The Rotary Club of Calgary comprises professional and community leaders brought together in fellowship to make a better future.
Birthdays:
Catherine Scheers
February 9
Iain Stewart
February 9
Steacy Pinney
February 11
Tom Tait
February 12
Ayodeji Jeje
February 13
Therese Takacs
February 13
Bill Andrew
February 14
Jeremy Mroch
February 21
Michael Broadhurst
February 22
Dave Owens
February 24
Sandra Davies
February 27
Message from President Madeleine
We continue to have excellent speakers, whether we’re meeting on zoom or now at our temporary home at the Ranchmen’s Club. You will be receiving this edition of the COG on Valentine’s Day, when we will be enjoying well-known entertainer Dave Kelly acting as our guest speaker. We very much hope many of you will be attending and bringing a loved one.
This seems to be an especially busy time of year for a club president! I’m loving the many conversations with so many of you on club business. There’s such a sense of energy, enthusiasm, collaboration and yes – fun too! Please do continue to keep me in the loop – share your thoughts, ideas and questions. Despite the pressure of time, I do really appreciate your sharing.
As I mentioned during last week’s zoom meeting, I’d very much like to see a large turnout from our club at the District Convention in Lethbridge early May. These are fun and quite inspirational. I’d propose that we all gather together at the conference hotel for a drink before the Friday night’s dinner – so we can feel that we’re all part of a team. Please do let me know if you’re registering. By the way, we’ll also have a couple of presentation tables for International and the Big Book Sale, our own Kurt Kowalchuk will be playing a role as incoming District Governor and Garth Toombs will be hosting some of our Uganda Rotary colleagues.
Wishing you all a warm Rotary hug on Valentine’s Day!
Part 3: Southland Transportation - a Rotary Partner
More than Just school buses
At Southland Transportation, we take great pride in serving our community by safely transporting thousands of students to school every day. The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow, and that's why we're so excited to be the title sponsor of the Rotary Stay-in-School Charity Golf Classic.
Our Highway Motorcoaches have 56-passenger capacities, while our 72-passenger School Bus rental is a great alternative for local day trips. Our 12-passenger Sprinter Vans are ideal for smaller groups. Our friendly, reliable service is available throughout Alberta, with 8+ locations across the province. You can easily book your small or large group charters at southland.ca/charters
We aspire to offer the gold standard in reliability and overall customer service. The knowledge, expertise, and passion of our teams in Calgary and across Canada support our reputation as a leader in the people transportation industry.
At SOUTHLAND Transportation, we genuinely believe that our people are our greatest asset, and we're currently looking to hire more drivers. We're determined to employ talented people who share our company's dedication to safety and service.
If a competitive wage, flexible schedule, and free training sound good, apply today at southland.ca/careers
We hope you enjoyed learning more about Southland Transportation. Watch for information about our upcoming Carl Smith Stay-In-School Golf Classic where we hope to welcome back Southland Transportation as our title sponsor.
What? A Members' Menu?
By Manon Mitchell
Indeed folks, we have a menu that provides club specific information for our club members.
Did you miss a recorded Zoom meeting? It’s available under the Members’ Menu.
In the next few months we will be updating the information in the Members’ menu in response to the needs of our club members. A survey is currently being developed to find out what you need to see on our website. This is a work in progress so start poking away at the Members menu so that you can give us some feedback in the weeks to come.
Thanks! mm:)
The Rotary Presidential Theme for 2023-2024
By Manon Mitchell
During the week of January 12 - 17 , Kurt Kowalchuk and Manon Mitchell participated in the Rotary International Assembly for all incoming District Governors and their partners. This was a four day event packed with fabulous key note speakers and workshops/break out sessions. This week prepares District Governor’s Elect and their partners for the upcoming Rotary year.
This is where the new Presidential Theme (logos, branding, etc…) is announced and let me tell you that is the biggest and most thrilling presentation at the Assembly! President Elect Gordon McInally heartfelt delivery of Rotary’s impact on the world is worth a listen. Click here for the full version. PE Gordon announced the new theme: Creating HOPE in the world. Isn’t this what we do as Rotarians no matter what activities we get involved in? If we can create hope, then things change for everyone.
A couple of days later, the focus of the keynote presentations was Mental health. Again, PE Gordon was a featured speaker. He shared a heartfelt story about a man he knew from an early age, and his family and how tragedy struck and the man took his own life in his mid 30’s. Of course, at the end of this sad story, PE Gordon says: “He was my brother”. You could feel the emotion in the room; not a dry eye in sight. It would be challenging to find someone who has not been impacted by a mental health challenge in their life and next year’s theme truly resonates with us.
So here is a link to the summary of PE Gordon’s talk announcing the new Presidential theme. https://youtu.be/UZu7vt0VTTc If you want to see the full version, trust me it’s worth the time (he’s such a great speaker) click this link.
Here’s to HOPE!
We have a Youtube Channel!
By Manon Mitchell
Did you know our club has a YouTube Channel?
There is all kinds of interesting things like: recordings of previous club meetings, videos of some of our service projects, recordings of our own Rotarians and why they joined Rotary. Click here to get to our YouTube Channel!
If you’re not attending our in-person meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, you’re missing out!
Two weeks ago, we had a wonderful hour at the Ranchman’s Club where there was a celebration of the birthday of Jim Shaner, a past-president of our Club, as well as the naming of Wes Stevens as an Honorary Member of the Club.
Wes joined Rotary in 1974, so he has been a Rotarian for almost 50 years! We also heard a fascinating guest speaker, Dr. John Zhou, of Alberta Innovates, who spoke about exciting clean-tech opportunities in Alberta in the realm of climate vs. economics.
If you would like more information, check out the Alberta Innovates website. Better yet, come to the meetings!
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