Here we GROW & GROW & GROW!!!!
President Len with great pride and appreciation of the hard work that the Membership Committee, led by Brandy Van Gelder, has done throughout this Rotary year....three new members were inducted last week at our Rotary luncheon; a total of eight new members this year to date!!!!
He invited Paul Timmins; Kelly Hammond and Dee O’Riordan to join him and Brandy at the front of the room. He said to the gathering that they must be getting tired of his same ole speech when he welcomes new members....actually President Len, we enjoy it every time and please keep doing that speech as our club grows and grows with new talented members and we all look forward to working with them and learning of their varied vocations that will make our club stronger with more depth to serve our community and the world..
In his remarks, President Len reviewed the role of membership and that the Club had invited these folks to be members of our club. He spoke of the motto – Service Above Self and The 4-Way Test; he reminded them that if they live their business and personal life toward the values of the 4-Way Test, that they will never go wrong. He encouraged then to wear their new Rotary Wheel pin every day, as it promotes their desire to serve their community and projects in the rest of the world to make our planet a better place.
For your review, here are the backgrounds of our three new members:
Kelly Hammond: Kelly’s classification will be automotive industry . I’ve been a resident of Huntsville for 38 years with a few intermissions in between. J I owned and operated my own custom picture framing business in Dwight for a few years in the 90’s and then moved out west to Whistler BC for a year. From there, I travelled to Japan where I taught English in an International school for 3 ½ yrs. Returning to Lake of Bays area in 2001, I purchased The Old Palmer House in Dwight and married my old high school sweetheart, Ed Hammond. I have 2 step children who are now 18 and 21 and together Ed and I have a 7 yr old daughter, Jorja. I ran The Old Palmer House for 6 yrs and then sold it to spend more time with my infant daughter. I ended up in the fitness industry a few years later and was promoted to Director of Operations which eventually led me to my current position of Rental Manager of 3 Discount Car and Truck Rental locations.
I have volunteered on several occasions for local charity and fundraising events, the largest and most exciting of which was personally raising almost $12,000 for our local Habitat For Humanity Muskoka. I successfully organized and followed through with several fundraising events before travelling to Africa and climbing Mt Kilimanjaro for that cause. The most fulfilling moment for me, was coming back and seeing the fruition of my efforts transform into a home for two local families, both of whom I know personally. Standing at the groundbreaking ceremony and speaking to the families and other volunteers who also put their hearts into the project made every moment of the 6 month adventure all worthwhile and brought into perspective……the reason we strive to be the best we can be, to help those who need assistance and to be a role model for our children, so that they too want to give back and not only make our community better, but the world better for everyone.
Paul Timmins: Paul’s classification will be - computer technology . I grew up in Toronto, specifically Moore Park, 4th of six siblings. In College I studied Business, but after a summer of writing and performing children’s musicals, I found I needed an outlet for my creativity, that took me into Radio, Television and Journalism. As I was graduating, the first computer graphics were just being developed (the spinning NBC logo) and I had to know how they did it, so I continued my education studying Computer Engineering Technology in Boston. I found writing software was a great way to combine my tech skills and my creativity.
In between semesters I started writing custom software in Toronto. At one social event I met a gentleman running a commodities fund. The next day I was sitting at a desk in the vice chairman’s office writing analytical and predictive software to create buy and sell orders for the fund. This was the start of several decades as a self employed developer doing work for most of the banks and brokerages on Bay St. I’ve written everything from complete trading systems for Bonds, Mutual Funds, Hedging and plenty of custom calculators. I ended up at Bloorview Kids Rehab, doing technology for kids that needed speech generating devices or computer access for those with limited mobility.
At about this time I met my sweetie, the lovely Jackie. One of the things that Jackie and I had in common was our love of the outdoors. We had talked about where we’d like to eventually end up and we both agreed it was somewhere near Algonquin. Jackie is tenacious when she gets a hold of something and that started the search. There was an investment property that caught her eye and we were on our way to Huntsville. While we were here, we saw the sale sign on the Purple House and just had to enquire. We fell in love with the place and the possibilities. We found ourselves a decade or so ahead of plan.
We spent the first year here setting up The Purple House (by the way, thank you Rotary for River Mill Park). We’re entering our 3rd year and it’s now possible for Jackie with the help of summer students to run it all. That leaves me to start something else. While I’ve been doing tech work around town and for previous Toronto clients, the demand for software in Huntsville isn’t what I hoped, but the demand for my Tech skills (utilizing that electrical engineering and a lifetime of taking things apart to see how it all works) has found that most everybody has an appliance that will need repair at some point. I’ve been apprenticing with Grant at 1st Choice Appliance Repair with the intent of taking over.
Dee O'Riordan: Dee’s classification will be web advertising. I was born and raised in a small village in County Cork, Ireland. I left home at an early age to go to University in the UK. I have a degree in Sports Science and Math. I would consider myself to be a Jock/Nerd. I love all sports, especially Irish Football and Soccer. The nerd in me loves Chess and Sci-fi. My favorite music is Rock N Roll. Apparently I have an old soul.
I vacationed here about 4 years ago and fell in love with its beauty and the people. I was never much for city life. I moved to Huntsville almost 2 years ago now (Via Ottawa) to start my business. I launched the Business last September and it has been steadily growing ever since. My Business is all about Local Businesses and the local economy. ShopHuntsville.ca was designed to help local businesses and shoppers get connected with the great products and services available from independent businesses in their community.
Becoming part of the Rotary Club is an obvious choice for me, so I can do even more for the community I have come to love. I am proud to call Huntsville my home and I am excited about becoming part of the Rotary Club so I can do my part for the community.
