Reporter: Dr. Eugen Bannerman
President Lori welcomed everyone to the
Valentine’s Day meeting.
“O Canada” was sung with the newly approved
gender neutral words, “in all of us command.”
Will Carter’s invocation included thanks for food,
fellowship, and “having been in love.”
(He told us
later, his mother’s name is Elizabeth Valentine O’Sullivan.”
Call to Lunch
Mary Canty introduced Visiting Rotarian, John
Picken, St. Catherine’s Club.
Guests:
Jean Lawrie (wife of Peter Lawrie), Sarah Lawrie and Logan (daughter and
granddaughter of Peter Lawrie); Trond Holtby, (hosted by Club).
Health of the Club: Tom L will be having surgery
this week; Mary Canty’s daughter will also be having surgery this week.
Wendy Townsend (President-Elect) presented a personal Rotary Moment.
Announcements:
Brian
Lamb’s Celebration of Life will be held Saturday February 25 at 2 p.m. at the
Victoria Conference Centre. A card for his wife, Carol, was sent around to
be signed.
A
Valentine-themed concert by the Die Mahler String Quartet and directed by our
own Pablo Diemecke, will be presented this Saturday February 18 at St. Mary’s Church
on Elgin Street.
Celebration’s Master Wynn Taylor:
This is the
day of Love and Marriage. The questions had a theme of love and St. Valentine's Day. Who was Valentine? One story says he was a Roman priest and martyr persecuted by
Emperor Claudius. His death on February 14, 269 AD, is widely celebrated.
Happy $s:
- Tom C told the story of how he and his wife Jillian met, 45 years ago.
- Lorna C has just returned from 6 weeks in Australia and KL. Whilst in Tasmania, she met up with Janette who was there for 6 weeks. “It was a surreal experience to meet someone on the street you know from back home”, said Lorna.
- Perry told us stories of why we need to take lots and lots of money with us when we go to a hospital in India. Everybody needs to be paid in cash.
- Joan P thanked all those who helped move our Rotary goods to the new storage place last week.
Guest Speaker:
Sandy Currie introduced our speaker, Jakelina
Listes, of Social Enterprise Co-op.
Jakelina Listes moved to Canada from Croatia 15
years ago, and has organized a MEETUP for local people, especially new
immigrants. She herself is a social worker, military spouse, and artist. Since
coming to Canada she is the initiator/co-founder of an immigrant’s women co-operative
initiative, and leader of Sewlution, a sewing and textile recovery program for
immigrant women.
The
organization is about social networking, women’s empowerment, community
outreach, social entrepreneurship, international friends, culture exchange, and
immigrant support.
The
organization has a Board of 7 members, and was founded May 15, 2016. The main
goal is to offer alternative solutions to help those coming to Victoria and to do
something a little different from traditional approaches. For example, to help
immigrants with “soft skills” until they are able to get better jobs. They run a Culture
Kitchen, a cafe and catering service as a social enterprise. Their logo is
“around the world in a plate.” They also offer cleaning services. They are a new organization, looking for support
from the community.
Jenny Hildebrand thanked the speaker and gave her a
cherished Rotary Mug.
Closing Video: “Love the One You’re With”. Some
members sang and danced to the beat of the music.
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