President Pete Lawrie (right) opened the meeting by reminding us that
Rotary Awareness Month is a good time to highlight our club’s activities starting with today’s meeting which is packed with info: There's the Annual General Meeting for the Club; the Annual General Meeting for the Oak
Bay Rotary Foundation; and the Club Assembly. He noted that this year’s Board
of Directors set a goal for 100% engagement from the membership and, after
reviewing the club roster, he proudly reported that every single person in our
club has been, or currently is, involved in some club activity, and many are
involved in multiple initiatives.
The National Anthem was sung to a special video
presentation and was followed by President Pete’s Welcome and Happy New Year to
all. Apparently, he was so excited about
the pending AGM’s that he forgot his opening address.
Sandy Currie introduced and welcomed our sole guest,
Rotarian Stewart Adam from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
Celebrations Master Jack Petrie (right) tested us all on New Orleans
trivia and, even though we didn’t do too well this week, he’ll be keeping New Orleans awareness top priority as a lead-up to our May fundraising dinner. (HINT: brush up on your trivia….or bring
lots of loonies next week!) Neil Rawnsley was
fined as he was spotted dipping into his wallet while on cash desk duty. Lynne Murray paid the fine as, apparently,
Neil was just lending Lynne money for lunch. Bill Burns was fined for missing his kettle duty shift. (Busted only
because he was on shift with Jack.)
Happy & Sad Dollars:
- Lynne Murray gave a happy $5 for the excellent Christmas dinner she enjoyed at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel which ended with a ride home in the OBBH Rolls.
- Heather Aked gave a happy dollar for passing the first level of her Certified Financial Planner designation.
- Ron Cooley put in a sad dollar because he drove all the way to Dave Maxwell’s winery for a tasting only to find the doors locked and the lights out. (Dave said he works hard to keep the riff raff out!)
- Michelle LeSage put in a sad dollar for arriving late/leaving early and a happy dollar for being assisted with her bulletin duty by fellow Rotarian and friend Lori McLeod.
50:50 Draw:
Was won by Michelle Le Sage. Unfortunately, even though there were only 2 marbles left, she picked the
wrong one. Next week’s winner will win
big!
Rotary Club of Oak Bay Foundation Annual General Meeting:
Dave Maxwell (left) chaired the Annual General Meeting for the
Rotary Club of Oak Bay Foundation. The agenda
and all reports were previously circulated to the membership for review and
copies were also available at the meeting for reference. The minutes of this AGM were recorded by
Vicky Pitt and will be circulated to the membership in due course. It was noted that, as this is the 3rd
year the Foundation has been in place, there are now funds to disburse. A meeting will be held to discuss granting
priorities next week, so if you are interested, please contact the OBR
Foundation Board members for further information.
Rotary Club of Oak Bay Annual General Meeting:
Pete Lawrie chaired the Annual General Meeting for the
Rotary Club of Oak Bay. The Agenda and
all reports were previously circulated to the membership for review and copies
were also available at the meeting for reference. It was noted that there was insufficient
notice regarding the bylaw amendments so the vote will be conducted at next
week’s Rotary meeting. Joan Peggs
advised that the amendments being proposed are all related to bringing our
club’s bylaws in line with Rotary International’s bylaws. Prior to Brian Lamb’s Nominating Committee
report, Jim Force delivered a heartfelt
message about why he feels inspired to run for President. His top 3 reasons were:
- High Status – Our club has
a ‘high status’ in the Rotary world. We are consistently in the top three every year for per capita
giving in our district;
- International Project
Status – Our small club does big things internationally with 5
international projects on the go which is an amazing accomplishment;
- His Status – Jim is a “Past President Wannabe”
The detailed minutes of the club’s AGM were recorded by the
Club Secretary (at least I hope they were…because the bulletin recorder didn’t
do it!) and will be circulated to the membership in due course.
Club Assembly:
David Westler (left) provided a report on International Service
Projects. He noted that our club is
undertaking many interesting and challenging projects across various
geographies around the world. These
projects are driven by passionate Rotarians who have first-hand exposure to the
needs in developing communities and have seen the contrast between those
conditions and the quality of life we
enjoy in Canada. He outlined the funds
released or approved and commended the following Rotarians and their projects:
- Mark Bedford – India
toilet project (Club $2,500 +
District Matching Grant $2,500 + PUC $1,000)
- Jacqueline Mealing –
Guatemala Women’s Centre (Club $1,000 – project managed by Ladysmith
Rotary Club)
- John Jordan – Rwandan
Widow Sustainability Project & Stoves (Club $2,800 + District
Community Grant $2,500)
- John Snively – Guatemala
Dental Equipment Project (Club $2,500 from last year’s budget + $2,500
from this year’s budget)
- Shelter Box Philippines
was awarded $1,000 from our club
- Malawi Girls School was
awarded $2,000
- The Mexico project budget
of $2,500 is outstanding as we are waiting for RI Global Grant approval
which will trigger our funding.
David closed by noting that it is particularly satisfying going forward
to create new value-added projects. He
thanked everyone for their contributions.
Wynn Taylor (left) provided a report on Community Service
Projects. He noted that a meeting was
held with Ray Herman from Oak Bay Parks & Recreation to determine a
‘ballpark’ amount for furnishing the teen centre as well as look at other
potential projects. Wynn noted that our
club has been saving funds for the teen centre and so far we have approximately
$33,000 towards the $40,000 ‘ballpark’ that was identified for furnishing the
new centre. Now that we are close to our
goal for this project, Wynn noted that we can start to plan for new
projects. There are two ‘shovel ready’
projects being considered: Swings at
Lafayette Park (approx $1,000); and a climbing wall at the OBR swimming
pool. There is also a possibility, if the
project receives approval from the municipality, that there is an opportunity to
fund a kiosk at Cattle Point. Wynn
noted that the committee will be reviewing spending priorities at their meeting
next week and if you are interested, contact him and join in.
The meeting was adjourned and finished with the usual
musical tribute to the Queen.
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