President Rudy Storteboom called the meeting to order with an acknowledgment that we are meeting on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples including the Kwantlen, Katzie, Matsqui, and Semiahmoo First Nations. This was followed by reminding that the Rotary Club of Langley was established in 1958 and that we have a proud past and a bright future, plus, we are home to Past District Governors Stafford, Armstrong and Wiebe.
Then, we stood to sing O Canada together. “Thank you, Good singing. Much better than at Semiahmoo this morning.” Rudy and Allan had attended their breakfast meeting. We welcomed guests Yvonne Hopp, Margaret Ann, and Brad Geddes who joined Micheal, Nora, Wayne, Rudy, Allan, John, Nav, and Anthony at Timms.
Navnit Shah advised that there were no birthdays or anniversaries to announce. Wayne confirmed that he would be selling 50/50 tickets at Krause Berry Farms on Saturday and Sunday, and that we need more volunteers for the following weekend. President Rudy sent around the signup sheet for the club’s BBQ/Pool Party on Saturday, August 26 to be hosted by Jorda Maisey at 367-198 Street. For those members unable to attend regular meetings, please let Rudy know if you are able to attend our summer social. Golfun has been cancelled (some kind of problem at Homestead Golf Course) but the Golfun dinner will go ahead on the 25th.
New Directions English Language School
Rudy then introduced our guest speakers, New Directions English Language School. Yvonne and Margaret told about the school, started first in 1989 and then incorporated in 1993 providing English language instruction for newcomers to Canada (LINC). Their goal is to prepare students for employment they can love. We recalled that our former member Claudia Trigo attended their classes to strengthen her English skills. With 830 immigrants in the school, they meet with people from China, Ukraine, Korea, Mexico and Central America, Afghanistan, Syria, Vietnam and Iran, among others. Their much-needed daycare currently has 77 children, allowing the mothers to attend classes. The school, located on Fraser Highway, has eight classrooms while three more are in the RCMP building, and two more are located in Aldergrove. They see about 400 students at a time. To receive a copy of the slideshow Yvonne and Margaret presented, contact Wayne.
Rotary Moment with Wayne
The Rotary Moment came from the August Peace Arch Journal, an article written by George Bryce from the Aldergrove club.
SASSY LANGLEY Goes Over the $100,000 Mark
SASSY Langley is a joint venture of the four Rotary Clubs of Langley (Aldergrove, Central, Sunrise and Langley). Without this support, SASSY would not be a success. It was created from the Surrey model and with some modifications for Langley has done very well.
SASSY Langley has finished its eighth year. This year we were very pleased to receive 59 applications, almost all from Grade 12 Langley students. This brings the total amount we have awarded to students to just over CDN $100,000! We are very proud that Rotary has helped these outstanding Langley youth with their post-secondary.
We have received great support from the Langley School District, right from the superintendent through high school administrators, department heads, counsellors, teachers and coaches. Without this help, it would not be possible to get the application into deserving hands.
We look for students that have shown outstanding leadership qualities in one of seven categories listed in the application. Prizes are $1,000 for the winner of each of the seven categories and the two runners up in each category will each receive $500. In total, we awarded $14,000 this year.
In addition, in the Rotary tradition of giving back, we gave CDN $2,000 to Langley charities focused on supporting youth. This year, these charities were Canuck Place, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Foundry Langley.
The year was brought to a conclusion at a Red-Carpet Reception for parents and friends followed by the Awards Show where winners were announced, and cheques handed out.
These students are amazing and lift the hearts of all involved. We are proud to be part of this wonderful endeavour supporting our local youth.
The Light Touch
Wayne followed this with The Light Touch, featuring three more groaners.
What is the best part of Switzerland? I don’t know, but their flag is a big plus.
A bear walks into a restaurant. He tells the waiter, “ I want a grilled … cheese.” The waiter asks, “What’s with the pause?” “Whaddya mean?” the bear replies, “I’m a bear.”
What’s the difference between a hippo and a Zippo? One is really heavy, and the other is a little lighter.
Other updates
For our proposed District Grant to help fund new dishwashers at Langley Lodge, we need to do more than just provide the funding. Please share ideas of what activities we could provide at the facility to flesh out our grant application.
Happy and Sad Dollars for Polio Plus.
Donations were made for: an opportunity to visit son at Cowichan Bay; this evening’s talk; our country welcoming refugees; the interesting presentation and the good work done in the community; our prime minister and his wife separating and Trump being indicted (with the promise of more cash when he is convicted); and a blackberry bake-off coming up on Aug. 24 at the arboretum.
We closed with a toast to Canada. Next week we’ll be at Timms for another great Rotary evening.
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