Do you realize how much talent we have here at St. Paul’s? Probably not! But, then again, you just might say: “Our choir, Sunday school teachers, the children who perform in our annual Christmas pageant and other events.” You’re correct! And we agree that St. Paul’s has a wealth of talent. However, you’re probably wondering what does talent have to do with the Men’s Breakfast. It does when you consider the activities some of our members have engaged in outside of St. Paul’s. We’ve witnessed this talent on five occasions during the past 12 months. They didn’t sing, they didn’t tell jokes, and we don’t recall any juggling acts. What they did do was bring their experiences that required talent to a group of well-fed listeners.  

We started the year with Jay, an outdoorsman/frontiersman, who was making a second guest appearance at the breakfast. Jay is always interesting, especially when he tells of his experiences in the great outdoors of this wonderful country. He makes it interesting in not only what he says, but what he wears as well. Jay dresses in period costume to the delight of his audience.  

The following month the guest speaker was our very talented organist/choir director and technician, Ian. We all know that Ian has the magic touch when it comes to the “ivories”. As a technician for Amtelecom, Ian’s talent extends beyond the keyboard as he explained the new technology of Digital TV.  

In March we were privileged to have Rev. Shaw as our guest speaker. He presented us with a slide show on his experiences in Guyana. His presentation was “Guys in Guyana.” Once again, we had a great turnout for ‘our’ minister’s presentation. The presentation opened our eyes to the conditions in Guyana. We’ve all heard about it but when you hear from someone who’s walked the talk . . . you pay attention. He outlined some of the activities he and Linda experienced.  

Next up and appearing in period costume in May, was re-enactor Kevin. Kevin has been re-enacting the 1812 time period for 26 years. He’s also been an extra in some television presentations on the War of 1812. Kevin’s son Michael also got involved with re-enacting at the age of five. According to Kevin, his wife Sandra has a very keen interest in history but “wouldn’t be caught dead sleeping in a tent or cooking over an open fire.”  

Our fifth speaker representing St. Paul’s was only home for a few days before joining us in June with his “Report on Darfur.” Although Des works as a probation and parole officer in Brantford, he took time out of his busy schedule to tell us about his time spent in the war-torn country most people tend to avoid. Des downplayed his role there, but through his presentation you could sense the danger that lurked while he was stationed there. He made it sound like a piece of cake, but it’s a slice not too many of us would like to try.  

We thank our five family friends at St. Paul’s for their very informative presentations. You all made our breakfasts that much more enjoyable.

Chairman Leighton 

 Annual Report  2008

We have just concluded another successful year of our monthly Men’s Breakfast. The fellowship, good food and guest speakers all blended together for a great time. We even threw in a couple of Congregational Breakfasts.  

I am happy to report that our guest speakers were well received. It is sometimes a difficult task to find a speaker with a topic that will be of interest to everyone in our group. Hopefully we have accomplished that task. We found however, that our speakers have on occasion, found it difficult to deliver their complete message during such a short period of time. I could be considered biased, but I do not recall ever leaving a breakfast feeling hungry and/or dissatisfied with a presentation. Hopefully others have the same view.  

The main focus for our topics is something of an educational nature. We (not all of us) with the years creeping up on us, agree that we are never too old to learn. We have had speakers who have kept us on the edge of our seats, waiting for their next line. I have spoken to people on many occasions following our breakfasts, who indicated they were surprised, shocked and sometimes even saddened from what they had just heard. However, they concluded by saying they were glad to have joined us.  

Two recent presentations come to mind, being our last two speakers; Stacy Milford in October and Taras Andrushko in November. Stacy is on a world wide crusade to hopefully one day eliminate the world of land mines and cluster bombs. Her presentation included very sad and graphic photographs that made you realize just how fortunate we are to be living in a free world. Tara’s presentation informed us of the everyday requirements needed by parents and grandparents to recognize and become more aware of our loved ones who are addicted to dangerous drugs. We were given very informative pamphlets to pass on to our youth and congregation.  

We do not want to frighten or discourage anyone from joining us. We have also had “soft topic” speakers, such as our own Jay Bailey who will be giving another presentation in January.      

Last month we held our Annual Congregational Christmas Breakfast. It was as always, well attended. As I have  indicated before, it involves a lot of people to make this event successful. We offer thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ for giving us so many energetic volunteers.

 In closing, I extend a special thank you to the Rev. Stanley Cox for his early morning drives from Brantford, to be with us. His guidance and support has been very much appreciated. As well, I want to recognize two ladies who work behind the scenes, but have been a tremendous help....our administrator, Nellie and my good wife, Shirley. Thank you ladies!

 All the best to everyone in 2009!

Leighton 
Chairman/Men’s Breakfast