Our speaker for the September 15th meeting was Farah Murphy from Mission Health and Wellness. Farah gave us an update on the store's move to McBride Street (the old Spero's store) and some of the exciting new additions to the store, including a smoothie bar and a bring your own bottle refill station for cleaning & health products. I highly recommend going and checking her store out, in addition to vitamins and health products there's many interesting food and environmentally conscious products, including the Tru Earth laundry strips - made in Canada with no plastic involved and the miso paste in the fridge.
At our August 18th Meeting we had Brendan Eshom as our guest speaker. Brendan, while still a teenager, developed an App with a "word of the day" in Sm'algyax, the language of the Ts'msyen people. Brendan spoke about the development of his App and of the culture of his mothers people who are from Hartley Bay. Brendan is a very accomplished young man with an impressive resume and he's an excellent public speaker - he joined Toastmasters while still in his teens. Among his accomplishments, he is a recipient of the BC Reconciliation Award, which is for "individuals, groups and organizations who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, integrity, respect and commitment to furthering reconciliation or inspired others to continue reconciliation efforts". Brendan's app can be found on most app stores - just search "sm'algyax word".
You never know what you might learn when you come to a Rotary Lunch Meeting. On August 4th we had Anne Dopson and Echo as our speakers. Anne has a business "Calm Dog" in Prince George, and she spoke a bit about therapy dogs and the value of them for people/children in stressful situations. She also gave some tips on dog training and walking my dogs has not been the same as I try to incorporate some of her tips. Echo was also a lovely speaker who charmed the room and was extremely calm and patient in unfamiliar surroundings with many people around, a walking advertisement for "Calm Dog".
It's that time of year again, when the kettles are out and they need cheerful volunteers like these! Anyone can volunteer for a shift by calling or emailing Lt. Dawn Butt at 778-884-1752 or Dawn.butt@salvationarmy.ca Many shifts need to be covered - many volunteers make the load lighter for all.
Auction Is Already Here!!!!!! http://auction.prrc.ca/
Our auction is online this year and you need to create your account and start bidding. Deals are still to be had but many items are allready at full-value.
Click on the link above to sign on and get bidding! Items will be delivered on Monday and Tuesday November 15 and 16 after each block of items is sold.
Bob Killbery updated club members about all of the opportunities our club provides through its' Youth Programs. From International Exchanges to Rotary Youth Leadership Adventures our club sponsors and offers many programs for youth.
Chris Armstrong spoke to the Club about CityWest's most recent acquisitions and Connected Coast. When making acquisitions like West Island Cable, Banfield they look for companies that share their same values, especially when it comes to customer service and connectedness in community.
CityWest now employees up to 86 employees under the direction of a new CEO who joined CityWest one year ago
The pandemic has really outlined the need for services in all the communities CityWest Serves.
Naila Bedford, Community Services Manager, Northern Health
Naila was the volunteer coordinator for the vaccine clinics held in Prince Rupert. She reports that in Prince Rupert, of those eligible for the vaccine, 80% have received the first vaccination. The take-up on the second dose is lower at 68%.
Every Friday from 9:00-3:30 there is a vaccination clinic at the Prince Rupert Community Health Centre located in the Ocean Centre Mall. You can register on-line and drop-ins are also welcome.
Naila Bedford, Community Services Manager, Northern Health
Naila was the volunteer coordinator for the vaccine clinics held in Prince Rupert. She reports that in Prince Rupert, of those eligible for the vaccine, 80% have received the first vaccination. The take-up on the second dose is lower at 68%.
Every Friday from 9:00-3:30 there is a vaccination clinic at the Prince Rupert Community Health Centre located in the Ocean Centre Mall. You can register on-line and drop-ins are also welcome.
Rotarians were all smiles as they were welcomed back to weekly in person lunch meetings last week.
Caitlin Birdsall representing North Coast Ecology Centre Society. See information following regarding work of the society and information on the Pop-up Aquarium and Education Centre located at the Northland Cruise Terminal.
Crystal is busy explaining the ins and outs of the new Auction format to Richard.
December 3, 2020 - Stephanie Nicholls MacDonald - Bruce Jack Mine
We had a very interesting presentation from Stephanie who is a geologist with PRETIVM at the Bruce Jack Mine north of Stewart. This is an underground high grade gold mine that the company purchased in 2010. The years 2011-12 were spent in exploration activity and employees lived on site in tents.
2013-14 years were spent in permitting and 2016-17 in construction both above and underground. Capital invested in the project was 1 billion, 700 thousand of which was spent for goods and services in BC.
In the early days crews were flown in and out from the site until the access road was completed in 2014. Now crews fly in to Terrace and are driven to camp. The came is a "dry camp" no drugs or alcohol on site, and security is much like an airport.
Anne gave us an overview of her time in Myanmar (Burma). Anne thought she would die in a taxi the first few months she was there, but thankfully, managed to survive. She taught 1st graders at the Brainworks International School. The school had a strong academic and extra curricular focus She thought she would be teaching English as a second language only to find that most of her young students had already had a couple of years of English instruction. In grade one they sit 1-1/2 hour exams over the course of a number of days, four times a year.
There are more than 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar and 80% of the population are Buddhist. The economy is agriculture (rice) and jewels - sapphires, pearls and rubies. In fact we learned that 90% of the world's rubies come from here.
Natasha updated us on all the work that has been carried out at the curling club to raise funds and conduct much needed repairs. Curling is happening again with increased numbers and Covid protocols in place. She gave heartfelt thanks to the Executive for all their hard work over the last two years.
We had a great session with Mr. Kohlman who used Kahoot.it to provide his presentation making it very interactive and fun! One of their values is adventurous - and we were! In first place: our President, Rosa Miller; second place went to executive secretary, Bev Killbery; and third place to club secretary, Ellen Witherly. Hmmmm I sense a theme here!
CMTN uses experiential place based learning - a combination of in-face and online learning, and are teaching other colleges how to implement it successfully.
Our club has made the difficult decision to suspend our annual auction for 2020. We did not feel comfortable asking our many local businesses to contribute the over 800 items they donate for us to auction in this very difficult year. We do encourage everyone who would normally purchase items from our auction to please shop local this year.
Stay tuned for news on about our annual sale of 750 tickets!
Blair Mirau, Economic Development Officer, Gitmaxmak'ay Nisga'a, and CEO of business initiatives.
Mr. Mirau updated members on the many initiatives they have in the works.
Prince Rupert Lawn and Garden - After a much needed re-development, the centre re-opened in May of 2020. After a busy summer they are now working on an exciting new project. They have installed a hydroponics greenhouse housed in a shipping container. They will be able to produce 12,000 lbs of greens per year. They are currently installing a water filtration system for the greenhouse. Greens will be available for purchase by the public.
Sheila McDonald, Better at Home and Prince Rupert Senior Centre
Thank you to new member, Sheila McDonald for stepping in at the last minute to be our speaker on the 17th!
Sheila is the Coordinator of the Prince Rupert Senior Centre and the Better at Home Program. This program is funded by United Way. They provide services to seniors that support them in staying in the own homes. Some of these services are: light housekeeping (a challenge in a pandemic); taxi vouchers; grocery and prescription pick up and delivery, lawn cutting and weekly delivery of baked items and frozen soups. Better at Home also provides a weekly dinner for approximately 20 at Wayne Place. Services are provided for a fee that is based on the senior's income level. They do not have a waiting list at this time and are serving 58 clients with about 80 receiving food support. They are also providing meal support three times a week at the Wildlife Shelter.
Mariah graduated from university as a professional therapist in 2016. She is currently working in public health at a Psycho Social Care Centre where they treat mental health and social issues with a multi professional team.She moved to Sao Paulo in 2017. Mariah is a busy individual; working full time; studying professional Chinese medicine and volunteering in her field. She is working on a seconde post grad in Health rehabilitation and child neurology.
Ari will graduate from law school this year. She has interned at the course and is now interning with prosecuting attorney. Her career goal is to practice law. Like Mariah she is a busy person and is also teaching English to children.
Craig Outhet from Wheelhouse Brewery spoke about the challenges of operating during a pandemic and the need to be nimble operators.It all began on March 17th, when they made the decision to cancel their St. Patricks' Day event.
Three RYLA Lakelse participants shared their experiences with the club. Amal Atayah, Ava Farrell and Taliyah Spencer spoke of their nervousness about meeting new people and fitting in, but how over the course of the weekend, they made fast friendships while learning new leadership skills.
September 19, 2019 - Aidan Murphy-Morven - Exchange Student
Aidan regaled the club with stories of his year in France. Aidan was fortunate to be able to travel extensively during his year in France, visiting not just France, but Scotland Greece and Spain where he spotted a north coast totem pole in a Barcelona. He also had the fortune to join and play with a local soccer club.
Aidan also really enjoyed his host families and the great french cuisine!
The Club was fortunate to have Senator Bev Busson as our speaker. Senator Busson is a proud trailblazer for women in the workforce. She was sworn into the Senate in 2018 with many prior firsts to her name:
1st class of women to enter the RCMP
1st female commissioned officer
1st female Criminal Operations Officer
1st female Commanding Officer of a Province
1st female Deputy Commissioner of a Region
1st woman to lead the RCMP as the 21st Commissioner.
Senator Busson was named as one of Canada's Most Powerful Women by the Women's Executive Network in 2006.
Senator Busson was ultimately recognized as a Member of the Order of Canada.
The District Governor, Bala Naidoo along with wife, Vasi Naidoo, visited our club with Chad Sallenback, ADG. Bala spoke about the importance of increasing membership as this is a main Rotary Goal for the year. He proposed looking at some novel ways to retain existing members and attracting new members. Stay tuned.
Pictured are Bala, our exchange student Rebecca Jansen, and Vasi
For those of us lucky enough to be in attendance at this week's lunch meeting, our very own Snowbird, Tom Perry regaled us with his very entertaining dissertation on how to become a snowbird. From finding your place to locate, to driving hints and tips, and to the perils of insurance Tom shared it all! Also that he is referred to as a "dead-ender" (One whose trailer is located on the dead end in the park!)
We had a beautiful sunny evening at the golf course for the installation and fish dinner. President Lori (2019-20) was sworn in by the venerable John McNish.
May 30, 2019 - David Geronazzo - Emergency Social Services Prince Rupert
David explained that their group provides temporary public aid for up to 72 hours of essentials like lodging or food service. Most of the services provided in Prince Rupert are for individual emergencies like a residential fire. They can be called upon to provide more extensive support for larger regional emergencies. We should all be preparing ourselves for unexpected emergencies. You can search online to find a Basic Preparedness Kit Supplies List.
ESS Prince Rupert is on the look-out for volunteers. No experience is necessary and all training is provided. Contact them at emergency.response@princerupert.ca More information is available at www.gov.bc.ca/emergencysocialservices
Bob spoke to the club about the process their committee is going through with the goal of having an Interact Club at Charles Hays High School starting in the fall of 2019.
Sebastian Lopez, Brandon Mah and Kaneata Daigle spoke to us about their Ryla South adventures. They spoke about being shy and unsure when they arrived and through the weekend, and all the activities, they gained in confidence and made solid lifelong friendships.
Eight participants of the Prince Rupert club's Adventures in the Port of Prince Rupert were also in attendance.
It was a great day for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Exchange Student, Sebastian, hanging out with the Easter Bunny. Thank you, to Save-on-Foods for donating all the chocolate eggs for the hunt.
April 18, 2019 - Veronika Stewart and Ceilidh Marlow, Transitions Prince Rupert
Veronkia Stewart and Ceilidh Marlow from Transitions Prince Rupert spoke about exciting initiatives taking place in Prince Rupert. (No photo available.)
This week's photo is of Crystal Lorette receiving her Paul Harris from President Elect, Lori Wilson.
April 18, 2019 - V. Stewart & Ceilidh Marlow, Transitions Prince Rupert
April 11, 2019 - Membership Committee & DG Darcy Long
Doug Kydd, along with committee members Lori Wilson and Ellen Witherly, outlined the process for building club membership from prospective membership proposal to induction and beyond.
Chris Bromley filled in for committee member, Herman Seidemann. (Complete with goatee!)
District Governor, Darcy Long was at our meeting and presented Past President, Karen Basso, with a Rotary Citation for the 2017-18 year for setting, meeting and recording all of our Club Goals.
April 11, 2019 - Membership Committee & DG Darcy Long
President Elect, Lori Wilson, gave the club a PETS (President Elect Training Seminar) recap. The theme chosen by President Elect, Mark Maloney for the 2019-2020 year is "Rotary Connects the World". Lori got to hear many inspiring speakers. Focus areas for 2019-2020 are:
March 28, 2019 - Tyler Stene, Prince Rupert Golf Course
Tyler Stene is no stranger to Prince Rupert, having lived here previously. He returned to Rupert from Victoria, where he completed a three year golf management program at Camosun College. Tyler is looking at ways to increase membership, especially younger members. He is starting outreach to all the schools and he is going to coach a Charles Hays Secondary team which has not had a team in a while. He is also looking at ways to reinvigorate local tournaments.
If you want to learn how to play Tyler is your guy! You can contact Tyler at the Prince Rupert Golf Course.
March 28, 2019 - Tyler Stene, Prince Rupert Golf Course
March 21, 2019 - Shaun Thomas - Metlakatla Development Corporation
Shaun explained that the Metlakatla Development Corporation is the governance arm, and is responsible for Board policies.
Business entities are, Gat Leedm Logistics, Grassy Bay Services, Coastal Training Centre, Metlakatla Ferry Service, North Co Corp Ferry Service, Tidal Coast CT Terminals, Coastal Business Resource Centre and the Elders Housing on the old King Edward school site.
There are 157 direct jobs - 76% of which are permanent. They also donate to community both with volunteer hours and monetary donations totalling about $63,000 to everything from basketball to Relay for Life.
March 21, 2109 - Shaun Thomas, Metlakatla Development Corporation
Getting to know all about you - Can you hear the music? Actually it wasn't at all about The King and I, but it was about getting to know our fellow Rotarians. Rosa Miller led us through Two Truths and a Lie. Each person wrote down two truths and a lie about themselves and then the others had to guess what was the lie. A fun time was had by all.
February 28, 2019 - Betty Lou Hunt - Cornerstones Wellness Centre
Betty Lou has worked in the healing profession for more than 40 years. Betty-Lou is a Physiotherapist who is licensed to practice acupuncture. She was a founding partner in Cornerstone Wellness Centre in 2001. She presently operates Cornerstones Physiotherapy providing outpatient, physiotherapy, acupuncture and energy sessions. Betty Lou's passion is to empower people with a balanced mind-body-spirit approach to wellness.
February 28, 2019 - Betty Lou Hunt - Cornerstones Wellness Centre
Mr. Armstrong spoke to the club about the major project of updating to fibre optic from Prince Rupert to Houston. Fibre optic will greatly increast capacity and will be much faster and more reliable for customers. They will be expanding to Hazelton, Smithers, Kispiox and New Remo. Half of Prince Rupert will be complete by year-end. Fibre optic will support more and more of those household items that rely on wireless in the home such as alarm systems and new smart refrigerators.
They are looking to build in redundancy via a loop to Vancouver Island to Vancouver, so that if the line is interrupted between Prince Rupert and Prince George, the system will automatically switch over and there will be no loss in service, but this will still be a while in the making.
February 14, 2019 - Michael Uehara - Coastal Shellfish
Mr. Uehara is the CEO of Coastal Shelfish and attended our meeting to speak about their exciting Scallop Farm. Coastal Shellfish grew out of concerns over the closing of forestry jobs in Hartley Bay. Following 12 years of extensive research, their first farmed scallops were purchased by local restaurant, Fukasaku for a seafood chowder challenge they participated in recently. Coastal uses cutting edge aquaculture science for its vertical ocean farming of scallops off Wolf and Digby Islands. Scallops are zero food input as they survive on algae and are restorative filter feeders. No fertilizers or pesticides are used in their production. The venture is 85% first nations owned and draws on traditional knowledge and advanced science. They have designed their jobs to be well remunerated with future for advancement in order to be competitive in the north coast market place.
February 14, 2019 - Michael Uehara - Coastal Shellfish
February 7, 2019 - Gurney & Armstrong - Prince Rupert ToastMasters
Club member, Michael Gurney and fellow toastmaster, David Armstrong made a joint presentation about the Prince Rupert Toastmasters club. Both are very accomplished public speakers and great ambassadors for the local club! In 2017, the Prince Rupert ToastMasters Club was recognized by ToastMasters International with the highest level of achievement, becoming a President's Distinguished Club. They must meet stringent requirements for member accomplishments, leadership of club officers, and administrative excellence. The group's mission is to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which participants are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth. The club also has a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce Rising Stars Program. The Prince Rupert club has the distinction of being the fastest growing club in British Columbia. Of note is their "Pay it Forward" plan that sees current members pay for newcomers' initial fees in the program.
February 7, 2019 Gurney & Armstrong - ToastMasters
Our first speaker was Andrew Warrington. Andrew has spent quite a number of years in the supermarket industry. Andrew grew up in Vancouver, the son of entrepreneurial parents. He got his start in the supermarket industry in the meat department at Thrifty Foods. Thrifty Foods was bought out by Sobey’s, so he moved to Canada Safeway. Then Canada Safeway was bought out by Sobey’s. Due to the Canadian Competition Bureau, his Safeway was purchased by Overwaitea and he has been with Overwaitea ever since. He has worked at 33 different stores.
Anthony Yecyec is one of the newest Rotarians in the Prince Rupert Rotary Club. As part of his induction into Rotary he is to give a short talk about himself.
Anthony was born in Prince Rupert and has always been drawn back to Prince Rupert. Currently, he is the Manager of the Prince Rupert Chamber of Commerce. When he was a basketball player, he was talked into going to RYLA Lakelse and was hooked. After his stint as a team member at RYLA Lakelse, he became a junior Leader then a Leader the following year at RYLA Lakelse.
His leadership has continued as he coaches grade 8 basketball and one of the Seniors Basketball teams for the All Native.
Erin Seidemann is an Honorary Rotarian, and spoke on some highlights of her life. Some of the highlights seem to centre around her being lost or misplaced by her family. Knowing Erin, I am sure she did it on purpose.
Erin has been fortunate to experience world travel. She has travelled to her visit her roots in Norway and the state of Washington and Montana and has experienced the culture of Hawaii.
January 24, 2019 - Ella Ferland - Benefits of Yoga
Ella Ferland is well known for her dance school, Spectrum Dance, in Prince Rupert and her Sankapala yoga. She talked to us today about the benefits of Yoga.
Yoga is the technology of health. Every system in your body is attached. Your body will work better when there is movement. Yoga has been around for over 5,000 years.
Ella told us that yoga believes there are five systems in the body. The physical, energy, mind, body awareness and spirit. Yoga works on the sympathetic and para sympathetic nervous systems.
January 24, 2019 - Ella Ferland - Benefits of Yoga
Brian Denton spoke to club about his book “Staying Safe on our Roads: The Small Margin for Error".
Brian was passionate about just how small the room for error is when driving on our roads. He demonstrated that there is only a foot between two semi trailer trucks when they pass on a two lane highway.
Brian felt that road safety education had to start at the earliest of grade levels. This is not being done and the agencies that look after our driving education only cover a small part of what is needed to teach a driver to be safe on the road.
Erik spoke to members about the Prince Rupert Ground Search and Rescue Society.
Prince Rupert Ground Search and Rescue provides rescue services, 24 hours a day for free. BC has more rescues than the rest of the country combined. Currently there are fifteen members in the Prince Rupert Ground Search and Rescue Society.
John McNish regaled us with his tales from his visit at last year’s Rotary International Conference in Toronto. He has always been interested in Membership, and sat in on a membership round table that was primarily in Spanish (until they found the translating devices).
John's takeaways from the conference were that membership has always been important to Rotary and it is always a topic of discussion. Rotarians can be found everywhere. We can look to past rotarians to see if they want to rejoin the club. As always retention is the key.
December 13, 2018, Stefan Delloch - North Coast Health Improvement Society.
The society is currently working to raise $200,000 for the cancer care unit at the Prince Rupert hospital. The funds raised will purchase new equipment and expand current space to allow family to stay at the patient's side during treatment.
November 29, 2018 - Tyler Bryant, Probation Officer
Tyler gave us an overview on restorative justice in B.C. Restorative justice seeks to repair the harm caused by crime and violence by:
addressing victims' needs;
holding offenders meaningfully accountable for their actions; and
engaging the community in the justice process.
Offenders must first accept responsibility for their role in the offence and the harm they caused. Victims must voluntarily choose to participate. Communities are given an opportunity to provide support, offer input and assist in efforts to help the offender return to the community.
Annual Rotary Christmas Party was held at the Golf Club with the requisite decorated wine bottle challenge/draw. Of course, Bob Killberry won with his three wise men! Will it be 4 calling birds next year?
Attendees, enjoyed a fine dinner, great fellowship and the requisite game or two. A very fun evening.
November 22, 2018, Sherry Beal - North Coast Community Services
Sherry is the executive director for North Coast Community Services and she spoke about improvements to programs for the NCCS. She explained that they are adding to their programs to deal with the ever changing client needs. One program works with clients to ensure they could become a family again by learning or re-learning home basics.
November 22, 2018 - Sherry Beal - North Coast Community Services
November 15, 2018 - Hans Seidemann - Electoral Reform
Electoral Reform and You.
Hans was asked back to the club to further discuss the November 30th referendum on voting reform.
Hans explained the three different types of voting methods being proposed if first past the post is voted down. He also explained the likely outcome with each different type. Although Hans is a proponent of proportional representation, he gave a very even handed explanation for all three alternatives.
November 15, 2018 - H. Seidemann - Electoral Reform
Mike Pucci, Manager of Compliance and Government Relations, DP World, gave a talk about the growth and workings of DP World in Prince Rupert. Mike is known as the guy from DP by pretty much everyone. He explained how they are constrantly working at better ways to improve their footprint to improve the use of the grounds.
No regular meeting this week. Instead, we celebrated with clubs around the world to raise funds in support of Rotary International's efforts to eradicate polio in the world. We raised 905.00, and that tripled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation means our dinner raised $2,715.00. Of course, we always have to celebrate this guy's birthday too!
Greg Walker, Director of Public Affairs for BC Lottery spoke to the club about BC Lottery in general and about their Game Sense program for Player Health.
October 4, 2018 - Richard Forsell - Prince Rupert Grain
Richard Forsell, Operations Superintendent gave members an update on the grain terminal. The terminal is now 32 years in the business as a grain export terminal, thanks in no small part to Dr. Hick who was a huge proponent of the facility.
Today, representatives of Pembina visited our club: Randy Allwood, Sr. Manager Operations, Laurence Riel, Sr. Advisor Aboriginal Affairs; and Sonja Kohlman, Communications. Mr. Allwood updated members on the Pembina project located on Watson Island. Pembina has been operating in Alberta for 60 years and in BC for 50. It now has 1800 employees and has doubled in size since Randy joined the company in 2012. "Zero by Choice" represents their safety culture and they build safety in from the ground up on Pembina projects. They connect production to market.
Why propane, why now? Global demand is rising as propane is replacing coal in developing nations.
Prince Rupert Terminal will be a 250M Export Terminal expecting to be in service by 2020. They will ship by CN rail car to Watson Island and will have on-site storage. They expect 3-4 Handy Size carriers per month.
There will be 150-200 construction jobs and expect to hire 20-30 full time employees.
Gary Coons, retired Prince Rupert teacher and former MLA spoke to our club about the Hockey Academy. Gary is passionate about hockey both as a player and as a teacher and coach. The hockey academy is offered through the school system and Mr. Coons has been Head Instructor for 4 years now. It is a credit course sanctioned by the Ministry of Education. 3 times per week the students are on the ice and 2 times a week they are taught life skills, and teamwork. Volunteering is also emphasized as a part of the program and participants are expected to obtain the best grades possible in all their classes. There is a fee for the program, however there is funding available for students if needed.
Prince Rupert students, Piper McWilliams, Faith Long, Sam Costa and Julie Lorette recently attended RYLA Lakelse and reported to our club on their experiences.
"RYLA" means Rotary Youth Leadershp Adventure. This particular adventure is a camping experience held at Lakelse Lake for teens aged 14-16. Emphasis is on leadership and personal development training.
August 23, 2018 - Pop Up Prince Rupert & Friendship House Block Party
Nathan Randall spoke about the Pop Up Event planned for Friday August 24th, described as a "Take back Downtown" event. A lot of fun events are planned including a skateboard ramp, pop-up yoga, Good Times Games LARPing, Food Vendor, Bouncy Castle, Northcoast Innovation Lab and Redesign Rupert, live music and our very own Rotary Club.
Friendship House representative, Katie Mierau, spoke to the Club about the 6th annual block party planned for Saturday, August 25th, also celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Friendship House in Prince Rupert. They plan among other things, a scavenger hunt and live music. They bring together local non-profits to provide a free, fun family experience.
And here are club members at the Pop Up Prince Rupert event promoting our club in the community!
August 30, 2018 - Pop Up Prince Rupert and Friendship House Block Party
Our very own Bill Parmar, District 5040 Assistant District Governor has been touring the Northwest Clubs in recent weeks and spoke to our club about the District Goals for the coming year. Membership is the main focus for the district with a goal to grow membership 15% over the next five years while retaining 93% of existing membership. There is also a goal to increase female membership to 45%.
Recording club goals and progress in Rotary Club Central program is a goal. Our club is already doing this.
Bill also touched on the District Conference, being held May 2-5, 2019 at Sun Peaks, BC.
August 16, 2018 - Bill Parmar, Assistant District Governor
New club member Rory Gowler gave her Who's Who presentation to members. She began her career as a roulette dealer in Edmonton as the hours allowed she and her husband to be at home with their small children. In fact, in 1986 she was named Rookie Dealer of the year! When her children were in school, Rory accepted her first job with the Royal Bank and has been with the Royal Bank ever since. Rory moved her with her family from Edmonton, Alberta with the Royal Bank, to a Branch Manager position in Prince Rupert. Rory accepted the job sight unseen and she and her family have fallen in love with Prince Rupert. She has been a scout leader and enjoys working at the Royal Bank as she enjoys the volunteer opportunities she has. Hobbies including family camping and Rory speaks fondly of a cross Canada Tour they made as a family all the way to Newfoundland. In 2010 she was selected to run with the Olympic Torch in White Horse and in 2012 was a RBC Cruise Winner for her work with RBC. Rory says that Rotary is aligned with her values. The Club is fortunate to have such a volunteer oriented new member.
August 16, 2018 - Aurora (Rory) Gowler - Who's Who
August 9, 2018 - Sarah Dantzer - Overlook Community Garden
Sarah spoke to the club about the history, design and management of Prince Rupert's newest community garden located on City property at the end of Overlook Street. The idea was conceived during the 3rd annual Rupert Rubbish Round-Up in 2017 by residents of Overlook Street. An IMAGINE Grant was applied for and received and work began to build the garden the summer of 2018. The garden is composed to two fenced in raised bed gardens, resulting in 10 garden plots. The garden is operating under the Transition Prince Rupert society. Plot applications will open in January for the summer of 2019.
Future Community Gardens are encouraged. At the time of Sarah's talk, four future sites have been identified and plans are in the works for another Imagine Grant application.
August 9, 2018 - Sarah Dantzer - Overlook Community Garden
Jeremy introduced himself to our club at our August 2nd meeting. Jeremy has deep roots in Prince Rupert - he is 4th generation Prince Rupert and his grandfather, Jim Stott, was a member of Rotary and Club President in our 1983-84 year. Jeremy graduated from PRSS and UNBC and joined the accounting firm of PK Vohora. He achieved his accounting designations and certificates in an insanely short period of time and became a partner with Praveen at the age of 24 and ran the East Vancouver office that later moved to downtown Vancouver.
Jeremy married his highschool sweetheart Angeline DeVera(who he met in accounting class) and they have one young son. Angeline is the in-house counsel for the Port of Prince Rupert.
Jeremy serves on a number of volunteer boards and is interested in Rotary because he was looking for opportunities to give back to his community.
Jeremy is an avid golfer and has recently bought a boat to take advantage of all the north coast has to offer.
Mayor Lee Brain gave the club an update on the work of the City and Council over the past couple of years.
Among other things, Mayor Brain gave updates on two major the Watson Island Project and the Water infrastructure project. The City continues to work on upgrades to the Civic Centre and City parks.
Our Exchange Student Teresa Spogis attended RYLA South with Kathy Nguyen, Andy Chugh and Aiden Murphy-Morven. They attended our meeting to report on their RYLA South Adventure.
On arrival they were assigned to teams and came up with team names and spent time getting to know one another. They learned about community projects and how to work together. Another important aspect was learning how to set goals for their dreams and how to meet those goals.
They really liked doing the cheer and camping and of course it didn't hurt that there were a lot of fun games and a great talent show.
Dave introduced himself to the members at our luncheon meeting. Dave's childhood was spent on the family farm/ranch. He belonged to the Air Cadets for 6 years and obtained his pilot's licence at the age of 16. After graduation he joined the navy at the urging of a friend. The navy took him across Canada and he served on most ships in the fleet and also spent time in the Arabian Gulf. He was trained to hunt submarines under the water, ships on the water and airplanes above the water. Dave was approached to take a posting to Colorado which was surprising to a navy man as there is no water there! He became a space officer who tracks man-made orbiting material. You would be amazed at how much material there is. Why do they do it? Because it is a risk to the space shuttle and station. An orbiting paint chip can cause serious damage to the windscreen of the station. This experience saw him to travel with UN to Cambodia and with NATO to Brussels, all because he is now considered an aerospace expert. Dave was posted to Maritime HQ in Victoria where he attended Royal Rodes and achieved his MBA, studying business and leadership. He is now the Director Port Operations and Harbour Master for the Port of Prince Rupert. Dave and his family moved to Prince Rupert 6-1/2 years ago. This is the first time in his adult life that he has lived more than 5 years in one place.
Our new member Sabrina Silvey gave her "Who's Who" Talk at our last Rotary meeting. Sabrina and husband Greg are currently assigned to the Prince Rupert Salvation Army. Sabrina and husband, Greg have both been involved in the Salvation Army for many years. They moved to Prince Rupert this summer and go wherever they are needed. They spent some time this summer working where needed with the wildfires in the Province. Sabrina is the Salvation Army Pastor and Greg is the outreach worker with the church. Thoughts are underway about how they can provide a safe, accepting space for teens to hang out. We also learned a lot about the history of the Salvation Army from its roots in England, whose brand strategy is "Giving Hope Today".
January 11, 2018 - Visitor Heather Bell - My Life in Costa Rica
Heather Bell, daughter of long time Rotarian, Alf Bell, visited our club recently and spoke of her time in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is famous for many things, Volcanoes, Fruit, Coffee, Wildlife, Surfing and Beaches. It is home to 800 species of birds and the Zip Line was invented there. Heather lived in San Isidro de el General. This is a small town in the mountains at the head of the trail up Costa Rica's Highest Mountain. This is a farming community and machetes are the tool of choice. They grow coffee, sugar cane, bananas, pineapples and fruit trees. Often grown on very steep slopes.
She describes the culture as "pure life" There is no military. They are a gentle peaceful people who are grateful for nature.
Heather spent time in San Gerardo volunteering with a friend's organization, Proyecto San Gerardo. Check it out at http://www.sangerardocostarica.com
December 21, 2017 - Prince Rupert Rotary Community Choir
A bit of Christmas cheer was provided by the Prince Rupert Rotary Community Choir who entertained us at our last weekly luncheon before Christmas. We all had a chuckle when the line "angel on my shoulder" was sung. The Prince Rupert Rotary Club has sponsored the community choir under the direction of Peter Witherly for many years. Any member of the community is welcome to join the choir and no auditions are necessary. The choir meets on Wednesday evenings, 7:30 pm at the Community Music Studio located at Charles Hays Secondary School.
Morgan Foisy and Jessie Gibson are the dynamic duo who are working to bring the Trail Rider program to Prince Rupert. This program provides opportunities to make the outdoors more accessible for local residents. The TrailRider is similar to a wheelchair but has just one large single wheel meaning it can navigate
narrow paths and rocky, uneven surfaces. Volunteers called "Sherpas" are positioned front and back to navigate. The aim of Kaien Coastal Riders:
"To be an energetic and strong team that provides opportunities to make the outdoors more accessible in Prince Rupert and surrounding communities. To provide a safe avenue for wheelchair users and people with unique mobility to explore the outdoors and expand their boundaries. We aim to link people together; to foster learning and volunteering with all people of unique abilities."
Adventures in the Port of Prince Rupert May 15-17, 2018
Sponsored by the Prince Rupert Rotary Club and the Port of Prince Rupert, this is an exciting opportunity for students in Grades 9-12 to experience first-hand, the inner workings of North America's fastest growing marine port. Students will meet future employers, see industry in action and learn of career opportunities available.
Long-time Rotarian, John McNish, was recognized by the club at our recent Christmas Party. In honour of John's 60 years as a Rotarian, the Prince Rupert Rotary Club are sending John to the Rotary International Conference being held in Toronto this coming spring. It has long been a wish of John's to attend an international conference and we are pleased to help make this wish come true!
A great time was had at our Annual Christmas Party held at the Golf Course. These are some very talented Rotarians indeed who can make Christmas Trees out of torn our of construction paper held behind their backs.
There are much better trees to be had at the Rotary Christmas Tree Lot at 6th and McBride!
November 30, 2107 - Louise Desserault, Better at Home
Louise Desserault is the Prince Rupert Better at Home Coordinator. Better at Home works to assist seniors to remain in their home by providing services at home. The program is funded by provincial government through United Way. The umbrella organization in Prince Rupert is Prince Rupert Aboriginal Services. Louise shared that the board of directors is made up of local seniors. Better at Home is in 67 communities in British Columbia. Various services can be provided to seniors with friendly visits being free. Other services such as light housekeeping, transportation, snow removal and minor home repairs are provided for a fee, using a sliding scale based on the senior's income. Seniors can register at their office located in the Ocean Centre Mall. 151-309 2nd Ave. W. Prince Rupert.
November 30, 2017 - Louise Desserault, Better at Home
November 23, 2017 - Robert Stromdahl, West Coast Marine Response Corporation
Robert Stromdahl spoke to the club about the role of WCMRC in spill response on our coastline. WCMRC began as Burrard Clean, a cooperative established in the Burrard Inlet. In 1995, WCMRC was the first to certify in Canada under the 1993 federal legislation. Robert noted that there are 17,000 km of coastline covered by WCMRC. There are many layers of roles and responsibilities including responsible parties, Transport Canada, Canadian Coast Guard, Environment Canada and Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
WCMRC participates with area risk planning and exercises and would cooperate with the States of Alaska and Washington.
WCMRC are completely funded by industry, most from bulk oil cargo fees. Of note is that the Port of Prince Rupert was the first Port to sign an on-going contract with WCMRC.
November 16, 2017 - Kristian Theberge, Snow Angels
Kristian Theberge, General Manager of My Mountain Co-op spoke to the club about their Snow Angels program. Approximately 40% of children have their first skiing experience through the school program. Schools book time at Shames Mountain during the week, and children get their rental equipment, a lift pass and lesson on the hill. Some students are unable to afford the fee, but that does not mean they don't get to go - Snow Angels donate money so that every student can experience a day at Shames. Donations are matched dollar for dollar by My Mountain Co-op. During 2016-17 just over $6,000 was donated and matched, and just under $16,000 was provided in subsidies and the Snow Angels Program sponsored about 330 students.
November 16, 2017 - Kristian Theberge - Snow Angels
November 9, 2017 - Michael Gurney, Northwest Regional Heritage Fair
Michael spoke to the Club about his experiences with the Heritage Fair. This fair is for students grades 4-9. Similar to science fairs where students research a subject and prepare a presentation, this fair focuses on history. Michael is excited about this opportunity for young students to become historians and has seen that the experience also leads to young historians becoming community leaders. He spoke of the diversity that can be seen at the fair with the example of a student participant who was born in New Delhi, now living in Delta, BC, whose project was about the Inuit. The Northwest Regional Fair began in 2014 held at North Pacific Cannery.
The Northwest Regional Fair (Kitimat, Terrace & Prince Rupert) will take place April 27-28 at the Lester Centre, in Prince Rupert.
November 9, 2017 - Michael Gurney, Northwest Regional Heritage Fair
John McNish regaled us with tales from his travels to Vancouver visiting friends and family. Wearing his Rotary jacket, (sold to him by the "smooth talking Carol") he met former member Clive Seabrook, attended a Rotary meeting 80th Anniversary of the Port Alberni Club complete with cake and the District Governer in attendance. The District Governor spoke of the connections and lasting friendships experienced in Rotary. John certainly proved this true on his trip as he met with Bruce and Betty Forward in Nanaimo, where he learned all about the Nanaimo Club major booksale fundraiser, met someone on the plane from Nanaimo to Vancouver who buys her books at the sale, and then had breakfast at YVR where he met some Sechelt Rotarians who told him all about their Scotch Tasting and Auction fundraiser.
Contact the Lester Centre to pick up items not delivered or picked up during the auction.
A big thank youto all the businesses who donated to the auction and to all those who bid on the more than 800 items over the three nights! We raised about $50,000 to fund Rotary projects in our community.
Club members attended a potluck dinner and donated the cost of a dinner to Polio Plus. Local Rotarians raised $1630 at the Potluck. Thanks to the matching funds provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Prince Rupert Club achieved $4,890! The cost of one vaccine is 60 cents, so.........
$4,890 = 8,150 doses of polio vaccine.
One step closer to eradicating polio in the world.
October 26, 2017 - Teresa Spogis, Exchange Student
Teresa Spogis, our exchange student from Karlsruhe Germany introduced herself to the club. She noted many differences between her home in Karlsruhe and Prince Rupert.
First of all Karlsruhe is a busy city of about 300,000 inhabitants, so Teresa is finding it pretty quiet in Prince Rupert. She attends a dedicatede music high school where she studies cello and has specific classes for music and is required to play in an orchestra.
Teresa showed us a photo of a tram - something that they also have in Karlsruhe. When she showed the photo at a school presentation, some students had never seen a tram.
Also Teresa can visit 9 different countries by driving less than 8 hours. Here, if she drives 8 hours she has not left the Province!
October 26, 2017 - Teresa Spogis, Exchange Student
Dave Wood is the new owner operator of McDonalds and shared with us the extensive training program he completed with McDonalds. Dave actually began his McDonalds career at the age of 15, before trying out other sales jobs and receiving his Entrepreneur Business degree. He submitted his interest to become an owner operator and was approved for western Canada. He had to be willing to relocate to any location in that area. Then he had extensive interviews and a trial work experience. It took 6 months for him to get into the program and then it is 1 year of unpaid training. McDonalds works hard to protect their brand. He learned all aspects of the business starting from the front counter. You can be cut from the program at any time and of the 4 that started his cohort, only 2 were successful. Prince Rupert is lucky that he was one of them. Recently moved to the community, Dave and his wife are interested in giving back to community and Dave is already playing with the Rampage. Dave sees Prince Rupert has opportunities to market to young couples as an affordable community great for young families.
October 5, 2017 - David Straznicky, SFH Accounting
David Straznicky, CPA with SFH Accounting located in Prince Rupert provided an overview of the services they provide in Prince Rupert. They provide corporate, personal and estate tax planning locally with an emphasis on helping clients identify with solutions, not problems.
Eli Kelly spoke to the club about the services provided by Community Futures.
Advice: Assisting new start ups and existing businesses with expansions
Finances: Loans from 1,000 to 1,000,000 with decisions made locally, in a timely manner and with the flexibility to meet clients' needs.
Results: They have assisted a number of successful business - everything from yoga to commercial fishing clients and everything in between.
They were also a partner in the Export Navigator project to assist businesses interested in exporting product to navigate all the information and processes of provincial and federal government ministries and other organizations.
We were fortunate to have Eleanor Kendell, Peace Champion from the Kitimat Club present to our club on the September 21st, Peace Day! Eleanor is passionate about working for peace.
"The road to war is well paved, the road to peace is a wilderness."
Paul Harris, Rotary Founder
Did you know?
1917 Rotary Foundation established in 1928 for the purpose of advancing world understanding, good will and peace through the improvement of health, support of education, and alleviation of poverty.
1945 Rotary was invited as an observer organization attend the finalizing of the charter of the United Nations in San Francisco. Rotary sent more delegates than any other invited observer organization.
1948 The United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights was finalized using the framework and guidelines from the 1940 Rotary International Convention in Havana.
1985 Rotary builds peace through its single largest and most significant project: PolioPlus.
1992 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales Australia is declared the first Rotary Peace City in the world. There are now over sixty Rotary Peace Cities.
1999 Rotary partners with universities to establish Rotary Centers for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution and by 2004 has over 850 Rotary Peace Fellow graduates.
2014 Rotarian Action Group for Peace has over 2,000 members from over 50 countries.
Cody Schaeffer recently visited our club after his return from an international exchange to Germany to share his experiences with our club members. Club members were interested to learn about the highlights of his exchange year.
District Governor Don Evans spoke at the Rotary Club lunch following a meeting held with the club executive in the morning. Don shared that he is looking forward to supporting our club in its Centennial Year during 2021. He also shared the major annual goals of Rotary with the club - to grow membership and continue on the path to eradicate polio by getting to zero cases and then maintaining zero cases for a further 3 years. He also shared information about the Rotary Leadership Institute with the exciting news that in 2018 training will be accessible to our members via webinar online!
On a more somber note, Don shared steps Rotary is taking to support communities affected by the BC wildfires through local Rotary Clubs. A BC Wildfire Recovery Fund has been established. Visit the District 5040 Website for more information.
June 15, 2017 - Oliver Fris Bjorling, Exchange Student
Oliver presented his experiences at the District Conference in Whistler and Outbound activity with Exchange Students. His trip included hiking in Squamish and visiting waterfalls. Denmark is very flat and Oliver finds that Canada and even within BC the geography is very diverse. He visited the Parliament in Victoria and the Aquarium and ran into snow at Manning Park! His stay in Canada is nearing its end, and while there was good sharing with other exchange students at Outbound, he found it hard to say goodbye. Oliver is now on the BC Tour his last activity with Rotary Exchange.
June 15, 2017 - Oliver Fris Bjorling, Exchange Student
Bev provided the club with details of all the events coming up on Seafest Weekend starting June 9th. Volunteers are always needed at Special Events to put on all the activities for Seafest and other events throughout the year.
This is the 39th annual Seafest and may very well be the second longest running community festival in BC!
New members are invited to provide a "Who's Who" to club members. This helps all of us to get to know our new members. While Ray has been a member for a while now, he spoke at our June 1st meeting. Ray was born and grew up in Fort Langley and then his family moved to Winnipeg where he played football that taught him to practice hard and play hard - a lesson for life. His introduction to Japan came when he was an exchange student at age 18. His early adult years were spent between Canada and Japan when he earned a degree in geology (Canada), worked as a civil servant (Japan), went into business for himself worked building homes (Canada) Executive Search work (Japan). Ray met his wife in Japan in 2000 where he started his own Executive Search firm and in 2013 the family made a move back to Canada. Ray's business can be located anywhere and he had fond memories from his youth visiting Prince Rupert when his father worked on the Queen North. He believes our Port and Rail line provide our city with great potential.
Scott Farwell - Crest Hotel and Prince Rupert Tourism
Scott Farwell, President of the Prince Rupert Tourism Association spoke to the club about tourism in Prince Rupert. Local tourism has benefited from the combination of high end sport fishing lodges, sport fishing day charters and the many individual sports fishermen who visit Prince Rupert. While a concern, the down-turn in Alberta doesn't seem to have affected this market. Local businessman, Steve Smith promoted the "Totem Circle Tour". While bus coach tourism is declining, individual car travel visits are increasing. Prince Rupert Tourism are currently working on a Rockies to Alaska tour through Rupert with VIA Rail. The vacation arm of BC Ferries vacation tours has been very positive and they are sold out for 2017. Our first cruise ships docks on May 19th - the first of 17 ships booked this summer with 17,000 passengers expected in 2017. Cruise visitors rate the Prince Rupert Adventure Tours, the Prince Rupert Museum and North Pacific Cannery very highly. The new Cow Bay Marina has been well received and bookings are up this year over last. In addition to the Cruise Ambassador program, Mobile Visitor information teams are in place for 2017. The challenge remains that we are highly dependent on the ferry and airline schedules.
On May 11th, Chris Marett, CEO of City West, spoke to the Club about City West, our locally owned and operated telephone internet and cable company. In operation since 1910 as Prince Rupert's locally owned and operated telephone company, they now operate from Prince Rupert Houston, serving many of the small communities in between. City West has invested and worked on bandwidth and are now selling wholesale bandwidth. They service both residential and commercial customers. Chris mentioned that past CEO an Board member, B. Kerr estimates that over the years, City West has provided $50 million back to the City of Prince Rupert.
Chris likes working for a provider that is local and invested in small communities. He is also proud of City West contributions to Shames Mountain, R.E.M. Lee Hospital Foundation, Relay for Life, and Field of Faith to name a few. Our Club appreciates City West's contribution to the televising of our annual Rotary Auction every fall. We couldn't do it without them!
Jack Payne, Rotarian and President of the Prince Rupert Yacht Club gave us a presentation about exciting changes coming at the local yacht club. The Prince Rupert Yacht Club was incorporated in 1916 and is currently undergoing some much needed upgrades. In addition to all things yachting, the club also provides storage facilities for items like paddle boards and of course, the Prince Rupert Dragon Boat Team calls the yacht club home. The parking lot expansion is complete and was accomplished with the help of partners like DP World who provided the fill and Bear Creek Contracting who donated machinery for the work. The PRYC has hired an architect to plan a new clubhouse in a West Coast Lighthouse design with a rental apartment on the second floor. Full completion including paving and landscaping is expected by next spring.
The Prince Rupert Club recently celebrated it's most recent Paul Harris Award recipients. Pictured with President John Paterson and Youth Director, Bob Killbery, are our recipients, Pastor James Whaley who has been the mainstay of our Rotary Auction deliveries for many years, and active community volunteer. Also pictured are Allison and Troy O'Toole who received the Paul Harris in recognition of their work with youth in our community.
The Prince Rupert Rotary Club sent four high school studentsto the RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) weekend on the Easter weekend in April. Club Exchange Student, Oliver, along with Emily, Ausha and Maggie gave an enthusiastic account of their leadership camp experience. Along with many fun activities like the Polar Bear Swim and RYLA Olympics, they participated in team building activities, practiced public speaking and networking and heard from motivational speakers. All spoke of the accepting and inclusive environment that fostered strong new friendships among strangers. They attribute it all to "RYLA Magic"!
Our speaker, Janet Mackenzie is the Branch Manager for St. John Ambulance First Aid for both Prince Rupert and Terrace. Janet gave us an interesting talk about the different services her office provides in communities and gave us a bit of a history lesson as well. Apparently there was an active brigade in Prince Rupert dating from the 1970's with the driving force being Maureen Borsoi and her family. Maureen now lives in the lower mainland, still works for St. John and is now in charge of over 20 offices in British Columbia. From First Aid kits for people to pets, classroom and online training, St. John Ambulance First Aid has it all!
Tom Perry, recently returned from Southern California, regaled club members with his recent winter adventures. Tom and wife, Gail, spend the winter at the Fountain of Youth Spa and Resort. Filled with motor and more permanent modular homes, the Resort is home to about 1,000 during the winter months, many from Rupert. Daytime temperatures range from 20-25 and it was very dry there, despite rain and flooding in other parts of California where, thankfully, water reservoirs are now full. The closest cities are Palm Springs and Yuma AZ approximately 1-1/2 hour drive away.
You can find tarantulas, rattlesnakes and if you are very lucky a desert turtle which is very rare.
There were also several sightings of our own Mary Ellen Marhsall!
Our Foundation Dinner was held on March 25, 2017. Eight Rotarians and community members were presented with Paul Harris awards: Rotarians, Bill and Brenda Nicholls, Pastor Jim Whaley and Lori Wilson; and community members, Gary and Nancy Shiels and Troy and Allison O'Toole.
A special presentation was made by District Governor, Lyn Stroshin to Kevin Newton. Kevin was recognized as a Major Donor to the Rotary Foundation.
We were well entertained by our Master of Ceremonies, Dwight Stewart and auctioneers, Ross McNish, Jack Payne and Herb Pond and we raised over $13,000 through lively silent and live auctions, with funds going to the Rotary Foundation campaign to eradicate polio. Check out the Foundation Dinner Photo Album on the right side bar to see more photos.
James McNish, Housing First Project Coordinator, spoke to Rotarians about the work he has been doing for the North Coast Transition Society respecting homelessness in Prince Rupert. James provided a fact-filled presentation. Prince Rupert ranks in the top five communities in the province with respect to residents collecting employment insurance and basic income assistance and in alcohol consumption.
Gaps in housing are purpose built housing with continual support to residents, transitional housing for men, spaces to house whole families and local substance abuse treatment. The closest detox facility is currently in Prince George.
Mayor Brain provided an update to Rotary Members on Redesign Rupert Waterfront & 3rd Avenue. Stakeholder meetings have been held and a ten point plan has been developed to better to connect the city to the water. Also part of the plan is the completion of the "Inside Passage" Rushbrook Trail that the Rotary Projects Committee has been working on as a major project.
Captain Shiels spoke to us about his time as Salvation Army Captain here in Prince Rupert. Captain Shiels and his wife Nancy came here from the Smithers area about 15 years ago. He says they didn't really want to make the move 15 years ago, but a chance encounter shortly after they arrived convinced them that this was exactly the place they needed to be. Now that they are looking forward to retirement this summer they don't really know how they will leave! The need in Rupert was great when they arrived here and it still is. The soup kitchen is far too busy and they served 803 families with Christmas Hampers this last year.
Pictured are a sample of a few of the 13 quilts being delivered to the Ministry of Children for delivery to children and youth being placed in foster care. The Berry Patch provided start up funding, the local Big Rain Quilt Guild committed to make the quilts and the Rotary Club provided funding for quilt batting. Together we have now provided over 25 quilts to be given to children being placed in care. Each quilt is unique and once given, belongs to the child. We hope they provide warmth and comfort for years to come.
(L-R, Project Committee Member Kella Sawchuk, Rotarian, Carol Bulford and Quilt Guild member, Ellen Witherly)
We had a very interesting presentation from tattoo artist, Nakitta Trimble. Nakitta told the story of her journey to her current art form. She is Nishga/Tlingit and grew up in Prince Rupert. After highschool she studied traditional fine art. A talented artist she then attended the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art that brings all nations together in pursuit of education and developing fine art skills with a focus on traditional First Nations Pacific Northwest Coast art. Through a chance meeting she was invited to Gisborne, New Zealand in 2014 where she was introduced to traditional tattooing. When she returned to the northcoast, she met with elders who shared their stories of tattooing in their culture. Nakkita shared a picture of a Haida tattoo kit with us. The traditional methods used were scarification, pricking and stitching. She is currently working in ancient methods with modern tools, and northwest coast designs.
Krystin St. Jean, Senior Facilitator from Community Development Institute spoke about Redesign Rupert. The project is a partnership between a city, Community Futures of the Pacific Northwest and the Community Development Institute (CDI). CDI is currently working in 40 communities with 70 projects.
Since 2016 they have conducted more than 60 one-on-one interviews, have carried out community mapping and participated in the Redesign Rupert Recharge Community Workshop that was attended by 150 people. They are now in the process of forming action groups coming out of the workshop.
January 19, 2017 Speaker, Community Development Institute
It doesn't take Nancy very long to get totally involved in the world of Rotary, wherever she may be.....so it will come as no surprise to find out that Nancy has been appointed Assistant Governor for District 5040 and responsible for the New Westminster and Burnaby clubs. She will start her duties officially on July 1, 2016 and her term will last for 3 years until June 30, 2019. She will be responsible for 6 Rotary Clubs; the Interact and Rotaract clubs in the area, as well as the new concept of the Rotary Community Corps (this is for those who do not wish to become Rotarians; but would like to volunteer for community projects on behalf of Rotary.)
Nancy shares the observation that even though it involves a number of clubs, it is still a lot more manageable than her previous term as Assistant Governor for the Northwest, where the her clubs involved a one way 4 hour drive to Smithers and a one way 2 1/2 hour drive to Kitimat.
(That might be the case Nancy; but you have to admit that the trips to the northern clubs involved highway routes without any real traffic jams, to speak of, regardless of the time of day!!! :)
Good luck Nancy in your new role....we know that you will give it your all...like you always do!!!
The 2016 Prince Rupert Polar Bear Swim was a huge success with approximately 150 people taking the plunge. The Prince Rupert Rotary Club hosted the event and served hot dogs, coffee and hot chocolate to the participants and the spectators on a beautiful, clear day. The Rotary club would like to thank Tim Horton's for donating the coffee and the hot chocolate. Bandstra was a huge contributor to the success of this event by transporting all the bbq's, tables and supplies down to the Rushbrooke site. The Coast Guard was present to ensure safety and they stood by in the inflatible 'Cape Dauphin'. We would also like to thank the non Rotarians, who volunteered to help out with such things as traffic control, serving food and beverage and announcing the play by play of the actual event. A good time was had by all and Happy New Year!!!!
Feb 5, 2015 ~ At the midway point of his exchange year, Rotary Exchange Student MATHIS CHANIOL, from Tain L’Hermitage, France, talks about his first six months in Prince Rupert.
Mathis, you arrived in Prince Rupert last summer on August 8th, please tell us what you’ve been doing these past six months.
I’ve been very busy, I helped at the HalloweenFest at the Civic Center, got .. click on more to read the rest of the interview.
Rotarians celebrated Christmas this evening at the golf course. They enjoyed a delicious dinner, bid on desserts, played a couple fun games and hoped they'd win the 50/50 draw and wine raffle. The evening raised $800 for the Salvation Army Christmas Campaign.
Go to the photo album on the right hand column of this home page to see all the pictures of the evening.
Nov 2, 2014 ~~ Here is Prince Rupert student, OLIVIA WOODWORTH'S October report from Brazil.
Wow, time seems to be flying by! Hope everyone is well in Canada. I can’t believe I’ve been in Brasil for just over three months now! October was an exciting month for me! I have given two ... click on more to read the rest of her report.
Here is Olivia's September report from Brazil. For those that don't know her yet, Olivia is our Prince Rupert student who is a Rotary Exchange Student experiencing a great year away in Brazil.
WOW, I can’t believe I’ve been in Brasil for two months already! Time really flies when you’re having fun! September ... click on moreto read the rest of her report.
Sep 25, 2014 ~ At last Thursday's meeting, the club members got to know it's French Exchange Student, MATHIS CHANIOL, a lot better after he presented this slideshow at the meeting.
French Exchange Student - Mathis Chaniol's presentation
Club members were very happy to welcome their newest member on Thursday when LISA MUELLER was inducted into the club. Being an Entrepreneur for the past eight years, Lisa’s passion is helping the younger generation start-up their own businesses to become successful business owners and bosses. Over the past four years she has been working in Aboriginal relations and relationship coaching and spends a lot of time mentoring and helping women become professional business women in the North.
Welcome to the Club Lisa, we hope you enjoy it here as much as you did in the Nechako and Skeena Rotary clubs.
Pictured, l to r, Don Seidel, Lisa Mueller and Doug Kydd (Lisa's sponsor)
A tired, but very happy, BOB KILLBERY - our Rotary Club President - returned this afternoon after a week of riding across northern BC with the Cops for Cancer, Tour de North. The only two Prince Rupert participants, Bob had the pleasure of traveling with his daughter Jen, also from Prince Rupert.
In addition to the two of them riding and raising money for the cause, Bob's granddaughter, Jen's daughter, Olivia, has donated 9" of her beautiful hair to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for kids that have lost their hair because of cancer treatments.
Sept 11, 2014 ~ Rotarians had the distinct pleasure of welcoming District Governor Ken Wilson, and his wife Peggy, to Thursday's meeting. With a message from Rotary International President Gary Huang, Ken relayed his request to "Light Up Rotary" in our clubs and communities and throughout the world.
Ken offered suggestions on how to retain existing members, how to get involved with the New Generation programs such as Interact, Rotaract, and the Youth Exchange program and how to get behind and support our Foundation that helps to accomplish so many projects in our District and around the world.
Here is Prince Rupert student, OLIVIA WOODWORTH'S August report as she finishes her first month in Brazil.
I can’t believe how fast time is passing and how quickly my exchange seems to be passing! Nossa! (This means wow, for those who don’t speak Portuguese!) Today marks the first month of being in Brazil! Totally crazy, right? Time has just flown by here and I could not be more thankful for this ... click on more to read the rest of her report.
August 7, 2014 ~ Today's guest speaker was Prince Rupert student, Jess Mokrzycki, who enthusiastically shared some of her experiences while she was in Brazil during her exchange year.
Here are two videos that Jess presented, the first tells a picture story of her year and the second one was done for her trip to the Amazon.
Rotary Club of Prince Rupert, 2014 - 2015 Club President
At President-Elect training this past February, we had the pleasure of having President-Elect of Rotary International, Gary Huang, from Taiwan, address us and unveil his theme for the upcoming year – “Light Up Rotary”.
Prince Rupert student, OLIVIA WOODWORTH, is leaving tomorrow for BRAZIL to do a year as a Rotary Exchange Student.
At today's meeting, with her new blazer on, Olivia received her first pins from long time member John McNish, and was surrounded by the rotary members who wished her a great year away.
We hope you have a blast Olivia!
Have a great year away Olivia Woodworth - Jul 17, 2014
My name is BILL PARMAR, aka Balbir Singh Parmar (my given Punjabi name). I got the name Bill, 44 years ago soon after I arrived in Canada from India ... click on more to read the rest of Bill's message.
Here is Prince Rupert student, JESS MOKRZYCKI's May report from Brazil.
Hello hello - here’s a short and sweet Month 10 - hope all is beyond well with you all! Sending big hugs your way!!
Hitting the double digits - yes that’s right - my 10 month mark has been reached! Let me raise the never endless question of time. My month of May went by speedy fast just like any other, packed with several highlights.
As the past three months went by quickly with my (click on more to read the rest of her report)
May 29, 2014 ~ Thursday’s guest speaker was Steve Milum, a member of the Prince Rupert Back-Country Society. Steve explained that the Society is proposing to hire a consulting firm to develop a long-term trail network plan for Kaien Island.
The trail plan will include hiking, biking and walking trail routes in the city of Prince Rupert and around Kaien Island as well as alternative activities and recreation points that can be accessed from these trails.
This afternoon, Rotary members and guests enjoyed listening to six very enthusiastic Prince Rupert students talk about their weekend in Vancouver when they attended
RYLA South from April 25th – 28th.
Pictured (l to r): Olivia Woodworth (Outbound Exchange Student), Celina Guadagni (past Exchange Student), Josh Haggstrom, Exchange Student Timmy Wei from Taiwan, Jenny Nguyen, Kate McAlister
Check out their presentation ... they had a great time!
May 4, 2014 ~ At this past Thursday's meeting, Rotarians enjoyed getting to know ELLEN WITHERLY - one of their newest members - a little better.
Born in Seattle, Ellen grew up in the family home that her father built and attended Western Washington State University. She moved to Prince Rupert in September 1974 with her first husband and took a substitute ... click on more
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT IT'S LIKE TO DO A ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE FOR A YEAR?
Watch this video, titled "Why Should You Do An Exchange", that Prince Rupert student, JESS MOKRZYCKI wrote, produced and directed while in Brazil doing her year!!
What a great ambassador for Rotary and Prince Rupert, thank you Jess for sharing your experiences, it looks
Even if you know it or not, it’s true that every person that passes through our lives, either making a small or big impact, takes part of making us who we are today. My exchange year has opened up so much to me, from the unforgettable experiences with a balance of ups and downs to the adventure and to the discovery to the challenges. Everything I have faced has got me to where I am now. With my mind going a thousand miles a second, as I start to look at the palm of my hand and see what I’ve experienced in the past nine months. Of course I am left with that endless question of time. Here I am writing to you my 9th monthly report people…
Apr 24, 2014 ~ Today’s guest speaker was JAMES MCNISH, grandson of Rotarian John McNish, who gave an impromptu talk about the Skeena 2050 initiative he’s been involved with for the past couple of years.
With a goal to ‘hear’ the thoughts and opinions of the people from Houston to Prince Rupert, volunteers canvas different areas of town asking what people would like to see as the future in our region.
Apr 17, 2014 ~ Today, we were treated to a presentation that encompassed the history of the Hecate Strait Rotary Club as recalled and told by Ross McNish. (Disclaimer: The validity of the history may or may not be accurate given the source.)
The Hecate Strait Rotary Club was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert and chartered in 1983. The first president was Fred Stewart and Jack Lowe took over the reins from Fred and then Jack passed the torch ... click on more to read the rest.
This year's Rotary Easter Egg Hunt was a huge success with over 200 children looking for eggs....even the Easter Bunny was there! The eggs were gone in the first minute or two.
To see more pictures, click on 2014 Easter Egg Hunt in the photo album (right hand column of the home page)
In addition to the donation made in October 2013, The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert is very pleased to make another donation of $3000, totaling $8000, to Reverend Jim Whaley’s Outerwear Ministries at St Paul’s Lutheran Church. After not receiving any Provincial grants this year, this additional money will help to buy more warm clothes for the kids of Prince Rupert.
(l to r) John Paterson, Projects Committee Chair; Odd Eidsvik, committee member; Crystal Lorette, Club President and Reverend Jim Whaley.
In this second edition, the club is happy to introduce:
My name is BOB KILLBERY. After recently retiring from the RCMP, I now work for the Prince Rupert Port Authority as the Manager of Port Security.
I joined Rotary in 2010 and currently hold the position of President–Elect and Northwest regional representative for the District Youth Exchange Committee.
I had my first contact with Rotary when my daughter was selected to go on youth exchange in 1994. While I wasn’t a member of Rotary at the time I was exposed to the work the organization was doing not only in the community but elsewhere around the world. My job at the time made it difficult to join Rotary but that changed once I returned to Prince Rupert where I planned to retire. I joined Rotary largely because of the programs they have for youth and the opportunities they present for local youth to expand their horizons. As cliché as it sounds, youth are our future leaders and providing them the opportunity to improve their leadership skills, exchange ideas with others across the country and build their tolerance of cultures different from our own are worthwhile goals. Rotary does this through programs such as the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) held in Vancouver, Terrace and Prince George, adventure programs focusing on career interests held in Ottawa, Kelowna, Prince George and Prince Rupert and the International Youth Exchange Program which enables youth from around the world to experience life in another culture. These experiences can be life altering for the youth involved and exemplify Rotary’s motto of service above self.
The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert is very happy to present its final 2014 Community Recognition Paul Harris Fellow Award to
DOROTHY STEWART
(l to r) Crystal Lorette, club President; Dorothy Stewart and Nancy Eidsvik, club member
Recognized for her many community involvements, people know Dorothy through the Seniors’ Teas, her pleasant greetings as Cruise Ship Ambassador and as Past President of the Legion’s Ladies Auxiliary. She is a supporter of the Leprosy Mission and is currently the Director of the Kaien Seniors Housing.
Here is the AMAZING March report from Prince Rupert student, JESS MOKRZYCKI as she does her Rotary Exchange year in Brazil!
Month eight, why can’t you come late? (In other words…TIME…slow down please!) My month of March has been yet another mind blowing one as it has been by far the most stuffed and lived out of a suitcase, which leaves me ... click on more to read the rest of Jess' report.
April 3, 2014 ~ At today's lunch meeting, club members had the pleasure of listening to one of its newest members give his who’s who.
DONOVAN DIAS was born in Bangalore, India, in the 70’s, where he, his parents, brother and sister lived before immigrating to Canada in 1993. First living in Halifax where he graduated from high school, Donovan moved to Vancouver where he met and married his wife Tara and then had their first son Aidan. With the throw of a dart, the three of them decided to move to Whitehorse – for eight years - where they had two more sons, Kiran and Asher.
The young family decided to sell their house, buy a motor-home and then spent the next six months traveling around North America, home schooling their sons and Donovan earning his MBA while on the road.
Moving to Prince Rupert a year ago to be the Director of Sales and Marketing at CityWest, Donovan enjoys family time with Tara watching their sons play soccer and participate in karate.
We hope you have many happy years in Prince Rupert and wish you an enjoyable Rotary experience.
March 20, 2014 ~ Today’s speaker was - the very soon to be inducted in to the club - Dan Bubas who gave his ‘who’s who’. (A rotary expression for getting up and telling everyone about yourself)
Dan was born in Vancouver, raised in North Van and went to UBC to earn his literature degree. In April 1997, he started in the security field and four years ago moved to Prince Rupert to work in the Office of Operations at the Canada Border Services Agency on the waterfront.
Married with a four year old son and a six year old daughter, Dan enjoys hockey and acting in stage productions at the PAC.
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 ~ At last Thursday’s meeting, guest speaker Andrew Bell, the Area Manager with Thompson Community Services, gave a very interesting presentation on the programs that are available to people in Prince Rupert with developmental disabilities.
With a variety of residential support options, the staff helps each individual live as fully and as independently as possible. Click on more to read about the programs offered.
The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert had the honor and privilege of welcoming two very special guests to its Foundation Dinner on Saturday, March 15th.
The first to be introduced was past Lieutenant Governor, Honorable Steven L. Point who said one of his proudest achievements as Lt. Governor was the Literacy Program and introducing libraries into isolated communities in partnership with Rotary.
The second guest introduced was District 5040 past District Governor Bob Blacker, who is a member of the Rotary Club of Steveston, and the Coordinator and Leader of the Government House /Rotary Literacy Project.
It was in 1998 that Bob was appointed as an Honorary Aide-de-Camp to the Lt. Governor of British Columbia and it was in that first year of service with Steven Point that a plan was made in relation to Rotary and Government House partnering to bring books and libraries to isolated communities throughout BC. This was initiated in September of 2007 and is still ongoing today.
Please take three minutes to view this video that highlights the communities in BC they have work with.
The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert got together last night for their annual Rotary Foundation Dinner and Auction. With the theme of Literacy, club members dressed as their favorite characters from their favorite books.
In addition to raising money for Rotary Foundation and other good causes, this is the night that club members got to recognize the dedication and hard work of five fellow Rotarians and community members by presenting them with the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow Award.
Receiving their awards from special guests Honorable Steven L. Point and District 5040 PDG Bob Blacker, this year’s recipients were:
Rotarians, JOHN MCNISH, ROSS MCNISH and MARINA LAMB along with community members BEV KILLBERY and MARKO KESSLER.
(Left to right) PDG Bob Blacker, Marina Lamb, John McNish, Ross McNish, Club President Crystal Lorette (dressed in character), Bev Killbery, Marko Kessler, and Honorable Steven Point.
March 6, 2014 ~ At this past Thursday’s meeting, club members had the opportunity to listening to Captain Gary Paulson, the Vice President of Operations and Harbour Master of the Prince Rupert Port Authority. Gary joined the Prince Rupert Port Authority team in September 2006 after spending 29 years in the Royal Canadian Navy.
His operations department is responsible for the Port’s Harbour Master functions, oversight of all marine and land based operations, port security and emergency preparedness and the Port’s environmental stewardship programs.
Along with an interesting picture presentation, Gary gave an update on the future plans of Prince Rupert’s container port and Ridley Island’s two proposed LNG plants.
He also talked about the Prince Rupert Port Authority Harbour Operations Practices and Procedures Manual and the draft Port Information Guide.
The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert is happy to introduce the people who make up the approximately 60 members of the club.
In this very first edition, meet our club's president.
My name is CRYSTAL LORETTE, I am the General Manager of the Lester Centre of the Arts.
I joined Rotary almost 7 years ago and currently hold the position of the President.
In May of 2007, I joined an amazing organization and started my journey in the Rotary family. It took me a few years to realize the impact this incredible global organization really had on me. I am extremely proud to be a part of something so remarkable, where everyone of the 1.2 million members are not afraid to roll up their sleeves lend a hand, help those cannot help themselves and strive to enhance the quality of life not only within our communities but throughout the world. I think I was born to serve above self, that is how I live my life, it gives me enormous fulfillment to help others that might not be able to, or have the means to help themselves.
"GETTING TO KNOW" our club members - Crystal Lorette
February 28, 2014 ~ This past Thursday's guest speaker was His Worship, Dave MacDonald, the mayor of Port Edward who talked about the present and future possibilities that are being considered for Lelu Island and the surrounding area.
Married with two children, Dave was born in Glace Bay, Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia and has been a resident of the District of Port Edward for 42 years and the Mayor for the past nine years. Here are some interesting facts about Port Edward: (click on more to read the rest)
February 20, 2014 ~ At our lunch meeting on Thursday, club members got to listen to Rick Reed, the manager of the Prince Rupert Airport, talk about the current condition of our Digby Island airport and what is needed to upgrade it.
Because our airport is such a vital link to the south, he said there has been an application submitted to the province for a $7 million dollar loan to upgrade the terminal building as well as rehabilitate both the runway and the access road.
Here is a short list of some of the things that would be addressed with this loan:
Upgrade the structure to meet seismic codes,
Replace siding, roof and windows,
Replace heating, cooling and electrical systems,
Replace the water treatment plant,
Replace public washrooms,
Expand public facilities.
It is thought the construction could start as early as mid June 2014 and it's anticipated to be completed within two years. We look forward to hearing some good news about the loan by the end of March.
At last Thursday's meeting, the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert got to welcome it's newest member. ADRIENNE JOHNSTON was inducted into the club and then showed a slideshow highlighting her life.
Adrienne was born in India and is the oldest of six children. As her father was in the military, her and her family had the opportunity to live in many locations around the world. On August 21, 1971, Adrienne immigrated to Canada and went to nursing school. She met her husband Paul in 1971 and they married in 1975. The newlyweds moved to Prince Rupert in 1976 and their four children then came along .... sons Christopher and Michael and daughters Catherine and Laura.
Over the years she worked in the maternity ward and then became a librarian for Annunciation School. In recent years, she is the happy grandmother of two grandchildren, she was the owner and chef of the Cow Bay Cafe and the creator of the ever popular No More Secrets recipe book.
Here is Rotary exchange student, Jess Mokrzycki's January report from Brazil -- a Prince Rupert student who is now half way through her year.
Hey there everyone, I hope all is beyond well on your end. It looks like my halfway point has been hit. OLÁ 2014.. Where to start? Starting off with the New Year and with a bundle of fun packed activities to slide to the end ... click on more to read the rest of her report.
January 30, 2014 ~ Today's guest speaker was club member Kevin Newton.
Dressed in Bermuda shorts and a sun hat, Kevin shared a video about the Island Princess cruise ship holiday he took in January. He relayed some fascinating facts about the vessel and the Panama Canal. Sounds like he really enjoyed the trip!
Prince Rupert’s 2011/12 Rotary Exchange Student from Brazil.
QUESTION 1. You returned home from Prince Rupert last summer, did you find it easy or hard to return to your friends and family, and why?
It was very hard to say good bye (no, “see you later” fits better I think) to my year in PR, to all my friends and host families. I think the most different was showing my family here that I ... (click on more to read the rest)
January 16, 2014 ~ Today's guest speaker was Peter Haugan, the President of the Prince Rupert All Native Tournament Society who gave a very passionate speech about the annual event. This year's tournament runs from Sunday, February 9th to Saturday, February 15th, 2014 and marks the 55th year that 54 invited teams - from around the province - will come together to play a total of 107 games. For more information about this popular tournament, go to www.anbt.ca.
It's worth mentioning that Peter is a past member of the club and is also a Paul Harris Fellow recipient.
Jan 9, 2014 ~ At Thursday's meeting, Rotary members had the pleasure of listening to Christine Mueller talk about the Archaeology Site on the Lucy Islands.
Here is some of the Islands' history:
The First archaeological investigations on the Lucy Islands date back to 1968 when the site was identified as a shell midden by George MacDonald of the Canadian Museum (click on more to read the rest of the history)
Here is Prince Rupert Rotary exchange student Jess Mokrzycki's December report from Brazil. Happy New Year Jess, it looks like you've had another fabulous month!
Hello month five! Heres to a sweet Merry Christmas to you all as it just seamlessly seemed to pass by. WIth a bundle of luck I seem to be carrying under my belt the month of December flew by with an abundance of goodness. From joys of what the wonderful season has to offer to yet again a lucky chance to travel.
I was given the awesome opportunity to travel with a friend who did exchange in Canada in our district 5040, Beatriz Dias ... who I met through RYLA last year. I went to her beach house in Ubatuba along with her family.
School's out - sun's out. As the holiday season creeped by, nothing but (click on more for the rest of Jess' report)
Here is Prince Rupert Rotary exchange student Jess Mokrzycki's November report from Brazil (and this month also from the Amazon!)
Hello there everyone! Hope all is beyond well with you all. I've now reached my four month mark and I’m still holding the never ending question of....where has the time gone? I’m left bewildered ... click on more to read the rest of her report.
At Thursday's meeting (Dec 5th), Rotary members enjoyed the presentation made by Roger Girouard, the Assistant Commissioner of the Canadian Coast as he spoke about the oil salvage project on the MV Zalinski.
The MV Zalinski was built in Seattle in 1946 and grounded on the west side of Grenville Channel on Sep 29th, that same year. It wasn't until 2003 before the vessel was refound, upside down 100 feet below the surface, and since then has been monitored closely by the Coast Guard. A decision was made to recover the bunker fuel to help keep the coast as clean and pristine as possible.
Working with many partners, the salvage barge arrived on Oct 27, 2013 and starting pumping the fuel on Nov 19th. After retrieving 40 tonnes of bunker fuel, the job was completed on Dec 2nd.
The operation was a huge success due to the hard work by all parties involved. Congratulations.
At last night's Rotary Christmas party at the golf course, there were lots of laughs, fancy desserts, some very imaginatively dressed bottles of wine and the highlight was the delicious dinner that Cu Phan and Ha Nguyen put together for everyone.
To see more pictures of the evening, go to the photo album on the top, right side of this webpage (under the facebook info).
All proceeds of the evening - a total of $1,077 - will go to the Prince Rupert Salvation Army Christmas Campaign!
Nov 21, 2013 ~ At last Thursday's meeting, the Rotary members had the opportunity to hear about Martina Perry's three day RYLA North experience in Prince George.
Here is her interesting presentation:
Slide 1:
Hello. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Martina Perry the person you sent to RYLA North in September. I would like to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to go to the Rotary Youth Leadership Award program. After the weekend, I felt rejuvenated. RYLA helped me re-establish some goals for the future, and helped me see that my ... click on more to read the rest.
Prince Rupert Rotarian Marina Lamb (l), presents the "like us on facebook" draw winner, Julia Young, with her $100 Overwaitea gift card. Congratulations Julia!
Other prize winners are:
A return flight for two to Vancouver, courtesy of Hawkair - Sheila Seidemann
CATCHING UP! with Timmy Wei, Rotary Exchange Student from Taiwan.
I had the pleasure to have lunch last week with Timmy Wei, our Rotary Exchange Student from Taiwan. Timmy has been in Prince Rupert for almost three months now and I thought it would be a good time to get to know her a little better and to find out how her year is going so far.
Timmy, you arrived in Prince Rupert on August 7th, can you tell me what your biggest concern was when you arrived? Click on more to read the rest.
Here is the October report from Prince Rupert Rotary Exchange Student Jess Mokrzycki...she's having a great time in Brazil.
Olá everyone, hope all is well with you. Time seems to have escaped me again. It looks like I’ve reached my three month mark. I can hardly believe it. Wishing you all a late but Happy Thanksgiving (something we don't have here) however, (click on more for the rest of her report)
Club members had the honour to host a dinner meeting for District Governor Garry Shearer and his wife Colleen this past Thursday evening. As a charter member of the Tsawwassen Rotary Club that was founded in 1992, Garry was the centennial president of his club in 2004/2005 and has had a number of district roles including Group Study Exchange chair for three years.
Retired since 2008 from the computer technology industry, Garry and Colleen have been married for 35 years and have two children.
IN ADDITION to Garry's interesting presentation, club members witnessed two deserving recipients receive a distinguished Paul Harris Award.
To honour his loving wife who passed away one year ago, on behalf of Agnes Krantz, club member Kevin Newton proudly accepted her Paul Harris Award from DG Garry Shearer. Receiving the much deserved Community Paul Harris Award was long time member Maureen Macarenko.
Congratulations!
Left to right: Club President Crystal Lorette, Kevin Newton, Maureen Macarenko, Nancy Eidsvik and District Governor Garry Shearer
To see more pictures, look in the Photo Album, top right column, under the facebook section.
At our Oct 17th meeting, the club members had the pleasure of listening to Sandy Pond, principal of Charles Hays Secondary School.
Here is her message:
It’s about learning and learning happens throughout the day, beyond the bells.
Some of the exciting programs and events students are benefiting from at Charles Hays Secondary are;
- the Coastal Pathway Trades Partnership,
- Beauty and the Beast (Musical),
- the Music Program,
- Sports Teams,
- and Extracurricular Clubs.
We look forward to the completion of the Auto Shop and the Music Pavilion this fall. Students will have an opportunity to travel to Zones for athletics, to Whistler with the Band, to Europe for 10 days and to Victoria for Youth Parliament.
We are concerned about the increased anxiety of our students and the negative impacts of social media. Our Leadership Club and the “Me to We” Group are working on ways to improve our school culture and come up with student-based solutions for these concerns. It’s about learning, and finding ways to better support learning so every student finds success.
Thank you for the opportunity to share “What’s happening at CHSS?” with you,
~ October 24th is a very special day for our club for two reasons ~
Our District Governor Gary Shearer will visiting
and
It is also World Polio Day
We will be having a dinner meeting instead of a lunch meeting to celebrate this wonderful occasion.
All members are encouraged to bring a guest - tickets will be available to purchase at our next meeting on Oct 17 for $25 each
Call or email President Crystal so she can get a solid count by Oct 17 for the catering department.
We will be having a dessert auction with a bit of a twist and a few items to raffle as well as our 50/50 with all proceeds going towards eradicating Polio.
This event will be amazing, full of what our club does best, fellowship & fun!
October 10, 2013 ~ Rotary members had the chance to hear two presentations at the meeting today.
The first speaker was our RotaryInternational Exchange Student Timmy Wei, from Hsinchu County, Taiwan, who showed her presentation about her home and family.
Please take a couple minutes to watch the video so you can get to know her too!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The second speakers were Pastor Jim Whaley and June Adams who talked about the Outerwear Ministries they manage at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. With the goal to provide new, warm coats, shoes, toques and mitts twice a year to at-risk children in Prince Rupert, the need for funding is greater this year as they will not be receiving any government funding as in past years.
Here are some interesting facts on the program:
All items are purchased locally
Since 2005, $74,000 worth of new items have been distributed to 4,000 people
That's 1,500 coats, 600 pairs of boats and shoes and 2,350 hats, mitts and socks
The purpose of this Fireside is to welcome new members to the Club and share each other's Rotary experience. Therefore, it is important that "not so new" Rotarians also attend so we can have great discussions.
Topics will include:
"youth programs" and how does this affect you as a Rotarian, by Bob Killbery. "attendance" and why is that important to members? by Josie Lam "foundation" and what is that? by Richard Adams
We are really looking forward to welcoming you to our home.
Prince Rupert Rotary Exchange Student Jess Mokrzycki has been in Brazil for two months now.
HERE IS HER SEPTEMBER REPORT ...
Hello there! Hope all is beyond well with you all. Two months have seemed to slide by. Oh how I love Brazil. 'Never been better'. This is a great way to describe my current ... click on more to read the rest of Jess' report.
For all the fans of our very own Prince Rupert student, JESS MOKRZYCKI, who is in Brazil on her Rotary exchange year,
HERE IS HER FEBRUARY REPORT:
Oi Oi Oi everyone! Hope all is beyond dandy on your end. Here I am with 7 months down and 5 left to go. I am left here standing yet again with the endless question of time. In the past 7 months I have been beyond lucky from opportunity after opportunity and my ... click on more to read the rest of Jess' report.
April 3, 2014 ~ At today's meeting, President Elect, Bob Killbery, presented a Paul Harris Fellow Award to MARLENE SWIFT.
Recognized for her tireless volunteer involvement in the community, Marlene is the co-coordinator for the North Coast Victim Support Services for the Prince Rupert and coastal detachments of the RCMP and is a highly respected counselor and victim support worker assisting victims of violent crime, including sexual assault and domestic violence. Marlene spends countless hours volunteering in the community and serves on the Violence Against Women in Relationships Committee, the Violence in Relationship Intervention Team and has recently organized a speakers series to connect with our local youth.
CATCHING UP! with TIMMY WEI our Prince Rupert’s International Rotary Exchange Student from Taiwan.
TIMMY, you passed the midway mark of your exchange year in the middle of February, what has been some of the biggest surprises for you so far?
There are lots of differences with school like being able to wear pajamas to class, having a dance party and jersey days. Halloween night was really different from home, I dressed up ... click on more to read Timmy's report.
January 1, 2014 ~ With typical Prince Rupert strong wind and sideways rain, the annual ROTARY POLAR BEAR SWIM was a great success with lots of people bringing in 2014 with a quick dip in the harbour. Rotarians handed out hot-dogs and hot chocolate to the participants and spectators.
Before: (l to r) Zombies Shaun Thomas, exchange student Timmy Wei, Bill Parmar, Carol Bulford & Bill Nicholls
During
After
To view more pictures, go to the photo album (top right column) and click on 2014 Polar Bear Swim.
November 7, 2013 ~ At this past Thursday's meeting, visiting Rotarian Art Erasmus (from the Rotary Club of Terrace) gave a presentation on the newest project he, and his wife Lesley (from the Rotary Club of Terrace/Skeena Valley), is involved in.
Called the Bee World Project, it brings hope and opportunity to farmers in developing countries through beekeeping.
To find out more about this valuable project, click on more to read his 23 slide presentation.
September 20, 2013 ~ This Thursday's guest speaker was Kim Gilbert, Sales Manager, Leisure, of The Fairmont Waterfront, The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and The Fairmont Vancouver Airport (and daughter of a Lower Mainland Rotarian). Kim shared a presentation featuring the Fairmont chain of hotels with its rich history, its present facilities and services and its future hotels in development.
Check out this video to see one of the reasons why she enjoys her job so much!
In anticipation of the club's annual Rotary Auction in November, Prince Rupert Rotarians got together last night to stuff approximately 500 envelopes that will be mailed out to the very generous merchants and friends of Rotary that donate merchandise and their time each year. It was done in record time!
(left to right) Odd Eidsvik, Nancy Eidsvik, Tim Dressel, Doug Kydd, Richard Adams, Bob Killbery, Brian Munson, Kelly Sawchuk and photographer Marina Lamb
Sep 12, 2013 ~ Today's guest speaker was our very own "famous" Garry Rabel. Sharing his experience with a Japanese film crew and some famous young actors from Toyko, he got to spend a day troubleshooting a 115 lbs halibut barbecue scene and even got a few lines in a scene involving a 18' long spear.
Hello everyone. Hope all is beyond well. Today is my one-month mark of being here in Brazil. It's only the beginning and I already can see how time really flies when you're having fun. I am really enjoying myself ... (click on more to read the rest)
August 22, 2013 ~ Today’s guest speaker was Trevor Murdock from Prince Rupert Constructors (PRC). As the Safety Officer, Human Resources Officer and Trainer, Trevor talked about the $90 million project the company began on Ridley Island on February 1st this year. The construction of an eight kilometer loop of five rail tracks, a two-lane road and port-owned hydro lines, the result will be opening up 400 hectares of industrial land on the island for projects like the Canpotex potash terminal and BG Group LNG export terminal.
It is PRC's preference to hire and train locally and Trevor discussed the future need for Heavy Duty Equipment Operators, Heavy Duty Mechanics, Surveyors, Project Coordinators, Engineers, Tradesmen and Safety/First Aid personnel on the North Coast.
Casey Sawchuk, our Prince Rupert student that spent a year in Germany during his exchange year, was happy to introduce his guest at today's meeting.
Visiting from Ratingen, Germany, Wolfgang Breme was Casey's host parent for half of the year. In Prince Rupert with his wife Marianne and two daughters, Gudrun and Ulrika, they will be RV'ing across BC before returning home.
It was great to hear about your Rotary Club in Ratingen!
Over the years, the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert has been very fortunate to host many exceptional Rotary Exchange students from around the world - Spain, France, Brazil, Australia, and now Taiwan - to name a few. As one student arrives for a year of unknowns, one student leaves after discovering a whole new world away from home.
I had the opportunity to meet with an incredible student just before he left to rejoin his family and friends in Spain.
CATCHING UP with Alejandro (Alex) Canet Ramo
Alex talks about his exchange year in Prince Rupert.
Alex, how was your school year?
My grade eleven was in two semesters, the first one I took PE, Science, Social Studies and French. (click on more for pictures and to read the rest of his interview)
Close to a meeting record, the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert had SIX visiting Rotarians today.
From left to right is Lyle McNish from Kitimat - Larry Newman from Lexington, Kentucky - Wolfgang Breme from Ratingen, Germany - Alex MacDonald from Ketchican, Alaska - Jim Brundle from Burlington, Ontario and former Prince Rupert member, Craig Dusel from from Penticton, BC.
August 8, 2013 ~ At today's meeting, club member Don Seidel inducted our newest member, Inspector Wayne Maughan.
Wayne and his wife just moved to Prince Rupert in June and is the Officer in Charge of the Prince Rupert RCMP Detachment. Wayne is a past member of the Regina South Rotary Club. Welcome!
July 25, 2013 ~ Today's guest speaker was Rotary exchange student Alejandro (Alex) Canet Ramo from Madrid, Spain. Alex will be returning home next week after his exchange year in Prince Rupert.
Despite some technical difficulties that prevented him from showing his presentation, Alex shared some of the highlights of his year.
Hello everyone, I am Alex and this is my final presentation.
First I want to say thank you to all the Rotarians and thank you for the opportunity to come ... click on more to read the rest of Alex's presentation.
(Scroll down this column to read Alex's first interview in February)
August 1, 2013 ~ Today's guest speaker was one of the newest members of the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert, Dwight Stewart.
Giving his Who's Who, Dwight talked about being born in Streetsville, Ontario and being the youngest of four boys. He went to Royal Roads Military College and Royal Military College and permanently settled in BC in 1994. After becoming a lawyer and working a highly publicized case, Dwight and his fiance moved to Prince Rupert in October 2012 and is the Administrative Crown Council for the North Coast District that covers Haida Gwaii, and the northern towns between Prince Rupert and Burns Lake. Welcome to the club Dwight!
July 11, 2013 ~ Today's guest speakers were John Farrell and Amber Sheasgren from Prince Rupert Community Futures.
The main undertaking of the Prince Rupert Community Futures (CF) office is business development and community economic development. The office here offers a large number of programs which assist in the development of new and existing businesses in our area. The majority of the programs fall under the headings of Business Counseling and Business Financing.
An example of community economic development is the $5 million marina which is being developed in partnership with the Prince Rupert Port Authority and the City of Prince Rupert. This marina will be able to facilitate 76 vessels with varying lengths of 40 to 70 feet.
Tourism development is also under the banner of community economic development and they have worked on tour excursion development with the locals and they have also developed a cruise strategy formulation. The nine Community Futures offices in Northern British Columbia have been responsible for 400 business loans of $19 million which has created 1,220 jobs.
The Community Futures office has moved down to the street level location in the Capital Theatre building and they are sharing office space with the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce. For more information, go to http://communityfuturesprincerupert.com/
- Rotary Club of Prince Rupert 2013 - 2014 President -
It is truly an honor to accept the privilege of being able to serve as your President for the 2013-2014 year.
I accepted the nomination to take leadership of our club without hesitation. Leadership is a word that has many definitions depending on who you ask. It is a difficult role and does not always follow the path that we think it should. As a leader you have to be flexible and look at the big picture. Be the glue that binds the team and keeps it strong. This is not ... press more to see the rest of Crystal's message.
Pictured left to right is Crystal Lorette, winners Brian Munson and Barb Gruber, Richard Adams and President Garry Rabel
Jun 20, 2013 ~ As the Paul Harris is designed to be a fundraising vehicle, the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert held a draw at its last Foundation Dinner. The following club members are the winners of that draw. Congratulations goes to Brian Munson and Barb Gruber!
Jun 20, 2013 ~ Prince Rupert: At today's meeting, Rotary member Richard Adams had the honor of introducing the latest recipient of the Community Paul Harris Fellow Award. The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert wishes to recognize those individuals outside of Rotary who exemplify the Rotary's guiding principles of Service Above Self.
Pictured left to right: Incoming President Crystal Lorette, Community Paul Harris Fellow Award recipient Adrienne Johnston, Richard Adams, President Garry Rabel.
Our recipient today is Adrienne Johnston. Adrienne is well known in Prince Rupert, and beyond, as the owner of Cow Bay Cafe. Besides being a busy entrepreneur and author, Adrienne has led the Board of Directors of the Library Board. This fits in with Rotary's Service Above Self and the Club's concentration on projects that benefit the youth of our community. Congratulations Adrienne!
Here's Rotary Exchange student Celina Guadagni's MAY report from Brazil. Looks like she had an amazing month.
Hey everyone! Happy May! Since I didn’t write about my Amazon adventure, I thought I would start with that. And what an adventure it was. Hope everyone ... click on more to see the rest of her report.
Huge congratulations to Rotarian Rob Eby and his wife Constance on the birth of their son Jed B. Winston Eby. A little brother for Athena to love and play with.
June 6, 2013 ~ Club members had the pleasure of two guest speakers today. New member Simone Clark gave her Who's Who and then long time member Bill Parmar talked about the top 10 scams of today.
Born in Ottawa and big sister to two brothers, Simone spent most of her school years in BC and Alberta. Moving to Prince Rupert six months ago to be with her boyfriend, Simone is now the Manager of the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce. Check out the Chamber's website at http://princerupertchamber.ca/.
Welcome to Rotary Simone!
As an Auxiliary RCMP Officer, Bill talked about different types of scams that are present in every aspect of the world. Everything from advertising, finance, home improvement to computer scams, people of all ages are being solicited to give up money, passwords, credit card and bank numbers. Call the RCMP Anti-fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 for more information.
“RYLA” stands for “Rotary Youth Leadership Awards”. Young people chosen for their leadership potential attend a multi-day camp to further develop these skills and instill the Rotary ideal of high ethical standards. Thousands of youth worldwide participate in this annual program. RYLA in District 5040 is comprised on three (3) separate camps in a “staggered” approach, and students are encouraged to advance through each of them! RYLA is also a great way to introduce other opportunities for youth in Rotary. RYLA Lakelse is for students in Grades 8 – 10.
LOCATION & TIMES
RYLA Lakelse is held near Lakelse Lake in Terrace, approximately 10 minutes by car from the Terrace/Kitimat Airport. Students will arrive on Thursday morning and afternoon in Terrace, and will finish on Monday afternoon. Participants from out of town will have various transportation options to take advantage of. Please contact Casda Thomas, RYLA Lakelse Chair for further information.
REGISTRATION
Cost of the camp and travel are paid entirely by the sponsoring Rotary Club. Clubs must submit their intent to send students, along with payment ($425.00 per person) by the posted registration deadline for each camp. This fee can be paid using Gaming Grant funds. Any registrant must be chosen and authorized by a participating Rotary Club using the provided materials. Registration is completed online using our District-wide registration system, which can be found on the District 5040 ClubRunner website. For further information and to have your questions answered, please contact the corresponding Chair of the RYLA Program you are interested in!
I had the pleasure to meet with Rotary Club of Prince Rupert’s outgoing 2011/12 Rotary exchange student, Casey Sawchuk. Son of Rotarian Kelly, Casey left Prince Rupert on August 28, 2011 to go to Ratingen, Germany. He shared some experiences of his year.
Casey, tell us about your host families: I had two host families – from when I arrived until Christmas, my host parents were Christine and Freddie Unkenholz with their children Lars, Eva (who lived out of town) and Max (who was in the US). I was then ...
(click on more to read the rest of Casey's interview)
May 23, 2013 ~ Today's Who's Who speaker was club member Carol Bulford. Born in New Zealand, Carol has been in Prince Rupert for the past four years and is the proud Nana
of her son's two and a half year old son. She keeps busy as an Elder in her church, is on the board of the North Coast Transition Society and happily works at Advantage Print and Design. To talk to Carol about your business printing needs, go to http://www.advantageprint.ca/.
May 16, 2013 ~ At today's meeting, Rotarian John McNish presented a video, highlighting Prince Rupert, that was produced in the early 1970's to help bring people to the North. Sit back, turn up your speakers, and enjoy this 20 minute movie of our past. How things have changed!
Click to see this 20 minute video of Prince Rupert in the early 1970's.
The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert is VERY happy to feature a new series called CATCHING UP! with past Rotary Exchange Students!
The first edition of CATCHING UP! is with Vincent Perraud, from Annecy, France, who spent his Rotary student exchange year in Prince Rupert from August 2008 until June 2009.
CATCHING UP with Vincent!
20092013
Vincent, you returned home from Prince Rupert in the summer of 2009, did you find it easy or hard to return to your friends and family, and why?
Returning after such an amazing year wasn’t easy. As I am about to leave Canada a second time ...
(cllick on more to read the rest of Vincent's interview.)
May 9, 2013 ~ Today's guest speaker was Niamh Tighe, the Prince Rupert student that attended the four day Rotary Adventures in Citizenship Program in Ottawa from April 28th to May 1st.
With a total of 220 students from across Canada attending, some of the events they participated in was a visit to the Museum of Civilization, a tour of the House of Commons and a tour of the University of Ottawa. She was able to sit in on a Question Period session and she observed a Citizenship ceremony. It was a great presentation!
The April 25th lunch meeting guest speaker was Tessa Gill, with Pacific Northwest LNG, who spoke about their planned export LNG terminal on Lelu Island.
May 2, 2013 ~ At today’s meeting, past Rotary exchange student Anne McNish, came to give the club an update on her life since her exchange year. Fifteen years old in 2005, Anne spent her year away in Audun le Tiche, France, with her host family, the Morgenthaler’s. During her year, she was able to travel to Paris, the South of France and England with her grade 10 French class.
Stating that her exchange year had a profound impact on her life, Anne has since traveled to South Africa with 35 students to complete the Canadian Mennonite University Outtatown program and she spent three weeks in Israel. Anne studied for a year at the University of Victoria studying History, Spanish and Linguistics and she is currently attending a four year program at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, BC.
Hey everyone! April is always a great month for me and it was the same here in Brazil! Filled with lots of fun and new and interesting things and I’m excited to tell you all about it!
At the beginning of April, (click on more to read the rest of Celina's report)
April 19, 2013 ~ At yesterday’s meeting, four very special young people came to talk about, and show their presentation on, their RYLA South weekend in ... press more to see the details.
Pictured left to right: Jenny Nguyen, Olivia Woodworth, Jess Mokrzychi and Alex Ramo.
April 11, 2013 ~ Today's guest speaker was club President Garry Rabel who talked about his recent 17 day trip to China. He and wife Diane, travelled with 22 people on a guided tour, seeing sights in Beijing and Shanghai and the cities between them.
Tasting traditional Chinese food, travelling 300 km an hour on the train, shopping in the silk and pearl markets, seeing Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall were just some of the highlights of their trip.
April 7, 2013 ~ At this past Thursday's lunch meeting, past President Shaun Thomas talked about the necessary involvement from all parties for a successful youth exchange year. From the Rotary Club to the host families and, most important, the exchange student, the degree of involvement from everyone is what makes the year fun and memorable.
The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert has been involved with the Youth Exchange Program for many years. In the past five years alone, at least eight students have experienced a year away from home in a foreign country.
Here are some exchange details of these special young people:
2013/14 - Outgoing Prince Rupert student Jessica (Jess) Mokrzychi will be going to Brazil this summer.
2013/14 - The inbound student is yet to be determined.
2012/13 - Outgoing Prince Rupert student Celina Guadagni is currently in Brazil and Prince Rupert student Emma Burton is in the Netherlands. Emma is hosted by the Smithers Rotary Club.
2012/13 - Inbound student, and currently in Prince Rupert, is Alejandro (Alex) Canet-Ramo from Madrid, Spain.
2011/12 - Outgoing Prince Rupert students were Casey Sawchuk who went to Germany and Jane Bradbury who went to Belgium.
2011/12 - Inbound student to Prince Rupert was Mariah Tomasin who came from Brazil.
2008/09 - Last but not least, the inbound student to Prince Rupert was Vincent Perraud who came from France. There were no outgoing students that year.
There were no inbound or outgoing students between 2009 and 2011.
Past exchange students have returned to Prince Rupert to visit and some have stayed in touch through social media (see Sarah Way’s message about her 1989/90 exchange year at https://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubOfPrinceRupert ). Some Rotarians have had the opportunity to visit inbound students in their home countries getting the chance to meet their families, see some of their sights and learn some of their customs.
It took a lot of courage for these students to leave their family and friends for a year. For the host families and Rotary members, the students’ participation and trust have enriched their lives as well.
It's a win, win situation for everyone!
For more information on the Rotary Youth Exchange Program, go to
Good Afternoon Everyone! We are getting down to my last few monthly reports now. I had a very eventful and interesting March. Hope everyone enjoyed theirs too.
I hit a huge milestone at the beginning of March. I did my first presentation for my Rotary ... Click more to read the rest of Celina's report.
Saturday, March 30th ~ At the Mariner's Park today, a couple hundred children went on the search for 800 plastic easter eggs filled with chocolate at the annual Rotary Easter Egg Hunt. Within five minutes, all eggs were found.
A special thank you to Overwaitea Foods for providing the two Easter basket grand prizes. To see more pictures, click on 2013 Easter Egg Hunt in the Photo Album section on the right side of the homepage.
March 28, 2013 - Today's guest speaker was Keith Lambourne, the owner/operator of Royal LePage in Prince Rupert. Having been in Prince Rupert for the past 10 years, Keith was able to talk about the changing real estate business now that several large companies have committed to upgrading and expanding their facilities on the North Coast.
Currently there is a large inventory of homes for sale, however, Keith anticipates the numbers will drop significantly over the next nine months so house prices should rise based on the lower supply.
Dressed in their traditional Haida regalia for the Continental themed Foundation dinner this past weekend,
Rotary Club of Prince Rupert member Rob Eby and his wife Constance await the birth of their son, due on April 24th. The club members look forward to meeting him.
March 23, 2012 - At the annual Foundation Dinner, five Rotary Club of Prince Rupert Rotarians were recognized for their hard work and dedication to Rotary.
Pictured are recipients and presenters: (l to r) Richard Adams, Bob Killbery, Leah Robinson, presenters Past-District Governor Chris Offer and Nancy Eidsvik, Rob Eby and Art Statham. Congratulations and thank you for your hard work!
To see pictures of the evening, click on 2013 Foundation Dinner in the Photo Album (in the right hand column).
March 21, 2013 - Today's guest speakers were Peter Witherly and Tristan Fox from the Community Prince Rupert and Region Music Society. Their presentation included information on the Music Studio that is being built at Charles Hayes Senior Secondary School. The purpose of the Music Studio is to provide an urgently needed rehearsal room for classes at C.H.S.S. and a much-needed permanent home for civic organizations such as the Prince Rupert Community Band and Rotary Community Choir.
Including partnerships with the School District, Prince Rupert Port Authority and Ridley Terminal Inc., the Society is looking to raise the remaining funds needed for construction of the Studio and additional musical equipment. With over 150 music students in Prince Rupert, the Studio will be a welcome addition to town.
Rotary members had a chance to meet with Rotary International exchange students Jess Mokrzycki and Casey Sawchuk. Jess is the new 2013-14 outgoing Prince Rupert student who will be going to Brazil
in August and Casey is the 2011-12 Prince Rupert student that returned home last August, from Germany.
Acting President, Scott Farwell, along with his security detail (Doug Kydd and Art Statham) chaired the meeting today in President Garry Rabel's absence. It was a great meeting!
March 14, 2013 – Today’s guest speaker was Sandy Pond, the Principal of Pacific Coast School in Prince Rupert. Also known as Su Sita’atk, meaning “a new beginning”, the school offers ‘at risk’ students a safe and welcoming place to complete their grade twelve.
With 100 students on the roster, including 20 seats for adult students, they develop a Personal Education Plan for each student that meets the Provincial requirements for graduation. The students have the opportunity to do their studies full time, part time or off site with the support of ten staff members. For more information on this valuable program, go to www.sd52.bc.ca/pcs.
The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert - Pictures include: Installation Dinner, Potluck Dinners, Annual Auction, Christmas Party, Polar Bear Swim and miscellaneous - April 2012 to March 2013.
March 7, 2013 - Today’s guest speaker was club member Bob Killbery, the now retired Inspector of the Prince Rupert RCMP. Bob shared some of the highlights of his 35 years in the force starting with his graduation from the RCMP Training Academy in 1978. His first posting was in ...
As a member of the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert, I had the pleasure of sitting down, over a cup of coffee, and talking with the club’s International Rotary Exchange Student.
Alejandro Ramo, also known as Alex or Ale, is from Madrid, Spain, he’s 16 years old and in grade 11. Having arrived in Prince Rupert on August 21st, 2012, he’s just passed his exchange midway point.
When asked: What is the best part of your Prince Rupert experience so far? ... click on more to see his answers
The guest speaker for today's lunch meeting was Andrew Hamilton who gave a very interesting presentation about the North Pacific Cannery.
Andrew has been the President of the Port Edward Historical Society since he moved to Prince Rupert in 2006.
With more than 40 structures, the North Pacific Cannery started operations in 1889 and ceased operations in 1981. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1985 and in 2012, it received the Heritage BC Award for Outstanding Achievement. The cannery is owned and managed by the Port Edward Historic Society. In the past five years, $2.5 million dollars have been invested for conservation and to date, 65-70% of the site has been stabilized.
Between 5,000 and 10,000 people visit the site each year, taking in live presentations, going on guided tours, sitting and enjoying a delicious bowl of chowder, shopping in the gift shop or being part of the ten community events that are held on location each year.
We are this closeto eradicating polio! Pictured here at last week's Rotary President Elects Training are Carmen Hendry (Terrace-Skeena), Cheryl Rumley (Kitimat), Cyrstal Lorette (Prince Rupert), Kristine Kofoed (Terrace) and Steve Kerbat (Smithers). See what they are referring to below in the End Polio Now story.
The February 21, 2013 guest speaker was RCMP Corporal Anne House who spoke on the D.A.R.E. program that is taught to all grade five students. The D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, is an international education program that seeks to prevent use of controlled drugs (street drugs, prescription drugs and tobacco), membership in gangs, and violent behavior.
Corporal House serves as the Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness coordinator for the North West District of B.C. including the communities of Atlin, Bella Bella, Dease Lake, Telegraph Creek, Kitimat, LISMS/Nass Valley, New Aiyansh, Masset, New Hazelton, Prince Rupert, Queen Charlotte City, Smithers, Stewart and Terrace.
Hello everyone! As always the months are passing by so quickly especially February since it was so short. Today marks my 7th month anniversary here in Brazil and I can hardly believe it. I know I really do mention this every month …(click on more for the rest of the report)
What does Rotary International, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, The Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Canadian Minister of International Cooperation and Jackie Chan have in common? Click here to find out.
(l to r) Rotary exchange student Alejandro (Alex) Ramo from Spain, Rotarian Shaun Thomas and Shecana exchange student Yumiko Schatzle from Germany, enjoy a fun filled day snowboarding at Mt. Shames.
In honour of Rotary exchange student Alejandro (Alex) Ramo from Madrid, Spain, Prince Rupert Rotary club members got together at Rob and Constance Eby's home for some delicious spanish food and good fellowship.
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Wednesday, November 21st, marked the final evening of The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert’s 48th Annual Rotary Auction that had over $75,000 worth of donated items from local businesses and friends of Rotary.
Special thanks go to the many businesses for their generous donations and to all the volunteers behind the scenes...
See more pictures in the photo album (top, right column)
Good Afternoon lovely people! 4 months. 4 months. 4 months. Yes everyone today marks my 4th month here in Brazil. I truly cannot believe how fast the time has gone. I think I mention this in every monthly report but it really is so hard for me to believe. This month was filled with my first incredible trip with the other exchange students and also marks some of my hardest days as well. But overall life is still great and I am enjoying this experience so
The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert is very happy to welcome Rotary Exchange Student, Alejandro Francisco Canet Ramo from Madrid, Spain. Alec is 16 years old and will attend Charles Hayes Secondary during his grade 11 year.
New Rotary Exchange Student Arrives in Prince Rupert
August 2, 2012 ~ At today's meeting, returning home student, Casey Sawchuk (l) gave a very interesting presentation about his year in Germany and going home student, Mariah Tomasin presented her country's flag to club President Garry Rabel. Mariah returns to Brazil after spending the past year in Prince Rupert.
Welcome home Casey, we will miss you Mariah!
One Exchange Student Coming Home, One Exchange Student Going Home
July 19, 2012 ~ Prince Rupert Rotary Youth Exchange Students (l to r) Emma Rae Burton, Jane Bradbury and Celina Guadagni
At today's lunch meeting, club members had the pleasure of seeing a presentation by returning Prince Rupert student Jane Bradbury, who was in Belgium for the past year. Student Emma Burton is leaving in August to spend the next year in Oostrovorn, Holland, and student Celina Guadagni is leaving next Wednesday for Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Welcome back Jane and have a fun filled year Emma and Celina!
July 5, 2012: The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert is very pleased to welcome its three newest members installed at today's meeting.
(left to right) Chris Armstrong, President, Muskeg Press - Christopher Try, Consultant, Investors Group - Sheila Gordon-Payne, Health Administrator, Northern Health, Prince Rupert/Haida Gwaii
Prince Rupert Rotarians hard at work at the annual Seafest 2012 food booth.
Check out more pictures in the photo album on the right side of the home page.
Prince Rupert students Naomi Kowal (l) and Jillian LeBlanc (r) attended two different Rotary Adventure programs recently and both students presented a slideshow at the June 14th meeting sharing their fun experiences. Naomi participated in the Adventures in Tourism program in Kelowna from Mar 11-16, 2012 and Jillian participated in the Adventures in Citizenship program in Ottawa from April 28th to May 3rd.
Between March 29th and April 1st, 2012, over 100 grade 10, 11 & 12 students enjoyed a fun, wet weekend at Camp Jubilee in North Vancouver. Click on morebelow to read about Brianne's experience.
Prince Rupert students who attended RYLA South. From left to right: Bonnie Nguyen, Brianne Bartel, Celina Guadagni and Mariah Tomasin, Rotary exchange student from Brazil. Missing from the photo is Emma Rae Burton.
We had a very interesting presentation from Stephanie who is a geologist with PRETIVM at the Bruce Jack Mine north of Stewart. This is an underground high grade gold mine that the company purchased in 2010. The years 2011-12 were spent in exploration activity and employees lived on site in tents.
Craig Outhet from Wheelhouse Brewery spoke about the challenges of operating during a pandemic and the need to be nimble operators.It all began on March 17th, when they made the decision to cancel their St. Patricks' Day event. 
Three RYLA Lakelse participants shared their experiences with the club. Amal Atayah, Ava Farrell and Taliyah Spencer spoke of their nervousness about meeting new people and fitting in, but how over the course of the weekend, they made fast friendships while learning new leadership skills. 
Aidan regaled the club with stories of his year in France. Aidan was fortunate to be able to travel extensively during his year in France, visiting not just France, but Scotland Greece and Spain where he spotted a north coast totem pole in a Barcelona. He also had the fortune to join and play with a local soccer club. 
The Club was fortunate to have Senator Bev Busson as our speaker. Senator Busson is a proud trailblazer for women in the workforce. She was sworn into the Senate in 2018 with many prior firsts to her name: 
For those of us lucky enough to be in attendance at this week's lunch meeting, our very own Snowbird, Tom Perry regaled us with his very entertaining dissertation on how to become a snowbird. From finding your place to locate, to driving hints and tips, and to the perils of insurance Tom shared it all! Also that he is referred to as a "dead-ender" (One whose trailer is located on the dead end in the park!)
A
We had a beautiful sunny evening at the golf course for the installation and fish dinner. President Lori (2019-20) was sworn in by the venerable John McNish. 
David explained that their group provides temporary public aid for up to 72 hours of essentials like lodging or food service. Most of the services provided in Prince Rupert are for individual emergencies like a residential fire. They can be called upon to provide more extensive support for larger regional emergencies. We should all be preparing ourselves for unexpected emergencies. You can search online to find a Basic Preparedness Kit Supplies List.
Bob spoke to the club about the process their committee is going through with the goal of having an Interact Club at Charles Hays High School starting in the fall of 2019.
Sebastian Lopez, Brandon Mah and Kaneata Daigle spoke to us about their Ryla South adventures. They spoke about being shy and unsure when they arrived and through the weekend, and all the activities, they gained in confidence and made solid lifelong friendships.
It was a great day for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Exchange Student, Sebastian, hanging out with the Easter Bunny. Thank you, to Save-on-Foods for donating all the chocolate eggs for the hunt. 
Veronkia Stewart and Ceilidh Marlow from Transitions Prince Rupert spoke about exciting initiatives taking place in Prince Rupert. (No photo available.)
Doug Kydd, along with committee members Lori Wilson and Ellen Witherly, outlined the process for building club membership from prospective membership proposal to induction and beyond.
Chris Bromley filled in for committee member, Herman Seidemann. (Complete with goatee!)
District Governor, Darcy Long was at our meeting and presented Past President, Karen Basso, with a Rotary Citation for the 2017-18 year for setting, meeting and recording all of our Club Goals.
Our very own President Elect, Lori Wilson, gave as a talk on the herring fishery. Thanks Lori, for stepping in on short notice!
Shaun explained that the Metlakatla Development Corporation is the governance arm, and is responsible for Board policies.
Betty Lou has worked in the healing profession for more than 40 years. Betty-Lou is a Physiotherapist who is licensed to practice acupuncture. She was a founding partner in Cornerstone Wellness Centre in 2001. She presently operates Cornerstones Physiotherapy providing outpatient, physiotherapy, acupuncture and energy sessions. Betty Lou's passion is to empower people with a balanced mind-body-spirit approach to wellness.
Mr. Armstrong spoke to the club about the major project of updating to fibre optic from Prince Rupert to Houston. Fibre optic will greatly increast capacity and will be much faster and more reliable for customers. They will be expanding to Hazelton, Smithers, Kispiox and New Remo. Half of Prince Rupert will be complete by year-end. Fibre optic will support more and more of those household items that rely on wireless in the home such as alarm systems and new smart refrigerators.
The dynamic duo presenters from last week won top prizes at a ToastMasters Competition held just last weekend.
Mr. Uehara is the CEO of Coastal Shelfish and attended our meeting to speak about their exciting Scallop Farm. Coastal Shellfish grew out of concerns over the closing of forestry jobs in Hartley Bay. Following 12 years of extensive research, their first farmed scallops were purchased by local restaurant, Fukasaku for a seafood chowder challenge they participated in recently. Coastal uses cutting edge aquaculture science for its vertical ocean farming of scallops off Wolf and Digby Islands. Scallops are zero food input as they survive on algae and are restorative filter feeders. No fertilizers or pesticides are used in their production. The venture is 85% first nations owned and draws on traditional knowledge and advanced science. They have designed their jobs to be well remunerated with future for advancement in order to be competitive in the north coast market place..png)
Our first speaker was Andrew Warrington. Andrew has spent quite a number of years in the supermarket industry. Andrew grew up in Vancouver, the son of entrepreneurial parents. He got his start in the supermarket industry in the meat department at Thrifty Foods. Thrifty Foods was bought out by Sobey’s, so he moved to Canada Safeway. Then Canada Safeway was bought out by Sobey’s. Due to the Canadian Competition Bureau, his Safeway was purchased by Overwaitea and he has been with Overwaitea ever since. He has worked at 33 different stores.
Please welcome Anthony Yecyec, Chamber of Commerce, who was inducted to our club on January 3, 2019.
The real highlight of John's trip to Rotary International Conference was not membership - it was getting to hang out with Dolly!
The society is currently working to raise $200,000 for the cancer care unit at the Prince Rupert hospital. The funds raised will purchase new equipment and expand current space to allow family to stay at the patient's side during treatment.
Effective July 1, 2019:
Tyler gave us an overview on restorative justice in B.C. Restorative justice seeks to repair the harm caused by crime and violence by:
Annual Rotary Christmas Party was held at the Golf Club with the requisite decorated wine bottle challenge/draw. Of course, Bob Killberry won with his three wise men! Will it be 4 calling birds next year?
Sherry is the executive director for North Coast Community Services and she spoke about improvements to programs for the NCCS. She explained that they are adding to their programs to deal with the ever changing client needs. One program works with clients to ensure they could become a family again by learning or re-learning home basics.
Make sure you contact Chris Bromley to sign up for a shift to sell those trees!
Electoral Reform and You.
Mike Pucci, Manager of Compliance and Government Relations, DP World, gave a talk about the growth and workings of DP World in Prince Rupert. Mike is known as the guy from DP by pretty much everyone. He explained how they are constrantly working at better ways to improve their footprint to improve the use of the grounds.
No regular meeting this week. Instead, we celebrated with clubs around the world to raise funds in support of Rotary International's efforts to eradicate polio in the world. We raised 905.00, and that tripled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation means our dinner raised $2,715.00. Of course, we always have to celebrate this guy's birthday too!
Greg Walker, Director of Public Affairs for BC Lottery spoke to the club about BC Lottery in general and about their Game Sense program for Player Health.
Please welcome our newest member, Michael Gurney, inducted on October 11, 2018. Michael is the Manager of the Lester Centre of the Arts.
Hans Seidemann spoke to the club about the upcoming referendum on a possible change to the province's electoral system to proportional representation.
Richard Forsell, Operations Superintendent gave members an update on the grain terminal. The terminal is now 32 years in the business as a grain export terminal, thanks in no small part to Dr. Hick who was a huge proponent of the facility. 
Our 2018-19 Exchange Student, Sebastian Lopez, from Bolivia, introduced himself to the club.
Diana Edis and Andrew Warrington were inducted to the club on September 27, 2018 by Past President, Karen Basso.
Today, representatives of Pembina visited our club: Randy Allwood, Sr. Manager Operations, Laurence Riel, Sr. Advisor Aboriginal Affairs; and Sonja Kohlman, Communications. Mr. Allwood updated members on the Pembina project located on Watson Island. Pembina has been operating in Alberta for 60 years and in BC for 50. It now has 1800 employees and has doubled in size since Randy joined the company in 2012. "Zero by Choice" represents their safety culture and they build safety in from the ground up on Pembina projects. They connect production to market.
Gary Coons, retired Prince Rupert teacher and former MLA spoke to our club about the Hockey Academy. Gary is passionate about hockey both as a player and as a teacher and coach. The hockey academy is offered through the school system and Mr. Coons has been Head Instructor for 4 years now. It is a credit course sanctioned by the Ministry of Education. 3 times per week the students are on the ice and 2 times a week they are taught life skills, and teamwork. Volunteering is also emphasized as a part of the program and participants are expected to obtain the best grades possible in all their classes. There is a fee for the program, however there is funding available for students if needed. 
Prince Rupert students, Piper McWilliams, Faith Long, Sam Costa and Julie Lorette recently attended RYLA Lakelse and reported to our club on their experiences..jpg)
The District Governor, Darcy Long will be visiting our club on Thursday, August 30th.
Our very own Bill Parmar, District 5040 Assistant District Governor has been touring the Northwest Clubs in recent weeks and spoke to our club about the District Goals for the coming year. Membership is the main focus for the district with a goal to grow membership 15% over the next five years while retaining 93% of existing membership. There is also a goal to increase female membership to 45%. 
New club member Rory Gowler gave her Who's Who presentation to members. She began her career as a roulette dealer in Edmonton as the hours allowed she and her husband to be at home with their small children. In fact, in 1986 she was named Rookie Dealer of the year! When her children were in school, Rory accepted her first job with the Royal Bank and has been with the Royal Bank ever since. Rory moved her with her family from Edmonton, Alberta with the Royal Bank, to a Branch Manager position in Prince Rupert. Rory accepted the job sight unseen and she and her family have fallen in love with Prince Rupert. She has been a scout leader and enjoys working at the Royal Bank as she enjoys the volunteer opportunities she has. Hobbies including family camping and Rory speaks fondly of a cross Canada Tour they made as a family all the way to Newfoundland. In 2010 she was selected to run with the Olympic Torch in White Horse and in 2012 was a RBC Cruise Winner for her work with RBC. Rory says that Rotary is aligned with her values. The Club is fortunate to have such a volunteer oriented new member.
Sarah spoke to the club about the history, design and management of Prince Rupert's newest community garden located on City property at the end of Overlook Street. The idea was conceived during the 3rd annual Rupert Rubbish Round-Up in 2017 by residents of Overlook Street. An IMAGINE Grant was applied for and received and work began to build the garden the summer of 2018. The garden is composed to two fenced in raised bed gardens, resulting in 10 garden plots. The garden is operating under the Transition Prince Rupert society. Plot applications will open in January for the summer of 2019. 
Jeremy introduced himself to our club at our August 2nd meeting. Jeremy has deep roots in Prince Rupert - he is 4th generation Prince Rupert and his grandfather, Jim Stott, was a member of Rotary and Club President in our 1983-84 year. Jeremy graduated from PRSS and UNBC and joined the accounting firm of PK Vohora. He achieved his accounting designations and certificates in an insanely short period of time and became a partner with Praveen at the age of 24 and ran the East Vancouver office that later moved to downtown Vancouver. 
Mayor Lee Brain gave the club an update on the work of the City and Council over the past couple of years.
Our Exchange Student Teresa Spogis attended RYLA South with Kathy Nguyen, Andy Chugh and Aiden Murphy-Morven. They attended our meeting to report on their RYLA South Adventure. 
Dave introduced himself to the members at our luncheon meeting. Dave's childhood was spent on the family farm/ranch. He belonged to the Air Cadets for 6 years and obtained his pilot's licence at the age of 16. After graduation he joined the navy at the urging of a friend. The navy took him across Canada and he served on most ships in the fleet and also spent time in the Arabian Gulf. He was trained to hunt submarines under the water, ships on the water and airplanes above the water. Dave was approached to take a posting to Colorado which was surprising to a navy man as there is no water there! He became a space officer who tracks man-made orbiting material. You would be amazed at how much material there is. Why do they do it? Because it is a risk to the space shuttle and station. An orbiting paint chip can cause serious damage to the windscreen of the station. This experience saw him to travel with UN to Cambodia and with NATO to Brussels, all because he is now considered an aerospace expert. Dave was posted to Maritime HQ in Victoria where he attended Royal Rodes and achieved his MBA, studying business and leadership. He is now the Director Port Operations and Harbour Master for the Port of Prince Rupert. Dave and his family moved to Prince Rupert 6-1/2 years ago. This is the first time in his adult life that he has lived more than 5 years in one place. 
Our new member Sabrina Silvey gave her "Who's Who" Talk at our last Rotary meeting. Sabrina and husband Greg are currently assigned to the Prince Rupert Salvation Army. Sabrina and husband, Greg have both been involved in the Salvation Army for many years. They moved to Prince Rupert this summer and go wherever they are needed. They spent some time this summer working where needed with the wildfires in the Province. Sabrina is the Salvation Army Pastor and Greg is the outreach worker with the church. Thoughts are underway about how they can provide a safe, accepting space for teens to hang out. We also learned a lot about the history of the Salvation Army from its roots in England, whose brand strategy is "Giving Hope Today".
Heather Bell, daughter of long time Rotarian, Alf Bell, visited our club recently and spoke of her time in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is famous for many things, Volcanoes, Fruit, Coffee, Wildlife, Surfing and Beaches. It is home to 800 species of birds and the Zip Line was invented there. Heather lived in San Isidro de el General. This is a small town in the mountains at the head of the trail up Costa Rica's Highest Mountain. This is a farming community and machetes are the tool of choice. They grow coffee, sugar cane, bananas, pineapples and fruit trees. Often grown on very steep slopes.
A bit of Christmas cheer was provided by the Prince Rupert Rotary Community Choir who entertained us at our last weekly luncheon before Christmas. We all had a chuckle when the line "angel on my shoulder" was sung. The Prince Rupert Rotary Club has sponsored the community choir under the direction of Peter Witherly for many years. Any member of the community is welcome to join the choir and no auditions are necessary. The choir meets on Wednesday evenings, 7:30 pm at the Community Music Studio located at Charles Hays Secondary School..jpg)
Morgan Foisy and Jessie Gibson are the dynamic duo who are working to bring the Trail Rider program to Prince Rupert. This program provides opportunities to make the outdoors more accessible for local residents. The TrailRider is similar to a wheelchair but has just one large single wheel meaning it can navigate 
Long-time Rotarian, John McNish, was recognized by the club at our recent Christmas Party. In honour of John's 60 years as a Rotarian, the Prince Rupert Rotary Club are sending John to the Rotary International Conference being held in Toronto this coming spring. It has long been a wish of John's to attend an international conference and we are pleased to help make this wish come true!
A great time was had at our Annual Christmas Party held at the Golf Course. These are some very talented Rotarians indeed who can make Christmas Trees out of torn our of construction paper held behind their backs. 
Louise Desserault is the Prince Rupert Better at Home Coordinator. Better at Home works to assist seniors to remain in their home by providing services at home. The program is funded by provincial government through United Way. The umbrella organization in Prince Rupert is Prince Rupert Aboriginal Services. Louise shared that the board of directors is made up of local seniors. Better at Home is in 67 communities in British Columbia. Various services can be provided to seniors with friendly visits being free. Other services such as light housekeeping, transportation, snow removal and minor home repairs are provided for a fee, using a sliding scale based on the senior's income. Seniors can register at their office located in the Ocean Centre Mall. 151-309 2nd Ave. W. Prince Rupert.
Robert Stromdahl spoke to the club about the role of WCMRC in spill response on our coastline. WCMRC began as Burrard Clean, a cooperative established in the Burrard Inlet. In 1995, WCMRC was the first to certify in Canada under the 1993 federal legislation. Robert noted that there are 17,000 km of coastline covered by WCMRC. There are many layers of roles and responsibilities including responsible parties, Transport Canada, Canadian Coast Guard, Environment Canada and Department of Fisheries and Oceans. 
Kristian Theberge, General Manager of My Mountain Co-op spoke to the club about their Snow Angels program. Approximately 40% of children have their first skiing experience through the school program. Schools book time at Shames Mountain during the week, and children get their rental equipment, a lift pass and lesson on the hill. Some students are unable to afford the fee, but that does not mean they don't get to go - Snow Angels donate money so that every student can experience a day at Shames. Donations are matched dollar for dollar by My Mountain Co-op. During 2016-17 just over $6,000 was donated and matched, and just under $16,000 was provided in subsidies and the Snow Angels Program sponsored about 330 students.
Michael spoke to the Club about his experiences with the Heritage Fair. This fair is for students grades 4-9. Similar to science fairs where students research a subject and prepare a presentation, this fair focuses on history. Michael is excited about this opportunity for young students to become historians and has seen that the experience also leads to young historians becoming community leaders. He spoke of the diversity that can be seen at the fair with the example of a student participant who was born in New Delhi, now living in Delta, BC, whose project was about the Inuit. The Northwest Regional Fair began in 2014 held at North Pacific Cannery.
John McNish regaled us with tales from his travels to Vancouver visiting friends and family. Wearing his Rotary jacket, (sold to him by the "smooth talking Carol") he met former member Clive Seabrook, attended a Rotary meeting 80th Anniversary of the Port Alberni Club complete with cake and the District Governer in attendance. The District Governor spoke of the connections and lasting friendships experienced in Rotary. John certainly proved this true on his trip as he met with Bruce and Betty Forward in Nanaimo, where he learned all about the Nanaimo Club major booksale fundraiser, met someone on the plane from Nanaimo to Vancouver who buys her books at the sale, and then had breakfast at YVR where he met some Sechelt Rotarians who told him all about their Scotch Tasting and Auction fundraiser. 
Club members attended a potluck dinner and donated the cost of a dinner to Polio Plus. Local Rotarians raised $1630 at the Potluck. Thanks to the matching funds provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Prince Rupert Club achieved $4,890! The cost of one vaccine is 60 cents, so.........
Teresa Spogis, our exchange student from Karlsruhe Germany introduced herself to the club. She noted many differences between her home in Karlsruhe and Prince Rupert. 
Dave Wood is the new owner operator of McDonalds and shared with us the extensive training program he completed with McDonalds. Dave actually began his McDonalds career at the age of 15, before trying out other sales jobs and receiving his Entrepreneur Business degree. He submitted his interest to become an owner operator and was approved for western Canada. He had to be willing to relocate to any location in that area. Then he had extensive interviews and a trial work experience. It took 6 months for him to get into the program and then it is 1 year of unpaid training. McDonalds works hard to protect their brand. He learned all aspects of the business starting from the front counter. You can be cut from the program at any time and of the 4 that started his cohort, only 2 were successful. Prince Rupert is lucky that he was one of them. Recently moved to the community, Dave and his wife are interested in giving back to community and Dave is already playing with the Rampage. Dave sees Prince Rupert has opportunities to market to young couples as an affordable community great for young families. 
David Straznicky, CPA with SFH Accounting located in Prince Rupert provided an overview of the services they provide in Prince Rupert. They provide corporate, personal and estate tax planning locally with an emphasis on helping clients identify with solutions, not problems.
Eli Kelly spoke to the club about the services provided by Community Futures.
We were fortunate to have Eleanor Kendell, Peace Champion from the Kitimat Club present to our club on the September 21st, Peace Day! Eleanor is passionate about working for peace. 
Cody Schaeffer recently visited our club after his return from an international exchange to Germany to share his experiences with our club members. Club members were interested to learn about the highlights of his exchange year. 
District Governor Don Evans recently posed with some long serving members of the Prince Rupert Club.
District Governor Don Evans spoke at the Rotary Club lunch following a meeting held with the club executive in the morning. Don shared that he is looking forward to supporting our club in its Centennial Year during 2021. He also shared the major annual goals of Rotary with the club - to grow membership and continue on the path to eradicate polio by getting to zero cases and then maintaining zero cases for a further 3 years. He also shared information about the Rotary Leadership Institute with the exciting news that in 2018 training will be accessible to our members via webinar online!
Oliver presented his experiences at the District Conference in Whistler and Outbound activity with Exchange Students. His trip included hiking in Squamish and visiting waterfalls. Denmark is very flat and Oliver finds that Canada and even within BC the geography is very diverse. He visited the Parliament in Victoria and the Aquarium and ran into snow at Manning Park! His stay in Canada is nearing its end, and while there was good sharing with other exchange students at Outbound, he found it hard to say goodbye. Oliver is now on the BC Tour his last activity with Rotary Exchange.
Bev provided the club with details of all the events coming up on Seafest Weekend starting June 9th. Volunteers are always needed at Special Events to put on all the activities for Seafest and other events throughout the year.
New members are invited to provide a "Who's Who" to club members. This helps all of us to get to know our new members. While Ray has been a member for a while now, he spoke at our June 1st meeting. Ray was born and grew up in Fort Langley and then his family moved to Winnipeg where he played football that taught him to practice hard and play hard - a lesson for life. His introduction to Japan came when he was an exchange student at age 18. His early adult years were spent between Canada and Japan when he earned a degree in geology (Canada), worked as a civil servant (Japan), went into business for himself worked building homes (Canada) Executive Search work (Japan). Ray met his wife in Japan in 2000 where he started his own Executive Search firm and in 2013 the family made a move back to Canada. Ray's business can be located anywhere and he had fond memories from his youth visiting Prince Rupert when his father worked on the Queen North. He believes our Port and Rail line provide our city with great potential.
Scott Farwell, President of the Prince Rupert Tourism Association spoke to the club about tourism in Prince Rupert. Local tourism has benefited from the combination of high end sport fishing lodges, sport fishing day charters and the many individual sports fishermen who visit Prince Rupert. While a concern, the down-turn in Alberta doesn't seem to have affected this market. Local businessman, Steve Smith promoted the "Totem Circle Tour". While bus coach tourism is declining, individual car travel visits are increasing. Prince Rupert Tourism are currently working on a Rockies to Alaska tour through Rupert with VIA Rail. The vacation arm of BC Ferries vacation tours has been very positive and they are sold out for 2017. Our first cruise ships docks on May 19th - the first of 17 ships booked this summer with 17,000 passengers expected in 2017. Cruise visitors rate the Prince Rupert Adventure Tours, the Prince Rupert Museum and North Pacific Cannery very highly. The new Cow Bay Marina has been well received and bookings are up this year over last. In addition to the Cruise Ambassador program, Mobile Visitor information teams are in place for 2017. The challenge remains that we are highly dependent on the ferry and airline schedules. 
On May 11th, Chris Marett, CEO of City West, spoke to the Club about City West, our locally owned and operated telephone internet and cable company. In operation since 1910 as Prince Rupert's locally owned and operated telephone company, they now operate from Prince Rupert Houston, serving many of the small communities in between. City West has invested and worked on bandwidth and are now selling wholesale bandwidth. They service both residential and commercial customers. Chris mentioned that past CEO an Board member, B. Kerr estimates that over the years, City West has provided $50 million back to the City of Prince Rupert.
Jack Payne, Rotarian and President of the Prince Rupert Yacht Club gave us a presentation about exciting changes coming at the local yacht club. The Prince Rupert Yacht Club was incorporated in 1916 and is currently undergoing some much needed upgrades. In addition to all things yachting, the club also provides storage facilities for items like paddle boards and of course, the Prince Rupert Dragon Boat Team calls the yacht club home. The parking lot expansion is complete and was accomplished with the help of partners like DP World who provided the fill and Bear Creek Contracting who donated machinery for the work. The PRYC has hired an architect to plan a new clubhouse in a West Coast Lighthouse design with a rental apartment on the second floor. Full completion including paving and landscaping is expected by next spring.
The Prince Rupert Club recently celebrated it's most recent Paul Harris Award recipients. Pictured with President John Paterson and Youth Director, Bob Killbery, are our recipients, Pastor James Whaley who has been the mainstay of our Rotary Auction deliveries for many years, and active community volunteer. Also pictured are Allison and Troy O'Toole who received the Paul Harris in recognition of their work with youth in our community.
The Prince Rupert Rotary Club sent four high school studentsto the RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) weekend on the Easter weekend in April. Club Exchange Student, Oliver, along with Emily, Ausha and Maggie gave an enthusiastic account of their leadership camp experience. Along with many fun activities like the Polar Bear Swim and RYLA Olympics, they participated in team building activities, practiced public speaking and networking and heard from motivational speakers. All spoke of the accepting and inclusive environment that fostered strong new friendships among strangers. They attribute it all to "RYLA Magic"!
Our speaker, Janet Mackenzie is the Branch Manager for St. John Ambulance First Aid for both Prince Rupert and Terrace. Janet gave us an interesting talk about the different services her office provides in communities and gave us a bit of a history lesson as well. Apparently there was an active brigade in Prince Rupert dating from the 1970's with the driving force being Maureen Borsoi and her family. Maureen now lives in the lower mainland, still works for St. John and is now in charge of over 20 offices in British Columbia. From First Aid kits for people to pets, classroom and online training, St. John Ambulance First Aid has it all! 
Our Foundation Dinner was held on March 25, 2017. Eight Rotarians and community members were presented with Paul Harris awards: Rotarians, Bill and Brenda Nicholls, Pastor Jim Whaley and Lori Wilson; and community members, Gary and Nancy Shiels and Troy and Allison O'Toole. 
James McNish, Housing First Project Coordinator, spoke to Rotarians about the work he has been doing for the North Coast Transition Society respecting homelessness in Prince Rupert. James provided a fact-filled presentation. Prince Rupert ranks in the top five communities in the province with respect to residents collecting employment insurance and basic income assistance and in alcohol consumption. 
Brian Downie, Assistant District Governor, met with our Club on March 2, 2017
Mayor Brain provided an update to Rotary Members on Redesign Rupert Waterfront & 3rd Avenue. Stakeholder meetings have been held and a ten point plan has been developed to better to connect the city to the water. Also part of the plan is the completion of the "Inside Passage" Rushbrook Trail that the Rotary Projects Committee has been working on as a major project. 
Captain Shiels spoke to us about his time as Salvation Army Captain here in Prince Rupert. Captain Shiels and his wife Nancy came here from the Smithers area about 15 years ago. He says they didn't really want to make the move 15 years ago, but a chance encounter shortly after they arrived convinced them that this was exactly the place they needed to be. Now that they are looking forward to retirement this summer they don't really know how they will leave! The need in Rupert was great when they arrived here and it still is. The soup kitchen is far too busy and they served 803 families with Christmas Hampers this last year. 
Pictured are a sample of a few of the 13 quilts being delivered to the Ministry of Children for delivery to children and youth being placed in foster care. The Berry Patch provided start up funding, the local Big Rain Quilt Guild committed to make the quilts and the Rotary Club provided funding for quilt batting. Together we have now provided over 25 quilts to be given to children being placed in care. Each quilt is unique and once given, belongs to the child. We hope they provide warmth and comfort for years to come.
We had a very interesting presentation from tattoo artist, Nakitta Trimble. Nakitta told the story of her journey to her current art form. She is Nishga/Tlingit and grew up in Prince Rupert. After highschool she studied traditional fine art. A talented artist she then attended the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art that brings all nations together in pursuit of education and developing fine art skills with a focus on traditional First Nations Pacific Northwest Coast art. Through a chance meeting she was invited to Gisborne, New Zealand in 2014 where she was introduced to traditional tattooing. When she returned to the northcoast, she met with elders who shared their stories of tattooing in their culture. Nakkita shared a picture of a Haida tattoo kit with us. The traditional methods used were scarification, pricking and stitching. She is currently working in ancient methods with modern tools, and northwest coast designs. 
Krystin St. Jean, Senior Facilitator from Community Development Institute spoke about Redesign Rupert. The project is a partnership between a city, Community Futures of the Pacific Northwest and the Community Development Institute (CDI). CDI is currently working in 40 communities with 70 projects. 
