Club Information
Corner Brook

We meet In Person
Thursdays at 12:30 p.m.
Glynmill Inn
1B, Cobb Lane
Corner Brook, NL A2H 2V3
Canada
Regular Rotary lunch meetings are held weekly at the Glynmill Inn on Thursdays at 12.30pm - 1.30pm. Rotarians and friends call 709 634 -3789 for more information.
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The Spinner November 27 2025
The Spinner November 27 2025
Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, November 27, 2025.
President Olaf chaired the meeting.
 He welcomed everyone at the lunch including the guests from FoneMed. 
Club Business
  1.  Olaf had had a message from the St John’s Elks Club who sponsor the St. John’s Metro Mini Spelling Bee for students and hope to expand this program throughout the province.  They are firstly approaching Elk’s Clubs across the province and then other organisations. Olaf had presented their request to the Rotary executive who looking at the present involvement of the club with the community recommended not to become involved with this additional project at the moment. Olaf hoped the membership agreed with this decision.
 
  1. Next week Rotarian Major Brian Wheeler will be speaking about the role the     Salvation Army plays in the community.  It has long been a club tradition that each Rotarian donates a gift card suitable for pre-teens and teenagers worth $25 as Christmas gifts.  It would be good if Rotarians not able to attend the lunch meeting on December 4th arrange to transfer or give their Christmas $25 donation to a Rotarian to be given to Major Wheeler.
Guest Speaker
 The guest presenter Rotarian Kim Legge before she began her program explaining the services provided by FoneMed, introduced the FoneMed team attending the Rotary lunch. The team included herself Kim Legge, VP Clinical Services, Melissa Blanchard, Mental Health and Addictions Program Manager, Jennifer Lewis, Clinical Manager for Canadian Operations, and Sara Foster, RN Team leader.
 Kim began by explaining that FoneMed is about making virtual health care a reality by creating a better more personal level of virtual care and is a leader in virtual care in the province.
The Virtual services offered are
      i)   Nurse Triage and Assessment
      ii)  Remote Patient Monitoring
      iii) Behavioral Health
      iv) A Digital Front Door to better virtual healthcare
       v) Urgent Care 
      vi) Primary Care
 Internationally FoneMed is not only in Canada and the United States but is throughout the world.
 This connected care system offers nurse and nurse practitioner programs 24/7.
 By calling 811 the registered nurse programs can assess symptoms, give support for mental health and addiction crises, Dial-a-Dietician to connect with a dietician, LWDS service is for a patient who was attending an emergency clinic but left before being seen.
 The nurse practitioner programs are offered for more complex care.
 Kim went through a typical call and how the patient would be helped. 
 The next step will be to bring video medical tools to these calls.
 FoneMed has its newest offering which will a video integrated, portable Black Bag and Mobile Equipment which can be used in a person’s home, remote communities, long term care facilities and in an emergency when speed is important.
 Kim finished her presentation by reiterating that FoneMed’s mandate is to support Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in the future by offering timely, safe, high quality virtual healthcare wherever a person lives.
 Several questions were asked of Kim before she was thanked for her most informative and interesting talk about the services offered by FoneMed.
 
The Spinner November 13 2025
The Spinner November 13 2025
Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, November 13, 2025.
President Olaf chaired the meeting.
Club Business
  1.  After lunch, President Olaf thanked Past President Jackie for serving the club as President for three years.  He presented her with a token of appreciation for her strong leadership and hard work during this time. Congratulations from all Corner Brook Rotarians go to Jackie for the leadership she has shown and the support she gave and still gives to the club.
 
  1. Olaf announced that Rotary’s Giving Tuesday is Tuesday December 2, 2025.
On this day, Rotary encourages members and supporters to make donations to The Rotary Foundation to fund projects that promote peace, provide clean water, support education, and fight polio. 
 
  1. Olaf also announced that the Zoom AGM for Corner Brook Rotary Club’s District 7815 will be held on Tuesday, November 18. All Rotarians are encouraged to register to join and participate in this zoom meeting.
 
Guest Speaker
The guest presenter Savannah Burden was introduced by Rotarian Dianna. 
Dianna is the chair of the Adventures in Citizen Program held in the spring in Ottawa. The Corner Brook Rotary Club each year sponsors a high school student to attend this event.  In the spring at a regular Rotary meeting, a high school speak-off was held and the winner then was sponsored to attend the 4-day Adventures in Citizenship program in Ottawa joining high school students from across the country.
 Savannah was the student who won the speak-off so attended the Adventures in Citizenship 2025 Program in Ottawa.
 Savannah began her power point presentation by thanking the club for this amazing experience.
 She then went through the activities for each day starting with day 1, May 24 when she arrived in Ottawa. She met other students attending the program and friendships began to be formed.
 Day 2, May 25 when they students explored significant areas of Ottawa and looked at the historical significance of these areas.
 They visited Parliament and were the last group to visit parliament before the official opening by the King and the Acting Clerk spoke to the group. The evening was fun time at the Sugar Shack with a traditional meal followed by line dancing.
The next day, Day 3 started with a tour of Ottawa then there were advocacy presentations. The participants were asked to write down the problems that mattered most to them. After doing this, suggestions were made as to how to look for help, who to approach etc. That evening a Talent Show was held and Savannah participated in the show with new friends. She was amazed at the different talents showcased and the diversity in the country.
 On Day 4 the group visited the Canadian Museum of History, a Citizenship Ceremony at which people of different ages and walks of life from about 90 countries became Canadian citizens with the hope of to finding a better life.
 The day finished with dinner at Dow’s Lake Lago Grill. Each province selected a representative to speak about the experience and Savannah represented Newfoundland and Labrador. She played a clip of her inspiring speech that included thanks to Corner Brook Rotary Club for sponsoring her. Closing ceremonies were held and the following day the students headed for home.
 Savannah was thanked by Dianna for speaking about her experiences. She is wished well as she continues her studies at Dalhousie University studying General Science.
 Savannah again thanked the club for this amazing opportunity and general conversation ended the meeting.
 
The Spinner November6 2025
The Spinner November6 2025
Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pmThursday November 6, 2025
President Olaf chaired the meeting.
  1. After lunch Olaf spoke of the new lunch menu and asked how everyone enjoyed the salmon meal. The response indicated the meal had been greatly enjoyed
  2. The Toonie Quest West weekly draw had a win today and the winner was happy to receive his sizable winnings. 
 
Guest Speaker
 Rotarian Olaf introduced the guest presenter Dr Christina Smeaton. Christina is a 2004 graduate of Grenfell Campus-MUN, where she completed a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science (Chemistry) and returned to Grenfell Campus as an Assistant Professor as a biogeochemist in August 2019. Her talk is entitled “Re-imagining Seaweed: From Tradition to its Potential Future Role in NL's Blue Economy.” This talk with visual presentation was on the historical uses and perceptions of seaweed in the province, the climate mitigation properties of seaweed in agriculture, and the potential role of the seaweed industry in shaping the blue economy of Newfoundland and Labrador. 
Christina began by identifying the six different team members who are working on this project. This includes undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty members Dr Katherine Pendakis, Sociology and Dr Lakshman Gatagedara, Agriculture / Geophysics.
 She began by looking at the strong history in the province of seaweed use by settlers and Indigenous people in agriculture. It was used as a fertilizer by adding fish waste and seaweed to the soil as a top dressing, compost or as a liquid-compost tea.
 She continued by looking at the benefits of using seaweed in food production These include soil and plant benefits gained by adding nutrients, bioactive compounds  and improving of soil structure Seaweed also gives potential climate benefits as growing seaweed uptakes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turns it into solid carbon plus the breakdown of seaweed in soils provides slow-release of nitrogen and reduces nitrogen based greenhouse gas.  
 Christina continued by explaining what is meant by Blue Economy probably a new term for many people. Blue economy is the use of oceans, seas and coastal resources to drive economic growth while ensuring environmental health and social equity. Thus, growing a sustainable blue economy requires a strategy of job creation for costal communities ensuring the ocean remains healthy.
 Dr Smeaton looked at the main research question which was ‘Can we use seaweed as a fertilizer to reduce gas emissions from soils?’ The approach involves lab and field experiments as well as archival research.
  The next part of her talk dealt with some archival research on the use of seaweed in the past and how from the MUN Digital Archives seaweed reporting has varied over the years.
 Continuing from this she looked at the provincial history of the seaweed industry which was first documented in 1933. During WW11 there was an agar scarcity resulting in Irish Moss being harvested and exported to the US. It was between 1969 – 1975 harvested on the Port au Port Peninsula and exported to Denmark.  However, with the collapse of the Cod Fishery the seaweed industry ended. 
 Since 2010 until today the seaweed industry is growing with several Seaweed based businesses in existence. There are several challenges for these businesses, but this industry is a natural economic and cultural resource in the province.
 Several questions were asked of Christina before she was thanked by Olaf for this most interesting and informative presentation.
 
 
The Spinner October 30 2025
The Spinner October 30 2025
Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday 30, 2025
President Olaf chaired the meeting.
Before lunch was served Olaf welcomed the twenty-one Rotarians and guests including from Grand Falls, Geoff Goodyear, Assistant District Governor for Central and Western Newfoundland and for Labrador.
  1.  Olaf introduced Geoff more fully. Geoff has been a Rotarian for about 20 years mostly in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Recently he moved to Grand Falls and is a member of the Rotary Club of Exploits
  2. Rotarian Jim was warmly welcomed.  This is the first time since his accident in the winter and a long stay in the hospital that Jim has been able to attend a Rotary lunch. Everyone was delighted that he felt well enough to attend and hopefully he will be able to attend meetings in the future. 
  3.  The Toonie Quest West weekly draw had a roll over again today. This means next week the winner will have a sizeable win. 
Guest Speaker
 Rotarian Linda introduced Dr Janice Audeau, who has practised as a community pharmacist in Corner Brook since 2015 and, is a passionate advocate for the profession.  She has served four terms as President of the Pharmacist’s Association of NL from 2019-2023 and accompanying Janice was a Pharmacy intern Jacob Envoy.
 Before Janice began her talk she passed out flyers reviewing the changing roles of pharmacists.
 Janice began practising as a pharmacist 2015 and the roles of a pharmacist has changed in the last seven years. These changes have resulted in part to the number of people who do not have a primary care health specialist. This has also happened in other provinces where the scope of pharmacists has also changed.  During covid, pharmacists became designated as an essential service. Pharmacists training throughout the country is much the same but the actual role of a pharmacist varies depending on the province. 
 The Health Accord Newfoundland and Labrador was published in 2022. This outlined steps for creating a 10-year plan for health transformation.  The hope for this transformation is to achieve a better, more integrated and coordinated, health care system that is accessible, inclusive, and equitable for all.  This has resulted in pharmacists becoming actively involved in the managing of diseases and conditions. Pharmacists may now prescribe for approved preventable diseases including covid -19, influenza, measles, mumps and many more. They can also prescribe for approved ailments and conditions. The message is to always check with your pharmacist to see what help can be given. It is good to note that the key services provided by a pharmacist are vaccinations, common ailment assessment, prescription renewals and wellness guidance as well as different additional services which extend beyond the medications dispensed.
 Janice answered many questions before being thanked for speaking to Rotarians and informing every one of the expanded roles of a pharmacist.
 
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