Time: The fellowship room and buffet will open at 11:30 AM. Please plan to arrive no later than 11:45 AM to serve yourself and find a table. Our meeting will start promptly at noon and conclude by 1:00 PM.
Guest Speaker: Mark Oliver - D6330 Rotary Youth Exchange Committee changes to the youth exchange program.
Special Agenda Items:
Special General Meeting: London Food Coalition Grant Membership Vote (Local Services Committee) & Global Grant Heart Surgery project (World Community Services Committee)
New Member Induction: Mo Bardaweel - PI Homes
Cost: $25.00 per person (self-serve lunch buffet).
To ensure accurate numbers for the venue, we kindly ask that you register no later than 12:00 PM on Friday, January 9th. After registering, please e-transfer your payment to The Rotary Club of London at sronson55@gmail.com. Include the names of all attendees in the e-transfer memo so that Sandy Ronson can track payments.
Our January 12 speaker is Mark Oliver. Mark serves on the District 6330 Youth Exchange Committee. They have implemented a number of changes to the youth exchange program that he will introduce to our Club. He is also the Youth Exchange Officer for the Rotary Club of St. Mary's. The Rotary Club of St. Mary's has sponsored and hosted 135 exchange students since joining the program in 1972. Mark, and his wife, Janet, have hosted 5 inbound exchange students. Their youngest son was an outbound exchange student to Denmark in 2017. Mark was also an outbound exchange student to Australia in 1981. His Rotary Youth Exchange experience continues to shape his life 44 years later.
--ROTARY CLUB OF HYDE PARK EVENT--
Wednesday January 14th at Boston Pizza 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Happy new year everyone! I have been in discussion with the General Manager at the Hyde Park Boston Pizza. His name is Mayuresh and he has agreed to give our Club a date to raise funds for the work we do. Because Wednesdays are their lowest dining day of the week, they offer not for profit and charity groups an opportunity to receive 10% of gross sales between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. for the Wednesday we book. Our Club has been given the date of Wednesday January 14th – next week. These sales are not limited to Rotarians and guests. This is total gross sales for that date between the hours of 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. from all food sales, excluding deliveries by Skip the Dishes, Uber Eats, Door Dash or any other third party delivery. It does include take out if it is picked up. The General Manager has asked us to kindly make a reservation so they can staff properly. If people go, we have more money to spend, and if this is not supported, we won’t. I do hope you will be able to go out for dinner, or order a pizza for pick up, next Wednesday with all your friends and neighbours at Boston Pizza! Address: 1275 Fanshawe Park Rd W Building E, London, ON N6G 5B4 Phone: (519) 657-0111 Please let me know if you have any questions and remember to call ahead and reserve at Boston Pizza. Karen Try Community Service Committee 519-657-4283 x 11
--BINGO COMMITTEE EXPERIENCES HEAVY TRAFFIC AT 1ST 2026 BINGO--
Sat Jan 3, 2026--Bingo player attendance was at record levels-141 players, resulting in much higher than normal cash handled-$14,497.50 taken in (all paper no tapping to pay), $5,641.00 paid out to winners, resulting in an end of event deposit of $8,856.40. The attendance was double the previous two bingos as was the cash handled. Well done bingo staffing volunteers!!!!!
--ONEIDA IMAGE BUILD PROJECT--
Remember this website story form Sept 2025--New family home under construction, residents live temporarily in Rotary portable home on site. The family has moved in to their completed home. In order to have access to accommodations while their new home is being constructed, homeowners reside in Rotary tiny home onsite. The new home is constructed on the same location as their previous residence (which became substandard over time and was demolished ). This allowed the family to inject some "sweat equity" into their new home and not have to "bunk in" with family / friends during the building process. Once they move into their new home the Rotary portable home will be moved to another site and the process will commence again.
