The Rotary Club of Calgary comprises professional and community leaders brought together in fellowship to make a better future.
Birthdays:
Roland Cyr
December 9
Allison Schulz
December 12
Ryan Tizzard
December 13
George Brookman
December 19
Message from President Madeleine
This week sadly we lost two members – Bill Gillott this past weekend, Past President and District Governor still actively attending lunch meetings and a member of the Small Donations Committee at age 93! And past member Gordon Dixon KC whose Celebration of Life will be December 9 at noon.
District Governor Steve Leavitt joined us for our in-person meeting November 22. His presentation gave us inspiration and some great interactive time. He has since provided us with the feedback from those present, and suggested a further exercise discussing it, which we will find time for at an in-person meeting in the New Year. He also commented that we may be the oldest club, but we are also one of the most vibrant! Great to be earning that reputation. That meeting was also our opportunity to meet our new Assistant District Governor, Garfield Ganon, member of Calgary West.
Rotary Challenger Park generously gave each club president a beautiful seasonal gift basket to thank the clubs for our continuing support. I was happy to have the opportunity to re-gift ours to Ken and Judy Moraes to thank them for all their hard work enabling us to have the best Christmas Dinner ever December 13th at the Golf & Country Club! Registration is at about one hundred already!
Our next in-person lunch, the last meeting this year, is December 20. With George and his elves cooking up something special, it should be a lot of fun. I’ll have the pleasure of hosting a Rotary Peace Scholar and the reining Mrs. Canada Globe, Lorelei Higgins. I connected with her because of an article in the October Rotary magazine, which reported she now works at the City of Calgary in their anti-racism program. It’s delightful she’s interested in our club, and it will be special for us all to get to know her.
Wishing you all the best during this festive season!
News from the Membership Committee
By Diane Macdonald
We have some new members! Please introduce yourself to them and help them feel welcome.
TYSON SCHMIDT – Tyson hails from Olds but came to Calgary to attend SAIT, then moved back in 2021 following work in the Oil and Gas sector. He is a Real Estate agent with ReMax and enjoys playing and watching sports. We’re pleased you have chosen our Club, Tyson.
A Rotary Welcome to all of you!
JOEL SNODGRASS – Joel is originally from Medicine Hat and more recently from Lethbridge, where he was an active member of the Rotary Club of Lethbridge. He is a business professional in the Commercial Banking sector, moving to Calgary with RBC Royal Bank in the last several months. Before Covid, Joel volunteered during his travels at orphanages in Costa Rica and Laos and taught English to students in Vietnam. Welcome to Calgary and to our Club, Joel.
ROBERT WOODWARD -Robert was introduced by Bob Ermter at a recent in-person meeting. Rob is a Calgarian who has a background in Political Science and Law and is currently practicing primarily family law, with some work in wills and estates. He co-hosts Canada’s Family Law podcast, Divorced and Done. Of special note, Rob is also a practicing magician and maintains an interest in politics.
Bowness Family Skate Night
By Manon Mitchell, The Fellowship Committee
Please join us Monday December 19 (weather permitting) for some family fun in Bowness Park for a skate, hot chocolate, fire and fellowship!
Skates are available to rent at the Clubhouse (so no excuses). If you don't want to skate, no worries, we need a fire stoker!
Date: Monday, December 19 (weather permitting)
Location: Bowness Park - 8900 48 Ave NW
Time: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Meet at the main building. We’ll discover together our assigned fire pit. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Rotary Helps YYC: A new Rotary Pilot Initiative
By Franco Savoia
Community Service Directors of the Rotary Clubs in Calgary and area have been meeting monthly over the past two years to share learning and identify opportunities for pooling resources and advancing projects. In one meeting, an agency leader shared that it would be more efficient if she could apply once and reach all of the Rotary clubs with one application.
This suggestion has evolved into Rotary Helps YYC. Five Rotary Clubs (Calgary, Centennial, Chinook, East and North) formed a collaborative to develop and implement a pilot to develop, create and implement “one window” for organizations to access Rotary resources. Rotary District 5360 is also represented on the collaborative. Our Rotarian aspirations for the pilot is that over time we will make it easier and more efficient for potential community partners to access Rotary. It is also hoped that it will assist our clubs in building a data base of requests and identify trends and needs across our community. And lastly, create opportunities to leverage the resources of all of our clubs for greater impact. Although we are five clubs, we hope that over time all 13 Calgary Rotary Clubs will join this collaborative approach.
The new collaborative met with Technology Helps, a social enterprise committed to reduced digital poverty. It contracted Technology Helps to configure a SharePoint app for an online Rotary “window.” Each of the 5 clubs contributed $500 to develop the “digital” Rotary window.
The collaborative shared the “draft” with some Rotary community partners. They applauded the effort at greater coordination among the Rotary Clubs. Their input and feedback was incorporated and there will be a “testing” of the final version of Rotary Helps YYC with community agencies.
The commitment of each club is to put the link on its website. The 5 clubs are developing the communication that will be shared with all of their community partners. Interested community organizations will have the option of applying to the individual club and/or apply to all 5 clubs by clicking on the Rotary Helps YYC link. All applications will be shared with all five clubs. Communication and some training for all five clubs will be critical in the implementation of the pilot.
More information will be made available to all club members on an ongoing basis.
New Name Tags are coming!
By Manon Mitchell
Our new name tags will be arriving shortly. It was time for a refresh of the old design especially since the cowboy hat sitting atop of the Rotary wheel was not in line with Rotary’s branding and image guidelines. In addition, we’ve moved to magnetic clasps to make it easier to affix to a wider variety of clothing articles.
We strongly recommend that you pick up and drop off your name tag at the registration desk at club meetings. They will be organized in alphabetical by your FIRST NAME.
Watch for your new name tag coming soon to an “in person” Rotary meeting!
Educating African Youth Committee
By Diane Macdonald
Below is another letter of appreciation from another of the students supported by our EAY program. $3,000 will fund tuition and living expenses for a three year degree. There has been 100% employment for graduates of the program and now many of those grads are helping pay to educate their younger siblings. For more information, go to our Club website.
I am Kamoga Eric a student from St. Lawrence Villa Maria School of Nursing and Midwifery, am in my last year and that's third year semester one. When I lost my parents, I stayed with my aunt who supported me and completed my O'level in 2018 from Buyamba secondary School. My aunt is a house wife who earns her living from small farming and has her own children. When I finished my O'level and passed well, my dream was to become a medical Doctor but I was like what am I going to do to realize my dream since I have no parents and my aunt cannot afford University tuition?
As I was thinking of what to do my aunt approached Mr. Kayinga who promised her to consult Rotarians in Kyotera and Kalisizo for support, later he came back with good news that after consulting Rtn. Kyaluzi Francis of Kalisizo, I was shortlisted for support under Educating African Youth Program.
In 2019 I was asked to get admission in a medical school of my choice; I started to search for admission until when I was given admission in St. Lawrence Nursing School, Villa Maria where I am studying in my final year. It was a blessing that since 2019, I got second parents and these are Rotarians who are taking care of all my needs.
I am so grateful, appreciative and proud of Rotary for supporting me throughout this course and may the almighty God continue blessing the hands of all Rotarians. Nothing to say, but am so grateful to the following people Rtn. Kyaluzi Francis, Mr Jimmy Kayinga, Rtn. Joseph Mutajjululwa, and all Rotarians in Uganda and Canada for making a difference in my life and other vulnerable children. Thank you for being good parents.
I promise I will make sure that when I start working, I will also support other children who are needy to continue with their education.
Proudly Presenting Our Corporate Members
COG Staff - December 6, 2022
Editor:
Andrea Serink & Diane Macdonald
Contributors:
Manon Mitchell, Franko Savoia, Madeleine King and Bill Kaufmann.
Rotary Club of Calgary - Chartered April 1914 as Club #949
.png)
