Dani Bartlett, Labour Coordinator for Middlesex London United Way, spoke about the United Way's initiatives to support the anti violence against women initiatives in our community.  One of the programs the UW undertakes is the "New Beginning Loan Program".  This is a micro loan program allowing women to get a new start in a violence free environment.  The average loan size is $299.44.  However, a loan a small as $27 can pay for cab fare to allow a rural woman to escape an abusive relationship.  In 2018 63 women have taken advantage of the program.

Reg Ash, CEO of the Western Fair, brought us up to date with the history and recent developments at the Western Fair.  The Fair started in 1867 as an agricultural society and has developed into a not-for-profit organization with 50 full time and 100 part time employees.  The Western Fair manages the several properties in the Western Fair District.   Some are solely operated by the Fair and other are join ventures with the City of London.  The Fair is involved with renovating some of the historic buildings and bring them back as close as possible to their original design.  Other properties such as the sport complex are relatively new and modern.  Commitment to the community is a constant theme of the Fair; special shows , days of  caring,  special arrangements for stimulant sensitive children during the annual fall fair, and learn to skate programs, are examples of community commitment.  The Western Fair has hosted harness racing since the 1870's and continues with up to 125 cards today.

 

Linda Badke, project leader for the project of significance, and Jim Thomas visited the White Oaks School Library to continue the ordering process for items for the Library on Tuesday 5 Nov. While there they took a look at some of the equipment that were part of the project that is already in place. The rugs and mushroom chairs are a big hit with kids.  One of the rugs was placed in the Kindergarten and the teacher get the children to "take and square" when they are receiving instruction.  The older children enjoy the sofas for reading.

 

We were honoured to have Mayor Ed Holder speak to us this morning.  The Mayor (an honourary  member of the Rotary Club of London )   recounted highlights of his first year in office and the challenges of a new council working on important issues.  Ed described the difference between working with volunteers in Rotary and working with elected members of council.  Rotary volunteers all get behind a project and work on it together; while elected officials come with different agendas and have to learn to work together and may or may not get behind a project.  Ed talked about the initiatives to increase the employment participation rate in the city.  The city has launched a program to collect job vacancies and opened a portal for job seeker to find jobs.  If successful London will increase its participation rate to the national average from its current low level.  He responded to questions about affordable/social housing that the city is working on and to the problem of police and EMS workers waiting to turn over people to medical staff in the hospitals.

World Polio Day was recognized at Museum London with a display of an iron lung.  DG Tony and Silvia were joined by Joan Fisher to represent Rotary.  A special guest was Sara Gonzalez de Jimenez who contracted polio at age 6.  she is now 85 and was joined by two of her 9 children Margarita and Luis Abuso Jimenez.

Books the Rotary Club of London South collected and were donated by the London Public Library were unloaded and headed for the Kingdom of Eswatini ( formally Swaziland) along with sleeping mats,  Two containers were purchased by the Rotary Club of Grand Bend and will be converted to school rooms when they arrive at their destination.  The containers are packed with school room equipment, wheelchairs,  our books and sleeping mats and other materials needed in Eswatini.

 

Club members stamped the Four Way Test and club name in 1,00+ Dictionaries in preparation for distribution to Grade Three students in London Schools.  Last year London clubs distributed over 5,800 dictionaries to children in the Thames Valley area.

Melinda Grant shared her experiences in working in Guatemala with remote indigenous people  Her personal situation led Melinda and her daughter to service in Guatemala.  One of the projects involved improving living conditions by adding clay reinforced floors to homes, reducing insect infestation and improving sanitation.  Other projects included improving local diets by setting up raised gardens for vegetables, proving water for a local school, and cisterns for water.

Chris Ryan, CFO of London International Airport brought us up to date with the planning at the Airport and recent developments.  London is fortunate to have an airport with strong infrastructure.  The runway is long enough to handle heavy aircraft and is a hub for Southern Ontario.  Toronto's Pearson is limited in its capacity and limited by the layout of runways.   LIA has planned to take more that one million passengers in 2020.  The addition of the low cost carrier Swoop expands the number of Canadian and international cities served by London.  The Airport adds $50 Million in taxes, 1400 Jobs and $137 Million in GDP to our local economy for each one million passengers served.  The impact will only increase in the future.  The addition of a new flight school at Fanshawe will also be an advantage to the Airlines industry.

A great time was had by all at the Welcome and Birthday party for our Exchange student Duda Dercy.  Special thanks to Anette for hosting the party and arranging for all the goodies.

Carolyn Martyn - Owner and health and wellness coach from Shine, talked to us about health and wellness from the inside out.  She emphasized the importance of proper nutrition on the brain including the relationship of fat and sugar to proper brain health. Other important factors in wellness include exercise (cardio 3-4 times a week) and the proper amount of sleep.