Oak Bay Rotary Bulletin for September 9, 2014

Reporter: Eugen Bannerman

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi
There was an invasion from downunder this week - Tricia and Janette are members,
and Jocelyn and Bruce Johinke were visiting from Sydney (Turramurra) via Bali. 

September is Youth Services month, and today’s meeting was chaired and championed by Janna Malo. “Get in touch with your youthful side. Think: what do youth today think of Canada?” For “O Canada,” Janna played a Facebook video of a Rapper rapping the national anthem: I know where I’m from and I told ya before

North of America, hard to ignore

Every time I go away I tell them for sure

I’m from Canada, oh-oh-oh Canada

(I’m from the east coast of Canada)

O-oh-oh Canada

(I’m from the east, east, east, coast)

Yo-yo, no doubt

Yeah I’m from Canada, so sometimes words come out of my mouth like this

Get used to it!

(O Canada! We stand on guard, for thee!)

The other view - thanks Steve

Followed by spontaneous applause. Followed by Lynn Murray saying Grace. Followed by a Photo Call by Steve Sharlow for all to assemble at the front, raise their left hand in a “Just this close” gesture, and, Voila--6 photos-in-one-second later--we followed guests and visitors to the beautiful buffet of salads, pasta, and meat rolls.

Mary and Judy

We were hardly finished eating when Janette Nation, our newest member and today’s Greeter, introduced our Guests and Visitors:

Visiting Rotarians included: Jarrod Clayton,

Jarrod

of Edmonton Strathcona; Mary Bishop and Judy Sedlack, of Crystal Lake Dawnbreakers (they meet at 6:30 a.m.); Bruce and Jocelyn Johinke, of Rotary Bali Canggu, Indonesia; and David and Liz Murray, of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Jocelyn and Bruce

Guests included: Kathleen Arnasson, hosted by Jim Force, Katie de Rosa, hosted by Victoria Pitt; and Ryan Gisler, hosted by Janna Gisler, and Jan Randall, of St. Albert, hosted by Neil Madsen.

Bruce Johinke of Bali gave President Jim Force the Bali Rotary Club Banner. Unfortunately, we did not have an Oak Bay Banner in exchange. [Editor's note: One was found, and reciprocity occurred!]

Jim, Janna and Sabrina

Announcements:

President Jim Force urged members to support the Paul Harris Evening Dinner on October 2. “Your presence is important.” Award-winning Janna Malo will be sponsoring another fund-raising event, “Superbowl of Hope,” and Rotarians can help at her “Fired Up” ceramics shop at Fort Street and Richmond Road. Eugen Bannerman announced that Oak Bay Rotary is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year, with a special Anniversary Luncheon on Tuesday October 21.

Lori, with her regal cap

Celebrations Master for the Month is Lori McLeod. She fined all tables without a guest; then found out all tables had guests, so she fined everyone a toonie for having a guest! (Quick recovery). Tricia was fined for buying a house in Nelson before telling us, so we could talk her out of it, so she won’t leave. 

Happy/Sad Dollars

Lorna Curtis is happy she’s travelling again. Heather Aked’s father passed away, after a long battle with cancer. Tom Lidkea told us he has just learned where the Irish go on their vacations: Another bar.  Mary Canty has plenty of deep purple grapes ready for anyone’s picking.

50/50 Draw, and the black marble, was won by Steve Sharlow.

Sabrina Corraini, Youth Services co-chair, introduced our two speakers from Rotaract: Scott Higbie and Natasha Smith. Scott was member of Interact (the High School Rotary club) at Frances Kelsey Secondary School, and joined Rotaract after moving to UVic to study physics. Natasha also joined Rotaract after going to UVic, and became one of the co-presidents.  “Natasha has had a busy year - she graduated from UVic this past June with a Bachelor’s degree in Education, married this past August, and is due with her first child in October.”

(Editorial Note: There are three levels of Rotary International participation: in high school, you can join Interact clubs; at University you can become involved with Rotaract clubs (for people 18  - 30); and as an adult you can join a Rotary International Club. Oak Bay Rotary Club has been supporting both Interact and Rotaract clubs. Today’s speakers are both from the UVic Rotaract group.)

Janna, Natasha and Scott

Stats from Scott Higbie’s talk: 

Although Rotaract started in America, it has grown to be a world wide part of Rotary International. There are over 9500 clubs with nearly 224,000 members. Which country has the most? India, with 2526 clubs. Our District 5020 has 7 clubs; Canada wide, there are only 88 clubs. The Rotaract Club of Victoria is 40-members strong. We are officially ten years old. Currently, we have six committees including: local projects, international projects, professional development, club services, public relations, and literacy.

Natasha Smith spoke about the Relationships of Rotaract with Rotary. Her comments are worth repeating: 

“When I was in Portugal for the R.I. Convention, I was shocked to hear how terrible the relationship can be between Rotaract and Rotary... I am extremely proud of the current status of our (UVic) club, but not all Rotaractors feel that way... world wide, there is a gap between New Gen, and Rotary. We don’t belong on the club locator, we aren’t old enough for Rotary when our time in Interact or Rotaract is through, and we for sure cannot afford it. ... Ron Burton (RI) nailed it on the head when he said, ‘Too many of us are letting Rotaract end their Rotary Careers and not enough of us are picking them up into Rotary. We are all one family.’ ...We heard about a young club past-president, who was merely 22 years old when she became her club’s president. She was passionate about changing the stats that declare that only 2% of Rotarians are under the age of thirty, and only 16% are women. So she did something about it; she started a Rotary Club for Rotarians in their 20’s... Thankfully, there are many solutions to fix the problems or, many things that Rotary clubs everywhere can do to do their part in closing the gap... 

...I’ve loved every minute of my journey in Rotary. I’d love for all former Interact and Rotaractors to feel the same, and look forward to membership with a Rotary club somewhere in the world... I am more than eager to partner with you personally, as members of Rotary International, so we can close the gap and serve above self not as separate entities, but as the family of Rotary.” (Excerpted from Natasha’s copy of the address.)

President Jim Force concluded the meeting by outlining three reasons for asking different club members to serve as Master of Ceremonies for a month each. 1). It allows Directors to take ownership of their portfolios. (For example, this month’s focus is on Youth Services, so the Youth Services Committee is responsible for organizing the meetings). 2). It’s a very demanding job to be President and MC for all 50 meetings a year. This way, the load is shared and becomes manageable. 3). It allows individual members to build up their leadership capacity. Our club has had 40 Presidents, but none of the MC’s to date, have been presidents of the club. Everyone in the club should have the opportunity to stand up and assume leadership. “It’s good to be a little outside of your comfort range,” President Jim said. “Give me your feedback anytime.”

The meeting finished with a video of the APU Malawi “Girls on the Move” singing their graduation song, “I’ll never be the same again.”  [Editor's note: Some of us danced and sang along! It's extremely catchy; it was written by the 2011 APU Grad class themselves.]