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...
Members are reminded about the UPDATED District Volunteer Security Policy, DOWNLOAD HERE.
This policy was generated from the requirement of our insurance company providing liability coverage in case of issues arising from members and non-Rotarians working with youth and other vulnerable members of our society.
The policy provides that all involved Rotarians and non-Rotarians complete a vulnerable persons police check. Click on "Read more..." or title 'Police Check' to read more about the relaxed submission procedure which has been greatly simplified.
Contact Hans Granholm, 780-466-5566 for more information.
This Tuesday we heard from Rick Patterson, pictured, a managing partner with Weber Patterson Ventures, a builder of custom homes in Alberta. His talk covered some of the recent changes to the Alberta building code, mainly pertaining to single family homes.
The first item was Radon gas abatement. Radon gas is a radioactive breakdown product of Uranium and can be naturally present in the soil. The gas is not normally a health issue, as it escapes into the atmosphere freely, unless it becomes trapped in a closed space where people live, such as a home basement. Radon gas is considered to be the second most common cause of lung cancer after smoking, and for non-smokers it is the number one cause. Radon abatement measures are not required for all new homes in Alberta. These include sealing the basement slab to the walls, and sealing any sump and covers to prevent gas from coming into the building. They also include placing a granular layer under the slab with a central pipe to collect and divert any gas that collects up and out on the side of the building. The pipe must be monitored for radon emissions for three months after the finish of construction, and if the gas is detected, a fan and extension of the pipe to carry the gas up to the roof level must be permanently installed. If not, the pipe can be sealed. This requirement will add approximately five hundred dollars to the cost of a new home in Alberta.
The second item he talked about was the new requirement for placement of carbon monoxide monitors in the furnace room, in rooms with fireplaces and in secondary suites.
The third item was changes to the regulations surrounding stairs, handrails and guards. This will now cover attached exterior stairs such as those in attached garages. There are also stricter guidelines for stair heights and the amount of variance allowed from stair to stair in a single staircase. The place where this is often an issue is the bottom step, where the height is often less or more than would now be allowed. One issue he also encounters is the wish of some clients to have certain types of open stair rails that look nice in American homes but are considered unsafe for children here in Canada.
The fourth item was a requirement for more extensive wind loading calculations for roofs, walls, windows and doors to demonstrate the construction will mitigate high wind damage. This is an issue mostly for homes in southern Alberta.
The fifth item was the new requirement for placement of smoke detectors in all bedrooms and the bedroom hallways. These detectors must also have a battery back up that is able to still emit an alarm seven days after the main power has been cut off. All alarms must now have a manual over ride as well so that they are easily turned off, if set off accidentally.
The sixth item was in regards to energy efficiency, and these new requirements are quite complicated. They cover insulation and air tightness, HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system efficiency and hot water heating efficiency. The code now requires that the energy efficiency of walls must be calculated to include the area taken up by the supporting wood studs (which are heat conductors), which means that the insulation used now needs to be better between the supports, or the entire outside of the building needs to be wrapped in an insulating layer. It also means that the whole building envelope, including doors and windows must be considered. All of this involves some petty complicated methods to prove that the building will meet the requirements. His company now uses an insulated concrete form foundation, in addition to triple glazed windows and tightly sealed doors. The exterior walls are sealed and insulation wrapped and have a breathable exterior finish to prevent moisture penetration from rain. A high efficiency furnace and hot water heater are also required. As the new homes are now so tightly sealed, they also install a heat recovery ventilation system to ensure fresh air can reach the interior and stale air can be exhausted.
In closing he also mentioned that the building code will now allow for the construction of up to six story buildings, using combustible (wood) frame construction methods. There are more stringent requirements for sprinklers and the use of fire resistant floors and supports to help mitigate the fire risk for these types of buildings.
There was an interesting question and answer session afterwards, and overall we found his presentation very interesting.
We are delighted that you have chosen The Mustard Seed for your volunteer opportunity and we would like to take this opportunity to thank you sincerely for your kindness and generosity.
Volunteers have to be at least 13 years of age to serve meals at the church and must be accompanied by an adult
Volunteers must be at least 18 years old to volunteer on their own
The Meal group must be no larger than 12 people
The Meal group are required to prepare, cook, serve, assist with other related tasks, and clean up after the meal
The Meal group should arrive (together) at the church by 5 pm and available until 9 pmMonday to Friday
The Meal group should arrive (together) at the church by 3 pm and available until 7 pmon Saturday
The meal group is encouraged to car pool; parking is available at the back, on the street in front and the north side of the building
The food coordinator will help the group get settled and give the group members their tasks for the evening
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Come dressed in fairly casual, comfortable loose fitting clothing that can get dirty
NO open toed shoes or sandals will be permitted
No bandanas as their meaning can be misinterpreted
No clothing with profanity or inappropriate messages and / or graphics
We require that all people working in the kitchen wear a hair net which will be provided
Please dress modestly (no short skirts, halter tops or midriff bearing clothing) Shirts with sleeves (short or long) must be worn in the kitchen – no tank tops
The group must have a designated leader and all group members must sign in and out on the sign in sheets. Please contact The Food Coordinator when you arrive at the church. We hope this experience will be a blessing to you as well as the community we serve.
Betty and Tim die in a car accident on the eve of their wedding. In Heaven, they ask St. Peter if they can still be married.
"Well, let me find out if this is possible. Stay here and I will be right back."
Six months pass and Peter returns. "Yes, we can do this for you."
The couple asks, "Well, as we have spent so much time together waiting for your answer, we need to know that if things don't work out, is there a possibility that we can be divorced?"
To which St. Peter answers, "It took me six months to find a priest up here -- how long do you think it will take me to find a lawyer?"
Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been. Hilary Clinton
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.
INQUIRY FOR INTEREST FOR A TRIP TO GREECE IN SEPTEMBER 2017
After the 2016 successful Tour of Greece there has been an interest in a repeat. If you or acquaintances of yours are interested in participating in an 8 to 10 days bus tour of Greece please send an e-mail to Dimitri Papanicolas at dpapanicolas@outlook.com in order to receive more information. The number of participants should not exceed 20, on first come first saved basis. We will also connect with a few Rotary Clubs during the trip and see if we can organize a visit. The tour is open to non-Rotarian too.
The tour will take place in the mainland visiting archeological sites, religious sites, overall site seeing (see map) and of course some local food, wine, ouzo and shopping. Island and cruise tours can be organized separately before or after the tour.
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