General Meeting ~ January 7th 2010

The Royal City Men's Club met at Trinity United Church Gymnasium on the above date. There were 44 members and one guest present. President Tom Beale rang the ceremonial bell at 10:00 a.m. and welcomed everyone to the meeting. John Pawley introduced new members, Ken Dick, Vernon Scott and Russell Scott, and guest Peter Moffat, who is the new interim pastor at Trinity United Church (along with his wife). Tom then related a few interesting historical facts related to this date. Len Johnstone advised members that a Sweetheart Dinner has been planned for February 13, 7:00 PM at Delainey's Restaurant on Woodlawn Road in Guelph. The cost will be $27 per person and a minimum of 20 people is required to reserve the Lounge. Len needs to know how many will be coming and asked members to contact him at the meeting or by email. Tom Beale thanked Bob Reeve for bringing cookies for everyone to enjoy and then introduced guest speaker, Sandy Middleton. Sandy spoke about his childhood in Scotland and its impact on who he became. Since he was born in 1938, lived a good part of WWII in the naval port city of Peterhead, and his banker father was responsible for getting residents into bomb shelters, his story centered around war. He divided his presentation into three parts: boyhood excitement over war, gradual realization of what war really means, and the aftermath of war. Photo by Bill Apsit In-spite-of computer technical difficulties preventing his use of slides, Sandy told a captivating story of how the war impacted his life as a child, his enlightenment about the realities of war and how those and the continuing hard times in Britain after the war impacted him and his family. Sandy said his family immigrated to Canada as a result of friendships made during the war and the difficult economic conditions in Britain following the war. He is thankful for all that Canada has offered him and all his family. He finds the consumer society perplexing. He deplores waste of food, wears clothes until they are worn out, and does not replace his perfectly fine camera just because there is a fancier one on the market. And in the end, he is a confirmed and unapologetic pacifist, confirmed that war is no way to resolve human problems. Sandy spoke to a particularly attentive audience, many of whom indicated that Sandy's story brought back vivid memories of their own lives during that time. Murray Mathieson confirmed the connections Sandy had made, thanked him and presented him with a small token of appreciation from the RCMC. John Bull reminded members interested in the Stratford Theatre outing on October 7th to pay a $25 deposit today, or at latest, at the next meeting on January 21. The total cost will be $100 per person. Forty-seven people are required to fill the bus. Tom Beale advised that Ed Crispin will be speaking about Physicians for Global Survival at the next meeting, January 21, and adjourned the meeting at 10:55 a.m. Gordon Framst, Secretary