There was a short poll to start the meeting and themed to May’s Youth Month; it asked questions about our childhoods! Apparently, we all loved chocolate ice cream, french fries, and pepperoni pizza, but less than half of us know who the Simpsons are. And most of us hated sharing the back seat of the car on family road trips!
This was our 7th virtual meeting and President Janeane noted that attendance at these meetings has been higher than regular meeting with 30 joining today.
Reminder about District Training and virtual District Conference on May 16th was made along with contact information for assistance.
Birthdays and Anniversaries
Honourary Member Dale Huck will be 91 years old on May 21st! Anniversaries include Carmon and Dawn Henderson, who celebrate 50 years on May 16, and Doug and Debbie Narver, who celebrate 37 years on May 21st. Ross White celebrates his 33rd club anniversary on May 22nd. Flashback Project
The flashback project this week is the Duke Point “Gateway to Nanaimo” totems, who greet visitors as they exit the Duke Point terminal on Jack Point. These were installed around 1996, and unfortunately not much is known, but these are two 17-foot totems each topped with an eagle. The female figure extends her arms in welcome and the male figure on the right depicts a man with a paddle, signifying the first people in this area, and how they arrived. 
Artists Willy Good, Alfred Robertson, and Jonathan Jacobsen of Fort Rupert co-created these beautiful symbols of island culture. Rotary worked with the City and the artists to help organize and fund the project. 
Guest Speaker
As this is Youth Month in Rotary, our exchange student Catherine Chen was proud to offer a short presentation about her time in Canada. Catherine showed us a map of her home island off the coast of Taiwan. Traditional Chinese celebrations like Lunar New Year include feasts prepared by her grandmother.
On her small island, where they are relatively isolated, they attend school in quite a different format from Canada. They do not shift classes during the day, working instead from the same desk all day. She finds Canadian school much easier than at home. All schools in Taiwan wear uniforms, unlike here in Canada.
She brought with her from Taiwan her favourite bubble tea, a drink made with tapioca “pearls” and sweet tea and fruit syrups, which she made for her host family. Until recently with social isolation, she has been very active during her time in Canada, including kayaking, trips to Victoria, visiting places like Goats on Roof in Cumberland, Butchart Gardens, as well as the Rotary exchange orientation event.
She experienced her first real North American holiday, Halloween, where she dressed up and put on makeup. She also made her first snow man, as they have no snow in Taiwan. She also experienced her first hockey game, and liked it! She even tried to play hockey, but found it very hard. She then tried curling, and found that to be more fun.
She went on the international trip to California where they visited Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, the Hollywood sign, Universal Studios, and took surfing lessons. Once back home, she also enjoyed her first ski trip with the other members of the exchange. 
She continues to learn from home. Her host mom is a music teacher so she is playing piano, flute, and guitar. Plus, she’s taking lots of walks, baking, and cooking! She is now scheduled to return to Taiwan on July 15th.
President Janeane commented that her English and her accent has improved quite dramatically since she arrived. Catherine responded to questions saying that her family is doing quite well during the pandemic, as her school has continued to be open, and their lives are still going on more or less as normal.
New Member Induction
Debbie Narver inducted new member Leslie Sundby who is sponsored by Wendy Pratt. Leslie is chair of the VIU nursing program, and she has vast experience in nursing projects on a global basis, including visiting Sunyani in Ghana (the site of several other club projects guided by Carey MacIver), programs in Nepal, palliative care in developing countries, and working through an organization called Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration. Leslie is the first member of our club to be inducted virtually. Leslie tells us that she loves bridge, kayaking and skiing, as well as the values of Rotary. Welcome, Leslie!Mayor's Message
Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog congratulated the club on our 100th anniversary. He said he would be, “…hard-pressed to think of another group who has done more to contribute to our city”. The Mayor then listed a long line of our community projects, notably the hospital, the hospice, the skate park and Eden Gardens. He continued to say, “Nobody has lived in this community without their lives being touched by the good of Rotary.” And that everyone could “Thank a rotary member for what they’ve done.” Thank you so much, Mayor Krog! Watch the video here. Happy Bucks
Many people mentioned the great trivia night Monday night, with several messages of thank you to the social committee. This was our first online gathering, and was lots of fun!
Tracy had a happy buck, as her daughters are coming to visit this weekend! John and Dawn offered a happy buck to thank Laurie and Dawn and to raise a glass to Doug Cowling, as it turns out he’s great at singing “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”Jason has an unhappy buck for coming back to work and having to wear pants! Dave offered a thanks for a great presentation from Catherine, and good to have Leslie as our newest member. He was also happy for this granddaughter’s 6th birthday party in Victoria.
Ian offered a happy $5 for his niece’s son, Kyle Fox, who has received the global grant to receive his legal degree in Scotland!
Doug Cowling offered $5, a combination of thank you and sad bucks, thanks to Catherine, and to Laurie, and too bad that trivia night was past Bob Wilson’s bedtime, as it would have been fun to beat him, too.
A shout out from Janeane to Doreen, as we haven’t seen her in a while and to Bob Wilson. It turns out Bob did travel back to Nanaimo from Niagara!
Wendy offered $5, as she’s so happy to have Leslie as anew member, thanks to Catherine, liked the mayor’s presentation, is excited to see her oldest son and gave us an update on her grandchildren, who are in isolation up in Haida Gwaii.
Another happy buck from Rebecca, who got to launch the hospital’s ICU campaign on Monday.
Norm had a sad dollar, because he says the survey about our youth today was depressing. He said it reminded him how old he was, as pizza wasn’t even introduced in Alberta until he was in university. 
A happy buck from Frank, who yesterday left Gabriola for the first time in 2 months. It was their 43rd anniversary!
A final happy and sad buck came from Peggy, happy because this morning they announced that the kids will be back in school on June 1st, but an additional sad buck because it’s only 1 day a week!
The meeting ended with a toast to Rotary, and hope that everyone enjoys the long weekend!
