Vol. 101 No. 20
Brian Street, President
Joan Posivy, Secretary
Next meeting: Tuesday November 20, 2018 Dr. Brian Day MD Fair and equitable health care for all
Brian Day MRCP, FRCS, FRCS, is an orthopedic surgeon and health researcher in Canada, a past president of the Canadian Medical Association, and a prominent sometimes controversial advocate for patient access to a hybrid of Canada's health system.
Brian Day graduated in medicine from the University of Manchester. After postgraduate studies in internal medicine and general surgery, residency in orthopedics at UBC, and trauma fellowships in Basel, Oxford and USC, he set up practice at VGH and UBC. He was a pioneer in arthroscopic surgery and sports medicine in Canada. Due to his interest in technology, he was involved in developing the world's first surgical robot and the first ever satellite telemedicine broadcast between North America and China. He was the recipient of the Canadian Orthopaedic Association's Edouard Samson Award for outstanding research. Dr. Day served as vice president of the Canadian Orthopedic Foundation, a charitable foundation, as well as being on the executive of the Canadian Orthopedic Research Society. He is a former research committee chair and past president of the Arthroscopy Association of North America, the world's leading academic society in his field. He has lectured worldwide and has published over 200 articles and book chapters.
In addition to academic orthopedics, he has studied, lectured, and written on health policy. He is a past president of the Canadian Medical Association. Despite the deterioration in our healthcare system, Dr. Day is optimistic that physicians, with their knowledge and experience, can lead necessary reform and propose solutions to the current unsustainable system.
(from website: http://www.brianday.ca)
Upcoming meeting: Tuesday November 27, 2018 DG Darcy Long, Annual District Governor Visit
Darcy Long is District 5040's current District Governor. The first one chosen from the Sunshine Coast. As we ask of all of our members, why did you choose Rotary? The following is an excerpt from the Coast Reporter, author Cathy Roy.(https://www.coastreporter.net/opinion/editorial/darcy-long-makes-rotary-history-1.23344293)
When the horrific tsunami struck Thailand in 2004, the Longs [Darcy & her husband Doug] saw firsthand the power of Rotary in action. The pair was awed by the way the six local Phuket Rotary clubs worked together in Kamala Bay restoring the locals’ fishing boats. In 2005 friends invited them to join their Rotary club, and the Longs never looked back.
Darcy was the club’s president in 2009/10 and kept looking for more opportunities to serve the organization she’s so passionate about. Fast forward a few years and the chance came to lead the 5040 District in the 2018/19 year, no small job. The District ranges from Prince Rupert in the northwest to Vancouver in the south. Altogether there are 50 clubs in the District. During her governing year, Darcy will visit all the clubs at least once as well as host a spring conference at Sun Peaks in 2019. Her only regret in the whole experience is not being able to have the conference on the Coast because of a lack of a big enough venue.
Each year the incoming international Rotary president chooses a theme. For Darcy’s year the president picked “Be the inspiration.” I can’t imagine a better person to bring this slogan to life. With Doug’s ongoing support and the firm backing from the four clubs on the Lower Sunshine Coast, Darcy will set the standard high for all Rotarians.
Upcoming meeting: Tuesday December 4, 2018 Dr. Julio Montaner, OC, OBC, MD, Advisor to UN Aides Program, Director of BC's Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
Greetings from Hamburg! Moin, Moin, as the people of Hamburg say.
The multi-facetted port city invites you to the Rotary International Convention from June 1st through June 5th, 2019. Use this opportunity to get to know Rotarians from around Germany, Europe and the world! Help shape the future of Rotary and become inspired during the conference.
The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg has a long and rich Rotary tradition: the first German Rotary club was founded in Hamburg in 1927. The "Gateway to the World", tradition meets modernity, the Elbe Philharmonic Hall – all this is Hamburg. And so much more. Visit us in 2019 and we can explore this global city together.
President Brian Street chaired the meeting and gave the invocation.
Don Evans accompanied us on the piano for the singing of O Canada.
Joe Lopushinsky, Sergeant-at-Arms, introduced visitors and guests.
President's announcements:
Red Carpet Ball update:
Plus side: 280 people plus volunteers had a great time from the cocktail reception to the dinner, live auction and dance.
124 full gala tickets were purchased via Rotarians, so about 1 1/4 tickets can be credited to each club member.
Not what I'd hoped for, however, almost all of the feedback received has been incredibly positive.
A short Survey Monkey survey will be sent out shortly to attendees for more concrete feedback.
33 full gala tickets were purchased via the general public who also purchased 120 dance only tickets.
Nonplus side: with this level of overall support we weren't able to make a profit, so is coming in short, likely around $8,000.
Think of it not as a loss but rather an investment. "Survey says" we should have a very similar event next year.
The Superfans will hopefully bring 2 more friends with them, then that's about 800 people.
There are photos from the event available (contact Brian if you'd like any copies)
Joan Posivy provided the Secretary's announcements:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above)
birthdays:Nick Blom Nov16
member anniversaries:Ryan Crean 2 years, Wayne Fraser 7 years, Kaz Kadono 7 years
wedding anniversaries:Richard Higgins & Diana Robinson 31 years Nov14
Special announcements and member's moments:
Barbara Welsh was presented with her Paul Harris +5 pin - thank you for all of the support Barbara!
Program:
Phil Webber introduced speaker Dr. Pat McGeer.
Dr. McGeer's presentation was interesting. He threw out some ideas about how to make Vancouver more affordable and encourages all to pressure City Hall to act:
Get the bureaucracy out of our homes. Inspectors should not influence what renovations a home owner can do to improve their home.
To get the property values down, the real estate transaction tax (now a fraction of 1%) should be increased to 50% thereby making flipping unattractive. This will decrease the foreign investment purchases and money-laundering purchases drastically. The benefit will be to those who wish to remain in their home through old-age when their income is fixed and relatively low; the property tax is reasonable and manageable. Unlike what is happening now with soaring property values increasing the taxes to unmanageable levels for many.
On another topic altogether, Dr. McGeer's medical research company Aurin Biotech (CLICK HERE FOR WEBSITE). The research touched on was (1) a drug that apparently starves cancer cells of blood thereby blocking their ability to grow and spread, and (2) a saliva test that can predict and diagnose Alzheimers disease.
Now that is information we can use!
Extra reading:
BC Medical Journal, Visionary Plus Pioneer Equals Dr. Pat McGeer,CLICK HERE
Georgia Straight, 91-year-old scientist and ex-cabinet minister Pat McGeer's company obtains U.S. patent for new cancer treatment, CLICK HERE
Vancouver Sun, Vancouver researcher believes saliva test the wave of the future in Alzheimer's diagnosis and prediction, CLICK HERE
Meeting adjourned with a toast to inevitability of death and taxes.
