For awhile tonight it was a three person conversation during social time, but then others joined in. Topics included pronunciation, April Fools (no fooling), and rating confusion. You shoulda been there. Jim See sent his regrets.
Shortly after seven o’clock it was finally Veronica’s turn to say, “You’re late, Les.” She had seen it was seven, but as our birthday boy had not yet appeared onscreen, she waited. Then she called on Leon and he played a video of O Canada performed by various military bands.
Announcements: This year’s theme is Rotary Opens Opportunities; this is Maternal and Child Health Month and Rotarians provide education and medication to help prevent diseases (see more in a video at rotary.org); our Interclub with Abbotsford-Matsqui is on the 15th; Music Bingo is coming on April 16th (get your tickets); and our Windows of Opportunity District Conference will be online May 14-15.
Three of our members have just had or soon will have their birthdays. The two Bobs were absent, so we sang splendidly for Les who just celebrated #89. From her facial expression, I think Zofia was amused at our special rendition.
Foundation Chair Wayne read the Rotary Moment for this week, asking the question Want to Learn More About The Rotary Foundation? You may read the report and check out the websites for yourself.
President Veronica proudly presented a certificate to Wayne Wiebe recognizing him as a member of the District 5050 Polio Plus Society. Any Rotarian may become a member by pledging to donate at least $100 US per year to Polio Plus until polio is eradicated from our world. Congratulations, Wayne!
PP Wayne updated the club with regards to the Societies Act and our progress in getting our annual reports submitted. As Scholarship Committee Chair he announced that we have received sixteen applications for the six scholarships we will be awarding. Committee members will soon be receiving their copies of the information to evaluate.
President Veronica formally introduced our guest speaker, Zofia (rhymes with mafia) Switkowski who spoke to us about the Langley Restorative Action Program and the Community Justice Initiatives. Restorative Justice offers an alternative way to deal with various conflicts that arise. The Restorative Action Program began as a pilot project with the Langley School District in 2000 and was formally adopted by S.D.#35 in 2006. The goal is to create positive change in school culture and provide conflict resolution skills and training resources to students and staff on restorative practices. The program focuses on feelings and understanding and agreement on what should be done to mend the relationship. Zofia had a great presentation and you can view the slides by clicking: April 1, 2021 at your leisure.
We had first call for nominations for the position of Vice President next year. Due to work and study commitments, Claudia has had to step back from her full Rotary involvement and thus we have a vacancy on next year’s board. Lana Hart was nominated at this evening’s meeting.
We pledged happy dollars and shared our reasons for being happy. Then we closed our meeting with a toast to Canada. Cheers and happy Easter!