Meeting Date: Oct. 24, 2022, at the Anglican Hall.
President Kees opened the meeting at 6:30 pm. After the national anthem, grace, and dinner, plus thanking the ACW for the dinner, Kees started the meeting.
Program:
1. Bob Wilson introduced his speaker, Kelly Johnson whose topic was Feral Cats
- Kelly lives in Oxford County and has a degree in Environmental studies
- She rescued her first cat when she was 5
- She calls what she does Kelly’s Cat Club
- Originally, she and a friend helped local residents access the bath and neuter program in Windsor
- It has since ballooned into a huge program catching feral cats and taking them to be neutered and then released
- She tries to round up feral cats off the internet and make sure they find homes
- A friend passed away some years ago leaving 12 barn cats; Kelly offered to help
- She trapped many and had them fixed, but the 12 turned into 38
- Most of the cats were fixed and returned to the barn with many still there
- Kelly did not want to trap cats and then take them to a shelter since most would be euthanized
- She now works under the guidelines of trap, neuter, and release
- Releases them back into the location they originally came from
- Feral cats are very area-wise.
- By doing what she does, Kelly is preventing disease and death
- They also cause the death of a wide variety of wildlife and are a nuisance to neighbors
- There are several feral cat colonies around Ridgetown, many on the edge of town
- She has made shelters to allow the cats to get out of the elements
- By the end of November, she will have dealt with about 400 cats
- She doesn’t work during the winter.
- There are rescues/rescuers from all over SW Ontario and as far away as Kingston
- There are volunteer drivers who help bring the cats to Kelly’s group
- There could be 100s of feral cats in and around Ridgetown
- Donations are needed for the wide variety of services Kelly and her program provides
- Paul thanked Kelly and she signed a book to go into the Ridgetown Library
2. Kees: Update on World Polio Day, Oct. 24
- Honey-dipped donuts were prepared at Pinnell’s Pastries and sold, with a percentage of the sales and donations going to Rotary International’s Polio Plus
- More information and numbers at the next meeting
3. Kees: Foundation Gala Nov 5 Novi Michigan
- Members can get there by bus, organized by Ken Corlett
- Moved/Seconded by Ron/Ben: That Kees and Henny’s expenses be covered by the club. C
4. Henny/Kees: CK Meeting Nov 2 in Blenheim
- Kees and President-Elect Ron, along with ADG Henny are going to meet with members of The CK clubs
5. Kees: Christmas dinner Dec 5
- At the Anglican Church Hall with details to follow
6. Kees: Peace pole
- There were concerns about how it would be fastened to the ground so that it couldn’t be knocked over
- Moved/Seconded by Kees/Jeff: Look into the next meeting, Vote in 2 weeks. C
Correspondence
1. Letter from the Salvation Army asking for support for their Annual Christmas Campaign
- The decision was no since we are helping with the Gift
2. The CK Women’s Shelter is looking for donations
- Paul will send a photo of the letter to the club members for a decision at the next meeting
Committees:
1. Kees: Scrap metal
- Another cheque, for approx. $1700: Total for October is about $3000
2. Kees: The Gift, Saturday, Nov 19 are asking for helpers to collect as last year in SW Ridgetown
- We need 4 cars to collect in SW corner of the town
- All stuff collected will go to the Salvation Army
3 Kees: Taking down Cornstalks Oct 28, at 8:30 am
President Kees asked if there was “Anything for the good of Rotary?”
Kees closed the meeting at 8:09 pm.
The next meeting is on Nov.7, 2022.
Speaker is Special Constable Brenda Koldyk by Jeff Geddes
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