January 22, 2013 Bulletin

Reported by Tom Croft; Photos by David Sills

Opening:

President Joan opened meeting at 12:15 - right on time. We were treated to a humorous Rotary awareness video provided by Joan Firkins. Tom Lidkea led us in O Canada - what a change from the a cappella version we have been tolerating of late. Grace was provided by Ron Cooley.

Visitors and Guests:
Lorna Curtis introduced the visiting Rotarians and Guests: 

• John Samsom, Rotarian
• Brian Price, Speaker 
• Sabrina Corraini, Guest 
• Moira Hall and Anna Young of the Oak Bay High School Interact Club

Health of the Club:

Mary Canty reported that David Philip is back in hospital and Donna Chow is home after the birth of her child.

Paul Harris

Neil Rawnsley presented Lorna Curtis with her Paul Harris recognition

Announcements:

·      Jack Petrie: there will be a Fireside at Jack's house on March 13 - details to follow.

·      Laurie McLeod introduced a process to determine whether the Club meetings will continue to be held at the Rec Centre or relocate back to the Oak Bay Beach Hotel

·      Brian Lamb reminded that there is a sign-up sheet circulating for lunch at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel on January 29

·      Leslie Rogers-Warnock provided a summary of the Merrython Fun Run: $3,200 was raised. She offered big thanks for all the support

·      Notice was given of a Membership Proposal for Sabrina Corrainia; membership has been accepted by the Board. Her bio follows:

I have been in the financial services business since 2002, beginning on the banking side while I completed my bachelor's degree in English Literature at the University of Victoria, and then transitioning to wealth management after my graduation in 2006. I have since earned my Canadian Investment Manager designation through the Canadian Securities Institute in 2010. 

I work with individuals and business owners to identify their financial goals and then develop a personalised plan to ensure those goals are achieved. I believe in a comprehensive approach to wealth management, focussing not only on your investments but also on your insurance (life, disability, critical illness), tax-planning, and estate-planning needs.

Though originally from Red Deer, Alberta, I have spent most of my life here in Victoria, BC. Outside of the office I am active in community sports such as fastball and curling. I also love to travel and have seen much of Europe and North America. I am a classically trained pianist, and I enjoy sitting down to play from time to time. 

Moira and Anna presented a cheque for $2,000 on behalf of the Interact Club for the Rwanda Sustainable Households project and the Malawi Girls’ School.

Fines' Master Neil Rawnsley: Wynne paid for being last in; Ron Beyer was late again; Lorna Curtis was late to do her Greeter duty; Ron Cooley made an RRSP gaff during Grace.

Club Anniversaries: 11 years for Anne Sims, and it was David Maxwell's anniversary too;
Holidays: Anne Sims, Joan Firkins, Leslie Rogers-Warnock.

Birthdays: Jack Petrie, David Westler.

Neil was also fined - for finding the Fines Master kit.

Happy Sad $: Leslie is happy to go on holidays, but sad for David's mini - you can’t see it!

Joan Peggs: can run, but why? Renate is off to Kenya; Joan Firkins is off to Rotary training in San Francisco, and is happy to announce the new Rotary slogan for 2013/2014: Engage Rotary; Change Lives; Jessica Van Der Veen and Tom Lidkea are sad not to be in Maui; Lorna is going away to down under; Jim is sad for the closure of the Caddie Bay bookstore.

Ron Cooley: “Similarities between the Leafs and Whiskey?”  “They are both good till they hit the ice”.

 The Draw, Lori wins $19 - one marble left.

GUEST SPEAKER:

Brian Lamb introduced the speaker, Brian Price (above with President Joan), the coxswain for the Canadian Men's Eight rowing team; he as 16 medals to his credit including Gold in Beijing and Silver in London. 

Five months ago Brian was in London for the final race of the men’s eights. There were over 30,000 fans waiting to cheer for Britain. Brian was most nervous and asked himself why he was making a comeback after winning gold in Beijing?  He realized he was facing a great divide in his life: win another medal and he would then have a future as a motivational speaker;  come fourth and at least he has his family in Victoria to come back to.  Imagine - three times to the Olympics and only 45 minutes to go before the start!  In the pre-race speech, the coach said nobody cares if you don’t medal, push yourself further, imagine what is possible; there will be fight all the way to the end. Never stop fighting!

Brian leads us through the race.  The warmup is just as important as the start.  He starts with the four bow rowers taking 10 sharp strokes; the stern then knows everyone in the bow is ready. Then 10 more sharp strokes from the 4 stern rows, this sets the rhythm. All 8 rowers are ready to go.

The buildup to a 15-minute race is unbelievable; make sure that the last 25 strokes before the start are smooth. Review the countdown to make sure you are set and ready. Stay on focus; everyone is very nervous for the right reasons. What does Brian do? Well he doesn’t beat on a drum nor sing “Row-Row-Row” your boat. He tells the crew what to do: keep the boat straight, execute the race plan, and motivate the crew.

Brian looks down the course. There is the roll call, and then they go. They get into the race right away at 50 strokes a minute. At 45 seconds, the lactic acid cuts in, drive through it, then saw wood for 1,000 meters; at 750 meters it really hurts; at 1,500 meters Brian asked the crew what medal do you want, they flick the on switch on; at 250 meters out there are just 24 strokes to go: 7, 7, 10.  The crew finishes in second for an Olympic Silver medal.  He said as they crossed the line “Better be proud of that”!  He then played a two-minute video of the race.

Brian felt that this medal was a family medal. The expressive smiles on faces of the crew indicated that they all had achieved a dream.  Everyone in the room felt the exhaustion of winning that medal!

Jim Force thanked the speaker and noted that the presentation was a metaphor for “Service Above Self”.  We all felt exhilarated by the win!

Joan and Perry

The meeting was closed with Tom Lidkea on the piano leading us in God Save the Queen.