Fellow Rotarians and Friends, this week Guest Speaker: Falconer, Dan Frankian
Friday, August 27, 2021 - Time: 12:00 Noon to 1:15 PM
Rotary Virtual Meeting via TEAMS!
Topic: Falconry - Playing with Rotary Toronto Execs!
Host: Past President Geoffrey Johnson
Rotarian and Guests: RSVP to office@rotarytoronto.com
Armenian descent, Dan immigrated to Canada with his family when he was 11 years old. Upon graduating from high school, he joined the Canadian Armed Forces and trained as a vehicle technician and a weapons expert.
Dan saw his first bird of prey as a child when hunting with his father. His interest was sparked when he watched one of the hunters using an owl to hunt. As a young man in the Canadian Armed Forces, a foreign dignitary who was a falconer befriended him; thus began his endeavor into the world of birds of prey. He spent time with a falconry expert in Cyprus while on leave from the Canadian Armed Forces. This gentleman was a Master Falconer who taught Dan the knowledge required to train and take care of birds of prey, particularly eagles.
After leaving the Armed Forces as a sniper, Dan returned home to Toronto and enrolled at George Brown College, obtaining a Certificate in Jewelry Arts. He also acquired diplomas as a Fellow of the Canadian Gemological Association and its US counterpart, the Gemological Institute of America. He joined the family business (his father was a 3rd generation jeweler), working in partnership with his father and managing their store in the Yorkville area of Toronto.
However, his interest in falconry never diminished and he founded his bird control business in 1989. Hawkeye Bird and Animal Control quickly grew from a one-man operation using one hawk and expanded to a business with 14 staff members and more than a dozen birds of prey. There are now several offices in Canada.
Dan Frankian has worked nationally, as well as internationally, for various government agencies and large corporations. His international portfolio includes projects in the Galapagos Islands, Thailand and the United States. Dan Frankian’s birds of prey and dogs have appeared in and have opened for several live shows and TV shows and documentaries, as well as full feature movies such as Harry Potter.
Dan Frankian continues to speak at events and conferences worldwide, discussing such issues as bird and animal control, bird removal, bird strikes and abatement. As an expert outdoorsman, hunter and trapper, he is concerned with environmental issues and renewable natural resources.
Dan Frankian holds a Canadian commercial falconry license, a Master Falconry Permit in the State of Florida, an Ontario Fur Managers license for commercial fur and trapping nuisance wildlife as well as numerous firearms licenses, Advanced Wildlife Control Operator, Exterminator License, is Bats Standard Certified, and a Certified Urban Marksman. Dan is the ONLY CWCP (Certified Wildlife Control Professional) IN CANADA plus holding CWCP certification in the US. He is also a graduate of the Embry-Riddle Wildlife Hazard airport course.
In addition, Dan Frankian runs a rehabilitation clinic for injured wild birds of prey out of his home.
Dan is a staunch supporter for the preservation of birds of prey, as they continue to be a key barometer of a healthy natural environment.
You may use this link to invite guests to all our social media as well.
Community Outreach President's Cocktails
Wednesday, September 1, 2021, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on TEAMS!
Guest Speakers: Community Outreach Co-Chairs
Suzanne Boggild
Daniel Massicotte
As a Downtown Toronto Rotarian, you are committed to seeing Toronto prosper. But the past 18 months have been very challenging for the city. Join President Kumar and Community Outreach Co-Chairs Suzanne Boggild and Daniel Massicotte to share your observations and ideas on rebuilding a great Toronto community. Join this engaging and interactive session on Wed September 1st from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Meanwhile, reflect on what you're noticing in Toronto and think about what we, as Rotarians, might do.
IMPACT REPORT
The Club and Foundation work together to have an impact. Here is a recent example from one of the organizations…
Planned Parenthood Toronto (PPT) is a pro-choice community health centre that advances and advocates for the sexual health, health, and well being of youth in Toronto. In addition to providing sexual, mental, and general health services for youth ages 13-29, PPT operates a number of community education programs, including Teen Programming, which runs the peer education information service, TeenHealthSource.com.
Thanks to financial support from The Rotary Club of Toronto, PPT was able to create an artificial intelligence chat bot to provide another channel on TeenHealthSource.com for youth to get answers for their sexual health questions. Launching in February 2021, the chat bot was initially designed to only answer questions when peer volunteers were offline. However, in August 2021, the chat bot was updated so that peer educator volunteers could also use the portal to provide live support during regular operating hours. To date, the chat bot has helped over 3200 users access information and services in support of their sexual health concerns.
Ideas Abound! Champions Needed!
Since our portal “Collecting Your Ideas” went live, we have received several great suggestions for activities...including a few that, if approved, could get members together to give back to the community and / or learn more about projects in our community. We just need a member to champion the idea, and gather other members to help if the idea is approved.
What’s required (in addition to your enthusiasm):
some thinking, maybe a little research, perhaps a phone call or two to figure how what the event would look like;
contact with an external organization to determine needs, best timing etc.; AND
drafting an event form once you've pulled together an approach and have a potential date in mind.
Can you help seek approval to do one of these?
Holiday hampers for a designated charity TBD - including fundraising to get products and organizing volunteers to fill the hampers and to deliver them.
Organize a walk to raise money for a charity. This could get our members out in the fresh air - even if just with family or in a small group (we must continue precautions against Covid-19).
Plan one or more tours of the Ryerson Rooftop Urban Farm.
How wonderful it would be to see all 3 of these fleshed out into an event form before the club executive meets in late September!
We are very sorry to report the passing of our long time member, John Talman in his 83rd year. Born in Toronto, he grew up in Parkdale and became interested in stamp collecting at a young age. After working for CN Rail and Falconbridge for a number of years he decided to see if he could make a living with his hobby and opened an office downtown. Successful from the beginning, he became well known in his field and hosted large auctions for collectors on a regular monthly basis.
John joined our Club in October, 1978 with the classification “Professional Philatelist”. He was active on the Programme and Fundraising committees. He was very interested in the history of our city and wrote numerous articles for the Voice on the subject and also columns on Member News. Our Club honoured John with a Club Builder award in 2001. A private family service has been held. Condolences from the Club have been sent to his family - Jean, his wife of 51 years, and his daughter Andrea. "
Please see the link below from an article in The Star from 2008, it definitely sounds like John...........
Join Haiti Disaster Relief Challenge for Rotary clubs, Rotarians and Friends!
Our Club has kicked off a challenge to all Rotary Clubs, Rotarians (yes that includes you :)) and Friends of our District 7070 - to join us (all amounts are welcome) in supporting the Haiti Disaster Relief via ShelterBox.
As announced in our meeting last Friday, in times of emergency or international disaster, the President of our Foundation and the Club President have the authority to donate upto $15,000 to ShelterBox - our Rotary International disaster partner. Under this joint authority both Rick Goldsmith and President Prince Kumar authorized a $15,000 donation towards ShelterBox last week after assessing the situation from the Haiti earthquake.
The current situation in Haiti:
137,000 homes have been reported damaged or destroyed
In addition, Hurricane Grace caused flooding, heavy rain and strong winds that destroyed many peoples temporary shelters
People are having to choose between sleeping in damaged, potentially dangerous buildings, or out in the rain, risking getting sick
There is a backlog at customs and logistics of reaching the hardest hit areas are still a huge obstacle
A ShelterBox team is on the ground coordinating logistics and needs assessments
We have shelter kits (tarps, tools and building materials) as well as water purification, solar lights, mosquito nets, cooking equipment and more ready to go
