Tonight Wayne, Rudy, Micheal, John, Bob, Nav, Yvonne, Victoria, Nora, Leon and Anthony were joined by guest Ricardo Dinelli de Assis. Regrets from Allan who is off holidaying. Following the land acknowledgement (meeting on the unceded lands of the Coast Salish), opening remarks about our club and the theme from our RI President, and the singing of O Canada (Oh, that’s good singing), Rudy officially welcomed our guest.
Nav reported that Carl had his birthday on November 6. On a sad note, former club member John Morfitt has passed away. John was a fountain of Rotary knowledge while a member of our club before he moved to White Rock and joined the club there. No word has been given about service arrangements for John, but we will share the information when we hear.
Rudy encouraged us to join the Rotary Club of Langley Facebook page and reminded about upcoming events (Grants Seminar, District Assembly, Christmas Wish breakfast). Those going to the Low Entropy fundraiser on Nov. 18 are asked to meet at Timms at 5:30 so we can carpool and travel together. Rudy listed the various Remembrance Day services scheduled for Nov. 11 around Langley. Sign up for our Christmas Pot Luck Social at RIC on December 22nd. Coordinate with Nora Truman, please.
Who Am I? Victoria Biggs
Our speaker this evening was Victoria Biggs, giving us her “Who am I” talk, complete with a powerpoint presentation. Victoria is an entrepreneur born on Canada Day (a few years ago as she is now a grandmother) and Langley is the third Rotary club she has joined. After holding a variety of jobs (ask for a copy of the screenshots to get all the information) Victoria now works for the Canadian Vocational Training Centre in Langley. She reported that 90% of their multibarrier students are new to Canada. To further assist people to be able to attend classes, they offer shared housing for people from all over B.C. Some students are very well-educated individuals who simply cannot find employment here.
One of the Centre’s programs, Denova, focuses on what students need to learn, e.g. how to drive a forklift, or computer skills, and then provides that instruction, rather than having a preset curriculum. Students are paid while they attend and learn. This is a government sponsored program. Another area for instruction is Security, and she mentioned that B.C. Corrections is looking for 300 employees right now. Yvonne mentioned that she has referred students to this Centre for years, with some great results. It was good to hear about a success story right here in Langley.
Rotary Moment with Wayne
WHAT IS A ROTARY FOUNDATION SUSTAINING MEMBER?
A Sustaining Member is someone who contributes US$100 or more each year to the Annual Fund. These contributions count toward several different kinds of individual recognition and club recognition banners.
For less than $15 month, you can be a Sustaining Member and help provide life-changing opportunities for people on a yearly basis!
Thank you to all the members of this club who do contribute $100 US every year. We are making a positive difference in our world.
The Light Touch
Wayne followed this with The Light Touch:
I phoned my local swimming pool community centre. I asked, “Is that the local swimming pool community centre?” He replied, “It depends where you’re calling from.”
So I got home and the phone was ringing. I picked it up and said, “Who’s speaking, please?” And a voice said, “You are.”
So I said to the gym instructor” “Can you teach me to do the splits?” He asked, “How flexible are you?” I replied, “Well, I can’t make Tuesdays.”
Other updates
Donations were made for: Victoria’s presentation; strata fob concerns; Victoria’s presentation; Victoria’s presentation; the best Who’s Who I’ve heard; BC Lions; Township council having a new heating system for Brookswood Community Centre on its radar; and finally, for Victoria’s presentation.
We closed with a toast to Canada. Next week we’re meeting at the Rotary Interpretive Centre, so no hybrid meeting for a week.
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