Near termMEETING schedule at NEW Western Fair location May12th, May 26th & June 9th. It costs nothing to send an eCOG to a friend/prospective member/neighbour. Please advise Keith of names/contact info.
Have a suggestion for an eCOG-Bulletin article/story, please let Keith know.
Welcome to 2025 and the new location. Our meetings will continue to be on the second and fourth Monday of the month at the same time. We will meet at the Western Fairgrounds in the GROVE MEETING ROOM #1. The new meeting costs $25.00 per person and will be a self-serve light buffet. The meeting room will be open from 11:30 AM for fellowship, and the buffet will also be available. So, please plan on arriving no later than 11:45 AM so you have time to serve yourself and find a table. Our business meeting will start at noon. We will endeavor to end the meeting by 1:00 PM. As usual, we were hoping you could register for this meeting. The Registration Link will close at NOON April 25th so we can advise The Western Fair regarding numbers. Please register as soon as possible but be sure to register before noon Friday. If you are registering yourself or any guests. Please make sure you pay for the lunch, as the Club will get charged for the meal by The Grove regardless of your attendance. After registering, please arrange to e-transfer your payment to The Rotary Club of London at sronson55@gmail.com. Also, be sure to put who you are paying for in your memo section on the e-transfer so that Sandy Ronson can track payments. Our speaker on Monday will be Terry Peters.
Terry is a relocated Kiwi who has been a Professor at Western and the Robarts Research Institute for the past 28 years. However, he has enjoyed Emeritus status for the past six years, meaning that he still turns up to his office but doesn’t get paid! He joined Rotary last year to provide a way of getting more involved in the community outside of academia. He has also been associated with Climate Action London for the past 10 years or so. During Earthfest day last year, Terry was manning a Climate Action London booth that happened to be next to David Knoppert’s Rotary display, where he highlighted a project on Sun Bucket Solar cooking in Kenya. A conversation with David led to Terry being invited to serve on the Executive of the District 6330 Environment Committee. He’s here today to tell us about what this committee is up to.
Dear Rotary Club of London,
On behalf of the Westminster Robotics Club, I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for your unwavering support throughout the years. Your generous sponsorship has played a vital role in the growth, development, and continued success of our team. Thanks to your continuous contributions, this year marks a milestone achievement for the Westminster WildBOTS. For the first time in our club's history post COVID, we qualified for and competed at the Ontario Provincials. We are proud to share that we were ranked the top high school team from London in the Technology Division—an accomplishment that speaks volumes to the progress we’ve made, made possible in large part by your support. Our performance has significantly improved year over year, and the results clearly reflect that: Nationally in Canada, our team ranked 78th out of 193 teams in 2025, a remarkable leap from 148th out of 200 in 2024, and 178th out of 183 in 2023. Provincially in Ontario, we rose to 65th out of 130 in 2025, compared to 112th out of 136 in 2024, and 121st out of 123 in 2023. Our competition record has also improved steadily—from 6-19-0 in 2023, to 8-16-0 in 2024, and now 19-21-1 in 2025, our best performance to date.
These improvements are not just numbers; they are the result of better resources, equipment, mentorship opportunities, and an empowered, motivated team—all made possible due to your strong belief in our team and vision. As we look forward to the next school year and new challenges, we sincerely hope to continue this partnership with you. Once again, thank you for your commitment to STEM education and for helping inspire the innovators of tomorrow. Your continued support means the world to us. With gratitude, Peter Popescu Westminster Robotics Club Representative Westminster Secondary School.
--ENVIRONMENTAL--
Methane: The secret marauder Methane is up to 80% more potent than carbon dioxide in causing global warming. It is the main ingredient in Natural Gas. Common sources include leaks from fossil fuel production, organic waste, especially in landfills, our home appliances like furnaces, barbeques, fireplaces, and gas stoves, and of course, far��ng livestock! Unlike carbon dioxide, methane persists in the atmosphere for only about 12 years. That’s why methane has been identified as low-hanging fruit in the fight to limit global warming. Methane can be collected from landfills and sanitation facilities and burned off to produce energy (although burning methane also produces carbon dioxide!). Food waste is also a source of methane. Some of the material collected through the green bin program in Ontario is composted. The remainder is transported to large plants, where it is converted into biogas. The residual is used for fertilizer. You can help by using your green bin and promo��ng the program to others. It may be as simple as helping them get bins to the curb or to a collection station. However, remember that reducing food waste is always a priority.
--YOUTH EXCHANGE LETTTER--
Bonjour de France! Wow! I know February is a short month, but it went fast! I had some issues but luckily, they are resolved now, and I was able to have a great month. I had a great time with my friends at school and with Rotary, French is getting easier and I'm overall still having an amazing time. With bad news first, I did have to change my last host family. I have had some issues with them before and have put in a lot of effort trying to build a good relationship. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to work. My host family had complained about me to the district chair. Apparently, they didn’t think I was making an effort to interact with them. I found that my efforts were not welcome making me keep more to myself. My district wanted to know what was going on, and decided the situation was complicated. I wrote an email with all the details, and as a result, I was told to change families that week. While this was crazy, I am much less stressed now. My Rotary club isn't very active here and that can be difficult, but they came through for me when it was necessary. The good news is, over the vacation I was able to go to the movies with one of my friends. We talked a lot, and I was so happy I was able to speak French and understand everything! I know I have been here for six months, but it still amazes me how fast it all goes and how much I have accomplished. I know my French isn't perfect (honestly a week ago I forgot the word for eyebrows so I called them eye mustaches) but I'm truly having a great time even if I can't be perfect. Having many kids in the Rotary District has been great, they plan lots of events for us to do together; this month we went bowling and on a bus tour of Lille. Having the big group is great, it reminds me I'm not the only one that has these troubles with host families or just in general. We are all different but can agree on a lot and now share the same experience. It's awesome! Ups and downs are normal; I'm not worried. I'm going to continue to do everything I can and keep on learning because it's only getting better. No matter what, I have many people here that support me, and I am making the most out of this year. Georgie Street
Weekly Coffee Klatch
Weekly ZOOM “Coffee Klatch” each Thursday from 10:30 to 11:30 am. Bring your own coffee of course.
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Terry is a relocated Kiwi who has been a Professor at Western and the Robarts Research Institute for the past 28 years. However, he has enjoyed Emeritus status for the past six years, meaning that he still turns up to his office but doesn’t get paid! He joined Rotary last year to provide a way of getting more involved in the community outside of academia. He has also been associated with Climate Action London for the past 10 years or so. During Earthfest day last year, Terry was manning a Climate Action London booth that happened to be next to David Knoppert’s Rotary display, where he highlighted a project on Sun Bucket Solar cooking in Kenya. 
