Service clubs

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The Aug. 30 meeting was "Bring a Guest to Rotary Day" at the Kincardine Rotary Club, with a fantastic turn-out at the Kincardine Legion.

Rotarian Matt Harvey gave a brief introduction about all the guests at Rotary (although it should be noted that he introduced Gerry Taylor as the “Ex” Director of the Penetangore Regional Economic Development Corporation as opposed to the Executive Director) and then turned the meeting over to Rotarian Lynn Clayton.

Clayton advised that the club is having a membership drive, providing an information session on what Rotary does, both as a club and as an organization. He gave a brief overview on how Rotary works and then introduced Assistant District Governor Walter Berry.

Berry talked about Rotary. With 1.2-million Rotarians and more than 34,000 clubs worldwide, it's the oldest service club. He tried to define Rotary, noting the organization does not do a good job of publicizing what it does, but stressed that it's a service club and that if you asked any Rotarian you would probably get a different answer on what Rotary is.

He mentioned the Rotary website as a great place to get informa­tion (www. Rotary.org) and also provided a Rotary Basics Publication for further information.

Rotarian Charlene Randle-Clayton provided an overview of the Kincardine Rotary Club. She explained how Rotarians can visit any part of the world and are welcomed with open arms into any club as a friend. Her presentation ended by showing a short video about the Kincardine Rotary Club with one note, there did seem to be some discussion as to why Rotarian John Hill looked so happy in the final slide.

Rotarian Rob Rodgers spoke about the project that drew his interest to Rotary which was the well project in Nicaragua, and Kincardine has partnered with the Listowel Rotary Club to help support. It is a $9,000 project to provide water to a community and a cheque for $2,400 was presented to Rotarian Clare Hood of Listowel as part of Kincardine’s commitment to the project.

Rotarian Larry Walton spoke about Kincardine's second annual Rotary Summer Fun In the Park event that is as an example of the club's local community service. As the event managed to turn a small profit this year, a cheque for $500 was presented to Bill Parker of the Kincardine Food Bank.

Also at the meeting, Kincardine Rotary welcomed its exchange students from Brazil, Gabriela Bogomolof Taquegami (Gabi), who offered the following information about herself:

"My city - Jaragua do Sol - has 139,017 inhabitants. It is one of the best-quality-of-living cities in the whole of Brazil, with a strong economy based on electric-metal-mechanic, food and textile industry. It’s 60 kilometres from the beach (Atlantic Ocean), 200 kilometres from Fiorianopolis, the capital of Santa Catarina State, and 180 kilometres from Curitiba, capital of Parana State. 

"The city has one university, two hospitals, many banks, shops, restaurants, schools and is well served with  facilities of a modem style of living like: Internet, cable TV, good communication system and is a really peaceful place to live.

"My father is a child neurologist and works in a hospital. He is a doctor who works with children neurological problems and he’s a pediatric too. My mother is a pharmacist, she works with medicines for chemo­therapy.

"I like to learn a little about everything, I really like art, English, languages, history and I think that some­times you just need to learn to like something. I used to dislike some subjects and now I love them the most. I want to learn more about culinary, new cultures and some sports, things that my school doesn’t offer or sports that aren’t common in my country.

"I’m really interested in art. I have enjoyed drawing and painting for a long time. I can’t remember when I started to like it; I always had classes at school but this year (2010) I’ve decided to do extra classes and I try to draw when I have free time.

"I dislike tomatoes, but sometimes I like to eat pizza with tomatoes. I enjoy being around all kinds of animals, and I dislike when people smoke near to me. I dislike wars and fights between people or countries that I like.

"My strong characteristics are: I like to learn new things, new people and I am friendly, sincere, hard-working, easy-going about some things, and I like to make people smile.

"My weak characteristics are that sometimes I’m sensitive about some things, but I try to be stronger. I like when everything I do looks perfect to me and I’m a little shy when I first meet someone.

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Friday, September 02, 2011