Events

“Ryan is 47 years old, is a third-generation resident and has lived in Cambridge for almost his entire life. He is the son of a self-employed general contractor and one of the longest-serving community nurses in Cambridge’s history. He is the husband to Jill a local Remax realtor, and the proud father of three beautiful, intelligent, and very active daughters, Maddy, Izzy and Ellie.

In 1998, Ryan started a lawncutting and snow shoveling business to pay for his university education. While living at home and running his business, he achieved both his Bachelor and Master degrees in Political Science from the University of Waterloo.  His initial intention was law school and a legal career, but ultimately decided to continue to grow his business which has since transitioned into a custom residential construction firm, called Blackbridge Craftsmen.

Over the course of his life, Ryan has lived in each of Cambridge’s three unique and historic districts.  He has lived in Galt for approximately 5 years, but much of his childhood and youth was spent in Preston, and he and Jill have settled down in Hespeler to raise their family.

In terms of community involvement, Ryan has coached youth sports and served as a mentor to youth and young adults for decades.  He has also sat on several community boards over the years.”

Marcus Burca is a Business student at Wilfrid Laurier University and a proud graduate of the class of 2025 from Southwood Secondary School in Cambridge. During his time at Southwood, Marcus was well known as a dynamic drama performer who brought immense energy to everything he did. His deep commitment to his school community earned him the prestigious Principal's Award at graduation.

While Marcus is always a natural leader and the life of the party, his most recent experience took his growth to a whole new level. This past year, he attended RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Academy), an experience he describes as completely transformational. In fact, he proudly calls it the absolute best weekend of his life.

Today, Marcus joins us to share the story of his RYLA journey, the powerful lessons he learned about leadership, and how the experience has shaped his vision for the future. Please give a warm Rotary welcome to Marcus!

And Jim's wife

Peter started his working life spending fifteen years as a research scientist specializing in computer graphics and computer-human interaction. This was followed by five years working for the Canadian government in international trade promotion focusing on the software and telecom industries. 

Moving to the private sector, Peter then joined a small software company that was later acquired by IBM, where he was responsible for contract negotiations and intellectual property issues.

Throughout his career, Peter travelled widely, living abroad for two years, and spending considerable time in developing countries.  Since retirement, Peter has visited Latin America annually for Spanish training, and has been been working on Rotary projects in Guatemala.

Sponsored by Kristin Wolf

Dr. Matt Strauss was born in Kitchener and grew up in Hespeler, where he and his wife are now raising their two kids.

Prior to his political life he was a critical care specialist who practiced at Grand River and Guelph General Hospital, where he was honoured to serve as Chief of the ICU. He joined the faculty at McMaster University in 2013, teaching medicine at their Waterloo Regional Campus for many years.

After years of health care leadership, Matt understands firsthand how government waste and mismanagement directly hurt patients and communities. As a writer and public health official, he built a national profile advocating for health policies based on calm, compassion, common sense, and consent.

Matt is working hard to bring home common sense solutions that create safer streets, build housing, fix health care, and make life more affordable for the residents of Kitchener South—Hespeler.”

Brittany is sponsored by her Mom Arlette