Voice November 6, 2020 (Nov 02, 2020)

The Rotary Club of Toronto

Club 55 - Founded 1912

November 6, 2020 Volume 108 Issue 12

Officers:

President: John Fortney

President-Elect: Prince Kumar
Vice-President: Jayson Phelps

Treasurer: Rick Goldsmith

Executive Director: Carol Hutchinson

RI President

Holger Knaack, Rotary Club of Herzogtum Lauenburg-Mölln, Germany

District Governor

Mark Chipman, Whitby Sunrise

Editor of the week: Maureen Bird

Special Remembrance Day Lunch

Friday November 6, 2020, 12:00 Noon to 1:30 PM

Guest Speaker: Lieutenant-Colonel James J. Stocker

Topic: The Canadian Armed Forces and

Modern Conceptions of Service

Host: Alex Brown

Bugler: Paul Taylor

Link to Google Meet

Lieutenant-Colonel James Stocker began his military career in The Queen’s York Rangers, enlisting while in high school in 2000. Commissioning in 2002, he completed his training in Gagetown, NB, and has since held every Regimental officer appointment. Concurrently maintaining an active full-time military career, he held both command and staff appointments at a variety of units and headquarters, including the Regiment itself, 32 Canadian Brigade Group Battle School, 32 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters, 4 Canadian Division Support Group Headquarters, 4 Canadian Division Headquarters, the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, and National Defence Headquarters.

We Remember and Say Thanks

Those still with us

Jim Bell

Harry Figov

Saleem Kassum

Jack Robertson

And those we have lost

John Austin

Elgin Coutts

Bill Bahen

Pat Anderson

Don Armitage

Murray Bosley

Ray Bosley

Don Carman

George Richardson

Frank Strickland

What you Missed , October 30, 2020

by Maureen Bird

Wow, another fantastic meeting. The Program Committee continues to provide us with fantastic speakers.

There was a special shout out to Binoy and Brinda Luckoo who are both recovering from COVID-19. Emails and texts are appreciated - as Binoy said -we are all family.

Newer member Daniel Massicotte was our Let's Be Personal speaker and Kurt Kroesen reported on the activities of the Environment Service Committee. See reports below.

Our speaker has a strong belief in developing a low carbon economy. Ten years ago he tried organizing workshops with no great success in making companies take responsibility. So he hit on the idea of awards - Clean50 - and asked companies to apply. It has worked extremely well. Think about an 18 story residence at UBC, all framed with wood. And there is a company called Loop in Burnaby who are working on hydrogen cells to create a truck fleet for Walmart.

His workshops bring together groups of 120, divided in groups of 12. First phase is brainstorming on a specific topic. Then after they have a break the teams are switched up and in the next period reduce ideas to 10. The third table group reduces it to five ideas with ideas to implement.

Oil sands may not be part of our future. Other energy sources are our future and we must work quickly so that we don't lose the opportunities to America. Our government is putting large $ out there to develop electric vehicles and especially buses.

It was a fascinating talk. Check out his website at clean50.com

COVID-19 update on Brinda and Binoy Luckoo - Binoy is home!

I was finally discharged from the hospital after 11 days there. Recuperating and still feeling quite weak. But on the mend.
Brinda just finished her isolation period at home - she is also feeling tired. Specially taking care of me full time! She is a great nurse!

🏼
I am happy to be home - COVID is nasty, no matter how careful we have been since beginning of the year, we both somehow managed to get it.

Be safe & healthy!

Environment Service Committee - Kurt Kroesen, Chair

My fellow Rotarians, I, and many of you, in our lifetime, knowingly or unknowingly, have been witnesses to the greatest ongoing disaster in human history – the massive loss of biodiversity – and we are the cause of it. David Attenborough, in his latest film “David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet” provides some grim details. 50 billion trees each year are cut down. The oceans have been decimated with 30% of fish stocks now at critical levels. Freshwater populations have been reduced by over 80%. Some estimate that up to 60% of birds and insects have disappeared since 1970, within the lifetime of many of us.

Humans make up one third of all the animal mass on earth and the animals that feed us (livestock) make up another 60%, leaving 4% for all other animal mass, from mice to whales. 70% of the mass of birds on this planet are domesticated – mostly chickens. This is now our planet, run by humans for humans.

Well that certainly still seems to be true; however, there is hope. Rotary International, on June 26^th of this year, in recognizing this crisis, announced a 7^th area of focus: supporting the environment. The RI Foundation is working on the guidelines for Global Grants for this new area of focus. We look forward to being able to tap into these funds.

Here at home, the Rotary Club of Toronto’s Environment Service Committee has been busy working with local organizations to promote and or preserve biodiversity. For example, we, all of us here, have provided funds for: helping young peregrine falcons grow to adulthood, building a bat cage to help rehabilitate injured bats, planting native gardens and trees, supporting projects to help reduce food waste. The committee members are dedicated to finding ways, albeit small, to reduce habitat and biodiversity loss.

Now with the environment being a named area of focus, we are looking forward to doing even more through Rotary but we need your help, both at a personal level, by, for example, planting native gardens, and as participants in the Environment Service Committee. We invite you to join us in our work of increasing biodiversity in Toronto. We do this not only for ourselves but for our children and our children’s children. As E. O. Wilson and others remind us: nature can live without humans but humans cannot live without nature. Let us not destroy that which we cannot create. If you are interested in learning more about joining this committee or personal ways you can help preserve biodiversity, please speak to Alanna Scott, Kevin Power, Neil Phillips, our new members Darcy Higgins and Mark McQuitty or me.

Let's Be Personal - Daniel Massicotte

It feels like just a few weeks ago I was preparing my bio for induction into our great club. Yet it has been a year and a half since I joined Rotary. I joined for 2 reasons. First, I wanted to serve the needs of my community with people who are fun people to spend time with. A social club in a way.

I have mentioned in the past that my grandfather was a Rotarian for 53 years, which inspired me to join. This is true, however from a practical standpoint, I needed a good reason to get out of the house. I work from home doing mostly programming. It can be easy for me to spend all my time indoors sitting at the computer.

As a member of the Community Services Committee it’s been fun. Last year we would shop for food and then meet in a kitchen and cook it together. Once all done we would deliver it to homeless shelters such as Na Me Res. For me, it all comes together when I see the grateful faces of the residents while handing them a warm meal.

This past summer I did not spend any time cooking or preparing food. Instead I was buying $25 gift cards at grocery stores, printing cover letters and mailing tracked packages at Canada Post to the homeless shelters. I was grateful for the opportunity to remain physically active in service despite so many places being closed.

Fellowship & Entertainment Activities

Pat Neuman, Chair

We are here for the long term so please join in. All events are listed on our Google Calendar accessible through your @rotarytoronto.com account or find the emails sent out in advance. Contact Maureen Bird to set up your access. 416-804-3726.

Hallowe'en - did we have fun!

Our glorious leader, President John

Harold Weir and F&E chair. Pat Neuman.

Loved your 'eyeballs'.

A ball of bocconcini cheese, topped with a stuffed olive and wrapped in prosciutto. Tasted better than it looked!

Maureen Bird, Voice editor

Virtual Cooking Club, November 7 - contact Neil - now monthly

Cheese 102 Workshop Saturday November 21, 2:00 pm - contact Neil

Euchre - Tuesday November 17 5:00 pm - contact Jay Llave for information to download the app.

Staying Connected - Tuesday November 24 - 7:00 pm - contact

Sylvia Geist

November Birthdays!

3 Terry Wray

8 Harvey Sullivan

9 Blair Spinney

11 Michelle Guy

13 Bill Gleed

14 Joe Goulart

20 Jayson Phelps

24 John Platts

24 Kevin Power

29 Valerie Clarke

30 Kim Hunter

30 Robert O'Brien

SERVICE ABOVE SELF

The Rotary Club of Toronto, Fairmont Royal York Hotel, H Level

100 Front St. W., Toronto ON, M5J 1E4

Tel. 416-363-0604 office@rotarytoronto.com

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