President Iain Scott opened the meeting with a land acknowledgment and we sang O'Canada.

Sarge - Lyle Miller - Sarge and members in attendance welcomed numerous guests, some invited from a volunteer event recently held in Winnipeg (see below). There were also attendees from other clubs and several participating via Zoom.

Chair announcements

Volunteer days April 4th - Over the years we have heard how Winnipeg has hosted major events like the Pan Am Games, The FIFA Women's World Cup, and many more where volunteers have turned out in droves to support these events. This past Thursday, an event titled Volunteer Days was held to allow charitable and other organisations to field support from volunteers. Over 50 booths were present. Charleswood Rotary was there and thank you to Cathy, LeeAnn and Jack for a last minute delivery of bags, we had a busy day with over 400 people at our booth. The organisers said they had over 250 in the first hour. By 2pm there were over 1200 who had come through the door. To give you an example, when packing up at 7 pm that day, the Humane Society Booth next to us commented “You were so busy and what was driving so many to your booth?” That’s easy — Assiniboine Forest. The public loves the forest!

District Leadership Seminar on April 12-14th - Good luck to those attendees at the DLS this weekend.

Board Meeting- The Board meeting will be held this Wednesday. Please send committee reports as soon as possible.

Assiniboine Forest - This past Saturday, a group of members were present to promote Assiniboine Forest and Charleswood Rotary at Assiniboine Forest. Thank you to those who took time out their weekend to support the forest.

Ed Toews Donation Commitment - President Iain spoke with Ed Toews about our club meetings here at Breezy Bend and how those without a car who would like to attend are prevented from doing so. Ed suggested that we could transport those members from the perimeter and enable those to come by bus and be picked up by a “Club Vehicle”. Ed made the commitment to donate his van to the club once he replaces it. It is such a generous thought and the club would benefit greatly from it. Please thank Ed.

Bridge of Hope Ukraine - Committee Chair, Mandy Kwasnica reported that the next furniture drive at 3259 Portage Ave is on Saturday, April 13th from 9-3pm. *Please remember to register* at www.bridgeofhopeukraine.com. We have revised our volunteer registration form to make it quick and easy for you to confirm if you will be volunteering.

Volunteer Opportunity Details:

Location: Bridge Of Hope Ukraine, 3259 Portage Ave
When: Saturday, April 13th from 9-3pm.
We are looking for volunteers to do the following:

• Work in the Bridge of Hope Ukraine Free Store helping mark items the families have selected and arrange delivery of items.
• Work in the Free Store arranging and sorting donations coming in.
• Deliver furniture to the families in need in the afternoon.
• Collect furniture from donors in the morning
• Assist donors with collecting donations dropped off directly.
• Driving the U-Haul Truck

Everyone attending tonight was given a shopping bag and decal that promotes the forest. It's not just a bag in the sense of shopping. It is to raise awareness of our efforts to raise funds to support the forest. Please use it whenever you go shopping. Please come back as a guest whenever you can

Before we go to dinner.. The other day I overheard Two sailors talking..The first one said, “My girlfriend just sailed to the Caribbean.” “Jamaica?” The other one asked. “Heck no! She’d been wanting to go for a long time.

This evening we are delighted to have Veronica Lysaght and Nigel Jollands from the 2 masted Schooner, Novara currently under anchor in St. Lucia. Their journey has taken them from the UK, where President Iain was fortunate enough to see their boat moored off his home in Lamlash, Isle of Arran in May of last year. A couple of drone photos later led him to connect with them over the internet. Their journey to St Lucia has taken them past the West coast of Africa and across the Atlantic. Those in attendance welcomed Veronica and Nigel (who presented by Zoom)

Veronica Lysaght & Nigel Jollands. Novara in a nutshell. (from www.novara.world). Earth’s climate is changing, and so must we. The Novara One Planet Project supports at-risk coastal communities to become climate safe. We do this through community-based research, education and adaptation planning that helps communities secure funding, take action, and tell their stories through art, film and social and new media. The main platform is the sailing vessel Novara. Aboard Novara, they will be sailing to some of the world’s most remote coastlines to document the state of climate-compounded coastal hazard risk. Their team includes some amazing people, including adventure sailors, marine biologists, climate change researchers, artists and youth.

They explained what is meant by climate safe? Communities are climate-safe when they: Work together to reduce risk in the face of climate change; Understand the risks they face; Agree on risk reduction and adaptation actions given future uncertainty and change; Implement community agreements and navigate change whilst staying safe.

Considerable preparation was required in advance of the Atlantic crossing. The numbers start to stack up; 21 days at sea, 3,300 nautical miles (that’s more than 6,000 kilometres) five people in a small space doing watches and catching up on dozens of hours of lost sleep. They also told the story of 3 women who were rowing across the Atlantic. They could not risk getting too close in their boats, but the 2 groups managed to visit. See: https://www.vibethewave.com

There were several questions about the boat (see link on Novara website), safety, financing the project, the paperwork at ports of call and the logistics of ordering/ securing supplies. Another excellent summary of the project is found on the Sail World website at: https://www.sail-world.com/news/250799/Novara-One-Planet-project-launches

After the Presentation: President Iain thanked Veronica and Nigel. He said the club will add the links about the project to our bulletin. Their site includes more information about the project, updates and a link for members to follow along with their route. Visit novara.world.

President Iain said that "they have both done a remarkable and selfless act on behalf of our planet and at no small risk to your safety. We look forward to updates and conversations in the future. We would appreciate another meeting in the future if time allows."  President Iain will submit the presentation to Rotary International on their behalf.

One of the participants on Zoom noted that the presentation was the 'best ever' and that other Rotary clubs will be looking for ways to learn more and to help spread the word.

Wrap Up - At the Charleswood Rotary Club, the Assiniboine Forest is our largest project. Veronica and Nigel are encouraged to become involved as a Friend of the Assiniboine Forest.

Happy Bucks

• Jim was $5 happy about getting bargain wine from the liquor stores. Thanks to Sharon for spotting the deal, and all those who went shopping.
• Jagdish is happy that the solar eclipse is over.
• Alan is happy about the art show to be held on April 19th at Charleswood United Church, where his wife will be one of 43 artists.
• Ed Toews enjoyed the weather yesterday. He cleaned and waxed his garage. Next up will be cleaning the cars.
• Mandy is back from a great time visiting Ryan's family in Fargo, including his great grandma who is turning 98.
• Ed Thompson is pleased to be back from the south.
• Cory threw in $2 to celebrate the golf course opening in two weeks.
• Chuck is thrilled to be going ice fishing tomorrow thanks to changes in the fishing regulations.

50/50

Anya's ticket was drawn despite her having already left. So Ed Thompson was called on to draw a marble but without success. The pot thickens.

Before we go. A thirsty sailor runs from his boat to the nearest bar and shouts to the bartender: “Give me twenty shots of your best rum, quick!”. The bartender pours out the shots, and the sailor drinks them as fast as he can. The bartender is very impressed and exclaims: “Wow. I never saw anybody drink that fast.” The sailor replies: “Well, you’d drink that fast too, if you had what I have.” The bartender says: “Oh my God! What is it? What do you have?” “50 cents” replied the sailor.

Next week our guest speaker is Brian Scharfstein of Canadian Footwear