Whoop~Up Bulletin

Vol.85, No.14, October 21, 2002

 

Upcoming

·  Saturday, October 26, Helen Henderson and Dennis are hosting and evening of bridge.

·  October 28, Speaker TBA

·  November 2 at Greenwood Inn, Calgary from 9-3:30 PM Rotary Foundation Seminar, cost is $35.

·  November 4,  Dr. Tony Winder, Strokes-(Medically speaking)

·  November 11, No meeting

·   November 16, 10 am to 2 pm, Development Society for Dist 5360 at the Lodge.

·  November 25, Faron Ellis Guest Speaker

·  December 3, Seniors Christmas Dinner

October 21, 2002

The Vasilator holding sway

 

Greeter Sig introduced:

First Notice
Mary Bochenko, Manager of Better Business Bureau is proposed as a new member.

Friendship Exchange
The upcoming District Friendship exchange is with Essex, England (east of London) District 1240. It is tentatively set for June 2003 and as many as 11 couples would be involved in the two week stay in the District. Our District would return either in the fall of 2003 or spring of 2004. Planning and discussions on details of the visit to our district are still going on however at the last board meeting we decided to participate by hosting the visitors for a few days.

If you need any more info call David Hughes at 329-4339

The Vasilator announced this meeting will be a general assembly to discuss why we are Rotarians and what we want our club to be doing.

Dues

Twelve recalcitrants are in danger of being named. Please bring your cheque books before the Vasilator insists that I name you in the Bulletin.

 

Down Under – Up Over

Frank received a banner from recent visiting Rotarian Lindsey Jones of Baldwin, Australia.

 

Interact Charter

The CCH Interact club will charter with 22 members on November 20, 2002.

 

Bhichai Speaks

R.I. President Bhichai Rattakul’s letter in the October issue of The Rotarian expounds on global scandals, mistrust, our Vocational Avenue of Service. He weaves his story around:

Dragon Boat Races 2003

Thanks to committee volunteers, Kendal Gibson, Jack Yaeck and Dick Turner.

 

The Lady in Black

Elisabeth VanMill; stand up and take a bow.

 

Welcome Sjoert
Frank introduced and welcomed Sjoert (Shoe-ert) Zuidhof who transferred in from Pincher Creek Club. Yes, he paid his dues, and got a receipt.

 

Last Call
Bernie Carriere and three other Rotarians are attending the November 2 seminar in Calgary. Call Bernie for last minute registration.

 

District Meeting
Bernie and Myles are happy to have the monthly District Development Society board meeting in Lethbridge on Nov 16 from 10 – 2 at the Lethbridge Lodge. District 5360 members will be viewing the Lodge facilities in planning for the 2004 District Conference slated to he held in Lethbridge. All members are welcome to attend on Nov 16.

 

Arm Twisting
Tania called for volunteers to represent Rotary at LCI and Winston Churchill as presenters. Thanks to Elisabeth VanMill and Linda (BabyDoc99@shaw.ca) Storoz for representing us.

 

Casino

Linda handed out time schedules which are also on a hidden webpage that Rotarians will have been notified of. It remains hidden, as members phone numbers are posted there. Thanks to BabyDoc for all her hard work in lining up this fundraiser. Go to the webpage to read about smoky rooms and wild women.

 

SAA

Kendal leapt gleefully to his feet to extract a few loonies in happy bucks from John Hoopfer who is happy we have more outbound exchange students from 5360 than 5370 has. David Hughes was happy, but then he is always smiling like the cat that ate the canary. Carole is happy her son came home from graduation with lots of awards. David Cassidy is happy to bring Richard Hebert. Wayne is happy a weekend of negotiating got him a web authoring contract with a company in Taiwan. Daniel Heaton is happy his firm has cornered some architectural jobs in Lethbridge, and again happy for a weekend of artistic accomplishment. Pat and his crutches are happy for his recovery and all the visitors he received. Kendall is happy to have had three golf games and a seventh grand child. Bernie Carriere is happy to fill his gas tank for $12.75. John Gogo was happy to be permitted to visit with our member judge and the tallest pediatrician in Alberta. Dennis Chinner is happy to have doors opened for him, albeit very quietly. Bill Cade was happy to have good press on the recent convocation.

 

Kendal fined Dale Merchant for over-dressing @ Oktoberfest. David Hughes paid for complaining it was too cold to golf, so he sat drinking tea at the 19th hole. Liz Rossnagel and Clint Dunford are requested to bring a loonie to the next meeting for being pictured in the Lethbridge Herald.

 

Only Half A Hundred

Five decades ago, Mrs. McArthur brought a son into the world, whom she named Douglas. Doug would really like to hear from ALL Rotarians on Thursday, October 24. Please phone 382-3491 anytime after 7:00 AM.

 

Live Free for a Year Report

Lorne Armstrong says his hardworking sales crew has picked up $50,000 in prizes. However, we need more prizes to make this project fly and bring in the $50,000 plus revenue that we need to sponsor the Palliative Care Gardens and other club projects.

 

What the heck is Live Free for a Year? Go to http://lethbridgerotary.org/livefree.htm or link from the website for a short explanation of this fund raiser.

 

Comments from Rotarians: Jack R- it was tough in the beginning to understand the project; it isn’t simple. Robin H- Medicine Hat was very successful in running this fundraiser. Mike M – you need to communicate this project better than you have. Also, $2000 is too much for some companies to commit to one program, and too much in one product from one source. That would be sixty meals at one restaurant.

 

Lorne Gets Ripped Off

Lorne Armstrong has not yet completed the prescribed tasks to entitle him to have his red tag removed. The Vasilator asked and received permission from club members to consider Lorne’s great work in the Live free for a year project as sufficient merit to entitle him to rip of his tag.

 

Inbound Student Challenges

Tania introduced issues arising from this project. The club voted to continue taking inbound exchange students, which means we all need to do a better job of helping out. Past hosting members were asked to speak on their experiences.

 

Jeff Warren (not Tania’s brother, or father) talked about The good, the bad, and the ugly, except there was no ugly. He hosted Toby from Germany when his sons 7-9 and 11 were delighted to suddenly have a big brother. It is a commitment to accept a student into your family, so Jeff suggests getting to know the student before extending the invitation. Toby has been back to Lethbridge twice since the exchange. On the down side, Jeff says Rotarians only managed four invitations in three months.

 

Ken Lewis spoke of his two students, Chiaki from Japan stayed six months and his Belgian student stayed for three. He felt six months was too long for the student to be in one family and should get more opportunity to learn from other families. Ken feels if we are going to host more student exchanges, we must take more responsibility. Taking a student for a weekend or a trip really helps to reduce the burden on the host family, and provides valuable exposure to other experiences. Chiaki was an example of how a certain culture does not encourage early maturation. She felt bad because she could not meet the high expectations. She only received two invitations in six months, and socialized mainly with students from Japan, which limited her ability to learn our language and culture more extensively.

 

Elisabeth VanMill echoed the remarks by Ken and Jeff. She says there is some apprehension which is reduced by the formal list of expectations that she and Hanski talked about. Her kids love having a big sister, and Hanski enjoys trying out every experience. So far, only Judy Head has been taking Hanski on outings. Elisabeth feels we need a structured approach to inviting students out. Call Elisabeth at 381-2554

A schedule of Rotarians will be posted on the website, so you can see when your opportunity is coming up.

 

A phone call committee composed of Gord Jong, Duncan Lloyd, Linda Storoz and Dawna Coslovi will be calling YOU to schedule Hanski outings. This is no big deal. Hanski likes to eat, hike, ski, shop, sew, and just enjoy time with you and your family.

 

Past Exchange Student

Allison Holland spent a year in Sweden. She says it means a lot to an exchange student to be a part of an active club. Her host club is Sweden was not active, however, another nearby club in Sweden made it happen. She got to see the Royal Family, went behind the scenes at the airport to see pilot training facilities. Allison had only one host family for the year, and wished she had the opportunity to stay with other families. She says the answer to inevitable home sickness is to keep busy and know you are needed.

Tania volunteered to host a fireside chat, date to be announced.

 

Passing The Buck

Frank thumped on the podium with his shoe, saying that eighty percent of the work in this club is being done by twenty percent of the people. That needs to change. Service Above Self, that’s what it’s all about. Fellowship and fundraising are a big part of Rotary and we all need to pull together.

In response, Murray said we need to get out and involve the rest of the city instead of expecting Rotarians to shell-out all the time.

John Gogo exhorted that his 40 years in Rotary has seen lots of changes and this mini policy conference was a good idea. He says the best change in Rotary was inviting women into our club and that has made it vigorous.

Dale Merchant says we are in danger of becoming a cheque book club if we don’t do more things that involve fellowship. Linda Storoz agrees saying now that the Casino is organized, she is going to get the cocktail parties organized so people who do not normally socialize with each other, get the opportunity to do so.

Rus Raslask with only a small amount of coaxing, says his exchange student was a good experience, but maybe he needed to be called, assigned jobs and pushed. "Remember the quotation: "don’t give the member an out, give them an option"".

Chris Murray does not agree that all members can do all things. Just as a hockey team has defined positions, Rotarians can fill different roles. He presently finds that pulling out his cheque book is the only way he can contribute because of business and family demands.

David Hughes is also high on fellowship. He says we need more participation in bridge, cocktail parties and club get-togethers at a reasonable price. We need a strong leader to promote projects and to pre-sell tickets to assure attendance.

Mike Marcotte is a relatively new member who finds this is an intimidating club that requires an open cheque book and time to volunteer. He wants to know more about the club and more about Rotary. He wants to know how to invite Hanski. Mike also says he received his first Whoop~Up Bulletin last week which helped a lot.

David Cassidy says his best advice came from Dick Turner who told him "You will get out what you put in". Ask dumb questions, just ask if you can help, you will get the opportunity in no time.

Kendall shouted as he ran out the door: "We all need to be reminded that we can help, just phone me".

Dennis Chinner, chair of membership says two new members, Elisabeth VanMill and Karen Romolliwa are organising new member orientations and fireside chat sessions. Five members promised to attend the last chat, and only one appeared.

Frank summed it up by saying there is always somebody to turn to if you need information about Rotary. Look to the person who sponsored you, look to the President, let’s establish some senor members as mentors. Don’t be passive, if a member looks glum, cheer them up, and pursue fellowship.

Rotary Foundation

November is designated as the fundraising campaign month for the Rotary International Foundation.  I will be making some presentations on that program during November. However, this note is to ask each and everyone of you to now consider making a commitment to make a donation.

 

The work of the R.I. Foundation is world wide and it is legendary.  It only happens because in every country in every Rotary club, Rotarians just like you and me, decide to make a contribution. I am now asking you to please plan to support this November campaign.

 

For more details go to : http://www.rotary.org/foundation/index.htmlll

 

Ken H. Lewis

Rotary Foundation Campaign Coordinator

 

Be Extra Nice to Helen
Helen Henderson will be filling in as club scribe next week, so be nice to her because the pen is mightier than the sword. Right Mister Vasilator?

 

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