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 Friday 24th of January 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. Looking forward to 2025 and our first meeting.
Our speaker on Monday will be Sheila Hodgson who is the Director Sales & Marketing at the International Test Pilots School in London. She connects major OEMs and military forces with innovative flight test and tactical training solutions. She specializes in identifying client needs and collaborating with internal teams to create and launch customized programs effectively to stay ahead of trends in the aerospace and defense sectors. The International Test Pilots School (ITPS), provides targeted, real world test pilot and aeronautical engineer training. Established in the UK in 1986 and now located at London International Airport (CYXU), ITPS has been equipping accomplished pilots and aeronautical engineers with highly specialized flight testing skills in Canada since 2001.
--CHEQUE PRESENTATION TO WESTMINSTER WILDBOTS ROBOTIC TEAM--
--SAVE THE DATE FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF GIVING--
The Western Rotaractors are making plans for the day of giving. They are planning to hold the event on March 8 2025. More details will come as the organizing team develops the program.
--YOUTH EXCHANGE LETTTER--
December Newsletter Bonjour de France!--Happy new year! Four months into my exchange already, it’s been great! During the month of December, I have celebrated Christmas in France, changed families, and even visited Belgium. I'm so happy to be in France and happy it's Christmas vacation. Christmas is very different here, some culture differences like opening presents on Christmas eve, lighting candles every Sunday in December before Christmas, not having funny hats or ugly Christmas sweaters, but the biggest one for me was the food. There is so much food! The food here is amazing, but I will admit the dinner on Christmas Eve was long for me, starting around 7:30 pm and ending around 2:00 am and this was just the smaller meal before Christmas. However, it was all enjoyable, great food and a big family (18 people were there). I’m happy to be in France for this, I loved it all. During this month I was able to visit Belgium! While I wasn't there for long, I had the amazing food (and of course the fries) I think I also had the greatest hot chocolate in the entire world. It's crazy to me we have the exact same brands of chocolate, but it somehow tastes way better over here, and honestly, I’m a little jealous because of this. I was a little nervous to change families, but I did and luckily, I don’t have any issues. I am happy with my new family. They have many cats including a very cute new kitten who loves me. In this family I have a seven-year-old host sister who talks to me a lot, which has been nice. She likes to talk to me about cats and how difficult learning French is. Overall, France is great, and my French improves a lot each month. Currently I have little difficulty talking and living in France. School is still crazy difficult and people my age still want to speak English with me. However, on vacation I only speak French and that has helped a lot. I’m fortunate to be here and to have this amazing opportunity to learn and discover more every day. Georgie Street
--YOUTH EXCHANGE NEED STUDENT BILLET VOLUMTEER FAMILIES--
I am happy to report that Ian Wright and Wendy Thompson have volunteered to host our exchange student Sho Fujimoto from January 18 th to March 14 th . The Rotary Club of London Youth Exchange Program is still in need of volunteers to host Sho. He is scheduled to depart in mid July. I am reaching out to everyone to hear if you are aware of anyone who may be interested. Sho is attending H B Beal and is very focused on his school work. As stated in the past hosting is a wonderful opportunity for a family. There is no ‘perfect’ host family… young, old, children, no children, married, divorced, widows, same-sex—they can all make wonderful host families for our Inbounds. Also, host families do not have to be Rotarians or Rotaractors, and they do not have to have children (living at home or otherwise). Older Rotarians who may be living alone might enjoy having Sho's company for a few months! Please Contact Randy Harden if you are able to help randy.harden@gmail.com
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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Our speaker on Monday will be Sheila Hodgson who is the Director Sales & Marketing at the International Test Pilots School in London. She connects major OEMs and military forces with innovative flight test and tactical training solutions. She specializes in identifying client needs and collaborating with internal teams to create and launch customized programs effectively to stay ahead of trends in the aerospace and defense sectors. The International Test Pilots School (ITPS), provides targeted, real world test pilot and aeronautical engineer training. Established in the UK in 1986 and now located at London International Airport (CYXU), ITPS has been equipping accomplished pilots and aeronautical engineers with highly specialized flight testing skills in Canada since 2001. 
