Rotary Meeting of September 24, 2013 at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel

Report and photo by Tom Croft

The Meeting started right on time at 12:15 with President Peter Lawrie at the helm. Peter reminded us that it is Youth Services Month; Sabrina is the Director, Jim Force the contact for Rotaract and Tom Croft for Interact.  There are lots of opportunities to get involved with these committees.  Contact any of these members to offer your support to these Rotary connections.

O Canada was sung a capella, as the piano player was absent. Do we have any other players in the club that could do the National Anthem and God Save the Queen?  Please let the executive know if you would like to volunteer your talent.

Grace was provided by Will Carter

Announcements: 

We have new flags and standards for our Canada Flag Project; Peter has an applause sign and will be using it in future meetings.

Visiting Rotarians and guests: Introduced by Sabrina

Rotarian: Greg Read, Stratford Ont., Guests: Sandy Currey, Richard Acomba, Mark Mawhinney, Janna, Malo, and our Guest Speakers: Amy Phipps and Mary Emmond

Health of the Club:  Mary Canty reported that Anne-Marie Bamji is in hospital and Perry is with her.

John Edgell advised the Club that Alice Poole, wife of former member, Werke Poole, died on the weekend.  A donation in the Poole’s name to Rotary in memory of the Poole’s was requested in the obituary.

Coming Events:  Jim Force:

5:00 PM at the Penny Farthing this Thursday — Club in a Pub

10:00AM Saturday — The Great Canadian Beach Clean Up with the Community Association of Oak Bay at McNeil Bay.

Meeting on Oct 1— bring in your refundable bottles, cans, etc. for the Rotaract Club

Oct 5 — we will serve lunch at Our Place, with the Rotaract Club Members.

Wynne Taylor announced that on Friday, September 2, there will be a Fall Festival at Henderson Rec Centre, from 6-8PM, and on Saturday the 28th from 12-4, there's the Bowker Creek Community Celebration — please provide your volunteer time.

Janna Malo told of All Fired Up and the Super Bowls of Hope Society: you paint a bowl and the bowl is donated to the Super Bowl fund; see Janna for details or visit the Facebook Page.

Welcome to John Snively from the Kootenay’s

Fines Master: Jessica cleaned us out!  Tom for starting the wrong song, God Save the Queen before O Canada, no Rotary Pins, no Name Tags, for thinking about two things, for a Rotary magazine not read, and for not walking barefoot during the summer — all for $1:00, And if you didn't floss everyday, $2 each!

Happy/Sad Dollars: Tom Croft $5 for 41^st anniversary, Ron Beyer $30 for 30 year anniversary plus $2 for missing (stolen) Canadian Flag; Anne Sims' partner is at sea, and Wendy is off to Las Vegas

Draw:  Tom C. wins $15 put no White marble, $135 next week — two marbles left!

Guest Speakers:

Brian Lamb thanks speakers Mary and Amy from the Garth Homer Society

Wolf introduced the speakers: Amy and Mary, from the Garth Homer Society.  Amy is the Employment Specialist with the Society and was a Rotary Exchange Student sponsored by the Harbourside Club, and a Past President of our Rotaract Club.

Garth Homer is a non-profit society, founded in 1977; Amy reviewed the history, program areas, and day time services provided for over 175 adults with developmental disabilities.

Art programs have raised $55,000 towards a goal of $100,000 for children with development disabilities in Kenya.

Sheltered workshops used to be the rage, but today the centre provides employment services.  There are over 70 clients funded through Community Living BC.  The goal is regular independent employment—adults are placed throughout the service field.

Amy let us know that it's OK to use the word "disability".  The centre serves people with downs syndrome and other developmental challenges. She gave us some examples of how this works for real people in real jobs, for example David, at Peninsula Coop, works as a cleaner, assists with gas, helps everywhere around the gas bar, and also works at Starbucks.

Vancouver Island Regional Library has had another successful placement—Ryan works at Oaklands Community centre at the preschool, helping with the garden and other duties.

Mary, who was at the meeting, has worked at Country Grocers for 10 years; she enjoys reading, walking her dog and being an advocate for people with developmental disabilities.  She also works at Uvic Commons and enjoys her independence, and being out in the Community working.  She is always there to serve the customers and enjoys their compliments for doing a good job. She is on the Social Committee at Country Grocers organizing, golfing, ten pin bowling and fund raising.  Laura, a staff person at Garth Homer is always available to help her and talk to about her work.

Amy reminded us that a community connection, a schedule, respect, being involved, validates you as a member of society. We all know someone who has a disability; in our communities we need to be inclusive. Why should employers hire persons with disabilities:  Retention, increased employee morale, low cost, low risk, safety, help and support and profit.

Be a savvy consumer and connect with the Garth Homer Society.

We are invited to a Breakfast with Mark Water, October 8, 7:30 to 9:00, 813 Darwin; he has 35 employees in his business with disabilities.

Brian Lamb thoughtfully thanked our speakers Amy and Mary.

We closed with the Queen!

Reminder to get involved, with Henderson and Bowker Creek!

Bulletin of September 17 .. and recent Oak Bay Rotary events.

It's been a busy Rotary Club of Oak Bay week. To start with, Jim Force and crew (John Jordan, Pete Lawrie and Jim Laing) hosted our club's booth at the Oak Bay Community Expo on Saturday (14th). 

Jim Force at the Oak Bay Expo

Then on Saturday evening, a social was held at the home of club member Bob Schelle and his wife, Kathleen. The 31 who attended all appeared to have a great time. The weather held up very well; many members from Oak Bay left their home in fog dressed for cold and found warmth and sunshine on Cedar Hill. All members brought pot luck supper dishes and the hosts cooked Coho Salmon and grilled tenderloin beef on the BBQ. 

Chefs Bob and Pete

Pete and Jean Lawrie helped out with the kitchen duties with Pete concocting a "secret" recipe for the tenderloin glazing. Don saved the day by bringing 10 chairs from his church. The pool and hot tub received some use by Tom and Jill Croft and then by Vicky Pitt and husband Tim. The social wrapped up around 9:30pm at which time the pool and hot tub got more use by Jean Lawrie, Betty O'Coffey, & Kathleen and Bob Schelle. Pete and Don just hung around and watched! Check out Bob's photos here. [Reported by Bob.]

Now to our meeting of September 17, reported by Peter Johannknecht:

Greeters were Wynn Taylor and Corey Burger with support from Dallas Chapple. Prior to the grace, led by Dallas, Brian Lamb had represented President Peter Lawrie well during his absence and addressed the club, pointing out that September is Youth Services Month. It is about the future and the present, with Interact and Rotaract under full steam. The support of the club is needed for all of our international and community projects, largely focused on youth. Since no piano was available, Tom Lidkea had to sing O Canada with the whole Club.

Guests were introduced by Corey B.: Sandy Currie was a guest of the Club, Joan Peggs invited Richard Acomba; Marcus Ludwig was a repeating guest of Don O'Coffey; and Mike Hodges was a guest of Dave Maxwell.

Health of the Club: Mary Canty reported that Anna-Maria Bamji is recovering from a fall where she sustained a broken ankle and wrist.

Announcements/Help needed:

Wynn Taylor informed the Club of two events coming up this weekend. An open house at the Henderson Rec Centre, where we are asked to sell popcorn to raise money for Rotary. The event is  on Friday 27^th, from 6-8pm. Please let Wynn know if you can help to set this up. The second event is on Saturday the 28^th from 12-4pm. This is the Oak Bay Community Association's celebration of Community and Bowker Creek. Oak Bay Rotary is a sponsor of this event. We have contributed to the costs of the Pennant Making Project. Children will be invited to make pennants at no cost to express what Oak Bay and Bowker Creek mean to them. The event, weather permitting, will be held at the Allotment Gardens behind Fireman's Park. If it rains the event will be in the Scout Hall next to the Fire Station. This event and our participation will require more planning. For the moment, volunteers and ideas for what we could do are requested. Again, please let Wynn know if you can help to set this up.

Jim Force informed the Club about an upcoming Paul Harris event in the spring. He took the opportunity, as usual, to expand on this and educate everyone what PHF actually is. It started in 1957 to help raise funds for the Rotary Foundation. Prior to 1957, $0.5 Million was collected per year. With the help of the PHF, we see now more than $80 million raised each year. More information about the Paul Harris event will follow over the next few weeks.

Mark Bedford announced that today is his actual last meeting as a regular member of the Club, as he is moving with his wife Josephine to Penticton next week. He joined OBR in 1994 and thanked all fellow Rotarians for all of the shared friendships. He will be much missed at our meetings, but we look forward to him visiting when he is back in Oak Bay. Eugen Bannerman spontaneously stood up and thanked Mark for who he is. This summer, he had been going through the OB Bulletin Archives, when trying to determine the last week OB Rotary held its meeting at the old Oak Bay Beach Hotel. He came across the June 28, 2005, bulletin, where he saw Mark's  Senility Prayer.  Here's how it goes:

God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,

the good fortune to meet the people I do like,

and the eyesight to tell the difference.

Proof that most of the black marbles are GONE

As Fines Master, Jessica Van der Veen managed to suck loonies and toonies out of every member's pocket. She has developed a skill where everyone loses for the benefit of Rotary. One smart fine was to pay $1 in honor of someone in the room you were happy to see today and $2 for those you weren't. Lots of Happy $$$ added to the cash. Mary C. had a happy weekend attending her grandson's wedding; Don O’C had managed a great BBQ for ALS; Jim F. had 2 curious S$ for why men get fined for sitting at tables without any women, while the women's table was not fined for 2 consecutive weeks. Tricia is going sailing with friends and had some happy $$. Lorna gave happy $$ for a great evening at Bob’s house and for the fact that her son will be a professor on the faculty of Stanford University. Pablo is going on a concert tour for the next 3 weeks and is looking forward to the trip. Our guest, Marcus Ludwig, picked the winning ticket held by Neil Rawnsley, but who (in super-honest Rotary fashion) owned up to the fact that it belonged to Jim Laing. That's what happens when you leave early. Neil, unfortunately, didn’t pick the white marble for Jim.

Lorna Curtis introduced our guest speaker who needs no introduction: Joan Firkins. 

Joan is an exemplary Rotarian and great Rotarian Ambassador of our club. 

Her topic was “PolioPlus Update September 2013”. 

Joan focused on the current status of global polio eradication efforts and Rotray’s role in it. The past 12 months have been a period of major achievement, challenge and change. Rotary works with a number of international partners, such as the Gates Foundation, UNICEF, Governments of the World, CDC. They work together in polio affected and donor countries. Rotary planned and launched the PolioPlus program in 1985. The Polio virus was circulating in 125 countries, paralyzing or killing 1,000 people a day! Today we have seen only 223 cases in 2012. A reduction of 99%. Only 3 countries have never stopped the transmission of the virus, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. As of July, the number of polio reservoirs in these countries is down 40% compared to 2012. A wonderful, very real progress in polio eradication. The top 5 reasons to eradicate polio are: 1. The Human Cost, 2. It’s achievable, 3. It’s a good investment, 4. It strengthens the system, 5. It sets the stage.

To finish the battle with polio, we need the help of every Rotarian, by continuing to advocate and raise funds for PolioPlus.  A $5.5 billion cost is projected for new Endgame Plan to eradicate Polio. Ending Polio within 5 years from now is realistic. Polio eradication is a roadmap for broader health benefits. For 2013 we face a funding gap of US$217 million to fully implement the plan. However, if the firm prospects are realized, we will fill the funding gap. Clubs are being asked to contribute US$1500 per year for five years, and districts are asked to contribute 20% of their DDF for five years.

There is an important event taking place on October 24^th, 2013: World Polio Day. Watch at www.endpolionow.org at 5:30pm Central Time.

So, what can you do to support the mission? 

ADVOCATE, DONATE, AND RAISE AWARENESS.

Some of you may have noticed the Globe and Mail article entitled What the Rotarians did to help put an end to polio as you walked in the door of the David Foster Foundation room yesterday. Brian Lamb kindly pointed it out - you can find the article here.

The meeting ended with God Save the Queen.

David and Eugen

Meeting of September 10, 2013

There was a definite levity to the atmosphere at today’s meeting, and a large number of guests and visiting Rotarians were there to enjoy our weekly Oak Bay Rotary meeting. This levity was matched by the lightness of Tom’s fingers as he accompanied us in O Canada. President Pete thanked all for coming, and noted that it was Rotary Youth Services Month. He mentioned the impact youth leaders will have in the future and spoke of Logan Graham, a past Interact President, who is presently doing a semester at Singapore University. Logan has shown great leadership—he is presently advocating building a school in Africa and, in the past, has fundraised for childhood arthritis—among many other selfless projects. Mark, in lieu of an AWOL Giles, said grace. Lunch, as usual, was delicious—curried beef stir-fry and ever-so-dainty desserts.

Peter Sou announced the Guests and Visiting Rotarians:

Jim and Claire Sleight (Southam 2000 England); Bob and Cathy Hargreaves (Nelson, BC); Ryan Gisler and Janna Malo; Sandy Currie; Tim Ennis and Dr. Linda Hannah of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (guests of the club and today’s speakers); Markus Ludwig (guest of Don O’Coffey); and last, and almost forgotten, but certainly not least, Betty Pitt (Vicky’s mom).

Announcements: Please read all carefully, and in true Rotary Spirit, please offer to help if you can. 

Heather has Thrifty Smile Cards for anyone who wants them. This year the money raised will go to purchase document projectors for Macaulay Elementary School. Thursday week (September 19) join Heather and Wendy to make Cotton Candy at Macaulay Elementary School to raise even more funds. Please contact Heather if you can help, or if you would simply love the experience of having pink hair. 

Jim had a slate of announcements:

1. On Saturday September 14, from 1 to 4PM at the Monterey Recreation Centre, the Oak Bay Community Expo will give organizations an opportunity to strut their stuff. This is a chance for Rotary to have a presence in the community, tell about what we do, and introduce the Canada Flag Project. Please see Jim if you can help. 

2. On Saturday, September 28, the Oak Bay Community Association is sponsoring a beach cleanup between 10 and noon at McNeil Bay. All we have to do is show up. Wear something that shows you are with Rotary. 

3. Next week bring bottles (and other recyclables that bring in $) to the Hotel’s parking area up top—Rotaract will gladly take them from you for a very good cause. 

4. Still on the Rotaract theme, we are going to be helping them serve lunch at Our Place on Pandora on October 5. Jim would like six volunteers to help six rotaracters. This should be a rewarding effort. 

Perry announced a meeting of the PR committee immediately following this meeting in the library.

Tricia encouraged Advertisers to advertise on our club’s website. A link on the bulletin as well as on the website takes you to the advertiser’s own website.  For $125 a year, you also get a spot on the back of the printed Contact sheet containing every members name, address, email address, and phone number. Please talk to David Sills or Anne Sims if you are interested. If you would like graphic material set up for your ad, Tricia will do it for you for the huge sum of Free!

Bob spoke about this coming Saturday’s Rotary Social at his home. He will send out an email to those who are coming, to work out who is bringing what.

Don will be cooking hotdogs for the ALS Walk this Sunday morning. It’s at the UVic parking lot starting at 10AM.  He needs one more man (loud boos for sexism!) to help make the dogs for this worthy cause. If you cannot help Don, perhaps you can help Lynne who will be walking for her sister. If you would like to support Lynne in her walk, please click this link to go to the secure ALS donation page. Every little bit counts. Tax deductible receipts are issued immediately. 

The final tally is in for the car raffle. Perry was congratulated for his astounding effort at getting sellers out. We were estimating 3 or 4 thousand but we raised $6240 – just for helping the Victoria Rotary Club. (Wendy and Lynne were superheros as ticket sellers!) The winner of the Nissan Rogue was Christina Martinez; Eileen Bedingfield won the Princess Cruise for 2 to Alaska, and Trish Hajash won the Apple iPad. (Anyone know them?)

Rotaract has invited club members to attend an evening with Dr. Valerie Taylor, the founder of the Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed. It's on Friday, September 13, 7-9PM at the UVic Bob Wright Building, room A104. It's free. Details: www.valerietaylor.splashthat.com

Jessica was in Fine Form. She scored the price of a dinner from people who were late – so many you remain unnamed, but you had to be on your honour and pay up. Same idea if you weren’t wearing your pin. Also in was $10 from early leavers. If you had only males at your table, that cost a loonie. (She did say “one gender” tables, but the fine only went to the all-male tables – more sexism? – or no all-female tables?) If you happened to be sitting at the same table as last week – another loonie. If you hadn’t responded to Bob’s Social invitation, a toonie. Vicky knew the answer was “knitting” to the question: What activity helps with post-traumatic stress disorder, as reported in the Rotarian Magazine. The rest of us paid up. Mark had a birthday: Happy Birthday Mark was sung with gusto. He was also happy that his house in Kelowna was moved successfully and he and Jo can move in on the 25^th of this month. We will miss you Mark. Leslie had a sad dollar, because she saw Jessica on the front page of the OB News not wearing a Rotary pin. Tom Lidkea was happy that we reminded him of his wedding anniversary; Batya was happy (I think it was a happy dollar) that she was married 42 years, and not 2, as was announced last week. Lynne is happy that she has finally bitten the bullet and will hook up to the machine. Rod is happy to be off to Rome for two weeks with Brenda and two friends. Jacqueline announced she is leaving the club, but will be joining Qualicum with her new partner, David Shepherd, who is also a Rotarian. She was happy to have friends from her Nelson club join her today, as well as their friends from England.

Jim Sleight (right) of Southam 2000, England presented a banner to President Pete, but we did not have one to give him in return L 

Janna Malo and Ryan Gisler announced that they are applying to join Rotary—they are happy about that. John Jordan felt that the world breathes a bit easier today regarding Syria—he was very happy about that. Lori, who is the self-declared official OBR dessert taster paid up for being caught sampling a dainty morsel off president Pete’s plate. (Would she have paid up if she hadn’t been caught?—that’s a Rotary Q&A). Lorna has a new grandchild on the way and may have to leave for SFO at a moment's notice. She is super happy about that. 

She also urged us to join friends for Pink Above the Rink at our old stomping grounds, the Oak Bay Rec Centre, on September 27 in the Sports View Lounge. A Ticket costs $20 and includes a Greek-style buffet dinner, Pink Cocktails, door prizes, silent auction, raffles, and more. It's to benefit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Tickets can be purchased at the recreation centres.

Lucky Lorna (left) also won the draw scoring a not-so-lucky black marble, but fifteen bucks was a nice haul anyway.

Perry introduced the speakers: Dr. Linda Hannah and Tim Ennis of the NatureConservancy of Canada (NCC). (Photo below)

Tim is the Manager of the NCC’s West Coast Program–which focuses on the conservation and stewardship of lands from Victoria to the Central Coast to Haida Gwaii. He is passionate about the west coast, and is committed to working with the people who live here to conserve the very best of its natural heritage. Linda is the BC Regional Vice-President for the NCC. She served as Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for BC Fisheries and also worked in the Premier’s Office as the ADM responsible for implementation of the Nisga’a Treaty. Currently her main focus is overseeing the NCC’s conservation work across British Columbia. 

The Conservancy's Mission is to create a natural legacy to protect the environment and the species that inhabit it, so that it will be there for our children's children. They take the direct approach to doing this: Buying land and using conservation tools to directly protect the beautiful places this country has to offer. Tim showed excellent slides of areas where they are working, including Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve, representing one of the most endangered ecosystems in Canada. There is also a huge host of species that are endangered because their habitats are being lost. One of the biggest issues is scotch broom. The Cowichan preserve is one of the best in the country, but there are still problems with invaders. It's the kind of habitat stewardship NCC is proud of. Some of the endangered species Tim spoke of are Howell’s triteleia, yellow prairie violet, and the Western Bluebird. The latter used to be in Oak Bay. They are not extinct, but are no longer in BC. The NCC would like to restore these birds back into their habitat. Tim has a particular affection for Fire as a mechanism for controlling invasive species. The NCC works closely with First Nations–they learn from them what the landscape used to be like, and in exchange they educate children in the communities.

Other NCC-involved areas and items Tim touched on included: The Chase Woods Conservation Area, the Peregrine Falcon, the Campbell River Estuary, James Island (a rare habitat of sand dunes and sand spits where they are working with the US owner to preserve it), Sooke Hills, Princess Louisa Inlet, Jervis Inlet, Vargas Island on Clayqquot Sound, Haida Gwaii, the Kumdis River Estuary, the Koeye River Estuary, central coast rainforests near Bella Bella, the Wanuku River Conservation Area, and Rivers Inlet. Money comes from one-third corporate, one-third government, and one-third private donors and foundations. Their policy is not to close areas to the public, unless the species are at risk. People are part of nature, and have an important role to play. How we react with nature is what is important. 

Joan Peggs thanked the speakers, and presented Tim with an Oak Bay Rotary Mug. 

Report and photos by Tricia Timmermans

September 3 Meeting

To mark the end of our 2013 Canada Flag Project, Allenby Street (thanks Don!) had a sell-out. Thanks to all of you, especially organizer par excellence Jim Force, who went beyond the call of duty in making this first year of our ongoing fundraiser such a brilliant success. We are already collecting subscriptions for 2014 and are en route to an even more successful year. 

Meeting of September 3.   Eugen Bannerman, Scribe.

It’s nice to be greeted and made to feel welcome by those you know well. Today’s BLUE BUTTON GREETERS at the plush Oak Bay Beach Hotel were Jim Force and Jessica Van der Veen.

PRESIDENT Peter Lawrie informed us that, “September is Youth Services Month. This is one of the most important themes in the Rotary Year. This is all about future! ... Past and current members are making an impact on the world!!”

Tom Lidkea played the NATIONAL ANTHEM (OCND), and Jim Force said GRACE, reminding us this is the first day back to school for many children.

Then it was LUNCH, after which Jessica introduced the following GUESTS: Kathy Stinson, our Speaker; Mike Hodges, hosted by Dave Maxwell; Betty Pitt and Evelyne Carter, hosted by Vicky Pitt; and young Alex (photo by Rod below), son of Heather Aked.

CELEBRATIONS MASTER Jessica Van der Veen stepped to the podium to sporadic clapping, but cautioned the clappers, “Clap as much as you like, it won’t do you any good.” Loonies were collected from those who did not wear Rotary Pins, who didn’t sign in, who arrived late, who had to leave early, and anyone who was wearing closed-toed shoes, “we can’t give up on summer too soon.”

HAPPY DOLLARS from Tav Macpherson who spoke about his trip to UK and Europe; Vicki Pitt, who was happy to have her sister Evelyne Carter visiting from Toronto; Jim Laing, donated many dollars because Graham DeLaet, Canada’s rising professional golfer, is from his home town of Weyburn, Saskatchewan. “He has six Top-10 finishes, two Top 3s, and has earned more than $2 million dollars this year.” Tricia Timmermans, after 15 years of collecting data, memoirs, photos, etc, is finally self-publishing her father’s wartime story. [Editor's note: she did a few other things during those 15 years, too.]

Vicki Pitt won the 50/50 DRAW, and the black marble pot of $14 (leaving the white marble and $76 dollars for another winner).

Mary Canty introduced Kathy Stinson (above) from the local Cool Aid Society, who presented us with a slide and document show. Here are some excerpts from her presentation:

• Our Mission is to end homelessness in Victoria, and that everyone who needs supportive housing, gets it.
• Organization started in 1968, but now is the largest in the CRD serving adults: 265 staff, 14 sites, 100s of volunteers.
• Housing First philosophy implies the first step to solving other problems is to provide housing – a home base.
• Every Step Counts is a Running and Walking Program that helps people.
• Cool Aid is in partnership with Coalition to End Homelessness whose mandate is to end homeless by 2018.
• Next steps: a Capital campaign; they have $1 million and need to raise $4 million.

Answers to Questions:

• It costs $50,000 a year for a person to remain homeless. It is cheaper to house these people.
• Jack Petrie’s moving story: as a new UVic student he stayed in the Cool Aid Shelter back in 1969 (at the Belfrey). They served him his first Vegetarian Chili for dinner, and Porridge in the morning. “After all these years, I’d like to make a donation to Cool Aid, to pay back for my chili and porridge.” (Much applause).

Heather Aked (above right) thanked Kathy commenting on how much Cool Aid does in our city, and presented her with our very own Oak Bay Rotary Mug.

The meeting concluded with THE QUEEN (GSTQ).