Rotary Club of Oak Bay 29 November 2016 - Visit to the Baumann Centre for Pacific Opera, Victoria

Reporter: Janette Nation

Joan Peggs organized a delightful tour of the Baumann Centre for Pacific Opera, at 925 Balmoral Road, Victoria. The CEO showed us over the building and he and the music administrator, gave an entertaining talk on the Centre, and their respective roles. The music administrator delighted us with a wonderful, solo piano performance. 

Joan Peggs had ordered trays of wraps, dips and fruit from Thrifty Foods, so we enjoyed a lunch underneath the carved, acoustical canopy in the Wingate Studio. An enjoyable time was had by all who attended.

About the Baumann Centre

http://www.pov.bc.ca/operacentre.html

"The Baumann Centre is the culmination of a year's-long search by Pacific Opera Victoria to find a long-term home and to develop an integrated artistic facility that would amalgamate our administration, training, and rehearsal spaces.

In 2013, Pacific Opera Victoria secured a 10-year lease on the two-storey Hall of the Church of St. John the Divine. During 2014, Architect Franc D'Ambrosio oversaw acoustic engineering for the 2,500 sq. ft. Wingate Studio, as well as construction of an office suite, music room, and public entrance. In January of 2015, Pacific Opera Victoria moved into the 7,000 square-foot facility.

Designed as a multi-use space, the Baumann Centre is the main rehearsal space for POV's opera productions, and a venue for our artist training and community engagement and education activities, including exhibits, conferences, lectures, and workshops. As the Centre also features a large commercial kitchen, it is an ideal venue for receptions and special events for POV's patrons and donors.

Because the Baumann Centre provides the only acoustically engineered space in Greater Victoria that is designed explicitly for music making, workshops, and opera rehearsals, it is creating enhanced opportunities for artistic creation, public engagement and artist training, not only for Pacific Opera Victoria, but for other community organizations, including the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra, the Victoria Children's Choir, and the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival, which use the space for their musical programs,

The heart of the Opera Centre is Wingate Studio, 2,500-square foot rehearsal and music making space, named in honour of donor Lydia Wingate. Wingate Studio is not only practical, but beautiful. A stunning acoustic ceiling canopy has been created by Kwagiulth Artist and former opera singer Carey Newman.  This magnificent piece of First Nations art helps make the Opera Centre something very special indeed – a place of musical and visual delight, where artists, young people, and the community can explore opera.

The Centre is named in honour of the late Victoria philanthropist Egon Baumann, whose Egon Baumann Music Foundation, chaired by Eric Charman, made a $500,000 gift to name the Centre and to establish the Egon Baumann Fund for Pacific Opera Victoria.

Major funding was provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage Cultural Spaces Fund and the British Columbia Creative Spaces Program. Many other generous donors contributed to the project in order to create this wonderful gift to the community.

Many features in the Centre, including Wingate Studio, are named in honour of donors to the project. All donors to the Opera Centre Naming Campaign are also acknowledged on a special dedicated Donor Wall for Opera Centre donations."

If you would like to make a donation to support Pacific Opera Victoria's ongoing artistic and community programming, including their education programs offered at the Baumann Centre.

• Please call 250.382.1641
• Or donate online

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting of 22 November 2016 - Rotary Foundation Auction

Reporter:  Brian Lamb

President Lori once again chaired our lunch meeting and began by calling upon Lynne Murray to offer our invocation.

Today our annual Rotary Foundation auction took place under the watchful eye of Neil Rawnsley.  The club collects and accumulates amounts it receives at our weekly meetings, primarily from the weekly fines and then breaks the amount allocated for auction (this year $3500 was put up for auction, broken down into 22 lots ranging from $100 to $250).   Various members bid on these lots and the total brought in was about $11,150.   Hence a total of $14,650 will be sent into Rotary Foundation in the names of successfully bidding members to be used by the Rotary Foundation to fund the grants and activities of the RF.  Well done everyone.

• Other announcements (also covered off by separate emails) included the need for volunteers for the Merrython fun Run on Dec 4.  I'm sure many of us were shocked by seeing that only 6 club members had signed up to stand at street corners of the run to ensure runners could safely get around the course.   I know several other club members volunteer to help in other aspects of this event but a total of 6 members for street corners seems a little embarrassing.  Hopefully the numbers will swell before the event.
• Dec 6 is our club (and club foundation) AGM so please make an attempt to attend if you can.
• Our club Christmas party is coming up and with Joan Firkins chairing that event, a good time will be had by all---won't it?
• Finally, early news that an application is being put forward for us to participate with several other clubs including the Atlanta club for a global grant whereby the Victoria Native Friendship Centre will be the recipient of the funds raised.   Seems like another great effort for us to be involved with, thanks to those that are working to put this together.   More info to come.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting of 15 November 2016 - Dr. Jim Force on his Haiku poetry

Reporter: Brian Lamb

President Lori McLeod chaired the lunch meeting today and Ron Cooley provided our invocation.

Our visitors and guests were introduced by Sabrina Corraini as follows:

1 guest Rotarian, Kris Amudzinski from Prince George, Downtown

1 guest Rotaractor, Nalin Dhillon

5 guests:  Colleen Force and Linda Cook, guests of Jim Force; Sean Dannele, guest of the club; Atam Uppel, guest of Sanjay Uppel; Scott Murghy, guest of Mandy Pui

Announements:

Neil Rawnsley explained how the tax auction, taking place on Nov 22, works. This has also been covered in a couple of emails so I won't repeat again here.

50/50:

Our Master of Fines and Goodwill was Pete Lawrie today and he did his normal great job of making the extraction of fines quite painless and happy.

Guest Speaker:

Sanjay introduced our own Dr. Jim Force to talk about one of his great passions in life, "haiku". Jim first became interested in haiku while teaching in Calgary in the early 1990's.  Since then he has had over 380 works published in over 80 journals, anthologies and books. His work has been published in 10 countries and translated into Chinese, Croatian, German, Japanese and Romanian.  Jim has received several awards for his poetry, most notably the First Place Award in the 1995 Haiku Society of America Renga Contest. The renga, “After the Thunder,” was a 36-verse composition he wrote collaboratively with two other haiku poets.  He is currently a member of the Haiku Arbutus Study Group in Victoria, Haiku Canada, and the Haiku Society of America.

By providing us with examples of haiku poetry, Jim was able to expose us to the form of this style of poetry. Lynne Murray filled in for Tom Croft and thanked Jim for his presentation which helped us get to know him better.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting - 8 November 2016 - Katie DeRosa, Rotary Global Grant Scholar

Reporter: Sandy Currie

Visiting Rotarians: Mark Bedford (Penticton Rotary),Ulla Coco (Copenhagen, Denmark) and Catherine Poln

Visitors: Lia Warden (Mustard Seed Victoria) and  Erin Gray

Guest Speaker:

Katie DeRosa, Rotary Global Grant Scholar, and Times-Colonist journalist was our guest speaker.  She used the scholarship to pursue graduate studies at the London School of Economics (LSE). The end result was her successful completion of the requirements for a Master of Science in International Migration and Public Policy.

Her dissertation titled ‘Frontex and Fundamental Human Rights’ was based on practical research she carried out on the ground in Calais at the refugee camp.  Here she helped the Syrian refugees streaming into France and badly needing the basic human rights of food, shelter and medical attention. 

As part of the LSE group she partnered with members of Amnesty International. Katie then detailed her experiences and observations in a series of four blogs aimed at breaking the barriers the refugees faced as well as destroying stereotyping. These Syrians had been portrayed as people who had nothing positive to contribute and would only be a drag on whichever country they ended up in. However, most were actually professionals (medical doctors, lawyer etc,) who would make significant contributions wherever they went. 

When Katie returned to Victoria she used this invaluable experience as a foundation for writing articles related to the plight of Syrian refugees. 

It was a well-researched heart-felt presentation to the club members and guests who fortunate enough to have attended the meeting.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 1 November 2016 - Jean Dickson on creativity and innovation

Reporter: Mandy Pui

Meeting commenced at 12:10 pm at the Oak Bay Recreation Centre

Mistress of Ceremonies: Joan Firkins

Opened with the singing of “O Canada”

Guests:

Greet and Intro by: Anne Sims

Guests: Sean Donnelly, guest of Lorna Curtis. Kris Zmudzinski from Prince George Downtown Rotary.

Rotary Moment from Tom Croft on why he supports the Rotary Foundation. 

"That’s what Rotarians do". 

Tom's 3 reasons: 1) it is his charity of choice. 2) Charity Navigator gives Rotary a 4 star or 97.87 approval rating. 3) The funds support Rotary doing good in the world. 

More reasons: The Rotary Foundation makes a big impact in local communities and internationally, such as promoting peace and eradicating polio, thus having a lasting impact. 50% of donations go back to our district.

Announcements:

Lorna: as membership chair, it’s our duty to promote about Rotary. She share a testimonial from Jack Petrie which will be in the newspaper. Here’s a snippet: “I’ve been a Rotarian for over 10 years and happened into it through the invitation of a friend. I was curious. Was it secretive, religious, or uber-corporate? I soon discovered it was none of that. It’s just nice people having fun together while making a difference in the world.”

Celebrations Master: Jim Force

RYLA on Vancouver Island this past weekend. 2 girls from Grade 10 at Oak Bay High school attended. 

Video shown of celebrate what’s right in the world. Celebrating what’s right gives us energy to fix what’s wrong. Instead of thinking of what you are best at, think about what you may be best for.

Fines were levied on 5 people who were wallflowers; women who did not sit at the table of men; and people who did not know that purple pinkie is when people get the polio vaccine

Dr. Jim Force has a collection of little known facts about our members. Who did the following:

Left Taiwan after being accused of being a "spy": Jean Dickson

Was an A&W car hop but "not with rollerskates": Lorna Curtis

Was a smoke jumper who fought forest fires: Ron Cooley 

Guest Speaker:

Jean Dickson was our guest speaker, based on her experience being a vocational speaker

She talked about techniques for more creativity and innovation.  She said that it is often said that people in business are not seen as wise and creative at the same time. But this is no necessarily the case.

Tried and true solutions, she said, are actually tried and tired solutions.

Einstein and Da Vinci’s approach with needles in haystack. Most people stop at the first needle. They would look for other needles.

It’s easier to go with a crazy idea and pare it down, instead of going with a conservative idea and inject some life into it.

Don’t focus on the first question. Instead of focusing on how to make more money, focus on why you want to make more money  travel more -> why travel  meet more people. Then focus on how to meet more people.

We had a brainstorming exercise on ways to motivate people in the work place.

Perry thanked Jean.

The meeting closed at 1:30pm.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting of 25 October, 2016 - Rob Janus from the Victoria Foundation

Reporter: Dr. Naida Hyde

M/C: President Lori McLeod

Greeter and Grace: Jean

Greeter and Introduce Visitors: Lynne Murray (for John J.)

Guests: Rob Janus

Andrea Hamilton

Helga Jacobson

Dan and Laura Malo

Rotary Moment: Tav MacPherson

We are a club with potential we haven’t realized yet. 

We aim to attract new members so we will have leaders for the future. 

Visioning a bigger, better, stronger Rotary club so we can do bigger and better things in the broader community.

Announcements:

• Bob Schelle is back home in Victoria. He will be back next week.
• Mary Canty hurt her leg quite badly. She is at home with help.
• International Students Breakfast: Thursday, Oct 27, 25-30 expected to attend.
• Pub in the Club: Thursday Oct. 27, 5 pm Penny Farthing
• Pancakes for Polio Fund: Joan Firkins conducted an on-the-spot fundraiser for polio, an auction and passing a receptacle for donations. Along with the Oak Bay Beach Hotel’s generous contribution, our 35 members + hotel raised $,463.00. This translates into 2438 children receiving polio vaccines and never having this crippling and stigmatizing illness. Hurray for us!

Celebrations Master: Pete Lawrie

Birthdays: Rod Sim October 29

Rotary Anniversaries: Corey 7 years; Janna 3 years

Review of Polio statistics: 7000 cases per week in1979

Less than one per week in 2016.

Happy Dollars:

Jim Force finished project report for East Timor. $48,000!

Naida Hyde: happy toonie for our club and Rotary Club of Sooke partnering to support Healthy Mothers Healthy Children Lesotho Piggery project which Tholoana Kamohelo is coordinating on the ground.

Joan won 50/50 draw.

Guest Speaker: Neil Rawnsley introduced the speaker.

Rob Janus, Director of Communications from the Victoria Foundation

Rob discussed the Victoria Foundation’s Vital Signs Report

Goal: to connect philanthropy to community needs and opportunities.

Catalyst for engagement.

$1,000,000 per month given out.

November 4 has been designated Random Acts of Kindness Day in Victoria.

Theme of this year: Belonging

What does it mean to belong?

Happiness index survey. Well being is a critical component to happiness. Both of these are linked to people functioning optimally.

70% of people in south Vancouver Island feel they belong.

Most important issues are: housing, cost of living, mental illness, and transport

Best of greater Victoria: Natural environment, climate, walkabiilty,

Highest grades: arts and culture and sports and recreation

Housing received lowest grade: C-

At risk species: 205 native plants and animals at risk

Annual alchohol consumption South Vancouver Island 10.7 litres per person

Rod Sim thanked Rob Janus with his usual wit and charm.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 18 October 18, 2016 - Memory Chazeza on Malawi Girls' School

Reporter: Dr. Naida Hyde

Emcee: President Lori

Visiting Rotarians:

Dan Bennett   Langley Sunrise Club

David Stocks, PDG, West Shore Club

Guests:

Marin Nasturica  (Montreal) - Pablo

Chris McClarnon (Victoria) -  Pablo

Richard Waters - Pablo/ Lori McLeod

Dr. Helga Jacobson - Naida

Sean Donnelly                                

Memory Chazeza  (Speaker)

Rotary Moment:  Joan Firkins

Honoured Steve Sharlow with Plus 8 pin with 3 rubies, recognizing his significant financial contribution to Oak Bay Rotary and the Rotary Foundation.  

She spoke of the vital role of the Rotary Foundation and the importance of our supporting it with financial contributions.

World Polio Day is October 24. We need to redouble our efforts to wipe out the last remaining vestiges of this terrible disease. To date, this year, there are 26 cases in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. 

Our club meeting on October 25 is a pancake lunch fundraiser with the OBBH making a significant contribution from our usual $21 lunch. Thanks, Michelle!

Announcements: 

• Bob Schelle  is out of hospital, although still in Vancouver.
• Heather Aked:  The Merrython Fun Run is on December 4, at Henderson Recreation Centre. Ron Cooley will coordinate volunteers
• Pablo’s first Die Mahler concert of this season: Saturday October 22 at St. Mary's church on Elgin Street, Oak Bay. 
• Jim Force: Collecting nearly new books for Nearly New Sale on November 19. Bring contributions to club meetings or leave at his home.

Celebrations Master: Peter Lawrie

Fined himself for no name tag

Year of first Rotary Polio fundraiser?  1979

How many children paralysed with polio in 1979: 347,00 

2016 to date: 26 cases as of October 1 in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria.

Rotary Anniversaries: Michelle 3 years; Mary  15 years

Birthdays: Mary Canty

Heather’s mother’s birthday

Janna announced Fired Up’s 3^rd fundraiser Boob Print Night. Each woman participant is given a plate to imprint her own boob for a contribution.

Happy Dollars:

President Lori  $30. for her daughter’s 21^st birthday.

Joan Peggs:  Pies and Wine: dessert, wine  and coffee walking from one end of the Terrace to the other

Naida: Toonie for a splendid trip to Alert Bay, BC.

Jack Petrie won the 50/50.

Guest Speaker:

Jack Petrie introduced Memory Chazeza, guest speaker who updated us on the APU school, Girls on the Move, in Malawi.

She highlighted the value of the school in rural Malawi:

• 80% of people live in poverty in rural areas 
• A high level of illiteracy among women and girls makes life hard 
• Girls are left out of mainstream economic activity
• Families find it difficult to send girls to school, when families have a high number of children
• Household chores are the responsibility of girls 
• Child marriage results when children are orphaned, e. g. 4 year old girl was forced to marry. Early forced marriage results in too many children to take care of
• Girls in school interrupts the poverty cycle, and delays parenthood.
• In school,  girls re taught self-esteem and discipline.

Our Club’s and other financial assistance has resulted in 400 girls graduating to date, with 70 in university, with the help of scholarships.

ATsikanda Pa Ulendo means “Build a better World”

There are now classrooms and hostels, a cafeteria and kitchen at the school.

Lorna said the girl she supported is now going to university in the U.S.

Thirty students are on scholarship now. More sponsors are needed.

Two graduating students from the APU Malawi school came to Pearson College, graduating to go on to University of Oklahoma.

The government is not involved.

Melody stressed the need for more hostels for the girls.

Joan Peggs thanked our speaker.

The musicians closed our meeting with lively music!

Each musician was given a Rotary theme pin.

Rotary Club of Oak Meeting - 11 October 2016 - Oak Bay Rotary Foundation scholarship awards

Reporter: Jim Laing

The largest crowd to attend our weekly lunch in many months, assembled today for the 2nd annual Oak Bay Rotary Foundation Scholarship Awards Luncheon.

Chair of the foundation, Tav Macpherson,  emceed the event,  assisted by Joan Peggs, Chair of the Selection Committee.

The 2015 recipient, Alexandra Ages spoke to the crowd by video, and also appeared in person.  She spoke about how much Rotary has helped her. She is now attending  UVIC.

The 2016 recipient, Jessica Izard, spoke by video as she is attending Queens University and was represented by her parents. The Sno'uyutth Lagacy Scholarsip  recipient is Ellery Kirkland, now attending Vancouver Island University, in Nanaimo.  She is studying biology and plans to be a police officer.

GUESTS:

Over 24 guests attended the event including Pete Langstraat,  Superintendent of Schools for the Greater Victoria School District. Pete spoke about the importance of community and Rotary's important role.

Guests of The OBR Foundation:

Piet Langstraat – School Board

Keith Kitchen - School

Jenny and Angus Izard – Parents of OBR scholarship recipient

Scott Alexander – scholarship program instructor at Oak Bay High School

Guests of Rod Sim:

Alexandra Ages.

Joe Coghlin

Joe Blake

Jan Hemming

Gregg Eligh

Jan Fuller

Janet Gardner

Chris Hunt

Nils Jensen

Michelle Le Sage

Miriam MacPhail

Jan Mears

Kris Nichols

Leslie Ockermueller

Simon Philips

Steve Price

Dave Thomson

Chris van Reeuwyk
Guest of Sanjay Uppal: His Father

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES:
We all sang Happy Birthday to Mary Canty, who will be 94 this week! Congratulations Mary.

The club wishes the best to Bob Schelle who suffered an accident.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 4 October 2016 - Dr. Chris Kilford on Turkey

Reporter: Lynne Murray 

The meeting today was held in the Piano Lobby of the Oak Bay Beach Hotel which was a lovely change because of the magnificent view.

Call to Order: At 12.15, the stand-in M/C, Past President,  Joan Peggs, started the Meeting. 

Jack Petrie lead us in an a Capella  rendition of O Canada followed by a Thanksgiving themed invocation  by Heather Aked. 

Rotary Moment: Joan Peggs – Retaining new Members  is one of the most difficult parts of Membership. Without a positive and assertive plan, new members walk out the door as fast as they walk in and when asked why, they generally say, “no one invited me to be involved!”.  It is everyone's responsibility to engage and inform new members, but the sponsor who is a mentor for the new member has an even greater role. Remember to keep your new Members active and informed so he or she can become true Rotarians.

Visitors: Bruce Willets, a Rotarian from Laguna Beach CA laughed since he's returning home just in time for the US election. He may soon be applying for Canadian citizenship! Ben Anderson was a guest for the last time today since he is being reinducted.  Jean Dickson brought two guests – Michelle Boehmer and Caroline Yeend who is actually a corporate Member.  Seán Donnelly is considering Membership in our Club, so was a guest of the Club. Little Garon and Finlay Gisler were also delightful guests. Chris Kilford was our Speaker for today.

Announcements:

Lorna Curtis: The East Coast Kitchen Party - Sat. Oct 22. We are close to the number we need. Please sign up by Oct. 12. We still need 7 to make it happen.

The Rotaract Club would like to remind us of Night of Lights – an annual event at Hillside Mall on November 20 from 6 -10pm. Tickets are $5 – enjoy special sales, wine tasting, samples and multiple prize draws. This is a fundraiser for Rotaract. They will be contacting us to buy tickets.

Remember the Soul Gospel Choir Thanksgiving Concert on Saturday evening at 7:30 at the Dave Dunnet Theatre, Oak Bay High School. The Lieutenant Governor is attending the event. Tickets are at Ivy’s Books and Oak Bay Rec Centre.

Jim Force:  There is another Open House at the Disaster Aid Warehouse on Oct. 12 between 5:30 and 7:30 at 426 William St. in Esquimalt. Jim, Mandy and I went last month and it was a fun evening.

Health of the Club: Mary told us that unfortunately, Bob is in hospital in Vancouver. Please send Bob healing thoughts.

Induction  of Former Member: AG Lorna welcomed Brian Lamb and Ben Anderson to the stage. Brian was able to talk Ben – a Member from 9 years ago – into rejoining our Club. He was with the RCMP before becoming the Chief of the OB Police Department. After retirement from OB, he worked at the Canadian Parole Board. He looks forward to once again becoming an active Member of our Club.

Celebrations Master: Jim Force started with happy/sad dollars since we usually have no money left after fines.  

• Lorna had bragging dollars since her son Sean at Stanford University has just been awarded one of the 2016 Innovative Scientist Awards by the US NIH in the amount of one million dollars. 
• Victoria paid for the happiness of obtaining a daughter-in-law since Tristan was recently married in Toronto. 
• Rod paid for knowing Tristan for 15 years since the first Oak Bay Christmas light up when fresh snow was delivered to the OB Municipal Hall! 
• Joan F. was happy to be back from a cruise in Europe but unhappy to be the recipient of over 700 emails! 

We were fined if we hadn't  bought tickets for Saturday’s concert. Anne Sims won the 50/50 but drew the incorrect marble.

Guest Speaker: Neil introduced the Speaker today.  Dr. Chris Kilford spent  36 years in the Canadian Military, during which time he was posted to England, Germany, Afghanistan and Turkey in various command, training, instructional and staff roles. After learning the Turkish language, he was promoted to Colonel and posted to Ankara, Turkey as the Canadian Defence Attaché from July 2011 to July 2014. Today he described to us what is the aftermath in Turkey, following the military-led coup attempt last July 15 and other alarming incidents that have traumatized Turkey and its people. If the coup had succeeded, the whole of Turkey would most likely to have descended into civil war. As it is, it will likely be 15 years before it can reapply to be a part of the EU. The net effect is that the lofty economic and social goals for 2023, the 100^th anniversary of the Turkish Republic, seem to be out of reach for now. Jean Dickson gave Chris a heartfelt thanks along with our classic collector’s item – the OBR mug.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting of 27 September 2016 - John Spry of the Rotary Club of Jaltemba Bay, Mexico

Reporter: Janette Nation

Venue: Oak Bay Recreation Centre

The meeting opened by singing O Canada a capella.

Visiting Rotarians:

John Spry - Guest Speaker (Jaltemba Bay Club, Mexico); Helma and Gaylord Stewart  (Jaltemba Bay Club, Mexico); Ed McLean (St. Boniface - St. Vital, Winnipeg); Bruce Willis (Laguna Beach, California).

Rotaract: Nalin Dhillon (Rotaract Club of Victoria)

Guests: Mike Stevenson (Tav McPheron); Alaleh Rohani (Lorna)

Rotary Moment: Trudy Penner from Memory Cafe was to provide the Rotary Moment but Interact members are joining us on October 24 so her presentation on Youth Services has been postponed for a few weeks.

Announcements:

• Jim Force: Club in the Pub will be held, as it always is, on the last Thursday of every month, at the Penny Farthing Pub on Oak Bay Avenue. Do make a point of being there this Thursday at 5 pm, and  apart from a fun couple of hours, it qualifies for a make-up session. 
• Lorna: The East Coast Kitchen Party is being held at Bob Schelle's home, on October 23rd. We need 40 people for the event to go ahead and so far we have just 31, so please see Lorna about signing up. It will be lots of fun with good food and music!
• Joan Peggs:  The Gospel Choir concert at the Dave Dunnet theatre, at Oak Bay High on 8 October, needs a photographer. President Lori has generously offered a ticket, to the event, to anyone who will be photographer for the evening.
• The flag program for 2017 with 3 flags installed on your property for 3 weekends, on Victoria Day, Canada Day and Labour Day costs $50. If you haven't paid yet, please do and please try and recruit friends and neighbours, as this is a major fund raiser for the club.

Celebrations Master: Jim L.

He stumped us all yet again with his "Jeopardy" style questions. based on the Rotarian magazine and others, that we were mostly not able to answer. It all meant more fines in the pot though. 

Happy/Sad : Joan P was sad because she learned the Royals drove right past her house but she was out; Heather was happy because Alexander attended an Interact meeting; Wendy was happy as she was retiring at the end of the week; John Jordan was happy because he was heading to Europe to close up his mother-in-law's apartment, and his mother-in-law has committed to staying.  

Dallas won the 50/50 and also drew the black marble but it has been a slow recovery since Ron C won the jackpot. 

Guest Speaker: John Spry of the Rotary Club of Jaltemba Bay - La Penita, Mexico

Joan P. introduced the speaker. She informed us that he, and Gaylord and Helma Stewart were originally from Nanaimo, and were here from the Jaltemba Bay Club, Mexico, to speak about their "All Schools Project". The Club was initiated in 2008 and received official status in March 2009, It is a Spanish/English bilingual club with all proceedings translated on the spot. The club has 28 members with about half from North America including 4-5 expats from the U.S. There is a lot of social activity, music and food, and their breakfast meeting costs just $6, with enough to last the day! John has in fact provided hands on Mexican cooking lessons to Americans.  There are many beaches that stretch for several kilometres and there are regular markets as well as warm, sunny weather. The Berkeley Rotary Club in California has supported the club.

The goal of the Club is to establish a shared working relationship with clubs in Canada and the U.S., and work together on projects and youth exchanges. The All Schools Project aims to provide the basic necessities to enable school children to learn in a safe and comfortable environment. Some of the achievements so far are the replacement of student desks; rewiring for fans to cool the classrooms; provide shade outside, over concrete tables and benches; and washroom upgrades. The students and parents are expected to commit to helping in completing the improvements. The government builds the schools but the maintenance is left to the parents, who have very few financial resources.

The areas concentrated upon right now are La Penita, Los Ayala, La Colonia, Lima de Abajo, and Rincon de Guayabitos. The philosophy of the Club is that all school facilities should be up to a common standard of functionality, with working equipment.

Sanjay thanked the speaker with a Rotary Mug.

(If you would like to contact the Club and help in kind, visit or make a donation, contact Vern Porter through the Club:  http://pvangels.com/charities/106/rotary-club-of-la-penita )

In view of the Royal visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, we sang God Save the Queen.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting - 20 September 2016 - Hudson Mack

Reporter:  Sanjay Uppal

Photographer: Jack Petrie

Tom introduced guests including:

• Hudson Mack (speaker and guest of club)
• David Weir (guest of Wynn Taylor)
• Edith Stuart (guest of Lori McLeod)
• Laura Medors (visiting Rotaractor)

Jack’s Rotary Moment:

• Thanksgiving concert featuring the Victoria Soul Gospel Choir
• Tickets for sale at $25 (see Jack)
• October 8, starting at 7:30 pm

Announcements:

• Lorna: sign up sheet going around for East Coast Kitchen Party for the Rotary Club Social at Bob Schelle’s house on October 22^nd
• Next club meeting is on September 27  at the Oak Bay Recreation Centre, not at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel

Birthdays: Mandy on September 17th. Happy birthday Mandy!

Anniversary: Tom and his wife are celebrating their 44^th wedding anniversary this week; congratulations!!

Guest Speaker:

• Helen introduced guest speaker Hudson Mack
• Hudson has had a long career in television broadcasting, winning multiple awards, is a former Rotarian, and published author. He brought copies of his autobiogaphy and $5 from each book sale went to the Rotary Club of Oak Bay
• Michelle thanked Hudson

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting - 13 September 13, 2016 - Arts Calibre Academy

Reporter: Alyx Valdal

The Meeting was held at the Victoria Golf Club. 

President Lori led us in our best a capella rendition of the anthem yet!

Invocation: Tav

Newest member Finton Gisler joined us today!

Introduction of Guests by Ryan Gisler: Thuli Kamohelo (her last day!), Dr. Helga Jacobson (Naida); Michelle Edgar (Anne McIntyre); Caroline Yeend (Jean Dickson); Auntie Kara Gisler (The Gisler family); Guest Speaker Sandra Walton. 

Announcements:

• Jack: Tickets for October concert are already ¼ sold. There are only 425 seats and they are going to sell out. Let’s have a strong Rotary presence.
• Tav: District foundation seminar on Oct 1^st in Nanaimo. Please attend as you can be certified to be able to apply for grants. 

Celebration Master: Jim Laing with “Rotary Jeopardy” involving lots of sports questions. Sunday the 18^th is the Terry Fox Run (as well as many other events!)

Happy Dollars: 

Naida: Thank you to Rod Sims and everyone who is doing Pianorama and to Thuli for spending the summer with us.

Jim: Went to a meeting on which social media platform we can connect with fellow Rotarians. In the old days, meetings were where communications were made.

Jack: He was watching a Youtube video and told us a Johnny Carson joke (chicken teriyaki – last kamikaze pilot…I missed it!).

Jean: Boss was away at a conference last week; her and her co-workers played.

Janette: Happy after returning from her 5-week vacation in France

Sandy: Sandy and Barb went to Iceland.

Mandy: The BBQ in Vancouver as a Cambodian fundraiser was successful and raised $1300! Mandy is off to Cambodia, India, Thailand, Hong Kong in the next couple weeks.

Jim: Put $20 in for fundraising, topping up the pot.

Happy Anniversaries to: Tom and Jill Croft; Tom and Margaret Lidkea

Guest speaker: Sandra Walton – “Next Generation Motivation” was introduced by Bob Schelle.

Ms. Walton is the Executive Director and founder of Arts Calibre Academy, an arts-based preschool and elementary school in Gordon Head. She has her Bachelor and Masters of Education and her Early Childhood Education Certification. She has taught music, dance, drama, leadership, and career and personal planning in both the Edmonton and Greater Victoria Public School Districts. Ms. Walton’s two children were her inspiration for creating ArtsCalibre.

Ms. Walton started off by donating 10 happy dollars for each kindergarten student who just enrolled. She is celebrating the 5 year anniversary for Arts Calibre (which started as a preschool). It is now K-6 with 51 children. 

One of the pillars of the school is based on Stephen Covey’s (author of The 7 habits of highly effective people) The leader in Me. The teachers are all trained in the 7 habits and the program is an effective way to prevent bullying and get in touch with one’s moral compass.

The first 3 habits are about self; next 3 on independences; and finally interdependence. Be proactive, begin with the end, first things first. Seek to understand, think win/win, synergize. Sharpen the saw (look after self and those around you – community, building culture). The school seeks to unleash potential and help students find their genius.

The arts are incorporated into the BC curriculum that is taught. There are dance “brain breaks” as well as dance classes at the school. 

ArtsCalibre is a fully accredited BC school. It started at Emmanuel Baptist and is now in a larger space at Gordon Head United Church. Tuition is $550/mo (no additional fees for school supplies, materials). Includes swimming, piano lessons, and this year, ukele/recorder (last year violin). Nature-based learning through Friday outdoor education and there is an outdoor classroom. North/South/East/West multi-age groupings for classrooms (instead of grades 1, 2, 3…).

As an Independent BC school ArtsCalibre receives 50% funding.

A question is how students perform in public schools (after leaving ArtsCalibre)? So far very well academically and socially.

Janette thanked Sandra for her vision and inspiration.

Rotary Moment: Lori presented Thuli with a Rotary pin to make her an honourary Oak Bay Rotarian. Mandy gave Thuli the envelope with almost $1000 of our donations to help her back home. Thuli thanked us for welcoming her.

Next Tuesday back at the OBBH.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 6 September 201 - Trudy Pauluth-Penner - UVIC

Reporter: Alyx Valdal

Master of Ceremonies: Jim Force

Jim started us off with a reading from “Oh, the places we’ll go” as part of September’s “Basic Education and Literacy” theme and we sang “O Canada” along with a funky new beat that threw Jack off a bit.

Invocation: Pablo is thankful for the musicians and other guests who joined us today.

Introduction of Guests: Dallas introduced Tom, our visiting Rotarian today, and guests: Thuli Kamohelo (Naida); Edilberto Vela, Alejandro Bernal, Hector Ocampo (Pablo); Ben Anderson (Brian); and Michael Stevenson (Tav).

Rotary Moment: Today we inducted Donna Chow into the club (welcome back!). She will be mentoring with Tav and helping to develop the new mentorship program within our club.

Announcements: 

• Janna, Ryan and Garon welcomed our newest and youngest Rotary member: a baby boy born Sept 2nd.
• Vicky spoke about scholarships – Rotary is one of the largest grantors of scholarships in the world. Our distrIct has given out $400,000 in scholarship money through the District, Global and Peace Fellows programs (Peace Fellows being a full scholarship). Rotary invests $15, 000-60,000 in students and young people through these programs and the return is amazing. If you know of anyone who is interested in doing master’s studies, who is involved in the community and has the promise to go further, please let Vicky know.
• Lorna has rescheduled the kitchen party. $30/ticket and we need a minimum 40 people to make this the best kitchen party of the fall! New date is October 22nd at Bob Schelle’s house. 6-7pm social, 7-8pm delicious donairs, 8-9:30pm live music and even livelier dancing.
• Jack serenaded us with a few beats of Motown to get us excited about the Thanksgiving concert coming up October 8th at The Dave Dunnet Community Theatre. The Gospel choir’s usual $2,000 fee has been donated and we’re on our way to makeing $10K that will go towards youth programs. $25/ticket and Jack’s keen to see who will sell the most! The silent auction is being organized by Joan Peggs; please get in touch with her if you have a donation or know a business that can donate.
• Bob Schelle asks that all flags are returned (dry) to the hotel storage room so inventory can be done.
• Peter pointed out the brochure for the concert Pablo and his musician colleagues are putting on at St. Mary’s as a fundraiser Sept 7th. It is the first in the fall/winter concert series raising money for literacy and Syrian Refugees. The upcoming dates are Oct. 22nd, Nov. 19th and Dec. 10th.

Celebration Master: Edwin Taylor celebrated with fines, including fun children’s literature trivia (we ran out of time for the French literature questions!). One notable question was about James Matthew Barrie’s “The Adventures of Peter Pan” as the Rotary Water Park at Carnarvon was originally called “Peter Pan Waterpark”. 

Happy Dollars: We had many dollars collected for Happy/Sad dollar announcements.

Jack – happy $2 for Bob Schelle’s superb organization on meeting locations and other changes. 

Dallas – $5, which is all she has left after the $62CAD  G&T she enjoyed in Zurich, after her river cruise.

Joan Peggs- $2 as a thank you for whomever put the room away two meetings ago.

Joan Firkins – Many dollars as she’s happy she’s headed to Edmonton for a Rotary meeting then a European cruise. Sad because she’s missing the next 3 weeks of Rotary.

Pablo – Happy $10 for being back in Victoria and having his fellow musicians here.

Heather – Happy dollars that Alexander is back at school (but she’s not sure when it actually starts as he there only 2 hours today and dragon boating as well this week).

Rod - $50 for his 20th year of Rotary. Happy that his daughter has also attended some meetings (first time when she was 2.5 months old).

Wendy – Thanks everyone for coming out to lawn bowling last week! Let’s do it again!

Eugen – Happy he’s back from a month in the Alps where he went paragliding.  He recommends everyone experience jumping off the top of a mountain and soaring over Lake Geneva.

Jack won the 50/50 and picked a clear marble. Better luck next week!

Guest Speaker: Wendy introduced our speaker, Trudy Pauluth-Penner. Trudy is currently a doctoral candidate in the University of Victoria’s interdisciplinary Social Dimensions of Health program combining narrative gerontology and applied theatre (fun fact: she is also a performing puppeteer!).

The ‘Memory Café - Remembering Our Canada’ project is an intergenerational mentorship program spearheaded by the Eldercare Foundation. This program is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program and receives collaboration from many different groups.

Sept 6th is the start of phase 3 – “Remembering Our Canada” at Oak Bay Lodge. Interact club members and Rotaract from OBH are still involved and will play a critical role. The Memory Café format is a tea room at the lodge where older and younger individuals will be paired up and Trudy will facilitate with questions, such as “When I think about Canada, I think/feel/wish”. Some actors will be there who can spontaneously act out various stories.

Phase 4 will be in Jan/Feb 2017, developing theatre & art exhibitions; followed by an exhibition and performances in March at The Dave Dunnet Theatre as well as Oak Bay Lodge. Theatre, visual arts, photography, music (composing and recording; Daniel Lapp and others are involved), literature, intergenerational dance evening, documentary video. Reminiscing is vital to healthy aging as is Life Review and this project will help seniors and the community on many levels.

Heather thanked Trudy with a brand spanking new (it was even wrapped in plastic still!) Rotary mug.

Lori was eager to get back on the mic and shared Dwayne Reed’s Welcome to the 4th Grade” as a back-to-school tribute.

Reminder! Next Tuesday’s meeting (13th) will be at the Victoria Golf Course. Arrive early to ensure parking.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Social Lunch 30 August 2016 - Victoria Lawn Bowling Club

Reporter and Photographer: Bob Schelle

The Oak Bay Rotary Club held a social lunch on August 30 at the Victoria Lawn Bowling Club. This was arranged by Wendy.  Everyone appeared to have a great time, with many varied bowling styles displayed. Jack and Brannan and Joan P. appeared to have previous knowledge of the game. 

Joan was sporting footwear which appeared to be a hybrid between slippers and gloves. 

Jenny left on her motorcycle to get prepared for her 5 week cycle trip to Texas via Yellowstone Park with her husband Lloyd.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 24 August 2016 - Mandy Pui on social media

Reporter: Lorna Curtis

President Lori opened the meeting with an upbeat version of Oh Canada from the Nylons!  She reminded everyone if you cannot do your roster duty it is YOUR responsibility to find a replacement!!!! 

Joan Firkins provided the Rotary Moment - she reminded everyone about the Centennial contribution to the Rotary Foundation: $35 CAD to commemorate all the good work the Foundation has done over the years.  So far 20 club members have contributed but still another 30 to go to get to the dollar goal of $1750. Different ways of contributing:

Rotary Direct: recurring gift to support the Rotary Foundation $10 and up per month on your credit card can be set up online or see Joan F.  

Benefactor is a minimum $1,000 contribution to the Rotary Foundation upon your death - you receive a recognition pin and certificate - do not need to do anything other than leave this information with your will.   See Joan F for more information.

Jean Dickinson who was inducted by District Governor Joanne at the bbq on Sunday, was presented with her new member Rotary package and was asked to say a few words - instead Lori and Jean sang about Rotary members to the tune ‘Summertime and the Living is Easy’.  

Announcements:

• September 13th and 27th no meeting at Oak Bay Beach Hotel meetings will be at Oak Bay Recreation Centre
• Lorna announced the Kitchen Party has been moved to Saturday, October 22nd so put that date in your calendar.  She reminded members that they should have one of the club business cards to give to a potential member to visit our club, discover Rotary and have a complimentary lunch.  The new rack card from the area PI Committee was circulated - the rack card advertises Rotary - where/when/times of Rotary Club meetings in Greater Victoria.
• Volunteer for "Remembering Our Canada" - bring stories and join artists at the Volunteer Orientation Session, August 24th, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Seniors Centre 1454 Hillside Avenue.
• Club in the Pub Penny Farthing this Thursday, August 25th 5pm
• John Jordan 178 Beach Drive - Plant Sale 10 - 3pm on Saturday, September 3rd, to raise money for his Rwanda project..

Celebrations Master - Wynn Taylor quizzed members about the art installations around Oak Bay - apparently there are a couple of nuts on the Oak Bay Municipal lawn and not a dead deer as suggested by Neil Rawnsley.  Thank goodness we did not have to know where the pianos are located!

Happy/Sad $.

Brian Lamb won the draw but also won last week so we drew again and Joan Peggs won.

Guest Speaker: 

Tom Croft introduced speaker Mandy Pui for her vocational talk.  

She spoke of Knowledge translation - how to get someone to remember something and use it.  Getting knowledge out to people so they can use it! Infographics - one page explanation about your organization, key messages. Go to nounproject.com to get images to use for infographics. Mandi works with many different non-profit organizations including the StemCell matching program to raise money and attract donors. When it comes to a cause it helps to attach a face.  

When to use # or @ on Facebook:

# is used for general topic and you want anyone to see your post

@ specific person or page

Ask each other why we joined Rotary and what are the causes you are interested in.  Once you have the answer to one of these questions and then post on your Facebook with a @ or #.  Everyone got busy on their mobile devices.

Mary Canty thanked the Mandy - even though she does not have a Facebook page!

The meeting ended with all of us singing a very bad version of Lori and Jean’s Summertime and the Living is Easy!