Meeting Date: Monday, Mar 2nd, 2026, Anglican Parish Hall. After a wonderful dinner prepared by the ACW, David B started the meeting by thanking the ladies in the kitchen.
Correspondence: Re a letter from our last meeting, the East Kent Celebrates group received $500 from our club in 2025, so we will give them that amount this year.
Program: Judie introduced her speaker Richard Lucid on the Camino Walk
- Richard and Fran taught at RDHS and he and Fran have 5 children and 14 grandkids
- Fran walked the 800 km Camino de Santiago de Compastella in Spain in 2008, Richard in 2013 and 2017 and Richard wanted to give overview
- Comino means The Way and is a pilgrimage dating back to the Middle Ages
- Lately, it has become very popular with 400000 people walking it last year
- Most people walk but some bike
- Reasons for walking vary from spiritual, recreation and cultural
- Richard said that you should never compare your walk with anyone else’s
- Richard’s wife, Fran went first and took 45 days to do her walk and before she went she walked all over C-K, with her backpack often with friends
- The best time to go, weather-wise is between mid-September and come home at the end of October
- Fran made sure that Richard had really good shoes, a special jacket, good woolen socks all from Mountain Equipment plus Vaseline his feet to prevent blisters
- Your backpack was no more than 10% of their body weight
- You have to be well physically, emotionally and spiritually
- Richard flew to Paris France and then made his way to St Jean Pied de Port in the south of France
- The first day, he got up early and started up the Pyrenees and down the other side, a distance of 35 km up and down, wanting to get to Spain by night
- He left early, using walking poles and still saw people ahead of him with flashlights to see their way
- True pilgrims stay in hostels called albergues, with the first one having 120 bed in one room
- He did what he could all along the trial to meet as many different people
- He passed cemetery with a sign that said “You are where I once was, you will be where I am now
- He told many stories from both of his walks which were very interesting
- Fran read an email that Richard received from a man whose father had met Richard on the Camino
- His father had taken a photo of Richard with his thumbs up
- Underneath he had written what Richard said to him “Count Your Blessings”
- He had framed it and it hangs in the family home
- The man’s father had just died and he wanted Richard to know how important Richard’s words were to him and the whole family
- Richard spoke for almost 45 minutes and could probably kept the Rotarians for quite a while longer and certainly had several folks wishing that they could walk the Camino as well
Other Business
a. Ron: Amendments to the Constitution
b. David B: Strategic Plan Committee
- We have to set up a 3 year plan
- Committee of 4-5 members
c. David B: CK Sector Spring Fling
- April 16, 2026 in Dresden
- David B will send out a sign-up sheet
d. David B: District 6380 Conference
- We have received a $5000 grant from Enbridge for use on our May 2nd activity
- A guest speaker list is attached
- All members not attending the Conference are expected to help out with the 2 hour session
e. David B: The Service Club expo
- April 25th, 2026 Update
- There are 6 clubs/organizations taking place
50-50 and Happy Bucks
- Carla V won the 50-50 and David B went to Windsor for an event run by the Windsor Rotary
President David asked if there was “Anything for the good of Rotary?”
President David closed the meeting unofficially at approximately
The next meeting is on: Monday, March 16 at the Anglican Parish Hall
The theme for the 25-26 Rotary year is “Unite for Good”
