President Cathy Skene read the land acknowledgement. Dave Morris led those in attendance in the singing of O'Canada.

Chair Announcements

Tomorrow is a very special day - Get ready to embrace the unexpected and let your spontaneous side shine because 'Just Because Day' is right around the corner! Celebrated annually on August 27th, this quirky holiday encourages us to break free from the confines of routine and do something extraordinary, just because we can. There don’t appear to be any rules for this day, just do something that you don’t normally do…just because.

Sarge introduced Nick, soon to be inducted as a new member.

A message from Peter Tonge, DG:

I am pleased to announce that the District Board of Directors has approved a new membership incentive. From now until the end of this Rotary year, your club will receive $140 for each new member inducted. This money can be used in a way that is best for your club. This is the first of several membership initiatives undertaken by the Membership Committee, the Board of Directors and the district leadership team.

There are things that each of you can do to support our membership push. I encourage each club to hold a membership event in September. Rotary succeeds when the community sees firsthand the work that we do. I encourage each member to invite a friend, family member or colleague to join you at your favourite Rotary activity. It is the perfect opportunity to humble brag about what we do.

As of July 1st, our District membership has fallen below 1000. Rotary International has asked us to increase our membership to at least 1100 by January 1, 2025, to avoid redistricting or redistribution. With that in mind, membership will be our focus for the next few months. Let's work together to achieve this goal. Let’s have a membership discussion. I invite you to share your questions, ideas, and past successes. Together, we will succeed and grow!

And because Charleswood Rotary is so agreeable, Cathy called Ed Thompson forward to induct our newest member Nick Kobysh.

Ed welcomed Nick, who was introduced to the club through volunteer work with Bridge of Hope Ukraine. He is also a member of Toastmasters. Ed reminded all that membership applies to the Club, District 5550 and Rotary International. A formal induction was conducted and all members gave Nick a warm welcome with a round of applause. Welcome!!

Happy Bucks

• Iain's daughter Hanna will be a family doctor at the Charleswood Medical Clinic.
• Chuck got a good report from his physician and Is happy to be 5 weeks past his surgery of his gallbladder.
• Ed Th. visited the The Morden Corn & Apple Festival with Elaine on the weekend. Lots of nationalities were on hand which was lovely to see. They were fortunate to be accompanied by their grandkids.
• Cathy had a whole bunch of happy bucks. She is going to Blue Lake on Tuesday, although she heard tragic news today, she realises you can still be happy when you hear sad news.
• Jagdish is happy to be alive.
• Rod met friends at the Pinawa Channel to do some tubing.
• Paul was happy to be able to turn off his AC.
• David S. was happy to be able to make it to the meeting after a busy day.
• Sharon was feeling happy to have turned a corner and will be moving to St Vital in October. It's all new to her and she is feeling a little more confident.

No meeting next week - Labour Day. Visit the club website for upcoming meetings. See: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/1000/Speakers