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
Friday September 18, 2020 12:00 Noon to 1:30 PM
Guest Speakers: STEAM Sisters: Sandhya and Swapna Mylabathula
Topic: The Impact of Concussions
Host: Melonie Dixon, Co-Chair, Youth & Children Committee
When they’re not on fun STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) adventures, they research concussions as PhD and MD/PhD students respectively at the University of Toronto (but let’s face it, that’s still a STEAM adventure!).
Swapna is a McLaughlin Scholar and her research includes work on concussion policy and concussion in women’s hockey. Her clinical interest is sport and exercise medicine! Sandhya is a returning CIHR Fellow in Public Health Policy, and has investigated concussion risk factors, policy, education, sex/gender, and management.
Sandhya and Swapna co-developed a national concussion strategy and consulted on provincial concussion policy, and co-delivered a TEDx Talk on youth engagement and health policy. Their work has helped to inform Canada’s first concussion legislation, Rowan’s Law. They are honoured to have been recognized as two of the top 50 Most Influential Torontonians (GridTO Magazine) and as Urban Heroes (Toronto Community News) for their contributions, which they’ve travelled internationally to present.
If you are not logging in from your @rotarytoronto.com account contact office@rotarytoronto.com to get Google Meet link.
Our longtime member, John Austin passed away Thursday, August 27th in the company of his daughter Alice at North York General. John lived a full and long life, just shy of 94, dedicated to family, friends, business pursuits and Rotary. His childhood life in Chapleau framed his early years, generating a lifetime of "tall tales from the north. Toronto and Vancouver became his home bases where he entered into a long career in the sign business at Neon Products and ultimately retired from a second career in the investment business at RBC Dominion Securities.
Throughout his life, John dedicated much of his service time to The Rotary Club of Toronto, joining our club, first, in 1955 until 1970, when he was transferred to Vancouver. He rejoined our Club in 1976 upon his return to Toronto. John was a very active member serving on a variety of committees including New Members, Probationers Aid, and Classification and Membership. He chaired the Special Events Committee and the Senior Citizens Committee. He served as a member of the board for the 1979-1981 term and was elected president of our Club for the 1983-84 Rotary year. He received his Paul Harris Fellow Award in
1988 and his William Peace Award in 1998.
Excused from attendance on Jan 7th, 1993, John continued to attend meetings, greeting members at the attendance table for over 20 years. A private family service and interment will be held, and a celebration of his life will be scheduled later. In lieu of flowers, donations would be greatly appreciated to the Sick Kids Foundation, North York General Foundation, or a charity of your choice.
Let's Be Personal - David Libby
Fellow Rotarians, I was born and raised in Cornwall, England & graduated from the Camborne School of Metalliferous Mining in 1964 and emigrated to Canada. I am a registered Professional Engineer in Ontario and a Certified Engineer in the UK.
As a student and after graduating I joined Sherritt Gordon Mines Ltd in Lynn Lake, N. Manitoba, a fly in community and returned to England the following year to marry Pamela. We lived in Lynn Lake and Leaf Rapids for the next 15 years.
The following 8 years were spent in the Republic of Ireland managing Europe’s largest lead/zinc mine and returned to Canada in 1987 as VP of Dickenson Mines. 1991-1994 was spent with Noranda Inc. as VP Mining. My last career move was to Aur Resources Inc. as V.P. Mining Operations. The Company expanded overseas through the development of two copper mines in Chile resulted in Pamela and me relocating to Santiago for 6 years. I retired from Aur as Executive Vice-President in 2007 and consulted for several years.
So, what does Rotary mean to me?
My introduction to community service started with the Lions Club in Lynn Lake. While in in Ireland however I was asked to join the Rotary Club of Navan and became the Club President in 1986.
Back in Canada one of the Company Directors, the late Arthur White, a member of this Club. suggested I join RCT. I was welcomed into the Club by Past President Brian Westlake in the fall of 1988.
Rotary is Service above Self and provides an opportunity to give back and much more. It also presents an unlimited opportunity to learn about the limitations and privations that so many people worldwide live under and provides the opportunity of doing something about both in Ontario and Internationally through service on a number of our committees. Membership in Club or District Committees and any of the Rotary Action Groups is a worthwhile experience and a fascinating expansion of Rotary ideals and how we can learn to grow. But Rotary is also fun and fellowship with a very diverse group of likeminded people who want to achieve results for those faced with challenging lives. That is what Rotary means to me. It is a privilege to be a member of this Club and a great life experience.
Rotary should also be fun and as President John told us on July10, “Let’s have fun” The Rotary Club of Toronto is a great way to achieve these objectives.
What You Missed – September 11, 2020
by Sarah Hui
On this lovely Friday, we began our lunch with Brigitte serenading us with little Victoria in her arms with Glenn’s fingers dancing on the keys of the piano. President John greeted fellow Rotarians and guests before the lunch started. It was nice to hear updates from people who are all joining the meeting virtually.
For this meeting, our Let’s Be Personal Speaker is David Libby. He spoke about his career as an engineer which brought him on adventures all around the world. While he was in Ireland, he was first asked to joined Rotary, this started his path of fun into Rotary. This year’s presidential theme “Rotary Opens Opportunities” is perfect for this year’s scholarship lunch as we hear about the journey of our scholarship winners.
Pauline Lyons, the Scholarship Committee Chair introduced the committee and each of today’s speakers.
John Chen updated us on his work in industry, research and his community. He hopes to be a clinician and teacher after he completes his Master’s degree in Computer Science and his MD/PhD next year at the University of Toronto. His dream is to start his own biotech company.
Lorenzo Penate is entering his final year at Schulich sharing his work experience at RBC where he was able to pick up a number of new skills. His highlight of the year was starting a boxing program for youth in his community.
Amna Majeed is just two weeks into Medical School at the University of Toronto. She discussed how she first heard about Rotary through Ribfest and knew that it worked with charities but she learned so much more when she conducted the research for the scholarship program.
At today’s lunch, she shared three important lessons that she’s learned
Service Above Self - Through her extracurricular activities, she was willing to step forward and try things outside her comfort zone. For example, for Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) she advocated for equality in the STEM field but not only that, organized a conference for 600 delegates. She was Co-President of the University of Toronto Rotaract Club where she organized bi-weekly meetings and fundraisers. With Rotary’s assistance, she was able to join clubs and give back to the community.
Friends – These are the people that support you throughout the ups and the downs of your university journey. They are there to cram with you as you study and celebrate with you at the pub after the completion of a test or an exam.
Taking care of others and yourself – She learned the hard way after a difficult second year of university where she took on her courses, research and extracurricular activities dedicating her time from 9am to 9pm without any breaks. At the end of this she was burnt out. She learned the importance of mental health and making sure that you take time out for yourself.
I’ve been on the Scholarship Committee since 2015 and it’s been such an honour to hear the stories of growth of each of the scholarship winners. I’ve had such a wonderful time getting to know Amna these past four years and am so proud and so excited for her as she starts the next stage of her journey!
Congratulations to all our scholarship winners in the year ahead!!!
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.
