Meeting of September 10, 2013

There was a definite levity to the atmosphere at today’s meeting, and a large number of guests and visiting Rotarians were there to enjoy our weekly Oak Bay Rotary meeting. This levity was matched by the lightness of Tom’s fingers as he accompanied us in O Canada. President Pete thanked all for coming, and noted that it was Rotary Youth Services Month. He mentioned the impact youth leaders will have in the future and spoke of Logan Graham, a past Interact President, who is presently doing a semester at Singapore University. Logan has shown great leadership—he is presently advocating building a school in Africa and, in the past, has fundraised for childhood arthritis—among many other selfless projects. Mark, in lieu of an AWOL Giles, said grace. Lunch, as usual, was delicious—curried beef stir-fry and ever-so-dainty desserts.

Peter Sou announced the Guests and Visiting Rotarians:

Jim and Claire Sleight (Southam 2000 England); Bob and Cathy Hargreaves (Nelson, BC); Ryan Gisler and Janna Malo; Sandy Currie; Tim Ennis and Dr. Linda Hannah of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (guests of the club and today’s speakers); Markus Ludwig (guest of Don O’Coffey); and last, and almost forgotten, but certainly not least, Betty Pitt (Vicky’s mom).

Announcements: Please read all carefully, and in true Rotary Spirit, please offer to help if you can. 

Heather has Thrifty Smile Cards for anyone who wants them. This year the money raised will go to purchase document projectors for Macaulay Elementary School. Thursday week (September 19) join Heather and Wendy to make Cotton Candy at Macaulay Elementary School to raise even more funds. Please contact Heather if you can help, or if you would simply love the experience of having pink hair. 

Jim had a slate of announcements:

1. On Saturday September 14, from 1 to 4PM at the Monterey Recreation Centre, the Oak Bay Community Expo will give organizations an opportunity to strut their stuff. This is a chance for Rotary to have a presence in the community, tell about what we do, and introduce the Canada Flag Project. Please see Jim if you can help. 

2. On Saturday, September 28, the Oak Bay Community Association is sponsoring a beach cleanup between 10 and noon at McNeil Bay. All we have to do is show up. Wear something that shows you are with Rotary. 

3. Next week bring bottles (and other recyclables that bring in $) to the Hotel’s parking area up top—Rotaract will gladly take them from you for a very good cause. 

4. Still on the Rotaract theme, we are going to be helping them serve lunch at Our Place on Pandora on October 5. Jim would like six volunteers to help six rotaracters. This should be a rewarding effort. 

Perry announced a meeting of the PR committee immediately following this meeting in the library.

Tricia encouraged Advertisers to advertise on our club’s website. A link on the bulletin as well as on the website takes you to the advertiser’s own website.  For $125 a year, you also get a spot on the back of the printed Contact sheet containing every members name, address, email address, and phone number. Please talk to David Sills or Anne Sims if you are interested. If you would like graphic material set up for your ad, Tricia will do it for you for the huge sum of Free!

Bob spoke about this coming Saturday’s Rotary Social at his home. He will send out an email to those who are coming, to work out who is bringing what.

Don will be cooking hotdogs for the ALS Walk this Sunday morning. It’s at the UVic parking lot starting at 10AM.  He needs one more man (loud boos for sexism!) to help make the dogs for this worthy cause. If you cannot help Don, perhaps you can help Lynne who will be walking for her sister. If you would like to support Lynne in her walk, please click this link to go to the secure ALS donation page. Every little bit counts. Tax deductible receipts are issued immediately. 

The final tally is in for the car raffle. Perry was congratulated for his astounding effort at getting sellers out. We were estimating 3 or 4 thousand but we raised $6240 – just for helping the Victoria Rotary Club. (Wendy and Lynne were superheros as ticket sellers!) The winner of the Nissan Rogue was Christina Martinez; Eileen Bedingfield won the Princess Cruise for 2 to Alaska, and Trish Hajash won the Apple iPad. (Anyone know them?)

Rotaract has invited club members to attend an evening with Dr. Valerie Taylor, the founder of the Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed. It's on Friday, September 13, 7-9PM at the UVic Bob Wright Building, room A104. It's free. Details: www.valerietaylor.splashthat.com

Jessica was in Fine Form. She scored the price of a dinner from people who were late – so many you remain unnamed, but you had to be on your honour and pay up. Same idea if you weren’t wearing your pin. Also in was $10 from early leavers. If you had only males at your table, that cost a loonie. (She did say “one gender” tables, but the fine only went to the all-male tables – more sexism? – or no all-female tables?) If you happened to be sitting at the same table as last week – another loonie. If you hadn’t responded to Bob’s Social invitation, a toonie. Vicky knew the answer was “knitting” to the question: What activity helps with post-traumatic stress disorder, as reported in the Rotarian Magazine. The rest of us paid up. Mark had a birthday: Happy Birthday Mark was sung with gusto. He was also happy that his house in Kelowna was moved successfully and he and Jo can move in on the 25^th of this month. We will miss you Mark. Leslie had a sad dollar, because she saw Jessica on the front page of the OB News not wearing a Rotary pin. Tom Lidkea was happy that we reminded him of his wedding anniversary; Batya was happy (I think it was a happy dollar) that she was married 42 years, and not 2, as was announced last week. Lynne is happy that she has finally bitten the bullet and will hook up to the machine. Rod is happy to be off to Rome for two weeks with Brenda and two friends. Jacqueline announced she is leaving the club, but will be joining Qualicum with her new partner, David Shepherd, who is also a Rotarian. She was happy to have friends from her Nelson club join her today, as well as their friends from England.

Jim Sleight (right) of Southam 2000, England presented a banner to President Pete, but we did not have one to give him in return L 

Janna Malo and Ryan Gisler announced that they are applying to join Rotary—they are happy about that. John Jordan felt that the world breathes a bit easier today regarding Syria—he was very happy about that. Lori, who is the self-declared official OBR dessert taster paid up for being caught sampling a dainty morsel off president Pete’s plate. (Would she have paid up if she hadn’t been caught?—that’s a Rotary Q&A). Lorna has a new grandchild on the way and may have to leave for SFO at a moment's notice. She is super happy about that. 

She also urged us to join friends for Pink Above the Rink at our old stomping grounds, the Oak Bay Rec Centre, on September 27 in the Sports View Lounge. A Ticket costs $20 and includes a Greek-style buffet dinner, Pink Cocktails, door prizes, silent auction, raffles, and more. It's to benefit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Tickets can be purchased at the recreation centres.

Lucky Lorna (left) also won the draw scoring a not-so-lucky black marble, but fifteen bucks was a nice haul anyway.

Perry introduced the speakers: Dr. Linda Hannah and Tim Ennis of the NatureConservancy of Canada (NCC). (Photo below)

Tim is the Manager of the NCC’s West Coast Program–which focuses on the conservation and stewardship of lands from Victoria to the Central Coast to Haida Gwaii. He is passionate about the west coast, and is committed to working with the people who live here to conserve the very best of its natural heritage. Linda is the BC Regional Vice-President for the NCC. She served as Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for BC Fisheries and also worked in the Premier’s Office as the ADM responsible for implementation of the Nisga’a Treaty. Currently her main focus is overseeing the NCC’s conservation work across British Columbia. 

The Conservancy's Mission is to create a natural legacy to protect the environment and the species that inhabit it, so that it will be there for our children's children. They take the direct approach to doing this: Buying land and using conservation tools to directly protect the beautiful places this country has to offer. Tim showed excellent slides of areas where they are working, including Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve, representing one of the most endangered ecosystems in Canada. There is also a huge host of species that are endangered because their habitats are being lost. One of the biggest issues is scotch broom. The Cowichan preserve is one of the best in the country, but there are still problems with invaders. It's the kind of habitat stewardship NCC is proud of. Some of the endangered species Tim spoke of are Howell’s triteleia, yellow prairie violet, and the Western Bluebird. The latter used to be in Oak Bay. They are not extinct, but are no longer in BC. The NCC would like to restore these birds back into their habitat. Tim has a particular affection for Fire as a mechanism for controlling invasive species. The NCC works closely with First Nations–they learn from them what the landscape used to be like, and in exchange they educate children in the communities.

Other NCC-involved areas and items Tim touched on included: The Chase Woods Conservation Area, the Peregrine Falcon, the Campbell River Estuary, James Island (a rare habitat of sand dunes and sand spits where they are working with the US owner to preserve it), Sooke Hills, Princess Louisa Inlet, Jervis Inlet, Vargas Island on Clayqquot Sound, Haida Gwaii, the Kumdis River Estuary, the Koeye River Estuary, central coast rainforests near Bella Bella, the Wanuku River Conservation Area, and Rivers Inlet. Money comes from one-third corporate, one-third government, and one-third private donors and foundations. Their policy is not to close areas to the public, unless the species are at risk. People are part of nature, and have an important role to play. How we react with nature is what is important. 

Joan Peggs thanked the speakers, and presented Tim with an Oak Bay Rotary Mug. 

Report and photos by Tricia Timmermans