to this week's meeting of
The Rotary E-Club of Canada One
For the week beginning November 24, 2025
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Complete the form for a make-up!
Please leave a donation to assist our club to do Rotary's good works!
to this week's meeting of
The Rotary E-Club of Canada One
For the week beginning November 24, 2025
Scroll down to enjoy the content!
Complete the form for a make-up!
The Rotary theme for 2025-26 -
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Greeter this week
Inspirational moment
Waiting for the Opportunity
by Greg Higgins, Illinois, USA
When I brought my wife and three children to the Midwestern USA in late 1999, I made judgments about the people in our new home state that turned out to be far from the truth.
Coming from the south, I found the people in Illinois to be generally standoffish and somewhat uncaring — hardly the type of people I would have as true friends. Nonetheless, we settled into life in Romeoville, Illinois, just north of Joliet.
The immediate shock of such an event on your life is indescribable. We were numb. How dare something like this turn our lives upside down? How do we explain this to our three children — a boy of 13 and twin daughters of 10? Fortunately, the tumor was treatable with surgery. My wife spent eight days in the critical care unit to bring down the swelling in her brain, after which the tumor was successfully removed with surgery.
But what amazed me was the concern and support we received from our Illinois friends. My assumptions were proven spectacularly wrong.
While my wife was hospitalized, I tried to manage the house and our three children on my own.
Without exception, our friends offered their support to take our children to Scouts, dance class, or whatever they could do to give me time to support my wife. They wanted to help give my children a semblance of a normal life while their mother was away.
Meals can be difficult when your family spends most of the evening at the hospital supporting a sick family member. Yet I don't think we missed one meal, because our caring friends brought us more food than we could eat.
My wife is a teacher at the local high school. Twice her peers took up a collection to help us get through the immediate cash flow issues that come up during tough times.
The overwhelming support from close friends, acquaintances, and strangers disproves my initial assumption about the people we see every day. They are caring and supportive and bring to mind the best attributes of humanity.
It has been said that true friends can be hard to find. In my experience, they may just be waiting for the opportunity to step up and reveal themselves.
Originally published as HeroicStories #707 on April 10, 2007
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Canadiana
By Laurent d’Entremont - laudent@hotmail.com - (2015)
Thanksgiving Day is probably one of the best-loved and oldest holidays that we observe. According to historians in the United States, it began with the Pilgrims who came on the Mayflower and landed near Plymouth (rock), Massachusetts in 1620, during its founding years.
More than three hundred years later in 1941, the US Congress passed a law declaring the fourth Thursday in November as their national Thanksgiving holiday. In Canada we always observe Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October.
According to writer/editor, Carol Matthews, the custom of observance and giving thanks has been a Canadian tradition for well over four hundred years. The earliest records dated back to 1576 when English Explorer Martin Frobisher (1535-1594) celebrated the first formal thanksgiving dinner in North America in what is now Newfoundland.
A scant thirty years after the English explorer’s visit, (and still 15 years ahead of the “Plymouth Rock” Pilgrims) the French explorer Samuel de Champlain and his entourage of Sieur de Poutrincourt, the poet Marc Lescarbot and others celebrated in grand style during the long winter of 1606-07. By then they were well settled at the Habitation in Port Royal----some of the first Valley farmers and settlers we could say.
A year earlier, almost half of Champlain’s men had died, or almost died, of scurvy and starvation on “Isle St. Croix”, firewood was very scarce, as was game for their food supply. Because they lacked vitamins that we normally find in oranges and apples and such, they were unable to control this deadly disease. This may very well explain why the early settlers planted lots of fruit trees, especially apple trees in the Annapolis Valley.
It may be stretching it a bit to say “L’Ordre du Bon Temps” was the first Thanksgiving dinner, but they did say grace and gave thanks. From that point of view we could honestly say that the festivities at Port Royal were indeed the first organized Thanksgiving dinner in “Acadie”or Nova Scotia.
The “Order of Good Cheer” was the first social club and “theatre group” in the new world. Champlain had observed that the most active men were more successful at fighting off scurvy. Hunting, trapping, fishing, etc, needed to prepare the huge meal was one more way to keep them busy.
Marc Lescarbot was the writer who recorded all the activities of those long ago winters in the new world. Accordingly, each day a Grand Master was given the responsibility of preparing a menu and organizing the entertainment, music and dancing etc. Poutrincourt, the colony’s leader, was an accomplished musician and composer while Lescarbot was a poet and storyteller.
Planning the gigantic meal was a tall order; where according to Carol Matthews, “boiled moose snout” and “fricassee of beaver tail” were only two of the delicacies found on Canada’s first thanksgiving tables. The day before the feast there would be lots of hunting to provide fresh meat for the company, no walk-in freezer in those days.
They said grace, drank a cup of wine, and the steward gave the insignia to his successor, the one who would try to outdo him the next time with his culinary skills.
The menu for the main meal was a bit primitive compared by today’s cuisine. There was the ever-popular beaver tail and moose snout to be sure. Lots of waterfowl such as ruffled grouse, mallard, goose, rabbit, venison of moose, caribou; these went well with all the homegrown vegetables. There were also dishes that we usually no longer eat like otter and bear meat, and even raccoon and wildcat. The fish menu was sturgeon, fresh salmon, eels, clams and any other fresh fish available.
The Mi’kmaq were very involved in the festivities and supported the activities by supplying much of the fresh meat. The well-known and respected Chief Membertou and visiting Sagamores, subordinate chiefs from neighboring tribes had the honor of sitting at the head table with the gentlemen. The native women and children sat or squatted around the room.
The feast ended with dancing, singing and stories told by the Mi’kmaq --some could speak a bit of French and the French had picked-up some of the native language as well. The Grand Master gave thanks to God, (Thanksgiving ) and handed over the chain of office to his successor--the group drank a final toast to each other.
Four hundred years later we still celebrate and give thanks, but few of us ever had the thrill of eating boiled moose snout or the delicacy of beaver tails.
More than three hundred years later in 1941, the US Congress passed a law declaring the fourth Thursday in November as their national Thanksgiving holiday. In Canada we always observe Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October.
According to writer/editor, Carol Matthews, the custom of observance and giving thanks has been a Canadian tradition for well over four hundred years. The earliest records dated back to 1576 when English Explorer Martin Frobisher (1535-1594) celebrated the first formal thanksgiving dinner in North America in what is now Newfoundland.
A scant thirty years after the English explorer’s visit, (and still 15 years ahead of the “Plymouth Rock” Pilgrims) the French explorer Samuel de Champlain and his entourage of Sieur de Poutrincourt, the poet Marc Lescarbot and others celebrated in grand style during the long winter of 1606-07. By then they were well settled at the Habitation in Port Royal----some of the first Valley farmers and settlers we could say.
A year earlier, almost half of Champlain’s men had died, or almost died, of scurvy and starvation on “Isle St. Croix”, firewood was very scarce, as was game for their food supply. Because they lacked vitamins that we normally find in oranges and apples and such, they were unable to control this deadly disease. This may very well explain why the early settlers planted lots of fruit trees, especially apple trees in the Annapolis Valley.
It may be stretching it a bit to say “L’Ordre du Bon Temps” was the first Thanksgiving dinner, but they did say grace and gave thanks. From that point of view we could honestly say that the festivities at Port Royal were indeed the first organized Thanksgiving dinner in “Acadie”or Nova Scotia.
The “Order of Good Cheer” was the first social club and “theatre group” in the new world. Champlain had observed that the most active men were more successful at fighting off scurvy. Hunting, trapping, fishing, etc, needed to prepare the huge meal was one more way to keep them busy.
Marc Lescarbot was the writer who recorded all the activities of those long ago winters in the new world. Accordingly, each day a Grand Master was given the responsibility of preparing a menu and organizing the entertainment, music and dancing etc. Poutrincourt, the colony’s leader, was an accomplished musician and composer while Lescarbot was a poet and storyteller.
Planning the gigantic meal was a tall order; where according to Carol Matthews, “boiled moose snout” and “fricassee of beaver tail” were only two of the delicacies found on Canada’s first thanksgiving tables. The day before the feast there would be lots of hunting to provide fresh meat for the company, no walk-in freezer in those days.
The menu for the main meal was a bit primitive compared by today’s cuisine. There was the ever-popular beaver tail and moose snout to be sure. Lots of waterfowl such as ruffled grouse, mallard, goose, rabbit, venison of moose, caribou; these went well with all the homegrown vegetables. There were also dishes that we usually no longer eat like otter and bear meat, and even raccoon and wildcat. The fish menu was sturgeon, fresh salmon, eels, clams and any other fresh fish available.
The Mi’kmaq were very involved in the festivities and supported the activities by supplying much of the fresh meat. The well-known and respected Chief Membertou and visiting Sagamores, subordinate chiefs from neighboring tribes had the honor of sitting at the head table with the gentlemen. The native women and children sat or squatted around the room.
The feast ended with dancing, singing and stories told by the Mi’kmaq --some could speak a bit of French and the French had picked-up some of the native language as well. The Grand Master gave thanks to God, (Thanksgiving ) and handed over the chain of office to his successor--the group drank a final toast to each other.
Four hundred years later we still celebrate and give thanks, but few of us ever had the thrill of eating boiled moose snout or the delicacy of beaver tails.
(...contributed by Rotarian Neil - Thank you!)
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Comments from our guests and members
Members and guests attending our weekly meetings are very important to us. Based on your comments we are able to produce many more educational, inspiring, and entertaining weekly meetings.
Following are some of the comments we have received. Would you please send us your comments?
October 20. Loved the video about the rescue dogs. One winter while in Cabo San Lucas and walking on the beach, I was treated to to a display from the local rescue team. One of the team members had swum out about 1/2 a mile in an area of high rip tides and their rescue dog was at least half the way to the swimmer. They practised this exercise on a regular basis.
-- Patrick Gibson, E-Club of Canada One, District 5370
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Archived Meetings
- All meetings are archived. Click here to see a list and choose what you wish to view.
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Announcements
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And the focus for December - as we approach the 12th month -
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The Miss Vicky Challenge for PolioPlus
The Miss Vicky Challenge for PolioPlus partnership activities - taking place in Rotary District 5370 - now until the end of the Rotary Year.
The Miss Vicky Challenge for Polio Plus continues through spring 2026, leading up to the District 5370 Conference in Whitehorse (Yukon) on May 15-17, 2026, wrapping up at the end of June.
Our Polio Champions and fellow Rotarians Lee Harmon of RC Arlington (Washington) and Winston Conyers of RC White Rock (BC) are in the District and busy with a full schedule meetings and meet & greets with Clubs. Thanks so much to those of you who are hosting Lee & Winston.
All Rotary Foundation PolioPlus donations made this Rotary Year by Rotarians, Rotary Clubs & Friends of Rotary are encouraged to be made to this Miss Vicky Challenge for Polio Plus Raise for Rotary fundraising page (follow link) - to help achieve the Challenge goal of $200,000USD and increase our combined impact to ENDPOLIONOW!
Your Club, Rotarian, & Friend of Rotary donations through the Miss Vicky Challenge Raise for Rotary Fundraising platform are all eligible for Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) points, get tax receipts from TRF Canada (for individual donation) and contribute towards meeting your Clubs Foundation PolioPlus goal.
Individual donations - can be made directly on the Miss Vicky Challenge site, using the link provided above. It's quick and easy!
Here is a message from Libby Weir, District 5370 Rotary Foundation Chair, Email: libbyweir@shaw.ca
The Miss Vicky Challenge for Polio Plus continues through spring 2026, leading up to the District 5370 Conference in Whitehorse (Yukon) on May 15-17, 2026, wrapping up at the end of June.
All Rotary Foundation PolioPlus donations made this Rotary Year by Rotarians, Rotary Clubs & Friends of Rotary are encouraged to be made to this Miss Vicky Challenge for Polio Plus Raise for Rotary fundraising page (follow link) - to help achieve the Challenge goal of $200,000USD and increase our combined impact to ENDPOLIONOW!
Your Club, Rotarian, & Friend of Rotary donations through the Miss Vicky Challenge Raise for Rotary Fundraising platform are all eligible for Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) points, get tax receipts from TRF Canada (for individual donation) and contribute towards meeting your Clubs Foundation PolioPlus goal.
Individual donations - can be made directly on the Miss Vicky Challenge site, using the link provided above. It's quick and easy!
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District Awards
District 5370 Awards Night - November 7, 2025
Submitted by PDG James Ferguson, RECCO Charter Member
Jocelyne and I attended the Rotary District Awards Ceremony at the Chateau Louis in Edmonton held on November 7th, 2025.
It was a celebration of the Rotary Year 2024 – 2025 when Brian Edwards was our District Governor, and Vicki Horsfield was the RECCO President. Various club awards were given out over the course of the evening.
We were very surprised and pleased that RECCO received two awards that night, a Membership Growth award and a Club Excellence award, presented to us from Rotary International and District 5370.
It was a great night for our E-Club and it was very nice to get recognized for the good work that we do!
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Polio update
Environmental Sample in Germany
The nation's main public health body, Robert Koch Institute, or RKI, told Reuters on Wednesday that the wastewater test at an unspecified German location was positive for the wild polio virus, in a setback for efforts to rid the world of the deadly disease.
The findings came more than 30 years after the last cases of wild polio virus infections in people were registered in Germany and marked the first wild virus detection from environmental sampling in the country since this type of routine monitoring began in 2021.
On 10 November 2025, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was informed that wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) was isolated from an environmental (sewage) sample collected through routine surveillance in Hamburg, Germany, during the week of 6 October 2025.
Genetic sequencing indicates that the detected virus is linked to WPV1 last identified from an environmental sample collected in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on 24 August 2025. No associated cases of paralysis have been detected in Germany, and at this time the virus has been found only in wastewater.
This detection is genetically unrelated to circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2), which has also been detected in Germany in recent months through environmental surveillance. As with the current finding, no human cases have been associated with those detections.
GPEI partners are working closely with national and local public health authorities, through the WHO Regional Office for Europe, to support ongoing investigations, assess potential risks, and determine whether any additional public-health measures are needed.
Germany has strong routine immunization coverage and a robust environmental surveillance system — which enabled this virus to be detected in the absence of any cases of disease. This early detection provides the opportunity to implement appropriate measures swiftly to protect children and communities.
This event underscores the reality that until polio is eradicated everywhere, all countries remain at risk of importation of the virus and potential re-infection. It highlights the continued importance of high vaccination coverage, strong disease surveillance, and international solidarity in achieving and sustaining a polio-free world.
One cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported this week, from Yorkshire and the Humber, collected on 16 September. It is the second cVDPV2-positive environmental sample reported in 2025.
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The nation's main public health body, Robert Koch Institute, or RKI, told Reuters on Wednesday that the wastewater test at an unspecified German location was positive for the wild polio virus, in a setback for efforts to rid the world of the deadly disease.
Detection of Wild Poliovirus Type 1 (WPV1) in
Environmental Sample in Germany
13/11/2025
Genetic sequencing indicates that the detected virus is linked to WPV1 last identified from an environmental sample collected in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on 24 August 2025. No associated cases of paralysis have been detected in Germany, and at this time the virus has been found only in wastewater.
This detection is genetically unrelated to circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2), which has also been detected in Germany in recent months through environmental surveillance. As with the current finding, no human cases have been associated with those detections.
GPEI partners are working closely with national and local public health authorities, through the WHO Regional Office for Europe, to support ongoing investigations, assess potential risks, and determine whether any additional public-health measures are needed.
Germany has strong routine immunization coverage and a robust environmental surveillance system — which enabled this virus to be detected in the absence of any cases of disease. This early detection provides the opportunity to implement appropriate measures swiftly to protect children and communities.
***
One cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported this week, from Yorkshire and the Humber, collected on 16 September. It is the second cVDPV2-positive environmental sample reported in 2025.
Material Suggestions and Greeter Messages Always Needed!
Please feel free to forward an approx. 150 - 200 word message or any material suggestions in an e-mail, or in a Word document, along with a JPeg picture or two, to E-Club Administration Chair, Kitty Bucsko.
We'd love to hear from you!
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Just so you're aware -
Our Club's Ongoing Projects -
We provide ongoing support for the following projects:
Click the links below to find out more about each project!
And we're doing great!
Ask for more information if you'd like to be involved!
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Real-time meetings
Each 3rd Thursday of the month is our Fellowship Assembly, and we often invite interesting speakers or Rotary Leaders for this entertaining, educational fun event. Plan to join us.
The time is 9:00 a.m. (Mountain Time) in lieu of the weekly Coffee Chat except for July and August when there are no FA’s. Here is the zoom link:
Everyone is welcome to attend and we encourage your participation.
Please click our Event Calendar for details and access Link.
For further inquiries or suggestions please contact: info@rotaryeclubcanada.ca
All our videos can be viewed on our YouTube channel.
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How do you support our club?
- The Paypal button on our ClubRunner Home Page
- The donation button on the attendance form, or
- Make an Interac transfer to rotaryeclubcanada1@gmail.com
- Send a cheque to:
The Rotary E-Club of Canada One
14008 101 Avenue NW
Edmonton, AB
Canada T5N 0K3
(780) 267 4547
Environment
OUR FRAGILE ENVIRONMENT
ROTARY’S 7TH AREA OF FOCUS
Links of interest – Plant-rich diets
ESRAG Plant-Rich Diet website
Facebook page – Plant Rich diets
Eating Our Way to Extinction - Documentary film (1 hour, 20 minutes)
Rotary International officially recognized Protecting the Environment as its 7th Area of Focus in 2020, acknowledging that environmental challenges are deeply connected to human well-being, economic stability, and global peace.
Climate change is one of the most urgent environmental threats, and Rotary clubs worldwide are stepping up to address this crisis through advocacy, education, and action.
Links of interest – Plant-rich diets
ESRAG Plant-Rich Diet website
Facebook page – Plant Rich diets
Eating Our Way to Extinction - Documentary film (1 hour, 20 minutes)
Forks over Knives full movie – (1 hour, 36 minutes)
Humour
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New members' corner
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Rotary minute
🍂 Rotary Minute: After the Silence
After November 11, when the bugle’s notes fade and the silence settles, we’re reminded that remembrance isn’t a single moment—it’s a way of living.
Rotary lives that remembrance each day. We honour the past not only by remembering, but by continuing the work of peace. Every vaccination, scholarship, and clean-water project is a quiet act of defiance against the forces that divide humanity.
As Rotarians, we don’t just say “Lest we forget.”
We prove it—by what we do next.
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Food for thought
Rotary Jukebox
For a small donation, your favorite musician will be featured on one of our next e-meetings for everyone to enjoy.
Every week we'll have a draw and the lucky person will see their song featured!
Two short videos
The Four-way Test
To close the meeting, Rotarian Neil recites the Four-Way Test of the things that Rotarians think, say, or do.
Thank you for joining us. We appreciate your feedback and hope you will return and invite a guest.
Please Click Here to leave us a comment or send a message..
Scroll down for Program Donations and Attendance links.
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Our Facebook page. Please remember to check out our posts on the Rotary E-Club’s Facebook page. We work hard to post something every second day, sometimes more often.
Invite friends to Like our page and enjoy our posts. Also, please take the time to Share our posts on your Facebook Page.
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Attendance Links
Complete the attendance/donation form to have your attendance recognized.
- CLICK HERE to return to our ClubRunner Home Page.
- Visiting Rotarians and guests - Click HERE.
- Members of Rotary E-Club of Canada One - Click HERE.
- e-Satellite Attendance - Click HERE.
Confirmation of your attendance will be sent to your e-mail address promptly.
Please support our club!
Donate For the Meeting You Have Attended.
Please consider making a small donation in lieu of a meal
to help us help those in need.
As you have not had to buy lunch or travel to attend this program, please consider a donation of a minimum of $10.00 in appreciation for the experience you have enjoyed.
We thank you very much!
Program Donations
Our E-Club is a dynamic club comprised of ordinary working and retired people who acknowledge that Rotarians are people who are generous with their time and their resources.
Our club and the program you have just enjoyed, either as a member or a visitor, is funded only by donations.
We are developing ideas for fundraising with our members who are scattered across Canada, USA, Central America, and Europe, but we do need your help.
As you have not had to buy lunch or travel to attend this program, please make a donation of a minimum of $10.00, considering you're saving in time and cost in appreciation for the experience you have enjoyed.
Interested in providing Rotary Service? Unable to attend terra club meetings?
Contact our membership chair for information or
or HERE to learn about Associate Membership
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