President Iain called the meeting to order with the land acknowledgement and the singing of O’Canada.

Rotary Moment

President Iain said that having a drone has allowed him to document floods, snowstorms, city views, construction sites, demolitions & landscapes. Last week he and Caroline spent a week near Lahaina on Maui.

Lahaina is struggling to rebuild after the deadly fire on Aug 8th, 2023. Nearly six months since the devastating fire which killed 100 people, displaced residents are still struggling to figure out long-term housing, and tourism still hasn't fully bounced back. Displaced residents are still living in hotels and in tents on the beach.

Iain showed a few photos taken last week of the damage from the fire. The fire left a few structures untouched including those with metal roofs or avoided some altogether due to the wind direction.

Chair/ Other announcements

Iain had some "Thank Yous" to share - to Cathy for covering his absence last week. And to both David and Ezekiel for their presentations last week. And finally a big thanks to David Soper for accepting the position of President-Elect for the year 2024-2025. We look forward to Cathy Skene's presidency that same year.

Ed Thompson - President Iain presented Ed his fourth Paul Harris award. Amazing support and commitment.

Rossbrook Dinner - Tickets are available online on the club website (home page).

Lobsterfest - Jim Forestell is beginning the planning for our annual fundraiser. He is looking for help and please reach out soon to offer assistance.

Chinese New Year - Ed Thompson invited members to participate in Chinese New Year. There are 2 events, Feb. 13 and 18th. If you wish to attend both/either, contact Ed or Elaine.

Ed Thompson reported on several updates with Ripple Effect highlighted at the following link: Ripple Effect

President Iain was delighted to introduce new members LeeAnn Mytz and Carell Jackimiek, who gave their vocational talks. This is their opportunity to introduce themselves to the club, talk about their work and other interests.

LeeAnn thanked the club for being so welcoming. Before joining, she did not know much about Rotary. She walks in Assiniboine Forest regularly and sees it as a jewel in the City. She noticed that Rotary was involved and was happy to see us promoting the forest during one of her visits. It piqued her interest and with retirement planned this June, she decided to join. LeeAnn grew up in Selkirk, eventually training as an educator graduating in 1981. She gave credit to her parents, who were lifelong learners. She was also inspired by the story of Anne Sullivan Macy, Hellen Keller's teacher and working with kids at summer camp. She began by teaching grade 3 and eventually took special education training that impacted how and where she taught. She also worked part time and in several schools. There were wide differences in schools, but student needs are similar. It's important to fill gaps in schools where students show up hungry and without tools for learning. LeeAnn is happy that our club supports Westgrove School, especially in the area of nutrition. Ultimately, school should be fun for students, creating a positive environment that inspires.

Carell is also thrilled to be a new member. Up to last summer, she had no idea what Rotary did. Like LeeAnn, her introduction to Rotary began one morning at Assiniboine Forest. Although Carell drove by the Forest many times over the years, she never stopped until this past summer. Maybe it was the sign? In Japan, a walk in a forest is considered 'forest bathing'. Carell took this to heart, visiting Assiniboine Forest daily. On the fateful day in August, she saw 3 people on the side of a trail, who introduced themselves as Rotarians. By the end of their discussion, Carell and another visitor, happily donated to the Forest and the groups shared hugs. An invitation to join the club sealed the deal.

Carell's working life began with a variety of jobs including black jack dealer. She eventually took technical training at the U. of M. in 1988 and in 1995 she joined Library and Archives Digitization Systems. She and a team of software programmers began a program of digitizing archives so they could be accessed through the internet. One of the early challenges was digitizing a rare copy of the King James Bible, printed in 1611, first edition. It was early days for some of this work, and Carell had the opportunity to learn and share her experiences in other university institutes in Europe and North America. Today, the U of M digital systems include 1,500 books, 25,000 photos, 31 videos, 39 historic newspapers and more. Carell retired from the university in 2018. She sees a link between her work and Rotary's role in protecting and preserving the Assiniboine Forest.

President Iain thanked LeeAnn and Carell for their wonderful presentations. Our club is fortunate to have them as new members. He invited Carell to come forward to be given her certificate of membership by Ed Thompson, Membership Chair.

Happy Dollars:

• Chuck was in the USA at a Devil's Lake fundraising fishing derby. There were 24,000 tickets sold, 4500 fishers, and 152 fish were caught. (I would say the fish won that day!) The top weights included a 2 lb pike and a 3 lb. walleye.
• David S. was happy about the warm weather we are enjoying.
• Glenn was pleased with the timing of his recent trip to Loreto. They missed our cold spell.
• Alan Roberts belatedly reported his birthday. And that he'll be away from February 8th to March 4th so will miss our Rossbrook fundraiser.
• Jagdish was happy that his very close friend, who fell and broke a hip in Mexico, was brought to the Grace Hospital and is recovering well. Today they walked 4 km together at the Outlet Mall.
• Caroline enjoyed a wonderful vacation in Maui. Her favourite part was watching Iain surf for the first time.
• Bob had a birthday.
• Chuck was unhappy that when they got to Windy Gates it was closed. They had to re-route to Emerson, adding hours to their trip to Devil's Lake.
• Iain was happy to have seen whales in Maui.
• We all sang a belated Happy Birthday to Caroline, even though she asked us not to.

Next week, February 5th, we’ll have Tom Crew speaking for the Charleswood Legion. There will be no meeting on February 19th in recognition of Louis Riel Day.