January 23, 2024 12:00p.m. - SPEAKER SERIES John Atkin, Civic historian, author & heritage consultant The origins & myths of Shanghai Alley in Chinatown
John is an author, historian and heritage advocate who offers offbeat insights into Vancouver’s architecture, history and neighbourhoods. He has created, and conducts, unique and popular walking tours throughout Vancouver. He is also the editor of British Columbia History: The Journal of the British Columbia Historical Federation.
Shanghai Alley is behind Carrall Street to the west. The origin of this historic area came into being when "the Great Northern Railway set up shop on Columbia and Dupont (now East Pender Street) in 1905, many people (mainly Chinese men and prostitutes) were displaced, but they didn’t have to go far. A “New Chinatown” had been developed."(Source: https://forbiddenvancouver.ca/history-deviant-alleys-vancouver/)
The area has a colourful history with many myths surrounding it. Come out and hear the stories from John who is a great storyteller.
January 30, 2024 12:00 p.m. SPEAKER SERIES MEETING
Valeria Tsoy, Olympic snowboarder, author, coach
Topic: Modern community using team building tools of high-performance sports Copy & send this link to your networks encouraging them to register as soon as possible: https://RCVancouver_speaker-ValeriaTsoy.eventbrite.ca
Feb 6, 2024 NO LUNCHEON MEETING
Alternative event being planned. Details coming soon
Feb 13, 2024 NO LUNCHEON MEETING
Evening joint Rotaract/Rotary meeting
RSVP will be important, check your email in the coming days for details.
The Province of British Columbia has proclaimed Family Literacy Week (January 21-28, 2024) in British Columbia. Families are encouraged to celebrate by reading books, playing games, cooking or attending local events together.
You are invited to join in on the celebration with the theme: “Let’s have a family party!
It focuses on how children and families use literacy skills to plan, make food and decorations and celebrate together.
Families are children’s first and most important teachers. Helping children develop strong early literacy skills builds their confidence, develops vocabulary and emphasizes that learning is fun.
Ways to participate that you can share with your networks:
FamilyLiteracyWeek contest: encourage people to enter the contest by posting a photo that represents the Family Literacy Week theme “Let’s have a family party!” and submit it to contest@decoda.ca or post on social media #FLW2024Contest
FamilyLiteracyWeek social media posts you can download and post or follow @decodaliteracy (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and share from there, with the attached Family Literacy Week 2024 Social Media Messages.
District Grants from the Rotary Foundation fund smaller-scale, shorter-term projects that address immediate needs in your community or abroad. In order to apply for a District Grant for 2024-25, our club needs at least 2 club members annually to attend one of the District Grants training seminars listed below. Even if you've taken the training previously, it is required to retake it annually for us to qualify for grants. Taking the training in January allows you to apply for grants until the following December.
REGISTER NOW for one of the training seminars which will be about 1 hour in length.
1. Here is the link for 7:00pm Thursday January 25th:
RCoV ANNUAL WHISTLER SKI WEEKEND FEBRUARY 9-11 2024
John Hayto is now compiling a list of participants. To be followed by finding accommodation for everyone.
If you have any questions about the event, just ask. If you already know you will be attending let John know asap. By the same token, if you can help by providing accommodation, let him know that as well.
For those new to this event, skiing is optional. It's really about having a fun, relaxed weekend while strengthening the bonds of Rotarian friendship.
The approximate cost will be $185 not including ski passes. This does include food and accommodation. The tentative schedule will be:
Friday evening dinner at Barbara Welsh & Bob Macdonald's home. Potluck fare, so bring a favorite dish - let John know so he can ensure there is good variety of appies, mains, & desserts.
Saturday on the mountain, or in the village as you prefer. Lunch on the mountain. Dinner at Bearfoot Bistro thanks to Kaz. An event not to be missed!
Sunday meet up with whomever you like for breakfast, coffee, touring -- whatever you fancy, before heading home.
* come in person to celebrate your birthday with Purdy's chocolates!!
Last Meeting Jan. 16, 2024
Jason Boudreau, President, chaired the meeting and gave the invocation.
Catherine Darley, Secretary, hosted ZOOM
Mindy Tulsi-Ingram, acted as Sergeant at Arms and introduced guests
President’s Announcements:
Welcome to our guests, new and returning, as well as our own members who have taken time out of busy schedules to attend. We are grateful to see new faces, remember guests are ALWAYS welcome at our meetings.
In response to member feedback gathered via recent surveys, the Board is planning to make some changes as noted below. Start dates will be as soon as possible given our Speakers committee has done such a wonderful job in filling our calendar with great speakers for weeks to come.
An evening meeting/event will be added monthly. This is in response to, in particular, feedback from younger members. Initially it will be in addition to lunch meetings until we can see what the response is.
There will be a monthly club day where there will be ample opportunity for our members to network with one another rather than having a more rigid program.
The mentorship program will be redesigned by the membership committee. We want a robust and thorough pathway for new Rotarians with mentorships.
Secretary's announcements:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above)
birthdays, member club anniversaries, wedding anniversaries (see above)
Members' moments and special presentations:
Nick Blom received a Paul Harris Fellow +4, and Bill Schulz received a Paul Harris Fellow +5. Thank you both for your ongoing support.
Phil Webber tipped his hat to Jack Zaleski and to three Rotarians in the room, Ally Potel, Frederique Niel, and Peter Clarke. From the middle of December through to today these three people have been working on a press release for the Rotary Ride for Hearing and are working on elevating the profile of the event.
Our club website has been updated with a link at the top of the home page that directs you to the new Ride for Hearing page. All info you need, whether it be as a rider, fundraiser, or volunteer can be found there. Including all the rules for the various categories -- Families, Teams, and Corporate Challenge Teams. CLICK HERE to directly access the webpage.
Rohan Aurora was interviewed by Franco Gallo. Rohan is a dynamic individual who brings happiness wherever he goes. He spoke of his professional life, his love of tango, and Rotary. Thank you for sharing Rohan.
Program - REGULAR MEETING:
Jason Boudreau introduced Ken Cretney, the President & CEO of BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo).
Ken spoke about how seeing students, he has recruited from all around our country into the hospitality sector, have grown and succeeded in building successful careers in the hospitality industry has always been one of the things that inspires him more than anything else he does.
Ken listed some of the wonderful events coming to Vancouver over the coming couple of years, including the many conventions, TED2024, the Invictus Games, the Grey Cup, the Laver tennis Cup, 2025 Alcoholics Anonymous International Convention with approx. 60,000 attendees, and part of the 2026 Soccer World Cup.
PavCo has been very fortunate to be able to work with partners in sport hosting. Choosing what events come to Vancouver is a matter of deciding what is the right fit for the city. They work closely with Destination Canada and other groups who have insights to add to the conversations ensuring that whatever choices are made are in the best interest for our community as well as for the corporation of PavCo.
One of the greatest challenges we have in this city is that there are not enough hotel rooms. It has been a recognized problem for years that has been flagged for successive city councils. The current council in the face of the wonderful world class events coming in the next few years has made it a priority to fix. Over the last two decades the number of hotel rooms has dropped by approximately 2,000 rooms “from 15,242 rooms in 2002 to 13,290 last year” (source: https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/no-rooms-at-the-inns-knock-on-effects-of-vancouvers-hotel-shortage)
This is leading to billions in lost opportunity if we don’t get more hotel rooms on-line. The possibility of development along the waterfront going east towards Crab Park will help and is necessary for our destination, however, it will be years before it is complete. This waterfront development would be potentially include more convention centres and hotels. The plans are still under negotiation between all parties including the port authority and railways who are the largest landowners in that area.
The recover of tourism in Vancouver since Covid has been exceptional. The convention centres didn’t close during covid. It was decided to reduce staffing through temp layoffs and work sharing. They operated at about 5% of normal revenue but were able to help by supporting covid efforts such hosting as vaccine sites, etc. As with many businesses, staffing coming out of Covid has been challenging. They are dealing with many new client contacts because a lot of people left the industry through Covid. Currently they have 450-500 full time employees between both buildings. On a peak day, at the stadium for example, there could be 1500-2000 employees.
Everyone is very proud of the sound quality in the stadium. A lot of artists who perform there have commented on it and are happy for return events. The sound system was replaced during the 2011 $500M revitalization renovations at BC Place. It is now a phenomenal sound experience. At the same time the roof was replaced, seating was changed, and suites were added. All well received.
In closing, it is certainly a challenge to consider any events that requires a lot of hotel space with the current situation. For most events it would be ideal to be able to walk from the hotel to the venue. That said, PavCo weighs out the best interests of the economy and the Vancouver brand when choosing events and is attracting fabulous events. Soccer World Cup is a great example of this.
Our Rotary club, under the leadership of then President, Paul McCrae, supported the development of the convention centre (see below for more details). The new expansion along the waterfront area will require similar wide open thinking and approaches to get it done, and to get it done well, so that our city can benefit for decades to come.
Note of interest from our club history:
In the late 1970’s a plan was devised, with Provincial Government support, to convert the obsolete CPR Pier B-C located in the heart of Vancouver’s waterfront into a modern Convention Center and Cruise Ship terminal. Federal Government financial participation was anticipated. Plans were prepared and work began under Provincial auspices. After the expenditure of many millions of dollars the negotiations for Federal participation were not brought to fruition and work on the project was stopped and the project mothballed.
The Cruise Ship facility was urgently needed, and the City needed a first class convention facility. President Paul McCrea, a visionary and activist, proposed that the Club should mount a Community Action program to endeavour to rally support for the Pier B-C project and to help bring the possible participants back to the table.
The Club set up an Action office, and soon many members were engaged in the task of lobbying key persons and generally publicizing the urgent need for the project. It worked. It was not long before a solution to the negotiating impasse was found when McCrea conceived the idea of tying the project into Expo 86 by building the Trade and Convention Centre to serve as the “Canada Pavilion” for the period of the fair.
The Government of Canada agreed to complete the project, using the new convention facilities as their pavilion in the forthcoming Expo-86 Worlds Fair. The rest is History and now Vancouver boasts not only a Cruise Ship facility second to none but a Convention Centre and a World Class Hotel. The unique “ship: design of the building with soaring sails and public walkways to view the harbour provides a much photographed “Centre Piece” to our Harbour skyline. There is no doubt that concerned citizens can bring about change that leads to progress.
John is an author, historian and heritage advocate who offers offbeat insights into Vancouver’s architecture, history and neighbourhoods. He has created, and conducts, unique and popular walking tours throughout Vancouver. He is also the editor of British Columbia History: The Journal of the British Columbia Historical Federation.
