Nine members and four guests gathered at Timms for yet another most interesting meeting. Bob, Wayne, John, Allan, Anthony, Leon, Nora, Nav and Micheal were joined by Victoria Biggs, Yvonne Hopp, AG Bev Dornan and DG David Lukov. Regrets were received from Rudy and Merle.
Following opening remarks and the singing of both The Star Spangled Banner and O Canada (we did our DG proud) VP Allan welcomed our four guests. Nav advised that Brendan had both a birthday and a wedding anniversary approaching.
District Governor - David Lukov
As this was his official visit to our club, DG David was invited to address the group, and he didn’t disappoint. AG Bev formally introduced David, and he then took his spot at the lectern. His talk featured questions and stories. Why are we in Rotary? Why did you join Rotary? Several of us offered answers and they were excellent! David told a story about three old men sitting on a park bench, with George stressing the importance of communication, Tom stressing the importance of values and religion, and Sam saying you needed luck. Now if you had attended the meeting, you would know what that means.
Rotary has amazing training opportunities, both online and in person. Rotary promotes leadership, and leadership happens when training, experience and vision meet opportunity. We strengthen our own skills, motivate others and help them develop. RLI, YAIL, RYLA and My Rotary are all avenues to training and leadership.
Has Rotary helped you have a broader view of the world and life? You learn more about your community by being active in Rotary. Why have you stayed in Rotary? Rotary becomes a good family for you (David shared a story about the empathetic listening provided at a time of loss) and that’s what Rotary is to David.
He shared his plans for the district conference on May 4, 2024, a one day event at Mt. Vernon High School with a focus on family. Actually, it will begin the day before with a bowling activity for families and continue on to Sunday with a work camp. The early bird cost is $100 (or $200 per family) and David wants families to take part in the event. The costs are deliberately being kept low so all can attend.
He is preparing three minute videos that will appear on the District 5050 Facebook webpage. David closed his remarks by telling us what he sees in Rotary clubs gets him excited. He tells stories because they click, people remember them, and urged us to share our Rotary stories with others. He presented three certificates, “District Governor People of Action Award,” to Wayne, Anthony and Allan to rounds of applause.
Rotary Moment with Wayne
WHAT CAN A $1,000 GIFT TO THE ROTARY FOUNDATION DO?
A $1,000 contribution to The Rotary Foundation pays for the materials needed to build a deep bore well in India that will supply clean drinking water to more than 300 people. It provides materials to treat and prevent parasites and anemia in children in Brazil or pays for a tree nursery in Jamaica that will help 700 farmers increase their income. It can provide a cow and animal husbandry training to a woman in Uganda, where children often don’t get enough protein and calcium. It can pay for the polio vaccine for 2,000 children in Nigeria or provide $50 microloans that allow 20 women in Nicaragua to start businesses.
Can you commit to donating $1,000 per year to The Rotary Foundation to change people’s lives?
The Light Touch
Wayne followed this with The Light Touch, featuring a little extra in honour of our DG.
Will glass coffins be a success? Remains to be seen.
Like most men my age, I’m 78.
Okay, just so everyone’s clear, I’m going to put my glasses on.
The adjective for metal is metallic but not so for iron, which is ironic.
It’s kind of disgraceful that even after fifty years many people have no idea who Neil Armstrong was, let alone what kind of trumpet he played.
Other updates
Donations were made for: buying and selling oranges as an early Rotary fundraiser; needing nine visas for a planned cruise; enjoying David’s presentation; signing a contract with a new management company for the strata; having golf clubs and hockey sticks stolen from a locker; completing final papers for MBA; our guests; sharing the latest ESRAG article; seniors time in the park near Elk Falls; David’s inspiring presentation (mentioned often); wife in and out of the hospital; and cats doing better on a vegetarian diet than on a meat diet (tell that to mice).
We closed with a toast to Canada. At the executive meeting which followed, we received a thank you note from Marilyn P. for the funds we donated. Anthony announced that we have received about $11 200 in unrestricted funds from the 50/50 sales, and over $20 000 in restricted funds. Two changes were approved to our executive. Wayne Wiebe is our new President-Elect, and Micheal Bolu is our newest director. We also discussed three nominations for membership in our club: Victoria Biggs, Yvonne Hopp, and Andrew Mercier. We voted to donate $10 000 of the restricted funds to LMH Foundation and will earmark $9000 for our six scholarships.
Next week we’re meeting at the Rotary Interpretive Centre, so we won’t be having a hybrid meeting. Hope to see you there!
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