Meeting at the Rec Centre, May 7, 2013. Induction of Gianfranco Mosca

Reporter: Peter Johannknecht

Greeters were Perry Bamji and Neil Rawnsley. Grace was led by Neil. Tom L. accompanied the large group (40+) in singing O Canada.

Guests: Assistant Governor, Hugh Robertson and Gianfranco Mosca, although it was his last day as a "guest" of this club, as he was inducted today. President Joan Peggs welcomed back Corey Burger after a leave of absence.
Health of the Club: Mary Canty sadly reported that Hans Ockermueller is not doing well and his wife Lesley is setting up hospice at home. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this very difficult time. Lesley will let us know if and when visits are possible.

Gianfranco, Sabrina, Hugh Robertson and President Joan

President Joan asked Lynne Murray, Sabrina Corraini and Gianfranco Mosca to the podium. Sabrina had introduced Gianfranco as a guest when she was still a guest of the club herself. Gianfranco is the General Manager of Veritalia and his category is “Chef - Business Owner”. Perry Bamji and Tricia Timmermans welcomed him by reading the preamble of Rotary and emphasizing the core values of our club. After a rousing standing ovation of all members, Gianfranco thanked the club with a big smile. Gianfranco will be a member of the Public Relations Committee. Assistant Governor Hugh Robertson took advantage of this special occasion by awarding Sabrina with a pin showing a torch, recognizing her effort to introduce a new member so quickly. Only 15% of Rotarians bring in new members, a low number we could all work on increasing.

Sabrina Corraini, our previous newest member, pins Gianfranco Mosca, our newest member.

Announcements:

Neil Rawnsley summarized the final work of the ‘New Venue’ Committee, finalizing the information for voting on where the club will meet in the future: The Oak Bay Beach Hotel or the Oak Bay Rec. Centre. Bob Schelle, together with Lori McLeod, Brian Lamb, Neil Rawnsley and Barry Mutter have established a RFP since last October to request fair and comparable proposals from both venues. The responses are summarized in one spreadsheet. All active members of the club will receive an email from David Stock, acting as the ‘Returning Officer’. He will send and receive the relevant information and votes.  Two weeks of response time should be sufficient for all members to cast their votes. President Joan thanked the committee members for all of their hard work and efforts to manage and delegate this process. President Joan also thanked all the members who vigorously put their time and skills towards the huge success of the Tuscan Dinner. A report on the final numbers will follow soon.

John Jordan is currently organizing a plant sale with his wife Toni this coming weekend. It is a perfect time to add some blooming beauties to your yard. So please go and buy Fri, Sat & Sun from 10am-2pm at 178 Beach Drive. All proceeds go to orphans and widows in Rwanda! Find out more here or phone John and Toni at 250 598 9739.

HELP NEEDED:

Wynn Taylor is reminding the club that the Oak Bay Carnarvon Rotary Water Park will get cleaned this weekend. Sweat $$$ are required and please come this Saturday at 9AM to help out. The more the merrier!

The OB Tea Party is coming up fast and Will Carter is not able to do it all alone. He needs at least 2 more to help organize the event, which has been a big success over the last years.

Don O’Coffey is asking for help with the flag project. There are only 24 left! He mentioned how wonderful the concept of placing flags in someone’s front yard is and how it is building a community.

As Fines Master, Lori McLeod improvised quickly by pulling loonies from almost every member. Remember to take ‘The Rotarian’ out of the plastic. It will save you some $ next week. Bill Burns won with ticket #145.  To add more funds, Brian Lamb auctioned off a Cobbs Bakery bag with coupons for 2 cinnamon buns for an incredible $7. Vicky Pitt and Wolf Schopper were bidding on pierced earrings. Vicky won with $20 out of her pocket. Make sure that you comment on this fine jewelry next week. Will Carter bought a pass to Butchart Garden worth $28 for $10.

Wolf Schopper introduced Peter Lawrie who was speaking about “Fun-draising”. His 20-minute presentation had to be compressed into 8 minutes since time is always running faster than we think. The main message was to take the ‘Dread’ out of Fun'D'raising and to focus on the purpose of contributing to the community AND having some fun. It was amazing to hear that our club has, to date, raised over $660,000 with an almost even 50/50 contribution to local and international projects. A quick table vote revealed that the majority seems content with this ratio. Our annual FUNraising target of approximately $35,000 is a number most members were comfortable with.

Meet our newest member, Gianfranco Mosca

 

The meeting closed with God Save the Queen.