With a hasty bell ringing by PDG Nancy and brief acknowledgment of visitors by President Doug, the meeting got under way at 5:48 with the Virtual Meeting Land Acknowledgment announced by President Doug.

This was followed by the first-ever Yiddish singing of ‘O Canada’ in celebration of Canada’s 150th Birthday (recorded in the summer of 2017) and then by a thought for the week, a quote from Rotary International’s founder Paul Harris: “The foundation upon which Rotary is built is friendship; on no less firm foundation could it have stood.”

ROTARY MOMENTS

NEW MEMBERS
At the most recent Board Meeting on May 3rd, The Board unanimously agreed to approve both Ruth Kristjanson and Jagdish Khatter for club membership. The inductions will take place in the near future.

LOBSTER FEST
The Lobster Fest committee has announced that our Lobster Fest has been postponed until September 24th, 2021. Please contact all the people that you have sold tickets to and advise them of this postponement. Their options are to hold the tickets for Sept 24th, refund the entire amount paid, or donate the ticket price and receive a tax receipt for the full amount. Items for the door prizes (and/or cash donations) can be dropped off at Morris Insurance on Roblin Blvd. PDG Nancy is still collecting and purchasing items to make great prize packages.

1000 SURVIVAL GARDENS PROJECT
Our club has raised a further $500 for this project and this was matched by Dave and Nancy Morris. The club sent $1,000 to the downtown club where those funds will be matched again.

ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARDS (RYLA)
Registration began May 1st. RYLA will be held virtually this year over a three-week period starting on August 1st. If you know of an individual aged 15 to 25 that the club could sponsor to RYLA, please contact Glenn.

CHASE THE ACE LOTTERY
Last Thursday was the draw for Raffle Week Four (4). Winner was Nancy Morris: $32.00. Ticket #: 99000052014, Envelope #4, Card: 2 of Clubs.

ASSINIBOINE FOREST
Since the lottery is set up to support enhancements in the Assiniboine Forest, the Marketing Committee is developing a set of speaking notes for all club members to be familiar with; so that the club does not create any confusion with what we say about the forest project. There has been recent online misinformation on such topics as - lights in the forest, paving all trails, creating many new trails (with loss of many trees), parking lot location (and resulting loss of more trees) – all untrue.

DISTRICT 5550 CONFERENCE – MAY 13th to May 15th.
The deadline for registration is 11:59pm CST (12:59 CDT) Wednesday, May 12th. The registration links have been in many emails sent out by the Conference Committee. The registration fee is $50. The conference timetable, full list of speakers and entertainment details can be found on the Rotary Club of Melfort’s conference page: (https://www.melfortrotary.org/1006/Page/Show?ClassCode=Page&Slug=2021-district-5550-conference) .

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY & INCLUSION SERIES
Another session of RI’s webinar series to explore diversity, equity, and inclusion will be presented on May 27th @ 11:00 AM CDT. The topic will be Building a welcoming community for people with disabilities. Pre-registration is required. The registration link is https://rotary-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EPWYxK45SxOG5nUtpMus-Q This is the link to recordings of past Webinar Sessions in this series: https://msgfocus.rotary.org/files/amf_highroad_solution/project_188/DEIWebinar-Sept2020-Description.pdf

ZONES 28 & 32 RI FOUNDATION FUNDRAISING GALA
This takes place on Wednesday May 12th @ 7:00 to 8:00pm CDT. Register online at https://trellis.org/rotary-gala. Cost is $110 USD - of which 75% will go to the Annual Fund and 25% to Polio Plus.

WESTGROVE SCHOOL’S RAISED GARDENS
Plans to work up the 7 remaining raised gardens at Westgrove School are on hold until the end of May due to Covid-19 school closures.

COVID IN OUR ROTARY FAMILY
President Doug has been advised that fellow Rotarian Ed Toew’s son has been in Grace Hospital (and on a respirator) since this past Thursday - due to a Covid infection.

PDG Jim introduced this evening’s speaker - Terry Slobodian, who is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada. Before coming to Winnipeg, Terry served in leadership positions with the Children’s Fund of Canada, Bridgepoint Hospital Foundation, University of Ontario in UNICEF in both Moscow and Geneva. He is experienced in forming alliances with corporations and senior governments and spearheading award-winning fundraising campaigns for hospitals. During his seven years of working in Europe, Terry helped to pioneer formation of micro-enterprises that created businesses and jobs throughout eastern Europe and Russia, created an NGO that allowed thousands of inner-city youths in Slovakia to experience the joy of sport regardless of physical or financial ability. He has been a Rotarian in two Ontario clubs (D7070) as well as in Slovakia.

Terry began by saying how proud he was to have been a Rotarian for 15-20 years of his life and indicated that he and his wife are Rotary Foundation Benefactors. He continued by giving us all a virtual tour of the 86,000 square foot Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada. It occupies 4 acres that was the VIP parking area at the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. It’s a 56-year lease of the property from the Winnipeg Airport Authority (WAA) for a total of $56, which was paid upfront. The museum is expected to be open to the public in January 2022 – but that depends on how COVID unfolds in the coming months. Thus far, the building is ahead of time and under-budget! The museum was established in 1974 as the Western Canada Aviation Museum (and attained “Royal” status in 2014) and is geared to preserve history and house incredible airplanes (6 or 7 of them suspended from the ceiling), exciting stories, fascinating artifacts and lasting memories. A video featuring a drone tour of the building was shown – including the hangar door that is 100 feet wide by 40 feet high. The facility’s main floor level can host events seating up to 300 people at a time (after the military aircraft are moved outside). The second level includes primarily meeting rooms and another banquet room for 150 people. Since the lease with WAA prevents the museum from having a stove, all meals served at events will be catered.

The building includes an observation lounge where a 270 degree angle view allows visitors to watch aircraft land and take-off at the airport. There are also classrooms where every year tens of thousands of students come (including 85% of Winnipeg’s Grade 6 students) as part of their curriculum (courses like science of flight and forces of flight taught in several different languages, including Indigenous). There are also many video and interactive displays. The mission of the museum is to inspire, educate and entertain.

Planes from the former museum, which have been stored in different hangars around the province (including Stonewall, Gimli, Brandon and Lac du Bonnet) are being brought back into Winnipeg warehouses. The assortment of planes shown at the museum will be about one third bush planes, one-third military planes and one-third commercial aircraft. The new museum will have an Indigenous curator and is currently getting an Indigenous perspective on aviation going back to the 1920s from eight of the Elders at Norway House.

To sustain the museum, there are plans for revenues from fundraising, admission, venue rentals, outdoor and indoor functions, school group programming, etc., for a budget of $2.2 million. The museum is proud to be a part of Winnipeg’s Renaissance (which includes the Museum for Human Rights and the new Winnipeg Art Gallery). From the discussion that followed Terry’s presentation we learned the following:

• Although the Museum does not have a restaurant, there will be a coffee kiosk (with a seating area) across from the children’s Exploration Zone where people can buy light stuff like sandwiches, danishes, muffins and coffee.
• The location of the Museum with regards to security has not been an issue since Terry has been involved the past two years. The museum complies with all the security measures expected by the WAA (even as to the type of plants they grow!)
• Visiting aircraft would generally be kept outside the building.
• None of the planes currently on display are “airworthy”.
• There is not yet a set schedule for rotating the museum’s displays, but conversations with museums in Ottawa and Gimli are currently evaluating those opportunities.
• The cost of visits and memberships are still being developed.
• A grand opening would include a royal visit and that is still under discussion.
• The museum has a restoration team, with some members dating from as far back as 1974. About 120 volunteers (typically retired aircraft mechanics, retired pilots, retired RCAF, etc.) get involved with research, photography and maintenance at the museum to give back to the community.
• The museum is developing the criteria on how it will decide who will get an aircraft that the facility no longer has a use for.
• Darvin and President Doug suggested to Program Chair PDG Nancy that the club organize a tour of the museum when such tours are available – ideally the club’s first “live” (as opposed to “virtual” or Zoom) meeting. Terry informed the club that people are already on a waiting list for such gatherings – like weddings, bar mitzvahs, banquets.

PDG Jim thanked Terry for his presentation and wished him every bit of success for the time it takes to get the museum open.

Sarge Mike welcomed our visitors -Terry Slobodian (our guest speaker this evening), Ruth Kristjanson and Rohit Goenka. Then he asked for Happy Bucks.

HAPPY BUCKS

• PDG Ed had his first golf game of the season earlier today.
• Dave appreciated Peter’s assistance in “gettin’ me on podcast”.
• Lloyd was disappointed that, because of the pandemic, the Cycle of Hope (Winnipeg-Dauphin-Swan River- Winkler) has been shut down, but it is hoped that the Spirit of Hope (ride between Winnipeg and Hecla Island) in August will still take place.
• Rohit has learned that there are bison calves in Fort Whyte, bringing the herd to 40 bison, and he is looking forward to being able to go see them in the next few weeks.
• Iain – daughter Hannah (recently arrived from Ireland via Toronto) is currently quarantining in his basement, hoping that she will be able to get out on Wednesday after a positive test. Secondly, Iain will be meeting with his wonderful surgeon on Thursday.
• Glenn was pleased to report that the Lobster Fest has been rescheduled to September 24th, 2021. A notice has been sent out to all (~90) online registrants – not one of them has requested a refund!
• Darvin was relieved that after being exposed to COVID and being quarantined, his granddaughter and all her fellow students tested negative for COVID-19.
• Nancy Hansen – thanked everyone who has been collecting pop tabs, adding that they can always use more, as they help people very much (particularly as a fundraiser for producing wheelchairs in the local community).

BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES

Lloyd announced that he and his wife Peggy will be celebrating their 43rd wedding anniversary tomorrow (i.e. on May 11th).

NEXT MEETING

Our guest speaker at out May 17th meeting will be Brandy Kowal-Funk, who will discuss the Memengoo* program – Housing for young adults that were formerly in the care of Child and Family Services. The physical structure (18 apartments) is being built at 126/140 Alfred Avenue in North Point Douglas by a collaboration of the Board of Directors of Shawenim Abinoojii Inc., Southeast Child & Family Services, and Southeast First Nations community leadership. The project includes programming as well. *“Memengoo” is the Anishinaabe word for “butterfly”

The meeting ended with another bell ringing by PDG Nancy.