Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting of 3 May, 2016 - Club Committee Reports

Scribe: Joan Firkins

Note from Scribe: For whatever reason, it was difficult to hear at the meeting today so some reporting may be slightly missing something or is just plain inaccurate! Apologies in advance.

President Heather opened the meeting at the Oak Bay Rec Centre at 12:15 pm and reminded us about the excellent article in the Rotarian magazine this month regarding Millennials.  After the singing of O Canada, Ryan Gisler and Garon asked us to pause to reflect on what we can do to make a difference in our communities this week.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests introduced by Lynne Murray.

No Guests today but both Marisa Herron and Alyson Stuart from the Rotary Club of Downtown Victoria joined us.

Health of the Club:

Lorna Curtis gave us an update on her coffee date with Brian L. Brian has gained some weight and continues his recovery and treatment. Sandy Currie apparently fainted on Saturday because he tied his tie too tightly but he was alive and well at our meeting today.

Announcements:

• Bill Burns thanked those members who contributed to the Work for Food project re the APU Malawi famine - $34,000 has been raised vs a goal of $32,000.
• President Heather read a note of appreciation from Councillor Hazel Braithwaite re the Paul Harris Awards recognition and evening.
• Marisa and Alyson were promoting the Swingin’ for Literacy night on Saturday May 14^th 7-11 pm at Dance Victoria, 2750 Quadra Street. All proceeds raised will go towards the 1000x5 child book recycling project.

Celebrations Master:

Pete Lawrie extracted a number of fines from the group after he himself getting far too carried away with a diatribe about millennials and work ethic.

Club Anniversaries: Joan F. 24 yrs.; Neil R. 28 yrs.; Neil M. 20 yrs.; Wynn T. 27 yrs.; Giles B. 11 yrs.

Happy Dollars: John Jordan reported revenue of $4000 from the sale of 450 plants this past weekend – many thanks to those who purchased and to John and Toni for their tireless efforts in fundraising for those in need in Rwanda.

Bob Schelle had the lucky ticket but alas…………..no black marble for the pot!

Club Day Reports:

International Service – Chair Pete Lawrie; Co-Chair Mandy Pui

Pete advised there are currently 18 people on this committee and more are always welcome. The committee has recently been prioritizing projects that include Compostable toilets in Rwanda ($3,500 club money), the APU Malawi Girls School ($2000 club money), the East Timor Medical Project ($3,300 club money) and a Rwandan Youth Entrepreneurship/Health multiplier program ($3,500 club money)  including other projects not mentioned here, the committee is looking for $15,000 in spendable funds for next year.

Fundraising support comes in the form of our Flag program and others to be determined.

Youth Services – reported by President Heather on behalf of PP Jim Force

Jim provided a comprehensive report, and reported on the recent RYLA trip that he, Ryan and Janna undertook taking students to Tacoma and back. He also advised that Nikki Frazer from OBH will be attending Adventures in Citizenship this month. There has been a $25,000 grant received for expanding the Memory Café and Lori M. is working on developing and planning the program for the fall. We have donated $150 to the Oak Bay Municipality Young Exceptional Star awards and Nicole Quast will be receiving the award. Lorna C. has presented the idea of a student-of-the-month award and this will be pursued. There will likely be a Christmas Market again this year at Monterey Centre and potential date is November 19^th.  To date our club has provided 47 lunches to Interact or Rotaract students from the contributions of club members and the club budget.

Club Administration – Chair Bob Schelle

The club is looking for a place to have lunch on June 4^th.

The Rotary Foundation – Chair Neil Rawnsley

Nothing to report.

Community Service – Chair Sandy Currie

Sandy commented that his committee consists of he and Brian Lamb (as mentor) and he would greatly appreciate some additional members coming forward to join the committee. He spoke of a project at Cattle Point i.e. 1^st Nations theme info poster which explains the complex ecology of the sea. This will continue to be used by school groups and is also available to the public as information. He also commented on a bike racks project however I was unable to hear the details.

       

President Heather advised the club it’s time to come up with ideas for a ‘Smile’ card funds project – if anyone has any ideas please see Sandy Currie. Examples could be funding school computers, books or whatever.

Membership Report – Chair Bill Burns

Bill thanked Steve Sharlow for filling in for him while he has been MIA. He also advised he is working on a Conflict of Interest policy for the club members.

The meeting ended at the allotted time with, for reasons unknown to your scribe, the playing of the national anthem of Japan.