Meeting of August 26, 2014. Constable Rick Anthony: Oak Bay Police

Reporter: Joan Peggs. Photos: David Sills

President Jim, MC Lori, Guest Speaker, Constable Rick Anthony, and Lorna

Members, visiting Rotarians and guests were warmly welcomed by the Greeters – Jessica and Perry. The dynamic duo of Janna and Joan 2 enthusiastically extracted their money for the lunch fee and the 50/50 draw.

The talkative gathering was brought to order by MC Lori McLeod, such that the meeting commenced promptly at 12:15 pm with the singing of O Canada – pictures, words and sound! ... and quietly the stragglers arrived (no names); we are very glad you arrived!

Jessica gave a thoughtful grace; the visitors headed the line at the buffet table with members quickly falling in behind!

Health of the Club - Mary Canty

1. Lynne Murray – in hospital but soon to be out. A card is being passed around

2.    Will Carter – back at work; writing with his left hand (now, that is a skill)

3.     David and Batya – off to Israel. Their eldest son is very ill (reported by Jessica)

4.     David Philip – problems with his pace maker (reported by Eugen)

The best to all mentioned above

The Rotary Foundation District Service Award – Neil Rawnsley.

A Rotary Foundation District Service Award, one of 15 given out in each District, was made to Tav Macpherson for his service to the District as Paul Harris Society Chair.

Guests at the meeting – Introduced by Perry Bamji

Jarrod Clayton – visiting Rotarian – Edmonton Strathcona (Financial Planning)

Betty (Mom) Pitt – guest of Vicky Pitt

Ryan Gisler – guest of Janna Malo

Rick Anthony – guest speaker to be fully introduced by Lorna.

Announcements

Paul Harris Dinner – October 2^nd 2014, 6 pm Oak Bay Beach Hotel. Tickets: $60. It will be in lieu of the regular meeting that week. Steve Sharlow is selling tickets ... or they are available by calling the hotel.

An impromptu membership meeting is to be held immediately after the club meeting in the dining room (announced by Lori McLeod).

A Global Grant for the Mexico project is not being pursued. The $2,500 club monies set aside for this project are being directed to a project in the Los Barros area – led by the Rotary Club of Berkeley (John Edgell reported). Ask John for more details. He also would like someone to volunteer to be the link person for the project.

Celebrations Master – Tav Macpherson. This is his last hurrah at collecting monies!

John E and Jack 'volunteered' to be the 'bucket carriers'

Fines were levied to John E for speaking too long, Lori for collecting dessert and coffee, to all members if they had not purchased a ticket for the PHF Dinner, unpaid dues (A hefty $5 fine – did anyone own up?), Lorna for the confusing emails re the roster, Sabrina as her new member left her membership folder behind last week, Jack for complimenting the CM in the bulletin, all members who so far had not paid a fine – add $1 to the buckets – hence no one escaped!!

Wedding Anniversaries – Peter Lawrie, Neil Madsen

Club Anniversaries – Ron Cooley, Dallas Chapple

Happy/Sad $$$$

Lorna  - happy and sad $ - 'sorry for the mess with the emails, glad to be home, shortly leaving to CA accompanied by soon to be arriving family'

Lori – happy $ -  Jim F sorted out the mess of the emails

Neil M – confused $ as CBC recently, without informing viewers, changed the location of the News channel

Brian – extremely happy toonie – heading to Holland to bunk down on the 'Mother' ship, rowing from location to location – the impetus to row is food!! Also will be seeing some of the rowing taking place in Holland

Jack – happy $ Newport Realty has been selected to be affiliated with Christie's International Real Estate

Janna –  happy $ excited about the up coming sailing trip – hoping she is not seasick. She and Ryan are ecstatic about the upcoming arrival of baby in the new year – Congratulations to both of you

Eugen – happy $ announcement of the soon to arrive grandson -

Pablo – happy $$  he is off to Argentina and Mexico

Eugen had the lucky ticket – 438 - but he pulled a black marble – that elusive clear marble is still in the bag

Lorna introduced Constable Rick Anthony of the Oak Bay Police. Constable Anthony has been a police officer for 30 years; in his years of policing Constable Anthony has received numerous awards (rescuing people from a burning house in James Bay, assisting in the arrest of a murder suspect while off duty, implemented the Police Mountain Bike faction, honoured at the Victoria Leadership Awards and received the Leadership Victoria Alumni award (recognizes a graduate of the Leadership Victoria program who has demonstrated exemplary leadership in the community), awarded the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal

Constable Anthony spoke on the abundance of fraud occurring today

•             telephone fraud
•             advanced letter fraud
•             emergency contact of a grandparent/person scam
•             phone # spoofing
•             bank account, Telus/Bell spoofing
•             scams on Craigslist

There were a few questions asked. John E graciously thanked Constable Anthony and presented him with the 4 way test mug

Anything further for the good of Rotary brought President Jim to the floor:

Mike Hodges has been granted a leave of absence until January; John J and the Rwanda project has been awarded a $7,000 District Community Grant ($3,500 from the cub, $3,500 from the district)

And we closed with KD Lang singing Hallelujah!! as an expression of joy for the DCG awarded to the club.

Latest News from Oak Bay Rotary - August 19, 2014

REPORTER: JACK PETRIE

The headlines....A sunny day, an east indian style lunch, a new club member induction of Janette Nation... and a presentation on the good works going on in Guatemala. Along the way, a request to find homes for 29 flags, a Rwanda fund raising plant sale and a reminder of the Paul Harris evening.

And as the newscaster says..."and now the details"...

Lori Mcleod emceed us along, directing Tom Lidkea to introduce visiting Rotarians Michael Woolnough from Vancouver main and Bruce Willats from Laguna Beach. (Names may be wrong due to indecipherable handwriting ... stylish, but unreadable). Our guests included Janette Nation and her son James, and Doug Canty, son of Mary (easy to read names in this category).

Induction: Our newest member is Janette Nation, whom Sabrina ably and warmly introduced and nice words of the ceremony came forth from Lori Mcleod and Prez Jim Force. A standing ovation greeted Janette. Welcome Janette, to the best Rotary Club in all of Oak Bay! We're all looking forward to getting to know you and share in many worthy endeavours together.

Celebrations Master Tav stole hard cash from unlucky souls: Neil Rawnsley for fining Tav himself in his absence, and Heather for going to Italy and other heroic misdeeds. Giles won the draw, a paltry sum but it will go toward finally paying his annual dues, an oversight which Tav so delicately shared with everyone. No one's safe when Tav is at the podium!

Then it was the Jacqueline and Mary Show, 'On the road in Guatemala'. There have been an amazing number of initiatives carried out there under the guidance of Jacqueline and others. The poor people of that land need outside help due to their own Government's inertia. They want to be productive, to find ways to grow, and to make an income to support their families. One of those items of commerce is the gorgeous scarves many of us purchase. Others join in to help build latrine's, showers, stoves, experiencing, in Jacqueline's words, a transformation in the volunteering to do these things.

Classes are organized around nutrition, computers, literacy, and entrepreneurship. The improvements are kept simple and easy to employ. Even their gardens are now producing crops thanks to the advice of a Rotarian. Jacqueline is doing a yeoman job of improving the lives of the Mayans who have adopted her into their community. She mentioned that the first Mayan Rotarian, dues paid by volunteers, has joined the local club. Good story. The other Good Story is our own Mary Canty who at a youthful 92 went to the top of the mountain in Lake Atitlan with a group. One young man kept walking past her and finally said..."After meeting you I will never be afraid to grow old." Bravo to him for saying it and Big Bravo to Mary for being such a wonderful role model...for everyone.

Joan Peggs thanked our speakers. Joan then asked for homes for 29 flags and urges all of us to think of a neighbour who can join in...at a reduced price too for the rest of the year. Be patriotic!

John Jordan reminds us to support his work in Rwanda by coming to his bountiful plant sale on Saturday from 10 to 2 at 178 Beach Drive. Let's Grow Together!

Perry reminds us of the Paul Harris dinner on Thursday October 2nd. Tickets $60 each and the event will be at the Hotel. Let's all support Perry in making this a success! Time to recognize others deserving of a Paul Harris!

Sang to the little old lady in the Palace and back to the sunshine. Does anyone else find God Save the Queen stuck in their brain while going back to work? My receptionist asked me one time if what she heard me humming was really what she thought it was. It's a catchy little tune.

Program for August 12, 2014   –    Reporter David Sills

Photos by David Sills, Bill Sharlow and Jack Petrie

Exuberance at the Mike - Lori McLeod Presiding              

Lori presided over the meeting with cool aplomb. She called on David Westler to say grace, He was unaware of this duty but responded gracefully to her second request with a brief “Bless Us”.

Visitors

Jessica Van Der Veen introduced today’s visitors:

Rotarians – John Sansom (Harbourside), Bruce Willets (Laguna Beach) and Nancy Gilbert (West Shore).

Guests – Karen Sharlow and George & Sheila Newton, guests of Steve Sharlow: Maureen Madsen, guest of Neil Madsen: Lesley Ockermueller, guest of Rod Sim; Penny LeGate, guest of the club (speaker) and Betty Pitt, guest of Victoria Pitt.

Announcements

Joan Firkins provided an update on the Rotary Car Raffle which ended on Sunday August 10 with the draw at the Oak Bay car show. Preliminary results indicate a return of approximately $60,000 to be shared between the Victoria and Oak Bay Clubs.

Jim Force announced that there were only 12 Dragon Boat Lanterns, out of the 48 originally available, left for sale. All proceeds will go the B.C. Cancer Society. (Your reporter has since learned that all 12 have been snapped up.)

Rapid Fire Cooley

This guy is able to cram more group fines in a short space of time than most S-at-A’s. Late arrivals, non-sign-ins and early leavers were summarily dealt with. Poor David Westler was fined $1.00 a word for his brief grace and Joan Firkins was fined for her bowling action picture in the Oak Bay News.

 The entire assemblage was fined for its terrible rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ for Peter Johannknecht, John Edgell, Corey Burger and Don O’Coffey. Thankfully the assembly was not asked to sing congratulations to Dallas and Len Chapple who are celebrating their wedding anniversary.

Happy / Sad Dollars  -  Vicki (right) because her mother has shown up in town with a fine lobster and Peter Lawrie to announce the CRRG (Car Raffle Recovery Group). Bill Burns is visiting Kamloops for a family gathering then flies to Europe for a two month vacation. Heather Aked is just back from a tour of France. Finally Jack Petrie spoke a few words on the sad death of Robin Williams this week.

Fair play won out as David Westler held the winning ticket but did not draw the white marble.

The Eradication of Polio

Joan Firkins introduced our guest speaker Penny Legate, a friend with whom she shared several trips to African countries to participate in NID’s (National Immunization Days) on behalf of Rotary. To quote Joan – “Penny has been in the broadcast business for over 25 years" and you may remember her as a KIRO TV news anchor and co-host of Evening magazine. She has been on NID’s in Africa and India and has travelled to Ghana, Bolivia, Thailand and Vietnam on other humanitarian missions. She spoke most recently at the International Assembly in San Diego. Penny is an Honourary Rotarian and a Five time Paul Harris Fellow.

Only One Percent Left

To whom much is given, much is expected. This familiar phrase was uttered by Penny as she described
her dedication to the Rotary objective of the global eradication of Polio. The polio vaccine was developed in 1954 and Rotary began its support in 1985. Then Bill and Melinda Gates arrived on the scene. In two years their Foundation contributed 355 million dollars to the struggle. When asked why, Bill replied ‘Because Rotary will see it through’.

Through a series of slides we travelled with the immunization teams as they performed their difficult work. Small groups of local inhabitants are trained and sent out to the villages to immunize the children. The presentation showcased the efforts of four volunteers (who were referred to as the Four Polio Warriors) who have been through thick and thin to get the job done …. and they won’t quit until the job is done. It is a slow, sometimes dangerous, mission as the villages are scattered and the roads are primitive. India was a particularly difficult country to operate in because of poverty, sanitation, malnourishment and crowded conditions. There are 255,000,000 kids to vaccinate every year.

Sadly there have been adverse developments in the past few years - an outburst in the Middle East with reinfection spreading from the Syrian refugee camps and the expulsion of WHO organizers from The Horn of Africa. Nigeria also poses a problem by spreading the disease via religious trips to other countries.

Penny had plenty of statistics and charts to show the gradual reduction over the past 29 years. There were 350,000 cases per year when the program began and there are only 135 to date in 2014. She concluded with the humble words - We carry on because our promise in 1985 must be kept.

Vicki Pitt thanked our speaker with the comment that we heard all the bad news then the good news. It was good to hear that good things are still happening in this tired old world.  

Lesley Ockermueller

Don O'Coffey

Meeting of AUGUST 5, 2014. COMMITTEE REPORTS

Reporter: Tricia T.

Jack was MC Today. He chatted about wanting people around him who he liked, and couldn't fathom why anybody would not want to be a Rotarian. His delightful slideshow portrayed club members having fun.  There was a bit of a delay - no worries for Jack - he sang a "Young At Heart" song, which some of us joined in. O Canada was next. Then Dave Maxwell  introduced our one visitor, Ryan Gisler, guest of Janna Malo (or is it Janna Gisler?). Jack mused about why it was that when someone "unfriends" you on Facebook, why didn't you get a notification, so that you can send them back a “LIKE”. Good one Jack. He then told a joke, having a go at some members who are not hearing as sharply as they used to, followed by a little "May the Force be with you" fun with President Jim, followed by more Star Wars thoughts with a suggestion that we no longer say to people: Come join my Rotary Club, but Come join my Corellian Corvette, or Come join my Calamari Cruiser! Bill Burns suggested we acknowledge the creators of the videos we use for God Save the Queen, etc., who in this case is none other than Denise Garnier, a one-time Group Study Exchange member, who would "do anything for Rotary". 

Tav found some gnomes to run around with the money cups. Finees were: Anybody showing their knees; Anyone who missed Abkhazi gardents; Anyone who wasn't named Joan Firkins (after the great newspaper article on Joan); and a big fine: $3 for anyone who hasn’t paid their dues. Next week it will be $4, then $5, so pay up. In Tom Lidkea's absence, Tricia was fined for the words "LEBRATIONS master" in an old bulletin [on checking, it says clearly, CELEBRATIONS - look again, Tav!]. Also misspelt was the name Macpherson. [OK, I let that one slip through, but it was a copy and paste from happy-go-lucky Tom!] He had us then repeat M-A-C-p-H-E-R-S-O-N, until we got it right. (Later, some smart Alec [or smart Neil] mentioned that he was sad that Tav had only a small "p" - or something to that effect - I think it was rude :) 

Anniversaries (Club): David Sills; Peter Lawrie; Ted Harrison

Anniversaries (Wedding): Phil Neroutsos – 49 years. Peter J; Wynn Taylor; David Philip.

Birthdays: Aug 8, Ted Harrison; Dallas Chapple (another smart alec said there was $29 dollars put into the fund from Dallas for her 29 years!)

Mary is happy she is going on Thursday to Duffy Lake Road with her friend, Jennifer. All four of her grandsons will be in Victoria for a few days,; they're from Victoria, Kentucky and Ontario. Then she had a sad dollar, and a long story, for the Salt Spring Residents for Responsible Land Use. Another smart alec asked if Mary was today's speaker.

Joan Peggs' sad dollar involved her dog falling off the balcony – but s/he’s still walking. 

Peter J celebrated three weeks in Europe but noted it was good to be back.

Tav was happy that the Heart Tournament at Uplands, which raises funds to buy equipment for the heart hospital, has been running for 37 consecutive years, and raised $120,000 this year. The total over the 37 years is 2.2 million. He also won a raffle scoring $600 worth of meat for his freezer. Neil R won the 50-50, taking home $14 - which won't buy much meat.

There were -WHAT? - no announcements.

Lunch was Shepherd's Pie

President Jim took the floor, to introduce the Directors:

Brian Lamb, our Treasurer, briefly reported on the budget: he is waiting for input from directors, explaining that there were a whole three days in which to change the budget numbers if needed. There was talk of moving the Annual Dinner to the fall, because this year, we had a lot of fundraising happening at the same time. Jim announced that we will evaluate all of our fundraising in September. If we do not do a dinner in the upcoming twelve months we have to find another way of funding all of the youth (and other) projects we do. 

Perry Bamji: Public Image. He reminded us that Jim is also known as “a Force to contend with” – a title given by the local press. The mandate of PI is to disseminate information at regular intervals. He mentioned the club bulletin, the website, and Facebook as carriers of information, and urged members to read them and take part. Club announcements from members and Emails alerting members on specific events, newspapers, and brochures were other methods used. He spoke of the Paul Harris Awards evening on October 2 at the hotel which is a PI event to portray Rotary to the citizens of Victoria. Four accomplished citizens will be honoured. The District Governor will attend, as will the awardees and their families, colleagues and friends. Club members (especially all PHF awardees), partners and friends, are urged to attend. Rotaract and Interact club members will be invited, for which sponsors are needed. The PHF Awards Selection Committee were Jim, Neil, Michelle, Lori and Perry. There were ten nominations; four were selected: Maria Consalvo, Paul Destrooper, Helen Hughes, and Steven Wong (who we have already honoured). The event is supported by the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, thanks to Michelle. The cost is $60 per person and tickets can be obtained at the OBBH by visa, etc. or from Lori and Perry by cheque. DRESS: business (black tie optional). This is our club’s very first awards event so your support is vital to the success of the event. Perry then spoke briefly on Knowledge Management, a strategy for improving organizational performance through information. The Preferred Practices (PPs) are written by Rotarians to enhance and disseminate information. There are now 12 available PPs on our website, and they should be utilized!

FOUNDATION: Neil Rawnsley: Neil introduced himself by stating that he was 'OK' contrary to popular belief. He talked about Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY).  He explained that last year he got a bit aggressive, and some people gave him $20, perhaps reluctantly. But, for the first time we have attained EREY in our club for this past year. Can we do it two years in a row? We can if we start now, as we have a number of people who have already made donations. Only two clubs made EREY last year; we were number two in per capita giving, which was a very good effort. Tav mentioned that one of the most under utilized donation methods is Rotary Direct – where money is taken automatically from your bank or credit card, which makes it painless! Jim reminded us that money for Foundation helps support the grants, and so helps us raise money for our local and international projects.

BoB Schelle: Director in charge of Administration. 
Bob showed us his 'Nice Legs'. He then went on to explain how Program Speakers will alternate between those representing causes, and those who speak on general interest subjects. Jim has requested more people to get interested in “JOBS”. We have four photographers (where were they today while I was taking bulletin notes?); Steve Sharlow will put photos on ClubRunner, so that they are there if people want to access them. We have George doing the roster, Lynne as Sgt. at Arms; Anne as procurement officer (rather than the secretary buying club paraphernalia). He is looking for a volunteer for Club Socials. Giles and John offered to do the bulletin next week and the week after as Tricia will be out of Internet range.

Peter J. and Sabrina will be doing Youth Services. Peter spoke of Interact and Rotaract and of how youth is our future - we are building on their resources and supporting them with money. To better integrate the members into our club, we will invite them to the lunch meetings over the next few weeks, so that they will understand us better, and vice versa. We will relocate the teen centre at the OB High School - Tom Croft has volunteered to help. It will be donated to Steven Pointe's library program, and will be sent to a Northern BC community. Students will attend RYLA (Tacoma) and Adventures in Citizenship (Ottawa). Bill asked if the committee has considered getting back into the Student Exchange program. He is going to Europe this month, and is visiting three of the students who stayed in his home. Tav supported Bill's idea. A sub-committee will be formed. The Youth Services Committee will meet this Friday at 3.30 in the Snug. Jim added that next month is Youth Services Month and some of the meeting MCs will be from the Interact and Rotaract Clubs.

Peter L. and Tricia: International Committee Directors. Peter reminded that there is a meeting after this meeting in the library. Eight People have indicated that they will be on the committee. The budget should be close to last year's of $14,000. Projects include one from John Edgell in Mexico, one in Rwanda (John Jordan), and an interesting new project introduced by Jim in East Timor, for which a Global Grant will be applied for. Pete stressed the importance of having ongoing dialogue with the project leaders - the trick is to know our partners, and that they be ones we trust and have a relationship with. Perry is on our team so we have to make sure that Perry has a full set of the information for maximum communication. Members are John J, Mary, Wolf, Tav John E, Phil, Bill, Perry, and David W. We would like to put together a small team of people who might be interested in building partnerships - some club members are well connected and it would be good to have you on board.

Jim noted that at the last board meeting it was decided to renew the honorary memberships of Ted Harrison and Nils Jensen. Notice was received from Mark Mawhinney that he would not be renewing his membership. Three of the last seven new members have now resigned. Jim spoke of what constitutes being a good Rotarian: We follow the four-way test as best we can. He spoke about what constitutes service. It is not necessarily Rotary-instigated service. It may not necessarily even be Rotary related service. We should rethink what constitutes service, so that people can be busy with their lives, and still be doing service. Otherwise we will just become an old folks club who do good things. Jim thanked the directors.

The meeting ended with that Young at Heart tune - it's now stuck in my head - thanks Jack. Well at least I'm not humming God Save the Queen.