Jan 7, 2019 Bulletin (Jan 07, 2019)

Jan 7, 2019 Bulletin

Opening/Chair: Jim Goit was the chair today.

Visitors/Guests: Our Guest Speaker Leslie Wilson, her father Dave Wilson and Barb Upshorn joined us.

Speaker: Today's speaker is Leslie Wilson. Leslie is President and General Manager of Ski Wentworth. She’s also co-chair of Kerr Controls and on the management team at Wilsons Fuel.

She sits on the boards of the Atlantic Snow Resorts Association and the Canadian Ski Council.

Leslie graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in physical and health education, and followed that up with a journalism degree from Humber College. Before hitting the slopes, she established her journalism career at the Truro Daily News before moving on to positions at CBC, Global, the National Sport Centre in Calgary and the Calgary Sun.

Leslie has been inducted into the Colchester County Sport Hall of Fame, for her achievements in Track and Field. She’s also in the University of Toronto Sport Hall of Fame and was Nova Scotia female athlete of the year in 1986.

Lesley’s father Dave is the recipient of the Rotary Club’s 2014-2015 Community Service Award. The Wilson family has always been great supporters of Rotary.

During Leslie's presentation, she reviewed the history of Ski Wentworth along with some of the highlights over the years and opportunities for the future.

George Wilson and a group of dedicated volunteers cut the first trail at Ski Wentworth back in the 1950s. Since then, there have been many milestones along the way, including with the first rope toe in 1957 the chairlift and lodge in 1988-89, and the magic carpet in 2009-10. Leslie was excited to share the 2009 update which included a three million dollar expansion of snowmaking infrastructure and trail development in preparation of the 2011 Canada Winter Games. Ski Wentworth currently has the largest snowmaking plant in Atlantic Canada.

Ski Wentworth employs around 200 full time and part time staff seasonally and offers many programs and events to the community as well as ski and snowboard lessons. This year they're off to a great start with the earliest first day open in the last five years. As they look on to the future there are many opportunities including potentially hosting the ski events for the 2023 Winter Games. (fingers crossed).

Member Health:

Al Cooze's Mother in Law passed away.
Longtime member Ernie Bradley passed away. His service was held on Dec 28th.

Announcements and Reports: Brian Matthews gave everyone an update on Christmas Index. All the remaining toys were moved from the distribution centre to the office. Melissa will finish up final reports over the next week. Roughly 800 families were served through the program this year.

President's Report: No Report

Happy Mug: We have many happy Rotarians!

Alana is engaged! Congrats Alana.
Ted is happy because his son Matt is back to work
Wayne retired on Dec 28th is settling nicely into his new official role as Ski Bum
Jane was happy because she spent the majority of her Christmas Break with her family at the ski hill.
Kevin was happy to spend his 69th Birthday in the Philippines.
Barb was happy to spend her holiday break with Jim, in Ottawa with her children and grandkids.
Joanna is grateful to have Ski Wentworth and the Wilson family who is passionate about creating such a wonderful space for people to use.
Jim is happy to be in his 8th year as an instructor at Ski Wentworth.

50/50: Barb was the lucky winner of 50/50 this week, walking away with $56

Closing: 1:00 p.m.