Whoop~Up Bulletin

Vol.85, No.32, March 10, 2003

 

March 17, Meeting at the UofL

Upcoming (Meeting days in black)
  • March 11- BOD meeting at Paul Pharo's office, 7:00 p.m.
  • March 14 - David Hughes has reserved two tables for Rotary at the U of L Management Dinner, honouring Logan Tait.  Call David at 329-4339 or E-mail him at dwhughes@shaw.ca
  • March 15 - LCC Barn, Trash to Treasures
  • March 17 - At the University, Anderson Hall: Noon Rotary meeting, Ed Fetting - economic development for the City of Lethbridge - potential strengths and 2003 forecast. (note: meeting location)
  • March 18 - Computer Club Meets at U of L: Beginners intro to Power Point by Beatrice; one-on-one tutors needed.

  • March 24 - Legacy Project - Part 1 (presentation)

  • Saturday, March 29, - Bridge At John & Elsie Keenan's. Time: 7:30 p.m. Place: 23 Kings Crescent South RSVP: Please call the Keenans at 320-9000 to reserve your place at the table!

  • March 31 - Legacy Project - Part 2 (club discussion)

  • April 7 - Jean Greer McCarthy - Cancer Relay for Life - an event taking place in Lethbridge at the end of May

  • April 14 - Richard Hebert - Rotarian & YMCA boss - talking about LIFE  (death & taxes are already handled)

  • April 21 - no meeting - Easter

  • April 28 - TBA

  • May 5 - Dario Alvarez (U of L International Studies)

  • June 14 - Family BBQ

  • June 16 - Friendship Exchange group from England (Dave Hughes is the contact)

     

     

     

    St. Paddy's day Meeting

    Protestants Welcome Too

    Rotary lunch being held at the U of L. The luncheon will take place on Monday, March 17, in Anderson Hall, Room #100, (Andy's Place) at the usual time of noon. There will be event signage when people enter the campus and a portion of the West lot will be reserved for Rotary guests. The lunch fee will be the usual $10 per person and there will be a cash desk set-up.

     

    Parking will be reserved for us in the west parking lot near Anderson Hall.

     

    FYI

    Dr. Martha  Billes, Director of Canadian Tire and member of the company's founding family, will be our Inaugural Speaker for the Faculty of Management's new and exciting "Leadership & Change" Speaker Series. Dr. Billes will speak about "Leadership"  on Thursday, April 10th 12:00 noon at the Lethbridge Lodge Hotel. 

    •  

    Volunteers needed for the Library Van Run on the following dates:

    March 26th - Wednesday

    March 27th - Thursday

    The Van Run starts at 9:00 am and is usually done by 11:00 am.

    Call Kevin Willoughby,  Email: kevin_willoughby@hsbc.ca  Tel: (403)331-6588

     

    Frank-Fading-Away-To-A-Shadow-Vasil presiding

     

    Greeter Richard Hebert introduced:

     

    Sergeant At Arms

    Geri Hecker extracted happy bucks from Nestor who is happy to be relieved of chairing  the College BOD  and happier still that Rotarian Gord Jong is taking over.  Mark is happy that 39,000 went through the Ag-Expo turnstiles last week. Gord Jong is happily looking forward to chairing the LCC BOD. Pat K is happy to have spent an invigorating weekend at the Rotary Youth Re-entry weekend with Hanski and Kara.  Stephen Graham is happy to be recovered from surgical repair and will be singing at the Evangelical church tonight.  Mike is happy the Lethbridge Convention and Business Bureau got good press in the Herald.  Eduard is happy that Stephen's voice didn't go a range higher from the surgery.  He is further happy that a recent BMO study ranked Lethbridge seventh in new business starts in the nation.  Seamus is happy the women's hockey team shone so brightly.  Jack Y is happy his daughter is home from Korea.  Linda is happy her son correctly predicted her four-week renovation starting in July will indeed be complete this month.  Dennis Chinner is happy to have only a few tickets left for the Cancer Kickers Cabaret on Saturday at the LCC barn. 

     

    Geri fined Darryl Alexander for too many hours on the ski slope.  Carole Sheahan was fined for not supplying newly minted Stephen Graham with a name tag.  David Hughes was fined one dollar for no name tag, but missed being fined for arguing with the SAA. 

     

    Bike Bike Challenge

    Jack Reynaar was nominated as a committee of one to head up the 30 seat Big-Bike Heart & Stroke challenge.  Other bikers: Gord, Elisabeth and David C are itching to get started.  See what happens when you miss a meeting Jack?

     

    Outgoing Exchange Student

    Kara Sawyers thanks us for the opportunity to go to Norway.  She had a great weekend at the Rotary re-entry weekend with Hanski.  The program answered a lot of questions, but she has a lot more.

     

    Hanski

    Murray Anderson introduced Hanna-Maija Haikka, Lethbridge Downtown Rotary exchange student from Finland.

     

    Hanski See her Webpage, showed coloured overheads and delivered a lot of information on Finland.  She talked with her Mother on the telephone who attended Rotary in Finland to report on her daughter's exchange.  Mother was very nervous about speaking and wonders how her daughter handles the stress speaking in Canada.  In preparation for this talk, Hanski did not eat breakfast.  That must be A Finnish tradition.

     

    Finland is a republic, bordering Sweden and Russia.  They have a population of 5.2 million of which 500,000 live in Helsinki, the capital.  Finnish, Swedish and Saami (spoken in Lord of the Rings, says Stephanie Salonen) are the native languages.  In this large (by European standards) country of 350,000 sq. Kms, 70% is forest, 10% is water and 8% cultivated.  In Lapland, population density is 2/sq. Km, but in the south, it is 200/sq. Km.  This northerly country lies between 60 and 70 degrees north; however, climate is tempered by the gulf stream.  It has 80,000 islands, 188,000 lakes and most importantly, it is the home of Santa's-land.

     

    December 6 is Nation Day celebrating independence gained in 1917.  Evangelical Lutheran makes up 85% of the population.  Finlanders boast the highest number of library visits in the world.  Finns from 12 to 69  spend over eight hours a week reading or watching the news.  Festivals are a chief form of entertainment for 2 million attendees each year. The Tango festival began 18 years ago and now gets 100,000 annual visitors. 

     

    Favourite sports are: formulae racing, cross-country skiing, hockey, curling and rowing. Cross-country skiing is a favourite of her family.  Her brother was a cross-country competitor who traveled 300 Km in 36 hours over a two-day period.  He came in second, then slept for two days.  Her parents love running but both suffer from bad knees.  Hanski has replaced running with roller-blading.  Mikko Makela is the head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, a point of great pride for Hanski.

     

    Favourite foods are beer and sausage, coffee and sweet buns.  Finns, however, are light eaters.  Low fat and sodium are deemed more important than taste.  Finns eat, but do not talk during meals, so she is still learning how to talk and eat at the same time. 

     

    Nokia

    Over 75% of Finns own cell phones, most notably the home grown, Nokia.  Shy, quiet Finns have taken to computer and internet, which is easier than face-to-face communication. 

     

    Life without sauna is unthinkable.  There are 1.3 million saunas, preferably near water.  Wood and water are natural resources and the environment is unpolluted.  In Lapland, there are 52 days without sunlight in winter, and 67 days of continuous light in summer.  In the southern part of Finland there are only three days of continuous light, and the sport is to try to stay awake for the whole time. 

     

    Orivesi

    Orivesi is Hanski's home town of 8500, has a large shoe industry producing 10% of the countries shoes. The town was founded in 1965 and gained town status in 1986.  There are ten elementary schools, high schools and vocational schools. School from grade one to nine is free, and a free daily meal is provided.  In high school, students buy their own supplies but tuition is still free.   In high school, there are five periods each day, and each five weeks there are eight days of exams.  They study English, Swedish and Finnish languages.

     

    Becoming 18 is a big event in Finland, and Hanski felt the most homesick when she missed her friends' birthdays.  Being 18 means you can get a driver's license, smoke, drink, get a tattoo, vote, donate blood and you can change your first name.  When Hanski gets back home, she and her friends are planning a 1-2 week bicycle trip.

     

    Family

    Hanski's 23 year old brother has completed military service and her 20 year old brother is serving now.  Mother is a physiotherapist with a home office who teaches 20 exercise classes each week.  Her father works for a clothing manufacturing business.  He checks the quality of work, oversees the employees, and travels to other factories in Russia and Estonia.  Hanski misses her dog the most, because, "It not complain, when I complain [to] it," she says.

     

    Traditional dress is still used for formal occasions as shown in the wedding photo of Hanski's parents.  Her Grandfather's brother owned and worked in his grocery shop for 65 years.  He is retired now, but still comes to work every day, because he has nothing else to do. 

     

    Rotary Vests

    Hanski has cleaned the local fabric shops out of Rotary blue fabric, but will get back to filling orders for vests when a new supply is found.

     

    Say That Again!

    The longest word in Finnish is epäjärjestelmällistyttämattömyyttömyttömydelläänsäkään, yes, 56 letters long.  It means "a little bit confused."

     

    Rotarian of the year, and Rookie of the Year

    Call Frank with your nominations.

     

    Draw, Hanski

    Paul Pharo took home $10 and Lucky Les Talbot got $5.

    "We endeavor to tell the truth in all reporting."  Quote from Duncan Rand, who should know. 

     

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