Thanks for visiting our site! The first ClubRunner site in District 5370
"The Friendly Club"
Tuesdays at 12:15 PM
Woodvale Facility and Golf Clubhouse
4540 - 50 Street NW
Edmonton, AB T6L 6B6 Canada
Our Club meets every week with a twist. The first three weeks of each month on Tuesday at the Woodvale Club and the last week for a meeting and social at a location, date and time to be determined. Members will be notified by email of the details.
MYO Learners, Frans, Naambo, Romance, Fransina and Tangeni
We have recently received letters from the five learners Frans, Naambo, Romance, Fransina and Tangeni that our club has recently sponsored through Mondesa Youth Opportunies (MYO) in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Edmonton Riverview.
MYO is a well-known and intensive after-school education program located in Mondesa Township, Swakopmund, Namibia. It is the flagship project for the Rotary Club of Swakopmund, Namibia.
It has been operating for almost 20 years. Their focus is on learners from disadvantaged backgrounds who deserve better education than they have access to. Thus, learners with potential but little support at home. At MYO, 120 learners ranging from Grade 4 to 8 receive extra instruction in English, Mathematics, Reading, Life Skills, Computers, Sports, and Music.
They cultivate positive thinking and high self-esteem to lay the path for a future generation of forward-thinking Namibian leaders. Their aim is not only to enhance the education of their promising learners but also to guide them into being responsive, confident, and well-rounded individuals.
MYO is a non-profit organization, and their learners participate in their programme free of charge. They rely exclusively on donations from their community and the wider world to sustain their operations.
Their letters are in photo format and can be viewed in the Photo Album below titled MYO Learners.
Members of our club recently enjoyed an evening of ten pin bowling at Gateway Lanes. It was definitely a new way to experience an old sport, with the black lighting and musical background. Everyone enjoyed themselves with plenty of cheering and a little bit of rivalry as well.
Club member Ken Germain thanking Bruce Uditsky and Donna Barret
This week we welcomed Bruce Uditsky, CEO Emeritus for Inclusion Alberta and his wife Donna Barret our past District Governor (2021-2022) to tell us about the Rotary Employment Partnership with Inclusion Alberta. Bruce told us that Inclusion Alberta is a family based, non-profit federation that has been advocating on behalf of families, children and adults with intellectual disabilities for sixty-five years. In 2000 they partnered with Rotarians, at the behest of Rotarian Wendy McDonald, who was then President of the Edmonton Mayfield Club to start the Rotary District 5360 and District 5370 Partnership to help find employment for adults with intellectual disabilities. She had approached Bruce and said that Rotary would like to get involved with this program. Rotarians often have a lot of connections in the business community and can help to find businesses who are willing to partner with Inclusion Alberta to find employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities.
Bruce told us that once an employer has come forward with an interest in employment, Inclusion Alberta talks to that employer about the suitability of work involved and helps them to find the right fit person for that work. They also work with both the employer and the employee to ensure ongoing stablilty of employment.
People with intellectual disabilities can and do want to work. They provide continuity and reliability for the employer. Work gives them a sense of purpose and belonging. It prevents isolation, financial vulnerability and exclusion from society. They can offer an employer less turnover, higher employee satisfaction and increased profits as a result.
Donna spoke to us about the difference this program has made in the quality of life for their son who has found employment through this program. She also spoke about how the staff at Inclusion Alberta have helped both his employers and him to become a better employee.
The Rotary Partnership has provided almost eight hundred jobs in Alberta, with almost four hundred of those in Edmonton. Employers come in all stripes, large and small, from public libraries to pharmacies to construction sites to warehouses.
Bruce asked us to consider talking to people we know to ask them to consider thinking about hiring someone with an intellectual disability. The staff at Inclusion Alberta, Brittany or Abigale, will then talk to the employer about how this might actually work. Sometimes all it takes is a personal query to get things started. More information can be found on their website at inclusionalberta.org.
In 1977, shortly after the beginnings of the Edmonton Strathcona Rotary club, while Henry Neufeld was President, some members suggested that they should do something for the Strathcona neighborhood by building a bandstand similar to one that had existed there around 1910. They could then sponsor bands to play there on holidays and for special occasions. The bandstand was designed by architect Larry Taylor and was intended to be a replica of a band shell that stood near 102 St and 82 Ave. in 1910. Club member Peter Fairbridge was the committee head. The bandstand was a joint venture with the Old Strathcona Foundation, whose mandate was to restore and retain the history of the area, which supplied the land.
The location chosen was a small park next to the Strathcona Library branch near 104 St and 83 Ave that was informally known as Library Park. The bandstand stood in the middle of the park. It was also built to coincide with the 75th anniversary of both Rotary International and the Province of Alberta.
As the original plans for the bandstand were a little pricey, the project was put on hold and was revived in the fall of 1979, under President Hans Granholm. Over the winter of 79-80, materials supplied by club members were cut and painted at the home of a club member. In the spring of 1980, the bandstand was assembled by club members in place in the park.
The band stand opened in the summer of 1980, under outgoing club President Hans Granholm and special guest Alderman Buck Olson, the bandstand along with a commemorative bronze plaque was presented to the City of Edmonton, followed by a brass band concert by the Old Strathcona Town Band.
It was soon hosting summer brass band concerts which could be heard throughout the neighborhood. The park was renamed in 1981 to McIntyre Park in honor of Wilbur McIntyre, the first Member of Parliament to represent the Strathcona area. With the advent of the Fringe in 1982, which suddenly brought thousands of people to this small park in Strathcona, the bandstand was used constantly.
In 1991, under President Hugh Faulkner and project leader Hans Granholm, our club repainted the bandstand, followed by a very enjoyable champagne lunch.
By the year 2000, the park was in need of refurbishment with changes to drainage and an updated electrical supply. During these changes in 2001, the band stand was moved by the City of Edmonton from the center of the park to the south-east corner. During the move the bronze plaque that had been with the original bandstand disappeared.
Our club attempted to have the city replace the plaque, but they declined, so our club had a replacement plaque made and installed and our bandstand/ gazebo is still standing and in use to this day.
Please add mailservice@clubrunner.ca to your safe sender list or address book.
To forward this email to your friends, click here.
To view our privacy policy, click here.
ClubRunner
905.829.5299
102-2060 Winston Park Drive, Oakville, ON, L6H 5R7
.png)
