With open doors the Timms Centre welcomed us for our weekly meeting. Rudy, Anthony, Wayne, John, Brendan, Nora and Nav were present, with Lana participating on zoom. Two guests, Karen Long and Wayne King, joined in, while Stephen sent his regrets.
Following the call to order and O Canada “(Excellent singing. Thank you very much.”) and the welcome to Langley’s first Rotary Club, with a proud past and a bright future, home of PDGs Stafford, Armstrong and Wiebe, PE Rudy thanked Karen for appearing on short notice to serve as our guest speaker this evening.
Wayne and Rudy commented on the District Assembly held last Saturday. Along with Gertrude Munyi, they enjoyed the various sessions (and lunch!) and found it to be a positive experience, despite a couple technological glitches. Rudy wore his new shirt proudly.
Langley Volunteer Bureau
Speaking about the Langley Volunteer Bureau, Karen Long first apologized for not bringing cinnamon buns from the kitchen in Aldergrove. Then she moved on topic. LVB now has 2300 volunteers, including more than 300 students, double the number from previous years. The students look after media and website operations.
A new program is snow angels. This entails volunteers shovelling snow from sidewalks to make clear pathways safer for seniors. LVB received a New Horizons grant to pay for the needed coordinator and some supplies. The two largest events as far as number of volunteers needed are the Fort Langley Jazz and Arts Festival (155) and Ribfest (235), and these numbers may be increased this year.
Cards for special occasions were delivered to seniors at Christmas, Easter and Valentine’s Day, with over 10 000 distributed last Christmas. Elementary students are involved in creating the cards. National Volunteer Week will be marked April 16-22 this year, and a pancake breakfast for volunteers will be held at Douglas Park Elementary on April 22 from 10:00 to 1:00. The Charity Nights program was successful, with each of the ten groups receiving $1700. Karen also talked about the Farm Museum and mentioned that Canada Day is the biggest day of the year for that facility.
Rotary Moment with Wayne
Wayne then read the Foundation Moment for this week.
WHAT IS A GLOBAL GRANT SCHOLARSHIP?
Through Rotary Foundation global grants, members can support future leaders whose career goals align with fields related to our areas of focus.
These scholarships are awarded for at least US$30,000 and can fund graduate-level coursework or research for one to four academic years.
A key feature of global grants is the partnership between the district or club where the person will study and the district or club in their home country.
When they return home, scholarship recipients are expected to talk with Rotary members and others about how their experiences led to a greater understanding of their host country and how they’ll continue to support our areas of focus and spread goodwill and understanding.
Do you know any students that you’d like to nominate for a scholarship?
Wayne noted that our club has had two successful global scholarships with Lexi Hudson (Vankevich) and Alice Kim being the lucky recipients.
The Light Touch
While this week’s joke had no singing, it did involve Wayne attempting an Irish accent. Those present heard about Father O’Malley, a Texas police station, a jackass, and how an awkward situation was resolved. Here’s one you have to read to fully appreciate.
I Wish I Could be You
I met a genie once. He gave me one wish. I said, “I wish I could be you.”
The genue saud, “ Weurd wush, but U wull grant ut.”
Other updates
Happy and sad dollars found six members donating for: having lunch with an old friend; Karen speaking on short notice; Karen’s message and all the amazing stuff she does in our community; walking in the arboretum; spotting a bald eagle and red-necked ducks; going to his son’s cabin and being put to work; our long waiting list for patients due to lack of funding while Trudeau uses our taxes to pay for a $6000 per night hotel room; enjoying a picture of eagles at Fort Smith; and the message on Rudy’s new shirt.
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