President Laureen called the meeting of Cambridge North Rotary (CNR) to order on time, at 12:15. She then asked Sean Carragher to lead the signing of O Canada. Despite this direction, Sean declined, due to his cold. So, the ensemble of members started in to a nice rendition. Dave Kinder then read a fine invocation, followed by a toast to Queen and Country by President Laureen.
Folks around the table were talking about varied topics today. On top of the list was the loss of a jet in Iran, due to missiles being accidentally shot. Very sad story. We did touch on the 'new virus' circulating in China that is somewhat similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus. We were concerned about the new virus and agreed we need to pay attention to it. We then touched on the rotating teacher strikes in Ontario. The colder weather and opportunities for snow activities was also touched upon. We talked about the forecast for a snow storm in Cambridge for the upcoming weekend, and how we have not seen much snow this winter, so far. Of course, we also did talk about the impeachment of Donald Trump, in the USA. Sean Riberdy, a guest of Jim Robinson, talked about how he met Jim in high school. Then Sean described where he lives and how Cambridge is centre to his life. Jim Robinson was also chatting about doing a round of bingo the previous night, and how it ended up being fun.
Sgt at Arms David Kinder reported that 14 members of 21 were present today, revealing an attendance of 66.67% --> equal to 67%.
We were also graced with three guests today: Abby Van Groningen, daughter of President Laureen; Sean Riberdy, guest of Jim Robinson; and our guest speaker Bob Skura.
Dave Thomas was rewarded by the Club and he responded by sharing his happiness. Dave said even though he was happy at CNR, he was a bit sad, as some of his family had been away travelling. He also said he misses the snow and is looking forward to the next snow storm.
David Kinder was happy to announce the arrival of a new grand daughter. Apparently boys are more common in their family, so they were happy for a girl. Due to this rare development, they named her after Grandma: Julia Diane. Good stuff David!
Al Fox mentioned on a somber note that his brother had passed away in New York State.
Don Daggett mentioned that - hopefully - he just paid the final installment for tuition for his son Quinn at Brock University. Don indicated that Quinn is likely to graduate this spring, and appears to have a shot at getting a job without doing additional training etc. Here is hoping you are right!
Sean Carragher mentioned he was just getting over a cold bug. But before he was sick, he went sledding on his snow machine. But the fun part about riding the snow machine was that he wore a T Rex outfit. Then Stephen Witteveen showed me the actual video of Sean in his T Rex outfit on the snow machine! If I was really a technophile, I would have added the video here. But to bridge the gap, here is what the costume did look like in the video:
Our guest speak was Bob Skura. He mentioned that he had done a presentation in the past, when he had written a book.
Bob was thankful to provide another presentation since he was given the opportunity in the past, to describe his recent accomplishments in his life.
The presentation was titled: 'Katie and the Killer Butterfly' How to Fail or Succeed at Healthy Eating
This presentation started with the basic thesis that Bob wanted to share his journey on improving his life through modifications to his eating habits. He then said that the first discovery was the likely role of the Monarch Butterfly, suggested in a book shared by a neighbour. Bob then explained that Common Milkweed, the preferred plant of Monarch Butterfly, were becoming more common, due to the decline of the Monarch (people letting milkweed grow more now... as a means to help the butterfly). Due to the increased presence of milkweed, it meant that this plant was now more evident in our food sources than in the past. This presence in our food sources is due to livestock eating the milkweed and milkweed being present in hay fields as well as wheat fields, oat fields, corn fields, soybean fields etc. When milkweed is consumed by livestock or the plant is mixed up with crops, it means we are ingesting toxins in milkweed that includes 'cardenolides'. So, our flour, milk, steak, etc. may contain trace amounts of cardenolide toxins. In this context, recent medical studies have confirmed low dose exposure to cardenolides results in swelling / irritation of human tissues. It is also prudent to note that other toxins exist in milkweed that can trigger swelling and irritation in human tissues too. So, when tissues swell or become irritated following exposure to different toxins in milkweed, it results in a raft of different medical symptoms, including some of the medical problems experienced by Bob.
With this basis in mind, Bob and his wife set out to try to eliminate possible exposure to cardenolide and other toxins from milkweed in their diets. They made changes to their food purchases, and then he explained how they then made incremental changes to their eating habitat over the last three years. This process was motivated by the observation of the decline of medical symptoms he and his wife experienced. For Bob, he explained he had a persistent rash on his arm. This rash went away (for the most part) after his change in diet, within the first year of the change in diet. His wife also experienced less Rosacea (redness of her face) after the diet change in the first year as well.
After they experienced these positive consequences, they started sharing their experiences. The message they offer is this: you need to listen to your body and then you can make changes that are designed to help your body. The design of the change can follow one of may approaches out there and Bob is not advocating any one approach. Rather, Bob is just providing insight on his journey, and how he has learned that the real challenge is sticking with the chosen approach. This story is that it is likely worth the changes you may elect to do in your life.
If you want to learn more about this process, try looking up cardenolides and human diet.
The Sgt.‐At‐Arms (SAA) shall mark the attendance sheet, input Guest Names, Visiting Rotarians and Make‐ups submitted by club members, as well as calculate the meeting percentage. You will also give the invocation when requested by the President. At the end of the meeting make sure the Secretary has the “Secretary’s Copy”.
In addition, the SAA shall also fill in the attendance details on the “Bulletin Editor’s Copy” and make sure the editor receives it by the end of the meeting.
The person who is responsible for any Ticket sales shall enter the cash details on the “Treasurer’s Copy”. They shall also collect the Happy Toonies and enter that information on the same sheet. At the end of the meeting they shall give the treasurer the tally sheet along with the cash in an envelope. There is a supply of banker’s envelopes in the tote box.
Date Sgt-At-Arms Finance (Happy Toonies etc.)
January 22, 2020 Mike Jennings Stephen Witteveen
anuary 29. 2020 KINDER, Dave ASHENHURST, Peter February 5, 2020 MATYAS, Jeff CAMERON, Douglas anuary 29. 2020 KINDER, Dave ASHENHURST, Peter February 5, 2020 MATYAS, Jeff CAMERON, Douglas January 29, 2020 Paul Goetz Peter Ashenhurst
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