Meet our upcoming Speaker Guest

Dr. Greg Haljan

The Rotary Club of Surrey proudly supports the Rotary Cares Dictionary program in our schools

• Bryce, Art and their team of six worked through the summer on the merger of the two clubs. We received unanimous support to merge. The new club is called the Rotary Club of Surrey and the new board was installed in July by past RI representative Dean Rohrs.
• A special thank you to you the members who are the backbone of the organization. Without your commitment and belief in the Four Way Test, we would not be here today.
• Frances, Norman, Duane and Lynn Juliet said goodbye to the club. Yeen may be back in 2019.
• Membership: We started the new year and the new club with our first and newest member for the new club; Sam Sangha. Our intrepid community liaison Dave Hayer sponsored a new member who will be installed tonight
• Programs: Fusion Fest was held and at some point, we will decide if we will participate in the future, thanks to Bryce and his team
• Starfish is growing and I would be remiss if I failed to thank Lynn Spence and her team for the incredible job they are doing with this program. Rose McKeen is no longer a member, but she continues to support Starfish and I cannot thank her enough for her efforts
• The Booksale was completed- thanks to Charlie Molnar for the work he and his team did to organize and execute the book sale
• Under the guidance of Anup Jubbal, Canadian Eyesight Global continues its work in restoring sight to people in India and as you know, CEG sponsors free eye camps around the Lower Mainland.
• The Inclusion Awards Event is just around the corner, thanks to Dick for representing Rotary.
• The Seniors Christmas Dinner which is being organized by Dianna Sears will be held on December 8^th and the Starfish Packing event followed by the club’s Christmas dinner will be held at Vlassis Greek Restaurant on November 22^nd. Again, thank you all for the work you do for Rotary.

On tuesday we had the pleasure of hearing from Steve Rutledge (a Rotarian from Ontario) on his Foundations efforts to improve the lives of residents of villages in
Laos. Their Mission is to provide new water sources,clean water,education facilities and sponsorship,hygene training focusing on rural 
locations. He presented a short movie documenting recent trips into villages and the really desperate conditions in this small country that
endured heavy bombing during the US war with its neighbout Vietnam. One way they help to improve access to clean water is the supply
and distribute Water filters.This simple device with a cost of a mere $75 can provide a family of 8 with clean drinkable water removing bacteria,
Protozoa,parasitic worms and other solids that contribute to major health issues. 

Here are some facts about LAOS..   
Population 6.9 million. Average age 20.8 years, Life expectency Male 54 years,Female 56 years. Average annual income $970 
Education less than 15% of students attend secondary School,less than 1% get to University.

As you can see a very poor country with massive needs in the area of health and education. (Key ROTARY Focus areas)

Steve and his foundation are making a difference. You can help by donating to his cause here this the link to the website for  more 
information.  http://adoptavillageinlaos.wordpress.com

Photos: Our speaker Steve Rutledge, Past President John Edwards presents Steve and his sister Dawn with a token of our appreciation for sharing.

Last monday (Sept 8th.) I attended Get Carded Event at the Surrey Public Library. This was in celebration of Literacy Day 2014.
Linda Stromberg- Surrey Libraries Board Chair and Chief Librarian Melanie Holden presented highlites from the 2014 Literacy Day
Report on the Surrey Libraries. Very interesting numbers here are a few..  In the last year the Libraries computer Learning centres helped nearly 4,000
people get connected to the internet.There are 4 Computer Learning Centres in Surrey- City Centre,Guildford,Semiahmoo and Strawberry
Hill branches.People using these library Centres completed over 1/2 million log on connections last year. 
Yes the notion that libraries are just for loaning books is outdated. We are now in the Digital Age in Surrey.
Computer Learning Centres in 4 Branches, Curiosity Corner (iPAD equiped lab) in Newton aimed at kids aged 4-8 and a new APP for (yes)
finding and loaning Paper Books, eBooks and eMagazines.  
With a Library card you can access for FREE... 
Canadian Newstand-Vancouver Sun,Province and the Globe & Mail,Surrey Leader and Surrey Now.
Popular Magazines,International Papers from 84 countries all on line.Did you know only 40% of Surrey residents have a Library Card.. The pass to get to the digital age and ITS FREE.. Drop-in to your local library and get carded today.

Here is the link to the Surrey Libraries Web page where you can get all the facts.  http://www.surreylibraries.ca

Here is the link to download the app from itunes  https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/surrey-libraries/id589910618?mt=8

During the past year we were invited to make presentations to the City of Surrey Social Planning Advisory Committee. (SPAC)
Past President John Edwards represented us in this regard.

One of the initiatives that came from the meetings was the development of a website to show what participating
Rotary Clubs and other partners do in the community.

Here is the link :  http://www.surrey.ca/community/15155.aspx

Back on July 16th 2013 the club held an official Visoning meeting led by the District Visioning Team. As a result of the evenings work a VISION was
 created.
The process was to establish a list of Visions under the following topics and then vote on the list to establish the top 3 
for each area.
The topics were:

1. Vision Pursued ( What does your club "Stand For" in the Community)
2. Club Size
3. Attributes (what are your characteristics,features or demographics)
4. Club Service
5. Vocational Service
6. Community Service
7. International Service
8. New Generations Service
9. Foundation
10. Fundraising
11. Leadership Development

Last tuesday we devoted our Business meeting to revisiting the plan,updating and discussing our progress towards meeting our Vision Goals.

Past President John Edwards led the meeting in which from wide discussion by our members we either agreed the points established in July 2013 still held true or new goals and objectives were set.

A new detailed Vision document is being prepared and will be provided to all members by the end of September. The overwhelming response that the evenings exercise had be very valuable and Past President John was commended. It was further recommended that we take parts of the document and cover them in depth at future business meetings. Example “Club Service”

On Tuesday Aug 19th. Our featured presenter for the evening was Matthew M.Stevenson MED,IPTQ, AED,PID

He is a consultant working with the BC Construction Association  (BCCA) his position is to match Canadians with trade positions.
His mantra is Keep Canada Strong.

First step is to encourage students to look to the TRADES for their career. Opportunities abound and Canada is
 experiencing an increasing shortage of skilled trades workers. Hence the need to source workers from abroad for immediate needs.

Matthew stated that his emphasis is to Keep Canada Strong by firstly employing Canadians and promoting the 
training and hiring of Canadians. When that will not fill the void he goes outside Canada to match potential employees
 with Companies in Canada and starting the process of having these employees stay in Canada and make Canada their 
home thus helping to Keep Canada Strong.

BCCA is employer owned Association with over 2,300 employer owners. Many of these are small to medium size companies that 
form our countries economic engine. They have a need for skilled workers to compete for projects and to complete projects ensuring their growth and
 a strong local workforce to Keep Canada Strong

BCCA have several programs to assist both employers and prospective employees move forward.

STEP (Skilled Trade Employment Program) http://www.stepbc.ca

FSWBC(Foreign Skilled workers BC)            http://www.fswbc.com

A new program established in February 2014 is an initiative of the Construction Foundation of BC to rebuild and refit
shop Classes in BC Schools. One way to Keep Canada Strong is to get an early start on Trades training and creating
 an awareness in high School Students of their future in the Trades rather than the Academic environment.
Through this new initiative individuals are encouraged to donate to their local schools to upgrade their Shops pay for
 quality training. Also the Construction Foundation is working with its member companies to provide equipment and 
support so working together we can Keep Canada Strong

For more information here is their link.http://projectshopclass.com 

Once again we had a quality speaker and gained a lot of knowledge another ROTARY Benefit sharing our knowledge.

Our resident Commercial Electrician and Founding member Walt Johnson presents Matthew with a token of our appreciation for sharing his experience and knowledge

And you thought becoming a Dr. was a long haul....

Last tuesday our President Elect Ed Landry provided us with a overview of the industry and what is required to be a commercial Real
Estate Appraiser.  Here is Ed's official title (showing we have super qualified members in our Rotary Club who share their expertise)

Ed Landry ,B.Comm,CRP,AACI,P.APP  

Ed is the President of Penny & Keenlyside Appraisals who have been providing top-quality valuation & advisory services since 1958.
During his presentation Ed noted there are two Real Estate Appraisal designations. 
AACI - Members holding this designation can perform Commercial and Residential Appraisals
 and CRA - Members of this designation specializes in Residential Real Estate Appraisals.

How long does it take on average to gain these designations?

AACI (Accredited Apraiser Canadian Institute)- 4-6 years

CRA (Canadian Residential Appraiser)- 2-3 years.

For more details on requirements here is a link to the Sauder School of Business at UBC that conducts the courses leading to the
two designations.
 http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Programs/Real_Estate_Division

So once you are qualified the learning does not stop there as each assignment varies ( Ed mentioned that this is a great part of the work the 
variety and the opportunity to learn). Appraisals have varied reasons for being completed here are 3 of many.

1. Establish the value on a purchase  and to support financing.

2. Establish valuations in legal actions. ie Family breakups, Business Breakups (foreclosures and  expropriations are some other examples)

3. Under new rules for Strata Corporations the need to establish insurance Valuations and reserves for maintenance.

Ed has many years in the business with a wide range of knowledge and experiences with more being added each day. He stated if you are
looking for a career with a wide area of expertise and new experiences each day.
Look to being an Appraiser.

 Our immediate Past President of the Rotary Club of Surrey John Edwards presents Ed with a token of our appreciation for sharing

Rotarian Roy Holman from Vancouver Trolley Company provided us with a wealth of information on
Tourism in Greater Vancouver and the current trends. Tourism is a $3.6 Billion Dollar Industry. Creating
over 70,000 jobs .

He indicated that Vancouver has many attraction that make it a destination for tourists and unfortunately 
with the expanse of Surrey and limited number of attractions it cannot compete as a destination for tourists.
Vancouver Trolley is an ideal way for visitors to reach the attractions within the city of Vancouver something
 that cannot be duplicated in Surrey due to the distances between areas of Interest. 
Example the Surrey Museum is in Cloverdale,Tynehead Fish Hatchery is miles away and wineries another
 potential attraction are spaced over a long distances making it difficult to compete with Vancouver.

In Vancouver a trip on the on/off trolley's allows visitors to go to Stanley park, travel along the beaches of Bay to the Maritime and Space museums then on to Science World & BC Place traveling east into China Town then back west into Gas-town then finally the many stops in downtown Vancouver to shop and dine.

Roy mentioned that the busiest Tourist attraction at this time is the Capilano Suspension Bridge where many days there are
long waits to enjoy the many walks and events within the park.   One Perk for BC residents One days admission gives you a full years pass and discounts so
you can go when it is not so busy and you do not have to cram all the events into one day. 

Past President John Edwards presents Roy with a token of our appreciation for taking the time to share .

For more information here are links to Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver Trolley and Tourism Vancouver websites.

http://www.capbridge.com 
http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/
http://www.tourismvancouver.com

Last tuesday our keynote speaker was our esteemed member Deane Gurney from Sands & Associates.

Deane enlightened on some changes that have taken place with the updating of the Bills of exchange Act and Canadian Payments Act to meet the needs of Electronic Banking.

One item affected is the Stale dating of checks.
Once it was a fact that if the date of the item presented for payment was over 6 months. It was considered "Stale
Dated" and would not be cleared. However that has now changed ... Now it will be paid unless you have issued
a stop payment order with your financial institution. Electronic and on line is convenient but you need to learn
the new rules or it could prove expensive.This fact was a revelation to most of us including the data checked now that the payment system is electronic a
very interesting and useful presentation.

One of the advantages of attending Rotary meetings and being a Rotarian 
is that our members represent many diverse occupations and we get to share their expertise.

Here are links if you wish to learn more - 

Bills of Exchange Act           http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/B-4/
Canadian Payments Act      http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-21/
 

Past President and now Honorary member ,retired MLA Dave Hayer Presents Deane with a token of our appreciation
for sharing.

Tuesday July 22nd. we had the pleasure of welcoming Rotarian Anup Singh Jubbal  from the Rotary Club of Surrey-Guildford. For 25 years 
Anup has been leading this organization (Previously named Project Eyesight-India in providing eyecare to people in India who cannot afford
to pay for eyecare. They have completed over 100,000 free cataract surgeries and treated in excess of half a million children and adults for 
eye issues in rural India. Anup told us that this project has joined together over  Rotary Clubs,local eye hospitals and volunteers in this project.
Another example of what Rotarians and Rotary Clubs can do to help the less fortunate.

To learn more about Canadian Eyesight Global here is their website http://canadianeyesight.org

To celebrate 25 years of giving Canadian Eyesight Global will be holding a Gala Dinner on September 26th at the Dhaliwal Banquet Centre."
Tickets are available from President Garry Thind.

Photo memories:  Presenting Anup with a token of our appreciation and our declaration to fund cataract surgeries.

Group Photos of members present.

Tuesday July 22nd was initially forecast to be rainy but that changed and we enjoyed a hot and sunny day on our Adopted Street Cleanup.
John Campbell assembled his crew of 6 to complete the clean up of our Street - 100th Avenue between 140th Street and 152nd Street.
Members John Edwards,Garry Thind,Bryce McElroy and myself were joined by Honorary Member Dave Hayer and his Aide Paul Keenleyside.
with John Campbell dropping us of at our points along the route. After a lot of ups and downs into the ditches and with sweat pouring from our
brows we were able to make quick work of the cleanup leaving a Mattress !  for the city to pick up and depositing 6 full bags of garbage in Johns
van for recycling on Wednesday. It looked pretty clean just driving down the street but it is amazing how much crap is thoughtlessly dropped into
the ditches. Here are some Photo memories of the group before we adjourned to Boston Pizza for Lunch and some adult beverages.

Our featured presenter on JULY 15th. Was Khayanga Jenipher Wasike 
CEO/President of WHISCA (Willing Hearts International Society-Canada) and a member of the Rotary Club of Vancouver Quadra.

Their Vision is to Relieve Poverty, Advance Education and support independent living.

She told us about the Lugari Community Resource Centre Project in Kipkarran River,Kenya.
The centre is located in the western side of Kenya in Lugari District which has a population of 
over 250,000 people. In 2010 they opened the centre.

We were amazed at the number and 
diversity of the programs conducted at the centre which serves all of the western Province of
Kenya.

These include:

Farmer's Training and sustainable agriculture workshops.
Youth Leadership training,
Poultry project and Goat rearing,

Shipping of containers to support health & literacy.

Micro-financing and women's sewing project

Water project-Domestic Purification and filtration.

Youth Scholarships.

In one Program the Youth Leadership Project they bring together 150 Girls from across the region to learn leadership
skills that they can take back to their villages to develop skills of women in their communities

For more information on supporting these initiatives their website is http://www.whisca.org or eMail info@whisca.org

Photos:  Lugari Community Resource Centre and Past President John Koropatnisky presenting Khayanga with a token of our appreciation for sharing the project with our club.

Surprise!!. A glitch in Past president John's speakers schedule resulted in us having a surprise featured speaker.
 We were please to have Rotarian Peter Warmerdam from New Zealand. Peter Lives in Hutt ,New Zealand and is a Veterinarian by profession
 Operating his own practice since 1989. Peter is the Treasurer of the Rotary Club of Hutt City.  

He enthralled us with the sights of New Zealand taking us on a Powerpoint Journey across the Island. He also told us about the famous Haka 
chant (key in the ALL BLACKS). Tramping - No not that type of lifestyle.. In NZ tramping is their word for hiking.If you missed the meeting you missed many nuggets of information about New Zealand.
A very interesting presentation where we learnt a lot about New Zealand and the Rotary Club of Hutt City.

Here Roy Holman presents a token of our appreciation to Peter for taking the time to come and visit. Also a group picture with our New President Garry Thind.

The Annual Theme for 2014-15 is Light Up Rotary. Our 2014 Presidential & Board installation evening certainly did that in Spades.
We had over 100 attend the function the largest number in Club History.

In a departure from our usual standard Banquet incoming President
 Garry Thind put his personal stamp on the event and themed it on his South Asian Culture. 


We held the event at the Grand Taj Banquet Hall in Surrey. As one ascends the ornate staircase to the banquet room a one can feel a sense of change. We had a great selection of Indian cuisine beginning with the appetizers which were a meal in themselves.

The installation was conducted by our esteemed District Governor Dennis Boyd. Outgoing President John Edwards presented certificates of thanks to his Board. Walt Johnson was recognized for 43 years of perfect attendance (Walt was one of the Clubs founding members in 1971) and Rotarian Parm Mutti was recognized as Rotarian of the Year. 

In his acceptance speech incoming President Garry Thind presented John Edwards with a Silver Gavel to replace the wooden one passed forward during the hand over of control of the Club. Dave Hayer was also presented with Honorary Member Status for his years of support of the Club. We thanked District Governor Dennis Boyd by giving a donation to the Rotary Foundation in support of Polio Plus in his name.

We were then entertained by Shan-E Punjab Arts Club  performing a series of Punjabi Folk Dances a memorable event. http://www.spacbc.com then we enjoyed a flavorful meal of Indian foods. The evening ended with the Dance floor being opened so those who desired could work off the calories consumed through out the night.

Here are a few Photo's from the event more can be found in our Photo album.

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Our featured presenter on June 3rd. Was Allan Baedek - Allan studied performance and writing as a music major at Humber College and is a member of the Audio Engineering Society and the British Columbia Professional Videographers Association.Allan has actively involved with the Semiahmoo Rotary Club since 1999. He was instrumental in initiating the SASSY awards for youth in Surrey and White Rock.His videos of the last 3years winners can be viewed on the SASSY AWARDS Web page.

SASSY is an acronym for "Service Above Self Surrey Youth" In 2011 the initial awards program was presented.The SASSY Awards honour youth aged 15 to 21 who are living in Surrey or White Rock and are making a difference in our community by demonstrating the Rotary ideal of “Service Above Self”

Seven Awards are to be presented in the categories of:

Overcoming Adversity            Environmental Leadership
Sportsmanship                       Performing and Visual Arts
Community Service                Youth Leadership
International Service

Nominations are open until September 26th. the link for information.Videos and forms is  http://www.sassyawards.ca
 

This years Awards will be presented November 21st at the Surrey Arts Centre.

President John presents token of our appreciation the Allan for his presentation and his creation of the Award Program.

On Tuesday May 27th.We had a double bill with two great speakers. One was Katie Miller from Kwantlen Polytechnic University
who updated us on a large research project led by Dr.Gira Bhat that was funded by a $1M grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.  They have completed the research part of the project and are now turning it into Action (unlike many of these research projects it will be used and not become a dust covered book).

AT-CURA is the acronym for Acting Together-Community University Reasearch Alliance.It is an organization made up if academic researchers and experienced community groups committed to preventing Gang recruitment of youth.
From July 23-25th the conference will take place at the Sheraton Guildford. Over the 3 days the research group comprised of teachers,researchers,youth workers,law enforcement and community groups will disseminate the data they have compiled and come up with action plans from a series of interactive sessions with the Groups and parents and youth. 

The conference is  not covered by the research $ so they are looking for sponsorships. Here is your chance to assist in solving a great community challenge.

For more information contact  Katie Miller (Katie.Miller@kpu.ca) or Stephanie Connolly  Stephanie.connolly@kpu.ca

President John Edwards presenting a token of our appreciation to Katie for her presentation.
 

Caroline Lepine presented on a foundation that she is part of called Summits of Hope.This is a group formed by climbers to enjoy their adventures but by participating they give back to their community, They raise funds for Children's Hospital by  of collecting donations. To be able to join a climb they each have to raise $5,000 minimum to participate and this is then donated to Children's Hospital. The Climbers then pay their own climbing costs so all the funds collected go to the children

Caroline presented photos from previous climbs and told us the stories behind them.. Their slogan is "Everybody has a Mountain to Climb"
Here are some that they have climbed.  Kilimanjaro,Machu Picchu,Everest Base Camp,Mt.Aconcagua(Argentina),Ring of Fire(Ecuador)

One way to participate without making the climb is to Donate to the Summit Flag Program for a minimum donation of $40 the climbers will carry your message on their next climb "It has long been tradition climbers to carry brightly coloured Flags with them as they make their way towards the summit. Written on these flags are messages of hope. It is believed that every time the wind blows, the hopes and dreams of each flag are lifted from the material, and carried up into the heavens amongst the highest places on earth."  See Photo of Caroline with some of the flags she will take on her next climb.
For more information or donate here is the link to their webpage.http://www.summitsofhope.com

To provide a donation directly to Caroline here is her link http://www.summitsofhope.com/climberProfile/caroline_lepine

On May 20th. we also had a presentation from Kellie  Brown from Youth Unlimited (One of our Gaming Funds receipients)
Kellie updated us on their Organization and programs. The program we are supporting is call Stepping Stones. This program provides support and guidance to teen mums .Providing counselling and life skills training to support them in their journey into parenthood. Here Rotarian Bryce McElroy presents Kellie with our donation. For more information on their programs check out http://www.youngfamilies.ca

The two students that we sponsored for RYLA this year were our presenters on May 13th.2014
Manbir Renthey and  Pavandip Dhaliwal both are volunteers with Surrey Crime Prevention Society besides handling a full course study at School.
They both stated it was a life changing experience and that as many students as possible should
have the opportunity to take part. The program widened their horizons and established a large 
network of fellow students going forward. Their resounding note was it was not long enough even
though when they arrived they were not sure they wanted to stay.Our club thanks go the Duane Buchanan
for putting the program together and Garry Thind for escorting the students to Victoria.

Well Carolina Arango can she is the city of Surrey Arborist and was the keynote speaker at our May 6th.meeting. assisted by Steve Whitton, City of Surrey Trees and Landscape Manager we learned about trees and why they are important,how to care for them and how to choose where to plant the tree. Examples of wrong decisions were shown which has led to the need for a Bylaw to protect trees.

The Tree Protection Bylaw #16100 that protects trees against damage and unnecessary removal. You must contact the city Tree and Landscaping dept for permission to remove a tree they will come out for free and evaluate your Trees providing you with guidance on removal and/or trimming.This link gives you all the details re permits.http://surrey.ca/community/1361.aspx

Did you know Surrey has a program where you can turn $25 into $75? Yes an initiative of the Trees Dept you can go to city hall pay $25 for a voucher that will give you $75 discount on Tree purchases at Art's Nursery Ltd.  8940-192nd Street and David Hunter Garden Centre 15175-72nd Avenue  Here is the link to the City for more details http://surrey.ca/community/11144.aspx

John Edwards keeps getting us tremendous speakers that provide us with a wealth of information make sure you do not miss a meeting. 

Here John presents Carolina and Steve with tokens of our appreciation for their very informative presentation.

​

What a night the weather was perfect. We were able to bask in the summery sun while waiting for the 6pm start to our first International Dining Experience fundraiser. Four groups of participants starting at one of the 4 venues. We started at our appointed restaurant and began the 4 restaurant rotation.First Taste of Punjab then onto Izumo Sushi followed by Vlassis Souvlaki & Greek Taverna and finishing up with dessert at Nahm Thai Bistro. My initial worry when the idea for the event was floated was will there be enough to eat will participants feel they got a good deal. Well by restaurant # 2 that fear was overcome with comments such as I am full already! From what I can gather the event was a resounding success. Most of the attendees had never been to these restaurants ( I did not know they were here was the most often comment)
Throughout the evening I checked in with diners in our group and got glowing comments over the food "we will definitely be returning for another meal" was mentioned several times.  Accolades to Parm,Deane and John K for creating what looks to be a nice fundraiser for our local giving. Here are some photo's taken by our in house paparazzi Ajay Caleb .Thanks Ajay for sharing the memories. 

Here are links to the Restaurants web pages so you can plan your next outing.

Taste of Punjab http://www.tasteofpunjab.ca   10009 Whalley Blvd
Izumo Sushi  http://izumosushi.ca  13631-100th. Avenue
Vlassis Souvlaki & Greek Taverna  http://www.letseat.at/vlassisgreektaverna/menu  10028 King George Blvd
Nahm Thai Bistro  http://www.nahm.ca   13650 102nd Avenue

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Our featured presenter on April 22nd was MacKay Potter, President of the the Lower Mainland Down Syndrome Society (LMDSS).

The Society was formed in 1989 and has a membership of over 600.

She explained the focus of the society is fourfold.
Support parents and families of individuals with Down Syndrome.
Educated the community 
Network with other like Organizations and individuals
Lobby for educational,vocational and cosmical opportunities for persons with Down Syndrome.

Using a powerpoint presentation she showed where the LMDSS provides support and services to families and individuals with
Networking events (like the Christmas event that we sponsor) Workshops -including adapted signing,Drumming,Music,Sexuality workshop,
iPAD workshop and more... 

They are like many of todays groups always  needing funding currently they get a Gaming Grant and support from organizations like ourselves and do fundraising events.One novel event is an on-line program "We care shopping on Line" The App allows them to receive a donation when you shop at more than 2,000 participating merchants — at no cost to you.http://lmdss.We-Care.com/Start .Just shop as you normally do, and a donation will be made — without taking a penny from your wallet. 

They also have a lending library in their office for members to get more information to understand Down Syndrome.

On tuesday we learnt a lot about one of the organizations we support through our Gaming funds.

For more information here is their website address  http://lmdss.com

President John presents MacKay with a token of our appreciation for the work their group does and for attending our meeting to update the club.

Bill is progressing well and has now been moved from Royal Columbian Hospital to Eagle Ridge.

A group is planning a visit on April 14th.So we have more to report next week.

On tuesday April 8th. Cyndy Hill Director for development with the Surrey Public Library visited the club and told us about their new initiative "Literacy for Life" (Fundraising Goal $500,000) and one component of the program "Read to Baby"

Read to Baby will provide one thousand early learning kits to parents of Surrey’s most vulnerable newborns in 2014. The kit is a beautiful keepsake bag filled with a storybook music CD, parent guide, plus some fun and easy pre-literacy tips. 

Cyndy explained that 37% of Canadian born adults struggle with low literacy. This impediment results in lost opportunity and also costs to the community. Studies have shown that for every $ invested in literacy a return of $7.16 is achieved. The secret is to start early pre school so that when children begin school they are fully functional in comprehension and ready to learn. The Surrey Public Library is intent on improving the opportunities for children.In the 2012-2013 year over 60,000 children went through free literacy programs at the Surrey Public Library.Surrey Library also hosts a summer reading program last year over 15,900 attended. 

After an extended Q & A
Club President John Edwards presented Cyndy with a token of our appreciation for her presentation.

For more information about your local library here is the library webpage  http://www.surreylibraries.ca
To get involved with Literacy for Life and the Read to Baby Program contact Cyndy Hill  cahill@surrey.ca

Tuesday April 1st ( Bad day for a meeting) But no Joke we had Staff Sgt. Scott Campbell as our featured speaker updating us on policing in Surrey and the way in which the Surrey Detatchment has partnered with Community Organizations to bring the best outcomes in policing and solutions to our community.

Scott advised us that the City of Surrey does not have its own police force like Vancouver but contracts with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to provide municipal level police services. The Surrey Detachment is the largest RCMP Detachment in Canada with 661 police (regular and civilian) members and a support staff of 250 municipal employees. Surrey RCMP is also the second largest municipal police force in the province, based on authorized police strength alone. 

Now with the movement of E division to Surrey, we probably have more police per capita in our city during the daytime than any other municipality (My thought not Scott's) 

Scott advised that Surrey is divided into 5 districts for policing.
District 1 - Whalley/City Centre
District 2 - Guildford/Fleetwood
District 3 - Newton
District 4 - Cloverdale/Port Kells
District 5 - South Surrey.

Scott mentioned that the regular meetings with a group representing key community groups allows them to build consensus on acheiving a shared vision for the City. There are many volunteers that enable this to happen over 28,000 volunteer  hours in 2012. 

Scott shared much more than this quick excerpt provides and we thank him for taking the time to update us.. Oh! by the way Scott is a Rotarian.Giving to the community in his spare time as well as in his vocation. President Elect Garry Thind presented Scott with a token of our appreciation.

On tuesday March 25th. We had the opportunity to hear from Janet Fierbach the WHEN Story.

WHEN (Womens's Heart Engaging Network) began in 2008 as an outreach of Power to Change Organziation.
Since its inception it has been focused on providing the opportunity for women from all cultures meet and
enchange ideas and how together to achieve their full potential.

15% of the BC Population are women who have crossed cultures. Being in a new country and culture is many
times a very difficult time and groups like WHEN provide an opportunity to build new relationships an ease the
transition to a new culture. Janet provided a great presentation giving us an insight into WHEN..

For more information here is their web page link http://whenetwork.ca

Past president and Honorary Member Dave Hayer presented Janet with a token of our appreciation.

On Tuesday March 18th. we had the pleasure to hear from Dr. Helena Swinkles.MD,MHSc,FCFP FRCPC, Medical Health Officer for Surrey on the topic of immunizations and the benefits. With a current outbreak of Measles in the Fraser Valley it is a timely subject. Also the proof of the success of the Polio immunization campaign which has now made India Polio Free gives further credence to the need to immunize.
Why Vaccinate?
Save 2.5 million children each year.
Safest Medicines we have (As a result of extensive testing)
Most cost effective tool to combat communicable diseases.
Need to stay up to date.
Dr Swinkles mentioned that many people think they are safe but they have not kept their immunizations current.
It is important to get together with your family doctor and check on your status.
Currently Dr Swinkles is leading the battle against the Measles outbreak and described the issues they were facing.

We really appreciated the time taken by Dr Swinkles to bring us up to date on a very important medical issue.

Unfortunately Photos taken during were lost due to a technical issue.

Karen Reid Sidhu was our guest at last week’s meeting.  She is the Executive Director of the Surrey Crime Prevention Society.  Her organization was a recipient of a $2000 donation from the Rotary Club of Surrey gaming grants program.  Under her watch, the organization has taken a progressive approach utilizing a team of 260 active volunteers and 7 paid staff.  The volunteers help run speed watch, the anti-graffiti program, and the successful and proactive Locking Out Auto Crime initiative.  They also gather traffic statistics for the Surrey RCMP.   They are essentially an extra set of eyes and ears for the community.  Furthermore, volunteers help lead at-risk youth in a positive direction, and she spoke proudly of the results achieved by her dedicated and talented team.  Her organization is not only helping keep the community safe, they are also developing tomorrow’s leaders and law enforcement.  Keep up the good work.  We look forward to future partnerships with the organization!

YAIL  - Youth Adventures in Leadership is a ROTARY Sponsored event held in January of each year. This year Jan 17-19th. was the weekend when 65 students aged 15-17 gathered to learn leadership skills. Each Rotary club sponsors students to attend and our Student was Ben Carmicheal, Grandson of Rotarian Duane Buchanan. 

Ben joined us on tuesday night to relate his adventure and share the benefits he derived from the weekend. He had many superlatives about the course, the leaders and the weekend.But his big point was it was too short.Sunday came too soon.  

To learn more follow this link  http://yail.org

Here Duane introduces Ben to the group.

On Tuesday March 4th. We had the distinct pleasure to share some of the funds we had obtained from the Provincial Gaming Commission. The first of our selected community services SURREY URBAN MISSION was represented by Jonquil Hallgate who accepted our check in the amount of $2,000 to assist them in delivering their programs to the homeless in Central Surrey. Jonquil told us the history of the mission and the expansive number of programs they deliver all completed by volunteers. They have been in operation for 14 years They serve weekly community meals on monday,wednesday and friday at noon and a saturday breakfast at 9 am. If you want to volunteer you will be welcomed at 10776 King George Blvd. Give them a call at 604-581-5172.

Here our Treasurer Bryce McElroy presents the check.

Our Keynote speaker on March 4th.was April Linke.

She related to us her journey in getting proper diagnosis and programs for her son who eventually was diagnosed with Autism.It was interesting to note that it appeared none of the Medical specialists that get involved with the diagnosing of the condition are on the same page. Not weeks,not months but years to finally come to a conclusion and that with constant pressure from the parents. You have to hear the story to understand the monumental fight that April and her husband had to wage to finally get confirmation of Autism and the tools to help mitigate the issues. Many would have given up along the journey and another child would not reach their potential.  

It was apparent that there is still not a place where one can go for the answers . It depends on who you reach as to where you end up.. The Autism Society has information but is not the sole source and if you have not reached that conclusion where do you go? On a Long and Winding Road.

April handled a spirited Q & A where members present could get more detailed answers to a very complex and subject.

Our esteemed member Deane Gurney was our keynote speaker on February 25th. His message was the rules and legitimacy of Claims on tax returns for Charitable Donations.  He described how many claims which were for donations of goods for which a taxable receipt is obtained were found to be fraudulent by Revenue Canada where values have been inflated purely for the purpose of avoiding taxes. Many people have found to their dismay that they did not qualify and now were faced with repaying taxes and penalties in many instances placing people in dire straits.   As we always say the best charity is to donate to our Rotary Foundation. Minimal administration costs only 3%  Your contributions help us strengthen peace efforts, provide clean water and sanitation, support education, grow local economies, save mothers and children, and fight disease.

Duane Buchanan presents a token of appreciation to Deane for updating us on this tax issue.

One of the benefits of ROTARY is the varying expertise of our members. 

Tuesday night we had our Assistant Governor Pat Bond provide us with some timely tips for tax time. In her presentation she alerted us to many deductions that are missed and explained the rules behind some of them.

A timely presentation as we prepare for April 30th.and settling accounts with our government..

Duane Buchanan presented Pat with a token of our appreciation for her very useful information.

(note this week our member Deane Gurney will enlighten us on changes to rules in claiming charitable donations)

February has been a great month for membership we have added 3 quality members who have more degrees than the weather in Miami.. (well a little exaggeration ) But they are exceptional young men who have proven their intelligence and now want to give back to the community.

On tuesday they presented their Classification talks telling us about their history and accomplishments .

Introducing :- (in alphabetical order)

Jaret St. Andrassy. Introduced to the club by John Koropatnisky

Jaret is a BC boy growing up in Abbotsford. He is married to Amanda and they have 3 young children. He is currently the program co-ordinator with Milieu Family Services.Milieu works with persons with disabilities looking after accommodation operating Residental homes,shared living facilities and offering day services to assist their clients. A large part of their program is finding employment for their clients of 51 job seekers that have 40 matched with employers.It was through this part of their program that we me Jaret who was part of the committee last october to deliver the Mark Wafer event. Interesting facts we learnt on tuesday was Jaret Played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL also played Arena football for Wyoming. When not working on Milieu Programs he runs a fitness company and coaches a Langley Junior football team.  

Lahkjit Sarang   Lahkjit was introduced to the club by President elect Garry Thind. 

Lahkjit  grew up in the Punjab and came here 15 years ago.He is married to Manpriya they have 2 boys Aged 10 and 6.

 He has a Masters in Computer Science,A Realty and Insurance licence is currently selling Life Insurance and in his spare time completing his CPA designation. Manpriya is a Notary Public so if you need a document notarized you know where to go. 

Ten Tran. Ten was introduced to the club by Ed Landry.

Ten Grew up in Toronto and came to BC 6 years ago as a mechanical Engineer. He then decided real Estate was a opportunity and studied to become a realtor. Ten was not satisfied and felt a need to further enhance his education and returned to School obtaining a MBA he then decided to combine the results of his education and became a real estate appraiser. Currently when not working he is completing studies to obtain a  CPA designation.  Ten married his long time girlfriend Kathy this last September.. 

We look forward to working with these new members in delivering Rotary programs to our community and benefiting from their expertise and abilities.

Here is President John Edwards with our new members. Ten,John,Lahkjit and Jaret (Additional pics in Photo album)

Friday and Saturday saw the 10th edition of Women in Harmony. One of the groups we support through our Gaming Funds.  This event has proven to be very popular. It offers musical Education to young women who are interested in learning more about the acappella stye of singing. In addition it enhances self esteem and confidence of the young ladies.They had a wonderful time as always!  3 of these women have gone on to make music their career and have music degrees.  One of these women has attended 9 of the workshops and is now a musical leader. 

Here is their Happy Photo at the end of the weekend. Thanks to Judy Buchanan for her leadership in promoting the event over the past 10 years.

A change of pace we all took to the bowling lanes on Tuesday February 4th. Joined by Rotarians from the Peninsula club in WhiteRock about 50 Rotarians and Family members had a fun night at Sandcastle Bowling Lanes in WhiteRock.

Many thanks to John Koropatnisky for putting out the idea and arranging the evening. I have posted photos to our Photo album Here a a couple of them. 

A review of our membership showed we were missing the opportunities presented when women become a part of a Rotary Club. President John Edwards was determined to change that situation in Surrey. He created an evening dedicated to telling the Rotary message to invited women guests who exhibited the attributes that make a good rotarian. It is our hope that the evening made them aware of ROTARY and the benefits that can be derived from membership. Our Keynote speaker for the evening was Carol Tichelman who showed us how International Rotary projects are now her focus and related stories on trips to Ethiopia and Uganda to be on Polio Immunizations and improve Clean water supplies in Uganda. A truly inspiring presentation.

We then assembled a panel of Women in Rotary to tell of their passion in Rotary and answer questions from our guests. A great panel of Women leaders in Rotary.. Past district Governor Jane Helton,Assistant Governor Linda Coyle,President Keesha Rosario and Carol Tichelman.

Topping off the evening we had Past District Governor Jane Helton induct our newest Rotarian Jaret St.Andrassy.

A great evening in spreading the Rotary Message.. Hopefully inspiring more women to join to server our community.

Here are a selection of Photo's from the evening (More in our Photo album).

On Tuesday January 14th. We had the distinct pleasure of the company of Parizad Mistry - Human resources Consultant at Fraser Health Authority and Jim Nielson - Managing Consultant, Recruitment and Retention at Fraser Health Authority.

They provided an excellent presentation detailing the Surrey Memorial Hospital expansion including a new ER and 8 story Critical Care Tower.

The expected Opening date is June 1st for the Tower, the ER is currently open and operating to capacity. Parizad explained that this is the largest Capital project in BC healthcare ($512 million). It adds 30% more beds and will allow for increased teaching capabilities. Staffing is increased by 650 medical positions and the project created 3300 construction jobs. The Emergency Department is the 2nd largest in Canada this expansion increased its size threefold. It has one of only 2 Pediatric Emergencies in BC and separate Mental Health Zone.

An extensive Q & A followed the prepared presentation where many questions were answered with detail and were greatly appreciated by the attendees.  

For more information log into the Fraser Health Authority Site   http://www.fraserhealth.ca

President Elect Garry Thind presented Parizad and Jim with a token of our appreciation.

We have established an annual bursary for a business student of Kwantlen Polytechnic University who is also involved in the community and last tuesday we had the pleasure to meet with this years recipient David Dryden..  David is a fourth year Bachelor of Business Administration student. He listed many of his outside interests and positions and it was soon apparent he gets every minute out of everyday and is already giving back. The list was so long I have captured a couple of the accomplishments.  He is a Badminton player and is on the Varsity Team.He coaches at Fraser Heights Secondary,He is a director of the BC School Sports association.He is on the Vancouver Board of Trade Leaders of tomorrow executive. He explained how bursaries like ours are a real aid to students and allow them to concentrate more on their studies and reduce reliance in part-time employment to get them through University. It is our pleasure to see Rotary Funds support tomorrows leaders. 

President John Edwards presented a state of the Club address at tuesday's meeting.Reviewing our accomplishments year to date and indicating he has chosen the letter "F" for the balance of his term. Fun and Fundraising.  To kick this off we will have a club social and bowling night on February 4th.  2014 at the Sandcastle lanes in South Surrey.. John Koropatnisky is arranging the night and indicates we can fit 54 bowlers into their premises as they have 9 lanes available. This is a family event so register now (Registration is Open) John needs the numbers so he can book the required number of Lanes. To add to the FUN it is also Financially prudent as February 4th is Toonie Tuesday … So Games cost $2.00.. Shoe rental $2.00 and selected foods $2.00 plus tax. 

Fundraising is our most difficult nut to crack.  However Parminder Mutti & John Koropatnisky are working on an International Dine & Dash at four-five restaurants where we get to try samples of ethnic dishes and the plan is to end up at City Central Brew Brewing for desert and a nitecap. They rolled out the concept on tuesday and it could be a winner giving us both fun and funds.. Need to get 80 couples attending.. stay tuned for more detail in January. John also reminded us that we have our donate a car program ongoing that will give us a steady stream of funds so find the junkers and lets get them processed. Call John for details.

President John went on to show how we have had a great selection of Featured speakers at out club year to date and this will continue besides good food and fellowship we need to have some content to take away from our weekly meetings… In the first six months. we have Hosted our Mayor Dianne Watts,A past Rotary International President - Rick King,The driving force behind Rotary@work -Mark Wafer which was a joint initiative with the City,CLBC and Milleau Family Services and will become an annual event during Vocational Service month as we encourage the employment of persons with disabilities. 

International Service is high on priority list with ventures being planned in Amritsar, India and Benin in Africa. We are now anxiously awaiting the results of our Gaming grant submission (Expected February) so we can again provide support to local groups. We have 18 organizations in our list so we keep our fingers and toes crossed.  Groups we support include the Salvation Army,Rec for Kids , Dictionaries for Grade 3 students and many more.

January 7th. After we have all recovered from the Christmas and New Year break we dive back into a weekly schedule of speakers and projects. Here is the January line up.

January 7th..  Keynote speaker Tara Grant from LMDSS(Lower Mainland Down Syndrome Society) 
January 14th. Keynote speakers  Jim Nielsen and Mistry Parizad from Fraser Health Authority
January 21st  Keynote speaker Carol Tichelman telling us about her international travels on Rotary Programs
January 28th Keynote speaker Paul Ho from Canada Financial.

Another program we support is the Annual LowerMainLand Down Syndrome Xmas Party and Networking event.This brings together children and their families who support them. It is an opportunity to exchange ideas and events in a happy fun environment. This year the day was held at Castle Fun Park where Pizza and Cake were enjoyed and a surprise visit from Santa. Here are a few Photo's from the day and once again we received praise and thanks for making the event possible. 

Another of the programs we have supported since its inception is  "Give the Kid a Muffin". The Surrey Public Library runs this program weekly and encourage inner city families with young children to drop in every friday for story time. They get to enjoy a story and other entertainment provided by dedicated library staff and have muffins and drinks. (Hence the name Muffin). Each year they have a wrap up day and I have been able to attend the event share the Xmas Cake and the Puppet show,Hand out Candy Canes and give the families a book which we supply. It is great to see Rotary $ at work helping to improve literacy and see the families enjoy being at the library. As you will note we get lots of accolades from the library staff and even a thank you on the cake. Here are a couple of photos from the event.The Cake, the book and part of the audience. By the time it started the room was packed with children and parents). More photos will be posted to our Photo album shortly.

Last tuesday we had the opportunity to hear from MikeReddington BA.MBA from the Rotary Club of White Rock Semiahmoo on the process of conducting and interpreting a membership engagement survey. Mike initially devised this process for Versacold logistics surveying over 10,000 employees. He then refined the process to fit a Rotary Club. 

What is it? It is a measure of the positive and negative emotion of the club membership.

How is it conducted? Using Survey Monkey https://www.surveymonkey.com this cloud based survey tool makes it easy to create and deliver the survey and it is confidential so the data is not influenced by personalities.

Why conduct a survey? Take the temperature of the membership. Monitor connection between the club and the members.Help members reconnect and help members self assess their active membership.

Objective - Foster communication and feedback, Gauge level of engagement,Gauge level of members satisfaction with the club,

When the survey is completed the results are assessed and then it is time to put an action plan into place to address the needs uncovered.

Bryce Elroy thanked Mike for his presentation and presented a token of our appreciation.

Roger Wong, President of the Rotary Club of Vancouver-Chinatown, was also a guest at this week’s meeting.  Their club is holding a fundraising gala on February 14, 2013, known as the Be My Valentine Dinner and Show.  He promises that the Chinese flavour and entertainment will take us to China. 

Included in this years festivities are demonstrations by famous Chinese artists of paper cutting and Chinese Rainbow Calligraphy. You will be able to take home your own personal paper cuts and Calligraphy. I have attended in previous years and can attest this is a unique and very enjoyable evening.

You have great food and entertainment and the opportunity to help students in their education. This years funds will provide an iPAD Media cart (includes 25 iPADS) for the Students in the Britannia hub of schools.

Tickets are $80 each and included is a 12 course dinner, activities, and performances. Dick Wareham has tickets  dwareham1@me.com

This week’s guest speaker was Judy Villeneuve, Surrey City Councillor.  She was invited to speak to the club about her work with the Surrey Social Policy Advisory Committee that she leads.  Also with her in attendance was Aileen Murphy, Senior Social Planner with the City of Surrey.  Councillor Villeneuve has held her position for 25 years and is actively involved in social policy and homelessness initiatives.  She mentioned how Surrey has had progress in the issue of dealing with homelessness even while the population grows at a fast pace.  Much of the progress has been as a result of partnerships between the city, the province, and Fraser Health Authority. The Surrey Homelessness and Housing Society was also formed under her watch and they have awarded $2 million in grants to assist nonprofit organizations to help in their mandate.  The funds have helped some of the city’s most vulnerable, including single parents, aboriginal peoples, people with disabilities, and new immigrants. Councilor Villeneuve expressed enthusiasm in working with service clubs in helping reach the city’s goals in tackling poverty and homelessness.  We also look forward to any opportunities that may exist.  She also asked for support of a petition she has created in support of Government Assisted Refugees.  They are responsible for repaying interest-bearing loans in the thousands of dollars covering their transportation and pre-entry medical expenses.  She is hoping to have these payments eliminated to help vulnerable people working to start a new life in Surrey without the stress and difficulty of repaying these interest-bearing loans.  Please contact our club through Facebook if you are interested in signing this petition.

President John Edwards Presented Councillor Villeneuve and Aileen Murphy with a token of our appreciation for the presentation and making us aware of the Social Policy initiatives in the City of Surrey.

Past District Governor Sean Hogan was our Keynote speaker at our Annual meeting on Tuesday November 19^th. He explained all the New Generations programs indicating that they are a source of new Rotarians in the future.

He led of with asking the members are you a Rotarian or a member of Rotary. Getting and working on International projects is one way to get the passion another is to get involved with Youth Programs and see the life changes that occur at these events.

RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) a 4 day program  YAIL (Youth Adventures in Leadership) weekend in January for Grade 10-11 Students.

INTERACT-Primarily in High Schools usually meet once per month to work on Service Projects

ROTARACT - University and young professionals ages 18-30 usually meet twice a month less formal than ROTARY.-We have 4 in our area , Cloverdale, Langley, Tri Cities & Chilliwack

YES - (Youth Engaged in Service) aimed at Grade 11 students.A year long program that ends with a trip to Guatemala to complete a service Project.

ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE - Gives students aged 15-19 to spend up to a year in another country as an international student hosted by local Rotary Clubs.

Sean stressed that by our involvement we get the passion and by providing the opportunity we instill leadership & service skills in Youth.

Director Duane Buchanan thanked Sean for sharing with us and presented a Rotary Pen as Token of our appreciation.

The Finale to our very busy agenda for the night was on a lighter note. We had Winston Chang Business Development Manager with Sandals Resorts accompanied by Tracy Martin(John Campbells Daughter) from Marlin Travel provide us with a history of the Sandals Resorts Quality all Inclusive Vacation Resorts. How Gordon"Butch" Stewart took an idea and made it into the most awarded All-inclusive Resorts.Ever. He explained the  different styles of Resorts in their group.     Sandals - designed for Couples : Beaches - designed for Families . Their Resorts have more Quality Inclusions than any other resorts. Including Ultra Nannies at Beaches. 

Deane Gurney thanked Winston for his very enjoyable and interesting talk and then presented Tracy & Winston with a token of our appreciation.

Andrea Coogan, Development Officer with the BC Cancer Foundation was this week’s guest speaker.  She updated the club on recent successful fundraising initiatives, and the years focus.  She said that the BC Cancer Foundation is the largest funder of cancer research in the province, and lately they have been dedicating much of their resources to find treatments and cures for lung cancer.  The foundation has been rated one of the most transparent and efficient organizations in Canada, and they have a track record of putting donor dollars to good use.

She thanked the Rotary Club of Surrey for its support over the years, which tallies at over $60,000.  Our clubs $50,000 donation in 2012 helped create a staffed Cancer Information Centre at the Fraser Valley Centre located in Surrey, BC.  The information centre provides information booklets, books, and internet access to patients and their families so that they have access to current and accurate information about cancer and treatments.  President Elect Garry Thind gave Andrea a token of our appreciation for taking the time to visit with us.

Tuesday November 5th.2013 was the day Jack Aldaz returned to the club. Jack was our treasurer in 2012 but due to business pressures and the completion of his accounting designation had to take a leave from the club. In August he returned to take in the Past Ri President Rick King event. At which time he indicated he was ready and able to return to our club.  Jack is an Accountant with Delpro Automation Inc. a leading provider of industrial valves, automation and process instrumentation in Western Canada for over 25 years. Jack grew up in Mexico and we look forward to hearing his classification talk in the near future.   WELCOME BACK JACK  

Here President John completes the induction ceremony with Jack.

The room was buzzing with One-Liners. Yes Colin McSween was in the house. The acknowledged authority on the Assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22 1963. Several years back Colin presented a multi-part presentation on the Assassination and we were able to Skype Dr. Robert McClelland,one of the Emergency room doctors to give us the real information. Colin recapped the events of Nov 22 1963 and the various activities by the CIA and other Government people that cast questions on the Official Line on who did what and did Lee Harvey really do the deed??

Complete with supporting documentation and memorabilia Colin kept the audience captivated by the inconsistencies in the "Official Line" No wonder Colin has been called to contribute to books on the subject and has been invited to speak to conferences in Dallas on the subject.

One book that Colin co-wrote was At the Door of Memory -Aubrey Rike . Here Past President John Koropatnisky and President John Edwards thank Colin for sharing his knowledge and one-Liners with us once again.

Bryce McElroy introduced Lisa Mander from Red Horse Assisted Services. Lisa has an impressive list of credentials in the area of counseling and dealing with disabled and at risk children. She also has an equally impressive list in the area of competitive and recreational riding. She explained that this program involves no riding but utilizes the horses in developing confidence and interaction with a non-judgmental partner.A lot of the programing is done with first Nations youth. Their group is looking for assistance in building a Round Pen ($50,000) that will allow them to conduct their program outside in the usual BC winter(Rainy) weather. This pen will enable them to expand the program to year round as it currently has to shut down Oct-March.The program achieves good outcomes but is expensive. Currently the individual programs have been funded by School Districts and agencies.

President John presented Lisa with a token of our appreciation for sharing this program with us and advised our Board will review her request.

John Kearns, General Manager of the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel, Vice President of the BC Hotel Association, and Director at the Surrey Board of Trade was this week’s guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Surrey meeting.  He provided insight into some of the challenges facing the tourism and hospitality sector locally and nationally.  He also spoke about where some of the strong areas of growth are in the sector.  With Canada’s share of global tourism dollars shrinking, John stressed the importance of government and private sector backed solutions that could help change this trend.  He also expressed enthusiasm in the growing hotel sector in Surrey, especially in light of October’s announcement that the Marriot chain would be opening a luxury hotel in the city centre.

Photo:  Rotarian Leyland Williams thanking John Kearns for sharing his insight into the tourism and hospitality industry.

Yes we are having our members share their Biographies and tell us about themselves, their occupations and families.

Traditionally all new members give a classification talk within a month of being inducted and at our Business meetings we will have our seasoned members tell their stories. Our latest Classification talk was given by Parminder Thind who joined our Club on August 6th. Parminder's Classification is Insurance -Life & Health. His company is Think Insurance here is a link to his webpage. 

http://www.dfsinvestmentinsurance.ca/en/representative/Pages/ParminderThind.aspx

As you can see Parminder has a very positive attitude to assisting people maximize their financial success.

Being a Rotarian offers many privileges,especially when traveling. You can meet local Rotarians and exchange ideas and get the inside track in new countries or cities that you visit. Here is an example -  a  visit between our President John Edwards and Allison Peart the President of the Rotary Club of Kingston.Jamaica.When she visited Vancouver recently.John had the opportunity to discuss the Re-Tool Jamaica project that we have been trying to get started. Here John exchanges Club banners with Allison.

On Tuesday we had a visit from Leslie Forbes with PONY PALS , She came to receive a donation to assist them in providing therapeutic riding experiences for disabled children and adults. Past President John Riley presents a check to further their good works.

Our Keynote speaker for October 15th was our Local MLA Peter Fassbender -Minister of Education.

He updated us on the happenings in Victoria since he was voted into office earlier in the year. He Outlined his vision for Education in BC. He indicated that although they were not meeting in the Legislature. All members of the House were very busy working on the Legislative Agenda and preparing for policies to be introduced at the next Session. He also outline the positive future of Industrial development in BC and the need to increase the number of qualified Trades people to meet the growing needs of business coupled with the numbers of retiring Trades people.He and his fellow ministers in the Education field have been working tirelessly to come up with solutions that will see these needs addressed.  The development of LNG is top of mind in the Province at this time and is under severed time constraints as several other countries are working to be first to the post in setting up agreements with developing countries that require this energy source.  Following his prepared presentation he answered numerous Questions from our Club members and when asked how he felt about the potential success of his vision he answered with the comment  "I am a Realist Optimist"

Thanking Minister Fassbender was our Honorary Member and past President,Dave Hayer.

This was our 3^rd. year completing this program and it was another great success.
Five schools were selected in the Surrey School District that are considered  Inner-city  Schools and are feeder Elementary schools to Kwantlen Park Secondary. The schools we provided dictionaries to all the Grade three students were:- Bridgeview, Forsyth Road, Old Yale Road, K.B.Woodwood and James Ardiel

We delivered 212 dictionaries over 4 days. 10 Members of the Club participated in this project.

With the provision for privacy we were unable to show the faces of all the happy children without individual releases  so that is why you will see photos from the back of the Class. Here is a selection of photos taken during the week including our President who had to serve a time out and memorize the meanings of the two words we had the children locate with the help of their teachers "TRICK and TREAT"

Joined by members of White Rock Peninsula and Surrey Fraser Heights and Central City Provisional Club we hosted our District Governor and his wife Maureen at our October 8th.meeting.
A good attendance of 32 enjoyed the wisdom of our District Governor as he hit all the important points in being a Rotarian in his address.

He related how he first saw a Rotary project and wondered who are ROTARY through his experiences in ROTARY to his current position.
He explained the 5 avenues of service talked about post Polio help as we are " just this close" to dealing with the disease but now have to look at helping those that were afflicted by the disease and now suffer from the outcomes.

Maureen brought our Attention to District Conference to be held May 1st in Whistler Theme "PEAK EXPERIENCE"  Early registrations enjoy choice of rooms
and discounts. 

DG Boyd  inducted our new member Leyland Williams. Here are Leyland and his partner Gerri Meagher with DG Denis and his wife and  another with our president and Leyland's sponsor John Edwards.

He then presented a new 5050 pin to the three clubs unsung Hero's (Members that the current Club President has deemed are worthy of such awards.) Missing from Surrey Photo is Lal Baniya who was not available for the evening.

 Club Presidents presented DG Denis and Maureen with tokens of appreciation for their visit.

It was  as usual good food and fellowship. With food for thought delivered by our DG.

Our Vocational Service Month Hi Lite Event. 

Put together in partnership with Community Living BC, The City Of Surrey and Milieu Family Services from all accounts  was a resounding success.. We had over 100 attentive people learning how hiring persons with a disability enhances a business and improves the profitability,moral and social standing of a business. Mark told us of his experiences in his 6 Tim Horton Stores where he has had over 90 disabled persons in his employ and currently has over 40 in a work force of 240. 

We had a lively Panel presentation with questions from the audience. Mark was joined on stage by  Angie Patrignani from Milieu Employment Services,Jayson Lockyer - Super Store(Guildford) Operations Manager and Shawn Spear - Self advocate (person with disability). They explained the process how Shawn approached milieu and they identified and spoke to Jayson about the program.He was receptive to the idea and soon Shawn was working at Superstore. Another Win-Win result. 

This reminds me of the  last  line of the  4 Way Test - Will it be beneficial to all concerned ? Obviously this was..

To put the final touches on this week Mark will be leading a meeting on October 9th. with the Vocational Service chairs from District 5050 clubs to explore how we can 
make further advances in getting more persons with disabilities employed in our District.

Here are some of the photo's take during the evening by Richard Jeffrey.   More are posted in our Photo Album.

President John Edwards with Jack Styan from CLBC present Mark with a token of our appreciation for his presentation.
Our Panel with Mark Wafer answering questions from the audience.
Our Committee representing the 4 partners in organizing the evening with Mark & Valarie Wafer,
Last Photo are our Special Guests - Minister of Education - Don MacRae, MLA Peter Fassbender,Councillor Bruce Hayne, Honorary  Rotarian & Retired MLA -Dave Hayer with our president doing his "Yoda" impersonation.(For those experiencing Star Wars withdrawal)

This is a library program we have been associated with for over 10 years. Each week informal sessions are held at the Surrey Library (It was Whalley, now at Central City) so that families can bring their young children for an activity which includes book reading and of course the muffins and juice. Over the years this has been a very popular way to introduce young children and their families to the library and the fun of reading and learning. Once again we are glad to be able to provide $1,000 to fund this program and improve literacy in Surrey.

Cyndy Hill gave us an overview of the program and its success in introducing families to the Library.

Here I get to present the check to Cyndy Hill, Director of Development for the Surrey Library.

On Tuesday, September 24th. Our featured presenter for the evening was Linda Whitehead of the Canadian Wheelchair Foundation. Linda explained that lack of mobility is a barrier to freedom and besides limiting the individual it also affects the whole family of the  disabled individual. The Canadian Wheelchair foundation has delivered 33,000 wheelchairs in the past 10 years into over 40 countries. This has directly improved the lives of over 33,000 individuals who have been deprived from mobility by war, disease, accident, natural disasters and advanced age giving them back dignity, independence and opportunity. Rotary has been promoting the eradication of Polio but the next level are those who have already been stricken and immobilized by the disease.

Linda showed us a video that covered deliveries of wheelchairs and we saw the immediate benefit that the gift of mobility provided. Through volume and benefactors the cost of each chair has been reduced to $150 delivered. We had a chair to evaluate and they are tough and a quality build that will stand up to the conditions found in the undeveloped areas that many get deployed.

Shipments are in containers of 280 wheelchairs President Elect Gary Thind was so moved that he has started to organize a club project to raise $42,000 so that we can send a container to Amritsar in Northern India. There are two clubs in that City that we can partner with. STAY TUNED. We will Engage in Rotary and Change Lives.

President John Edwards presented Linda with a token of appreciation for her presentation.

Tuesday the 17th. our featured presenter was Sieglinde Malmberg - Title of her presentation was HR in your pocket..

By way of a powerpoint presentation Sieglinde gave us a great introduction to the work she does with businesses in 
sorting our their manpower issues in the Office. Using the metaphor of the Jungle she demonstrated finding the Snakes
and the Beautiful (Safe) plants and seeing those players in our businesses.

She went through an exercise in interview questions showing what is useful and what is not in making sure your hire is
the right person and not just the interview actor. When going into a company she explained the ACT formula

A - Assess the staff - Are you hiring the best? Are you engaging new Generations? Are your processes supporting Profit?
C - Cleanse - Weed out what is not working,Weed out who is not working. Remove limiting policies
T - Tools - She then works with the company to provide the tools  to change.

A very useful presentation check out her web page  www.hrinyourpocket.com

Rotarian Dennis Fierbach presented Sieglinde with a token of our appreciation

Well not quite everywhere but in many places it is not drinkable.

Our presenters on Tuesday Sept 10th. Carl & Yulia Garrison showed us how Rotary Projects are changing this situation in India,Africa and South America.

They took us using a Powerpoint presentation on three recent Projects that were completed in India. In Southern India in the state of Cochin the Rotary Club of Sedro Woolly in co-operation with the Rotary Club of Cochin (midtown),India.Constructed 110 toilets for underprivileged people in Chellanam.Good Sanitation is a key element of ensuring clean,drinkable water by preventing the water sources from being contaminated. This International project is the beginning of a plan of the Cochin to ultimately construct over 1000 toilets.

Another Project was in Burkina Faso, Africa. Led By Carl the Sedro-Woolley club in partnership with the DenverColorado Rotary Club and the local Club in Burkina Faso,The Crystal club of Ougadougou("Wagadoogoo")  Jointly they raised over $60,000 using club funds and matching grants to build 5 hand-pump deep water wells which provided pure water to the people of the villages around Zabre in Burkina Faso.

The other project did not involve water but did involve improving the living standards of the people in a remote village in Guatemala. They installed 50 indoor cook stoves in the villager's homes. Until this project the villagers just had an open wood fire in their hut to provide for cooking and heat. I bet the air quality in those huts was far worse than that currently on the news in china's big cities. The stoves besides providing the health benefits will be up to 60% more efficient thus reducing the need for wood supplies and free up time previously taken just to gather wood.

These are three examples of what one man cannot do alone but what  Rotary Clubs banding together can achieve.

This was a very inspiring presentation which should add impetus to our International Plans.  Ed Landry Introduced ourSpeakers and Paramjit Mutti presented them with a token of our appreciation for taking the time to come and enlighten us on the scope of International Projects.

One of the ROTARY Avenues of Service is Literacy.

Our second guest on Tuesday Sept 3rd. was Cyndy Hill,Director of Development with the Surrey Public Library.
She informed us of a new program "Read to Baby" that they want to deliver to the new mothers in Surrey. The program will deliver a resource kit to some of the most vulnerable newborns in Surrey. The Kit will contain a Baby Board Book,Music CD,Information to teache parents how to build the pre literacy skills that a baby needs and details of the free children's services at the local libraries- This will all be packaged in a  keepsake bag. The delivery of the program will be in collaboration with the the community Health Nurses who will deliver the Kits.

What is needed now are the Funds to get the program started and that is where we (the Rotary ) come in. They will need $25,000 for the first year to create and deliver 1,000 kits

Our Club has had a long standing association with the Surrey Library supporting "Give the Kid a Muffin program" and the Annual " Creative writing contest".
Previously we were able to fund these from our Gaming Funding but now Libraries are verboten (English =forbidden).
However the Board felt the need to continue the Muffin Program is a must as one of the building blocks to literacy that we provided funding this year from our Club foundation.
Now we need to consider the new initiative and see if we can assist in getting this program established in Surrey.

Past President John  Riley presented Cyndy with a token of appreciation for her presentation. 

P

YES YOU CAN and IT WILL HAPPEN 

On Tuesday Sept 3^rd. Our featured presenter was Leyland Williams  P.Eng. President of Plastisol Inc.

He provided a detailed presentation showing how his company is leading the way in such an enterprise. From the plastic junk that gets tossed into the Blue Bin and in many cases directly into the landfills he has developed a process that turns this into industrial strength plastic that can be extruded to create a series of forms to basically build a iKEA like package that is a house.

The intent of this project is to supply inexpensive but quality housing to people’s in the under developed countries of the world Africa, Asia and South America areas of major disasters and also provide decent housing in refugee camps which with the exception of those getting tents from Shelter Box and Disaster Aid live have the people living under a tarp or less.

Leyland indicated that they are in final stages of testing and the product should be in production later this year. He said this is one way he can give back to the community. Giving back is what Rotary does and with this in mind Leyland completed an application for Membership in our Club.. 
Here John Campbell Presents Leyland with a token of our appreciation for taking time to come and present his tremendous project.

Community Living BC, the Surrey Rotary Club, the City of Surrey and Milieu Employment Services warmly invite employers to …          

Improving Your Workforce:

The Benefits of Hiring Adults with Developmental Disabilities

There are many myths and perceptions about people with disabilities as employees.  Mark Wafer, a leading national employment advocate and businessman, will share his lived experience, both personal and professional, to demonstrate how people with disabilities are valued employees and an intrinsic element in his businesses success.  Drawing on 18 years as an employer, Mark will include stories of how hiring a person with a disability improved the profitability of his company and gave him a competitive edge.  You will be entertained and challenged to think about how people with disabilities could improve the performance of your workforce and your business.

Mark is the lead business champion on the Rotary at Work initiative, a member of Ontario’s Lieutenant Governors accessibility team, an inaugural inductee into Ontario’s Champions League, and one of four members of the Federal Government’s Panel on Opportunities for People with Disabilities in the Workforce.

Tuesday, October 1^st, 2013

5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Eaglequest Golf – Coyote Creek

7778 152^nd Street, Surrey, BC

Tickets: $20 (includes - buffet dinner; dessert; tea & coffee) / Cash Bar available

To purchase tickets, please contact:

The Surrey Rotary Club at link:

             http://www.crsadmin.com/EventPortal/Registrations/PublicFill/EventPublicFill.aspx?evtid=c147e016-49bf-4b63-88fb-3897d1cf6ab6 

To avoid disappointment, purchase tickets and register early!

For more information, please contact:

Josefina Marchetti, Community Living BC
phone: 604-501-8310, or email: Josefina.Marchetti@gov.bc.ca

The words spoken by Neil Armstrong in 1969 when he was the first man to step onto the Moon. 

Now some 44 years later the Student team from Princess Margaret Secondary become the first Canadian Team to win the International Space Settlement Design Competition at NASA's Johnson Space Center.This program is the design of a self sustaining settlement of 10,000 people on the moon.

Visitors to our August 20th meeting were some of the Princess Margaret Secondary team that competed in the NASA competition they showed us the Trophy they received and told us about the time they spent in Houston. The interaction with other students that formed their company and working with NASA engineers who evaluated their entry. A truly commendable achievement in this worldwide competition. Maybe someday soon we will see the fruit of their labors lifting off for the moon.

Our presenter for tuesday August 20th.2013 was Dr.Barbara Treiloff-Deane who demystified the subject of ethical funds and ethical investing. She termed this as Socially responsible Investing showing us how equities in the portfolios were scrutinized to meet the Social,Environmental and financial considerations for good ethical investments. A key component was the engagement between the shareholders and investment managers with the company to ensure the companies met the benchmarks established to qualify the funding.

Supply chain management was a key component in ensuring that standards are met. Example was Loblaws and their Joe Fresh Clothing line.
As you may recall Joe Fresh was one of the garments produced in the factory in Bangladesh that collapsed with a loss of more than a thousand workers. Loblaws had a supply chain policy which met the ethical supply standards but there was little evidence of checks in place to ensure the 
production met this criteria. Following this disaster an accord was created that Loblaws joined to ensure worker safety in Bangladesh adding measures to ensure commitments are met. This is an example of where the investors through the engagement process steered the company to ensure ethical standards were met.

Dr Treiloff-Deane explained that the selection of investments starts with using established financial analysis to confirm that it is financially sound investment then an analysis of the social and environmental analysis is conducted to ensure it is ethically sound. If both these components are met it is considered for investment and addition to the funds selection.

Companies that qualify for inclusion in Ethical fund portfolios must have the following guiding principles ..
Promote environmental stewardship,consumer protection,human rights and diversity.

We are now all better informed as to what Socially responsible investing is and can better evaluate our investment activity as these funds reflect the guiding principles set forth in  ROTARY  Four-Way Test.

Is it the TRUTH?
Will it be FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all Concerned?

President John presented Dr Treiloff-Deane with a token of our appreciation for her presentation and expanding our understanding of other
ways in which we can improve the world we live in..

What a great event. Since thursday night this has been the underlying theme of all the eMails we have received. Yes it was a truly memorable evening that started back in Februart at PNW PETS (Presidents-elect Training Seminar) when President John Edwards invited Richard King Past RI President to come to our club to speak and aid our membership growth plans.  He said "YES" so then the adventure began .. Seeing this as more than a one club event John formed a committee and got the District blessing to make this a District/Area E event. Thursday night all the committees hard work and planning came to fruition when an audience of 226 (rotarians ,Guests and Prospective Rotarians) gathered at the EagleQuest Golf course.

The evening started with the music of the Chilliwack Rotary Band (The Rotations),who also provided the music for the two National Anthems (Making them sound much better then they do when no music is being played keeping us in tune and  in time)

Mr King held the audience spellbound as he recalled his history with Rotary and his other passion Musical Comedy and Singing.Yes before his Rotary history Richard performed professionally as a singer and actor in his own shows in Las Vegas and in leading roles of West Coast productions of Broadway musicals. 
All the time growing his law practice(King,King & King-located in Pleasanton California)  and being an active trial lawyer.

During his address Mr.King told us of his many travels when RI President visiting over 100 countries and meeting with Presidents and Kings discussing how Rotary with its worldwide membership can bring humanitarian solutions to aid the disadvantaged in the world. 

We also had the privilege of listening to Rick sing (he was once a Las Vegas entertainer) something few audiences have an opportunity to hear.It was as moving as  his  speech.

On Friday a group of us had the distinct privilege to have brunch with Mr.King and learn more from this truly inspiring Rotarian.

During the evening there was a video taping and many photos taken that we will be co-ordinating with the District to make available to all and will form part of our Club Photo library. In the meantime here are a few moments recorded on a NIGHT TO REMEMBER.

Mr King Addressing the large audience seen to the right.

With President John Edwards and during the Musical interlude when we broke for Dessert and Coffee.

On tuesday August 6th. we added two more members to our Club. 

Parminder Thind - Sponsored by Garry Thind (not a relative) . 
Parminder is self employed  his company is called Think Insurance
His classification is:  Insurance -Life & Health.

Dennis Fierbach -Sponsored by Ajay Caleb.
Dennis is employed by GlobalAid network and heads up their
water for life initiative.
His classification is: Humanitarian Worker-Clean Water

We look forward to their classification talks in the near future
when we can get to know them better.

Our Esteemed AG Pat Bond performed the Initiation Ceremony.
Photo of Pat with the New members and their sponsors.Plus individual
photos of Parminder and Dennis with his wife Janet.

On tuesday we had the pleasure of the return visit of  Syd Harmon PDG District 7080 Toronto

Once again Syd provided much enjoyed presentation showing the benefits of Rotary and detailing things we can do as a group which would be impossible with just oneself. Syd is one of the founding members of the Paul Harris Society and reminded us that giving to our Charity the Rotary Foundationis key to creating funding for local community projects. 

Syd cited many occasions when being in Rotary provided benefits by association that would have not been available otherwise. He spoke on the annual Grade 3 dictionary project "Rotary Cares" how this has grown and the positive feedback received from students and teachers. 

Note: we will be completing our 3rd Annual Dictionary project in October providing dictionaries to the Grade 3 Students at the 5 elementary schools that feed into Kwantlen Park Secondary.I will be looking for volunteers next month.

Syd provided a very thoughtful and entertaining presentation.  Duane presented Syd with a token of our appreciation for his presentation.

For a change of pace President John arranged for us to visit the Surrey Art Gallery and then gather at the Central City Brewery for food and refreshments and ROTARY Fellowship.

Although our turnout was lower than normal (Summer vacations taking its toll) We had an enjoyable evening. 
As they say "Art is in the eye of the beholder" and there were certainly some works that flew right over my head.. But there were many great selections. If you were not with us you should take the time to go to the Art Gallery and see the work on display. Note:Surrey Art Gallery is the second largest public art gallery in the Metro Vancouver region.They have ongoing exhibits which will appeal to all tastes and may even open your eyes to new ideas.

In our fast growing and busy City we tend to miss what we have available to us for enjoyment. The Art Gallery is one of these opportunities.
We are the city of Parks so now with the long summer days it is a good time to get out and explore our City.
Link to the City of Surrey Website for ideas  

Heritage Facilities & Services :: The City of Surrey, British Columbia

We can organize more of these Club outings just let president John know what you would like to do...

Today the crew went out to our adopted street 100th.Avenue from 152nd to 140th.and did our cleanup up.Head Sanitary Engineer John Campbell led the pickers to their appointed locations. Gary Thind and Dick Wareham started at 140th.working East. Honorary Rotarian Dave Hayer,Paul Keenleyside,John Edwards and John Campbell worked west from 152nd.

New record we completed in just over an hour.. Interesting time we found an encampment in the bushes and spent shotgun cartridges. Our sign is displayed so we are now official. 

After such an exhausting Sunday morning we adjourned to Boston Pizza to refresh ourselves.

Special thanks to Paul for taking photos  

Our July 9th meeting was a recap of the visioning exercise and reports from Directors on their objectives for the 
coming year.It is going to be a busy and fun year ahead.

Before we got into the club stuff we had some really bright students from Princess Margaret Secondary telling us about a competition that they were competing in that is supported by NASA.
It is the ISSDC (International Space Settlement Design Competition).
They have been selected to represent Canada in the Finals to be held at the Space Centre in Houston Texas.
The team they had to design a Settlement for 10,000 people with every aspect detailed and quantified. They call their Settlement -"Bellevisat"-A colony built as a primary heavy manufacturing center in zero gravity. It is used for in-space manufacturing. Named as a reference to the Spanish phrase, Belle Vista, or beautiful view.

To get an idea of the detail here is the link to previous years submission from the Princess Margaret students
‎data.delos.com/spaceset/pdf7/pr.margaret-surrey.pdf

It was completed down to the design of the houses.Recreation,food production,sanitation .. 
You name it they detailed it a lot of work involving many hours a day while also maintaining their grades.

They are one of 12 schools Worldwide that made it to the finals and they certainly impressed us.

In addition to our normal Agenda and a featured presenter.

We welcomed our first new Rotarian of the 2013-14 year. Navdeep Sekhon I was inducted as a new member. He was sponsored by Bryce McElroy with the classification of Government Services and was assigned to the Foundations committee which is chaired by Bryce.

Also our long time member Bill Burnett was presented with a Paul Harris Fellow for his years of dedication to ROTARY and especially our Club.

And finally Bryce McElroy was presented with his Directors Pin as he was away at the time of our Annual Installation.

Tamarra Goddard enlightened the club about the role culture and tradition play in decision-making in  the First Nations community. She gave an example of how her current area of studies in aboriginal Business and Leadership  stems from the example that was set by her mother who teaches aboriginal  law at the University of Victoria.

She gave an example of the role prayer plays in business meetings. She started with a traditional prayer of drumming and singing which is a prayer itself. The medium of prayer allowed people to arrive at a state of calmness in an effort to clear the mind of any preconceived ideas that would interfere with unbiased decision-making and consensus.

Tamarra explained that in her community, knowledge is passed through dreams, practices and traditions. These practices and traditions are re-emerging through the young people and is a validation to the elders that the traditions are being passed on; some of these traditions and practices go back five to six thousand years. She gave the example of the complexity and time it took to be a traditional medicine person. It took 14 years of study which included the biology of plants and animals.

She briefly spoke about the adverse effect the Indian Agent had on First Nations communities. Her people were removed and prevented from the traditional connection with the land. She discussed the land treaties that were settled by former Premier Gordon Campbell.

Tamarra concluded her talk by reminding Rotarians that the Canadian common law system which is adversarial in practice does not work in first nations people who prefer to settle disputes and make decisions through inspiration and consensus. “Quietness fosters original thinking” Tamarra said. She finished by saying that she hopes that the work she is doing would result in building a wealthy economy for her First Nations people.

Photos: Tamarra demonstrating the traditional prayer and drumming.

President John Edwards Presenting a token of the clubs appreciation for her presentation.

\

Our esteemed Honorary Rotarian,Past President and retired MLA Dave Hayer dropped by on tuesday to present the last of the Certificates of Appreciation from the Province to Paramjit Mutti who was away at the time of Dave's last visit. It is really great to know that the work we do is recognized even is our motto is "Service above Self"

Here Dave tells us about some of his history with our club and his future plans after BC Politics. His new challenge is Federal politics. We will see many stories in the news in coming months as Dave prepares his bid for a seat in Ottawa.  

Our featured presenter for last Tuesday’s meeting was Jan Robinson  CMA currently Interim President of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association

Her topic was Construction activity and major projects in the VRCA.

She started by giving us a short history of the Association which now has 700 member small independent construction companies in the non-wood frame construction industry. It was formed in 1929 and since that time its members helped build many of the cities landmarks such as the Lions Gate bridge and are currently involved in  many projects including the Hotel Georgia Restoration ,Surrey Central Library the new RCMP “E” Division HQ in Surrey and the Port Mann Bridge upgrade. Continued increases are being seen in Construction activity in our region. She cited many of the challenges facing the construction sector in coming years-Skills shortage as retiring craftsmen leave the industry.The advancements in Green Technology,the fact that only 5% of the construction workforce are women so there is a need to find ways to increase this %.The need to even the qualification requirements across Canada.

Jan had many facts and charts showing the trends and answered many questions from our members.

For more information their web page is   http://www.vrca.bc.ca

Suchita Kahlon presented Jan with atoken of our appreciation  following her presentation.

  Wow! Another year in the Books and a new board to guide us through 2013-2014 ...

  On Tuesday June 25^th we marked the Annual turnover of leadership from John Riley to John Edwards… With change comes new faces to the Board and fresh ideas.

  I guess all that remains the same is we can still say "and here comes Johnny" to introduce our President

  and we still have the Four Way Test to guide us and our dedication to Service above Self 

  FOUR WAY TEST refresher.

                  Is it the TRUTH?

                  Is it FAIR to all concerned?

                  Will it build GOOD WILL  and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

                  Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

  Our MC for the evening was our Past president from 1980-81 Duane Buchanan.He kept the program on track and our outgoing and incoming Presidents in check.                Our esteemed Assistant Governor Pat Bond performed the ceremonies introducing the outgoing Board then installing the new Board.

  A high point of the evening was a special presentation from the City of Surrey to Walt Johnson for 44 years of SERVICE above SELF.

Appropriate musical background was provided by Jordan Edwards. Here are some Photos from the evening taken by Bill Burnett 

First recipients of 100% attendance Pins (Walt now @ 44 years) The rest of us not so much..

2nd the 2013-14 Board of Directors.  3rd. New President John Edwards Presenting Walt Johnson with his award from the City.

Another successful area E joint meeting. A total of 91 attendees.

Our featured speaker for the evening was Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts who related how the city had grown and reasons to relocate City Hall and develop the Central City area to a hub for the city. In the planning of the city parks and green space were a non negotiable and form a strategic part of the Urban Plan.  Mayor Watts spoke to the need for improvement in Public Transportation and her stand regarding ground level train service that would serve our region. She entertained a lively Q & A with no questions off the table.

President Elect John Edwards thanked  the Mayor for her enlightening address and advised that the Club will be sending a Donation to Mayor Watts favorite Charity the Tiny Bundles program which is  administered by the Surrey Food Bank as a thank you for her taking the time to speak to our group. 

Saturday June 15th saw the first Emergency Preparedness Awareness Day (EPAD) hosted by the Rotary Club of Surrey. With the co-operation of the Central City Shopping Centre we were provided with a perfect venue inside the Centre for our Vendors and Service Providers to display their solutions and supply great information to the public. 

The following vendors and organizations joined with us to make this day a success.

Service Providers

City of Surrey       

Canadian Red Cross

Canadian Blood Services

BC Hydro

Fortis BC

Fraser Health Authority

Vendors

 72 Hours                       www.72hours.ca

Get Clearly Prepared       www.getclearlyprepared.com

Chylan                           www.chylan.ca

Thrive Foods.                 www.theresahalliwell.thrivelife.com

Rotarian Ajay Caleb who chaired this event is now formulating a plan for another EPAD in December.

If you want to get involved please eMail him at    works_for_you@yahoo.ca

Here are some photos from the day taken by Kavi Sivasothy

Besides our very interesting presentation from the BC Securities Commission we had many more items on our full Agenda for the night.

Honorary Member and Past President Dave Hayer Dropped by to present two more certificates from the Government of BC for Volunteer work of Sylvia Kahlon and Gary Thind.  It is a plus when we are honored for doing what we enjoy doing in serving our community.He also gave us advance notice that now he was no longer an MLA he was taking the net step is serving Surrey by running for the Federal Conservative Party in the next Federal Election in the Cloverdale-West Langley Electoral District.

The next item on our Agenda was to distribute another portion of the Funds we received from BC Gaming under our Funding grant.

This donation was $2,500.00 to Metro Kids Society to fund their Saturday morning program which serves 150 kids each week. These children are at risk children living in the inner city area of Surrey.

Super Saturday Kids Klub is an action packed program specifically designed for all kids, including those with a short attention span.

This TV-Gameshow style format is filled with exciting music, games and contests. The final 20 minutes of the 60 minute program is a time of teaching and building into the lives of  many under privileged kids.

The themes of the teaching times consist of the basic morals any parent or society would like built into their children. We teach about topics such as loving one another, respecting authority, obeying your parents, and helping the needy.

Every child receives a weekly personal home visit by our approved Kids Klub workers.

In addition to this, each child is picked up by one of our buses each week from their home and taken to our Kids Klub Program.

Mike Brownlee Program Director joined us for supper and accepted the donation on behalf of Metro Kids. for more information here is their web link   www.metrokids.ca

Bryce McElroy Program Director for our Gaming Funds presents Mike with the Check and our thanks for them delivering such a beneficial program.

On Tuesday June 4th. we had the pleasure of a presentation from three representatives of the BC Securities Commission.Mike Murado Manager of Corporate Finance,Larissa Streu Senior Legal Counsel-Corporate Finance and Alan Mayede Senior Securities Analyst - Corporate Finance Division.

The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating securities trading in British Columbia through the administration of the Securities Act. Their Website is   http://www.bcsc.bc.ca

Their Powerpoint presentation followed by a Q & A session. Provided us with detail of the requirements under the securities Act as it relates to small businesses raising Capital to start or expand the enterprise. Bottom line is if your not sure ask.There are many exemptions for small businesses under 50 shareholders so in many cases raising capital is not to onerous from a reporting standpoint but it it better to check than be found to be in contravention  of the Securities Laws. Bottom line is if your not sure ask.

Gary Thind thanked the Trio for their very interesting presentation.

This evening we did not have external featured speakers but celebrated new members in our Club.We inducted two more members to our club.

Edward Landry a Commercial Appraiser .President of Penny & Keenlyside Appraisals

Paramjit Mutti a General Insurance Agent owner of Island Insurance Agency Ltd.

Then two of our most recent new members gave their Classification talks.If you missed the meeting you will have to chat with them at our next meeting and get to know them. 

Jacqueline Marti - Financial Planner

Monty Josan - Residential Realtor.

As you can see we are adding highly qualified and enthusiastic (Young) new members to our Club.Actually with these additions I think our average age has dropped in half. 

We will be adding Mini - Classification talks by long time members at future meetings so our new members can get to know more about the members they are joining. Program Director and President Elect John Edwards will be advising you of your night to present.

Once again we were able to qualify for a Gaming Grant from BC Gaming and now get to distribute these funds to worthy local organizations. Selecting the groups we will support is a difficult process as more worthy organizations are now looking for funding and our portion of the Grants from Gaming get more limited with the stringent qualifications.

On Tuesday May 21st. We presented the first two of this years Grants.

2822 The Royal Westminster Regiment Army Cadet Group. A grant of $4000.00 to provide Canoes,Paddles and LifeJackets for their Watermanship program which will instill water safety and confidence while learning valuable skills. The Cadet group has been in operation over 45 years and provides sound training to our youth currently 65 cadets in the program. Receiving on behalf of the Group was Rick Blythe-Commanding Officer.

Keys Housing and Health Solutions (Previously the South Fraser Community Services). A grant of $5,000.00 to provide part of the funding of the Djaef Mahler Grocery.This is a food bank that provides high nutritional foods to people suffering from HIV/AIDS. Accepting the Grant on behalf of Keys was Monika Verma ,Health Programs Director. She told us how since inception in 1992 they have grown to 19 programs covering two areas of service Health Solutions and Homeless Solutions to disadvantaged people in our community.

On tuesday May 21st. Our featured Speaker was Micheal Ross from Inter-Gen Consulting Group. http://www.inter-gen.com 

They specialize in On Line Continuing Education courses,Training,Sales and Marketing. Micheal spoke to us on the methods of communication that are central for each generation and how we must be aware of what fits which group. He stressed that to attract younger people to our clubs we need to use their mode of communication.

He outlined 4 generations that now need to inter-communicate. Baby Boomers(born 1946-64),Generation X(Born 1965-80),Generation Y/Millennials (Born 1979-2000)and now Generation Z(Born 2001-now)

He sprinkled his presentation with humor and magic,Yes! magic, one of Micheal's previous endeavors was as a Magician.His presentation provided us with many questions and ideas on how we need to be aware of communication modes of each generation. Good information for our PR and Membership committees.

Here Duane Buchanan presents Micheal with a token of our appreciation for his presentation and insight into Communication.

Two of our members who were away at the time of Former MLA and Honorary Rotarian Dave Hayer's Visit earlier in the year were presented with their Certificates of Appreciation from the Province of BC for our contributions to Surrey and BC.

Here President John Riley presents Bill Burnett and Deane Gurney and a sample of the certificate.

Our club continues to attack bright young and energetic new ROTARIAN's. Last tuesday 2 more were inducted as members of the Surrey Rotary Club.

Our District Assistant Governor for Area E ..Pat Bond conducted the formal induction of 

Jacqueline Marti - Financial Planner with Investors Group

Monty Josan - Residential Realtor with Remax Colonial Pacific Realty.

Exciting times as our average club member age continues to drop... Welcome we look forward to working with you to give back to our community.

 This disease is ravenging the emerging Nations in Africa and the and has done a number on the Western World over the past decade or two. On Tuesday April 30th we had the distinct pleasure in hearing a presentation from the foremost AIDS/HIV Research Doctor in BC. Dr Julio Montaner.

One would guess that a top level research doctor would present a boring fact laden talk that would be a few thousand feet over our layman heads but not Dr. Julio Montaner for sure he gave us lots of numbers showing how the Aids/HIV epidemic had reached super high levels in Vancouver by 1996. But then he showed and told us about HAART which was presented at the Aids conference in Vancouver in 1996. This protocol was launched in Vancouver and in the years since the reduction in new cases of AIDS/HIV in Vancouver has dropped to an astounding low level. Incidence rate dropped 80% Death rate dropped 90% and provided one is on the plan their life and life expectancy in Normal.  In BC they have the backing of the Health Authority and the treatment is available free to any one who needs it. Like Polio this is the initial beach-head they now aspire to spread it across the country and around the world. The Objective is to rid the world of HIV/Aids in the next generation.

A tremendous presentation from one of the worlds top Doctors. We now have to seriously look at where ROTARY can help.. We are nearly complete with Polio and this is probably the most life threatening disease along with Sanitation and clean water that is needed to improve life and life expectency PERIOD.

For more in depth information just Google HAART or start at the WHO(World Health Organization) http://www.who.int/topics/antiretroviral_therapy/en/

Ed Landry presents Dr Julio Montaner with a token of our appreciation for taking the time to be with us.

Past President Roy Holman borrrowed from Martin Luther King's most memorable speech to introduce our featured speaker for the first Area E joint club meeting. 

Past Lieutenant Governor Steven Point told us of his DREAM. In a magical presentation he wove a narrative that covered his personal history , the time at Government House and his DREAM of providing Libraries to Isolated First Nations communities in BC. He explained how starting with boxes of books delivered as he travelled the Province to the culmination of a first class library being constructed in one of the communities how his DREAM is becoming a reality.

These communities have many needs and Money helps but is not the answer Education is key to breaking the cycle of despair that many inhabitants of these communities feel.  In reflection after that evening I thoought we as Rotarians spend time and funds in helping groups in Third World Countries thousands of Miles away when we have an equally compelling need in our own backyard. 

Now is the time to look inward .. How can we help.. Well the key to many Rotary projects of international scope is to get multilevel grants and leverage our initial investment. But BC is not International ...Hmm! But we are 5050 so a Washington based club could lead and we could join.. We could also reciprocate since I am sure there are equally needed Service projects below the 49th Parallel.  

Thank you Steven for starting the ideas percolating. We may be able to assist in achieving your DREAM..

The evening was a great success Kudo's to Pat Bond and her Cloverdale Club members. We have many Photo's from the event but space limits me to two...We will post more to our website (send me yours) 

Pat Bond and her Cloverdale Cohorts.

President Elect John Edwards with Steven Point and two prospective Rotarians for Surrey.

Cases reported in Endemic Countries

Afghanistan     1 compared to 5 in 2012

Nigeria            10 compared to 13 in 2012

Pakistan         5 compared to 15 in 2012

Cases reported in Importation Countries

Remains at Zero.

Rotary Is "This Close" to Achieving Its Goal of a Polio-free World

Our Featured presenter Ed Landry - President of Penny & Keenleyside Appraisals

Ed specializes in Commercial property appraisals but has a finger on the Real Estate pulse in our city.

He indicated that strong residential growth tended to spur on Commercial growth and with the steady influx of new residents to Surrey our Commercial has stayed strong. Lower Interest rates which are forecast to continue has kept the market strong the emphasis on diversification and attracting businesses to Surrey has enabled growth in what is generally aslow market nationally.Even with the actions taken by the government with tighter mortgage rules & the HST transition rule which dampened demand and the ability for many to qualify, prices have continued to rise in our area.

Detached residences up 1%:Townhomes up 0.6%  and Apartments up 2%

He went on to explain the benefits of the new Perimeter Road and the access it will provide for Commercial development. Further improving the market in Surrey and North Delta.

The floor was opened to questions and there were many which Ed handled with detailed & knowledgeable answers.                      

New Member Garry Thind presents Ed with a token of our appreciation

On April 9th.2013 our Honorary Member and MLA Dave Hayer presented members of the Rotary Club of Surrey for their contributions to the wellbeing of citizens of Surrey.Here are some photos supplied from the evening showing Dave Hayer presenting President John Riley and a group photo of some of the recipients present.

Our April 9th. Keynote Speaker was Dr.Nigel Murray CEO of  Fraser Health. He provided us with an overview of the issues that affect health delivery in our Region and the Philosophy of the Fraser Health Authority in meeting the needs and making the changes to handle our fast growing population and the two large segments of our demographic which are at each end of the age spectrum Babies and Seniors. He went on to explain how they were focusing on people and partnerships to produce the best Healthcare outcomes. He noted that hospital care is the most expensive part of delivering services and not always the best.. They are working on a "Home is Best" program that will provide the services,improve the outcomes and reduce the costs. Fraser Health has invested and will continue to invest in new more efficient & effective facilities. To name a few :- The Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery centre , Quibble Creek Heath and Pheonix Transition Housing Centre and the Surrey Memorial Critical Care Tower and new Emergency Centre. Dr Murray indicated that Surrey Memorial Hospital is evolving from the local hospital opened in 1959 to serve 75,000 people to becoming a Regional Hospital serving of over 600,000 today. This is just a small sliver of the details of the presentation of Dr Murray the underlying theme is that Fraser Health is a forward looking Authority that is focused on improving delivery and outcomes of HeathCare in our Region. 

On tuesday April 2nd. we had the pleasure of hearing from Chief Jim Cessford of the Delta Police sharing with us over 27  years of policing experience and giving us the pros and cons of the Regional Policing Model as espoused by many in the press and other interested parties. He showed us how a community based policing model provides better outcomes for the community as a whole. The Delta model is "No call to Small". While this may appear wasting of resources Chief Jim indicated that on many occasions these seemingly nothing calls have uncovered either Criminal activity at is beginnings or people in physical harm.He indicated the community gained trust in their police force and became part of the solution making policing a total community activity.

He went on the explain that in some cases a Region wide special unit is required and this could be layered on top of the community model giving the best of both worlds. Local community centric policing where the police Officers have a commitment to the local Community in which they live and work and Specialized groups (Example Major Crimes,Gang Issues) could be formed with participants from all Communities supported by community funding but giving a expert dedicated unit to best tackle these Area Wide Issues thus solving the "Lack" of communication cited in such cases as the Missing Women from the Downtown Eastside or the Gang turf wars.

Once again our Speaker Co-Ordinator John Edwards had found us a tremendous speaker who provided us with knowledge of our Community it is great to know we have people of the stature of Chief Jim Cessford looking out for our well being.  Duane Buchanan thanked Chief Jim Cessford for his enlightening presentation.

Roy Holman gave us a quick update on Help for Haiti project.

Great progress is being made in the Jeremie. 28 Communities now have akamil flour mills in full operation.

The Bee Project being led by John Gibeau President of Honeybee Centre in Langley also member of Langley Sunrise Rotary Club is on track with 200 hives expected to be created this year. Close to $8,000 in beekeeping equipment has been shipped, and two training sessions held for over 30 farmers.  

Here is John with some of the prospective bee keepers.

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Wilma King-Bennett & Franklyn Francis

Wilma returned to give us an update on the business opportunities and vacation ideas in the Island of Jaimaica.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/jamaica is a good link for details. A real fun day can be spent at Dunn’s River Falls( I can vouch for that) . From a business viewpoint Expanasion of financial and Insurance services,Tourism are high on priorities but also is the increase in Agriculture production. The Jamaican government has focused on infrastructure with good highway links and the establishment of freeZones to encourage investment.

Franklyn Francis

The Highpoint of the evening was the presentation by Franklin Francis a recent immigrant from Jamaica who has a project called ReTool Jamaica his plan to give back and give Graduates of the trade school graduates in carpentry and Mechanics. His passionate presentation showed how one man can make a difference. This looks like a program we can get on board with in our international programs. Check out

http://www.retooljamaica.com

Our featured speaker on March 5th.2013 was an inspiration to all showing the meaning of an Open Heart.

George Garrett told us the story of his challenges in becoming the caregiver to his wife of 56 years who has now been stricken with Altzeimers disease. He mentioned of all the struggles and tough situations he met when out on the front lines reporting historical moments in Canada and the US. Such as the time he was mugged while covering the Rodney King Riots in Los Angeles and other tough situations nothing compared with his current position as a caregiver to his wife as she becomes more incapacitated by the ravages of Altzeimers.

George displayed the strength of character that is an example to all of us.

Here is his brief BIO

George Garrett is a retired  Investigative Reporter who worked for Radio Station CKNW for 43 years.During the course of his career he received a number of awards including Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Jack Webster Foundation and the Radio/Television News Directors Association of Canada.As well, George was twice named Broadcaster of the Year by the BC Association of Broadcasters.He has been married to his wife Joan for 56 years.  They have two daughters, Linda & Lorrie and four grandchildren.  Their son Ken died in a canoeing accident 26 years ag

o.

Last Sunday the Sun appeared again!. So did our Street Cleaning Crew doing our regular clean up of our Adopted street.

100th Avenue from 140th street to 152nd Street.

 John Campbell,John Edwards,John Koropatnisky and Walt Johnson

Spent their Sunday Morning picking up trash and beautifying our neighborhood. Thanks Guys.

  Surrrey Rotary is on the move in 2013... We are adding new younger members to our roster. This tuesday saw Garry (Gurpreet) Thind join our ranks. Gary is General Manager of Rahul Glass Ltd. #104-8655-130th.Street. They specialize in Interior Glass projects check them out at www.rahulglass.com.  Garry will giving us a more detailed Bio at our meeting march 12th. when he along with our other new member Sylvia Kahlon with Present their classification talks.  Welcome Gary we look forward to working with you to make a difference in Surrey. President John officially inducting Gary into The Rotary Club of Surrey.

Tuesday’s keynote speaker was Amelia Foster from Sunshine First Aid. Amelia is an authorized provider with the  Canadian Red Cross and instructs in First Aid.During her presentation she gave us some insight into her background as a paramedic in South Africa and teaching of First Aid for the Red Cross.She reiterated the common refrain that we are hearing from first responders be prepared and have a kit. She recommended a backpack containing water, prescription medicines, a Space blanket and first aid supplies and provisions for 72 hours.

 Amelia mentioned that Surrey is one of the better equipped first aid cities with many Defibrillators in civic buildings and Malls.

 Another key is to be able to do basic first aid (cuts and breaks etc) knowing CPR is a must and also how to deal with someone choking her phrase ”if it does’t pop they will drop”

If choking is occurring, the Red Cross recommends a "five-and-five" approach to delivering first aid:Give 5 back blows. First, deliver five back blows between the person's shoulder blades with the heel of your hand.Give 5 abdominal thrusts. Perform five abdominal thrusts (also known as the Heimlich maneuver) Alternate between 5 blows and 5 thrusts until the blockage is dislodged.

Here is a good link with details  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-choking/FA00025

Amelia took many questions from the group again another great presenter and topic for our club.

If you are interested in furthering your First Aid proficiency Amelia runs classes and can be reached at 604-782-1351  or email fosda@hotmail.com

Pictures include the portable Defibrillator Cost $1500-$2000. President John Riley presenting a token of our appreciation.

That was the underlying message in tuesday nights presentation by Deane Gurney,Who when not doing Rotary Business is a Trustee in Bankruptcy with Sands and Associates. 

In his presentation Deane brought together details of all the key economic forces around the world that affect life in Canada. The European Union has not solved its problems.China,owns major resource assets and reduced imports(Canada an Exporter of Natural resources). Russia is stable. The US has a slow economy and high debt reducing imports from Canada. Japan has its first trade deficit. He compared Canada to Sweden high household debt 173% of GDP and Canada is now at 164%.  All of these factors add to the increases in Bankruptcy filings. 

Surprising demographic that has shown the greatest increase are the over 55 year olds. Factors involved are lack of Pension plans.Shrinking economy with job loss and retirement forced earlier than anticipated.People have been living on credit and not setting aside funds to cover their retirement needs.

A good discussion of the subject followed with many questions being handled by Deane.An interesting and depressing program for us oldsters watching our investments shrink as the World economy stalls.

Sylvia Kahlon thanks Deane for his presentation.

This is the Creed of the Amarok Society founded by our guest speaker for the evening Gem Munro and his wife Tanyss. When you look at the Rotary’s Creed. “Service above Self. This family lives it.  They create schools in the slums of Bangladesh where they teach mothers who then in turn can teach their children. Being the poorest of the poor in the poorest country in the world. Normal schooling is not an option for these families.

The Munro’s through their Society fund these schools and actually live in the Slum amongst the mothers they teach. They have been doing this for 7 years and now 14 schools.

Gem detailed how they develop their program and showed us video of the students (mothers) and their progress from total illiteracy (some had never before even held a pencil) to being functional in basic English. They also teach them how to read and write in their local language, teach them English (necessary in South Asia for economic advancement) and teach them math. They also teach them life skills such as health, nutrition, childcare and conflict resolution.

Neighborhood houses (rooms) are used as schools. The mothers are then trained to become teachers of their own and their neighbors’ children. The small schoolrooms, when not being used for mothers’ classes, are used by the women to discuss issues of importance, as determined by them, and as a place for cottage industry work to increase family income.

 Their operating costs are low (They opened their first school with an initial cost of $60!) It costs about $9500 per year for each school to operate. Their classrooms are Spartan the women sit on Grass mats on the dirt floors but they achieve results that improved the situation of the women and their families.

A truly moving presentation showing how the world can be changed one mother at a time. For more information.To donate and to order Gem's Book Log onto their website. http://amaroksociety.org

 Photo's Gem telling us their story. PR Director Susan with Gem and Alistair Munro

Wow! Another great informational speaker. Deputy Chief Dan Barnscher gave us a great overview of the Emergency Programs in Surrey. Dan has 34 years experience in the Fire Service 29 years as an active fireman and the last six as Deputy Firechief. He is the Emergency Planner and oversees  Electrical Fire Safety(Read Grow ops-my interpretation).

He explained the various sub groups that fall under the Emergency Preparedness umbrella. Don't you love those acronyms.

SEP (Surrey Emergency Program) this includes:

 ESS (Emergency Social Services) This is the group that arranges accommodation and food vouchers for people displaced as a result of fire or other events. If it is a major disaster they arrange for reception centers to ensure all are accounted for and assisted.There  are also many NGO (Non-Government Organizations) such as The Salvation Army & Red Cross who jump in to assist  
 S&R (Search and Rescue) Surrey Search and Rescue responds to call-outs for missing, lost or injured persons. Call-outs are initiated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the municipal police force with jurisdiction in the search area. If you wish to report a missing person, please contact your local police department
 SEPAR (Surrey Emergency Program Amateur Radio) SEPAR volunteers are trained radio operators willing to take direction and help out when needed in an event.In the event of a natural disaster, it is very probable that existing communications would be severely degradated, or even knocked out entirely. As a part of Surrey's Emergency Plan, SEPAR has been developed to be the "link" between the responding agencies, government department and support teams. 

Another Program is NEP(Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Program) The purpose of this program is to take Emergency Preparedness into the areas it will be most effective – Surrey's neighbourhoods and homes. We accomplish this by helping neighbourhoods identify the skills and resources which can be of use in a disaster. Every participating neighbourhood is organized into a team of seven Response Units that are trained to handle situations caused by a disaster. The goal is to prepare your neighbourhood to be self sufficient for at least 72 hours after disaster strikes.call 604-543-6795 for details and to set up a group in your area. 

Personal Preparedness. Have a Kit actually have 3. One at home,One in the Car and one in the Office. Obviously they will have different contents.Log on to www.GetPrepared.ca to download the handbook and details of the suggested Kit contents.

As the BOY SCOUTS say BE PREPARED...

Duane Buchanan thanking Deputy Chief Dan for taking the time to come and provide this very useful information.

On Tuesday January 29th. Major Les Burrows with the Salvation Army provided us with an insight into what it was like to be on the ground in Biloxi Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.  Les showed us in a slide presentation with full explanations of the challenges they had and how the Salvation Army because of its large number of churches are prepared with staff already in the area and a Command centre ready to go. He showed us the varied  sizes of vehicles that they have to provide meals and assistance. Explained the logistics of getting so much product efficiently distributed.

Les also helped out at Ground Zero in New York and told us about his time spent helping deliver assistance to New Yorkers affected and the respect the Salvation Army has which enables it to achieve results and get resources in a timely and cost effective manner that many other Organizations cannot.

For those that could not attend you missed a really interesting presentation. So much so that we have invited Major Les to give us an expanded encore presentation in the fall.

Bryce McElroy Presents Major Les Burrows with a token of our appreciation.

We wander through life taking care of today but without a financial plan and no compass to keep one on course.

Yes! this was the focus of the presentation by Brad Girard Senior National Sales Director with Primerica.

Brad provided a lively and thought provoking presentation on Wealth Management. He pointed out that when most people are asked what is their Greatest Financial asset . They respond "my House" but although this is a major Asset their real greatest Asset is their Income and ability to create Income and make it work for them.

Brad went on to explain that many people have no idea of where their Money goes and how the system works so that they can maximize their return on this Prime Asset (INCOME) . His company provides a training programs that enable you to take control over your finances and understand the financial system to avoid costly mistakes and ensure that you have the funds to retire the way you desire.

 The nature of the presentation does not lend itself to a brief Bulletin story . So to get the "meat and potatoes" of it give Geraldine Anne Zaharko a call and get a one on one relative to your own desires and situation. 604-518-807

Sylvia Kahlon presents Brad with a token of appreciation for his presentation.

8

Tuesday's presentation by Marilyn Moseley Honorary Consul to Barbados really brought us to those warm sandy shores with members watching the slides and I am sure many thinking "wish we were there."

Barbados weather is generally warm and sunny all year round with an average daytime high of 75 - 85 F. The nights are usually slightly cooler.The prevailing northeast trade winds blow steadily so that although it is bright and sunny, it is not unbearably hot.

Marilyn told us about the history of Barbados and its transition from a producer and exporter of Sugar Cane to an economy based on Tourism and the provision of financial services .Barbados is fast becoming a preferred low tax destination for international businesses and has attracted several such businesses, particularly in the areas of Information Technology, Manufacturing and Financial Services. These businesses have found the legal, financial and accounting services offered by local Barbadian companies to be world-class.

She also acquainted us with details of many Barbadian citizens who have made a difference in Canada and Vancouver.

Last tuesday January 15th. Raj Sekhon (AMP) returned from his leave of absence from the Club. Welcome back Raj we look forward to working with you again for the benefit of the citizens of Surrey. Raj was an active member of our club but needed the time to get his Mortgage business on firm footing. Now he is able to fit time for ROTARY into his still very busy schedule.

As Raj would say 

When you use the Right Broker^TM

                                                            You get the Right Mortgage^TM

Our last meeting of 2012 on December was our annual Christmas meeting with spouses and significant others. Deane Gurney arranged the entertainment for the evening.His two daughters Elsa and Charlotte provided us with a selection of Christmas Carols. Elsa on the computer providing the music and charlotte singing. A nice touch to the evening enjoyed by all. We also had a spirited live Auction that raised $177 for the Foodbank.

A Nice ending to 2012 and I have confirmation that Raj Sekhon will be returning to Rotary in January so our membership is also on an upturn.

Our wind up meeting for 2012 saw the addition of a new member to our club. Suchita (Sylvia) Kahlon. Sylvia was proposed by John Riley and many of you have seen her at our meetings as she tested the waters before finally becoming a member.

Sylvia is a realtor with Century 21 Coastal Realty Ltd in Surrey. We will have her provide a full vocation talk at an early January meeting so we can all find out in more detail what Sylvia's expertise is and more about her. She has been assigned to assist Susan Thomas in the PR committee.

Welcome aboard Sylvia .. We wish you many productive ROTARY years.

Another Xmas season over and our club under the guidance of John Campbell completed our volunteering covering the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle at the Guildford Mall each wednesday until Christmas. We are awaiting final numbers from Major Les Burrows but I know when I was on we had more paper money than previous years so I hope that means the $ were up.

Members manning the Kettle (2hours shifts) were as follows:

5 shifts -Dick Wareham,Bryce McElroy.  4 shifts -  John Campbell,Walt Johnson,Duane Buchanan,Dave Hayer. 2 shifts - Isabelle Hayer,Raj Sekhon and 1 shift - Roy Holman (snow precluded another one) John Edwards, Pat Bond,John Koropatnisky,Ajay Caleb.

Unfortunately we were unable to get photos of all but here is one crew Ringing the Bell for the less fortunate.

Very interesting topic at last tuesday's meeting.

Jennifer Desloges CEO of JADE enlightened us on the world of electrolysis and the process in starting a franchise.

She gave us the history of Jade and how it developed from one outlet in 1982 to a growing number of franchises in 2012. Her emphasis was that women entrepreneurs are increasing and have particular traits compared to their male counterparts.

What electrolysis provides is the benefit of helping people feel good in their own skin. Both male and female in fact men are a growing cliental of the hair removal business.

She elaborated on the keys to setting up a solid franchise business.                          It must be a win-win for both parties and they set up one franchise and perfected the process over one year and then set the model for more units. Their methods are of the highest quality both in outcome and medically and this is what sets them apart from the majority of operators in this industry.

We learned a lot at this peek into the Electrolysis business and franchising. If you want more information Jennifer check web www.hairfreeforlife.com

Zig Ziglar died Nov 29th 2012 at age 86. A World War II veteran, Zig Ziglar became the top sales person in several organizations before striking out on his own as a motivational speaker and trainer. With a Southern charm and lessons grounded in Christianity, Ziglar wrote over two dozen books and amassed a following of millions who were encouraged by his lessons for success.
Below are 10 quotes from Zig Ziglar that have the power to completely change the direction of one’s life.

10) “Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”

9) “You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”

8 ) “People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily.”

7) “There has never been a statue erected to honor a critic.”

6) “People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.”

5) “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.”

4) “If you go looking for a friend, you’re going to find they’re scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere.”

3) “A goal properly set is halfway reached.”

2) “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”

1) “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.”

Our Speaker on Tuesday December 4th. was Andrea Coogan - Development Officer at the BC Cancer Foundation. She provided us with an update on recent happenings with the Cancer Foundation and in particular the results from our donation to create a new vibrant Resource Centre at the Cancer Clinic in Surrey.

She indicated that the Centre was in constant use in fact the usuage has increased in leaps and bounds since the centre was created replacing the old out of date and uninviting Reference section.

Loans of material has increased from 264 a year ago to 380 current year. Requests for help and information 25 a year ago this year 114. The volunteers are constantly interacting with clients and families and the location in the entrance lobby makes it inviting for clients and families . The materials are current and constantly in use.

A lively Q & A followed her presentation.

She thanked the Rotary Club of Surrey for the $50,000 donation that made this Centre a reality.    Photo President Elect John Edwards with Andrea Coogan.

Growth is continual in Surrey so management of this is a Prime concern.

Last five years average 73,000 additional residents per year.Surrey is the 12^th Largest City in Canada with population of 500,000

Land uses is another key factor to management 1/3 ALR and 2/3 is developable.Surrey is broken into 6 Communities. Cloverdale,Fleetwood,Guildford,Newton,South Surrey and North Surrey. http://surrey.ca/plans-strategies/6798.aspx

Economic Development is Key to a healthy and vibrant community. Need to increase local jobs to reduce commuting and improve quality of life for residents. Encourage companies to locate to Surrey (jobs and increase the tax base).

Another component of managing the city is in creation of facilities to support the residents and the creation of the city Centre to tie it all together.

There are many avenues to achieve connecting with the city, Council committees and community associations are just two.

For extensive details re Surrey here is the website. http://surrey.ca

A vibrant Q & A followed and Roy Holman thanked Murray for providing us with the overview of City Planning and management.

Our Gaming Dollars at work in the community. This weekend LMDSS(LowerMainland Down Syndrome Society) has their annual Xmas gathering and networking event which we support from gaming funds. This year they moved from the church annex out to Castle Fun park in Abbotsford. The kids really enjoyed the food and games. It was a nice sunny day and the park was in all its splendor. We were acknowledged for our support and received many thank you’s.

It’s that time again!  Only one month the Christmas day.

We are covering Kettles for the Salvation Army each Wednesday until Dec 19^th. John Campbell is our go to guy for this project. On Tuesday we had Major Les Burrows and his wife Cathy attend our meeting to explain the importance of the Kettle campaign.

If you are on the list great (Schedule will be sent out this week to remind you of your dates).If not on the list  and you are available the next 4 Wednesdays call John at 604-575-3856