Our Lunch Meeting on September 9th
Diane Macdonald
There was quite a good turnout of members and guests who gathered for the meeting last Tuesday. After the traditional beginnings and time for fellowship while we ate lunch, President Bill continued the meeting by asking Michael Broadhurst to honour our Birthday folks for October.
When Happy Bucks were called, Michael Broadhurst told us the wonderful story of a Syrian family whom he and Patti “adopted” a few years ago when they first arrived in Canada. Michael was so pleased to tell us that the family is now settled here in Calgary with employment and appropriate schooling, and are forging ahead with their life.
We heard that George Edworthy is recovering from surgery and is now home, but doesn’t wish to have visitors or phone calls at this time. A card was circulated and will be sent to George.
Sadly, we learned that Honorary Member Ann Toombs passed away recently. A card will be sent to the family on our behalf.
President Bill then had Peter Harrison report on the Stay in School Golf Tournament, which had taken place the day before. Peter related that everyone enjoyed the beautiful, warm September day at the Glencoe. For the first time ever in our tournament, one of the golfers scored a Hole-in-One! He certainly went home happy! There were lots of prizes and money was raised with the “Heads and Tails” game, the silent auction and the 50/50 raffle. Peter promised to give us a final accounting soon.
Diane Macdonald reported from the Bar-B-Q Committee that there are still some vacancies for volunteers at the Valley View/ Ian Bazalgette School function on September 25th. The teachers at the schools are so pleased that, since we started doing these Bar-B-Qs to coincide with their Meet the Teacher night in September, the number of parents who attend has increased tremendously. It means they are able to meet those parents face to face and develop a connection. They say it has made a difference for the entire school year.
Past President Joe Fras introduced our Guest Speaker, Jason Robeiro, who happens to be a next-door-at-the-office neighbor of Joe. Jason is the Vice Chairman and President of the Calgary Surge of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. He told us the story of hearing via a news leak from Guelph, Ontario, in 2023, that the Guelph basketball team was moving to Calgary. He jumped into action and within two months had set up an organization and was involved in getting the Surge established here. It is important to Jason that the community be united and entertained through basketball, and that everyone is included. To that end, students from Jack James High School were part of the official introduction of the team to Calgary. He involved the Siksika community in developing the team mascot, now named Red Hawk. They have a program whereby needy kids and their families can attend the games for free and they have been involved in developing a basketball court and related programmed activities at Century Gardens in downtown Calgary. The home court of the Surge is at WinSport, but they have played a game at the Saddledome during Stampede week in front of a record-setting 12,000 + people, and they moved a playoff game against Edmonton from WinSport to Red Deer. Jason is excited about the Surge and the way in which they have become a part of our community. He was happy to pass on to us that they have learned that 93%+ of those who attend a Surge game would recommend it to a friend.
The audience was certainly engaged in Jason’s presentation, as evidenced by the number of questions from the audience following his presentation. He was thanked by Joe Fras and presented with our Certificate of a donation to Wellspring.
Al McMillan was the lucky ticket holder for the 50/50 draw but he didn’t find the white marble in the bag, so received the consolation prize of a package of chocolates.
The next meeting will be on September 23rd at the Palliser when Allan Klassen will be the Guest Speaker, speaking about Living Your Life with Intention and Clarity.
