In April 2004 the club partnered with the Puslinch Library to host a series of 5 2-hour parenting workshops. One of our primary objectives as a club was the support of initiatives involving children, and hosting parenting workshops was a natural fit. Providing parents and teachers with tools to enable them to build self-esteem in children, by focusing on their positive qualities, can benefit both the family and the community. The workshop was based on "The Virtues Project" an international organization dedicated to inspiring spiritual growth in young and old alike by showing parents and teachers how to turn words into actions, and ideals into realities. The first session was uplifting, encouraging, strengthening and thought-provoking and included approximately 25 parents and teachers.
Our sponsor club, Guelph-Trillium, had invited us to have a booth at their annual Ribfest event. While we had a booth at that event for a number of years where we sold coffee, the August 2004 event was unique and most memorable! It rained so much, and was cold, which didn’t hurt hot coffee sales. And we all had a ringside seat to the “body surfing” done by a number of attendees, taking advantage of the large puddles that had formed on the grounds.
With February 2005 representing the 100th anniversary of the very first Rotary club meeting, all Rotary clubs were considering local celebrations. Our club became aware that a local resident was turning 100 and decided to hold a special celebration for his 100th birthday. Norman Mears was a Harmony House retirement home resident, across the street from Springfield, and was a long-time seasonal resident of Mini Lakes in Aberfoyle. Norm’s birthday was actually on a Thursday, September 16, so the birthday celebration was held at the weekly breakfast meeting with Puslinch Mayor Brad Whitcombe in attendance to congratulate him. Charter member Dale Sims was also Editor of the Puslinch Pioneer newspaper and did a special interview and article in the paper about Norm and his interesting life. Norm was so touched by the attention and spoke of it often before his passing exactly 3 months later.
