to this week's meeting of
The Rotary E-Club of Canada One
For the week beginning February 2, 2026
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to this week's meeting of
The Rotary E-Club of Canada One
For the week beginning
February 2, 2026
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
Club President, Judy Brown
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Inspirational moment (and Canadiana)
Frederick Banting & Charles Best (Toronto, 1921)
This is not only Canadian — it’s world-changing, and it hinges entirely on creative, unconventional thinking.
Banting was not a leading diabetes researcher. In fact, he was a young doctor with limited academic standing. What he did have was a simple but radical idea that others had dismissed.
What if you could isolate insulin by disabling the pancreas’s digestive enzymes first?
Most researchers were stuck trying to extract insulin directly — and failing because the enzymes destroyed it. Banting’s insight was to tie off the pancreatic ducts in dogs, letting the enzyme-producing cells die off, leaving the insulin-producing cells intact.
It was messy. It was unorthodox. It was conducted partly in a borrowed lab — and later, a barn-like space.
But it worked.
Within months, insulin was saving lives. Within two years, Banting became the youngest-ever Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine.
Why this story is perfect -
• Canadian
• Completely verifiable
• Celebrates thinking differently, not just brilliance
• Quietly underscores humility, persistence, and collaboration
• No exaggeration needed — the truth is already astonishing
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Canadiana (and friendship?)
When a Step, a Book, or a Doorway Takes You to
Another Country
Most of us grow up with a tidy idea of borders: a line on a map, a checkpoint, a passport stamp. But along the Canada–U.S. border, geography sometimes has a wicked sense of humour. Here are a few delightful “gotchas” that remind us how wonderfully odd — and human — borders can be.
📚 Haskell Free Library and Opera House
A library shared by two countries
This beautiful 1904 library was deliberately built on the border. One entrance is in Vermont, the other side of the building is in Québec — and a black line on the floor quietly marks the international boundary.
• enter in one country
• read a book in another
• and attend an opera with the stage in Canada and the audience in the U.S.
It’s a living symbol of shared culture, cooperation, and trust — a very Rotary idea.
🚶 Canusa Street
Cross the street… change countries
Canusa Street (its name says it all) runs directly
along the border.
The yellow line down the middle marks the boundary:
• houses on one side are American
• houses on the other are Canadian
Neighbours wave to each other across an international line — and a casual stroll must still obey border rules. It’s geography at its most neighbourly and absurd.
🚪 Buildings with a Country at Each End
Enter here, exit there
In several border towns, older buildings were constructed before modern border enforcement existed. In a few cases:
• the front door is in one country
• the back door is in another
What looks like a simple exit suddenly becomes an international crossing — proof that history often outpaces bureaucracy.
🏝️ Campobello Island
A Canadian island reached through the U.S.
Residents routinely:
1. leave Canada
2. enter the U.S.
3. cross a bridge
4. and arrive… back in Canada
Borders don’t get much more circuitous than that.
🌍 Why these stories matter
These places exist because of:
• early surveying quirks
• rivers that didn’t behave as expected
• treaties written long before accurate maps
They remind us that borders are human inventions, shaped by history, compromise, and cooperation — not just straight lines on a page.
And perhaps that’s the charm:
Sometimes the shortest distance between two countries really is just a step, a book, or a doorway.
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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.
Would you please send us your comments?
Week beginning January 26. Speaker – Travis Mills, Owning your Attitude. How inspiring is this quadriplegic? It takes a lot of courage and guts to overcome losing all your limbs and you lie in bed and wonder if your wife will stay with you.
-- David Werrett, Rotary E-Club of Canada One, District 5370
-- David Werrett, Rotary 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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Friday, February 6 - Fight against FGM
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CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GUATEMALANS
ANNUAL REPORT 2024-25
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Catherine O'Hara Remembered
Gone too soon!
1954-2026
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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
Humour
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Rotary members' corner
Peace isn’t a feeling—it’s a learned skill.
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Rotary minute
Peace doesn’t always make headlines.
Peace isn’t only about war—it’s about how we treat one another every day.
Sometimes it looks like patience, fairness, or choosing to listen—exactly the skills Rotarians practice every day.
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Food for thought
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Rotary Jukebox
For a small donation, your favorite musician will be featured on one of our next e-meetings for everyone to enjoy.
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The Four-way Test
To close the meeting, Rotarian Lois 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
