President Bob Janes opened the meeting, welcoming our newest member Geoff Poulton and visiting Rotarian Roy Bennett. Members then enjoyed a very moving rendition of O Canada in Cree, French and English accompanied by dramatic pictures of young singers and Canadian beauty spots.Inspiration
Leigh Blaney spoke about the need for greater fairness, equity and access for all, particularly Indigenous peoples, in medicine and the caring professions. She said as Canadians we are resilient and she is confident that we can do better.Announcements
John Shillabeer spoke about the challenge project to build library boxes to enable Literacy Central Vancouver Island to overcome restrictions imposed by COVID-19 and to continue providing literacy packages to disadvantaged children. He thanked those who had already indicated interest and asked for more volunteers to step forward.
Denise Wittkofski thanked everyone who had contributed Christmas lights for Eden Gardens. She said the result looked really beautiful and a photo or two would be posted on Facebook shortly.
Lucie Gosselin spoke on behalf of the Foundation Committee and said that, even though Foundation month was over, members could still continue to donate. She reminded members of President Bob’s offers in response to donations and said that John Hankins would report at the next meeting on the outcome of November’s Foundation campaign.
Kathy Smith gave an update on the book sale in Brent Stetar’s absence. With hardcover fiction and some categories of non-fiction available, takings were running $700 - $1,000 per day. There remained a need for volunteers to fill some shifts until the sale closes on December 13.
Speaker
President Bob introduced Tyler Heisterman who he had known for many years. Most recently they had this year sailed together through the Gulf Islands. Tyler was president of the Nanaimo Track and Field Club which has been supported by Rotary for many years.
Tyler noted that the lighting provided by our Club was a great improvement and in fact a “game-changer” for its impact on hours of use and overall security. Tyler said that thanks partly to the lighting provided by Rotary, the Club had built a great reputation in B.C. and was able to offer quality coaching in all disciplines (even including pole vault) for all genders and age groups from 5 to 75.
The school board sold the sports field to the City of Nanaimo and Tyler said he felt this had been good for his club. The City and the Club had a joint management agreement that seemed to be working well.
Tyler said the track was in need of serious refurbishment. Tree roots were a problem and the track generally was worn down. The City had applied to the Federal Government for major funding to rebuild the track in 2021 at a cost of about $1 million. The City had asked the Track and Field Club to make a contribution to the cost of the refurbishment. However, the Club’s main fundraiser, the annual soil sale, had to be canceled this year because of COVID-19.
In the past, the track was a major draw to the City when, for example, Nanaimo hosted the BC High School athletics meet and the BC Championships. He said that the City wanted to make the track, together with the nearby Aquatic Centre and Serauxman Field, the centre for sports facilities in Nanaimo. The overall complex could become a major draw for inter-provincial and even national competitions.
Tyle
r answered several questions from members. We learned that: - President Bob’s 100 Centenary laps had greatly worn down the track: all that shuffling!
- The lighting at the track seemed to deter serious vandalism: there was some graffiti but that was all.
- The Track and Field Club was in charge of track rentals under the co-management agreement with the City.
John Heisterman proudly thanked his son on behalf of the members for his excellent talk and for his work for the community. President Bob and John both invited Tyler to join Rotary.
Poll
This week’s fun survey was about the upcoming virtual Christmas party on December 18. It seemed that most folks were planning to attend; most were planning to dress up, but only a few in their PJs; many were planning to order in food from the Bees Knees where lamb and chicken were the most popular.Sergeant-at-Arms
SAA Wayne Anderson levied no fines and went directly to happy and sad bucks.
Joan Ryan was happy to announce that Devon had a job at Walmart. (How time flies!).
Janeane Coutu said her daughter was a nurse at Royal Jubilee Hospital and had her first COVID-19 patient.
Leigh Blaney happily admired the Christmas lights at Eden Gardens and was pleased the book sale was continuing as well.
Lucie was happy to thank Keith and Wendy McFarlane for doing regular shifts at the book sale.
Rebecca Taylor reported on the Foodshare project. The coolers we funded were installed and operating. Photos will be shared on Facebook soon.
Rebecca also said she had available a number of colouring books that are great for both children and adults, each page of which could be used as a post card. The price was $10 and the proceeds go to the Rotary Foundation.
Egon Holzwarth said that he had saved $10 per week on ferries and parking for eight weeks so far. He was keeping count and would settle with the Foundation at year end.Birthdays and Anniversaries
Henry Jiang, Bob McDougall and Al Smith would all be celebrating birthdays in the coming week. Jason Bradley, Doug Cowling and Laurie Bienert would all have Club anniversaries in the next few days.
Closure
President Bob thanked everyone for attending and making it another good meeting. He wished everyone to stay safe and have an enjoyable weekend.
