Don Mee's - May 29, 2012

It's Bike to Work Week – though I don’t think anyone biked to lunch today!

We all gathered for lunch upstairs at Don Mee’s where the action was lively,  boisterous and loud. President Joan had her hands full in making sure everyone was seated and that everyone had a place.  The noise level remained high until lunch arrived when talking gave way to eating.

A guzunder (the real deal!) was available during the meal for anyone who wished to “relieve themselves” of any pennies in their possession.  The pennies will go to our support of literacy.

Ron, Neil, Jerry, Peter and Jean, Betty and Don, Prez Joan, and Ron

President Joan went through the questions on the Chinatown quiz she had emailed previously:

1. Chinatown was known as ... Forbidden City
2. Fan Tan is the name of a ... Chinese gambling game
3.  The stone figures at the base of the Gate of Harmonious Interest are ... Lions
4.  The stone lion to the right (leaving Chinatown) is female                   
5. The red dragon at the corner of Government and Pandora has ... 5 toes
6.  The pearl in the Bright Pearl sculpture has several meanings  - one of which is ... Prosperity
7.  There were ... 9 opium dens in the period 1880-1910 (although the Chinatown brochure says “more than 10”)
8.  The 600 block of Cormorant ... (a) disappeared in 1962 (b) was replaced by Centennial Square
9.  The Hook Song Building (1912) in noted for its ... stained glass dome
10.  Approximately ... 400 residents now live in Chinatown
11.   Three Victorians of Chinese descent who have been appointed to the Order of Canada are ...
        Bruce Chown, Chuen-Yan David Lai, Jack Wei Yen Lee, Ronald Lou-Poi, and Peter Bowah Wong all listed as holding this award

Lynn Murray had the most answers followed by Mary.  President Joan presented Lynn with a pretty potted flower for her win. Lynn gave it to Mary so that Mary could plant it in her garden.
                                  

Vicky, Mary, Claire, Jack and Heather

We then enjoyed a meal which included spring rolls, wanton soup, stir fried veggies, sweet and sour pork, Beef with vegetables, noodles, prawns with mushrooms, and rice.  The control and turning of the Lazy Susan at each table provided ample opportunity for the exercise of the four way test (of the things we say, think or do...)

Dinner ended with the reading of the various proverbs at each table - mine said “courtesy is contagious” I hope that was a positive comment!

Reported by Vicky Pitt

May 22, 2012 Bulletin - Club Assembly

NOTICE of New Member Proposals:

Mr. Peter Sou, retired, a current member of the Rotary Club of Sidney, has applied to transfer to The Rotary Club of Oak Bay. Peter is a 2 x Paul Harris Fellow.

Ms. Wendy Townsend, Program Manager, Correctional Service Canada, has been proposed by  Anne Sims.

_____________________________________________________________________

The meeting today started brightly with the singing of O Canada, accompanied by the brilliantly talented Mr. Tom Lidkea.  Grace was said by Anne Sims before we sat down to a fish'n'chips meal, probably not the healthiest fare on earth but it tasted good. In keeping with the "what the heck" health attitude, we finished it off with Nanaimo Bars loaded with chocolate, and healthy enough mandarins.

Jerry McLean introduced the Guests and Visiting Rotarians:

Rotarians: Janet Power, Victoria Club; Wayne Evans, Kelowna Sunrise; and Peter Sou, Sidney.

Guests: Eileen Eby and Patricia Jutras were hosted by the club, Julie Evans by Wayne, Maureen Madsen by her father, Neil, Jim's wife Colleen was there, and Wendy Townsend was hosted by Anne Sims.

A Banner Presentation was made by Wayne Evans of Peachland. He presented a "collector's item" - the old Kelowna Sunrise banner, which has now been replaced. He also had pins for Joan and secretary Leslie. We will probably see more of Wayne, as he and Julie have a new grandson in Victoria, just a couple of blocks from the Recreation Centre.

Mark Bedford spoke on his wife Josephine's condition. She is in hospital and hopes to be out soon. 

Jim Force introduced the key people involved in the Start Early Literacy Awareness and Fundraiser. This was an initiative of the Rotary Clubs of Greater Victoria Literacy Roundtable. Nine Area 4A and 4B Rotary Clubs and the UVic Rotaract Club participated in the project; they were able to raise $3,550 and collect 180 children's books. Patricia Jutras, owner of Cadboro Bay Book Company, supported the campaign by distributing Start Early Bookmarks and inviting her customers to donate their "book points" to the cause. She was also able to obtain discounted prices on 745 board books (for babies) which she passed on to us. She took nothing for her efforts. The retail price of the 745 books was $6,453. The books were presented to Eileen Eby, project leader for 1000x5 Children's Book Recycling Project. The books will be distributed to local families through the Strong Start programs located in various elementary schools. A beautiful display of children's books was put together for our enjoyment.

Dallas had information on the District 5020 Conference - there are only 32 Days to go. The Home Hospitality program is looking for hosts. It's a great way to make new friends from afar. If you can help, please contact the Fellowship Chair, Judith Bowen, at jkbowen@shaw.ca, or 250 652 1672, or  Jinny Hambly, who is co-ordinating Home Hospitality at  jhambly@shaw.ca

Heather had a successful scoop with her "malaria net" (looked more like something you might catch a fish in, to me - or perhaps a really big mosquito), raising $156 - that's about 15 nets' worth. Thanks were received by email today from PDG, Ross White, for our contribution. Ross is collecting $ for  mosquito nets for a group from Sunyani in Ghana. The group will be coming to Nanaimo in June, and also attending the District Conference, where a cheque presentation will be made.

Fines' Master, Will, collected for all who hadn't signed up for the Tea Party roster, or didn't shake a visitor's hand, and/or whoever didn't know his This Day in History questions. One about the 1893 (who was round then anyway?) Stanley Cup prompted Phil to get up and speak about a relative of his who was on the winning Montreal team, a certain Billy Barlow.  Renate had a birthday, and Jim and Colleen had their 22nd anniversary.

Tom Croft had a $ or so to speak of the 5th Annual Bowker Creek Community Event to be held on Saturday June 9, from 11-3 at Fireman's Park. Events for the whole family are planned.

Joan P. had a sad dollar, as we had missed her 5th anniversary of joining Rotary (May 9, 2007). Wayne from Peachland had a happy dollar - he thanked Tom C. for loaning him money for lunch - he was sure we would have Visa or Mastercard here (and why don't we?). Heather had a saddie - her car got "smoked" in her cul-de-sac at home by a teenage driver.  She also apologised for missing Joan's 5th!

Tricia had some Happy $s in celebration of retrieving original typewritten minutes from 1974 (our Charter year) to 1976. They had been sitting in storage somewhere in the bowels of the Oak Bay Beach Hotel. New hotel owner, and son of Charter Member, Bruce Walker, Kevin Walker, had unearthed them. Mindful of last week's presentation on Women in Rotary by PDG Joan Firkins, she read a moderately-politically-correct entry by Brian, "reluctantly" typed on May 19, 1976, on the differences between male and female administrators. Look for copies of these minutes, starting with the very first (August 6, 1974) today, in future bulletins.  They will also be attached to the history page of our website shortly.

Tom C. won the money (that's what you get for being a sport with your wallet!) but chose the unlucky black marble.

Perry told of a bright idea Pete Lawrie had to fundraise, cashing in on the pennies that will soon be disappearing from Canadian wallets (and the innards of washing machines). Pete's idea is called: Pennies to Heaven: The Final Journey (steal this name at your peril). It costs the government $130M a year to keep them in circulation, so it's about time they went. And what better way than into Rotary funds. Perry handed out paper rolls to be filled in the hope of raising $3,000. That's 300,000 pennies if I have the math right. Perhaps put a notice up in your condo to spread the word. Hand your rolls in to Jim Force, Jim Laing, Peter Lawrie or Perry Bamji.

CLUB ASSEMBLY:

Treasurer, Brian Lamb, gave a brief summary of the financials. We've done well in unsolicited donations. The Tuscan Dinner is still being calculated, awaiting the Municipality to determine the credit card charges but it looks like it will be in the $19,000 vicinity. All of the International budget has been spent, and most of the Community Services budget is spoken for.

Barry Mutter spoke on retaining Membership - we are at 56, down from 65 in 2007. Work is being done to get back to this number, and to decrease the mean age. Two new members have been proposed this month - Wendy Townsend and Peter Sou.

Perry Bamji explained that David Westler is taking over the International Committee in July. He's very pleased to have spent all the IC money. He gave a brief outline of the five International projects, commending those who had spent personal time on the projects which were held in Mexico (Washrooms in Kindergarten); Guatemala (Mobile Dental Unit); Rwanda (John Jordan's stoves and more); South India (Mark's toilets); and the Malawi Girls' School. Our club has given $18,000 to this last project over five years.

Heather spoke on Administration. The bulletin notes are to be sent to Tricia directly. Lynne needs to know if members will not be attending meetings, or if you are bringing guests. It makes it much easier for the Rec Centre if they know how many are coming.

Jim Force spoke on behalf of Peter Lawrie. Youth was the emphasis for the Community Service Committee. Wynn Taylor will be next year's Director. See Peter's PowerPoint for details. CSC Assembly Update May 22,2012-DW

A reminder to all Directors to send updated reports to Tricia for inclusion on the web site. Here are the links to the various pages so you can check if they need updating:

Community;  Foundation; Administration; Membership; Public Relations; International.

The singing of God Save the Queen brought the meeting to an end but not before Perry waved Joan's chamber pot around one more time :). If you're wondering, the pot is to collect the pennies in!

Reporter and Blogger:
Tricia Timmermans

Rotary Meeting August 6, 1974

Bulletin - Meeting of May 15 2012 - Joan Firkins - Women in Rotary

REPORTED BY HEATHER AKED

Led by Tom Croft in the singing of O Canada and Jerry Mclean with the invocation, we commenced our meeting on a bright sunny day. 

A warm welcome back to Peter Johannkecht (left) after a leave of absence and to Tricia also back from her travels.  Bob Schelle introduced our one and only visitor, Peter Sou (right), from the Sidney Rotary Club.  Mary reported on the health of the club…David Philip is improving, Ted Harrison’s nurse reports that he’s bright and ‘chirpy’ and David Sills is recovering nicely from cataract surgery.

A few announcements: It was reported that the Carnarvan park clean up this past Saturday went very well thanks to Wynn (below ... with paint brush), Joan P, David M, David’s son Jonathon and friend Bruce, Brian and Don (I hope this reporter hasn’t missed anyone).  President Joan tells us that the new installation at the park – a whale - needs a name. She announced that there is a ‘name the whale competition’ contest.

President Joan's photo of Wynn at Work at the Carnarvon Clean-up

It’s Club Assembly next week and the following week the meeting is at Don Mei’s in Chinatown; Anne will be collecting the money for the lunch which is $18 per person.  

Bill Burns announced that those receiving multiple e-mails from him are not really from him; he’s working on figuring out what the technical glitch is. 

June 2/3 is the Oak Bay Tea Party; Will Carter is looking for volunteers to help, so please sign up; he will have the sign-up sheet at the May 22^nd meeting. 

Peter Lawrie announced that the Smart-Board presentation to George Jay Elementary will take place on Friday, May 25^th at 9:30 at the school.  If you can be there that would be great.

Will was our Celebrations Master again this week and collected multiple fines from us - I don’t believe anyone was able to answer all five questions he asked of us. Birthday wishes to Eugen and David M and happy anniversary to Wolf.  Lynne was the lucky winner of the draw but not quite as lucky with the marble.

On to our program... Wolf introduced the speaker - our very own Joan Firkins talking to us about Women in Rotary. Joan began with an update on the Tuscan Dinner which she noted went very well and while we haven’t the final numbers as yet, it appears that we’ll be very close to our target of $20,000.

Some of our female members!
Tricia, Lynne, Joan P, Joan F, Batya, Jessica, Mary, Anne and Heather
Missing: Lorna, Dallas, Renate, Lori, Jacqueline, Vicky and Leslie.

May 4^th of this year was the 25^th anniversary of admittance of women into Rotary – a milestone to celebrate for sure.  Joan presented us with the timeline of the journey which began in India in June of 1950 when the Rotary Club of Ahmedabath proposed that the word MALE be deleted from the RI Constitution (which was overwhelmingly rejected); it ended on May 4, 1987 when the US Supreme Court ruled that Rotary clubs may not exclude women from membership on the basis of gender. In 1989, the Council on Legislation voted to admit women into Rotary clubs worldwide.  (Hurray!)

From 1950 to 1989, the Council had considered 13 proposals to allow women into Rotary.  Proposals were laughed at and rejected, however, in June of 1977, the Rotary Club of Duarte, California, admitted 3 women as members.  In March of 1978, RI officially revoked the charter of  the Duarte club, however they continued to meet as The Ex-Rotary Club of Duarte, and proceeded to file a suit in the US Supreme Court which eventually led to the 1987 ruling. 

On July 1^st 1987, Sylvia Whitlock became the first woman Rotary Club president. On July 1, 1995, 8 women became District Governors. In June 1998, the Rotary Award for World Understanding was presented to Dr. Catherine Hamelin. On July 1, 2005, Carolyn Jones (D5010) became the first woman Trustee of the Rotary Foundation, and on July 1, 2008, Catherine Noyer-Riveau of France became the first women RI Director…..next up... RI President!  Notably on July 1, 2019 Dr. Sylvia Whitlock will become a District Governor, 25 years after being the first woman club president in Rotary.

Following Joan’s talk there were a few comments and questions, and notably some very kind words from Mark who remarked that ‘allowing’ women into the Rotary Club of Oak Bay was one of the best things that happened to this club.

Rod Sim properly thanked Joan for her talk, and also recognized the strengths of the women in our Club.

Rotary Meeting May 8, 2012

May 8, 2012. Reported by Jack Petrie

A sunny day and a sunny prez, perfect combination. Hans said the invocation; after that Tom on the keys and the rest of us...off-key, slightly, got through O Canada. It was enthusiastic! Once again, a lovely lunch, aren’t we lucky?... and our two guests were Jean Lawrie and our speaker, Dr. David Lai, both of whom were introduced by Don O’Coffey who was looking particularly sharp in an outfit that Calvin Klein would approve of. Pete Lawrie thanked Pablo, Perry awarded some money to aid John Snively and Jacqueline, recognizing their dedication to Guatemala, and Interact was mentioned for their good works.

Pete Lawrie (again!) was our last-minute fines master who had the audacity to arrange for his wife Jean to not only win the draw, but to also grab the white marble. An audit has been ordered. There was a $1.00 fine for everyone ‘who is not John Snively’, Dallas and Jack for looking prosperous, some anniversaries, etc.

Jim Force introduced our speaker, Dr. David Lai, who entertained and informed us on the history of Victoria’s Chinatown. Dr. Lai is a Professor Emeritus of Geography at UVIC, has written over 260 publications on the topic, and is a refreshingly down to earth, humble, and passionate purveyor of our Chinese citizenry. Many laughs burst forth from the simple statements of his own wonder (as a geographer), at being called a Historian, his surprise at being awarded the Honorary Citizen, and, after that ceremony, coming out to find he’d been also awarded a parking ticket. A lovely person who charmed and informed.

Brian Lamb thanked our speaker and we were on our way.

May 1 Bulletin

Date:    May 1st                     Monthly Theme –  Community                          Bulletin – David Maxwell

Call To Order: 12:15 pm

Presidents welcome and comment of the day:

Community Service month

Our  National Anthem:   O Canada    

Grace:  Jacqueline Mealing

Lunch—Guests and Visitors to the head of the line.

Introduce Visiting Rotarians and Guests of the Club: Brian Lamb. Keith Wells our guest speaker and Wendy Townsend a guest of Anne Sims

Health of the Club: Mary Canty

Announcements:

1.     Mark Bedford is back form south India and presented a banner from the Club there. He gave a brief summary of the project to build 10 toilets and a sewage system. He suggested that perhaps our club could continue to support this  project and that some members might want to go there too. It was very humid and hot but a worthwhile experience. Well done Mark!!

2.     Joan recognized members of the club who were active in Community Service. Tom Croft for getting Shoes for Kelowna, Jim Force for his work with Literacy and the book drive, the Evening Tuscany  committee who has now done this event for 3 years. Joan also mentioned the other many Club members who help with the book drive and the Tuscany evening.

3.     Jim Force gave a summary of the book drive where 8000 books were added to the event which is this weekend. Jim praised John Snively for his help and asked for other to help sort books this Thursday at the curling club from 10-1

4.     Wynn Taylor asked for volunteers again to help paint the Waterpark. Always a fun event with great donut and coffee!!  Please sign up for May 12 from 9-12!!

5.     Jacquelyn was selling Guatemala bags at the meeting for 40/50$. Really great craftmenship! 

Fines master: Tom Croft was the Fines Master and Ron Cooley also thought he was. Someone should get fined!!  Tom extracted money like a pro for infractions such as no pins and not helping with the fundrasiers. Happy and sad and B-days were also noted. Phil Neroutos celebrated 35 yrs with Rotary and Joan firkins 20!!! Brian won 12$ in the draw!

Introduce the Speaker: Barry Mutter

Speaker: Keith Wells – Send to News

Keith Wells was with CHEK TV until 3 years ago where he began a new venture called “Send to News”

The concept of the business is to consolidate and aggregate video form newsworthy events sent to the “send to News” platform who then sell the videos in real time to over 100 news rooms all over north America. Much of the work they have been getting  involves video from sports events which makes its way onto such broadcasts as ESPN and CBC. The Victoria based company has 15 employees and uses the latest Technology which has been incredible successful across the world for “Send to News”. Keith offered to have Rotary set up an account for free with STN and when noteworthy video (ie the book drive or Marks trip to India) is created, we can notify news outlets and so can  STN,  and we can send the content to them which in turn would increase the visibility of Rotary events and projects on a National or Local level.

Thank the speaker:  Phil Neroutsos

God Save The Queen was said, followed by the  Closing Bell