to this week's meeting ofThe Rotary E-Club of Canada One
For the week beginning September 28, 2026
Scroll down to enjoy the content!
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
September 28, 2026
Scroll down to enjoy the content!
Complete the form for a make-up!
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Greeter this week
Club President, Patrick Gibson
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Message from Club President, Patrick
Rotary's goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults.
Rotary members make amazing things happen, like:
Opening schools: In Afghanistan, Rotary members opened a girls’ school to break the cycle of poverty and social imbalance.
Teaching adults to read: Rotary members in the United States partnered with ProLiteracy Detroit to recruit and train tutors after a study showed that more than half of the local adult population was functionally illiterate.
New teaching methods: The SOUNS program in South Africa, Puerto Rico and the United States teaches educators how to improve literacy by teaching children to recognize letters by sounds instead of names.
Making schools healthy: Rotarians are providing clean, fresh water to every public school in Lebanon so students can be healthier and get a better education.
Enhancing educational systems: In Kenya, Rotary clubs are working with the Global Partnership for Education and local and national governments to advance life-long learning opportunities for poor and marginalized children.
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Inspirational moment
Since the begionnings of Rotary, the bell has become an essential symbol of club meetings.
Used to announce the opening and closing of meetings, it embodies order, punctuality, and mutual respect - values dear to Rotarians.
Its clear rionging brings members together in a moment of reflection and attention, marking the transition from the everyday to a time of sharing, friendship, and service.
Each club has its own bell, often engraved with its name, which over the years has become a witness to its history and traditions.
Around the world, this simple gesture - ringing the bell - unites all Rotarians in a single symbolic ritual.
It points out that, everywhere, clubs share the same ideal: to serve humanity with understanding and peace.
Thus, the Rotary bell, beyond its practical function, resonates as a universal call to unity and commitment.
The Rotary Minute is a creation of District 1700. Please send any comments or suggestions to laminute1700@gmail.com
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Canadiana
Francis “Peggy” Pegahmagabow — Brave in War
In August 1914, Europe had just gone to war when a young Anishinaabe man from Georgian Bay stepped forward to enlist.
His name was Francis Pegahmagabow.
Born in 1889, Pegahmagabow was a member of the Parry Island Band, now Wasauksing First Nation. His father died when Francis was still a baby, and, after his mother became ill, he was raised by relatives at Shawanaga.
As a young man, he worked aboard ships on Georgian Bay and the Great Lakes. He was a skilled outdoorsman, accustomed to observing carefully, moving quietly, and waiting patiently.
Those abilities were about to become frighteningly valuable.
“Peggy” Goes to War
Pegahmagabow enlisted in August 1914, almost immediately after war was declared. Within months, he was overseas as one of the original members of the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion.
His fellow soldiers called him “Peggy.”
On the Western Front, he became an exceptional scout and sniper.
Scouts sometimes moved beyond their own trenches and into No Man’s Land, observing enemy positions and bringing information back. Snipers needed extraordinary patience and accuracy—and the ability to remain motionless and unnoticed for long periods.
Pegahmagabow excelled at both.
He fought at Ypres, where Canadian soldiers faced poison gas. He fought on the Somme, where he was wounded in the leg. He recovered—and returned to his unit.
He fought at Passchendaele, through a battlefield reduced by artillery and rain to a landscape of mud, water, and shell holes.
And somehow, Francis Pegahmagabow survived nearly the entire war.
His sniper record is often given as 378 enemy soldiers killed, although precise wartime records do not allow that number to be independently confirmed. He was also credited with capturing some 300 enemy soldiers.
Those are extraordinary numbers.
But there is another part of Pegahmagabow’s wartime record that tells us perhaps even more about the man.
Courage That Saved Lives
Pegahmagabow repeatedly risked his life not to kill, but to help other soldiers survive.
During his first year on the Western Front, he repeatedly carried vital messages through enemy fire during the battles of Ypres, Festubert, and Givenchy.
For his courage and devotion to duty, he received the Military Medal.
Then came Passchendaele in November 1917. Pegahmagabow moved around the battlefield maintaining contact between units, gathering crucial information, and later guiding relieving troops into their correct positions amid the confusion.
He received a bar to his Military Medal—recognition for another act of exceptional bravery. Then, in August 1918, his company was nearly out of ammunition and in danger of being surrounded.
Pegahmagabow went out under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire, found ammunition, and brought enough back for his men to continue fighting and help repel the enemy counterattacks. He received a second bar.
Only a few dozen members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force received the Military Medal with two bars. Pegahmagabow became the most highly decorated Indigenous Canadian soldier of the First World War.
Something He Carried With Him
Through those battlefields, Pegahmagabow carried something else.
A medicine pouch.
It had been given to him before he went overseas, and he believed in its spiritual protection. He later said that he never knew exactly what the medicine man had placed inside it.
The magnificent bronze monument to Pegahmagabow that now stands in Parry Sound depicts him holding that pouch. An eagle represents his extraordinary vision, while a caribou represents his clan and his connection to his people and homeland.
The monument faces across Georgian Bay toward Wasauksing First Nation—the place to which Francis Pegahmagabow finally returned.
Coming Home
In April 1919, Francis “Peggy” Pegahmagabow came home.
He had fought for Canada.
He had been wounded for Canada.
He had repeatedly risked his life for Canadian soldiers and had received extraordinary recognition for his courage.
He had survived Ypres, the Somme, Passchendaele, and nearly four years on the Western Front. Surely the fighting was finally over.
It wasn’t.
Francis Pegahmagabow was about to discover that the country for which he had risked everything did not accord an Indigenous man the same freedom and independence for which he had supposedly been fighting.
The soldier put down his rifle.
But Francis Pegahmagabow had another battle ahead of him.
Sources –
• Veterans Affairs Canada — Francis Pegahmagabow https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/people-and-stories/francis-pegahmagabow
• Veterans Affairs Canada — Corporal Francis Pegahmagabow Memorial
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canada/corporal-francis-pegahmagabow-memorial
• Veterans Affairs Canada — Francis Pegahmagabow Monument
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canada/francis-pegahmagabow-monument
• Canadian War Museum — Francis Pegahmagabow
https://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/people/in-uniform/first-nations-soldiers/
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OUR SOCIAL CORNER -
Input from our guests and members
Send us your news - what's happening that's important in your corner of the world?
- What has Rotary contributed to your life?
- What have YOU contributed to Rotary recently to make your community a better place?
- Is there a Rotary project or experience you'd like to share?
*** A storyteller with enthusiasm... |
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An inspirational look back
In 2000, one Rotary club in Cornwall, England, adopted an idea for its millennium project.
The idea was remarkably simple: put emergency shelter and essential supplies into sturdy boxes that could be sent quickly to families who had lost their homes in a disaster.
The idea was remarkably simple: put emergency shelter and essential supplies into sturdy boxes that could be sent quickly to families who had lost their homes in a disaster.
The Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard could hardly have known what it had begun.
The first ShelterBoxes were sent to earthquake survivors in Gujarat, India, in 2001. Other Rotary clubs embraced the idea, and what began as one club's project grew far beyond Cornwall.
Today, ShelterBox is an international disaster-relief organization that has helped shelter millions of people affected by disasters and conflict around the world, with Rotary remaining an important partner.
Sometimes changing the world begins with one Rotary club, one good idea—and the willingness to try.
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ROTARIAN CODE OF CONDUCT
As a Rotarian, I will:
***1. Act with integrity and high ethical standards in my personal and professional life
2. Deal fairly with others and treat them and their occupations with respect
3. Use my professional skills through Rotary to mentor young people, help those with special needs, and improve people’s quality of life in my community and in the world
4. Avoid behaviour that reflects adversely on Rotary or other Rotarians
5. Help maintain a harassment-free environment in Rotary meetings, events, and activities; report any suspected harassment; and help ensure non-retaliation to those individuals that report harassment
Rotary’s Code of Conduct provides a simple but powerful guide for ethical behaviour, emphasizing honesty, accountability, and respect for others. Along with the Four-Way Test, it encourages thoughtful reflection on how we live and interact, helping us become better citizens and better human beings.
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
Once a month - Fellowship Assembly. 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
A little humour - a little early for the season
but it game me a laugh, so I'm sharing the "joy"
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Rotary minute
A Promise Rotary Intends to Keep
On October 24, World Polio Day, Rotarians around the world are reminded of one of Rotary’s most ambitious promises: to end polio for good.
When Rotary began its global polio effort in 1985, the disease was paralysing an estimated 350,000 children every year in more than 125 countries.
Since then, Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative have helped reduce polio cases by more than 99.9%.
But almost is not enough.
As long as poliovirus continues to circulate anywhere, children everywhere remain at risk. That is why Rotarians continue to raise funds, advocate with governments, support vaccination campaigns, and remind the world that the job is not yet finished.
World Polio Day is more than a date on the Rotary calendar. It is a reminder of what sustained Rotary commitment can accomplish—and of a promise we still intend to keep:
Every child. Everywhere. A polio-free world.
As long as poliovirus continues to circulate anywhere, children everywhere remain at risk. That is why Rotarians continue to raise funds, advocate with governments, support vaccination campaigns, and remind the world that the job is not yet finished.
World Polio Day is more than a date on the Rotary calendar. It is a reminder of what sustained Rotary commitment can accomplish—and of a promise we still intend to keep:
Every child. Everywhere. A polio-free world.
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Rotary Members
Helping Communities Build Their Own Future
What does it mean to strengthen a community?
Sometimes it means creating jobs. Sometimes it means helping someone develop a skill, start a small business, gain access to financial services, or find a sustainable way to support a family.
October is Rotary’s Community Economic Development Month, recognizing work that helps people build stronger, more resilient communities.
The important word may be sustainable.
Rotary is at its best when we do more than meet an immediate need. By supporting vocational training, entrepreneurship, local businesses, financial literacy, agricultural development, and opportunities for meaningful employment, Rotary projects can help people create lasting change for themselves and their communities.
It is the difference between simply giving something away and helping create the conditions in which people can move forward.
A stronger community is not built for people. It is built with them.
Communication is a Skill
Rotary Jukebox
For a small donation, your favorite musician will be featured on one of our next e-meetings for everyone to enjoy.
Click Here to send your request.
THIS WEEK - LCpl Cally Jones - HM Royal Marines
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The Four-way Test
To close the meeting, Rotarian Angel 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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Archived Meetings
All meetings are archived. Click here to see a list and choose what you wish to view.
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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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