Vol. 101 No. 48
Brian Street, President
Joan Posivy, Secretary
Next meeting: Tuesday June 18, 2019
Bike-a-thon Launch
Approval in Principle of the RCoV Young Professionals Division
On June 18, members of Rotary Club of Vancouver (“RCOV”) will be asked to approve in principle, the formation of the Young Professionals Division (or YP Division) of the RCOV as an integral part of RCOV.
Please refer to the outline of the YP Division through the following link, CLICK HERE. The formation of a YP Division has already received approval of the RCOV Board of Directors.
Assuming the members approve the concept in principle, the next steps will involve introducing By-law changes to accommodate the concept of a “club within our club”, which in point of fact will result in the YP Division really being a special class of voting membership in RCOV.
Upcoming meeting: Tuesday June 25, 2019
A Year in Review and Intro to the New Board
Celebration of a Life Well Lived but Cut Too Short
A Celebration of Life in memory of Don Evans will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 7, 2019 at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in the CN Roundhouse, located in Squamish, BC.
The obituary reproduced below appeared in the Vancouver Sun, June 1, 2019. Click the button below that links to the obituary and guest page for those who would like to inscribe a note there.
Passed away suddenly on May 20, 2019, at the age of 71, while on vacation in Peru. He will be always remembered by his wife, Deb Sankey, his children Diane, Christopher (Shauna) and his grandchildren Brendan, Dylan, Matthew and Mark. Don, who was born in Vancouver, was the oldest of three siblings, brother Doug (Bev) and sister Joyce (Fred). He will be missed by his many nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. Don dedicated his life to service through his work and his passions. He worked for 31 years at BC TEL before retiring and starting his own company, DJE Holdings. In the past 20 years his work in leadership skills and business strategy had taken him throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He was a graduate of Harvard Business School. Don was passionate about service and railway preservation. He was active in Rotary for more than 33 years, including being a Past President of the Rotary Club of Vancouver, past Rotarian of the Year for District 5040, and District Governor for 2017-2018. Don was also the face of the West Coast Railway Association for decades, with his work and vision helping to create the West Coast Railway Park. At the time of his passing he was Chair of the Board of Directors and President Emeritus. He was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, and the Governor General's Caring Canadian Award in 2016. A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 7, 2019 at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in the CN Roundhouse, located in Squamish, BC. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to either the West Coast Railway Association or the Rotary Foundation (Canada).
Kayo Otake accompanied us on the piano for the singing of O Canada.
Peter Clarke, Sergeant-at-Arms Elect introduced visitors and guests in Joe Lopushinsky's absence.
President's Announcements:
Just back from the RI Convention in Hamburg, Brian was enthused and encouraged anyone who is able to attend a future convention to do so. Lots of learning, great speakers, and generally a wonderful experience.
Adriana Zylmans will be hosting a Strawberry Tea at her family farm on Sunday June 16th, from 2:00 - 4:00. Families, including children, are welcome to come. There will be activities planned to amuse all ages, including the opportunity to pick your own strawberries. An invitation note will be emailed to all, kindly RSVP per the instructions therewith.
All are encouraged to attend the upcoming Strategy Planning Session on June 20th. (See notice above.) Beneficial for newer members to familiarize themselves with the priorities of our Club and also to have the opportunity to shape the Club's future. Beneficial for our more seasoned members to refresh your Club knowledge and also to be part of our future development.
The last Young Professional Rotaractor Club meeting is on June 24th. All are invited, as always, to attend.
Joan Posivy provided the Secretary's Announcements:
Reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above).
Birthdays: John Sullivan Jun11, John Hoyle Jun12, Ian Storrs Jun15
Member anniversaries:Franco Gallo 4 years, Keith Phillips 4 years, Phil Webber 20 years, Tremayne Perry 55 years
Wedding anniversaries: John & Cindy Hayto 34 years Jun15
Special announcements and members' moments:
Joan Posivy presented the Bill Richwa award to Talis Dennis, Rotaractor of the Year.
Program:
Our scheduled speaker, David Pike, had to postpone his speaking engagement at the last moment due to illness. It turned out fortunate for us as we got to hear Ralph Towsley speak about WWII and D-Day.
Though Ralph was too young to be in service at the time, he does remember it having lived through it. D-Day was the culmination of many events and lots of planning.
The allies got together to fight the threat to world freedom, however, many of the allied forces were all but depleted after WWI which was supposed to be the war to end all wars - not so unfortunately. Also, there was no central command until it was finally decided that Eisenhower, a five-star general in the United States Army, should serve as supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe.
Stalin decided a 2nd front was needed to improve the chances of a successful result. It took approximately a year to open a 2nd front in Italy. This turned out to be a significant contribution to the success of D-Day.
It was on June 6th, 1944 that the troops took off from Britain. They arrived in horrible stormy conditions and in some cases had to get off their boats a fair distance from the shore. All of the soldiers involved were, it is important to note, free men fighting to maintain that freedom in a free world. So much to be proud of!
The above does not do justice to Ralph's talk. CLICK HERE to view him on our Club's YouTube channel.
Rotary Club of Vancouver's Facebook page, featuring Ralph, CLICK HERE
Recommended by John Bathurst: "One Day in August: The Untold Story Behind Canada's Tragedy at Dieppe"; one of the most important Canadian non-fiction books published: the groundbreaking, thrilling, ultra-secret story behind one of WWII's most enduring mysteries, which fundamentally changes our understanding of this sorrowful event in Canada's past. Good Reads, CLICK HERE, or Amazon, CLICK HERE
Meeting adjourned with a toast to the bravery and sacrifices of Canada's soldiers in the fight for our continued freedom.
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