President David Soper opened the meeting with our Land Acknowledgement and the singing of O Canada.

Jack DeCorby announced that there are still a couple of open slots for ringing the Salvation Army kettle bell at Costco on December 13th and 20th.

Sarge Lyle introduced our guests, Wayne and Gwen Jacobsen.

Our speaker this evening was D5550 DG Wayne Jacobsen. Wayne retired after serving in the RCMP where he rose to the rank of detachment commander. He earned his B. Comm. and B. Ed., and then taught at Assiniboine Community College in the Business Administration program.

Wayne began by asking: Why Rotary?

Answers: community, fellowship, getting involved, fundraising, youth. Wayne shared that he fell in love with Past RI President Stephanie Urchik’s motto: The Magic of Rotary. We are changing lives every single day and that happens because of the Rotary Foundation. Wayne put out a challenge: How do we engage the next generation?

We are doing well. Over the last five years membership has gone up. A pathway to increasing growth is following the four pillars of the Rotary Action Plan:

• Adapt
• Participant engagement
• Increase our impact
• Expand our reach

Wayne challenged us to create four club goals around the four pillars. He also invited us to visit Neepawa for D5550 Conference in May 2026. Speakers will include: Paul Samyn, Mark Chipman, Ramesh Ferris and Niigan Sinclair. Registration will open on January 5th, 2026.

Happy Bucks

• Cathy was happy that working the raffle table at her apartment building’s baking and craft sale netted $74 for the Assiniboine Forest. She also won a couple of prizes.
• Wayne Jacobsen put in 10 happy bucks; 9 for the 9 people at our meeting that he recognized, and one, a sad buck really, for the 1 person that he did not recognize and should have. That was Rod, who he went to Japan with years ago.
• Glenn was happy that taking care of the Salvation Army kettle was really easy, thanks to Jack’s instructions.
• Chuck was proud that his granddaughter’s volleyball team did well again. He noted that on their opponents, Steinbach, team’s starting line-up, every player was taller than Chuck’s granddaughter’s team's tallest player.
• Alan Roberts was happy that he and his wife will be providing care for their grandchildren over the holidays.

50/50

Rod had the lucky ticket, and he pulled the blue marble.

Chuck reminded everyone to see him for Christmas party tickets, and to bring a pack of socks for Westgrove School and/or Siloam Mission. Also, door prizes are welcome for the Christmas party.

• Next week’s speaker: Christina Dolinski from Prairie Strides
• December 15th: Christmas Party
• December 22nd: No meeting
• December 29th: No meeting
• January 5th: Dwayne Till from Tillwell Cremation and Funeral Service