Meeting Recording
A recording of Today’s Meeting can be found
here.
President's Comments
President DeCoo welcomed all to the meeting in this, the 56th week of our 18 month anniversary year! He expressed thanks to Cheryl Ewing for organizing our volunteers at the Kitchener Cruisin’ On King Street event and to the members – Ray Taylor, Lew Ford, Jess Perucho and Bill Proctor for being the volunteers that brought in just over $650 for the club. He also expressed appreciation to the 100th Anniversary Committee for organizing our very successful 100th Anniversary Meeting on June 27.
Guests
Oksana Tereshchenko, guest of Lumi Mironescu
Ian McLean, President and CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, guest speaker
Happy Jar
Lots of happy members this week:
Shawky Fahel is happy that work on the new Palestinian Studies program at the University of Waterloo is progressing well and that we was able to recently travel to South Africa to meet the grandson of Nelson Mandela and arrange for him to visit our region in the future.
Bill and Judy Proctor were pleased to be able to host Cheryl Ewing for dinner on Sunday. Cheryl was in town for the Jazz Festival and will be returning to Halifax today.
Erin Way was happy to be able to attend a Six Nations Pow wow in Ohsweken on the weekend.
Karim Karim and Tasreen Charania were happy to have recently been on a journey to the east coast followed by a trip further south to Arizona where they enjoyed the 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures.
Boyd Pendleton was very happy to have recently been in the south of France and visiting with his parents.
Club Announcements
Catch The Ace
Our Jackpot is over $17,500 and Growing! There are only 16 cards left from which to choose!
Last week's winner Bill A. chose card #46 revealing the Six of Diamonds and he won the weekly prize of $516. However, the Ace has still not been caught and it could be you.
When you buy tickets you have a chance to win the weekly prize and if your card is the Ace of Spades you will also win the Progressive Prize which is nearly $17,500 and growing. The next weekly draw is on Thursday July 28th.
The deadline to get your tickets as always is Wednesday at Midnight. Don't forget that you have to purchase a ticket the week of the draw to qualify for both the weekly and progressive jackpot!
When you play
Catch the Ace not only do you have a chance to win great prizes but you also win by knowing that the net proceeds will all be going to
KidsAbility.
Summer Golf Social - Last Week to Register - Register At The Link Below
Where: Conestoga Golf Club
When: Thursday July 28th - Tee off times begin at 2pm
18 Holes: $51.24 with cart (to be paid at the pro shop upon arrival)
9 Holes: $40.25 with cart
Patio social following play
Panther Baseball Game
The 5-club membership committee has been working with the Panthers Baseball Club to arrange a Rotary night. The date is Thursday August 4th 730pm at Jack Couch Park (The Aud)
Charcoal Steakhouse Lunch Meeting
Please join us for a face to face meeting on Monday August 8 when, our own member, Prof. Karim S. Karim, co-founder of KA Imaging, will talk about the future of portable X-Ray Imaging providing solutions to the medical, veterinary, and non-destructive testing industrial markets.
RI 2023 Convention - Melbourne, Australia – Travel Opportunity
The Rotary Club of Haliburton, ON is partnering with TravelMaven Tours to offer a 16-night tour of New Zealand prior to the Rotary International Convention in Melbourne, Australia and a 10-night post-convention tour of Australia. Early booking pricing available until August 1, 2022. For more information, details and pricing on both tours visit:
travelmaven.ca/hali-rotary-options. The Rotary Club of Haliburton will be holding an information webinar on Sunday, August 21st at 7:00pm. Everyone is welcome to join in. Contact the Rotary Club of Haliburton at haliburtonrotary@gmail.com and they will send you a link to the webinar. A non-refundable $100pp donation to Haliburton Rotary secures your seats. E-transfer $100pp to haliburtonrotary@gmail.com. Be sure to include travelers’ names, phone number and email in the message section of the e-transfer. What a wonderful opportunity to visit these "bucket list" destinations while experiencing the Melbourne Rotary International Convention. Yours In Rotary, Ted Brandon, Past President Rotary Club of Haliburton tedlorrybrandon@gmail.com 705-457-7923 mobile & text
Special Recognitions / Presentations
Mehreen Shahid presented her Who Am I today. Mehreen is the Director of Funds Development and Communications for the Coalition of Muslim Women of K-W.
Mehreen Shahid grew up in Pakistan and moved to Canada in 2011. The child of a military officer provided Mehreen many opportunities to travel and see parts of Pakistan not available to the average citizen. Although quite smaller, Pakistan does have a varied geography similar to ours with mountains, lakes, coast lines and modern cities.
Mehreen’s background was in psychology but when she arrived in Canada she discovered she needed a PHD in psychology to practise here. Not wanting to go that route she studied journalism and started a career in that field in Orillia covering local community events. Looking for more opportunities she moved to the Waterloo Region. She came in contact with club member Fauzia Mazhar, CEO of the Coalition of Muslim Women of K-W, and became aware of an opening there. She applied and is now the Director of Funds Development and Communications for the Coalition of Muslim Women of K-W.
Recently her parents visited her from Pakistan and noted a few interesting differences:
- Her father had a fall which resulted in the need to go to the emergency department at the hospital for stiches. The 10 hour time required was quite a shock to them as in Pakistan there is a two-tier system and for those able to pay, such a medical need, would have taken at most 2 hours.
- Driving here is much more organized and safe with a lot less honking of horns. In Pakistan it is not uncommon for people to drive on the wrong side of the road and just honk to get others out of their way.
- The absence of the threat of terror in Canada is most evident. Bombings in Pakistan are quite common, and a bomb destroyed a building behind Mehreen’s grandmother’s home.
- Political corruption is rampant in Pakistan and politicians are very inaccessible to the general public. They do not attend any public events, do not have constituency offices and cannot be sent emails or letters. Traffic can often be held up for hours if politicians, at any level, travel by road.
Program Highlights
Our guest speaker today was Ian McLean from the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, Ian was introduced by Paul Rostrup.
Ian McLean was appointed President and CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce in September of 2010. The Chamber is one of the largest Chambers in Ontario with over 1,700 members across Kitchener, Waterloo and Woolwich Township.
In his role, Ian serves on the Immigration Partnership of Waterloo Region Council and the Chamber Health Care Recruitment Council. He also chairs the Connect the Corridor Coalition and is a member of the Prosperity Council.
Previously, Ian served on Waterloo City Council for seven years and was Chair of the Finance and Strategic Planning Committee from 2008 to 2010. He also served on the City of Waterloo Audit Committee and was a member of the Waterloo North Hydro Board of Directors. He currently serves of the Waterloo Region Police Services Board. His public service also included a variety of Boards and Committees including the Board of the Uptown Waterloo BIA, Waterloo Public Library Board, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery Board and Waterloo Economic Development Committee.
Ian is Chair of McLean & Associates, a consulting firm focused on strategic problem solving, international trade development and business development networking. Previously, he had worked in the private sector for both large businesses, including Labatt Brewery, and small businesses, including Paul Puncher Menswear. Ian has worked in the broader public sector for the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board as an Executive Director of Stakeholder Relations.
His educational background includes an Honours B.A. from the University of Toronto and a Diploma in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. Ian lives in Waterloo with his daughters Hannah and Abigail and their dog Bailey.
Mr. McLean began by thanking Rotarians for all of the good work we do, noting that his father is a Paul Harris Rotarian. He provided some interesting background information on the Chamber as well as insights into the work they do:
- The Chamber of Commerce is 137 years old.
- One of their first major undertakings was supporting the creation of the University of Waterloo.
- They support businesses of all sizes but the majority of them are small to medium operations, often family owned.
- They provide networking, educational events and awards programs for their members.
- They work very closely on joint projects with the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.
- They believe that advocating for local infrastructure with projects such as transportation links, new hospitals, and telecommunications is important and indirectly supports local business.
- Recently they have advocated strongly for All Day Both Way Go Train Service to the region as well as the creation of the new Highway 7 between KW and Guelph.
- They have also been very active in the program to recruit additional family doctors to the area, noting that for growth and to replace doctors retiring, 8 to 10 new family physicians are needed annually.
- Ian noted that there are huge opportunities in the Region due to proximity to GTA, local universities, diverse business community and as well the close collaboration of business, government and organzations like the Chamber.
- The number one issue business are dealing with today is the lack of qualified workers, in all sectors, at all levels.
Closing Remarks & Reminders
President Adrian reminded members to register for the upcoming lunch at Charcoal Steak House on August 8th. Also, a reminder that there is no meeting on Monday August 1 since that day is a holiday.
