March 14, 2022 Luncheon / Hybrid Online Meeting

Join us on Monday, March 14, 2022 at 12 noon for a luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Edmonton West hosted at:

The University Club

11435 Saskatchewan Dr NW,

Edmonton, AB T6G 2G9

https://goo.gl/maps/fFZrd9fbuU72Xbqd7

or available online in Zoom.

In-person attendance will include lunch for $25 per person, payable in cash or by cheque at the door. Zoom attendance for those unable to attend in-person will be free. 

OUR GUEST SPEAKERS

The keynote presentation will be on the George Grover Leadership Scholarship, a joint endowment of the Rotary Club of Edmonton West and the Realtors Association of Edmonton (formerly the Edmonton Real Estate Board).  Our guest speakers will be former Edmonton West Rotarian Ron Hutchinson and Honourary Member Jerome Martin, who both played an important role in making the Grover Scholarship fund one of the most important endowments administered by the University today, together with several recent scholarship recipients who will speak to the Club about their studies and the importance of the scholarship in supporting their acedemic endeavours.

PARKING

Parking for those attending the luncheon meeting in-person is available in Lot 5108, accessible off 116 Street, south of Saskatchewan Drive for $5.50 between 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM.  Remember your license plate number. You can pay for parking at the machines located at the southeast corner of the lot or in the lobby of the University Club, or using the Honk Mobile App. Note that fines for illegal parking at the U of A are substantial.

ONLINE ATTENDANCE

For those wishing to attend in person, this Zoom link will be as follows:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88659394720?pwd=cXlYKzBXWThhNzJiQThPM0JJTjRjdz09

Meeting ID: 886 5939 4720
Passcode: 938103

THE GEORGE GROVER LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP

The Rotary Club of Edmonton West is proud to have created one of the largest scholarship funds available to University of Alberta students. Here is its story, and what the George Grover Scholarship looks like today.

History of the Scholarship 

Upon the death of Rotarian George Grover, a well-respected member of the Rotary Club of Edmonton West, Rotarian Dave Turner believed that the high ideals and ethics held by George should be remembered in a suitable manner.

George was a retired Real Estate Professional, so David contacted Rotarian Art Jones, predecessor to Rotarian Ron Hutchinson in both membership with our Rotary Club and in the position of Executive Director of the Edmonton Real Estate Board, to discuss a suitable project. They decided that a scholarship fund to assist in the education of real estate professionals would be suitable. Art agreed to contact the Edmonton Real Estate Board, the real estate industry, including the three professional associations of that industry the George had belonged to, plus the Grover family, to see if there was interest in developing the scholarship memorial.

Upon receipt of immediate, positive interest from all contacted parties, Art and David approached the Board of Directors of the Edmonton West Club to determine if the Club would spearhead the project. A committee was quickly formed. Rotarian Jerome Martin, then an Associate Professor with the Department of Extension of the University of Alberta (real estate studies were offered by that Department) approached the Dean, Dr. Don Weideman, and the process began in earnest. By the time the scholarship program was documented and implemented, funding of about $65,000 had been raised. This was sufficient to fund 4 to 7 annual scholarships to real estate professionals in an amount of $400.00 each.

Scholarships were granted for several years, but then the real estate studies course ceased to be offered by the University of Alberta, and quietly the scholarship fund became inactive.

The George Grover Scholarship Today

About 10 years ago, David Turner wondered aloud about what had happened to the fund. He approached Jerome Martin, who enlisted Ron Hutchinson to assist in locating the fund. It had been well managed by the University of Alberta Administration and had grown to nearly $500,000.

A new committee of interested stakeholders, anchored by Ron Hutchinson, worked to develop a replacement scholarship offering. It was decided that all students of the University of Alberta would be eligible, so long as they were registered in second year programs or above. The successful applicants would have to excel in their community service activities (give something back to the community) and have reasonably high academic achievement.

As of 2021, the Scholarship Fund has grown to nearly $716 thousand and this enables the University to award scholarships totalling more than $25,000 each year. The number of recipients and size of the awards has varied each year. We have been told that the George Grover Leadership Scholarship is second only to the Peter Lougheed Scholarship for monetary value of awards given by the University of Alberta.