Sergeant at Arms Bruce Fenwick opened this week's meeting by acknowledging that Calgarians live, work and play in the traditional territories of the Treaty 7 First Nations and the Metis Nation, and President Rick Erven welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Michael Pierson led the singing of O Canada, and this week's greeter Carmen Goss delivered the invocation.
President Rick thanked this week's volunteers David Leslie, Lisa Corrigan, Colin Furness and Bruce Millar.
While we hosted no visiting Rotarians this week, club secretary Jennifer Lavier Jankovic welcomed several guests and acknowledged the four club members celebrating birthdays this week.
She also told us that club member Tom Keenan appeared in a Global TV news story in which he commented on a strange cybersecurity incident in which one family's infant video monitor picked up the signal from another family in a nearby household.
George Brookman introduced our newest Paul Harris Fellow Shannon Shikaze, daughter of Howie Shikaze, and a key organizer of our Christmas hampers program. Congratulations on a well-deserved honour, Shannon.
Announcements:
We have selected a student from William Aberhart High School to sponsor for the 2020-2021 Rotary youth exchange. Julia Melnyk will be departing for a year in Argentina in August.
The club is looking for storage space for our small barbecue equipment. Please contact Greg Stevenson if you can provide us with 1500 to 2000 square feet of storage space.
The Rotary Club of Calgary Fish Creek will host a pub quiz night on January 25th at the McKenzie Lake Community Hall. The pub quiz gets underway at 7:00 pm, and everyone is welcome to attend.
The University of Calgary Rotaract Club is looking for projects to support. If you have an idea for a potential project, please come out to the club's Pitch Night at 6:00 pm on January 26th.
The Rotary Club of Calgary West's 6th Plant Sale fundraiser is underway. The plant sale's hanging baskets and planters feature big, beautiful blooms, with proceeds from the sale shared between RC Calgary West projects and NSTEP. The plant catalogue and order form are available on the rotarywestfundraising.ca website. The deadline for placing orders is Friday, February 14th.
The ability to read well is essential to success in life. Strong reading skills can lead to increase earnings, higher education, and more social capital. On the other hand, children who struggle to read by the end of Grade 3 are at considerable risk for low self-esteem, learning challenges and high school non-completion, leading to a variety of adverse life outcomes.
Calgary Reads has volunteer opportunities for what hopefully will become a regular group activity. As Rotarians, this is where our service can make a significant impact!
Madeleine King will be organizing a foundational meeting between our volunteer group and Calgary Reads’ Manager of Volunteers at the Inglewood house. Please contact Madeline by email or call (403) 400-4404 to add your name to our list!
Bring your family and friends to our annual Ski and Stroll on March 14th. The $30.00 price for bus transportation includes hot chocolate and treats, but does not include lift tickets. Our 7:15 am departure will be from the Canadian Tire store at Richmond Road and Sarcee Trail, and the bus will return by 7:00 pm.
Brian Guichon introduced Jeff McCaig, who delivered an interesting three-part presentation. He tied his discussion of Trimac Transportation, Calgary Sports and Entertainment, and the McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health together by recognizing that none of these would be possible without the dedicated efforts of many people. His presentation provided credit to these people.
He began by providing a brief overview of Trimac Transportation, a family business founded by his grandfather and his partners. Our speaker was the third McCaig to serve a president of the company, which began operating in 1945. Trimac Transportation is in the bulk trucking business, a large and highly competitive segment of the transportation sector, which employs more men than any other industry. Within the trucking industry, Trimac operates in the bulk or tank segment, i.e., the transportation of bulk commodities that flow. Trimac also operates several trucking-related services, including tank cleaning, truck maintenance, and third-party logistics. The bulk transportation segment is highly competitive, with narrow margins, and is fully mature. Companies in this segment typically grow only through acquisitions.
Turning his attention to Calgary Sports and Entertainment, our speaker provided an overview of the Calgary Flames organization, which is celebrating 40 years in Calgary this year. While the hockey club has previously had as many as eight owners, the current ownership comprises Murray Edwards, Alvin Libin, and Allan Markin, in addition to Jeff McCaig. The Calgary Flames organization holds corporate membership in our club, and Flames executives Ken King and Rollie Cyr are club members through the Flames organization. The Calgary Fames Foundation has donated close to $40 million to the community.
Mr. McCaig stated that professional hockey is even more competitive than the trucking sector and that teams in small markets such as the Flames can only turn a profit if they reach the playoffs.
Describing the need for a new event centre, Mr. McCaig presented a graphic showing the timelines of ageing NHL facilities that showed the Scotiabank Saddledome as being far older than any other facility used by an NHL team. The age of the Saddledome is a critical concern because the 1990s saw a shift from simple structures that could seat 20,000 spectators to facilities emphasizing the total fan experience. Newer facilities provide their patrons with restaurants, suites and large lower bowls that offer experiences based on new technology. He told us that the Calgary Stampeders face a similar problem as McMahon Stadium is the only CFL venue that has not been replaced or modernized since its inception.
Calgary Sports and Entertainment and the City of Calgary signed a definitive agreement to develop a new event centre as the centrepiece of the Victoria Park redevelopment on December 5, 2019. The total development cost of the new event centre will be $550 million, shared evenly between the city and the Flames organization. The Flames are planning to begin playing in the new facility at the start of the 2024 hockey season.
Finally, Mr. McCaig described the McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health, one of seven centres of excellence at the Foothills Hospital. The McCaig Institute is leading the improvement of musculoskeletal health for patients of all ages through research and education. It seeks to enhance the musculoskeletal health of Albertans by focusing efforts on a “precision medicine” approach to research: tailoring the right intervention for patients at the right time.
After an informative question and answer session, Tim Heaton thanked Mr. McCaig for his wide-ranging presentation.
COG Staff - January 21st, 2020
Editor
Craig Henderson
Photography
Ralph Lundberg
Rotary Club of Calgary - Chartered April 1914 as Club #949
Suite 305, 105-12 Avenue SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2G 1A1
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