"Together we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change - across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves!"
The Rotary Club of Calgary comprises professional and community leaders brought together in fellowship to make a better future.
Birthdays
Bill Avery
September 4
Aaron Miller
Roy Boettger
September 4
September 5
Helen Graham
September 15
Anniversaries
Bill Clapham -- 30 years
Bill Hamilton -- 5 years
Jill Conroy -- 5 years
Trevor Ironside -- 5 years
Inspirational Quote
"What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good?
- Aristotle
A Great Club Meeting on August 27th, 2024
Manon Mitchell
Our club meeting at the Palliser on August 27th was a great success. We celebrated Lou MacEachern's birthday and it was great to see Lou in person!
George gave a short presentation about how great it was to be a Canadian as he talked about the amazing sights on his trip to the East Coast. To top it off, he presented each member present with an "Anne of Green Gables" loonie ... hey it even has the King's face! Then Barb Young introduced Trini our new exchange student from Chile.
Finally we heard a most heartwarming and inspiring talk by our new District Governor, Christina Hassan. Her Rotary story began when she was a teenager and went to Germany on a Youth Exchange trip. She became a Rotaractor (that's where she met her husband Hyder Hassan) and their Rotary journey continued together. As DG, Christina visits all 42 clubs and she is doing this in an RV with her husband, her 3 children, their nanny and their nanny's daughter. What an excellent way for all of them to experience the amazing part of the world we live in. For those who were in attendance, if you want to learn more about the NGO Christina founded to help deal with maternal and infant mortality in Uganda, just check out fullsoul.ca.
Each month of the Rotary year highlights a specific theme, and September focuses on Basic Education and Literacy (BEL). Our club is actively engaged in numerous local and international projects addressing these issues, such as the Guatemala Literacy Project, our Cambodia Literacy Project, the Stay in School program, and our impactful Big Book Sale. These initiatives underscore our commitment to fostering literacy, empowering individuals to become critical thinkers and valuable contributors to society.
Peddle Pub - LOTS OF FUN!
Lori Forand
Our 2024 edition of Peddle Pub is in the books! We recently spent 2 hours peddling (not that hard really) from pub to pub. There were lots of laughs as we shared pints of great golden liquid. Rumours have it that Past President Craig was having fun pole dancing ... well dancing while holding a pole that is! Thanks to the fellowship committee for organizing another successful fun time for our Rotarians and friends!
Celebrating Diversity Equity & Inclusion
Manon Mitchell
A small but mighty contingent of Rotarians, Rotary Exchange Student and friends participated in the Calgary Pride parade on Sunday Sept. 1 to demonstrate our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). We had members from our own club (PDG Kurt, Lori, and her new puppy Jack, & DGN Manon), Calgary East (PDG Christine Rendell, Brian Carnahan), Calgary Chinook (Anne Dale) and quite a few from Okotoks including both their inbound & outbound (from 2023-24) Exchange students. Family and friends came along as well. There was a big crowd lining 9th avenue from the East Village to 5th Street and there was lots of cheering and hugs. The weather cooperated and everyone came away feeling absolutely wonderful! Mark you calendar for next year on labor day and come walk with us in the Pride parade!
DGN Manon Mitchell, PDG Kurt Kowalchuk, Director Lori Forand and Jack
SIS New Student Gathering
Alana Sargent (Program Coordinator, Carl Smith Stay-in-School Program)
On August 17th, the Carl Smith Stay-in-School Program held our first gathering of new students, their families and new mentors. This was a very successful event, with close to 45 individuals participating (8 families, 4 new mentors and 4 committee members). While enjoying some pizza in a park, we celebrated the new students, informed the parents about the program, introduced the new mentors and had fun playing games. It was a great way for the families to be accepted into the program and for the students to get to know each other and the mentors. This will now most likely be an annual event!
Trini (Trinidad Araneda Alcalde) arrived in Calgary last Saturday, August 17th, from Chile to be met by a group of Rotarians.
Since it was still afternoon, we were able to take her to the home of the Loucks for dinner with the Connections Committee who kindly included her in their summer get-together.
(From left to right back row: Craig Henderson, Barb Young, Anne Haessel, Garth Toombs, Murray Young, Bob Junker; Front row, Dorothy Loucks, Trini Alacalde)
Trini is being hosted jointly by our club and by the Rotary Club at Stampede Park. She is currently staying with Craig and Michelle Henderson, will move to a family who have supported students visiting the Stampede Park club in the past, and then on to Manon and Kurt's. We are still looking for a third family for the spring.
This weekend Trini went to the welcoming camp for this year's exchange students (see attached picture) where she celebrated her16th birthday. They went horseback riding and kayaking as they practised their English with each other. After the camp she, will be getting ready to start school at Queen Elizabeth High School. Look forward to meeting her at an upcoming club meeting. She is a lovely girl, who would really appreciate it if anyone can speak to her in Spanish (which Michelle currently does).
(Trini being introduced at our club meeting. President Joe receiving a book, Trini, Past President Craig)
Jasper Rotary Fire Relief Fund
Manon Mitchell
In response to the tragic Jasper Wildfire, the Rotary District 5370 Charitable Foundation is establishing the Jasper Fire Relief Fund. Our club is fundraising to provide more resources to this Jasper Fire Relief Fund managed by Rotary District 5370.
Currently, several governmental agencies and NGOs are working to provide immediate relief to the residents of Jasper who have been affected by this wildfire. Unlike these, our Rotary fire relief fund is intended to provide community agencies with funding to help rebuild the very necessary programs in the longer term after the fire. Grants from the fund will be disbursed to organizations offering programming related to mental health, sports, food supply, social programs and the many other necessities of a healthy community.
With your help, we hope to see significant donations to the Jasper Fire Relief Fund. Click here to make your online donation. All donations over $20 qualify for a charitable receipt for tax purposes.
Other ways to donate
Cheque:
Make cheque payable to: Rotary Club of Calgary – CSF
I wanted to share an event we are having on Sept. 24. Diane Francis is speaking at our in-person lunch meeting, Tuesday Sept 24, at the Palliser.
A bit about Diane:
Her topic: “Politics home and abroad. A geopolitical and geo-economic round-up”
"Diane has been a well-known commentator on business, technology, and politics in Canada & the US for decades. She now also writes a newsletter twice weekly on global geopolitics and geo-economics that is read by thousands in 95 countries. She remains a columnist in the Financial Post, Kyiv Post, and various other publications. Diane contextualizes and provides the back story to significant news and newsmakers. She has written 10 books, received several honorary degrees and is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Institute’s Eurasia Center in Washington DC specializing in Russia’s war against Ukraine and the West. She is also an entrepreneur, an investor, and has served a director on the boards of several publicly listed companies. She lives in Toronto and Manhattan.”
We are also hosting a "mini auction" to raise money to be used to promote the club and attract new members.
Frank Hall has kindly agreed to run our 3 item, 10 minute auction. Glencoe Golf and Country green fees have been donated by Terry McMahon and Roy Boettger with Sean Baylis donating green fees for Earl Grey.
The third item is a surprise.
Come join us.
2024 Field Of Crosses - Volunteers Needed
George Brookman
Each November 3500 crosses are erected in a park along Memorial Drive, in Calgary, to pay tribute individually to the thousands of Southern Albertans who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedom. In addition, a separate part of the park is set aside, with 120 unique crosses, for a special memorial to the 120,000 heroes from across Canada who lost their lives fighting for this great country. All day and night people walk through the 5 acre memorial, which is illuminated 24/7, reading the crosses and being reminded that our freedom was not free.
Each morning from November 1 up to and including November 11, at sunrise, a moving flag raising ceremony is held including school choirs, military, buglers, pipers, Memorial Cross Families and VIPs pay tribute to our fallen. Each evening at sunset a similar service is held and flags are lowered. On November 11 a poignant, televised Remembrance Day service is held.
At night these crosses are lit up for two weeks before until Remembrance Day.
Calling all volunteers!
There’s lots of tasks that we need help with from cleaning and preparing crosses, digging holes, site preparation and final clean-up
Volunteers are needed for different shifts starting in mid-September until after Remembrance Day on November 12th. It’s a great little adventure and everyone is terrific to work with.
Be part of this very special event; meet some great people. You might be very warm or very cold, but you’ll feel like you’ve done something special.
It has come to our attention that members are receiving three (3) emails after they register for a club lunch. Why three?
The first is the payment receipt, the second is the confirmation which contains an ATTACHMENT (.ics file) and the third is an invoice showing that you've paid and owe nothing.
The cool thing is that you can add the lunch to your electronic calendar by clicking on that .ics attachment. Now you know that you've bought a ticket!
But we do agree that getting 3 emails seems a bit "over the top" so we'll look into this and explore cutting that down to 1 email ... the one with the .ics file that puts the event in your electronic calendar.
Stay tuned!
When is the COG published?
Manon Mitchell
The COG, the electronic newsletter informing our members of our club's activities and interesting articles, is published approximately every 2 weeks usually (but not always) the week when we do not have an inperson club meeting). We'd love to send it weekly but it takes about 6 hours to put together so every other week will have to do.
If you'd like to have us publish an article or have an idea about what we should be publishing, please forward your ideas to Manon or Diane by the FRIDAY before the Tuesday publication date.
You are also welcome to contact either Manon or Diane to discuss as stry idea you may have.
Here are this year's publication dates:
July 9, 23
Aug 6, 20
Sep 3, 17
Oct 1, 15, 29
Nov 19
Dec 3, 17, 24 (Xmas edition)
Jan 7, 21
Feb4, 18
Mar 4, 18
Apr 1, 15, 29
May 6, 20
June 3, 17
If you enjoy reading the COG, let us know because your comments are the only way we know we are hitting the mark and it is our only reward!
Opening Celebrations of YCC in Forest Lawn
Manon Mitchell
You've read over the last months about our service projects at "Marmie's House", Youth Centres of Calgary newest facility in Forest Lawn across the street from one of the schools in our "Stay In School" program. Our club supported the purchase of this house through the bequest from Marmie Hess to direct her donation to supporting youth in our community.
Well, the house will be opening with the new school year and we'll be participating in the opening celebrations on September 12th (4:00 - 6:00 pm). You'll have to register to attend as there is limited capacity of 150; in addition, we will be serving our signature bar--b-q culinary delights! Click here to register and grab your free ticket today.
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