The Rotary Club of Toronto
Club 55 -  Founded 1912
January 15, 2021     Volume 108     Issue 18
 
 
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
 
Friday, January 15, 2021 - Join us!
Guest Speaker:  Amanda Pick, CEO, Missing Children's Society of Canada 
 
Topic: Recognizing the Important Role Members of the Community Have
In Helping the Police Locate a Missing Child. 
 
Host:  Past President Neil Phillips   
Time: 12:00 Noon to 1:15 PM      
Rotary Virtual Meeting via Google Meet and YouTube Live
Amanda Pick has been the CEO of the Missing Children Society of Canada (MCSC) for more than 10 years. During that time, she has helped move the organization into the digital age, taking it from one that distributed posters when it was founded in 1986, to one embracing the latest technology to help police in the search for a missing child.
 
Amanda has made partnerships a core component of MCSC's work, engaging organizations such as Esri Canada and Microsoft, to create the ground-breaking Child Search Network, technology that delivers real-time details from police about missing children cases to community members specific to their location. It also lets the public share vital information with police that can lead to finding missing children safely.
As a tenacious advocate and influential collaborator for missing children in Canada, Amanda engages multiple ideas, voices and partners in the search for missing kids. In 2014, she was honoured by the Globe and Mail as one of the Top 12 Innovators in Canada.
 
Recently the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) passed a resolution identifying MCSC's Child Search Network as the complementary tool and national system to be used in the search for all cases of missing children and youth that do not meet the strict criteria for the AMBER Alert national strategy for missing children.
 
 
What you Missed January 8, 2021
 
It was great to get back 'together" after our holiday break.
President John announced that we had received a note from the Rotary Club of Willeton Inc. in Western Australia. To promote international understanding and goodwill they honoured our club with a toast from their members. Pat Neuman updated us on all our Fellowship events - see below. The next one is Friday January 15th - tonight! Join us with Pat's sister's club in Moose Jaw. The Zoom meeting link is below.
 
Becky Jones was our Let's Be Personal speaker.
 
Rev. John Joseph Mastandrea had the pleasure of introducing his friend and colleague, Dr. Rev. Brent Hawkes as our 2021 welcoming speaker. 
 
Brent talked about growing up in New Brunswick in a religious family thinking he was the only gay person in the world. He tried to pray it away. But he finally made the decision to come out in 1976. For over 40 years he has fought for equal human rights and endured arrests, beatings and hunger strikes.
 
Although active as a United Church minister he believes that there is religious-based discrimination. He is currently the Founder and Executive Director of Rainbow Faith and Freedom, attempting to change the message.
 
In 2001 he officiated at the first gay marriages in the world (two couples) by publicizing Banns in the church as the couples had been refused licenses to marry. he wore a flak vest and 80 media attended. It took two years but the Supreme Court acknowledged these as legal marriages. Love does win out.
 
He wants to branch out internationally - there are still 70 countries where homosexuality is illegal - 10 where it is punishable by death.
 
We in Rotary must be aware of not what we really are but how we are perceived. Our club can be proud of its diversity.
 
 
Travel with no Covid-19 Restrictions and no Jetlag
 
How can this be?  Well, for the members of the RCT Wine Club’s virtual experience, we have visited six of the seven continents, all from the comfort of our own homes and tasted some great wines in the process.
 
Thanks to Neil Phillips’ indefatigable leadership, we have tasted about 30 different wines from all regions of the world and are now just starting our fourth ”wave” for those that enjoyed the first three waves, plus a few new participants.
 
Neil has selected wines of different regions and varietals and acted as mentor and central clearing house, so that the dozen participants could all be enjoying the same wines at the same time.  With a Zoom meeting and Neil’s advance write-up on the selected wines, he has then guided us through his carefully crafted selection. No advance drinking experience or oenophile qualifications have been required - except of course from Neil and he has plenty of experience with both.
 
We like to Google the region that we will be “visiting” to get a visual impression that we can relate to the wine we are tasting.  And, of course, there are the predictable tastes – Bert for full bodied Spanish reds, such as 2016 Bodegas Vegalfaro Pago de Los Balagueses Granacha Tintoretto, and Marcy for crisp whites, like 2019 Loveblock Sauvignon Blanc ‘Estate’, Awatere Valley, Marlborough NZ that she can enjoy with her plate of fresh PEI oysters.
 
In a time when our other travels have been restricted, this form of virtual travel has been the highlight of our Covid confining week, and we don’t have to wear a mask in our own home and have not experienced any jet lag to date.  The only bad news is that there is a waiting list to join the next wave.
 
Joyce and Brian Westlake – virtual travellers and actual wine drinkers.
Let's Be Personal - Becky Jones
I grew up in the suburbs of Toronto and after graduating from college, I moved back home but not for long.  There were a lot of parties in Toronto at the time since the city was full of ‘Baby Boomers’ aching to stretch their wings. Interested young men would ask me where I lived. Once they found out they had to take two buses & a streetcar I earned the reputation of GU, Geographically Undesirable!
I then moved into the city ‘Lickity Split’!
 
I knew I wanted to be a fashion buyer at the age of 17.  I pursued my goal by attending a retail college in Boston and was subsequently hired by Simpson’s on their Management Training Program and then Eaton’s Catalogue where I worked my way up to National Assistant Buyer of Lingerie. Unfortunately the catalogue closed and I departed Eaton’s. I went to France to try to learn to speak French. Homesick and out of money I returned to Canada only to get a phone call to return to Eaton’s where I was hired again. About two years later Eaton’s let another 300 employees go and I exited again.  Not long after I was asked to come back to the company and I turned it down.  I didn’t want to be let go three times from the same company and I must have figured out I wasn’t a ‘corporate cat’!
 
My second career resulted in becoming an Outplacement Consultant for a company in Toronto. I had a lot of experience in being let go so I was basically hired on the spot. After working there for two years I left and started my own Outplacement Consulting practice where I conducted business for close to 20 years. I was never so happy running the show and calling the shots.
 
As my business grew I joined an organization called the International Association for Outplacement Professionals in the US. and was invited to  join their board. As a result with the support of my  Canadian competitors we opened a division of this association in Toronto. This helped us establish our very new industry providing guidelines and regulations. The best thing about this business-it was a win, win situation!  The company was able to allow employees to leave with dignity and receive professional assistance in changing their job and at the same time was able to maintain their good image and avoid any legal action.
 
Since I sold my company my major focus has been on fundraising for my church down south and politics in Toronto. I joined Rotary in 2011. I had been on many August golf tournaments and really enjoyed the Rotarians I met as well as the members I already knew.  This was a good place for me since Rotary combined a Business atmosphere along with Helping people who need it the most!  I’ve had an enjoyable experience on the Speakers Committee, Golf Committee and Fundraising for the recent Rotary International Convention.
 
   
Fellowship & Entertainment Activities
Pat Neuman, Chair
 
RCT Virtual Cocktails with Moose Jaw, Sk Wakamow Rotary Club
Time: Jan 15, 2021 06:30 PM America/Toronto


Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88986468013?pwd=THNJKzBacDE0Zjc4TzM2WmZucHU4Zz09

Meeting ID: 889 8646 8013
Passcode: 013253
 
 
Virtual Cooking Club – last Saturday of the month - January 30th.. we would love to have you join us.. contact Neil at nphillips@dgn-marketing.com
Euchre: Third Tuesday of the month in the evening contact Jay at 
Wine Tasting Club: Full right now, but if interested, contact Neil nphillips@dgn-marketing.com
Book Club..to be revived seeing as we all have to stay home.. will look at later afternoon timing.
Virtual Dinner ClubNEW.. Several Hosts will invite 5 to 6 guests for Virtual Dinner on the third weekend of the month.. you may share the same dinner virtually, make your own recipe..or order from the same restaurant… up to the Host.. more info in Club Runner this week.. sign up!!
 
If anyone has any ideas the you would like us to work on, please contact Pat at pat.neuman@rotarytoronto.com
 
 
 
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