The Rotary Club of Langley’s 46th regular meeting of this Rotary year was held via Zoom on June 11, 2020, with a new high of eighteen people involved. Rather than repeat last week’s experience with the national anthem, we tried something new. Leon played a version of O Canada and we sang along with our mics muted. That way we could hear the singer and ourselves, and see the others mouthing the words. It worked quite well.
Welcome from Wayne: “Our Rotary theme this year is Rotary Connects the World. According to Mark Maloney, our RI President, Rotarians are connecting with the world more than ever before, as more of us make use of modern technology to reach out and connect with others. He encourages us to engage our members, to reach out to those who have not been attending meetings, to restore connections. Once again, our club is ahead of the curve, as we’ve been doing that for some time. Thank you, Claudia. Mark says this pandemic is a watershed moment for the world, and for Rotary. It has provided us an opportunity to become more flexible, and we should use this to our advantage in shaping a club that is attractive to all ages.”
Wayne introduced our four guests, scholarship winners this year.
Discussion topics included Arboretum and RIC, Message from DG Brad, Program and Remembering with Photos. Wayne read a statement from RI dealing with the topic of racism, and how at Rotary, we have no tolerance for any kind of racism. Photos took us down memory lane (for longtime members) or introduced us to information from the past (for newer members).
Cassidy Cardle and Leah Cho, from Walnut Grove Secondary School, and Ella Davidson and Lida Magnus from Langley Fundamental Middle and Secondary School told us about themselves, their interests, their volunteer activities, and their plans for the future. When they complete their studies as planned, we will have a nurse with PHD, a clinical counsellor, a clinical psychologist, and a lawyer in our midst.
We collected an above average number of happy and sad dollars for Polio Plus and closed the meeting with a toast to Canada. An executive meeting followed. For more photos please visit June 11, 2020.