Meeting of August 27th and more.

What a lively group it was at Club in a Pub this past Thursday. Who knew that such intense emotions would surface over such topics as scooter licences, residential parking, and cyclists! You had to be there! The Rotaracters quickly discovered that we Rotarians can mix it up with the best of them.

Meeting of August 27: Report by David Westler (with a little help from Peter Sou) 

The August 27th meeting of the Oak Bay Rotary Club was called to order by President Peter Lawrie. Peter started the meeting by reminding us that we sometimes have to think or rethink of how to present and reinvent ourselves and presented a brief video that encapsulated the message. This amazing video showed how a Dutch museum of art organized a live show in a public place bringing the message of why the public should come and visit the museum. Tom Lidkea played the piano and Peter led the singing of O Canada. Peter reminded us that August is Rotary Membership and Extension Month in the Rotary calendar.

The Jaltemba Bay-OakBay Connection: John Edgell, Mary Alice Snyder, Linda Edgell and Ken Snyder

Pablo introduced the guests: Linda Edgell, Markus Ludwig, Mike Hodges, Sandy Currie and visiting Rotarian, Ken Snyder from Jaltemba Bay Rotary and his wife Mary Alice.  As well we had a whole contingent of Rotaracters: Rosie Mazzola, Emily MacLean, Connor Trelawney, Sarah Henry, Scott Higbie and Eric Young (pictured at right).

Announcements:  

•  Bob Schelle (left, with the "Object of Rotary" Banner) announced a social meeting to take place at his home on September 14 (a Saturday).
• Mary Canty, along with Joan Peggs and Eugen Bannerman, visited Ted Harrison who was pleased with the card signed by members last week. 
• Barry Mutter named three new candidates for membership, and that two members (Peter Playfair and September Smith) had left the club. When names and Categories for the new members are obtained, they will be posted the mandatory seven days in this bulletin.
• Sabrina Corraini, who is a member of the Victoria Curling Club Board, mentioned that the Curling Club is looking for advertisers.  
• Jim Force reminded us that Rotaract is raising funds for Polio Plus and is asking members to collect bottles. He also reminded us about “Club in a Pub” this Thursday, and that the flag program is about to complete the last of the three flag installments this Labour Day Weekend.  
• Lorna Curtis, as AG for District 5020, informed us about the Victoria Club's Centennial celebration gala and invited members to buy tickets.

Brian was the master of ceremonies or the “whip” extracting the dollars in his usual amusing way.

Leslie introduced our guest speakers: John Edgell and Ken Snyder. Both presented slides and a PowerPoint on the Jaltemba Bay Community Center project.

John Edgell is a Club past president who comes from a long line of Rotarians; today he was nominated as an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Jaltemba Bay. He is a retired Investment Adviser, father of 3, and grandfather of 5. John presented the project goals and impacts on the local community. John has also mentioned that the Rotary Club in Mexico has applied for a Rotary Global Grant.

Ken Snyder is a graduate in Accounting from Woodbury University of LA, CA. He worked as an auditor for 8 years for the US Army and the US Dept. of Health & Human Services in Germany, California, Arizona & Colorado.  Ken also worked for 25 years as a financial and program administrator for the US Dept. of Health & Human Services in Washington, Oregon, Idaho & Alaska including 13 years as the federal program manager of the Head Start program, which is a comprehensive early childhood education program for low-income families. Ken served as the international president of Los Amigos de Jaltemba, in Mexico for more than 5 years. He also served as a founding member of the Rotary Club of Jaltemba Bay, Nayarit in Mexico.

The Community Cultural Center
La Peñita de Jaltemba, Nayarit, Mexico

Ken presented an impressive presentation of the Jaltemba Bay Community Center (left) project, the scope, the goals of the project, a list of milestones, and the budget, as well as resources required to achieve the project goals. For instance, for over the past 5 years, Los Amigos with the support of Rotary Club of Jaltemba Bay, and several Rotary Clubs from Canada (including our Club) and the US have built 4 kindergartens and renovated 9 local schools. Now the project enters into a new phase, to expand and create new services for the community. The emphasis is on the children, building more classrooms, deploying computers linked in a local network with Internet access. The goal is to develop online educational programs, to maximize vocational training, and to build a youth leadership program.
Members in our club received Ken’s presentation with enthusiasm, for his and John’s great work and commitment to the project in Mexico. And thus, - a very informative, happy and worthwhile meeting closed with the singing of The Queen.