Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 14 October, 2014

Reported by Ron Cooley
The meeting was opened by Master of Ceremonies: Sandy Currie.
Lori McLeod gave grace.

Guests:
Barry Mutter introduced our Guests:
Naida Hyde guest of Mary Canty
Christopher Bowers   Speaker
C. Anne McIntyre - Disaster Aid Canada

Fond Farewell:
Tricia Timmermans was presented with a plaque of appreciation for all of her hard work on behalf of our club. Tricia has been a huge part of our success as a club and a talented photographer. All the best Tricia, you will be missed!

Announcements:
Pablo Diemecke has a concert coming up on Saturday Oct 18, 2014, at 2:30 - St Mary’s Church, 1701 Elgin Rd., Oak Bay. $5 from each ticket will be donated to Oak Bay Rotary.
Eugen Bannerman reminded us that next Tuesday, October 21, 2014, will be our 40^th anniversary celebration lunch starting 15 minutes early. Please send any historical photos to Eugen. Perry Bamji thanked everyone who attended the Paul Harris Awards night; donated a ticket to a Rotoract student or; helped to make it a success. He also  thanked David Maxwell for donating organic wine for the event. Please help to make next year’s event a success by sending Perry your feedback

50/50:
Tom Croft was Celebrations Master.
He requested $2 from each person who had turkey for Thanksgiving to go to the “Save the Turkey Foundation”. He fined everyone who had a vegan meal, $2
Pablo celebrated his 12^th anniversary with the Rotary Club of Oak Bay.
Peter Sou and Mary Canty had birthdays. Mary told us she was very much her age. (I thought you were not suppose to ask). Mary donated a cheque, the amount of which equated with her age, to the women in Guatemala and the stoves project.
Tricia had happy and sad $’s.  She was excited to be moving to another city, but sad to be leaving Oak Bay Rotary after 12 great years and making hundreds of friends. She thanked Tom Croft for introducing her to Rotary when they met in the Yukon.
Ron Cooley had happy $’s for his and Jane’s trip to Grand, Antelope and Zion Canyons. Plus, a brave $ for Jane (who is challenged by cliffs) for her ride on the “Stratosphere” in Las Vegas. 

Speaker:
Dallas introduced our speaker Christopher Bowers. Access his website here.  

Christopher discussed the distinction between being a traveller (engages) vs. a tourist (observes).  Christopher spoke about the process he uses to enhance conversation.

The better the question, the better the story. Ask questions you are curious about.

Go for specifics e.g.: What stood out? What was the highlight? Ask follow up questions to go deeper.  Avoid asking close ended questions (that can be answered with a  yes or no).

Christopher handed out a work sheet with a short bio for Dallas and Steve Sharlow.  

By way of illustration, Dallas was asked about growing up with Dal Richards. Her mom, Lorraine, was a singer with Dal from the 40’s to 1965. Lena Horne, Bing Crosby and Mel Torme were among  many who visited their home.  
We learned Dallas attended the Sorbonne, worked at UNESCO and,  her objective is to help people and help them make a wise choices.

Lorna Curtis thanked Christopher for a very informative process and a way to engage with people as a traveller  rather than as a tourist.

Other announcements:
Anne McIntyre told us how Disaster Aid Canada runs a program called “Soap for Hope”. This program takes soap, shampoo and conditioner left in local hotels and reprocesses them for distribution overseas. Global Handwashing Day is Oct 15, 2014. It highlights the need for hygiene to combat preventable diseases.

John Jordan gave us a short announcement of his trip to visit the Rotary Club of Fresno, California, where he was able to thank the inventor of the stove made for the project in Rawanda. 6 years ago on his 1^st trip to Rawanda, John learned people there needed an efficient stove that reduced smoke in homes. He found out about a stove that had been developed by a Rotarian in the USA.  John and his team were trained to make them. 6 years and 10,000 stoves later, John managed to track down the inventor and give him personal thanks!

New Member:
Steve Sharlow is a new member to our club and many will remember his dad, Bill, who was a long time member of our club.   .
No meeting on Rememberance Day:
Steve Sharlow reminded us there will be no meeting on Remembrance Day.
Sandy closed the meeting with a bell ringing.

Steve Sharlow