Reporter: Peter Johannknecht
Greeters: Wynn Taylor and Kathleen
Arnason.
MC: Lorna
Curtis. Lorna pointed
out that January is Rotary Awareness
month and in good tradition of her own, she put on her ‘Happy New Year’ hat, as
she had done during her presidency during which she wore a different hat each meeting. Lorna shared numerous pictures of her recent travels to exotic places.
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| Lorna in her dashing hat |
Grace: Wynn Taylor,
Everyone sang O Canada, enjoying beautiful
images from all Provinces projected onto the screen.
Guests were supposed to be introduced by our new member Kathleen Arnason, but since the only guest in the room was Janna’s husband Ryan, no further introduction was necessary. Well done Kathleen!
Health of the Club: Barry Mutter had no news to report. In this case that is good news.
Announcements:
- Joan Firkins reminded everyone that next week the tickets for our big event of the year, the New Orleans Mardi Gras Madness, will be available. This fund raising dinner is on May 9th and 200 tickets need to be sold. So please get started right away and ask your family, friends and neighbours to come to this outstanding event.
- Lynne Murray announced that she will undergo surgery and hopes that everyone will cross their fingers for her. She hopes to be back next Tuesday. Good luck Lynne!
- Neil Rawnsley took the opportunity to acknowledge and honor our multiple Paul Harris Fellows. In particular he asked Dallas Chapple, Heather Aked, Bill Burns and Lorna Curtis to the front. Both Lorna and Dallas received the Paul Harris Multiple +3 pin; Bill, the Multiple +5 and Heather, the Multiple +8, which makes her now a major donor to the foundation. Thank you all so much for your continuous contributions and generous support. What an inspiration!!
Bill, Dallas, Heather, Lorna and Neil
50/50: Fines Master Jack Petrie was welcomed by the club with an applause that most members probably missed, due to a lack of volume. As a result, everyone got fined who did not know what the theme of the month is. Jana and Ryan got away with praise since they had given a smooth answer to the question: “What does it mean to be a good Rotarian?” …. what was the answer again? Further fines were handed out to anyone who did not bring in a new member to the club last year. We need new members!
Happy $: Mary Canty is happy to have her new kitchen flooring after the burst hot water tank had caused a lot of damage;Heather Aked to celebrate the hockey gold our juniors won in Toronto against Russia. Some Poutine for Putin please. Dallas Chapple gave some happy $ in
appreciation of her dad’s 97th birthday. Lynne Murray gave away some $ since it is
her birthday and she’s happy that she still has birthdays. That’s the spirit!
Jack wrapped up the ‘fine’ session by
sharing with us his dog's new year’s resolution. She will try to start running
when the hand actually let’s go of the stick. Jack, Jack, Jack …
Neil Rawnsley had the winning ticket for
the 50/50 pot.
Guest Speaker: Janna Gisler introduced our guest speaker, Ryan Gisler, who happens
to be her husband. Both told us their story on how they converted
to an electric car from their previous fossil fuel dependent vehicle.
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| Jana and Ryan |
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| Example of smog over a city in China |
After spending over a week in these conditions, he noticed a change in
breathing and the urge to actually spit to clear his respiratory system to some
degree. The photos he showed of the smog during daylight tell the story. Our
culture on this planet has to change and adapt to new ways. On his way back to
Canada, he had a stopover in Hawaii for a few days. The rental car company
had only an electric car available at the time, a Nissan Leaf, and it was the first time ever that he had driven one.
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| Nissan Leaf |
It was like an epiphany to him, after his
time in China, and as soon he was back in Victoria he discussed his experience
with Janna, who had some initial reservations towards an electric car. Further
research was required to convince her that an E.V. is just like any other car,
but without an exhaust and only minor restrictions when it comes to the travel
distance.
It only costs them $20/month in electricity
and they like the fact that the Nissan Leaf is the speed record holder in
driving in reverse. (Don’t try this in the public please). Both Janna and Ryan are wonderful ambassadors of the E.V.
movement, are members of the local electric car club and educate everyone where
they can, from the Home Depot salesperson who showed some opposition, to us Rotarians, by showing us a video on how Norway became a
world leader in the E.V. market, through the implementation of vast endorsements
to turn E.V.’s into money savers. You can watch this very interesting video by clicking here . Corey Burger thanked both Ryan and Janna for
speaking to us. Very inspiring!
John Jordan going to Rwanda: Jim Force wished John good luck in his upcoming trip to Rwanda. He will return in mid April. Wonderful work John!
God Save the Queen was sung (as Lorna Curtis and her aunt are planning
to attend one of the Queen's garden parties at Buckingham Palace, this summer). [To read about the Queen's garden parties, click on this website ]
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