Stories

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, April 11, 2024

Vice-President Olaf chaired the meeting.  

 Guest Ford Neal was introduced and welcomed. 

The Toonie Quest West 50-50 draw had a winner this week.  Lorraine informed everyone that the next week toonie count on Wednesday April 18 will start at noon.

Honorary Rotarian Martin introduced the guest speaker Floyd Spracklin. Floyd began by speaking of his latest book ‘Beyond Shellbird” and how he became interested in Shellbird Island. It started in the 1080’s when Floyd and his father went fishing near Shellbird Island in the Humber River at the base of the ‘Man of the Mountain. As they fished, his father spoke of the folk tale that pirates had buried treasure on this small island.  At that fishing time, Floyd also walked around the little island probably hoping to find pirate treasure.  

Floyd who for many years had edited books and was always writing but not published wrote his first book that was published about Shellbird Island. Since then, he has published several books with his last being ‘Beyond Shellbird”.

 At the launch of this book last fall Lloyd Bartlett agreed to play at the opening. Preparing for the official book launch Lloyd wrote a song about Shellbird Island which he sang at the book launch.  

Floyd continued his talk by reading a section from ‘Beyond Shellbird’ and ended by playing Lloyd’s song’ The Mystery of Shellbird Island’.

A question period followed including questions about Floyd’s experiences in Nain and Northern Coastal Labrador. Floyd spoke about his experiences in the North and how his tales from Nain will be heard on the local northern radio station and the Downhomer magazine is going to showcase three of his Labrador stories in November.  Everyone enjoyed Floyd’s talk and the tales he shared from Labrador. He was thanked by Olaf on behalf of the club before the meeting was adjourned.

 

 

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, April 4, 2024

President Jackie chaired the meeting.  

 Guests at the meeting Patti Ricketts, and Gerard Duffney were welcomed.

Rotarian Jim spoke about his own health journey in the past year leading into talking about Green Shirt Day and the value of registering as an organ donor.  Green Shirt Day takes place each year on April 7. It is a day to raise awareness of organ donation and register organ donors across Canada. Championed by the parents of Logan Boulet, a young hockey player on the Humboldt Broncos who became an organ donor after the terrible bus crash in 2018 that took his and 15 other lives. Canadians recognize Green Shirt Day by wearing green and talking about the powerful impact of organ donation. April is also Organ Donation Awareness Month across Canada.  Thank you, Jim for reminding everyone of the value of registering as an organ donor and reminding everyone to tell close family of your decision.

The Toonie Quest West 50-50 draw had a winner this week. 

President Jackie introduced Rotarian Peggy Hanlon-Brown as guest speaker. Peggy who is the Operations Manager of Logistec. Logistec manages the loading and off-loading of containers at the Corner Brook Port.

 Peggy began her slide presentation by giving the motto behind Logistec which is ‘Always ready to go Beyond.’ 

She gave the company mission statement and vision statement before looking at the values held by the company. The company shares a clear vision and has strong values to be the provider of choice for safe, sustainable, and creative solutions in the marine and environmental sectors.

The employees of the company are recognized for their operational excellence and Logistec with its solid processes and continuous learning has established reliable supply chains for its customers and effective remediation solutions for the environment. The company is resilient having people with an uncanny ability to find solid solutions.  These people are imaginative thinkers who are ready and go beyond. and challenge the status quo. Sustainability is important to the company as is safety. 

The Logistec family has two main branches. In the marine services branch there are terminal operations, marine services, and marine transportation and in the environmental services division there are site remuneration and soil and material management, water technologies and hose solutions.

 The Logistec network is large with 80 terminals and 54 ports offering services such as marine services, environmental services, and water technology services.

 In Corner Brook an international container terminal service is offered in partnership with Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Ltd. This service is increasing annually. Something else done locally is ‘Break-Bulk’ which involves a big cargo that needs to be lifted as well as bulk cargo such as road salt which is unloaded at this dock and then distributed throughout the area.

 Cargo handling at the port is done with a Kone Gottwald mobile harbour cranes, a Liebherr fixed pedestal crane, 3 Hyster reach stackers and 3 Mafi shunt trucks.  Peggy went on to speak of the working environment when up to 400 containers could be serviced weekly of these 300 would be for Kruger and the remaining 100 for other products. Two cranes would work per vessel taking 12 – 16 hours per vessel. She spoke of the current employment status with a total of 31 unionized employees, 7 non-unionized/management employees.

 She concluded her talk by looking at the Logistec Environmental services in operation for 35 years and noted Corner Brook is Green Marine certified. 

Peggy answered several questions before being thanked by Jackie.

 The meeting adjourned at 1.30pm. 

 

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, March 28, 2024

President Jackie chaired the meeting.  

 Guests at the meeting Jennifer Crane, Patti Ricketts, Diana Alteen from Corporate member Poole Althouse Law Offices and Xavier House volunteer Gerard Duffney were welcomed.

The Toonie Quest West 50-50 draw had a winner this week. 

Program-chair Elaine introduced the guest speakers Bruce Hollett and Richard Wells who gave a presentation on Marble Mountain Ski Resort giving an update on the 2024 ski season and future plans. 

The professional presentation in which both Bruce and Richard spoke began by introducing the two speakers showing their backgrounds, experiences, and qualifications before working at Marble Mountain. Bruce is the CEO; Executive Chair of the Marble Mountain Development Corporation (MMCC)and Richard is the general manager since 2021 of Marble Mountain Ski Resort.

They continued by giving a brief history of the resort noting that skiing with lift service began in 1962, The current lodge which was built for the 1999 Canada Winter Games opened in 1995 and in 1988 the Marble Mountain Development Corporation came into being.

 Bruce and Richard continued by looking at what has been accomplished since 2021. The focus has been on revitalizing aging infrastructure, real progress has been made in transitioning to a 4-season resort, two collective agreements have been signed for staff, new services such as weddings and conferences are being offered, summer and fall lift tours are to be offered, mountain biking trails and usage will be expanded, and more entertainment experiences will be planned.

 They continued by looking at the economic impact that Marble Mountain Resort has locally and provincially. The resort is a major tourism draw, over 150 people are employed in the peak of the season and the annual budget is around 5 million dollars.

 They went on to look at the different challenges faced by the resort. One was the local demographic with a small and aging population. This means the resort relies on visitors from outside the region. Another factor is climate change which is resulting in shorter winters and adverse weather conditions.  The infrastructure whether buildings, lift systems or equipment is all aging.  Overall, this is a massive operation to run on a small budget. 

 The resort plans to focus on operational continuity through asset renewal, strengthening of existing local partnerships, and to look for new product and partnership development.  This is happening with summer lift tours, cruise ship and bus tour visitors, involving of the mountain bike community, to have hiking and guided tours as well as weddings, conferences and special events and entertainment.

 The Marble Mountain Resort is a major regional and provincial asset that is open to new ideas and partnerships as it realizes its potential to transition into a 4-season resort.

 The presentation finished with Bruce and Richard answering several questions including the recent devastating mud slide and how the 1000 tons of debris was cleared.  Jim thanked them on behalf of the club before the meeting adjourned.

 

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, March 21, 2024

President Jackie chaired the meeting.  

 Rotarian guest, John Andrews from the St. John’s North-Western Rotary Club and Xavier House volunteer Gerard Duffney were welcomed.

The Toonie Quest West 50-50 draw had a winner who would take home around $3000.

Jackie mentioned that the executive for next year will need to be decided.

 Any Rotarians interested in serving on the executive for the coming year please let Jackie know.

Program-chair Lorraine introduced the guest speaker Danielle Brown from the Corner Brook Satellite Office of the Gander Military Family Resource Centre, MRFC. She is one of two employees with the other being Jenna Vautier. The Corner Brook MFRC is based at the Gallipoli Armoury, O’Connell Drive.

 Before Danielle spoke, she handed out an information sheet about the programs, and services offered by MFRC.  The purpose of the MFRC is to provide services, programs, and resources which will improve the quality of life for military families.  The resource centres support families in all aspects of military life. Their services are open to regular and reserve force members and their families.

The services offered include employment services such as resume and cover letter writing, job posting and interview techniques, assisting of members who are looking to complete a resume that is tailored to military and civilian jobs, and second language training.

MFRC can organise mental health referrals, offer help to veterans and their families and organize respite care while the military member is away on tasking training, deployment etc. In this case the spouse can use the service for self-care.

 Support is also given for family separation and reunion and deployment, help with medical travel and its costs as well as housing for Canadian military members and their families.

Danielle went through the various services and noted there are about 7 regular soldiers and about 100 reservists in the Corner Brook area.

Another service offered is to prepare and send overseas moral packages for Christmas, Easter, Canada Day (July 1).   Packages can be donated by groups to be sent overseas at these times. 

 

When she had finished her talk, many questions were asked of Danielle before she was thanked by Elaine on behalf of the club who noted how important the MFRC is for families.

 

The meeting finished with Jim spinning the Rotary Wheel and several Rotarians shared good news stories.

The meeting adjourned at 1.30pm.

 

 

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, March14, 2024

Vice-President Olaf chaired the meeting.  

 Rotarian guest, John Andrews from the St. John’s North-Western Rotary Club was welcomed as was Stan Pike and Ian’s guest, Harley Anderson, both of whom had helped as volunteers at the music festival. 

The meeting began with everyone singing the Ode to Newfoundland led by Shelley Neville 

 Paula, chair of the Rotary Music Festival Board Introduced the festival adjudicators and their festival secretaries, as well as the music festival administrative coordinator Sandy Myles. The adjudicators were for Vocal- Shelley Neville and her festival secretary Katie Healey, for Piano- Paul Transue and his secretary Marylyn Murphy, for Musical Theatre and Choral Kelly-Ann Evans and her secretary Gail MacDonald and for Brass, Woodwind, Strings, and Band Michelle Cheramy and her secretary Ellen Janzen. All the adjudicators had travelled from St John’s to adjudicate at the Corner Brook festival.

 After the introductions everyone was treated to musical performances from the adjudicators.

Michelle began by playing two movements of G. F. Handel’s Sonata in C major for Flute, opus 1 no7 accompanied by Paul on keyboard. This was followed by Shelley singing two songs – ‘When I wish upon a Star’ from the Wizard of Oz and a Dame Vera Lynn classic – “I’ll be Seeing You.”

 Shelley noted that it was a pleasure to hear and listen to all the wonderful young people. She thanked Rotary for letting the Music Festival happen. She said that each person has a gift, and she found her gift through being involved in music festivals.

Karen, vice-president of the Music Festival Board thanked the adjudicators for performing at the lunch and for being adjudicators at the Corner Brook festival.

The meeting then adjourned.

 

 

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, March 7, 2024

President Jackie chaired the meeting. 

There was no winner this week in the Toonie Quest West draw. 

Program-chair Kathleen introduced the three level 3 students from Corner Brook Regional High School who were speaking at the Rotary Adventures in Citizenship Speak-off. The winner would attend the Rotary Adventures in Citizenship program in Ottawa from May 26 – 29 2024. The three speakers were, Lucas Upward, Gordon Staples and Gavin Staples. They spoke on what it means to be a Canadian.

The winner’s travel expenses are covered by the Corner Brook Club as is the registration fee to the Rotary Club of Ottawa.  Ottawa club welcomes around 150 students to the program and covers expenses of transportation to events, meals, and accommodation in a University of Ottawa residence.  The aim of this annual event is to provide a unique opportunity for a select group of young Canadians to come together and gain a better understanding of our country. Through meetings with political leaders, senior officials, and others, they learn a great deal about the workings of our democratic institutions. Through meeting one another and having discussions among themselves, they learn to appreciate the diversity of Canada and privileges and responsibilities of citizenship.

 There were three Rotarian judges were Adam, Lorraine, and Olaf. Before the meeting, the judges interviewed each of the students.

Guests Paula Grudich, teacher sponsor for this speak-off, and two parents, Bernie Staples and Laenora Ryba and were welcomed to the meeting. Thanks go to Paula for her help in encouraging students to participate in this speak-off and the support she gives the students.

 The three students gave excellent talks, and each gave a different perspective on what being a Canadian means. The judges met after the speeches and made the decision that Gavin Staples was the winner and would go to Ottawa for the Adventures in Citizenship program.  Judge Adam noted that it had been a very difficult decision to make as all three speeches were extremely good.

While the judges were deciding the winner, Jackie shared her good news that she had been awarded the prestigious 2024 Cruise Vision Award in recognition of her exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment to advancing the cruise industry in Newfoundland and Labrador, 

The meeting adjourned at 1.30pm.

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, February 29, 2024

President Jackie chaired the meeting. 

There was winner this week in the Toonie Quest West draw who took home $1089.

The program today was about the Rotary Music Festival and the role of volunteer staffers at the different sessions.  Chair of the Music Festival Board

Paula welcomed the guests Jerry Bartlett, Evelyn Oldford, Mike Payne, Mary Grovier, Stan Pike volunteer staffers for the Rotary Music Festival, Sandy Myles, administrative coordinator of the festival and new board member Marcelle Boisjoli. 

 Paula went on to speak about the 60^th annual Corner Brook Rotary Music Festival which will run from Sunday, March 10th to Saturday, March 16th. The Rose Bowl Concert will take place on Thursday, March 14^th and the Final Concert will take place on Saturday, March 16th.  Both concerts will be held at the Arts and Culture Centre and will begin at 7 PM. There will be four adjudicators from the province and are they are for vocals, Shelley Neville, for piano, Paul Transue, For musical theatre and choral, Kelly Ann Evans and for brass, woodwind, strings, and bands Michelle Cheramy. 

Paula then turned the meeting over to festival board member Ian who then spoke about the different roles at the sessions for volunteer staffers.

 He had with him a schedule and asked Rotarians to sign up as a staffer when able to do so. After his presentation he answered several questions before the meeting was adjourned.

 

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, February 22, 2024

Vice-President Olaf chaired the meeting. 

Honorary Rotarian Don (Blackie) Thistle passed away on February 7^th at the age of 97. Condolences from the Rotary Club of Corner Brook go to his family at this time of sadness.  Cremation has taken place and a memorial in memory of Don will be held later.

There was winner this week in the Toonie Quest West draw.

The Rotary team of Elaine, Neil, Linda, Verbon, and Kathleen was the winning team after playing against teams from CNA and Kinsmen. It was a great evening with lots of laughter and fun. Thanks go to Jackie and Lorraine who looked after questions and score keeping. Lenny Benoit was the emcee and he helped to make this such an enjoyable Winter Carnival event.

Program-chair Verbon introduced his guest Judy Jennings, mother of the guest speaker Adam Anderson before introducing the speaker, Adam. 

 Adam is President and CEO of Resource Innovations Ltd, a forestry consulting firm which has been doing work across Canada and beyond for many years. About 14 years ago, the club sent him – as a young professional – to Australia on a Group Study Exchange. He talked to Rotary about his entrepreneurial journey over the ensuing years. 

Adam began by noting that he has always been an entrepreneur at heart. He said that applying for the Group Study Exchange program was a very competitive experience and being selected was an honour. 

He continued by reflecting on his entrepreneurial experiences both good and bad. He started in 2007 by forming a company, Anderson Gates. Even with a few years of forestry experience he could see that changes were needed in the industry and realized that it was up to himself to help make the changes.  In 2010 he became the sole owner of the company resulting in being able to make decisions quickly, use technology in forestry management, learn from mistakes and to swivel in his approaches to problems if needed.  His aims are to make changes happen by being committed to do the best work and exceed expectations. 

 Adam is a professional forester with no formal business training who began by working with projects in Newfoundland and as his network grew his projects spread across the country and further afield. By 2015 he had a good team and a good reputation, and he began to look at other opportunities. 

 Over time he has come to realize that to be effective an entrepreneur needs to prioritize his time. This he has done so that today his Resource Consulting firm works with bigger industry players.   His work focus is on consulting resulting with projects in BC, long term contracts across Canada and several management contracts. In Newfoundland he would like to bring the industry together and really link forestry and technology.

He noted the impact of climate change on forestry particularly in the far north. The state of Canadian forests is changing, and each province needs long term agreements to deal with this change for the sustainability and management of its forests. 

Adam concluded by saying that he began by wanting to make changes to forestry management particularly in Newfoundland where bigger changes need to be made.   He hopes to see in the near future single forest management of Newfoundland forests. As an entrepreneur Adam has always had a vision which through hard work and by creating opportunities to make things happen, he has been able to improve the management and sustainability of forests in Canada,

Adam answered several questions before being thanked by Paula on behalf of the club.

 

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, February 8, 2024

President Jackie chaired the meeting. 

There was winner this week in the Toonie Quest West draw.

Rotarians will sell toonie registration slips at a booth at the Winter Carnival Craft Fair on Saturday

Winter Carnival Event on Tuesday at the Rotary Arts Centre. Rotary with Xavier House is hosting a well name game show based on “Family Feud” which will be a Winter Carnival Local Feud between local groups.  Rotary will be having a team of five.  If you would like to participate in the Rotary team let Jackie know either today or tomorrow. It should be a fun event. To attend get tickets costing $10 at the door from the RAC or Xavier House.

Kathleen introduced Malcolm Turner from the Pasadena Ski and Natures Park.

 Malcolm gave us a history of the ski club, spoke of the different trails and the various activities of the club.

 Malcolm began by telling how the cross-country ski club came in to being. The first season it was in operation was 1977 – 78.   Preparations had begun the year earlier when a group of teachers thought skiing would be a great activity for children and young people.  Malcolm had a framed picture from the Western Star showing the new executive with several well-known names including Malcolm’s as the first president. In 1978 the new club hosted Marathon 1978. This required much work with trails having to be prepared etc. even though old woods roads and moose paths were being used. Over 300 people attended this event.

In the eighties proper trails were constructed and Malcolm who has been presidents several times and is now vice-president, showed a map of the present ski trails and snowshoe trails. There are 18 kilometres of trials with more to be added.

The club received a grant so the present two storey chalet could be built. Malcolm brought along a painting of the chalet which showed how it is situated. The chalet can hold 60 people downstairs.  He spoke of the many grants received by the club enabling purchase of ski equipment, improvement of trails, a new trail groomer this year.

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, February 8, 2024

Past-President Andre chaired the meeting. 

Nancy White was the winner this week in the Toonie Quest West draw.

Winter Carnival Event on Tuesday February 20 at the Rotary Arts Centre. Rotary with Xavier House is hosting a well name game show based on “Family Feud” which will be a Winter Carnival Local Feud between local groups. Come along on the 20^th to the Rotary Arts Centre, RAC to enjoy the fun. Cost is $10 and tickets are available at the RAC and Xavier House

Program-chair Andre introduced the guest presenter Dawn King, President of the Winter Carnival Committee.  Dawn presented a slide show about the activities taking place during Corner Brook Winter Carnival February 16 – 25, 2024. There are 94 different events advertised in the Winter Carnival booklet plus other activities not included in the booklet, which will all happen during Winter Carnival. The booklet has been distributed to homes in Corner Brook and is available from City Hall and the Winter Carnival office. All events are posted on the Carnival web page. 

She spoke about the motto for 2024 and how elementary school classrooms present suggestions with Eastside Elementary School Ms. Bromley’s Grade 6’s suggestion – It’s Winter Carnival ’24 with fun and games and more! - being the chosen motto.

The other contest for youth before Winter Carnival is the contest for high school students to select ambassadors for the carnival. Sadie McDonnell and Gavin Murphy are the ambassadors for 2024. They will attend functions and post on social media their experiences.

Dawn went through the different activities starting with the opening on Friday, February 16 when Leif the Lucky appears, and the carnival flag is hoisted. Throughout Carnival there are activities for all age groups including many meals, dances, a family fun day, and games.  There will be activities for everyone, so she urged Rotarians to get out and join in the fun.

 Dawn talked about the different levels of sponsorship of the Winter Carnival and the organisation behind this 10-day event and noted how over the years the budget has increased. This is a time when the community comes together to have fun, enjoy different foods and different activities. 

  Dawn answered a couple of questions before being thanked by Andre on behalf of the Club.

 

 

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, February 1, 2024

President Jackie chaired the meeting. 

At this week’s draw there was a roll over again as the person who played the winning number had not played this week. Remember if you paid in advance to the Toonie Quest West weekly draw to check the week when you need to add toonies. 

Winter Carnival Event on Tuesday February 20 at the Rotary Arts Centre. Rotary with Xavier House is hosting a well name game show based on “Family Feud” which will be a Winter Carnival Local Feud between local groups. At the last lunch meeting on January 25^th, Rotarians played the game and had lots of fun and laughter.  Come along on the 20^th to the Rotary Arts Centre, RAC to enjoy the fun. Cost is $10 and tickets are available at the RAC and Xavier House

Program-chair Olaf introduced the guest speaker Ian Locke, associate artistic director of Camber Arts. Ian spoke about the impact of community music and musical theatre, not only on those involved in performances and productions, but also for those who are in the audience as well.  The community musical ‘The Music Man’ will be performed at the Corner brook Arts and Culture Centre on February 15^th – 17^th. Ian spoke about the story of this show and his character Harold Hill who visited River City, Iowa, with the aim to scam the citizens and then skip town.  Harold during the show, ends up wanting to help the community.

 Ian noted that when following a path forward it is important to have a deep appreciation of the past and as well as having a vision for the future. He noted the teachers such as Gary Graham, Katie Anderson and Jennifer Matthews have had a direct impact on the musical legacy in Corner Brook.

 He continued by talking of the upcoming community musical which has a cast of over 90 people and a 15-piece orchestra. He looked at the layers of mentors and mentees involved in music in Corner Brook and particularly in the upcoming musical. He gave a couple of examples of community involvement over the years showing the community dedication and support. Community musicals go back at least 20 years in Corner Brook which through the years have involved many citizens and added to the cultural life of the city.

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, January 18, 2024

President Jackie chaired the meeting. Guests Jennifer Crane and Lorraine’s mother Audrey were welcomed.

Program-chair Dean introduced the guest speaker Corner Brook Mayor Jim Parsons.

 Jim began by announcing that the city will be a Platinum sponsor of the 2024.

Rotary Music Festival.

He continued by giving an overview of what was and would be happening in Corner Brook in the next year.

He talked about the city budget for the year and the increases in costs. He commented that property taxes will increase for many people due to assessment increases. The unit charge for water has increased mainly due to the increase of chemical costs used to keep the water drinkable.

Jim noted that private and commercial construction value increased by 22% in 2023.

The topic he looked at next was tourism. Cruise tourism has increased tremendously with over 6000 people visiting Corner Brook in the past year bringing 4.1 million dollars economic value to the city. He continued by looking at the trail system which is being developed around the city which will benefit not only residents but visitors to the area.

 Then he dealt with construction in Corner Brook but particularly in the Mount Bernard area.  In the coming year, there will be some construction going up to the gas station on the corner of Mount Bernard Avenue and O’Connell Drive.

Jim continued by talking about housing in the city and the types of housing needed. He noted new single-family homes will be built in the areas close to the new hospital, but apartments are also needed in the city especially for older residents. Social housing is greatly needed as the waiting lists have grown with over 150 people qualifying for housing, but no housing is available. He commented that more action is need in this area.

He then considered the downtown area including West Street, Broadway, and the Brook Street – Commercial Street area. This latter area is a flood plain so development is limited. It is hoped the new municipal plan will help to address and improve downtown and encourage development through the private sector,

 To conclude his talk Jim mentioned several different happenings in the coming year. Firstly, the Rec Centre which is being developed at Grenfell Campus will be fully constructed. Included in this two-story facility will be swimming pools, a therapeutic pool and a gym with multipurpose rooms and a daycare centre.  The   Mill Whistler Road train has been very successful in the summer months resulting in the city approving the acquisition of another train.  A couple of other projects mentioned were the development of a small park on Griffin Drive and an intersection change from the Corner Brook Plaza to Confederation Drive.   

Gerry thanked Jim on behalf of the club and the meeting was adjourned.

 

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, January11, 2024

President Jackie chaired the meeting. 

There was no winner on the Toonie Quest West draw this week so the winning amount will be rolled over to the draw next week on January 18.  Remember if you paid in advance last year do check to see if you need to add more toonies to the Toonie Quest West weekly draw which helps support Xavier House and Corner Brook Rotary Club.

Program-chair Adam introduced his guest presenters Jennifer Snooks and Jessica Turner of the Canadian Wildlife Federation.

Jennifer and Jessica did a joint presentation about a new program in the Corner Brook area, for youth 15 – 18 years, called WILD Outside. They began by introducing themselves so Rotarians could understand the skill set they brought to the program.

WILD Outside is a national conservation-based youth program whose mandate is to inspire youth participants to develop a passion for conservation, an awareness of their natural environment and a deeper appreciation for wildlife. This youth leadership program is open to all regardless of physical or economic barriers and there is no cost.

 The program includes opportunities for personal growth while developing and encouraging conservation. There are opportunities for outdoor adventure and immersive nature experiences. The benefits for youth are that this program is a way of students getting volunteer hours in a positive team environment and there is a community connection. There are mental health supports and benefits from the time spent in nature and there are many learning opportunities.   The experiences are different from those in a classroom or in organised sports activities.

The plans for 2023 – 24 include service projects such as community gardens, shoreline clean-up, community clean-ups and naturalist logging skills as well as recreation activities such as canoeing, paddling, hiking, snow shoeing and geocaching. The goal is to provide opportunities for new skills to be learnt, personal growth, and to encourage conservation ethic. Some of the learning opportunities are, Indigenous plant walks, leave no trace awareness, WILD Education training, wilderness survival skills , adventures smart training and a web series by industry professionals and other speakers.

During the school year the plan is to have one in-person activity per month, one speaker series per month often on-line. In summer there will be more activities planned.  Participants need to register.  For more information about WILD Outside and the program contact jennifers@cwf-fcf.org.

 Jennifer and Jessica concluded their presentation by explaining how since the program was only introduced to the area last May they have be publicising this fantastic program to the youth of the area.

Gerry thanked Jennifer and Jessica for the informative and interesting presentation about WILD Outside and its many benefits for local youth. 

The meeting concluded with the Rotary wheel being spun and good news shared before being adjourned.

 

Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, January 4, 2024

President Jackie chaired the meeting. Guests Neil Robbins and Glenda Simms were welcomed.

There was no winner on the Toonie Quest West draw on January 6 so the money will be rolled over into the winnings on the January 11 draw.  For anyone who paid for advance draws, do check to see if it is time to pay more money into the weekly Toonie Quest West draw. 

 It is hoped to have a table at the Winter Carnival Craft Fair in February to explain and sell subscriptions to this weekly draw that supports Xavier House and the Rotary Club of Corner Brook.

The Adventures in Citizenship program will be going ahead this year in May in Ottawa.  Thanks go to Lesley who has successfully chaired this program in the past and a new chair will be named shortly.

 

Program-chair Gerry introduced the Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills and the Member of the House of Assembly, MHA for the Corner Brook electoral district. 

Gerry began by saying how pleased he was to speak to Rotary and how this Rotary forum for guest speakers helps stimulate debate and is a venue in which opinions can be expressed. He urged Rotary to stay strong and to continue to invite guest speakers to Rotary meetings. He was proud to be the first guest speaker for 2024. 

Communication between communities is greatly needed and then spoke of the success of Bay of Island FM radio station which through receiving up to 1 million dollars up front has been revitalised to become a strong community influence in the area. He noted the radio station has just received a national community award which is quite an achievement.

Gerry continued by  looking at some of the highlights of 2023. 

A major one is that the Newfoundland and Labrador population has increased by14,000.  This affects businesses – employers and employees and of course communities. Newfoundland has now a large Ukrainian population which is contributing in many ways to the economy.  He referred to housing which is a multifaceted issue and that in general new immigrants are not looking for social housing. He urged Corner Brookers to welcome and encourage new immigrants to the city. 

He went on to speak about Corner Brook in the coming year. 

 He noted that the new hospital is due to open later in the year. He spoke of some of the highlights of the new hospital with the modern individual rooms, clinics with the most modern equipment, radiation unit, dialysis unit and cancer care clinic.  Gerry referred to what will happen to the old hospital building. The Nursing School will for the moment still be based in the old hospital, but it will rest with Grenfell Campus and Memorial University when it has a new home.  

The Corner Brook port is doing extremely well commercially and in the tourism sector.  

Gerry feels the paper mill will continue as it has new markets, and he feels as a well-managed mill it will continue to exist.

The Corner Brook post-secondary educational institutions Grenfell Campus and College of the North Atlantic Campus are noted for their environmental excellence.  Now that hydrogen energy is becoming mainstream future training programs will be offered for those wishing to be employed in this sector.

 Gerry concluded that 2024 should be a good year for growth and prosperity for Corner Book

Bernd thanked Gerry on behalf of the club, for his talk before the meeting adjourned.

 

President Jackie chaired the meeting.

The winner this week was fellow Rotarian Linda. Everyone was thrilled at her win. Rotarians, and friends don’t forget to register if you have not already done so. Remember you can give a bill to play in advance whether $10 for 5 weeks of draws or $20 for 10 weeks of draws or more remembering the cost per week is a toonie. Once you register you play using your registration number.

 

Each year the Salvation Army requests Rotary’s help in providing gift cards for older children between the ages of 10 - 14 years) during their Christmas Hamper campaign.

 This year Rotarians are asked to give Elaine a $30 gift card or to e-transfer the money to her and she will purchase gift cards. The gift cards will be given to the Salvation Army on December 15^th.  Rotarians let Elaine have your donated card before the 15^th.

 

 

Parker Salyzyn who was awarded the Rotary High School Scholarship in June, came to the meeting to thank the club for being selected as the recipient of the Rotary Scholarship. 

Parker currently is enrolled at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University working towards a B.Sc. in Physics. He is active in both minor hockey and baseball and has completed the silver level of the Duke of Edinburgh Challenge.

Rotarians were pleased that he came to the meeting to thank Rotarians for his award and they wish Parker well with his studies and with his future endeavours.

 

Gerry introduced the guest speakers Donna Luther and Heather Jennings who spoke about Xavier House, its activities, and its priorities.

Donna began by looking at the history of Xavier House which was built in 1917 as a private home but later became a residence for the Presentation sisters. When the sisters left Corner Brook, they wanted the building to be used for the good of other.  This has been realized as Xavier House is now a residential home for those with mental illness needs. In 1985 it was opened with 20 beds. The home comes under the category of personal care homes. It is a non-profit organisation and receives a subsidy from the government for each resident. The Presentation sisters helped to support Xavier House for many years but no longer do. 

 The number of residents has increased to 28 residents and with remodelling soon it will be able to accommodate 31 residents.   The organisation now needs to fundraise which it has done by holding to give a few examples, auctions, drive-in Bingos, dances, afternoon teas and now the Toonie Quest West 50-50 weekly draw which is done in conjunction with Corner Brook Rotary Club.

Heather continued by speaking of the work done in the home to help the residents.

One example given is the Therapeutic Task Program which employs residents for a couple of shifts a week which besides giving them a regular schedule to do basic chores helps the residents earn money and gives them a sense of purpose.

Fundraising is still necessary for special outings such as the circus to which around 3 -14 residents attended, residents attended the Barbie movie and are able to go to local hockey games which without the fundraising could not be afforded.

Residents feel safe in Xavier House and the fact their personal doors can be locked gives a strong sense of security. Donna gave a few examples as to how residents were living and housed before coming to Xavier House

She complemented the staff who are very involved with the residents and help with the fundraising. Through the work and involvement of the staff, residents feel Xavier House is home.

Donna and Heather answered a few questions. 

One question was asked about the needs of the residents and the answer was donations of personal care products are appreciated by the residents. Examples would be toothbrushes and toothpaste, razors for men, soap, body wash just to give few examples.

Jackie on behalf of the club thanked Donna and Heather for their interesting and informative talk which gave everyone more insight in to the work and financial needs of Xavier House.

 

Vice- President Olaf chaired the meeting.

Program- Chair Ian introduced the guest speaker, Dr Svetlana Barkanova, Professor of Physics at Grenfell Campus. Svetlana began by speaking of herself being originally from Latvia and her study of the nature of dark matter and though dark matter exists no one quite knows what it is.

 She then spoke of the telescope at Grenfell Campus which is one of the largest in Canada which is accessible to the public through arranged tours.

She continued by looking at an analysis of the distribution of gender in Science and Engineering (STEM) fields in Canada and considered why the proportion of female students was so low.  

This led her to talk about a new project with which she is involved. She is one of the NSERC-Chairs for Inclusion in Science and Engineering in the Atlantic Region. This two-year pilot project is to support a team of researchers who contribute to a culture of inclusion in the natural sciences and engineering fields by catalyzing networks of supporters of this work, promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in the research ecosystem, and undertaking activities to enhance awareness and understanding of barriers and inequities faced by members of underrepresented groups in these fields.

There are different projects, but the ones Svetlana focused on was looking at physics in rural classrooms for Grades 7 – 12, and the total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024.

Looking at rural schools and staring in Labrador, she is hoping for presenters with expertise in physical science, engineering and technology visit different rural schools. She is hoping to link the presentations to a relevant curriculum to be developed which will refer to regional priorities including indigenous knowledge.

She showed the area of total eclipse that will pass over Newfoundland on April 8, 2024. The last total solar eclipse crossing this region was in 1970 and the next one after next year will be in 2079. She would like to plan multiple eclipse parties on the afternoon of April 8^th and to engage entire communities.  Students from equity deserving groups will be able to apply for travel funds to be in the areas of total eclipse.

Foe both projects she will be looking for coordinators, presenters, and educators.

Chris thanked Svetlana on behalf of the club after she had answered several questions.

The meeting adjourned at 1.30pm

 

President Jackie chaired the meeting.

 The weekly Toonie Quest West draw took place earlier today with no winner for this week.   This means next week the winner will receive double winnings. Make sure you have paid your toonie for this week’s draw. 

 On Wednesday afternoon as usual collected toonies and bills were counted and collated. Rotarians and Xavier House representatives had collected all the monies earlier in the day from the different stores.  

Each Wednesday Rotary will be looking for volunteers to empty and collect the monies for the weekly draw and in the afternoon at the Port Office, to help with the counting and collating of the collected money. 

Don’t forget to drop by to help if you can between 1pm and 3pm.

Guests from outside the province, Nick Healey and Jennifer Snow were welcomed as were prospective Rotarians from Xavier House, Donna Luther, Karen Foley, and Darlene Compagnon.

Program-chair Peggy introduced guest speaker Alison Duffell. Alison a registered massage therapist and Reiki master is the owner and operator of the 

Meridian Holistic Health Center, Corner Brook which offers a variety of natural healing services designed to restore the mind, body, and soul.

Alison talked on The Mind - Body Connection.

Alison began by talking about her own career and how passionate she is about the mind-body connections in her work as a massage therapist and the value of being aware of life-force energy. She spoke more about life force energy which includes the energy a person gives out to the world.  She went on to speak of studies looking at mind-body connection. She noted that when people try to improve their posture, their confidence also increases,

She went on o speak of the benefits gained when smiling and how a smile.

can help combat stress. She urged her audience to practice smiling as this helps everyone feel better. She continued by speaking how love is the most powerful universal energy. Everyone should practice loving oneself first. The other emotion to celebrate is joy particularly in everyday life. Write down things that bring you joy and remember to be joyful for simple things, have joy in movement, in the creative arts and in recognizing other people’s joy. Remember also that peace of spirit, forgiveness of self are all lessons well learnt that are important when looking at the mind-body connection. Alison finished with a quote before answering questions and being thanked by Kathleen for her interesting, informative talk and by listening to the laughter and smiles that followed her talk most enjoyable.

 

President Jackie chaired the meeting.

 The weekly Toonie Quest West draw took place earlier today with the winner taking home a sizable win.    

 On Wednesday afternoon as usual collected toonies and bills were counted and collated. Rotarians and Xavier House representatives had collected all the monies earlier in the day from the different stores.  Each Wednesday Rotary will be looking for volunteers to empty and collect the monies for the weekly draw and in the afternoon at the Port Office, to help with the counting and collating of the collected money.

Xavier House is planning a fundraising dance to be held at the Canadian Legion on Saturday, November 4^th. Tickets are available from Xavier House and Rotarians are asked to help at the dance.

 

Program-chair Paula introduced Richard Butt, Program Coordinator of the Western Newfoundland Food Hub. The Western Food Hub is a social enterprise by Food First Newfoundland. Three years ago, this was a pilot project but this year this online local food shopping organisation funded by the Northpine Foundation opened an office at 17, Herald Avenue, Corner Brook.

The goals and objectives of the Western Food Hub are to build a sustainable and resilient food system, to help local producers reach more customers, make it easy for customers to access local food and to reduce the carbon footprint of the food. The Food Hub model is an exciting connection between producers and customers, actively managing aggregation distribution and marketing using a Farm-to-Customer model. The scope locally is to achieve sustainability of the project, and this is week 14 with a customer base of around. 1200 and about 80 orders each week.

The way this works is that between Friday – Monday customers can place orders online.  On Tuesday producers are emailed a pick list with Wednesday being the day when ordered items are collected and sorted at the Food Hub so that customers can pick up their orders on Thursday at the Western Food Hub office, 17 Herald Avenue.

The benefits for producers are that they can reach more customers, can sell more products, they gain business exposure, distribution expenses are reduced, and they are contributing to food self-sufficiency and for the customer they are eating locally grown and produced food.

To sign up the customer goes to NLfoodhub.ca to create a customer account. On Friday customers receive an email showing the products available. The items for the coming week can be ordered between Friday to Monday and then can be picked up at the Food Hub office on Thursday. For further information contact foodhub@foodfirstnl.ca  at 709 – 501 – 8894 or NLFoodHub.ca@NLFoodHub.

Richard answered several questions before being thanked by Gerry on behalf of the club for the excellent and informative presentation.

 

Vice-President Olaf chaired the meeting. The corporate members from Xavier House were welcomed- Heather Jennings, Donna Luther, Darlene Compagnon and Karen Foley

 

 The weekly Toonie Quest West draw took place earlier today with no winner taking home the winning amount of $915.    This means the registered person with the winning number did not play a toonie for this week’s draw. This amount will be added to the winnings for next week’s draw.

 On Wednesday afternoon collected toonies and bills were counted and collated. Rotarians and Xavier House representatives had collected all the monies earlier in the day from the different stores.  Each Wednesday Rotary will be looking for volunteers to empty and collect the monies for the weekly draw and in the afternoon at the Port Office to help with the counting and collating of the collected money.

 

 

Xavier House is planning a fundraising dance to be held at the Canadian Legion on Saturday, November 4^th. Tickets are available from Xavier House and any help Rotarians can give on the night by collecting tickets at the door, selling 50-50 tickets etc. would be appreciated. 

 

Verbon, for program-chair Dean, introduced the guest presenter Paul Thomey. 

Paul's presentation was entitled ‘Eating Disorders - A Serious Mental Health Issue, Not A Choice.’  In his presentation, Paul spoke about the Eating Disorder Foundation and its mission. He gave an overview of eating disorders and the impact they have on many individuals and families in this province. 

He began his talk by speaking of the title of his talk and the Foundation’s work. The Foundation is a leadership and advocacy group that works with Newfoundland and Labrador Health services but is not a treatment provider. The Foundation works to provide education to family members and has a role in helping a family understand and help a loved one suffering from an eating disorder. Another function of the Foundation is to provide support to health professionals, and to provide presentations to the public to provide awareness and explain the effects of eating disorders. The busiest month is February which is designated Eating Awareness Month.  The Foundation is not-for-profit so needs so raise about 88% of its budget and so holds a lot of fundraising events.

Paul went on to consider why it was important to be concerned about eating disorders and explained what an eating disorder is.

There are different types of eating disorders that include Anorexia Nervosa,  Bulimia Nervosa, binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, other specified feeding and eating disorder, pica, and rumination disorder.

Possible causes of these disorders could be biological genetics, low self-esteem, an inability to cope, personality type, society with the need to succeed being linked to thinness plus other factors.

Eating disorders can cause health and physical complications such as brain thinking, slow heart rate, tooth decay, irregular bowel movements and the potential for gastric rupture liked to periods of bingeing.

Paul looked at the prognosis for those with eating disorders and the earlier an eating disorder is detected followed by treatments the better the outcome.

He continued by speaking of the Foundation’s work with healthcare professionals,

and the different programs and support groups offered by the Foundation. He noted that may programs are now offered by video conferencing. 

He ended his very informative talk by speaking of the services offered in Western Newfoundland and that the fine team of Western Zone Mental Health can provide excellent support. 

Paul answered several questions before being thanked by Chris on behalf of the club.

The meeting adjourned at 1.35pm.

 

                                                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vice-President Olaf chaired the meeting.

 The weekly Toonie Quest West draw took place earlier today with the winner taking home $823.    On Wednesday afternoon collected toonies and bills were counted and collated. Rotarians and Xavier House representatives had collected all the monies earlier in the day from the different stores.  Each Wednesday Rotary will be looking for volunteers to empty and collect the monies for the weekly draw and in the afternoon at the Port Office to help with the counting and collating of the collected money.

 

 

Xavier House is planning a fundraising dance to be held at the Canadian Legion on Saturday, November 4^th. Tickets are available and any help Rotarians can give on the night by collecting tickets at the door, selling 50-50 tickets etc. would be appreciated. 

 

Program – Chair Leslie introduced her guest speaker Brittany Noseworthy, library technician of the Corner Brook City Library. Her dynamic talk was about the many varied community programs offered by the library.

 In her presentation, Brittany went through the different community programs and services offered by the library. The number of programs available amazed everyone. She began by listing and speaking about the community services offered which included in-person or digital services. In the library itself, there is internet and WIFI offered, computer access, printing and faxing, photocopying services, a microfilm reader with printer, home reader service plus interlibrary loans and an e-library.  Also offered are large print books, talking books, audio books, CDs, DVDs and videos and The Western Star on microfilm from 1900. Brittany continued by talking about the in-library activities which include a variety book clubs and the chance for book clubs to borrow kits for their clubs.

 The library holds its own writing group and holds book launches for local authors. One she mentioned was the one for local author Shelley Kawaja. 

Regular activities are held such as ESL Conversation Café, crafty afternoons, Dungeons and Dragons for ages 14+ and all experience levels, new board game group, children’s groups, library yoga, Lego time for ages 3+ that encourages imaginative play with Lego blocks, family story time plus different not-for-profit groups can meet in the library by booking space. The list continues with kits that can be borrowed by library patrons such as borrowing the new Orion library telescope, Get Moving Physical Literacy Kits that encourage and motivate activity, Bird watching kits for kids, adults, and families. The library also offers computer skills sessions for any age group giving individual or small group sessions.

 Brittany continued by talking about the digital library offerings that offer resources for all ages. Books, audio books, magazines and newspapers are available for download to e-Readers, IOS, and Android devices.

Brittany answered several questions before being thanked by Olaf.

The meeting adjourned at 1.30pm

 

President Jackie chaired the meeting. Visitors Ellen Janzen and Jill Crocker, partner of the guest speaker Steve Ragnall, were welcomed.

 The first Toonie Quest West draw took place today and the winner was a lady from Halfway Point.

On Wednesday afternoon collected toonies and bills were counted and collated.

Xavier House representatives had collected all the monies earlier in the day.  It was exciting to hear that the winner to be selected on Oct. 5, would take home $1004.

Rotary will be looking for volunteers to empty and collect the monies for the draw on October 11 and to help with the counting and collating of monies collected in the afternoon.

Olaf introduced the guest speaker his friend Steve Ragnall. Steve is from Clitheroe, Lancashire, England, and has a lifetime's love of the sea and its history. Though he had a 25-year career in banking, he describes this as a “sojourn” and, upon retirement, he decided that he “should do something useful for a change and returned to maritime history.” He has written and published books on that theme, lectured on that theme, and today spends much of the year with his partner Jill on cruise ships where he entertains and informs passengers with talks on that theme.

Steve began his presentation by thanking Rotary International for the work done to eradicate polio. He himself had polio as a small child and he feels the work being done by Rotary has saved thousands of children from the effects of polio.

His talk was presenting a Corner Brook cruise ship visit from a passenger’s perspective. His talk ‘A Few Random Thoughts from the Ambassador Cruise Line’ began by showing the planned itinerary of the cruise ship Ambience, Ambassador Cruise Line. The ship left London Tilbury, on September 12 sailed to the Faroe Islands and the next port of call was meant to be QaQortoq, Greenland but the ship was caught in the middle of a hurricane so could not land. The seas were extremely rough, and the ship suffered some damage and the loss of an anchor.  The next port of call was St John’s for 3 days where repairs were done and then on to Sydney, NS, Charlottetown, PEI, and several ports in Quebec before on October 5 docking in Corner Brook.  The ship has 1200 passengers on board.  This is Steve’s fourth visit to Corner Brook.  His talk became quite humorous as he talked about how rumours are spread aboard a ship. He feels this is a very safe and easy way to travel and compared it to a holiday camp at sea.  He spoke about the entertainment on board and the different shore tours available to passengers.

He feels that there is much to do in Corner Brook for passengers and there is more here than in some of the ports of call.  

Steve’s talk was very entertaining and enjoyable. Jackie thanked him on behalf of the club before the meeting adjourned.

 

 

Karen Foley, Heather Jennings, and Darlene Compagnon, from Xavier House, were welcomed.

Darlene said that there had been a soft pick-up from the Toonie Quest Boxes so that a data base could be started.  The first draw will be October 5^th. Xavier House will look after emptying the boxes on Wednesday so that the cards and cash can be sorted and collated on Wednesday afternoon. Rotarians and friends are asked to meet in the Boardroom, Port Office to help count and collate the monies taken in at 2pm. This will be the first draw so as many Rotarians as possible are asked to help.  (Please note this time has been changed to 1pm, Wednesday Oct. 4th).

Darlene explained how the boxes are to be emptied into bank bags which will be taken to the Boardroom ready for the counting and collating crew to get busy in the afternoon.

 

Program - Chair Lorraine introduced the guest speaker Lloyd Hollett of the Newfoundland Insectarium.  Lloyd is the owner operator of the Newfoundland Insectarium in Deer Lake, and this is the 25^th Anniversary of its opening.

Lloyd began by giving his own history and how his interest in the insect world began. He was working at the Department of Forestry starting in St John’s and then Pasadena. When working in Pasadena he began an insect collection which grew. He began visiting schools to give talks about insects not only local insects but those from throughout the world. He wrote to many countries requesting insect specimens from their country. Boxes began to arrive, and the collection grew as did his visits to schools.

In 1990 he started trying to get financial help from the government but after 8 years of trying, he raised the money himself.  He bought a barn in Deer Lake which was renovated to become the Newfoundland Insectarium.

He went on the discuss this tourism business and how the Insectarium is open from May – October and is a very popular venue for school groups and tourists. He spoke about the effect on the business due to covid, but the tourists’ numbers have rebounded and last year there were 29,00 visitors. This year has been an even busier one. The main attractions are butterflies then ants followed by bees.

Darlene Compagnon, guest of prospective corporate member Donna, was welcomed.

Donna and Darlene had brought a sample Toonie Quest West box and several Rotarians registered to play. Donna give an update on the work done towards setting up the weekly game.  Stores have been approached and Dennis Blackwood of Blackwood Signs has kindly donated signage to go with each Toonie Quest Box. She spoke about the money spent in the set up and the first draw will be October 5th. All the boxes are in place and players can now register and then play in this draw.

Xavier House is planning a drive-in bingo on October 15^th and Rotarians will be asked to help.  Another fundraiser is planned for November 4^th when there will be a Benefit Dance for Xavier House at the Canadian Legion. More details about these events will follow.

Program - Chair Lorraine introduced Rob Thomas. Rob is the Experience Coordinator for the Newfoundland and Labrador Indigenous Tourism Association and is pleased to be involved with community development. Rob spoke about how tourism is growing in the province and that there is plenty of room for development. In his role, he works closely with Indigenous Canada. He travels to small communities in Newfoundland and in Labrador to see in what way tourism can be developed. Indigenous tourism has different offerings and by using a rigorous application process for a project it means that once accepted then the indigenous tourism project can be marketed at a national level.

Rob then changed topics and spoke of his involvement in the Cabox Geopark development and the need for its recognition by UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in recognizing the Bay of Islands as an area of distinctive geological importance.

This will have tremendous effect on tourism of the area and the Saltbox Restaurant, Benoit’s Cove features a Cabox Geopark information centre. This designation will enable Corner Brook to become a tourist destination. He spoke how the application was proceeding and hopefully next fall delegates from UNESCO will visit this area. Rob noted the Cabox Geopark is partnering with researchers at the University of Alberta to prove the area has geological importance. 

 He then looked into the future as to possible tourism Indigenous developments that would enable tourists to go into the Lewis Hills and see the earth’s crust and other geological features. There would economic benefits that would affect the whole area.

Gerry thanked Rob on behalf of the club for his very interesting and informative talk.

 

President Jackie chaired the meeting. Darlene Compagnon, guest of prospective corporate member Donna, was welcomed.

 On September 7th a meeting was held to discuss arrangements for the fundraiser to be held in conjunction with Xavier House. Jackie spoke about this and different businesses that will be involved. Details about this weekly fundraiser will be posted on Facebook.   Rotarians will be asked to help with the running of this fundraiser with more details to follow. 

A $500 donation from the Corner Brook Rotary Club will be made to the Western Memorial Fundraiser Telethon with Bernd presenting the cheque.

The guest Thursday Sept 21^st will be Robert Thomas who is the Tourism Experience Coordinator for the Newfoundland and Labrador Indigenous Tourism Association, Corner Brook.

Guest presenter, Lynn Howse was introduced by program-chair Bernd. Lynn is the Regional Outreach Officer (ROO) for Western Regional Waste Management (WRWM).  She began her career in Waste Management with this position in 2019. Her responsibilities include informing residents and businesses in Western Newfoundland on recycling and assisting in the development of recycling strategies. 

Lynn began her presentation by an interactive activity. She had several items on the screen including a battery, half empty ketchup bottle, plastic container, paint can plus other items. Looking at a picture of each item Rotarians were asked how each item would be discarded and would it go in a clear plastic bag as garbage or a blue bag for recycling and if neither how should it be disposed. The chat that followed showed that there were some items everyone knew could be recycled but there were others were there were different opinions.

Lynn passed out a booklet -Sort it Western which is a Business and Residential Sorting Guide which helped with the decision making.

Lynn continued her presentation by looking at the Western disposal process at Wild Cove and how the general types of garbage such as tyres, appliances, bulk items, and general items are sorted and how the blue bag recyclable garbage is dealt with.  It was interesting to find out what happens to pop and wine bottles and see how after being crushed into ‘diamonds ‘and then melted down they are sent outside the area to be recycled into new products. 

An audit is developed by checking a set number of household recyclable and general garbage on a regular basis to find out how well the current program is doing.

 Businesses help by having two bins for general garbage and recyclables plus programs are developed for schools.

 Lynn answered questions at the end of her presentation. One question involved plastic containers and how to know if they are recyclable. This can change depending on manufacturing changes but at the moment by looking at the number on the base of a container if it is 1,2 or 5 then the container can be recycled.

Paula thanked Lynn for her interesting and informative talk before the meeting was adjourned.