 We started our meeting this week with an Inspiration by Rebecca Taylor. She was inspired by Rotary’s first female nominee for President, which lead her to ponder the meaning of change. Change DOES come to those who persevere. Poll Questions Our survey this week concerned facts about Past 89th President John Heisterman, who turns 73 on the 19th of this month! If you’re a little curious, and very brave, you can ask John to show you his tattoo and explain the meaning of his nickname, Johnny One Match. Announcements A list of committees is now updated. The chairs and co-chairs will soon be established and then posted on the website. Denise Wittkofski mentioned that the Saturday mural painting sessions are now complete, and just needs a few more touch-ups. There will be a grand unveiling sometime at the end of August! Are you coming to the meeting the 3rd Friday at the Golf Club? Everyone should have received an Eventbrite RSVP in their email and replied by Monday. There was a separate response if you plan to stay for dinner. If you need it re-sent, please reach out to Dawn Hankins. Rebecca Taylor, board member responsible for the public relations and community partnerships committees, says she will send an email to all volunteers soon! Guest Speaker Our guest speaker Peggy Richardson toured us around Gabriola Island. Our club has several Gabriola Island residents, including Egon Holzwarth, Frank Shoemaker and Peggy Richardson Peggy built her own house on Gabriola in 2006-2007. Although we didn’t get a tour of Peggy’s house, we did get a very brief tour of the village core. Gabriola is a very convenient place to live, with plenty of local shops and services. There has been increased economic development in the last 5 years on Gabriola, mostly driven by a more focused tourism campaign.  Gabriola is only an 18-minute ferry from downtown Nanaimo. Saturday mornings there is a farmer’s market, with all produce grown locally on Gabriola. Other services range from excellent restaurants, to a 24-hour gym, hardware store, lumberyard, coffee shop, pizza and steak place, museum, Nester’s grocery store, a great library, and much more. Gabriola even has a local bus service, which like many other things that are often run by government, is run by volunteers here!  “Gabe” also boasts Petroglyphs that are at least 10,000 years old! You can view replicas of them at the museum. The original school house is now the arts and heritage centre, and there are plenty of other historical sites of interest. After a short break, Peggy resumed the tour at the world-famous Malaspina Galleries.  It's located on a stunningly beautiful point that looks towards Nanaimo, right out onto open water. The Galleries are really an amazing “sea cave” that is very long and narrow and opens fully on one side to the water's edge. It’s easy to see how the ocean waves have carved out this shelf of sedimentary and volcanic rock into spectacular shapes and a space that's itself the shape of an ocean wave.  This popular spot is an excellent location for photos, and can be seen quite easily from a boat or kayak. Gabriola has a lot to offer, including a lovely elementary school, and some secret spots, too! Come on over, let us play tour guide and show you around. Egon invited any Rotarians who wish to come to Gabriola to join him for an afternoon on his private beach! Sergeant-at-Arms Sergeant-at-Arms, Dave Hammond welcomed Ken Connolly online, and then launched straight into fines! We just want to know why he thinks we should stand in our own homes for a video of our national anthem? But we certainly agree when he exclaimed, “Go, Canucks!” Happy and Sad Bucks Jason Bradley offered up happy buck regarding the now (mostly) local youth committee members. Bob Janes gave a “dummy dollar” for buying his wife a birthday card instead of an anniversary card. (Ouch!) Birthdays and Anniversaries Who turns 73 on the 19th? John Heistermann! Tracy and Mike Makarenko celebrate 29 years on Monday the 17th, and Dave and Cindy Hammond celebrate 42 years on the August 19th!
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