Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, June 9, 2022
President Chris welcomed Rotarians to the meeting and guests Cal Hender and Glenda Simms were introduced and welcomed
Club Business
Gerry has ordered lobsters for the Georges Lake Lobster Boil on Wednesday June 22nd. Rotarians who have not yet indicated they plan to attend, are welcome to come along but will need to bring something to BBQ.
New Rotary District 7815
Chris passed out promotional items he received from the district office. As of July 1st, Corner Brook will be part of the new Rotary District 7815 which will include Newfoundland and Labrador, the Atlantic provinces and St Pierre and Miquelon
Program
Program-Chair Honorary Rotarian Martin Steele introduced his guest speaker Jerome Jesseau. Jerome has just written a book “Running Before the Wind”. This book is about the life of an extraordinary Newfoundlander Wilfred Osmond. Wilfred was born in 1899 and died in 2003 at 103 years old. The book is rich in Wilfred’s stories about times long past.
Jerome began by showing where Gooseberry Islands were in Bonavista Bay and Safe Harbour where Wilfred ‘s family went to live when he was a baby after the death of his father. Jerome talked about the writing of the book and the help he had received from another Corner Brook author Floyd Spracklin.
Mr. Osmond had a photographic memory which impressed Jerome as he nightly spoke with Mr. Osmond. Mr. Osmond had received little formal education but during his long life he was always working whether in fishing, logging, sailing on costal freighters, construction, or the paper mill in Corner Brook. Mr. Osmond through hard work and resourcefulness throughout his life made a good life for his family.
Jerome continued his talk by speaking of the painting of Safe Harbour on the front of his book before reading a chapter from the book.
The chapter related an extremely stormy night in the summer of 1932 when Wilfred was working on a freighter. The masted freighter’s run was to pick up coal from Sydney and deliver the coal to different lighthouses. The descriptive writing of the storm held everyone’s attention, and everyone was glad the vessel and Wilfred survived the storm.
The official book launch of ’Running Before the Wind’ will be Monday June 20th at 8pm. at the Rotary Arts Centre, Corner Brook.
Olaf thanked Jerome for his interesting talk about Newfoundlander Wilfred Osmond and his experiences
The meeting adjourned at 1.35pm.