Coffee with a Rotarian
By Jacinthe Paille
I had the pleasure of sitting down in front of my iPad to have a chat with our club president, Chris Cochrane. What was set for a 20-minute conversation ended up being an hour of discoveries, laughter, and a very good start to my day (not to mention a new Rotary year).
So, here goes: What do Chris and I have in common? We both called Toronto home for some time – he is from there, leaving in the early 2000s to move to Brockville. I lived there for three years before moving to Montreal at the end of 2007. What’s more, he used to live in the Bloor West neighbourhood, and I was a member of the Parkdale-High Park Rotary Club, which meets at the Grenadier Restaurant in High Park, right by Bloor West. Small world!
I learned that Chris founded the RC of Brockville, and started the e-club of Silicon Valley, which now has 200 members from around the world – including 33% of Millennials! This club is video-based: members simply need to log in once a week, whenever they wish; and similarly to our Passport club, members get involved in their local community. Although he is now retired, Chris keeps busy by helping people leverage social media to make money, and volunteering on the Rose Parade committee, among other activities.
Finally, as a native of Montreal, I was surprised (and impressed!) to learn that as a young man, our club president was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens – and even if he was not selected to play on the team, his love of hockey is still strong. Chris is definitely an inspiration and will certainly help our club connect with the world!
Wishing our president an excellent Rotary year!
WEEK 4-THE ROTARY FOUNDATION
WHAT THE ARCHITECT OF THE ROTARY FOUNDATION HAD TO SAY: “The Rotary Foundation is not to build monuments of brick and stone. If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work on brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, if we imbue them with the full meaning of the spirit of Rotary . . . we are engraving on those tablets something that will brighten all eternity.” Arch C. Klumph, President of Rotary International, 1916-1917
Secretary's thoughts for this week.
Amazing how one depends on internet and when it isn't there, you wonder what you'd do without it. Connection problems prevented me from getting this out earlier. I will not be joining the meeting tomorrow for that reason as well.