Upcoming Meetings

    • April 24, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Discover a diplomacy mission like no other in Ice War Diplomat, the behind-the-scenes story of the historic 1972 Summit Series. Amid the tension of the Cold War, caught between capitalism and communism, Canada and the Soviet Union, young Canadian diplomat Gary J. Smith must navigate the rink, melting the ice between two nations skating a dangerous path.

    On his first overseas assignment, Smith is tasked with finding common ground and building friendships between the world’s two largest countries. Once in Moscow, he opts for sports diplomacy, throwing off his embassy black tie and donning the blue-and-white sweater of the Moscow Maple Leafs.

    Trusted by each side with unparalleled access to officials, coaches and players on both teams, Smith witnesses this unique and epic hockey series that has come to transcend time, becoming a symbol of the unity and clarity that sports can offer. The 1972 Canadian-Soviet Hockey Series will go down in history as a pivotal political event, changing the course of two nations and the world of hockey—the fascinating story in these pages will appeal to history and sports fans alike.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, Stan Jones will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

    • May 29, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Eric Avner is the President and CEO of  the Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF).

    Some info about WRCF . . .

    We collaborate with partners to create sustainable, equitable and thriving communities.

    We connect regionally and locally, working with three cities and four townships – to include the people and places across our region. Together, we develop forward-thinking innovative solutions and seize opportunities to meet current and future needs of our community.

    We make philanthropy easy for individuals and companies to support organizations and issues they care about. WRCF is focused on Granting, Impact Investing and Convening to make measurable and sustainable impacts.

    Gifts are directed to WRCF's endowed funds that drive positive change through grants with the income generated being distributed in partnership with Fundholders to support a wide range of charitable causes within our community. A portion of the endowed funds are also used for impact investments that deliver both financial returns as well as positive social or environmental outcomes.

    As a leading community-building organization, we also work to amplify voices and issues of importance by convening conversations and sharing information, while approaching our work with an equity mindset.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, Pat Ramcharitar will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

    • June 26, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Mike Drak is a thirty-eight-year veteran of the financial services industry.

    He started his own Victory Lap in 2014 and is currently working with his wife an investment advisor helping her clients design their own fulfilling retirement lifestyles.

    Mike is a best-selling author, award winning blogger, public speaker and retirement lifestyle designer. His retirement blog articles can be found at Booming Encore..

    His best seller “Victory Lap Retirement” was based on the realization that traditional full stop retirement doesn’t work for most people anymore due to increasing longevity. The book presents a new life model better suited to today’s reality.

    His follow up book “Retirement Heaven or Hell: Which Will You Choose?” shares some of Mike’s personal experiences in retirement and highlights how people can design and transition to their own unique retirement lifestyle. This book also outlines the valuable retirement lessons learned from the pandemic and introduces nine retirement principles that can support creating a long, healthy and fulfilling life.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, Don Bark will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

    • July 31, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Kathy Somers will speak about "Tips for Better Sleep".

    Kathy runs the Stress Management and High Performance Clinic at the University of Guelph. 

    She is a registered Kinesiologist who is board certified in biofeedback (Biofeedback Certification International Alliance) and certified in Stress Management Education.

    Since 1983 Kathy has taught relaxation and stress management skills to groups and individuals. She currently provides the University of Guelph with programs in Relaxation & Stress Management Skills, Better Sleep, Decreasing Headaches, STOP Worrying!,

    Does it take a long time to fall asleep? Mid-night awakenings? Sleep is not refreshing?

    Kathy will share the most effective drug-free strategies to promote better, restful sleep. (Yes, it's true that long term use of sleeping pills changes your sleep structure and generates insomnia!)

    Topics covered include:
    - the 3 keys to decreasing insomnia
    - what robs us of energizing sleep
    - how to fall asleep (or back to sleep) more easily
    - techniques that settle down the busy brain making it easier to sleep.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, Dave Brodhagen will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

    • August 28, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Tom Herstad, a marketing major, entrepreneur and technology expert, has been bringing physical light into homes for many years.

    He now is bringing transformational light into the hearts of families around the world with Margie’s Message of hope.

    One woman (his mother) made the difference in numerous lives, and Margie’s stories can be adopted and emulated by us, to change the lives of others in our circle of influence.

    Despite her childhood hardships, then losing the love of her life and becoming a young widow with four children, the beautiful, vivacious Margie dedicated her life to loving, caring and sharing her wisdom.

    Margie opened her heart and her home to help those who needed her loving guidance. With unswerving dedication to her family and friends, she transformed lives and inspired joy and hope in everyone through her generosity, sense of fun and unfailing faith.

    The many recollections within this uplifting tribute to a unique, sweet soul portray Margie’s loving legacy. Love, Care and Share will inspire you to find what is most important to you. You will discover your own truth, and how everyone, everywhere, every day has opportunities to make a positive difference.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, Mike Atkinson will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

    • September 25, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Wendy Beth Moore is an award-winning marketer and intense researcher. In her role as Research & Marketing Manager at Hear Well Be Well Hearing Clinics, she does the deep dive into the science and social science around hearing loss.

    Did you know ignoring hearing loss can have far-reaching repercussions?

    Untreated hearing loss has been shown, through world-wide research, to increase your risks of developing concerning health issues, including dementia and depression. It’s also known to contribute to the risk of a serious fall putting you in hospital—and 1/3 of older adults who go to hospital because of a fall don’t go home. They go to long-term care.

    And if that’s not enough, research is now showing the profound impact of ignored hearing loss on relationships. There are some startling statistics.

    Learn the signs of hearing loss and the risks of leaving it untreated in this amusing, informative presentation.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

    • October 30, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Barbara Dickson will speak to us about:

    Canada’s Bomb Girls: Trading Aprons for Ammo

    The vast majority of people who live in Ontario are unaware that an extensive abandoned tunnel system runs under the city of Toronto.

    During the Second World War, the Canadian government built a sprawling top secret munitions plant outside the city limits in the rural community of Scarborough.

    The plant, called GECO — pronounced Gee-ko — comprised 346 acres, over four kilometers of tunnels, and 172 buildings (built in seven months.)

    Women from Toronto and across Canada — some from as far away as the Maritimes and British Columbia — moved to Toronto to work at the plant eager to do their “bit” for King and Country.

    Many women also moved to Pickering, Ontario to work at the D.I.L. shell-filling plant. With countless thousands fighting overseas, countless more men and women worked tirelessly in Canadian war plants, producing everything from planes and tanks to ammo and bandages.

    GECO personnel often referred to their workers as the “Fourth Arm of the Service” or the “Girls behind the Guns” and were eager to help end the war quickly to bring their menfolk home.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

    • November 27, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Here's some notes from Debbie Bulten, our guest speaker on November 27 . . .

    My name is Debbie Bulten, I’m a mother of 3, a joint business owner with my husband, and a multi-sport endurance athlete.

    I’ve been very fortunate to enjoy a long athletic career spanning 4 decades. My running journey started at the age of 15 with the regional track and field team, and progressed through Provincial and National levels.

    I took a break during my university years to concentrate on studies, then resumed when I was 25, after the birth of my first child. I completed my first marathon in Toronto that year, and found my love of running again. I competed in my first triathlon several years later, which kick started my journey into Ironman triathlon.

    During my years of competing in Ironman races, I began training for ultramarathons. I’d found a passion for endurance sports. My first ultra distance race was in 2011. Since then I’ve run more than 80 ultras ranging in distance from 50km to 400km (240 miles).

    I was the first female to complete a 200 mile trail ultra in Canada, and in 2023 I completed a climbing project known as the Seven Summits, climbing the highest mountain peak on each of the seven continents around the world.

    I summited both Mt. Everest and Mt. Lhotse (4th highest mountain in the world) back to back, within 24 hours, making me the first Canadian woman to ever accomplish the feat.

    I was honoured with the 2023 Tim Turow Athlete of the Year award for mountaineering. I undertook the Seven Summits project because I thrive on challenges that engage both mind and body, and I strive to push the limits of my own potential in my endeavours.

    Through endurance sport, I try to show myself and others that we are capable of more than we think, and the potential of our bodies and minds can be realized when we put ourselves out there.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, Tom Dean will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

    • January 29, 2025
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Dr. Gary Bruce will be speaking to us about:

    "The Return of Nazism?"

    Professor Bruce is the recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Teacher Award at the University of Waterloo.

    He has been teaching undergraduates and graduates in the history department at the University of Waterloo since September 2003.

    The courses taught by Professor Bruce include the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, and graduate seminars on modern European history.

    Professor Bruce’s students note that he has the gift of rhetoric with the “ability to capture his students in a lecture, dazzle students in discussion, and his creativity generates thought outside of the classroom.”

    His innovative activity called ‘Did I vote for Hitler?’ encouraged the students to apply their knowledge. In this activity, the class must decide whether a certain person voted for the Nazis based on the character and demographic traits of random individuals presented in a series of slides.

    A colleague describes his courses as a bridge between the past and the present. ”His courses are journeys and he invites students to accompany him on them. And from what the students tell me, each time he teaches a course it has all the magic of the first time he taught it, yet also all of the wisdom that goes into a course that has been taught many years by a great instructor. It is a fine line to walk, but somehow Dr. Bruce manages with flying colours. It is an art that comes naturally to him and one that he mastered early in his career.”

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.


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