When our meeting was called to order, we began with a version of O Canada recorded in Newfoundland, and the video featured many singers. Unlike last week, most of our members watched, rather than joining in. A comment was made suggesting that these singers were almost as good as we were last week. Hmm.
Announcements (and there were many): This year’s theme is Rotary Opens Opportunities; Music Bingo is coming on April 16 (check the flyer sent out by Trisha); Les will be 89 on the 30th, but we postponed singing until next week; Interclub Meeting with Abbotsford Matsqui on April 15, 6 p.m. start; interesting speakers are coming up in April; only eleven people have completed Leon’s survey so far; District 5050 received a special citation for the number of clubs earning club citations in 2019-2020 -- this Citation honours Rotary districts in which at least half of the Rotary clubs earned the Rotary Citation, and only 93 of 534 districts worldwide received the Rotary District Citation. Our club was one of the successful ones; the district is looking for Zoom technicians for the district training sessions; District 5050 has started the Polio Plus Society and you can become a member by pledging to donate at least $100 US per year until polio is eradicated; and the new Rotary Club of Golden Ears Sunrise is being chartered.
President Veronica then took a breath and asked Foundation Chair Wayne to read the Rotary Moment for this week. With his granddaughter Annika on his lap, Wayne told How The Rotary Foundation Touched One Person’s Life. Brendan informed the club about a Public Fast to Stop the Jets and a short candlelight walk planned for April 10, a protest against the Canadian government’s plan to spend $75 billion for 88 fighter jets.
Veronica formally introduced our guest speaker, Vineetha Nakka, to the club and invited her to speak on the topic of epilepsy. You can learn more about CESEBC and see slides of her presentation by clicking March 25, 2021. Our brains have over 100 billion neurons, and during seizures too many are firing and sending messages all at once. About 1% of Canadians have epilepsy, and in 65% of the cases the cause is unknown. A person may experience focal or generalized seizures, and Vineeth explained the differences. She also presented slides indicating what you need to know to do in the event of a seizure. Vineeth informed us about Purple Day happening March 26, an opportunity to show support for Epilepsy Awareness.
We collected happy dollar pledges and shared the reasons why were happy, and closed the meeting with our toast to Canada. Cheers!
