President Wayne opened the meeting and asked members what they had done to help Rotary connect the world. Announcements included Rotary Interpretative Centre (Wayne and Jorda met with Township officials), Rotary World Help (we renewed our membership), Club Website (Wayne and Jonah are posting weekly updates), District Grant (appears to be all in order), Arboretum (the tarp was stolen so we couldn't varnish the "roots" bench), Social Committee (plans made for Christmas party), Groups of Five (time to pay your $100 US contributions to TRF Annual Fund), and World Polio Day (we will be having a special program on Oct. 24).

Our club funded two indoor gardens for Langley School District, and Susan Cairns received the cheque for $3500 from President Wayne. These gardens use little water and no soil and produce a variety of vegetables for student lunches. Susan will be in touch with us when we can visit a school to see the garden in action.

Our guest speaker was fellow Rotarian Tony Malyk who spoke about his book, Leaky Bucket of Profits, and his journey along the road to writing the book. Many blue-collar businesses fail to profit as they should because of poor business planning, not because of good or bad ideas. Tony has learned firsthand that common business processes and principles reside in virtually every industry and are transferable with the right knowledge and insight.

Happy and sad dollars, including half the sales from Tony's book to club members, were gathered for Polio Plus. For more photos visit October 17, 2019.

October 3, 2019

President Wayne called the meeting to order, and after O Canada, encouraged members to bring in new members so we can increase our impact on the community, just as DG Brad had suggested.

Announcements took up a fair bit of the meeting time, with topics including club website, arboretum, Groups of Five, Know Your Neighbours, work groups, social committee, World Polio Day, Foundation Dinner, Taste of Fort Langley, and RLI.

Our guest speaker was Laura Sandgren, President of CDART (Canadian Disaster Animal Response Team) SWBC. She and CDART founder Cheryl Rogers spoke about their agency and informed us about how to prepare a disaster kit for our pets and the needs the pets face in case of disasters. Ours was Laura's first presentation and her enthusiasm showed. The lengthy Q&A which followed the session showed that a high degree of interest was sparked within the club. Pets often become parts of families.

We sang Happy Birthday to Rudy Storteboom, who admitted he might be having a birthday but divulged no numbers. For more photos visit October 3, 2019.

Sept 26, 2019

This was a very special meeting for our club, with three (or four) key features:

1. We welcomed and heard from our District Governor, Brad Whittaker;

2. We inducted a new member, Brad Jalbert, into our club;

3. We officially inducted four members into the newly resurrected Langley

Rotaract Club: Jonah Johnson, Mikayla Johnson, Sydney Morfitt, and

Abran Johnson;

4. We enjoyed wonderful treats brought by John Brynjolfson.

AG Jorda Maisey introduced DG Brad and he delivered a very impressive and inspirational message to the club. He wants us as Rotarians to make an impact this year, and to learn more about Rotary. He asked us to google Rotary Action Groups, Rotary Friendship Groups, and Rotary Leadership where we will surely find items of interest and increase our knowledge.

President Wayne announced that we were successful in being awarded a District Grant for improvements at LCSS and that club and Rotaract members would be asked to lend a hand at the painting project.

Visiting Rotarians were Bill Lindahl and June Jones, who brought her granddaughter as well. Plans are being made for us to have some type of celebration of World Polio Day on October 24. Wayne thanked Jonah for his great work in getting comments and photos onto our website, so now we have a visual record of our meetings and you can catch up when you miss a meeting. DG Brad met with the club executive after the regular meeting, encouraging us to implement a membership plan. For more photos visit Sept 26, 2019.

Sept 19 Meeting

President Wayne opened the meeting with the singing of O Canada, once again led by Les Clay. In reminding members of our theme, Rotary Connects the World, he encouraged as many members as possible to meet DG Brad Whittaker next week when he makes his official visit. All directors should be in attendance for the executive meting to follow.

Three wedding anniversaries were announced: Brendan and June Martin on the 20th, Bob and Maria Hillmer on the 22nd, and Stephen and Irina Richardson on the 23rd. Rivers Day celebrations will be going on at the Arboretum from 11 to 3 on Sunday, and Rotaract will be holding a Meet and Greet from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday as well.

The Yorkson Block Party we helped sponsor was a success, despite the rainy weather. Trisha, Jonah, Leon and Claudia volunteered at the event, and Wayne brought his granddaughter and four relatives from the United Kingdom to participate in the activities.

Brendan has brought to our attention World polio Day on October 24, and our club will plan special activities to honour this day. The executive will bring suggestions to the club, but here's a hint. Start saving your change and small bills (large ones welcomed as well) for the happy dollars that night.

Our guest speaker was Lisa Block, site manager at Hope for Women in Langley. She has a strong desire to help women who find themselves in crisis situations, and finds Hope for Women to be an incredible fit. She spoke about their programs and showed videos of some of the clients who have had their lives changed for the better by contacting the agency. Women who find themselves with unplanned and often unwanted pregnancies are given options, and are not left on their own to cope. Sadly, despite the counselling, about 80% choose to end the pregnancy as their perceived best choice.

Following the regular meeting, the executive met and HISTORY WAS MADE. For the first time in the history of the Rotary Club of Langley, the majority of the executive members at an official executive meeting were female. Twenty-five years ago Wayne Wiebe was our club president when he sponsored and inducted the very first woman into our club. Now, a quarter century later, he is again our president and chaired this historic meeting. A selfie of the group was taken to commemorate the occasion. For more photos visit Sept 19, 2019.

Sept 12th Meeting

President Wayne repeated our theme, Rotary Connects the World, and reminded the club that our District Governor would be visiting in two weeks' time. He would like to meet as many members as possible before the regular meeting, and then with the executive after the meeting. All directors should be present to answer questions. Wayne gave the directors their "assignments", including which ones would be responsible for the five avenues of service.

September birthday wishes go to Trisha (16) and Brendan (older). We continue to sing both verses of Happy Birthday, quite heartily. Members had some difficulty naming I Guess Things Happen That Way by Johnny Cash, this week's tune, after the opening sounds.

From that Johnny we switched to John Brynjolfson, who filled in for an absent guest speaker with the second part of his medical update. This time he spoke about Parkinson's and the advances being made in fighting that disease. He sees a future where medicine will be available to stop the spread of Parkinson's, and people will not have to suffer as they do now. Many of us wish that day were here right now. For more photos visit Sept 12, 2019.

Sept 5th Meeting

Following the call to order, we opened our meeting in the usual fashion, singing "O Canada". We seem to blend the old and new versions, singing "in all your sons command" and "in all of us command" with no difficulty. Wayne noted that for the first time in many years we have not prepared to participate in the Langley Cruise-In. He circulated member information sheets, the first step in preparing to conduct a study of our members' occupations, working on a goal in the Rotary Citation.

Our guest speaker was Bill Hendricks from Pacific Riding for Developing Abilities and he spoke to us about horse therapy for children (and others). He brought a number of visual aids and explained how the program works, helping individuals with physical disabilities relax and become comfortable with their horses. Children gain confidence and appear, at least for awhile, to be pain free. He offered to host our club on a field trip to his facility, and club members expressed interest in doing that. For more photos visit Sept 5, 2019.

August 29th Meeting

President Wayne encouraged us to show Rotary Connects the World by bringing in some new members. Les Clay replied that he had one in mind. Stay tuned.

On behalf of the Foundation Committee, Wayne wrote the proposal for a District Grant to include three projects at Langley Community Services Society. For the two garden areas, including building an Allan Block wall two courses high, we would provide oversight but hire someone to do the work. For the third, we would provide the labour and invite Rotaractors to join us in preparing a ramp for painting, and then doing the actual painting. Now we wait to see if our application is successful.

Club members were challenged to identify a song and name the artist after hearing only the opening chord. Veronica and Rudy were able to recognise A Hard Day's Night by the Beatles by hearing only that iconic chord.

Our guest speaker was our own practising physician and past president of the club, John Brynjolfson. John brought us all kinds of incredible facts about research findings and new developments about prostate cancer, and he feels positive about medical breakthroughs coming to make our lives better. Words like benign prostatic hyperplasia and 5 alpha reductase inhibitor just flowed freely from his lips. He saved the second part of his talk for another day. For more photos visit Aug 29, 2019.

Aug 22 Meeting

Our Rotary theme is Rotary Connects the World. Some of us were able to hear RI President speak to the theme at Ribfest. Wayne was lucky enough to sit with him and enjoy some very tasty ribs! Early indications are that we surpassed last year's profits with this year's event, and comments have all been extremely favourable.

President Wayne reported on the results from the last Executive Meeting, keeping members informed.

Our guest speaker was Nichole Marples, Executive Director, Langley Environmental Partners Society. Did you know that over 1700 km of streams and ditches have been mapped in Langley? Much information was shared, and a great Q&A followed. Nichole signed a book destined for Nicomekl School as a thank you for her presentation. For more photos visit Aug 22, 2019.

Aug 15th Meeting

President Wayne reminded us that we can help Rotary Connect the World at Ribfest this weekend. He announced we were getting a second quote for services for the proposed district grant for work at LCSS. Special guests were Lillianne Fuller, Brooke Lindberg, and her parents, Clayton and Cathy.

Brooke, a recent graduate from Langley Fundamental Middle Secondary School, spoke about her volunteer experiences and her plans for the future. As a winner of one of our $1500 scholarships, she was most appreciative and thanked us for helping her, and stated, "I plan to continue to volunteer and make a difference in the world around me."

Lillianne spoke about the Nicomekl Elementary School lunch program and her involvement with that project. Students behave better and learn more when they are not hungry, and the results of providing food for the students who otherwise would not receive the nutrition needed are obvious and heartwarming. Lillianne has been able to obtain sufficient sponsorship funding for this year, but may be back to see us next school year. For more photos visit Aug 15, 2019.

Aug 8th Meeting

President Wayne handed out Rotary pins to commemorate our theme, Rotary Connects the World. Members were informed that Rotary International President Mark Maloney would be attending Ribfest on Aug. 18 and would be meeting with the four Langley club presidents.

We held extensive discussions about where we should meet, and whether we should move to the Rotary Interpretive Centre . Allan showed photos of the new sign in place at the building. After full discussion, we decided to stay at the Timms Centre but hold occasional meetings (up to once per month) at the Rotary Interpretive Centre. Negotiations with the Township will be needed to get this approval. For more photos visit Aug 8, 2019.

July 25th Meeting

We met this week at the new Rotary Interpretive Centre at the Doubleday Arboretum. As our club had donated $250 000 plus over 9900 hours of labour on this project, we wanted to experience a meeting inside this unique building. President Wayne shared information from the executive meeting held last week, and announced that Judi Piccolo was reaffirmed as an honorary member of the club. Funding requests have been forwarded to our new funding committee for recommendations to the executive.

Plans are well underway for Ribfest, and members are encouraged to sign up to volunteer. With no speaker for the evening, Wayne decided to play Name That Tune and provided the music.

We went back in time as Wayne played parts of several songs and club members attempted to first name the songs and artists, and then arrange the tunes by year and tell which had remained #! on the Billboard music charts the longest. Who knew that It's All in the Game (Tommy Edwards) and Purple People Eater (Sheb Wooley) each remained at #1 for six weeks in 1958, or that Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White (Perez Prado) was #1 longer than Rock Around the Clock (Bill Haley) ten weeks to eight in 1955? For more photos visit July 25, 2019.

Aug 1 Meeting

President Wayne encouraged the club members to make plans to do our part to see that Rotary Connects the World, and to have fun while we're doing it. For the second week in a row we met at the Rotary Interpretive Centre, this time on the lower floor.

Our guest speaker was Chantelle Bowles, Development Coordinator for Corporate and Community Partnerships -- Fraser Valley, for Canuck Place Children's Hospice. Chantelle's presentation was both informative and compelling, as evidenced by the questions and answers which followed. If she could find time among her many volunteering experiences, Chantelle would be welcomed to join our club to help us meet community needs. For more photos visit Aug 1, 2019.

July 18th Meeting

President Wayne opened the meeting by reiterating Rotary's theme, "Rotary Connects the World", and stating that he felt confident our club would be doing its part. Our speaker this evening was Roxci Bevis, Program Coordinator for the Derby Reach /Brae Island Parks Association. Roxci gave an interesting and informative presentation about the parks association, its goals, and what services it offers. She is in charge of planning recreation and conservation events in Derby Reach and Brae Island Regional Parks. Wayne asked her to sign a book which will be donated to Nicomekl Elementary in her name. For more photos visit July 18, 2019.

July 11th Meeting

President Wayne reviewed the requirements of the 2019-2020 Rotary Citation for Rotary Clubs, and mentioned various targets we should be able to meet. Setting up a Membership Committee is easy, though getting all members to bring prospective members to the meetings is more difficult. If we're successful, we'll have the net gain in membership we need. We are actively supporting a new Rotaract Club, and our Director Jonah Johnson has been named the president of the new Langley club.

Our own member, Jim Lee, provided the program for the evening. Jim recounted many memories from his years in Rotary. For more pictures visit July 11, 2019.

Rotary Connects the World

President Wayne welcomed the members to a new Rotary year and emphasized the new Rotary Theme, "Rotary Connects the World." He read a welcome from R.I. from President Mark Maloney and wished the club an enjoyable and successful year. One sign of success would be to gain new members.

We had two speakers: Lewis Nikkel and Jared Woolhether. Lewis, a winner of one of our scholarships this year, has completed grade twelve at D.W. Poppy Secondary School and told us about his interests, goals, and aspirations. Jared, a recent RYLA attendee sponsored by our club, spoke about the positive and enjoyable experience and shared his enthusiasm for the program. For more pictures visit the Rotary Connects the World Photo Album.

2019-2020 Installation

PDG Wayne Wiebe called on his former assistant governor, now PDG Sean Hogan, to install the new executive members of the Rotary Club of Langley for 2019-2020. Wayne is returning to the post twenty-five years after first serving as club president. Executive members are listed on the left-hand side of our first page on the website. For more pictures see the 2019-2020 Installation Photo Album.

Installation Night

Posted on Jun 14, 2018

The new officers and directors for 1 July 2018, were installed by District 5050 Assistant Governor Jorda Maisey.

President Bob Hillmer

Officers and Directors

Paul Harris Fellows

Posted on Jun 14, 2018

New Paul Harris Fellows were awarded to the following:

Dr. William Black

Leon Jensen

Nathan Huffman

Niall McGarvey & Scott Anderson

Not Present: John Aldag, MP; Joe Fifer

Multiple Paul Harris Fellow were awarded to:

Arelene Wiebe (PHF + 7)

Not Present: Kari Kutvonen (PHF + 2); Vaheed Yazdanmehr (PHF + 2)

Bard in the Valley

Vice President Anthony Ball presents a cheque for $2500 to Diane Gendron of Bard in the Valley. The club gives ongoing support the the performing Arts in Langley.

2018 Scholarship Winners

The club gives six $1500 scholarships each year to graduating Langley students.

Connor Frey, Catie Taylor, Alexandra Bennett,

Grace Chen with Scholarship Chair Wayne Wiebe

UFV Community Involvement

Posted on Mar 26, 2018

We had the pleasure of having Sheila Reimer and Sherri Magson with the University of the Fraser Valley share about the tremendous community work that UFV does. Since its inception UFV’s dedication to student development is what distinguishes it from the rest. UFV believes in giving their students a wholistic learning experience... Read More

2017 Community Grants

Posted on Nov 22, 2016

Pictured below, Treasurer David Truman presents cheques for $7500 to Pat Matiowski of Langley Lodge, and $10,000 to Karin Massar of the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation.

Bequest Society

Posted on Nov 22, 2016

Club President Allan Richmond and Joan Richmond are thanked by District Governor Scott Dudley

for supporting the Rotary Foundation by joining the Bequest Society.

Paul Harris Fellows

Posted on Nov 22, 2016

One of the pleasant duties of District Governor Scott Dudley on his official visit was to award Paul Harris Fellowships

to Trisha Evans and Bob Hillmer for their service to the club. They are joined by Past District Governor Wayne Wiebe.

Medical Goods for Ukraine

On November 12, members of the club and numerous volunteers loaded a container of Medical Goods and Supplies, destined for Odessa, Ukraine. The club is paying for the shipping cost, while all the goods, valued at over $300,000 were donated to Rotary World Help from various sources. Rotary World Help is a registered charity operated by 35 BC Rotary Clubs.