The Atlanta Host Organization Committee is offering some good old-fashioned Southern hospitality at the Rotary International Convention from 10 to 14 June. It has planned a wide range of activities featuring everything from good food and music to inspiring tours of local landmarks. If it’s your first convention, these events are chances to meet fellow Rotarians from around the world, and if you’re an experienced convention goer, you can catch up with old friends.
Hall of Fame baseball player Hank Aaron will host Rotarians for a “Strike Out Polio” night at the new SunTrust Park, where you’ll...
When Teguest Yilma helped found the Rotary Club of Addis Ababa Entoto in 2002, she thought polio had already been eradicated from most of the world. But while Ethiopia had been free of the disease, Yilma was shocked to learn that new cases had started cropping up in surrounding countries such as Somalia.
“I was thinking, it’s not possible, we can’t be free if the countries around us are not free,” she says. Yilma, the managing editor of Capital, Ethiopia’s largest English weekly newspaper, has brought a journalist’s skills to the fight against polio. She became vice chair of the Ethiopia...
Battling breast cancer in 2000, Kathryn Smith found comfort pursuing her lifelong interest in Franklin D. Roosevelt. The more she read, the more intrigued she became with the 32nd U.S. president’s private secretary, Marguerite Alice “Missy” LeHand. “I thought, what a fascinating life she had because she was by his side through the polio crisis, establishing the polio rehabilitation center in Warm Springs and then after his return to politics,” she says. Smith, a past president of the Rotary Club of Greater Anderson, S.C., and a longtime newspaper journalist, turned that curiosity into a book...
One of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s earliest memories is of fleeing with his family into the mountains during the Korean War, his village burning behind him. His father and grandfather had to forage for food in the woods; his mother gave birth to his siblings away from anything remotely resembling a health facility. “I have known hunger,” he says. “I have known war, and I have known what it means to be forced to flee conflict.”
The soldiers who came to their rescue were flying the blue flag of the United Nations. The UN provided them with food and their schools with books....
Like a lot of us, I spent much of my childhood riding bikes, but fell out of the habit for a while. Forty years. Then my wife and I moved to New York, where cyclists risk their necks in a daily Thunderdome of cabs, police cars, firetrucks, double-decker buses, messengers on motorbikes, and delivery trucks backing around corners at 20 miles an hour. Not for me! At least not until my 50th birthday, when my metabolic furnace flamed out. Calories started going directly from beer bottle to beer belly. It was time to start exercising. Either that or give up Samuel Adams, and I couldn’t do that to...
General Membership voting on Tuesday April 27, 2017
Please read President Dimitri's summary of his report to the club on January 31, 2017. OPEN LINK
In view of new information about endowment funds that became available since June 7, 2016 and was presented to the membership on January 31, 2017, the 2016-17 Board of Directors passed a resolution at the Board meeting of March 16, 2017 to hold a membership vote on April 25, 2017 on the following motion:
To allow the Board of Directors to establish an endowment fund under the name of the Rotary Club of Edmonton Strathcona through the Edmonton Community Foundation and to place an initial deposit of $10,000 from our recent casino account into the endowment fund.
If you are unable to attend this important meeting, you are encouraged to vote by proxy. Your vote matters.
Download theproxy form, complete it and give to the person you intend to vote on your behalf as indicated on the form.
Alternately, you may fax, email or hand to Hans Granholm with a clear indication of your Yes orNo preference.
On Tuesday we were heard a very inspiring talk from Gem Munro, pictured, Director of the Amarok Society. The Amarok Society provides educational opportunities in poor areas of the world by teaching women, who then pass on their knowledge to others in their community. Their schools are located in the city slums of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria. These are some of the poorest areas of the world, and nearly all of the people who live there could never afford an education. The usual model of building schools in villages and hiring teachers would not work in these areas. In the past, they have tried to partner with other agencies to teach mothers in the slums to be teachers, but these agencies felt that either the muslim husbands, the slum landlords or the extremists would eliminate the program. For eleven years now they have disproved this belief, and the program has flourished and grown. They now have twenty two schools.
Amarok teaches women in the slums reading and writing in their own language, as well as in English, arithmetic, social studies, health, hygiene and nutrition, life skills such as sewing and most importantly of all, how to teach others. Each woman is also required to teach at least five children the same things that they have learned. They do not graduate, they are expected to attend and also teach for a lifetime. This opportunity gives these women a sense of purpose, increases their self confidence and also gives them the ability to think for themselves.
Gem showed us two videos which were very moving, one about a mother (Shamiya) living in the slums of Bangladesh who overcame family opposition, and became a teacher, and another about her daughter (Ajurri) who is now teaching others as well. Shamiya was married off at the age of eleven to a much older man, and essentially became a domestic slave in her husband’s family household. Girls and women in these countries are considered a burden and are married off as young as possible. Somehow, she was able to overcome family opposition, and enroll in the local Amarok school so that she could get an education. Shamiya’s daughter, Ajuri , who was three when she began this journey, will now have a very different life, as a result of her mother’s education, and the influence that this has had on their family dynamic. Shamiya’s father is now attending a school run by his grand daughter.
Gem also showed as a photo of a very pretty young woman who is now happily teaching full time for the local Amorak school, as her father has decided that since her skin color is too dark to marry her off to a good husband, it is better for her to remain single and teach. Such is the life of women in the slums of these countries.
Gem and his wife Taniss firmly believe that the natural state of the human mind is to learn, and that the natural reaction to learning is a wish to teach others. They also believe that education is the challenge to ignorance and violence and that an educated, reasoning mind, that loves the world, is not easily swayed by extremist views. The Amorak Society is supported by several Canadian Rotary clubs as it supports the fourth objectives of Rotary by creating and maintaining peace.
In recognition of longtime service and contributions to the club, The Edmonton Strathcona Rotary Club honored longtime member and Past President, Art Baird with an Honorary Membership at his home, on April 11th.
Past President Harald Kuckertz presented the Honorary certificate and a letter from President Dimitri, who was absent in Greece. Also present was his wife Joyce, Past President Ken Sutley and Hans Granholm. The lovely flowers were arranged and curtesy of Heather de Kok.
The life blood of our Rotary Club and Rotary International heading into the future is the successful recruitment and retention of new Rotary Club members. As time marches on, it is imperative that we are all actively identifying prospective new Rotary Club members, and inviting them out to our weekly club meetings. Our club has been very successful in recruiting and retaining new club members over the last several years.
Part of our recruiting initiative over the last couple of years, has been to have special lunch meetings devoted to inviting prospective new members to introduce them to our club, and to provide some insight into the benefits of joining Rotary. We have been holding these traditionally in the spring and the fall, with good results.
We are excited to announce our next Prospective New Members luncheon will be held on Tuesday May 2, 2017.
We will be highlighting the great work that our Rotary club has been doing locally and internationally. We think this would be a great way to introduce prospective new members to Rotary.
I encourage all of our active Rotary Club members to invite a friend, colleague, family member or just someone you may know who would appreciate Rotary. The lunch cost for any prospective member will be picked up by our Rotary Club.
In fact, we would like to extend our offer of a free lunch to any prospective member for any regular Rotary Club of Edmonton Strathcona lunch meeting, until further notice, to encourage the attendance of prospective new members throughout the year. We have attached an invitation letter for you to send out to anyone who may be interested in Rotary.
Please RSVP to myself directly with the names of any prospective members who will be joining us for our lunch meeting by Thursday April 27, 2017.
The format for the April event is 2 couples Visit to the house. One couple the host family selects and one couple I will assign. Otherwise the same format.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is a social program of the Rotary Club of Edmonton Strathcona. It is designed to provide an opportunity for Club members and spouses/companions to meet other Club members in an informal, social, small group setting.
Typically a Member would Host one month and be a Guest for two months. All Members are encouraged to participate - even if for only one month. The visitors should expect anything from spaghetti or pizza to steaks. The most important part of this program is the fellowship and the opportunity to get to know each other better.
Three fishermen catch a mermaid. If they agree to set her free, she will grant them each a wish. The first guy says, "OK, I want you to double my I.Q." Immediately, the guy recites Shakespeare flawlessly. The second guy asks the mermaid to triple his I.Q. Suddenly, he's spouting complicated mathematical solutions. Impressed, the last guy asks the mermaid to quintuple his I.Q. The mermaid hesitates and asks, "Are you sure that's what you really want?" "Absolutely!" says the man. The mermaid smiles. Instantly, the third man turns into a woman.
Never give in.. never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force.. never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Winston Churchill
Tickets are going fast to the 2017 YESS Gala for Youth! Guests will enjoy elegant entertainment, sumptuous décor, and a decadent feast worthy of the gods. Dive in with us to discover the timeless secrets and hidden treasures of the lost city of Atlantis!
It all takes place on April 28, 2017, in the luxury of the SHAW Conference Centre.
Location - Hall D, Shaw Conference Centre (9797 Jasper Avenue)
Cocktails - 6:30PM
Program & Gala Dinner Begins, Cash Bar - 7:30PM
Parking - Parking options include the Impark Underground Lot at Canada Place, Impark Surface Lot at the Courtyard by Marriott, and the Grierson Hill Surface Lot
Additional Activities include a Live and Silent Auction
Dress - Cocktail or in Theme (Atlantis)
Last year's Gala for Youth was one of the most successful fundraisers in YESS history. Be a part of the life-changing programs and resources that help youth who are in crisis and experience homelessness on their way to brighter futures.
Rtn. Jerry Kelly from Victoria, formerly with the RC Edmonton, joined us at the zoo and gave us an invitation to join other golfers from around the world to their 54th golf tournament in Victoria BC. The "International Golfing Fellowship of Rotary" is one of the oldest Rotary Fellowships.
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