Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 17 May 2016 - George Jay Ukulele concert and Tom Lidkea's tour of Bali and Cambodia

Reporter after the fact: Janette Nation

Photo: Jack Petrie

We commenced our lunch earlier today, because we had some very special guests: a talented group of young musicians from the George Jay elementary school, who delighted us with a repertoire of songs, to show their appreciation. Dr. Perry Bamji has provided  the following description:

Gift of Music commemorates Ted Harrison’s bequest to Rotary

When painter, author, teacher, philanthropist and Rotarian Ted Harrison died in January 2015, he left in his estate, a bequest of $10,000 to the Rotary Club of Oak Bay where he was a member for several years. 

Consistent with Ted's love of music and fine arts in general, the Board and members of Oak Bay Rotary Club decided to donate $5,000 from the bequest to the music program at George Jay Elementary School.  Earlier this year this money was put to use when the school purchased ukuleles and xylophones.  Six school children led by music teacher Annie Shum gave a short “thank-you” concert at the Rotary Club’s luncheon meeting on Tuesday May 17 at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel.

Also present were retired Principal Leslie Lee, and current Principal Terri Smith. At this meeting, Club President Heather Aked presented a cheque for $5,000 to Principal Smith. Leslie Lee then thanked the club for their incessant support to the school and commended the relationship that started over six years ago, when the club first donated dictionaries and subsequently, over the years, smart boards and data projectors for regular use in the classrooms. The club’s financial support for the school’s academic and music programs has made a positive and significant difference to the students, said Ms. Lee.

Guests:

Steve Harris, guest of Pete Lawrie, Rick Smith, guest and father of Ann McIntyre, Dale Aubuchon guest of Bob Schelle, and our guests from George Jay School:  Lesley Lee, Terri Smith, Annie Shumm, Ashley Giles, Ena Gabun, Haley Prescott, Melissa Liao, Shelby Boado, and Tianna Fullerton.

50/50:

Ron Cooley extracted a number of $s from our pockets. 

There were a number of happy dollars but as the scheduled reporter was absent, I do not recall details of all of these. Sabrina had a happy $ because she celebrated her marriage recently! Congratulations Sabrina. Another memorable happy $ was from Dallas because she drove two mercedes around a racing track. First, a specifically souped up model and then, her own. She announced she was a little less aggressive in her own, as she didn't want to wear out the brakes!  An impressive achievement, Dallas. (Are you practising for an appearance on Top Gear?). Will C was happy because he had retired. 

Peter Lawrie had the winning ticket but did not draw the black marble for the jackpot.

Announcements:

The announcement of note was from Joan Peggs who advised there were already over 300 flag orders this year. Helpers would be appreciated to assist Neil Rawnsley assemble and place them. An annual subscription for 3 flag placements is $50, 2 flags is $35 and one flag is $20.

(Please advise of other announcements I do not recall).

Guest Speaker: Tom Lidkea

Our guest speaker today, introduced by Sabrina, was our resident pianist, Tom Lidkea. Tom is an engineer, having done his degree at UBC. He explained he did not wish to do a vocational presentation of  his professional life as he has been retired for over 11 years. Instead, he entertained us with a photo journal and narrative of his recent trip to Singapore, Borneo and Bali, with his wife, and two daughters who joined them for part of the tour. It soon became very clear that Tom is not fond of  monkeys because they tend to pilfer food and cell phones. Tom was most indignant that a female orangutan had formed an attachment to him and he only managed to fob her off after explaining he was happily married. It also became clear that Tom likes luxury travel. He was not particularly delighted that his wife had booked 3 nights of "eco" accommodation at a monkey sanctuary, in a basic open air hut with outdoor bathroom facilities and odd coloured water in a bucket, for a shower.  Further, he preferred to watch his wife and daughters have an elephant ride, rather than sit aloft, due to the elephants' habit of spraying their passengers with water from the river, which contained some dubious contents. Tom enjoyed the meals, most of which were delicious (at least, I presume, those from the better hotels). There were quite a few pics of Tom appearing very happy indeed with a tropical drink in his hand and a backdrop of beautiful blue water. Snorkelling was a hilight of the trip for him and his wife, while his daughters scuba dived. Thank you Tom for sharing your wonderful photos, and your dry wit enhanced the presentation.

REMINDER: Pablo's concert - Another wonderful concert in Pablo's Die Mahle series, will take place, this Saturday, 21 May, at 2.30 pm in St. Mary's Church on Elgin Road, Oak Bay. Tickets are $25 at the door and students can pay by donation. Pablo generously donates part of the proceeds to our club.