This week, Susan Hazlett took notes of our full meeting and wrote the bulletin. Please note that the nature walk for Nov 29 will NOT be going forward as I had hoped.- Jason

Bhuvana opened the meeting with the announcement that our Richmond Hill club is the #1 Club in the District for Annual Program Funding per Capita. Thank you all for your donations of $100 last year. Bhuvana then welcomed the guest speakers of the evening from the media. Jason mentioned that we have 3 representatives of the media excluding Lori Martin from Rogers, who was planning to attend but unable due to sickness.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Glen announced that Naim Malik had been released from the hospital in time to attend a special function -- he was the recipient of an award for his contributions to the Markham Hospital. Naim is recuperating at home.

Hasnain reminded everyone that volunteers are still needed to sign up on the sheet being passed around for the TV Auction. He will send out another email reminder.

Binni reminded everyone that food contributions for the TV Auction are still required. Again, a signup sheet was passed around.

Paul V announced there would be a captain's meeting after the dinner meeting. Paul also announced that so far 86 items for the TV Auction have been collected bringing our Club to $160,000. He also noted that our Club has contributed $1.75M since the inception of the TV Auction and asked for volunteers to come to Marshall's on Friday at 1:00 to help with sorting the donations.

Gordon reported that if we are to rejoin Youth Exchange Program, we will need 3 or 4 host homes. The hosts do not necessarily need to be Rotarians, but they should have a connection to the club.

Peter asked that each of us put at least one poster from the TV Auction up somewhere. The new poster can be found on the website.

David T says that ham orders need to be put in this Friday. The hams will be ready for December 7.

Nash needs RSVP's for December 14 Xmas party. Please indicate # of guests and meal preference. Bhuvana requests that we all think of a "wish" for Santa.

SPEAKERS

Marni Beck, the Editor of The Liberal, spoke about the twice-weekly local newspaper. They have one reporter to cover Richmond Hill news. As well as covering local news, the Community Calendar is one of the more popular sections in the paper and the goal is to report any upcoming events before they happen. She referred to the calendar as the "lifeblood of the community". They have a Community Links group of volunteers who contribute to what goes into the paper.

Marj Andrea is the Director of the website www.onrichmondhill.com. This is a weekly e-newsletter that highlights business and community events and is distributed weekly on Tuesday nights. Because of its format, the size is unlimited, it can contain links and pictures, it can be forwarded to others and it can be uploaded into Blackberries. Marj gave an example of the magnitude of its scope in that 40 events around town are scheduled in the next two weeks.

Dan McPherson and Nic, from SNAP, then outlined that their paper also promotes local businesses and events and has a "good news" perspective. It is imbedded in their mandate to cover Rotary events and news and they will also help advertise events in advance.

All speakers agreed that they would like future information on news and events to be submitted in advance of the event if possible. They also agreed that because of the magnitude of the submissions they receive, a personal call or email would be appreciated.

Peter thanked the guests and presented each with a "Press Kit" of information about Rotary.

The speaker next week will be Michael White, who did tree planting with students last year and will be organizing another such event this year.