President Glenn began the meeting with the Treaty 1 land acknowledgement and a Happy Diwali wish for those celebrating the Festival of Light. Dave Morris led all in singing of O'Canada.
Rotary Moment - President Glenn reminded everyone that today is World Polio Day. During October, Rotary shows its collective support for World Polio Day by advocating for polio eradication and raising funds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skD0NAoK9OM&t=34s. Tonight, Club members will learn more about polio and our club's effort to support the Polio Plus program. Currently, the club has donated $2300-2500 US to Polio Plus so far this Rotary year. There is still another week in October. All of us can consider making a commitment to donate and to promote Rotary's effort in our community and with friends and family.
Sarge introduced the following guests: Joanne Jones, Hard of Hearing Society, Andrew Jones, Wes Hazlitt, guest speaker and Len van Roon Jr. (soon to be a member) and Anya, who wore her Halloween costume early in hope of finding candy at the Rotary meeting.
Club announcements:
President Glenn reiterated that a good number of members attended the celebration of life in honour of Darvin Jasper on Saturday. It was clear how much Darvin was loved and respected. As Rotarians, we can take pride in the quality of our members and to celebrate the friends we make in Rotary. Thank you to all who attended this very special event.
The Club's Board of Directors is holding a special planning meeting to consider membership recruitment and retention. It is being held on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at the Assiniboine Chamber of Commerce. Warren Thompson, member of Assiniboine West will facilitate the session for us. Everyone in the club was sent a survey that will be used by Warren in planning the meeting. If you haven't done so, please download and complete the survey and send by email to warrenthompson@shaw.ca. Contact President Glenn if you have a printed copy. The deadline is end of day Nov. 4.
Ukraine Project - Mandy reported that she had a very good response for the call for furniture and other household items for two families from Ukraine. Deliveries are scheduled this week. She also reported encouraging news about our family, currently in Poland. It appears that they may soon be able to travel to Canada, with full immigration status.
Golf Tournament - our club and the Assiniboine Rotary Club are planning a golf tournament to be held in August, 2023. We need 2-3 more members to be involved in a committee with the Assiniboine Club. It's not time consuming in the early stages. The tournament will be an important fund raiser for the club. Please contact Jim Forestall as soon as possible if you can help.