Sergeant at Arms Jim Miners indicated that, even though several fines could have been administered, none would be – who says the Sergeants have no heart?

There was one birthday to be celebrated, Drew Carey’s.

Bob Nichol inducted our newest member, Maria Micallef, Innkeeper at the Wigamog Inn. Bob warned Maria that she would likely get tapped on the shoulder to do her classification speech – but then isn’t Art Dawson still anxious to do his? Welcome to the club Maria.

President Jim announced that Kim Varty has been proposed as a member. Any member with a concern regarding this proposal should approach Jim.

President Jim read a thank you from Tanya Hunter, recipient of one of our Bursaries at Haliburton Highlands Secondary School. He also informed us of a new member referral from a club in Scotland. Ted Schultz, a neighbour of Derek Knowles, has visited that club and they felt we should know about him. Derek will follow up.

Linda Beachli reported that the Christmas Party came very close to break even. 83 dinners were purchased and the band cost $2,500 plus dinner. Great job Linda – what are your plans for next year.

The slate of board members for the coming year was announced.

President - Steve Roberts

Vice President - Bob Nichol

Secretary - Andy Salvatori

Treasurer - Jim Henwood

Directors - Donna MacDonald

President Jim has information about a curling bonspiel in Bracebridge for those interested.

As of January 1, the Lindsay club will be meeting at the curling club in Lindsay. Their contact number is 705-324-3857.

VP Steve began by thanking all who allowed their names to be presented as members of the board for his year as President.

"60 Member Program" – proposed by Ted Brandon

In a nutshell, Ted would like us to adopt a goal of achieving 60 members by our 60^th anniversary, May 24, 2004. He suggested that we take our list of potential members to the next level, as other clubs have done. This would involve a direct mail program to the people on the list, letting them know about Rotary and our interest in them as potential members. After a short time, each letter would be followed up by a personal call from one of our members (dinner time works best for these kinds of calls).

Ted asked for volunteers to be on a committee – he got Hugh Nichol, Tracey McMullen, Linda Beachli, Brian Menton and Curry Bishop.

Dragon Boat Festival update – Jim Miners

Jim reported that he had spoken to the company facilitating these events and estimates that start-up costs would be in the area of $20,000 and that an event would need between 20 and 30 boats to net money for Rotary’s cause. Ted pointed out that other clubs have done very well in their first year. Jim offered his opinion that these clubs were all located in larger centres with access to more teams. John Gunning offered to work with Jim to see whether funding is available to offset the start-up costs. Keep your paddles in the water for further updates.

Centennial Project – proposed by Jerry Walker

Jerry discussed his plan for a pavilion in the park. The structure would be relatively vandal proof and would be a welcome addition to the park. Jerry estimates that our budget for the structure would need to be between $40 and $50,000 and has already secured the help of Jamie Cowan on his team. VP Steve asked whether there were any other ideas, since he needs to report our plans by the end of the year. There were none and a show of hands indicated full support for Jerry’s idea.

Snowarama – report by Greg Scheffee

Greg told us that the date this year is January 25 and that he has already begun his mail and poster promotion. Put the date on your calendar.

Car Draw – proposal by VP Steve

The Board had previously discussed the idea of "mandatory service on the street with the car". This would mean that every member would have at least one day of responsibility for the car and ticket sales. The members showed their support for this idea by a show of hands. There is as yet no chairperson for this committee.

Exchange Student Update – by VP Steve

Christmas Lunch at the Old Country House – Thursday, December 19, noon

Meeting for December 26 is cancelled.

Meeting for January 2 – Pinestone, regular time.