Rotary Buzz October 15, 2018
President Ted Gillespie welcomed members at 6 pm and we began with O Canada and Rotary Grace.
The meeting reconvened at 6:30 following a delicious dinner and lots of good conversation.
Health of the club- Paul not in attendance so we think everyone is fine.
Guests: John Stoddart’s wife Leslie
Prospective member Celia Leathwood (guest of Lou)
Grant Gillott’s wife Jaye
Happy bucks included travels, good weather, among other things for which our members are grateful.
Announcements:
-Wine Survivor progressing. About half of the 60 teams are sold. Please consider entering a team, or as an individual. Deadline Nov 2.
-Rotary Cares tickets ready for pick up and sale. Lou will have them at the next meeting if you don’t have yours yet.
-District Conference next week end Oct 19/20. Quite a few members attending from both clubs. Car pool available for people wanting to return to Camrose rather than stay in Edmonton.
-Ted has info on a trip to India through Rotary, if anyone is interested.
- Aging in Place Seminar Oct 24 6:30-8:30 sponsored by Camrose Seniors Coalition
Presentation: Cannabis Industry Perspective, Grant Gillott
Grant and his wife Jaye have purchased land and buildings north of Camrose as the site of a cannabis production facility. He is very close to starting construction of a building in which to grow plants, with 3 more buildings to follow quickly. As a person who has done much research into the pros and cons of producing cannabis, Grant is excited that Canada has taken this step to be a world leader in the cannabis industry. This will provide business opportunities for producers, packaging, retail entrepreneurs. A very profitable by-product, cbd oil, has also been approved for production and distribution. Grant and Jaye are extremely positive and optimistic about the future for this industry in Alberta and all of Canada. Grant predicts that demand will be greater than supply for many years.
There were several general questions which led to discussion on a number of cannabis-related topics. Some of the comments from Grant included:
-unlike opioids, cannabis has never been directly responsible for a death
- cannabis legalization is a huge step forward in the rights of the individual, as it removes criminalization from an act that a person does to him/herself.
-removal of the stigma from cannabis use will lead to reduction in people suffering from anxiety and paranoia related to their use of cannabis.
-description of the advertising and marketing restrictions legislated with respect to packaging: warning labels, allowable size of font for the company name
-not-licensed sellers of cannabis, ie illicit trade, will face stiff penalties if they don’t comply with Health Canada guidelines. It will be a more risky business to be in.
We thanked Grant with a Polio vaccination certificate.
Next meeting Oct 22 at lunch. Presentation will be about Polio, and World Polio Day Oct 24.
Board meeting Oct 23 at Dawn’s house at 5:15.
Ron Grue won the $9 50/50 jackpot. Ron led us to close our meeting with the 4-way test.
Have a good week!