Oct 15, 2018 Bulletin (Oct 15, 2018)

Oct 15, 2018 Bulletin

Opening/Chair: Rod Jones was the chair for the day and she asked Alana to lead the group in the singing of O Canada. This was followed by the moment of personal reflection.

Visitors/Guests: There were a number of guests including Adam Harris and Matthew Hunter. Dylan Peters was a guest of his mother Darlene.

Speaker: Our speaker today was Brennan Gillis.

Brennan Gillis was born and raised in Mabou, Cape Breton. He received his undergraduate commerce degree from Saint Mary's University in Halifax in 2001 and his Masters of Business Admin (also from St. Mary's) in 2011.

Brennan has worked for the Nova Scotia Association of Community Business Development Corporations (CBDCs), RRFB Nova Scotia, and Mitacs Inc. He is now managing the new Regional Enterprise Network — the Truro and Colchester Partnership For Economic Prosperity and continues to volunteer with CBDC NOBL.

He lives in Valley with his wife Amy, their daughter Addyson, two-steps daughters and mother-in-law.

Brennan give a brief history of the new Association and it's role in the community. It as a partnership of the local business community (through the Truro & Colchester Chamber of Commerce), the Towns of Truro and Stewiacke, The Municipality of the County of Colchester, Millbrook First Nation and the Nova Scotia Government. Many of it's functions replace what was once done by CORDA.

he Partnership had recently completed a public consultation and strategic planning exercise. This has resulted in the organization concentrating on three main areas:

Promotion the Colchester region as an excellent place to live, work, and do business
Support for business development
Workforce Development, Attraction & Retention

Each area has a number of specific initiatives designed to meet specific objectives as outlined on their new website.

Our community has a lot to offer and there were examples given of how we might work together to bring more people and businesses to the area. The Partnership for Economic Prosperity will be a good vehicle to help make that happen.

There was great interest by members in what Brennan had to tell us and he was thanked by Rotarian Lech Krzywonos

Member Health: No report.

Announcements and Reports:

Judy informed the club that the annual Christmas Social would be held on December 4th immediately after the December Directors meeting. It will be held at the home of Barbara and Jim Goit. Details and an invitation will be sent out in the next few days.
The annual Rotary Family Christmas Brunch will be held on December 15th starting at 10 am. The "Real" santa will be making his appearance this year. An invitation will be coming out soon. Please let Judy know who the children you will be bringing are and their ages.
Brian reported that the Christmas Index program has hired a new manager and the program would soon be getting into full swing. He proposed that the club enter a float in the annual Truro Holiday parade (Nov 17) and we could promote both the club and the Index program.
Jim reported that there was still time to register for the Rotary Leadership session to be held on Oct 27 however registration would be cut off later this week.
He also reported that the October Club social would be held on the evening of Oct 26th in the Private Dining Room of Best Western Truro - Glengarry. There will be visiting Rotarians from around the region invited.

President's Report: President Ryan reminded everyone that next week was the annual visit of the District Governor Rob Christie. The Board will be meeting with him at 11:00 in the Boardroom prior our regular meeting.

Happy Mug: There were a number of happy Rotarians this week:

Alana who had been to a meeting of the Rotary District Board and Chairs this weekend and was on her way to the District 7810 annual District Conference this coming weekend.
Richard who had had a great visit with his Grandchildren.
Ed just because we live in a great place and was inspired by the speaker's presentation.
Brian who also was happy with the presentation and relayed his own stories about the great assets in the area.
Mark who was on his way to the Seychelles Islands for a visit. His wife is already there. It's a long series of flights.
Joanna who had decided to concentrate her practice in Truro instead of being split between two places as she had been doing.

50/50: Judy had the winning ticket but couldn't find the Joker, so the $23 pot builds.

Closing: There being no further business, the meeting was closed at 1:12.

New Member Proposals: The Board of Directors has approved the recommendation of the Membership committee for the induction of two new members into the Rotary Club of Truro. The first is Adam Harris, Lawyer with Burchell MacDougall sponsored by Barbara Goit. The second is Truro's Special Olympian Matthew Hunter, sponsored by Laurie Sandeson. Both have been regular attendees of club meetings during the past month.