We are going to have a meeting! (of sorts) Watch your email. You will receive a meeting invitation for an online meeting using Zoom to occur at 7:30AM Friday. You can sit at home with your own coffee mug and enjoy Rotary fellowship online. You don't even have to change out of your pj's. There is an option to turn off the camera if you don't want to reveal too much. I can't claim much expertise in this area but was able to figure out how to access the board meeting using Zoom on Monday.
I couldn't resist the above photo!
Now returned from a short winter vacation we can get this bulletin back in circulation again. The problem is that circumstances make it difficult for meetings and doing the community work we would like to do. That means there is not a lot of material to pass on. Let's try something new. There are a number of new members most of whom have given talks introducing themselves to the existing members. Under normal circumstances the new members get to know longer term members by having breakfast and coffee with them. That doesn't look like it will happen soon. If members would be so kind as to sending me a synopsis of themselves I will highlight a member each week. Tell us about your life, Rotary history, your work, or your hobbies. Send a picture or 2 preferable as a JPEG file. Send it to Tom Fletcher and I will format it into this bulletin. My email address is in ClubRunner and at the bottom of this bulletin.
Covid 19 Updates and Information
We are certainly in an interesting time. It might help if we can weather it together albeit from a distance. The executive is concerned about the wellbeing of all Rotarians and their families. The challenge is how to do our Rotary work while ensuring that we don't risk those doing the work. Some of our members continue their vocations and are "on the front line" of care and essential services. This is a mixture of circumstance that doesn't come with a how to do it manual. If you have suggestions to publish in this bulletin please send them. Your ideas on how to pass the time. A piece of humour is good or perhaps your favourite movie or TV series to bing watch might help those who cannot go to work.
Mikchael Gorski put together a list of links to relevant information I include below:
If you are going out to the grocery store or are having someone drop off groceries for you, here is a helpful video by Dr. Jeffrey Van Wignen showing how to clean your groceries when you bring them home and how to safely deal with take-out or delivery food.
My accountant sent along the link below detailing Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. This includes lists of financial supports and services available to people during the pandemic, and an easy layout to see what you or your business may be eligible for.
The amount of information about COVID-19 can be intimidating and overwhelming. By now we are all aware of some of its impacts, including the restrictions on mass gatherings. Our club like many others has opted to temporarily stop our in person meetings. Many of our friends and family are staying at home, we are social distancing when we have to go out, and we are all (or should be) washing our hands more.
I would like to stress that last point. Over the course of the day we touch so many different things, and dirt, bacteria, and viruses can get onto our skin. That includes the virus that causes COVID-19. This virus has an outer layer, kind of like a skin, made of lipids (aka fat). The nice thing about washing our hands is that soap does a remarkable job of clinging to fats and other lipids. It does such a good job that it not only washes the viruses off, it destroys them. Kills them dead. You've probably heard it a thousand times by now, but it's just as true as ever. Please take the time to thoroughly wash your hands. Any kind of soap will do the trick. Our hands may be dry, but our bodies thank us for it.
Stay safe out there, and take care of yourselves. I look forward to seeing you at our next in person meeting... whenever that may be. :)
Regards,
R. Michael Gorski
Mark Your Calendars
It is becoming an annual endeavour - tree planting. Steve and Paul are organizing. This year looks like we will have to delay or likely defer it to next year.
Wednesday 3 June is our annual golf tournament. There is lots of planing going on behind the scenes. We haven't given up. Hopefully it will happen. This is the club's biggest annual fund raiser. If it cannot be held and keep people safe it will have to be deferred as well. The impact will ripple through the whole year.
