Putting Abilities to Work

Greeter this week: Marilyn Mucha

As the District 5370 Membership chair, my favourite, current project is working with a team helping struggling Rotary clubs in our District get revitalized and reach their potential.
Duane Gibb and I recently put on a session at the District Conference in Grande Prairie called " Club Extreme Makeover - DIY tips for Membership growth".  We dressed in construction fashion and compared a house to a Rotary club saying how a club without constant updates is like a house that lacks fresh paint, new carpets and maintained landscaping.  It is less appealing to those walking by and those living in it.
So as the greeter for this week's e-club meeting ... my tip is NOT having a greeter to welcome guests is like having a house with a faulty door bell.  You might be missing the opportunity to connect with some interesting people coming to your club.

I hope the guests and members of the Rotary E-club of Western Canada find some new and engaging Rotary topics to keep you connected to Rotary.

Marilyn G. Mucha
Rotary District 5370 Membership chair

Inspirational Moment

An Old Guy And A Bucket Of Shrimp

It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean.

Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier. Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp.

Everybody's gone, except for a few joggers on the beach.

Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts...and his bucket of shrimp. Before long, however, he is no longer alone.
Up in the sky a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking,
winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier.

Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly.
Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, you can hear him say with a smile, “Thank you, Thank you”.
In a few short minutes the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn't leave.
He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and place.

When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home.

To onlookers, Ed’s just another old codger, lost in his own weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp.  Old folks often do strange things, at least in the eyes of Boomers and Busters. Most of them would probably write Old Ed off. That's too bad. They'd do well to know him better.

His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a famous hero back in World War II.
On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down. Miraculously, all of the men survived, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft.
Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific. They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger. By the eighth day their rations ran out. No food. No water.

They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they were.
They needed a miracle.

That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle. They tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose.
Time dragged. All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft.
Suddenly, Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap. It was a seagull!

Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move.  With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck. He tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal; a very slight meal for eight men. Then they used the intestines for bait.

With it, they caught fish, which gave them food and more bait, and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until they were found and rescued (after 24 days at sea).

Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull. And he never stopped saying, “Thank you”.
That's why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.

PS: Eddie started Eastern Airlines.

Enjoy "Canadian Pride"

With which this meeting is officially opened.

Opening Remarks

Welcome to the WEEKLY meeting of the Rotary E-club of Western Canada.  I emphasis the word “weekly”, because just like any other Rotary meeting, we do offer you - with effort - weekly meeting material, which we hope you find informative, educational, inspiring and even humorous.
Now the good news: One of the reasons we have an e-club is to accommodate your busy schedule.
By attending the E-club meeting, you save not only a minimum of 1 hour of travel time, and possibly a case of poor indigestion, you are able to attend using your iPhone, iPad or whatever electronic device you use to contact your friends via Facebook, or read the local news on the web. Whether it is in the departure halls at the airport, or waiting for an appointment. You can attend whenever you feel like it or when it is convenient to you.  But please DO attend.
The only way we are able to record your attendance, is when you complete the Member attendance form. Even if it is as little as entering your name. Just in case you are in the middle of an e-meeting and last call for boarding is announced.
You can count on us; Can we count on you?

Comments from our Guests 

“I found the Wheelchair presentation inspirational and informative as I am involved with currently with a Wheelchair Project”. Sue Croft - One World, D5240

Announcements

Prospective members wishing to join our club are required to attend two meetings before they submit the Application for Membership.

We kindly ask, that all members and visitors joining us for a meeting, will consider making a contribution in lieu of the cost of a meal. You contribution will help us with projects our club participates in.
Your donation may be made on line via the Paypal button at the end of the meeting, the “Donate Now Paypal” button in the sidebar, or by sending a cheque to:
The Rotary E-club of Western Canada
Box 1959, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta T4T 1B5

A Little Humour 

Border Crossing

ROTARY Minute

Learn, Lead and Laugh

Having attended more than 10 District Conferences and even organized one ourselves with the Rotary Club of Stony Plain in 2006, we can honestly say, that the recent District 5370 Conference in Grande Prairie was one of the most successful conferences we have attended.

The energy was high, the focus was on youth and the presence of youth was exhilarating.
DG Kevin has so much energy I wonder what he takes in his tea. I want some of that.

Learn; we certainly did; About the need for more Rotarians to assist us in the fight against Polio and world poverty; about the success of the Group Study and Youth Exchange programs, and the success of the Rotary Foundation. We also learned that there is no project too small or too large, whether Community or International.

Lead; We were inspired by powerful speakers such as former Prime Minister Joe Clark, (who was actually quite funny). Other inspiring messages were delivered by Professional speaker Peter Legge who motivated us to go back to our clubs and lead them in the right direction and make them bigger and bolder. And about the meaning of life.

Laugh: Michael Kerr, reminded us, that in order to be successful you’ve got to have some fun, or in his words: “You can’t be serious”.Laugh we certainly did and I wished you could have been there to share this experience with us.

The conference inspired us and made us even more determined to do all we can to make this e-club grow. But we can only do this with your help. So step up to the plate and be the Rotarian who wants to be part of the needed changes in the world; One meeting at a time; One project at a time.
Ramiro and Elly Contreras

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Speaker Program



Putting ability to work
 
EmployAbilities is a community-based charitable non-profit organization governed by a volunteer board of directors. Since 1974 we’ve served people with disabilities, barriers to employment and employers, and acted as a voice of community advocacy. Experience and passion has fueled our leadership in developing programs, services and resources that increase the economic participation and power of people with disabilities. We believe that community and economy are fundamentally intertwined and that diversity must be represented in both to make the most of the future. Our services are not about entitlement or compromise, but inclusion and opportunity.

For more information visit the website here. BC has a similar program here

Please watch this inspiring video of people to whose lives this service has made a big difference.

This officially ends this week’s meeting
If you have an interesting topic, or project to share please contact our Program Chair

Thank you for joining us, we appreciate your feedback, hope you will return and invite a guest.