The Rotary Club of
Ridgetown

Membership Newsletter
Oct 24, 2022

President: Kees Boeters
President-Elect: Ron Bolohan
Past President: Jeff Geddes
Treasurer: Reinout von Martels
Secretary: Paul Brown
Sergeant at Arms: David Klatt
Directors:  David Klatt, Brian Pasmore, Ben Van Heeswijk and Bob Wilson
Attendance:
Members: 14
Spouses and Guests: Elaine Bolohan, Corrina Long, Doris Scoyne, Mary Jane Youlton
Birthdays:   None
Anniversaries: None
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 is from the Ridgetown area and has a degree in Environmental studies
  • She calls what she does Kelly’s Cat Club
  • Originally, she and a friend started helping local residents access the spray and neuter program in Windsor
  • It has since ballooned into a huge program including catching feral and barn cats and taking them to be fixed and then released
  • She also rounds up free cats off the internet to make sure they find good homes
  • A friend passed away some years ago leaving what he thought was12 barn cats; Kelly offered to help
  • She trapped many and had them fixed, but the 12 was actually 37
  • Most of the cats were fixed and returned to the barn but some went to rescues to find indoor homes
  • She works under the guidelines of trap, neuter, and release
  • Releases them back into the location from where they originally came.
  • By doing what she does, Kelly is hoping to help prevent disease and death in outdoor colonies
  • Feral cats are very area-wise and can cause the death of a wide variety of wildlife and can be a nuisance to neighbors so it is important to control the population through sterilization and vetting
  • There are several feral cat colonies around Ridgetown,
  • She and some volunteers have also made shelters to allow the cats to get out of the elements
  • By the end of November, she will have fixed about 400 houses, barns, and feral cats through Kelly’s Cat Cab in 2022
  • There are rescues/rescuers from all over SWOnt and as far away as Kingston who take in cats from Kelly when needed
  • There are volunteer drivers who help bring the cats wherever they need to go
  • Donations are needed for the wide variety of services Kelly and her program provides
  • Contact Kelly at kljohnson@hotmail.com
  • 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 other 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 this at the next meeting, Vote in 2 weeks.  
 
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
  • Several volunteered
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 special constable Brenda Koldyk by Jeff Geddes
 
l-r: President Kees Boeters, Bob Wilson, Ron Bolohan on accordion, Ben Van Heeswijk and Henny Boeters
 
 
Rotarian Ron Bolohan entertains with his accordion
 
 
l-r: Bob Wilson, Guest Speaker Kelly Johnson, and President Kees Boeters
 
NOTE: THIS BULLETIN IS A REPLACEMENT OF THE ONE SEND NOV 2 On request from Paul Brown



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