If you were not at The Huntsville Rotary Club meeting at Boston Pizza on March 1st you missed out.  Lucky for you here are the highlights!  We started our meeting off with inducting our newest member.  Ron Strickland had the pleasure of introducing Brent Finn.  Ron gave us a long description of the recipe for growth of a Rotary Meeting to lead into introducing Brent.  Brent is no stranger to recipes since he and Jennifer just took over Wine Excellence.  Great wine and serving comes naturally to Brent.  Our Rotary Club is very lucky to have this dedicated professional wine making entrepreneur.  We would love to thank Brent for joining our club and we know President Jennifer will keep you in line.
 
 
Everyone held their breath as President Jennifer pinned Brent.  There were no injuries and applause and cheers from the room errupted.
 
Congratulations Brent and Welcome to the Rotary Family!
 
Pam from our membership committee was very excited and please to present The Rotarian of the Month for February to our very gifted, motivational Rotarian and Sargent of Arms Gord Mitchell.  It was no surprise that Gord recieved this honour, as he is dedicated to Rotary.  Thanks Gord for all your hours and hours of dedication, commitment and service to Rotary, Rotary International and our Community!
 
 
 A special Paul Harris Fellow was handed out to a very special lady.  A Paul Harris Fellow is a recognition when a Rotary member donates $1000 US to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus, or a Foundation Grant.  Rotarian members can choose to recognize someone else as a Paul Harris Fellow, by giving the amount in their name.  Rotary member Doug Sullivan did just that for his beautiful supportive wife Romona Sullivan.
SPEAKER FROM MUSKOKA PARAMEDIC SYSTEMS
Chief Jeff McWilliam and Deputy Chief Bob Goodfellow gave a very detailed description of how a district run ambulance system is better and more cost effective than privatization. Here are some highlights we learned during their presentation;
  • 1 Chief and 1 Deputy Chief
  • 3 Commanders
  • 80 Full and Part time Paramedics
  • Beloved mascott Bandaid Beaver
  • 13 Ambulances
  • 2 Response units
  • 41 requests for services a day
  • 5 Paramedic Stations
  • Home hospital is Sunnybrooke
  • Community Intiatives 1200 hours of volunteer time (Touch a Truck)
  • Service area covers to border of Washago, Honey Harbour, Muskoka, and Port Carling
  • able to sit on Hospital boards in the District to help with EMS response
  • Comprehensive Master plan for 10 years
  • new system is both proactive and reactive to meet the needs of our community
  • better care because systems are interconnected to serve us better
  • response time is quicker and trained PTSD support is available when you call 911
Presient Jen thanked our speakers with a donation to PolioPlus in their name.