President Cathy Skene opened the meeting with the club's land acknowledgement and the singing of O'Canada.

Announcements

On July 27 & 28 Gimli Rotary is holding their annual used book sale. It will be at the Gimli Rec Centre from 9 am to 6 pm both days. Cathy is planning to go check it out. Now that we’re finally seeing some summer weather, it would be a good chance to support another club. And grab some bargain books.

International Conference

This will be one of our most affordable opportunities to attend an RI conference, and a chance to show that Canada can handle a big event. If you haven’t already registered, please give it some thought.

You have until July 19th confirm your attendance at Dauphin Rotary at 100. There will be a dinner with our new RI president, Stephanie. And yes, Cathy has registered for this too.

Meeting Registration

Just a reminder that Lorraine needs time to get the number of meals needed to Cory for each meeting. Please do your best to register yourself, and any guests, by Friday afternoon. We can usually squeeze in one or even two more, but this week the count increased by five. That’s a lot.

Golf Tournament on August 13th

Please register early if you are planning to play. And encourage your friends to come out as well. This has the potential to raise significant revenue for the Forest. Jim Forestall came to the podium to remind us all of the importance of this event and what it means to the club's efforts to support the forest. He asked members to sign-up to be volunteers for the golf tournament.

Breaking news! They are offering a Rotarian Special of a free mulligan package for any of your club’s Rotarians that sign up. And a great opportunity to make a difference in our community and have a great day of golf and networking!

Christmas Party

Lorrine has kindly booked this annual event here at Breezy for December 16th. Mark your calendars. And invite family and friends. More details to follow.

July 29th Forest meeting

Jack & Lee Ann reminded us all that the regular meeting on the 29th will be held at the forest and food will be supplied. The meeting will enlighten us all about the club’s stewardship of the forest and the fundraising goals for the forest.

Chair announcement

President Cathy was struck by an anecdote in the book she is currently reading and wanted to share. It speaks to the way that we see ourselves. It happened in 1992, when Sarajevo was under siege. “The civil war rages on, and the foreign correspondent Allan Little watches as a procession of forty thousand civilians emerges from a forest. They’ve been trudging through the woods for forty-eight hours straight, fleeing an attack. Among them is an eighty-year-old man. He looks desperate, exhausted. The man approaches Little, asks whether he’s seen his wife. They were separated during the long march, the man says. Little hasn’t seen her, but even the journalist asks whether the man wouldn’t mind identifying himself as Muslim or Croat. And the man’s answer, Little says years later, in a gorgeous BBC segment, shames him even now, as he recalls it across the decades. “I am,” said the old man, “a musician.”

After dinner, Past President Iain introduced the guest speaker…

Richard is the founder of Richard Rosin Funeral Director Ltd., a full-service funeral company specialising in Green Burials, Home Funerals and educational events. He has been in the funeral industry for nearly 40 years.

Keenly aware of environmental concerns, his board activities with the Green Burial Society of Canada aim to encourage and provide resources to cemeteries, funeral directors and families to make better choices in their environmental legacies. He's also a signatory to Winnipeg-based BizforClimate.

Winnipeg's Friendliest Undertaker(tm) is active in the community, including past board membership with the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, Grace Lutheran Church and Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra to name a few. In addition, he and his team support the United Way and have participated in their annual Plane Pull fundraising events.

When relaxing, you can find Richard enjoying their trailer at the Oasis with their four dogs (in order of equal cuteness) - Addi, Lola, Joey and Archie.

Richard gave a most interesting talk about his career in the funeral industry where he apprenticed under Neil Bardal, a person synonymous with the funeral industry in Manitoba. Neil passed away in 2010.

Richard introduced us to the Green Burial movement which is a worldwide movement and its history which began in 1993 in Carlyle, Scotland.

Richard who has 40 years in the funeral industry performs services all over Manitoba. He is the chair of the Green Burial Society of Canada and will perform the service at a location of the family’s choosing. This could be a place of worship, a community hall, Golf Club, and even in the home of the deceased.

He explained the 5 core principles of the green burial which in reality is how burials were conducted many years before the organised funeral industry.

It involves:-

• No Embalming
• Direct Earth Burial (grave not as deep)
• Ecological Restoration/Conservation
• Communal Memorials
• Optimised Land Use

Biodegradable caskets are made of various materials, with many local businesses offering products to their communities. Wrapping the person in a shroud is traditional and straightforward. While some shrouds are designed with carrying handles, a carrying tray like those made by The Village Casket Maker in Winnipeg is a safe and practical way to bring the person from the vehicle to the grave.

Along with biodegradable caskets or trays, the burial uses as few items as possible to reduce the ecological impact on the earth. The place of burial is an area protected from future development and may resemble a peaceful pasture. Grave stones as memorials are not used. The preferred way is to use a communal marker such as natural stone or fallen tree for example. All these means reduce the carbon footprint of a site.

In Canada, there are Green Burial sites. Willow's Rest Green Burial Area can be found within Fairview Cemetery in the City of Niagara Falls. It is one of thirteen cemeteries in Canada given certification by the Green Burial Society of Canada.

And in Nova Scotia, we find Sunrise Park Interfaith Cemetery. Like Willow's Rest, it is located within an existing cemetery and is considered a hybrid location.

Britain has well over 300 green burial sites, many between 5 to 15 acres. South Downs was formerly a communications and navigation school of the Royal Navy from 1941 to 1993. It was turned over to The Earthworks Trust in 1995 to develop an independent education center for sustainable living and a burial ground. It is unique in that it hosts a number of ecological learning experiences truly creating a space that focuses on our environmental footprint from beginning to end.

The graves are prepared simply with no artificial greens or lowering devices commonplace in Canada and the US.

As they do not allow markers on the graves, some people have found a creative way to mark their person’s site with woven willow branches.

History and Numbers

The green burial movement began in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom because of concerns of carbon emissions due to a 98% cremation rate and rapid urbanisation of many natural areas. In Canada, B.C. became the first province with a Green Burial Cemetery. You will also find cemeteries located in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

The numbers (2021):

• 1993 - the first green burial cemetery opens in Carlyle, Scotland
• 270+ - The number of active green burial grounds now operating in the United Kingdom
• 1998 - the first US green burial cemetery opens in South Carolina
• 350 - the number of active green burial grounds now operating in the USA
• 2008 - the first active green burial cemetery opens in Canada, on Vancouver Island
• 13 - the number of GBSC-certified green burial cemeteries now operating in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

The Goals

The goals of the Green Burial Society of Canada are to bring awareness to Canadians that includes individuals, other environmental organisations, businesses and municipalities to environmentally based death care practices. Advocate the adoption of environmentally responsible and ecologically sustainable interment and funeral services in communities across the country. Establish standards and best practices to the cemetery and funeral industry. Like today, create education opportunities which also includes working with the national funeral college to provide curriculum resources to their students.

How can you help: Consider or Reconsider your Green Legacy. Volunteer to support the Canadian organisations. Help spread the word. Invite us to make a presentation

Media Links

CBC What On Earth - November 25, 2023 https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/bury-me-naked/id1520725103?i=1000636490180

CBC Manitoba January 29, 2024 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/green-burials-manitoba-1.7098454

Global News Manitoba – April 24, 2024 https://globalnews.ca/news/10445240/green-cemetery-project-winnipeg-aims-to-make-death- more-environmentally-friendly-in-manitoba/

Winnipeg Free Press – April 29, 2024 https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/2024/04/29/dust-to-dust

After Speaker...

Thank you, Richard, for visiting our club and helping us understand a very interesting subject and one that has introduced us to a different perspective on the funeral industry.

Sarge - any guests and Happy Dollars?

Happy Dollars

• Rod was happy that he'll be riding again this August in The Great Cycle Challenge - riding to fight kid's cancer. If you'd like to sponsor him, click here: https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/Riders/RodDelisle.  Also happy he completed the bulletin before tonight’s meeting.
• Cathy spent a wonderful day with her 7 month old granddaughter.
• Peter was happy to have made it to the club.
• Pedro was happy to have passed his driver’s licence and also taking up cycling where on the weekend he completed a 20 km ride.
• Ed and Elaine will be able to go on vacation after receiving their new car which was on order for over a month.
• Olga celebrated a birthday.
• Elaine is happy to hear how well Pedro sings ‘Oh Canada’ even though he arrived in March of this year.
• Iain was happy that Caroline and he went to Gimli and happened upon the Gimli Car show where he saw Paul Brault. Ed Toews was there but we missed him. Paul won best “Special Interest” vehicle in the show. Lots and lots of cars on display. Glad to see 2 electric cars as well.

Jack and Olga celebrated birthdays this past week

Lyle had the lucky ticket, and did not find the blue marble.

Next week we will welcome Shelly Dale (Coupland) who will talk about Empowering Joyful Retirement.

Now just before we go... "Oh. I still don’t have a joke. We can just go."