President David Soper opened the meeting with our land acknowledgement, and the singing of O Canada.

Chair Announcements

President David received a request for donations to buy generators for Ukrainian residents. Check with him if you want the details.

Our grant proposal for recruiting corporate members was approved and the cash has been received from district 5550.

Cathy showed a carry bag that her sister made. It will be part of our club’s silent auction prize at District Conference. The bag has a marine theme (whales & turtles). The idea is to fill it with related items. Cathy has added Nova Scotia Fisherman Extreme Skin Care branded items, a Three Ships branded face cloth and a BC coast animals colouring book. Further contributions from club members are welcome and can be brought to any meeting before May. Proceeds from the silent auction will go to PolioPlus.

Cindy Tugwell was our guest speaker. She is in her 33rd year as Executive Director of Heritage Winnipeg.

Heritage Winnipeg is a non-profit charity. It was established in 1978 with a commitment to protecting our heritage environment and is membership based. Over 500 people volunteer for their annual Doors Open Winnipeg event.

Cindy shared photos and stories of a number of the sites that Heritage Winnipeg has advocated for, with a focus on Charleswood. She also expressed gratitude and admiration for the Van Roon family, which has been instrumental in protecting a number of historical sites.

Sites mentioned included:

• Upper Fort Garry Interpretative Park
• Caron House (with advocacy from the Van Roon family)
• Ukrainian Labour Temple
• Charleswood Historical Society Museum (with much support from the Van Roon family)
• Government House
• Carnegie Library
• Odd Fellows Home (now supportive living for Siloam Mission)
• Bleak House
• Granite Curling Club
• Chapman School (which has been razed and being replaced by a condo development.)

Heritage Winnipeg is also active in education. They talk to schools, conduct historic tours in the Exchange District, and have produced two books. A third is on the way. Cindy brought several copies of book number 2 and sold them at the meeting. They are also available to order on their website.

To learn more visit:

heritagewinnipeg.com

doorsopenwinnipeg.ca

Sarge introduced our guest speaker, Cindy Tugwell.

Happy Bucks

• Caroline was happy to have had a lovely holiday, and also happy that they returned in time to experience a bit more winter weather.
• Jim had a birthday last week. He is 84.
• Lloyd had a ‘for the good of Rotary’ buck. Our district raised over $2,000 for Minneapolis food shelves. Nearly half of this amount came from our club.
• Iain was also happy about the vacation with Caroline, and especially happy that they didn’t choose to go to Puerto Vallarta.
• John also had a birthday.
• Ed Thompson was happy that they made it back from Puerto Vallarta. And happy that his snowblower started when he returned.

50/50

Cathy had the lucky ticket, and found the blue marble.

Sarge Lyle shared that he has an appointment to make a blood donation tomorrow, and challenged club members who are able to also donate.

And the bell was rung.