When you are 85 years old, condensing your life into a 10-minute presentation can be a challenge. New C-KR member, John Borst, a transfer from RC of Kingston, accomplished the feat by using just 10 moments or vignettes from his life.Beginning with the mystery of his birth mother and adoptive parent, Borst left us with the thought that his only heritage is “Canadian.” This was followed by two lessons learned on the good and bad sides of capitalism when he sold flowers door to door as a nine year old; first at full profit, then on commission.
Next, Borst described two moments from his teenage years, one on failure both in learning his father’s greenhouse business while also failing Grade 13; then finding his vocation as an educator by coaching a little league baseball team.
John then covered his 26-year career in education in just over one minute. Beginning as a Catholic elementary school teacher in 1960, he held 9 different positions and finished his career in 1996 as a Public School Board's Director of Education.
Borst drew his final four vignettes from his nearly 30 years of retirement. For 5 years John the journalist wrote book reviews and articles for the journal Education Today; John the School Trustee spent seven years as a Catholic school trustee, which lead him to blogging on Catholic Education for 5 years at which point in 2010 John became a Rotarian with The Rotary Club of Dryden and some notoriety creating websites using ClubRunner.
For his final moment, Borst explained how dramatically his life has changed by sharing why he left Northwestern Ontario, how he chose Kingston as his new home in June 2021, finding the Rotary Club of Kingston, finding his new partner Ellen, and why he has switched to The Cataraqui-Kingston Rotary Club.
Ana inducts John Borst (Photo by Heather Nogrady)
Borst’s vocational speech was followed by a brief induction ceremony conducted by membership chair Ana da Ponte Thomson. At the conclusion, each member in attendance came forth and personally welcomed John into the Club with a shake of the hand.
Here's the video of his talk and the dialogue that ensued, ending with welcoming him as member.