Good morning to everyone. As Canadians, you can all appreciate how hard it is for me to talk about myself or to blow my own horn so to speak however, Terry informed me that these introductory talks are all lies anyway, so my job has now become much easier.
I am Lynda Brady. I am a mother of two, a grandmother of five and I have just recently moved to Stirling from Brampton ON. I came to last August's Rotary yard sale and met Donna. She graciously invited me to come to a Rotary meeting and in turn to join the Rotary Club of Stirling.
I was raised in a Rotary family where the values of Volunteerism and “Service above Self” were instilled in us from a young age. My father, Stewart Munroe, was President of the Rotary Club of Toronto in the mid 60s and later became District Governor of what was then district 707. My mother was President of Toronto's Inner Wheel and my sister and brother-in-law are both very active Rotarians out in BC.
Growing up I have always had a passion for horses and for riding. In my teens, once I was old enough to drive and to get a job, I was hired to be a Hot Walker at the Woodbine Racetrack for the summer racing season. My parents did not want their young daughter on the backstretch of the racetrack, so they quickly put a kibosh on that plan. Through their contacts though, I was given an opportunity to work, ride and travel with a couple who showed Welsh ponies through eastern United States and in Ontario. It was here that I got started mentoring youngsters who wanted to learn about ponies and get an early start in riding.
I chose university with a plan to be a high school coach and teacher and took a double BA in Phys Ed and Mathematics. While on track for this career, my family were going on a “bucket list” type ski holiday in Switzerland. Unfortunately, due to my exam schedule, I was not able to join them, so my father generously gave me the opportunity to travel anywhere in the world that I wanted to go. After my exams were completed, I chose to attend a riding school in England and for five months I worked 7 days a week, training and riding horses through England and Ireland. It was here that I fell in love with being a Riding Instructor. When I came back to Canada, I combined my 2 passions, horses and teaching, and that's where my working career has taken me. I am a recognized coach and instructor with the British Horse Society in England, with the American Riding Instructors Assoc in the United States and Equestrian Canada here at home.
During my career, I volunteered with the organizers of the inaugural Masters Games that were held in Toronto in 1985. I was part of a team to procure and care for the international level horses for the show jumping athletes. I was also involved as a volunteer with the equestrian portion of the Pan Am Games held in Toronto in 2015.
At the Farm in Brampton, we had an active riding school and showed horses, primarily in Ontario but also Quebec and down in the United States. However, over the last 25 years we decided to take the riding school in a different direction. Because of our location, which was practically downtown, we wanted to make riding and the interaction with horses, accessible to everyone not just the “wealthy few” so to speak. We focused on the weekly lesson program, developed a strong volunteer program for teens and we offered opportunities for part time jobs to the youth in our community. We established a scholarship program for those youth who shared a commitment to volunteerism, developed strong leadership skills and still maintained a high enough scholastic standard to attend post secondary education.
Two accomplishments that I am very proud of are:
Through the Riding School, I started teaching mildly autistic teens and young adults. I taught not only riding skills but also horsemanship skills that allowed these students to take on appropriate levels of responsibilities with the horses. The whole program was designed to build confidence through small successes and encourage independence.
The second program was in conjunction with the Peel Regional Police and under the umbrella of Cops and Kids. I was part of an inaugural team that started Bonnie’s Horsepower which is an award winning, proactive program designed for “at risk youth” to have positive interaction with police officers in order to developed friendships, learn some life skills and have growth mindset experiences. Working with the horses gave a level playing field for team building interactions as most of the officers involved and the youth had had no previous experience with horses.
Primarily through my involvement in bringing these various opportunities to the community and my support of youth and volunteerism, a donation was made to Rotary on my behalf and even though I was not a Rotarian, I was recognized and awarded a Paul Harris fellowship for service to the community and promoting the ideals of Rotary.
After a lengthy illness my husband passed away near the end of 2021. I took a year to decide if I wanted to continue with the farm and the Riding School. Instead, I decided to retire. I sold the farm and I bought a house here in Stirling. I wanted to join the Rotary Club as a way of getting involved with my new community. As I now have the luxury of time, I have gone back to my roots of riding for the pure enjoyment of riding again. I still support the Bonnie’s Horsepower program in the Region of Peel and I continue to develop my art, which is digitally creating watercolor portraits of horses and pets (this was a hobby I picked up while my husband was so ill). I'm strictly a recreational golfer and tennis player. I would like to get back into curling and skiing.
My plans are already set for my next great adventure. This spring I will be traveling to South Africa to take part in a horseback riding safari through the Bushveld and then up to the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana. Here I will have an opportunity to spend a few days with the Motswana people of Botswana.
In closing, I would like to say that I look forward to getting to know my community, hopefully get involved in some way with the youth in Stirling and even perhaps motivate some kids through letting them know that you don’t need to have it all figured out. Just when you think you do, opportunities will come along and open new doors to all new experiences. All we need is an open mindset and a passion to work to find out just how much we really don’t know about what we need to know, in order to accomplish our goals.!
Thank You for listening.