Program for February 18, 2014 - Operation Superhero

Change In Pace                    

President Peter welcomed Mary Canty back from her sojourn in Guatemala and suggested she begin the meeting with a brief chat on how the experience made her proud to be a Rotarian. She had a great experience visiting with John Snively and his crew of Rotarians who are there performing needed dental work for the local inhabitants in the villages along the shore of Lake Atitlan.

It must be a first for this Club - there were no visiting Rotarians or other guests, although the President suggested that a premature introduction of the guest speaker was in order. Grace was provided by Sabrina Coraini.

Eugen (Big Stick) Bannerman

The S-at-A continued his theme of member education on the history of the Oak Bay Rotary Club. Fines were liberally assigned for those who did not know that:

• October is the 40^th anniversary of the Club.
• The cost of lunch in 1974 was $3.00 compared to $21.00 today
•  Women were invited to join RI beginning in 1987
•  The first woman joined the Oak Bay Club in 1992

More money was raised from those who were not aware what Brian and Wynn had in common – both are Rotarians, both are rowers, and both insist on wearing the old style white plastic name badges.

One of the David’s was fined for his advance payment of $2.00 to gain immunity from today’s fines. And, finally, Pablo suggested all those members who ate their taco lunch with a knife and fork pay a penalty. The S-at-A agreed as it was apparent that this group was in the majority.

Two Happy / Sad dollars were paid by Jack Petrie who observed that a Rotary wheel could be fashioned if the two facing half-filled tables were joined together. (Personally I think he got off far too lightly with only a two dollar fine for this wry observation.)

Announcements

Center For The Performing Arts – Jessica is selling raffle tickets for this fundraiser - $20 a ticket or three for $50 and a chance to win  a cruise.

New Orleans Dinner  –  Brian advises that there are only six tickets remaining for this major event on May 11.

Youth Committee Appointments – Tom Croft announced that Michaela Bab was selected to attend the Adventures in Citizenship meeting in Ottawa and that Julia Marshall and Ruby Tang would be attending this year’s RYLA meeting in Tacoma.

Unscripted Moments

Jack Petrie presented a slide show featuring various members in a series of candid poses over the past six months. The inset captions gave an added humorous dimension to the pictures. Jack used his usual flair and reasonably good taste to portray us in much gentler situations than that shown by the hidden camera in the old television program.

Operation Superhero

Anne-Lise coordinates philanthropic funding at UVIC to support the efforts of CanAssist, a program designed to help everybody reach their full potential. Her slide presentation “Operation Superhero” included many examples of people who have benefited from using amazing CanAssist innovations from 1) ‘Move like a Cheetah’ featuring Karen who functions with two tubes; 2) ‘Think like a Computer’ with Jordan utilizing CanPlan Apps to organize his day; 3) ‘And Even Levitate’ with Barber Bob using a mechanical hoist to serve his customers; and 4) ‘Here Comes Marion’ utilizing a Skype program in her battle with dementia.

Another UVIC program is TeamWork designed to connect disabled youth to meaningful work. There are four Avenues of Support – to improve independence and quality of life, to help youth find employment, to encourage skill-building and to boost self-confidence.

Brian Lamb thanked Anne-Lise for her presentation and remarked on his 15 year friendship with the Loomer family. Her father and brother are fellow rowers. He remarked that UVIC, once perceived as a remote island, is doing something practical for the community – Who Would Have Thought !!!!

(Here we see Brian thanking Anne-Lise for meeting with the Club today and thanking Mary Canty for owning the podium at the start of the meeting.)