Vol. 102 No. 29
Bill Davidson, President
Parisa Adrangi, Secretary
Next meeting: Tuesday January 28, 2020
Club Day Open discussion - input needed to be successful. Please attend!
Included on the agenda are two important topics worthy of hearing and participating in discussion:
Just how do our club finances work? Where exactly do the fees we pay go?
Kaz Kadono, our Treasurer, will shed some light on this one.
Up for discussion, club fundraising projects for Youth - please attend and participate. Your thoughts are valuable. Peter Clarke is going to facilitate this important discussion.
Next meeting: Tuesday February 11, 2020 Annual Joint Rotary/Rotaract Meeting This meeting will replace our lunchtime meeting -
registration is a must.
An invitation has been sent out; please respond asap
if you are attending.
Location:
Creekside Community Centre, Multipurpose Room 4
1 Athletes Way Vancouver, BC V5Y 0B1
at Olympic Village
Time:
Arriving between 6:15 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Dinner at 6:30 p.m.
Meeting at 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Register to attend:
CLICK HERE to register your and your guests attendance.
Note: pay-as-you-go members and guests meal fee will be $35.00 payable at the door.
REGISTRATION CLOSES FRIDAY FEBRUARY 7th.
More Info:
There is plenty of parking and a conveniently located elevator.
"Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve.
You don't have to have a college degree to serve.
You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.
You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
American Christian minister and activist
1929-1968
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LET'S MAKE SOME SOUP AND SOME NEW FRIENDS TOGETHER
The RCoV Young Professionals Division (RCV YPD) believes in action. Getting hands dirty, feet on the ground work to help our fellow man, woman or child. That's what really is at the heart of Rotary. To this end, they have come up with a unique membership drive event: making soup for Emergency Women's Shelters in collaboration with Soup Sisters Vancouver.
The RCV YPD would like you to attend and bring a non-Rotarian guest or else
donate your ticket to a Rotaract member who will experience the fellowship of Rotary.
The donation: $65 per person (covers the expenses of ingredients for soup, the venue, equipment, a chef or professional facilitator, and charitable operations)
Date: Sunday, February 9, 2020
Time: 11:00am - 2:30pm
Location: Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, Granville Island, Vancouver
Who is the soup for?
Women and children fleeing domestic abuse and for youth in crisis transitioning from street culture into mainstream society. The non-profit organization that receives the soup is the Atira Womens' Shelters Vancouver East Side: Sorella House and Aneki .
There is an urgent need for low barrier supportive housing for young women in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Girls and young women who are homeless or in unsafe housing face enormous challenges and risks, including violence/abuse, gender exploitation, substance use practices, racism, poverty, pregnancy, poor physical health and barriers to accessing support and services.
Breakfast featuring Master of Ceremonies, Mike Killeen, who is co-host of CBC VANCOUVER NEWS’ flagship supper hour program at 6 p.m.; speakers Andrea Shaw, TTG Canada & Tricia C.M. Smith, (Hon.) OLY, President of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Lighting of the Olympic Cauldron will follow at 8:45 AM.
Upcoming Events please click on the titles for more info for specific events
We have a few potential members coming to our Club!
If no written objection is filed with the Secretary within 7 days of January 31, 2020 (by February 6, 2020), William Brunke, will upon payment of the dues and assessments determined by the Board, be declared elected as a member of the Rotary Club of Vancouver recognized by Rotary International.
The classification that William will hold is “Consulting – Child Development”.
Proposer: Peter Clarke
Seconder: Franz Gehriger
If no written objection is filed with the Secretary within 7 days of January 31, 2020 (by February 6, 2020), Gabby Dickert, will upon payment of the dues and assessments determined by the Board, be declared elected as a member of the Rotary Club of Vancouver recognized by Rotary International.
The classification that Gabby will hold is “Technology – Marketing & Sales”.
Proposer: Stephanie Lawton
Seconder: Brian Street
If no written objection is filed with the Secretary within 7 days of January 31, 2020 (by February 6, 2020), Rose Wang, will upon payment of the dues and assessments determined by the Board, be declared elected as a member of the Rotary Club of Vancouver recognized by Rotary International.
The classification that Rose will hold is
“Real Estate - Commercial Appraisal”.
Proposer: Alvin Zhao
Seconder: Franz Gehriger
If no written objection is filed with the Secretary within 7 days of January 31, 2020 (by February 6, 2020), Marcus Xu, will upon payment of the dues and assessments determined by the Board, be declared elected as a member of the Rotary Club of Vancouver recognized by Rotary International.
The classification that Marcus will hold is
“Investment Management”.
Proposer: Alvin Zhao
Seconder: Franz Gehriger
Last Meeting January 28, 2020
Bill Davidson, President, chaired the meeting and gave the invocation.
Peter Clarke, Sergeant-at-Arms, led us in singing O'Canada and introduced visitors and guests.
President's announcements:
RYLA registrations are now open
South in Gibsons, March 28-31, for grades 10-12
North in Prince George, April 30 - May 3, for 19-30 year olds
Lakelse in Terrace will open on February 1st
For more info, please contact Joan Posivy or John Bathurst
The District conference, April 24-16th, currently has 21 registered from our club. We'd really like to build that to 25 or more. If you haven't registered yet, please do so, CLICK HERE. As of this week, they are 90% sold out so don't wait too long!
If you want to stay at the Pinnacle Harbourfront, the Rotary rate ends on March 29th.
Thomas & Sarah Reppchen are the official head SAAs. They communicated that all is under control. If you'd like to inquire about volunteering, please contact them.
Non-Rotarians, family & prospective members have an opportunity to join in on Friday or Saturday for a reasonable fee of $90. This is a good way for all of us to take a look at our respective social and work circles to identify and invite individuals of any age who would be a good fit for Rotary.
Polio campaign update: everyone received an email with details from Brian Finley, PolioPlus Chair, last week. Some highlights:
Last October, the world polio virus type 3 was declared eradicated. Type 2 was eradicated in 2015. Only type 1 remains.
A week or so ago, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation extended the 2-1 funding match with Rotary for another 3 years.
Afghanistan & Pakistan are the only remaining countries with increasing numbers of cases of the wild polio virus (WPV), as of January 22nd, 29 cases in Afghanistan and 136 in Pakistan. The challenges are "caused by human behavior, not virology".
The fight continues with a dogged determination to win.
A request from a fellow Rotarian in Switzerland, Bjorn Engeli. His daughter, Lena, has been granted a visa to accept a 3-month internship in Vancouver starting mid-March. She is looking for a host family. If you can help, or you know someone who can, please contact me.
The Canadian Club of Vancouver is hosting an interesting event on Wednesday Feb 12th -- a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. See notice above for details.
Our Young Professionals Division is holding a "special Rotary membership drive", by way of participating in a community project. They will be making soup for the benefit of a local shelter for women, children, and youth, on Sunday Feb 9th (yes, the same weekend as our Whistler ski weekend). An invitation to participate and donate will be emailed to all in the next couple of days. See above notice for details.
Secretary's announcements provided by Parisa Adrangi:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above)
birthdays:no birthdays this week
member anniversaries:Jenifer Brousseau 4 years, Anne Lippert 14 years, D'Arcy Warner 23 years, Curt Haase 43 years, Nick Blom 49 years
wedding anniversaries:no wedding anniversaries this week
Special announcements and members' moments:
Paul Harris recipient:
Sarah Reppchen, PHF
John Hayto reminded all that the ski weekend is fast approaching, Feb 7-9, and they are running out of accommodation space. Please contact John ASAP if you are participating.
Gerry Glazier let us know that the group helping out at the Food on the Corner presented them with a cheque for $3,000. The funds will be used to repair their vehicle. Also noted is that Jill Pennefather will be taking over the volunteer coordination for Food on the Corner dates. If interested, please contact her.
Program:
Mass Abedi introduced our guest speaker, Bill Maclagan. Bill is a tax lawyer (for > 30 years) who is currently the chair of the Vancouver Opera Association and a member of their Foundation Board.
Bill has had a long history with Rotary starting in Campbell River; he was chosen to be an exchange student who went to Las Piñas in Metro Manila. The experience opened doors and windows for him; it changed his life irrevocably. Bill was a White Rock Rotarian for some time as well and is a Paul Harris Fellow.
To provide a flavour of what opera is, a young artist, Daevyd Pepper, sang us a beautiful song from the opening opera on February 13th, The Barber of Seville.
Bill is relatively new to opera, having been introduced to it only in 2014 when his company became a corporate sponsor. The Vancouver Opera is the largest company in western Canada. They do work cooperatively with other Canadian opera companies, such as those from Calgary and Edmonton. For example the three companies co-produced La Triviata with great success.
Many think that opera is too distant. Something that audiences may not relate to. This is far from the truth. Opera is simply story telling, and stories are everywhere. The Vancouver Opera works hard to create an extraordinary experience for our community. They are highly regarded world-wide for their innovative programs which allows for attraction of top tier sponsors – a necessity to fund the ongoing programs.
Something fun for you to do: go on YouTube and search for your profession + opera. You’ll undoubtedly come across some entertaining finds. Try bugs bunny + opera, or woody woodpecker + opera.
The education programs that the Vancouver Opera run are critical. They began in schools back in 1972 and have one of the largest touring programs reaching over 50,000 students. This year The Flight of The Hummingbird, a new operatic work co-commissioned by Vancouver Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria, will be shown in 150 schools and at the Vancouver Playhouse on May 3rd. It was created to both entertain and educate elementary and middle school students about climate change. The hope is that the production will sell globally.
Next year will be the Vancouver Opera’s 60th anniversary. To celebrate they will be putting on the same opera they started with back then, Carmen. Keep your eyes open for the dates.
The work the Vancouver Opera does is phenomenal, quality products done on very tight budgets. They balance their repertoire with both traditional and newly developed performances.They connect with all aspects of our community reaching out through different venues and forums. They check in with young people – what do they want to see, and are responsive.
There is a place, a time, and an audience for everything and everyone. Some more traditional, some more progressive. The stories of opera and stories we are familiar with and are relatable. It is very exciting to be involved with the arts.
A note to check out the UBC Opera; they have some very special performances. The one playing now, Pasażerka (The Passenger), about the holocaust.
You are welcome to come and visit the home of the Vancouver Opera, the O’Brian Centre, 1945 McLean Dr., anytime. There is always something happening…
Take a look at the Vancouver Opera website for their upcoming performances. There’s bound to be something you’ll be interested in.
In closing, Irina Medvedeva, another young opera singer, performed a song also from The Barber of Seville.
Meeting adjourned with a toast to better living through opera!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
