President Bob Janes opened the meeting, welcoming all members.
O Canada was a spectacular a cappella rendition by the one man Trudbol Barbershop Quartet.
Announcements
Wendy Pratt advised the Club of donations made to three schools to assist with expenses related to COVID-19.
$500 each to Brechin Elementary School and Fairview Elementary School to help them celebrate Christmas through Giving.
$800 to Qwam Qwum Stuwixwulh School for an industrial mixer to be used in their kitchen for cooking meals for the school population.
$2,000 was donated to the Nanaimo-Ladysmith Schools Foundation (for student awards) and $500 to the Mid Island Music Festival.
Brent Stetar presented a Notice of Motion to donate $5,000 to Literacy Central Vancouver Island from book sale proceeds. The two-week time period was unanimously waived.
Dawn Hankins has been working extremely hard planning our Christmas Zoomtastic Meeting on Friday, December 18. Festivities begin at 6 p.m. Thus far 21 members have registered. If any members require assistance picking up their meal from Bee’s Knee’s, Dave Hammond has offered assistance. Tracy Makarenko has been busy putting together a slide show of members’ Christmas photos and greetings which will be displayed while dining.
Today’s poll was Christmas related. Questions included if photos and greetings had been submitted to Tracy, the composition of the photo submitted and how we are handling Dr. Henry’s regulations for the holiday season. Other questions included Christmas menus and how early we break out the adult beverages since it was noted by Global News that there has been a considerable increase in alcohol sales.
Board Election
The new members of the Board of Directors were announced. The following members were nominated and elected as follows:
President-Elect: Keith McFarlane
Vice President: Dave Hammond
Treasurer: Lucie Gosselin
Secretary: Joyce Smith
Directors for 2 Years: Lynne Pankratz, Dawn Hankins and Denise Wittkofski
The term of office will commence July 1, 2021 when they will join Laurie Bienert as President and Bob Janes as Past President.
Returning Directors are Rebecca Taylor and Mikel Knutsson
Sergeant-At-Arms
SAA Dave Hammond expressed congratulations to the new Board. Being in the Christmas spirit, no fines were noted.
Rebecca has colouring books available (suitable for children and adults). Price is $10 per book with all proceeds to The Rotary Foundation.
Dave welcomed Melanie McDonald to the meeting.
Happy & Sad Bucks
Wendy Pratt had sad bucks as she will not be able to attend the Christmas Zoomtastic and Happy Bucks since she felt this was the best “O Canada” this year. Wendy also had very happy grandchildren that she took on a fantastic Christmas light tour.
Paul Manley had very happy bucks as this was the last day of Parliament so he would not have to get up so early to Zoom on an Eastern time schedule.
John and Dawn Hankins are discussing whether their daughter moving home is a sad or happy buck! Dawn also expressed her gratitude to Tracy for putting together an amazing slide show for Friday’s celebration.
Jason Bradley is also in the same predicament with their daughter moving back home too. Jason also acknowledged the firefighters who repaired the huge Christmas tree that overlooks Departure Bay after being vandalized.
Janeanne Coutu expressed gratitude to Lynn Pankratz for an amazing job as treasurer.
Rebecca thanked everyone who purchased colouring books.
Denise Wittkoski acknowledged Debbie Narver for her generous donation of her original artwork to Eden Gardens.
The two sea cans Nanaimo Foodshare were able to purchase with a donation of $25,000 from the Club are now up and running as coolers! Their dedicated staff and volunteers, with the support of local businesses, worked hard to make it happen in time to store an abundance of fall produce! Nanaimo Foodshare has also received a large donation of shelving that is perfect for the units and will maximize food storage. Trusses have also been donated for a structure that will support a roof. The next step in their project is to design a wash station / outdoor food processing area. They will continue to partner with organizations to minimize material and installation costs. View the 
