Reported by Jenny Hildebrand
Meeting commenced at 12:00 noon
Opened with singing of O Canada
Lynne Murray said grace.
Will Carter welcomed guests Alyce Joy Blom, Mother-in-law of Jack Petrie, and Dawn Large, guest of Jenny Hildebrand
Mary Canty is back after a challenging time of illness. She says she is grateful to be feeling 95%
herself again.
Eugen was also present and feeling better after a short illness.
- President Heather
reminded us that the District Governor will attend the November 17th
meeting to be held at the Victoria Golf Club.
Please let Bob Schelle know if you will be attending as we need firm
numbers. “No Shows” will be required to
pay for lunch.
- Jack Petrie announced the highly acclaimed Victoria Soul Gospel Choir
will be providing entertainment for the Christmas Luncheon Dec. 1st
from Noon till 2pm. Show time for the
choir is 1:30 pm. Cost is $25.00 per
person. Bar is open. Please feel free to
invite friends and family to attend as the performance is open to all.
- Mary Canty reported on Guatemala.
Jaqueline and David Sheppard will be married Dec. 5th. They will then leave for Guatemala Dec 31st
where they have worked for 21 years.
John Snively is in Guatemala for 6 months and starts his dental clinic
this month.
- Ron Cooley
requested help with the Oak Bay Rotary Merrython Fun Run Dec 6th. Course marshals are needed. Marshalls will be paired with Interac Students. Time commitment: 9:45 until 11:30 You will be
asked to make sure runners stay on course and to stop traffic if necessary.
Most spots do not require traffic stops. It will be rain or shine so dress
warmly and bring wet weather gear.
- President Heather encouraged us to attend the upcoming Victoria Rotary
Club lunch “The World’s Greatest Meal to End Polio” Thursday Dec 3rd. Susanne Ray will be speaking. A basket will
used to collect donations from attending clubs which will be matched dollar for
dollar by the Canadian Government and the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation. Donations will be logged and allocated to members for points and
tax receipts.
- Jim
Force reported on the Nearly New Sale and Christmas Market at the Monterey
Centre Saturday. Most tables were rented
out at a $25.00 profit to Rotary. Jim’s
table raised $200. Jenny will donate her
proceeds. The market had a reasonable turnout considering this was the first
year for the event.
- Jim
Force requested volunteers to assist with moving the trailer Saturday Nov 7th,
9am – 11am
Birthdays, Wedding Anniversaries, and Club Anniversaries:
Wedding
Anniversaries for Jim Laing and Sandy Curry
Tom
Croft now has 30 years with Rotary
Celebrations Mistress
(Dallas Chapple):
Dallas
fined anyone not wearing a poppy. Jack
Petrie, John Edgell and Perry Bamji were fined a loonie for look too darn
good. Wolfe was charged a loonie for
looking too dapper with his fabulous scarf!
Jenny’s boots were too cute.
Tables who didn’t know how many rotary clubs there are worldwide, (30K)
or how many Rotarians there are worldwide, (1.2 M) were fined.
A
member’s grandchildren were Flag Bearer and Wreath Bearer in the Nov 11th
ceremonies.
A
member donated $100 in honour of his father’s birthday who lived to 99 years.
Bill
Burns gave a toonie in honour of his grandfather who was apparently quite a
character.
President
Heather gave $15 in gratitude for poppies, for Jim Force representing the club
at the cenotaph and for Alexander’s 13th birthday.
$100
was donated by Mary Canty who is celebrating a birthday and feels 100 years old. She will designate the funds to Rod Sims fund
for students at Oak Bay High.
Jack Petrie
gave $5 to acknowledge his mother-in-law's work with the Legion in Duncan. At 83 years of age, she raised $38K through a
poppy campaign, and was designated Citizen of the Year.
Sanjay
Uppal donated $20 to say he regretted missing a few weeks of meetings but was
pleased to announce he had just received a promotion at work.
Lynne
Murray gave $5 in gratitude for her good health which was largely a result of her
sister-in-law’s timely appearance during a recent incident.
Jim
Force gave a donation to share that he had recently met some Americans who had
not been aware that Canadians had fought in the world wars.
A
member donated $5 in honour of a club anniversary.
Neil Madsen
won the draw but not the pot.
Remembrance Day
Presentation:
President Heather thanked Phil Neroutsos for his thoughtful Remembrance
Day Memorabilia table and invited him to the podium to give a short
presentation. Phil’s presentation was a
brief but touching account of the life of his first cousin, Edward 'Teddy'
Blenkinsop.
Edward Weyman "Teddy"
Blenkinsop was born in 1920 in Victoria, British Columbia and attended school
in that city before articling as a Chartered Accountant with a Vancouver firm.
When war broke out, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at Victoria in
June, 1940 and trained as a pilot-navigator. He was posted to No. 425 Squadron
in 1943 and flew Wellingtons in North Africa. Upon completion of his first tour
he volunteered for a second tour with No. 405 Squadron of the Pathfinder Force.
120 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos
(144 aircraft) of Bomber Command attacked the docks near the Antwerp-Aachen at
Montzen, Belgium on the night of 27/28 April, 1944, a border town. The raid was
one of hundreds in preparation for the invasion of occupied France.
De Lancaster III of "Teddy"
Blenkinsop was one of in total eight Pathfinders. Teddy's plane JA976 "S
for Sugar" was shot down on April 28 02.05 hours during a raid that lasted
only ten seconds. The Lancaster came down in Webbekom. Five crew members didn't
survive the crash. A sixth member was probably killed after he had bailed out
at low altitude with his parachute. The seventh was severely wounded and was
left to his fate. After three days without any nursing he died.
Teddy was thrown out of the air craft and
survived the crash. Blenkinsop was picked up by members of the Belgian
resistance, who risked their lives to save his. Four farm families took turns
hiding him for a week or two each before, in July 1944, he was taken in by a
family in the rural town of Meensel-Kiezegem. The Belgian Underground prepared
two escapes for him but eventually had the intention to hand him over as their
'trophy' to the ever advancing allied forces.
Blenkinsop was caught, almost by accident,
when German and Flemish SS troops raided the town that August in retaliation
for the killing of one of their own - collaborator Gaston Merckx -. Four
villagers were killed and 91 arrested. Only eight survived the war.
Blenkinsop, accused by the Gestapo of
co-operating with the resistance, was denied his rights as a prisoner of war.
He was held at St.Gilles Prison in Brussels and while detained transmitted his
identity to an American officer POW by tapping in Morse code over steam pipes.
After that he was pressed into forced labour in the shipyards and arms
factories around Hamburg and may have spent time in Bergen-Belsen. Teddy
Blenkinsop died 23 January 1945 in concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.
In the town of Meensel-Kiezegem there's a
marker for Blenkinsop. He's remembered there, together with 71 of the
inhabitants who lost their lives due to the German terror. On Nov. 1, All
Saints Day, the people of Meensel-Kiezegem put fresh flowers on his headstone,
just as they do every year, just as they'll do again today.
Teddy Blenkinsop's biography, "One Who Almost Made It Back" by Peter Celis is thoroughly researched and
highly recommended.
Phil read the poem “In Flander’s Fields”.
President Heather invited Dr. Perry Bamji up to the
podium to present his “Vocational Talk”.
Perry thanked President Heather for keeping us on
time and then proceeded to captivate us with his incredible life journey, humbly
entitled “Reflections of a Rotarian”.
Perry augmented his presentation with an entertaining and interesting
slide show. The following are a few of
the many highlights:
For
illustration purposes Perry divided his life into five distinct stages: youth,
adulthood, mid-life, reflection and sunset and claimed that he, being over 70
years old, is now living in the fifth and final “sunset stage” of his life.
“I was born in 1940 and that puts me in the same vintage as Tom
& Jerry, and Daisy Duck!” said Perry.
Perry is a Parsee by ancestry, Zoroastrian by religion, Indian, British
and a (new-stock) Canadian by nationality, married to an Italian whose father
had Spanish ancestry and mother Austrian.
Perry is a self-proclaimed “Cosmopolitan Mutt”.
Perry was ordained as a Zoroastrian Priest at age 12.
Perry has one brother aged 82 and one sister who has passed away.
He completed his Bachelor of Science degree in physics and math at age
19.
The most productive time of his life was between ages 20 – 40.
Perry wanted to study electrical engineering in India but needed to be
either one of the brightest or richest students to gain entry to very few
Engineering Colleges in India at that time. He claims to have been neither and
so chose to go to England to study what he loved.
Perry acquired a loan scholarship from Zoroastrian educational trusts
and with some additional financial support from his parents left India with ten
pounds Stirling in his pocket in 1960 and by what he feels was divine
intervention, found work to support himself during his student years.
His jobs during student years was as a mailman each Christmas and a paid apprenticeships in large electrical companies during summer vacations. In
1965, after completing his graduate apprenticeship, Perry was hired by Alcan
Research Centre in Banbury to do research as a junior engineer. He then worked his way up to become Programs
Director of Europe and Canada.
Perry was in charge of three major aluminum recycling projects in Europe
and another three in Canada. All involved recycling of light aluminium scrap
and in particular recycling of used beverage containers such as the beer can. Perry has 12 patents to his name and at age 39 he was one of the
youngest Elected Fellows of the Institution of Electrical Engineers at the time
of his induction.
Just after Perry and Annamaria got married in 1970, yet another divine
intervention occurred. The Dean of Engineering at the University of Bradford,
England, who came to know of Perry’s research, invited him to do his higher
degrees (Masters and Ph.D.) extramurally whilst still working at Alcan. It was
tough going having a full-time job, travelling and studying but having a Ph.D.
paid huge dividends at the later stages in his life.
Whilst operating in England Perry oversaw numerous major recycling
projects in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Canada. One year, he travelled
between England and Canada 14 times. The centre of gravity of his career was
changing from Europe to North America and, in 1981, Alcan transferred him to the Kingston Research Centre where he oversaw research projects in Canada, USA and
Latin America.
In 1987 Perry was transferred to Alcan Affiliate’s Research Centre in
Japan for three years. “Annamaria and I were privileged to enjoy
the country and its people. Our stay
there opened our minds and left a lasting impression on our lives. This was yet
another divine intervention” said Perry.
Perry describes himself during the height of his career as a person
“Tearing around the world solving technical problems”. In 1994, Perry and
Annamaria were thinking of retiring and doing something different. However, another divine intervention in the form
of a telephone call from Queen’s University, School of Business, changed their
plans. Perry was appointed as an Associate Professor to teach Technology Management
and Intellectual Property Management. He was also appointed Director of Queen’s
Small Business Consulting. During his 11
years at Queen’s, Perry served three-year terms as a Senator, a Trustee,
Secretary of the Faculty Board of School of Business, Chair of Scholarships and
Student Aid Committee and Director of Queen’s Campus Bookstore.
In 2005 Perry retired after 40 years of solid hard work. After retiring Perry and his beloved wife Annamaria, moved from Kingston
Ontario to Victoria because it was “the warmest place in Canada”. They chose to downsize from a large
house to a two bedroom condominium close to downtown, in Fairfield, so they could
walk and live without a car. They are now focused on “giving back” to their chosen country, Canada, that has been so good to them. They are
active volunteers and donate generously to many causes that are meaningful to
them – youth, health and cultural activities being their main focus. Annamaria
is committed and actively involved with several organizations that focus on art
and youth.
Perry and Annamaria are benefactors and donors to the Rotary
Foundation, have established seven bursaries for needy students at Queen’s
University, a trust fund with the Rotary Club of Kingston Foundation for the needy, and provide ongoing support to various other charities.
In 2007 Perry joined the Oak Bay Rotary Club transferring his membership
from the Rotary Club of Kingston which he joined in 1992.
Perry enjoys
a range of artistic endeavours and hobbies including photography, painting and
pottery. One of his hand built pottery
pieces fetched $350.00 at a Rotary auction in Kingston!
Perry finished his presentation with a three-point
epilogue:
- "In childhood, I
had loving parents who instilled in me the values of persistence, hard work,
charity and diversity.
- As
an adult, I have always valued Annamaria’s incessant support and advice.
- Professionally, I
never had a job! Through divine interventions, I had opportunities and the good
fortune to pursue them”.
Thanks for sharing your life story Perry. We are all immensely encouraged and inspired
by your loving marriage, hard work and philanthropic
approach to all you do.
Cory Burger thanked Perry for his informative and inspiring talk and
said he had learned a great deal about Perry and appreciated it. He encouraged everyone to “ask more
questions” of each other and not assume we know everything about a person
already.
President Heather reminded everyone the
portable is being moved to Nanaimo and we need volunteers Saturday to help
clean up the trailer site. Heather will
send out a reminder with times soon.
The meeting was closed at 1:25 pm with the playing of “The Last Post”.
