President / His Honour the Judge John was pleased with the large attendance at the meeting today indicating that he thought it was because we were all looking forward to a very fun Hallowe'en Meeting. He got the proceedings underway at 12:35.
Today's guests included: Ivana Karac, guest of Mary Rielly, Afroza Akhter guest of David Chatson and member of the Kitchener Grand River Club, and exchange student Elle Yodsanga. Welcome all!
None NovEDven though we were dowHappy Hallowe'en to Ted Wellhauser who found the Jack of Hearts with the first ticket drawn today and won one-half of the $882 pot!
President John reminded the members that we will soon be placing an order for club shirts and let folks know that samples of the styles and colours that have been selected are available at the club display table each week. Members are asked to check them out and to be ready when we call for orders in a few weeks.
President-Elect Dave Chatson reminded members that the process for selecting next year's board of directors is now under way. Everyone should have received an email to this effect and are to let Dave know if they DO NOT wish to have their stand for election to the board.
Our On-line Auction begins this coming Saturday, November 5 and Gary Parker provided some updates and reminders.
We now have 4 sponsors and 58 items, which is good but we still have more work to do to reach our goal of 10 sponsors and 80 items. All members are strongly encouraged to make a final push this week and bring in the remaining sponsors and items.
Items can still be added to the auction even after the start date so keep trying right up to next week.
Letters to donors and pledge sheets are available on the club website. Completed pledge sheets should be scanned and sent to Neil Swayze, or arrangements made to drop them off at his house.
The top 5 items for income for the club are Sports Tickets, Grocery Certificates, Restaurant Certificates and Hardware & Tools. We are doing well with sports tickets so far this year but we have no Grocery Certificates yet and these are usually easy to get. Just take one of our letters into the grocery store where you shop, and explain what we are doing and the chances are very high that you will get a $25 gift certificate. Bring these in and the organizers will group them together to make packages of $50 or $100.
Once the auction opens we need to get the word out and get folks to go on line and start bidding. Members are asked to contact family, friends, co-workers, etc. and let them know about the auction and how to find us - RotaryOnlineAuction.ca
Public signs have been produced this year and all members are asked to post three or more in prominent areas around town. Just under 70 were distributed to members today and more will be available next week or folks can contact Candi Harrington and she will make arrangements to get some to you.
Our meeting today was in celebration of Hallowe'en with many decorations throughout the room and accoutrements for folks to wear, thanks to our Social Committee lead by Mary Rielly. Several members were in costume to add to the festive air.
Two members provided some information on how Hallowe'en, or something similar, is traditionally celebrated in their home countries. First up was Jim Brown who made the claim that like all good things in North America we can trace the roots of Hallowe'en to Ireland! It was here that the tradition of celebrating All Hallows Eve first began. Folks would pray to the dead so that they would remain at peace and not come back to haunt you. The more prayers that were said the more likely you were to avoid being haunted. So some of the poor folk went to the houses of the rich folk and begged for food with the promise that they would say prayers to the richer folks ancestors for them. Thus the tradition of going door-to-door began. On this night some of the evil spirits would come out to bother folks and so the folks going door-to-door began wearing masks to look like the evil spirits themselves and so not be troubled by the real ones, and hence the practice of wearing costumes began. By the 50's and 60's when Jim was out trick or treating he was living in a fairly poor and rough area and the children would go door to door for pennies but they really had to perform and got their "treat" only if they performed well. Jim recalls one year in particular where he and three friends dressed up as the Beatles and sang their songs as they went door-to-door. They did quite well but ended up having all of their pennies taken by a group of 8 other boys who were a little bit larger and rougher! Jim says that today Hallowe'en is a very popular event in Ireland.
Susana Jimenez then talked about the Festival called The Day of the Dead in Mexico. They do not practice Hallowe'en as we do here. The Day of the Dead occurs on November 1 and is a celebration of ancestors that have passed away. It is a very festive time filled with lots of love and caring - no scary stuff. Skeleton dolls and toys are made for children to play with but they are not presented as scary or evil and the children are provided with first experiences of death that are fun and positive. There is much food with many special, traditional items such as breads, often decorated to look like flowers on top or sometimes bones. Another very popular item for the children is a sugar candy skull with the child's name on it that they eat for good luck. Susana mentioned that many of the traditions are a blend of pagan rituals and Catholic rites that came to Mexico with the Spanish. Families often visit grave yards to pay tribute to dead family members and then return home for a huge feast!
Please remember to advise Bill Proctor of situations which would require some acknowledgement from the club - special anniversaries, illness, celebrations, hospitalizations etc.
You are the eyes and ears for the club and without your notification to Bill situations and circumstances will go unnoticed. Bill can be contacted at 519-570-2119 or wj.proctor@sympatico.ca.
