Greeter – Bonnie Burke greeted Rotarians as they arrived for the meeting that was held at the Brockville Rifles Officers’ Mess, Brockville Armouries.

Opening – President Tom opened the After 5:00 pm meeting.

Attendance – Catherine Deplaedt (and Bruce Leslie) reported that there were 36 people in attendance.

Grace – Susan Ashley delivered a beautiful Grace with a ‘Peace’ theme; she said members could go to the Rotary Website if they wanted a printout.

Fellowship – There was nothing to report today.

Birthdays – No birthdays were being celebrated today.

50/50 – No 50/50 this evening.

Sgt. @ Arms – Fred Gilbert fined Rotarians for; 1 - Not knowing the name of the judge in the Shafia trial in Kingston & 2- Not knowing who won the Golf Tournament in Dubai (Rock – Tiger and Rory McIlroy did very well).

Rotary Minute – Marilyn Powers gave a short report on the Earlyact Club at Vanier School.  She said they were thankful to be part of the Rotary family as well as having our ongoing support.

Happy Fines

• Mike Johnston was happy with the Honourable Marty Gysbers, although Marty was absent.
• Tim Ross was happy that he had completed a ‘serious hike’ on the Wolf Trail.
• Bruce Leslie was happy that his son had completed Paramedic School and had graduated with honours.  He had received a promotion to ‘Advanced Paramedic’.
• Mary Ellen Morris was thankful that David Vaughan would be writing cheques while she is away, and is one of the ‘Committee of Four’ that is carrying out cashier duties.
• Ray Marshall was thrilled that the Palliative Care Telethon (with Bruce Wylie) had successfully reached a goal of $186 000.00.

Announcements

• Brent Collett and Tim Ross distributed pledge sheets with respect to the Revitalization of Rotary Park.  The Committee provided Valentine suckers to each Rotarian to represent ‘giving from the heart’ towards the ‘non-event’ Valentine Day Pledge initiative.  So, people can just give a monetary donation and attend a Spaghetti Dinner at the Mill Restaurant on Family Day (February 20th).  An opportunity to ‘skate on the ice’ with the Brockville Braves can be enjoyed.  The synthetic ice is located behind Leon’s at the moment and is in full operation.  It is the only outdoor ice surface that is not dependent upon the weather.  It was decided that the ice should be sprayed each day and lights are turned on.  The pledge form is in a pre-release state, and it will be revised and then put out in the community.  Hopefully, this will bring in the rest of the $250 K towards the end of the goal.  Brent confirmed that this initiative was not part of the Rotary Pledge, and that the pledge sheets would be placed in Restaurants and Banks.  The Sifton’s have pledged $150 K for the first year, $150 K for the second year, and $150 K in the third year if we raise the same amount.  There is a possibility of Tim Horton’s coming on as a sponsor.
• A big Thank-you goes to Craig Hunter for helping pick up donations for the Palliative Care Telethon.
• Catherine Deplaedt reported that the Canadian Tire/Rotary Golf Tournament Sponsorship Brochures have been printed and samples were on each table for everyone to view.
• Jack Henderson noted that this was the largest turnout for the “Rotary After Five” meetings in history.

Program – Ben Tekamp, Honourary Lieutenant Colonel, introduced Brockville Rifles’ Communication Officer, Jeff Shaver, who also is the Operations Manager at Canarm.  Ben also emphasized the importance of the facility in the Ice Storm where 600 cots were provided to house some members of the community.

Jeff welcomed Rotarians to “Our Garrison Home.”  The history of the Armouries goes back to 1866, when the Brockville Rifles was first formed.  There are 8 fulltime employees and 130 part-time positions.  The original mission was to train young Canadians for war, but also included training in leadership and citizenship.  The Rifles (reservists) have fought in every major combat mission; 40 soldiers served in Afghanistan.  The focus has been on ‘service to country.’  The Armouries are strategically located and are in use six or seven days a week.  The garrison also hosts events for the community (ice storm) and St. Lawrence College as well as many others.

A very important upcoming project is the 150-year celebration, which will be held in 2016, featuring a New Year’s Levee, parade, video vignettes, Victoria Cross winners, etc.  A budget of $20 K has been set to capture the regiment’s history.

Major Roger Hum, who has been a member for 44 years, volunteered to take Rotarians on a tour of the regiment’s museum.  The Major said that at the end of the American Revolution, Canada was worried about an invasion from our neighbours to the south.  In response, many regiments were started in Canada comprised of volunteers.  From 1900 to 1902, the armouries were constructed.  This was a state-of-the-art building at the time at a cost of $50 K.  The Armouries are part of the social fabric of the city:  dog shows, galas, etc., and has served as an evacuation point.  It was noted that Cadet Corp. Training was phased out in 1968-69 and that Air Cadets started in 1970 (youth between the ages of 12 to 18).  A student summer recruiting program was terminated in 1971-72; it is centralized now.  A Co-op program involved two months service for a high school credit at one time.

The building is actually owned by CFB Kingston, including $140 K of physical equipment and a budget of One Million Dollars.  Major Hum emphasized that they were very much like Rotary:  Service Above Self.  Rene Melchers thanked him noting that his own three boys had been involved in the excellent program.

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