasure.  Another example of Rotarians making a difference.