The Rotary Club of Toronto
Club 55 -  Founded 1912
March 1, 2023     Volume 110     Issue 23
 
 
 
Wednesday, March 1, Dinner Meeting at National Club, 303 Bay St.
Keynote Speaker:  Stuart Lombard, Founder & CEO, ecobee and President of Connected Devices and Services, Generac
Topic: “Fireside Chat”
Host:  John Fortney, Past President
 
IN PERSON ONLY
6:00pm In-Person Dining Start
 
PLEASE RESPOND NOW FOR WEDNESDAY to admin@rotarytoronto.com
Diet Restrictions?
 
ARRIVE BY 5:40 PM FOR CHECK IN
- Come at this time or earlier for fellowship with fellow Rotarians. 
MEETING: 6:00PM TO 7:15PM 
A born innovator, Stuart Lombard’s destiny was set by the age of 12 when he began building a foldable canoe that could be carried around in a briefcase. After leading two successful technology companies to acquisition and after eight years as a partner at a venture capital firm, Stuart found himself on a mission to reduce his own environmental footprint. He co-founded ecobee in 2007 with the mission to improve everyday life while creating a more sustainable world. Since launching the world’s first Wi-Fi connected smart thermostat in 2009, ecobee has helped customers across North America save more than 28 TWh of energy, which is the equivalent of taking all the homes in Los Angeles and Chicago off the grid for a year. In late 2021, ecobee was acquired by Generac for $770 million USD, with Stuart remaining CEO. Today, Stuart continues to empower people to transform their lives, homes, communities, and planet with innovative and accessible solutions. 
ShelterBox help for Türkiye

Our Foundation President Rick Goldsmith and Club President Jayson Phelps approved the set up for a matching campaign for ShelterBox Canada  - Türkiye Earthquake Disaster Relief Program.

Please click on the direct link below, should you so choose to contribute to this campaign.

And feel free to share the link with others that may be inquiring. 

It should be noted that the situation in Syria is not sufficiently stable at this period in time to provide relief funding. 

Coming Soon!
At The National Club
 
Thursday, March 9, Lunch Meeting
Derek Burleton, The State of the Canadian Economy in 2023
 
Friday, March 17, Lunch Meeting
Susan Davis,  Mental Health Crisis: A Community Based Approach
 
Wednesday, March 22, 6:00 pm
Cocktails and Social
 
Friday, March 31, Lunch Meeting
Marianne Thompson,  CEO, Home Hardware
 
 
 
March Birthdays!
 
3          Winz Casagrande
3          Jackie Davies
9          Ross Amos
12         William Hepburn
14         Geoffrey Johnson
16         Brinda Luckoo
22         Nataliia Saad
25         James Macdonald
31         John Fortney
31         Prince Kumar
Black History Month - Its Start
Black History Month (BHM) and Emancipation Day August 1st are declared National events thanks to Ms. Rosemary Sadlier OOnt (Order of Ontario), author, speaker, historian, and consultant.
 
Q: You volunteered as President of the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS) from 1993 – 2015, why did you join the OBHS? And what motivated you to stay as President for nearly 22 years?
 
 
 
A: I was introduced to OBHS by a friend who thought the organization would be a good fit. Three years later, while I did not intend to be president, during the Annual General Meeting l was quickly nominated as President of OBHS. I remained President because at the time I was concerned that if I'd left then OBHS would possibly cease to exist, and I believe the work that we were doing was important. The organization had challenges with funding after receiving a 90% cut in budget and dwindling membership, moreover, my unemployment due to systemic discrimination and sporadic opportunities in my field fueled my availability to volunteer.
 
Q: Why was it so important to have BHM celebrated nationally?
 
A: It's important in Canada because it raises awareness that Black people have not only been in the country for a long time, but we have contributed to the development as well.
 
Q: This year's theme is "Ours to Tell", is a there a story in your journey to securing BHM nationally and August 1st as Emancipation Day that you would like to share?
 
A: Shortly after becoming President, I realized that we had missed a deadline to request that the City of Toronto issue a proclamation for February as BHM. While I was not familiar with the inner workings of OBHS I was not prepared to lose the proclamation because of an administrative error.  However, after numerous conversations the proclamation was approved. The administrative glitch presented an opportunity to permanently secure the proclamation provincially and nationally. After building up a community of interest by providing over 2000 presentations, etc., and building my success municipally and provincially, I also reached out to several MPs. Later, by chance, I was at an event with The Honorable Jean Augustine, and she agreed to take it to the House. I provided historical information that she used to support the motion and it was passed unanimously in December 1995.
 
February 1996 was such a proud moment when I stood on the stage with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and other elected officials, as we addressed the nation and they Nationally declared February as BHM.
 
Q: In addition to your incredible catalogue of books, do you have anything new on the horizon?
 
A: Yes, I have written 7 books which includes bestsellers:
  1. Black History: Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas
  2. Harriet Tubman: Freedom Seeker, Freedom Leader
  3. The kids book of Black Canadian history
 
I always have something on the horizon. I was recently successful at getting Thomas Peters recognized as a person of national historic significance in Canada. He was a Black Loyalist that became a "Founding Father" in Sierra Leone in West Africa. I also secured commemoration of the Jamaican Maroons.
 
Q: Do you think we have made much progress as a community since the 1990s to date?
 
A: There is always progress, but it never ends. To use an analogy, it's like filling up a bathtub, if you keep the drain open, you see the water rise but if you don’t keep the water running there will be no water in the bathtub. While we have made strides, we still have a lot of work to do.
 
Interviewed by Neisely Eugene, Co-Chair DEI Working Group
Officers:
President: Jayson Phelps
 
President-Elect: Anny-Sandra Hamel
Vice-President: Binoy Luckoo
Treasurer: Kurt Kroesen
 
Executive Director: Carol Hutchinson
 
Editor of the week: Maureen Bird 
 
www.rotarytoronto.com    416-363-0604
 
Charitable Foundation President:
Rick Goldsmith
Vice-President: Richard White
 
RI President: Jennifer Jones,
Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
 
 
District Governor
Iosif Ciosa, Rotary Club of Etobicoke
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