December 9, 2025
Jordan Klapman gave us a talk on “Oy Tannenbaum! The Great Secular Christmas Songs”, the fascinating stories behind the greatest secular Christmas songs of the 20th century.
Jordan is a pianist, accompanist, bandleader, composer, and music producer with over forty years of professional experience performing multiple genres of music, including jazz standards, The American Popular Songbook, Broadway, Latin, R&B, Pop Rock, and Jewish music of all kinds. Since 2005 he has also presented unique, highly “edutaining” multimedia lectures on 20th century popular music of all kinds to students at universities, colleges, continuing education centres, and to private study groups.
November 11, 2025
Author and motivational speaker Hailey Patry inspired us with her presentation: “The Best is Yet to Come: How to make the Rest of Your Years, The Best of Your Years”.
Hailey is founder of The Lifted Lid: “Life Uncapped” and is known for her work as Your True Happiness Coach, The Marriage Mentor and Relationship Repair Specialist. She is an award-winning author with five international best-selling books, in addition to her book “Happy Love”. Having spoken to over two million audience members and with students in 136 countries, Hailey is an authority on happiness and relationships.
October 14, 2025
Our featured speaker was author and historian Ted Barris, who presented Battle of The Atlantic.
Ted has worked as a freelance journalist, broadcaster and author since the 1960s. A winner of awards including the Order of Canada, Ted has brought dramatic historic events to life for
students, readers and listeners. Ted had some of his books for sale at the meeting
September 8, 2025
Our guest speaker was Neil Crone, who has been an actor for many years in film, television, stage and radio, and was an Emmy nominee for his work in the CBC series “Endlings”.
As a performer in dozens of TV shows, television/radio commercials, and cartoons; he is a familiar face to many Canadians. Neil gave us an interesting and entertaining insight into his world with his presentation: I’m not a Real Person but I play one on TV: My life in Canadian Film.
June 10, 2025
Kiera Toffelmire works to help rescueand redistribute surplus food to non-profit food programs nationally. She is Vice President of Learning and Engagement Second Harvest Canada. Kiera gave us an interesting and thought-provoking talk on “The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste”.
46.5% of food is wasted each year in Canada, with 41.7% avoidable, and 17% at-home waste. She discussed what Second Harvest is doing to address the crisis and what individuals can do in their everyday lives to be part of the solution.
May 13, 2025
Stephen Ilott gave us a humorous and interactive presentation on “Decluttering for Seniors”.
He is the author of The Domestic Archeologist: Confessions of a Professional Home Declutterer, and many articles in publications such as Metroland Media and Inside Halton. Stephen has worked on decluttering over 3,000 homes and enjoys working with seniors. Copies of his book were available for sale after the meeting.
April 8, 2025
Christine Ibbotson is an author, columnist and broadcaster who has a weekly syndicated column called “Ask the Money Lady” . Her talk radio show and her money minute show can be heard on over 300 radio stations across Canada. She also presents the “Ask the Money Lady” TV show. Christine’s presentation was entitled “Longevity and How to Create a Lifelong Income in Retirement”. Her presentation was a fun and interactive talk about how to be creative when it comes to money, life experiences and living life to the fullest.
March 11, 2025
Adam Chapnick spoke on Canada and the World, Past, Present and Future. This very informative and timely presentation gave us insight into the facts that impact Canada as a world player and on our foreign policy.
Adam is a professor of defense studies at the Royal Military College of Canada. Outside of the college, Adam lectures about Canadian politics and international security. Adam has also appeared on national television as a foreign policy expert and has been featured as an expert witness before numerous national security and defense committees.
February 12, 2025
Denise Davy is a nationally-recognized award-winning journalist who specializes in writing about mental health, homelessness and gender issues. Denise worked at the Hamilton Spectator for 26 years and she was twice honoured with the Journalist of the Year award by the Ontario Newspaper Association, and she is the recipient of a National Newspaper Award and four national journalism fellowships.
Denise lives in Burlington Ontario and is founder of Purses for Margaret, which provides toiletries to homeless women. She spoke to us about her book Her Name Was Margaret and about the crisis in homelessness.
January 14, 2025
Our guest speaker was Dr. Gary Crawford who presented Frauds and Conspiracies in the World of Archeology.
During his career, Dr. Crawford and his colleagues fought the trend that presents outdated and incorrect views of the past, which are evidenced in TV series such as “Ancient Aliens”, “The curse of Oak Island” and “Ancient Apocalypse”.
Dr. Crawford is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at University of Toronto, Mississauga. During his years in education, he has taught thousands of students in a variety of courses and hosted an educational TV series on TV Ontario.
November 12, 2024
Steve MacNeil gave us a presentation on The Vehicle Development Cycle: The Toyota Way. Steve was Vice President, Lexus manufacturing, at the Cambridge facility prior to his retirement in 2023. His main responsibility was preparation for the next generation Lexus RX and the newly launched Lexus NX. He oversaw all aspects of quality at the Cambridge and Woodstock facilities.
Steve discussed the voice of the customer, vehicle design, pre-production, production preparation at the plant and Toyota suppliers. He also shared his views about the importance of People Development at each stage.
October 8, 2024
Constable Ariel Reyes gave us an enlightening and timely presentation entitled How Seniors can be Proactive with Fraud, Scams and Auto Theft. Constable Reyes has been an officer with Peel Regional Police since 2006. For most of his career he has served at 11 Division, working on both patrol duty as well as in the Criminal Investigations Unit. Since then, he has worked in homicide and has spent four years as a financial crimes investigator in the Fraud Bureau, specializing in Elder Abuse.
September 10, 2024
John Brown presented The Catholic Church, Residential Schools and Indigenous Spirituality.
John is a distinguished legal professional who earned his law degree from the University of Toronto and was admitted to the bar in 1983. Currently, John is a key member of the legal team at McCarthy Tetrault, where he serves as a legal and strategic advisor for Indigenous Initiatives. His dedication to reconciliation is evident through his role as the chair of McCarthy Tetrault’s Reconciliation Committee.
John began his presentation with a smudging ceremony which he invited all members to join. He then gave an educational and inspirational talk about the ongoing impact of the difficult history and why reconciliation is so important today.
John’s family on his father’s side is rooted in the Sto:lo Nation, whose traditional territory lies in the Fraser River Valley in British Columbia. His personal and professional journey reflects a deep commitment to Indigenous rights and reconciliation. His recent publication, A Firm Route to Reconciliation, further underscores his dedication to advancing meaningful change within the legal community and beyond.
August 13, 2024
Annemarie Hagan spoke on The Unexpected Life of Mayor ‘Hurricane Hazel’ McCallion”. Annemarie is an award-winning curator and museum professional, including Manager of the Museums of Mississauga. More recently, she was Senior Curator, History at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum, and Archives (PAMA) in Brampton. Annemarie gave us a fascinating glimpse of our famous and favourite mayor, including her personal and professional perspectives of Hazel’s life and legacies and her many accomplishments as mayor from 1978 to 2014.
July 16, 2024
Anne Desbarats, on behalf of the Speaker’s Committee, introduced her son Patrick Desbarats. Patrick worked for the United World College South East Asia Campus facility for seven years as the Head of Counselling and College Placement at the American School of Doha. Prior to this placement, Patrick was a counsellor in a public school north of Toronto.
Patrick gave us a fascinating talk about The Power of Education in Changing Lives. He told us about his experiences in Singapore and other countries and how they opened the world to him and his family. His presentation illustrated how education makes a significant impact in war torn and poverty stricken countries.
June 11, 2024
Dave Taylor is a Wildlife Photographer and author of more than 45 books, ebooks and dozens of magazine articles on wildlife and ecology. Dave has traveled throughout the world capturing nature with his camera. After teaching science and geography for more than 30 years and teaching nature photography at Humber College for more than 25 years, he recently retired as the Educational Program Director of the Riverwood Conservancy. Dave spoke about Ontario Survivors, featuring three Southern Ontario species: white-tailed deer, coyote and black bear.
May 14, 2024
Denice Garell-Teti, who gave us an interesting and light-hearted talk entitled “Beauty and the Bees”. Denice is a member of the Ontario Beekeeping Association, and also belongs to the Ontario Women’s Beekeeping Network. A strong supporter of women in beekeeping, Denice’s future goal is to pay it forward by mentoring female beekeepers at her apiary. She has had prize-winning success entering her honey at many Ontario fairs. In addition to producing honey for family, friends, and honey aficionados, Denice enjoys creating interesting hive products from beeswax and experimenting with honey in recipes. She is currently writing a children’s colouring book on bees. With an M.Ed. combined with extensive teaching/training and leadership experiences, Denice enjoys speaking to people about her bees, and through storytelling, helping them understand more about the need to work together for a more sustainable earth for humankind.
April 9, 2024
Our speaker was Sara Wilbur-Collins, Executive Director of The Riverwood Conservancy (TRC) since June 2021. Sara is one of about twenty people in Canada who hold a Master of Conservation Leadership degree. Sara was joined by Nicole Clarkson, Director of Development.
Sara and Nicole gave us an interesting talk on “Riverwood: Nature Preserve along the Credit River”. Riverwood is a 150-acre oasis of woodlands, ravines, gardens, creeks, ponds, meadows, and trails in the heart of Mississauga. With abundant wildlife including deer, beavers, mink, and over 180 bird species, Riverwood is an incredibly diverse ecosystem, close to the beautiful Credit River. The Riverwood Conservancy works with like-minded groups and individuals to enable people of all cultures, ages, and abilities to respectfully connect with nature.
March 12, 2024
Maureen O’Leary presented an interesting overview of “Irish Saints, Myths, and Legends”, in keeping with the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day. Maureen is a prominent member of the Irish community, and was awarded Irish person of the year in 2024 by Hamilton Irish Arts. She teaches Ceili dancing, and folk music, singing, and storytelling in Mississauga, Toronto and Hamilton.
February 13, 2024
Angie Sandow presented her talk entitled “Why Can’t I?” Angie is a motivational speaker, author, documentary executive producer, motorcycle enthusiast, musician and cancer survivor. Despite being born with congenital birth abnormalities, she has persevered and believes that anyone can achieve their dreams with determination and self-belief. Angie had copies of her book available for purchase. She donates a portion of the proceeds of her sales to Wellspring, a non-profit organization providing free programs for cancer patients and their caregivers.
January 9, 2024
Rob Leek spoke to us about one of his passions: The Flags of the World. Rob was born in Hamilton, is a graduate of McMaster University in Sociology, and was in the executive search area. Rob and his wife Gillian currently operate a five-star Bed & Breakfast in the village of Bloomfield and he is also an active Rotarian. He has a collection of over 500 flags and he brought two dozen of them to show us, some of which are award-winning. He talked about how flags stir emotions, and what makes a good flag design, including simplicity, basic 2 or 3 colours, no text, meaningful symbolism, and being distinctive and unique.
December 12, 2023
Angelica Ganea entertained us with beautiful vocal renditions of holiday and classical songs. Angelica is a refugee from Romania and she spoke about her life in her home country. Angelica is multi-talented: she is a musician who writes and records, has a YouTube channel, is working on a PBS special, and is the author of four books. Angelica also received an Award of Excellence for breaking cultural barriers through music.
November 14, 2013
Bob Warren was our speaker and photography is his passion. Bob was a high school English teacher and he is a longstanding member of the Mississauga Camera Club, and a member of the Credit River Probus Club. Bob provided an excellent presentation, sharing many of his spectacular landscape photos, and gave us valuable tips on how to take better photos. He invited us to check out his website at bobwarrenphotography.ca.
October 10, 2023
Our speaker was Salwa Qadir, a personal trainer and educator for 11 years, whose specialties include nutrition, exercise and rehab. She spoke about Functional Fitness for Seniors, providing many useful tips and led us in a series of simple exercises to help maintain strong bodies.
September 12, 2023
Dr. Emma Allen-Vercoe is Professor and Canada Research Chair at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at University of Guelph. She presented the topic Missing Gut Microbes (and where to find them). She provided us with a detailed talk on the importance of microbes to our health and the research which has been completed in this field.
August 8, 2023
Barbara Dickson is an award-winning best-selling author, historian, public speaker and documentary film producer who has entertained, educated, and enlightened audiences for twenty-five years.
Her book Bomb Girls: Trading Aprons for Ammo is a comprehensive historical record of Canada’s biggest WWII munitions plant, GECO, which employed over 21,000 citizens, predominantly women, courageously working with high explosives around the clock during the Second World War.
Barbara strives to educate Canadians about the phenomenal work carried out by women across the nation whose invaluable contribution helped win the World War II. She is committed to ensuring that Canada’s bomb girls are honoured and commemorated by fellow Canadians including all levels of government.
July 18, 2023
Our speaker, Gary Schlee, is a retired corporate communications professor at Centennial college and past President of Probus Toronto. In researching his book Unknown and Unforgettable: A Guide to Canada’s Prime Ministers, he discovered many unexpected and interesting facts surrounding Canada’s Prime Ministers. His stories and anecdotes were surprising and entertaining, and Gary had his book available for sale after the presentation.
June 13, 2013
Jay Giblen shared his life journey with diabetes and his experiences with a Diabetes Alert Guide Dog whose name is Rozlyn. These very special animals are amazing. They have been specially trained to assist their owner and keep them safe.
Jay has Type 1 diabetes and does not have any symptoms when his blood sugar goes up or down. He spoke about his experiences with getting a guide dog and told us many stories about his life with diabetes and Rozlyn. Through questions asked we learned many details about his story. He was a very interesting and enjoyable speaker, and the presentation was enjoyed by all.
May 16, 2023
Our speaker was Barbara A. Robinson, whose topic was entitled For the Love of Sewers. Barbara’s primary goal is to improve how we install new sewers to reduce the risk of leakage over their lifespan. This is important to us all since leaking sewers cost taxpayers dearly.
Barbara, a professional engineer specializing in all aspects of sewer systems, established Norton Engineering Inc. in 2015. Norton has produced dozens of guidelines, papers, and presentations on all aspects of the design, construction, inspection, testing and acceptance of sewer systems. Barbara has become fluent with building codes in Canada as they relate to private-side sewers (50% of the total length of sewers in our systems) and is constantly advocating for improvements to reduce leakage risk. She is contacted by residents, contractors, developers, insurers, and government representatives for sewer advice and input. Barbara is followed by sewer experts from across North America and around the world.
April 11, 2023
Our speaker was Kevin Donovan, Chief Investigative Reporter at the Toronto Star. His focus is on journalism that exposes wrongdoing and effects change. Kevin has a vast background in reporting and has worked on many varied assignments, including reporting from both the Gulf War and the war in Afghanistan. As the Star’s editor of investigations for many years, Kevin is a multi-award-winning journalist and the author of several books. His topic for the meeting was The Billionaire Murders: The Mysterious Deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman.
March 7, 2023
Alex Moroz presented the Cemetery Chronicles. He is the Marketing & Family Services Coordinator for Hamilton Municipal Cemetery and he is responsible for all cemetery arrangements and marketing for the 70 cemeteries operated by Hamilton Municipal Cemeteries. Alex has been instrumental in creating the walking tours program at historic Hamilton Cemetery.
The Cemetery Chronicles virtual tour presentation provided an overview of the historic Hamilton Cemetery and some of the interesting and intriguing graves located within the cemetery.
February 14, 2023
Naz Husein provided an engaging and moving talk on Living in a Sighted World Without Sight.
Naz was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) as a young teenager. She lost her sight slowly but surely over about forty years. During this time she completed university, married, had children and now has several grandchildren. As her sight deteriorated, she recognized the need for a career change and directed her attention to such endeavours as the Accessibility Advisory Committee of Mississauga and Peel where she held the position of Chair. Naz is very interested in ongoing learning and has been very active in Lifelong Learning Mississauga and the Celebrity Club of the CNIB which provides ongoing learning, new ideas and information for blind people where the presenters rely on description and explanation where they might previously have relied on the use of images.
January 10, 2023
Brian Carwana, Executive Director of Encounter World Religions, presented the topic American Exceptionalism. While religion has declined massively in almost all Western countries, the largest outlier to this pattern has been the United States. Brian explored what is so unique about American religious culture – and their unusual political culture – and how these things come together to account for America’s “exceptional” status. Brian is a much sought-after expert in religion and diversity.
December 13, 2022
Jim and Sue Waddington gave a very interesting and enjoyable presentation entitled In the Footsteps of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. Jim and Sue’s hobby has been to travel and find the special locations used by the painters, and photograph them. Signed copies of their books were on sale after the meeting.
May 8th, 2022
Steve Chapelle has been providing information privacy and security education to Canadian organizations since 2006. Prior to that he spent over 20 years in information technology management, analysis and customer service, primarily in the financial services sector. Information management experience has included security, availability and disaster recovery planning. He is also an instructor and developer at the Udemy and Skillshare online course platforms, and has written a book about the Spanish Flu pandemic, ‘No Decision: The 1919 Stanley Cup Final’, available at Amazon
During his talk, Steve discussed the many aspects of managing DIGITAL ASSETS and kindly provided a worksheet that covers the many needs of digital asset planning. Click on link below if you wish to download his Excel version workbook.