The Rotary Club of Calgary comprises professional and community leaders brought together in fellowship to make a better future.
Birthdays:
Lawrence Bates
May 23
Maxine Morrison
May 27
Bill Redmond
May 27
Steve Stein
May 27
Bruce Millar
May 28
Bob Taylor
June 1
Diane Macdonald
June 2
Eric Bennett
June 3
Ron Nymers
June 4
Colin Furness
June 5
Message from President Madeleine
Last week was busy for the club with many of us selling books at the Big Book Sale and others busy with bbqs. Wonderful that it was all so successful.
I write this to you from Ayers Rock Uluru, the “Red Centre” of Australia where Bob and I are recovering from jet lag prior to the Melbourne Convention later this week.
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Opinion: Childhood literacy helps create happier endings to every Canadian's story
Steacy Pinney
On May 06, 2023, The Calgary Herald published an article by Steacy Pinney. This is a great read to update all of us on literacy issues and the LEFT UNREAD campaign.
One million Canadian children suffer from low literacy. One in four children does not have a single book in the home.
No bedtime reading. No moral to the story. No happy ending.
Small Donations Committee, Salvation Army Centre of Hope
Diane Macdonald
A letter was received from Rahul Solomon of the Salvation Army, with a big ‘Thank You’ for our donation to their Work Boots program. Men staying at the Centre who are looking for work, can be provided with a pair of Certified Work Boots, which are required for any temp work. Mr. Solomon commented that it is amazing how many men have been able to get temp work then move into full time work. Our donation enabled the purchase of a good number of pairs of work boots in a variety of sizes.
In Mr. Solomon’s words, “Thank You, you have made a huge difference in the lives of the men at the Salvation Army Centre of Hope”.
Community Request for In Kind Donations Adult Literacy Committee Update
Franco Savoia
At their May 10th meeting, Rotary Community Services Directors received the following requests by the Ability Workshop Society.
#1- if any Rotarians own or operate warehouse space that they might make available to this organization.
#2- There is always a need for more volunteers especially with specific skills however, the skills are not a prerequisite.
#3- If any Rotarians who own and operate a business and have scrap materials as outlined in the document their help would be greatly appreciated.
Since March 28th, the Big Book Sale’s 1200+ community volunteers have occupied the Calgary Curling Club to accept, sort and sell somewhere in the vicinity of 150,000 donated books.
Our Rotary Club has been involved on a number of fronts, from helping to stuff books into trucks for delivery to the sale site, hanging banners advertising the sale on pedestrian overpasses, helping staff the volunteer Hospitality room, counting the cash portion of the income each day and helping on the floor with the sorting of the books.
The sale ended this past weekend and by all reports it was, once again, a resounding success. Enjoy a few pictures from the event:
The New Blood Production at Jack Singer Concert Hall June 15, 2023
Jennifer Lavier Jankovic
Last weekend at the Rotary District 5360 Convention in Lethbridge, Strathmore High School’s New Blood was performed on Friday evening. If you missed it, there is another opportunity to hear the music of Peter Gabriel, performed by the Calgary Civic Symphony, and learn about the Blackfoot Tradition at the Jack Singer Concert Hall, one of the most beautiful and acoustically acclaimed venues in North America, on June 15, 2023 at 7:30 pm.
This picture was taken on an iconic beach on their way to the Rotary international convention. Those two clues should be enough to have you guessed correctly as to where they are submit your responses to Diane Macdonald. The winners will be subjected to all of the photos from their trip! Of course, that will be accompanied by great wine and a wonderful meal.
Thanks to Garth Toombs for suggesting many interesting ideas for COG articles.
We would love to hear more about:
a) what happens at meetings. Create a short 200 word summary of the latest meeting. (Garth said he'd be part of a team to report on Tuesday meetings)
b) let's find out who has specific interests: are you a cyclist? a hiker? a swimmer? do you go kayaking/canoeing? Are you a secret chef!
c) let us know what you are currently reading (this could be as simple as write a short article with titles our Rotarians have provided)
d) Congrats & Sad section - who has some great exciting news? Who has sad news to share and get support. Just be the person to whom these items can be emailed and put them together when things come up
e) Write up a short biography (no more than 400 words) about each of our board members.
Thanks Garth for these wonderful ideas (and more). Now we just need Rotarians to STEP UP and offer their time (it doesn't take long) to participate in making our COG more vibrant and informative.
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