Brand new Senior Citizen Joe Montpetit welcomed Cheryl Kyllo (Connie Lyon), Rob Morris (Mike Marcotte), Judy O’Shea (Jamie Torry), Loralee Burton (Elisabeth VanMill), Richard Herbert (David Cassidy) as well as prospective members Mary Bochenko and Bob Carey. Bev Lanz joined us from Lethbridge East, and Duncan Lloyd was home with us after doing a make-up at home in Coaldale.

President Frank reminded us about some of the fundamental values of Rotarians: The Objects of Rotary and the Four-Way Test, and promised a quiz later in the meeting.

Kendall Gibson extracted lots of bucks from happy Rotarians. Doug McArthur was happy to have so many friendly reminders of his 50^th birthday last week. Donna Allan is so happy to have finished her Christmas shopping that she may be willing to do ours. Lottie is happy to be alive. Quiet Elisabeth Van Mill was happy to have been somewhere in the company of well-behaved children. Linda Storoz ‘fessed up to missing the return to standard time. Frank was happy to have had the low score at Saturday’s Bridge night, and shamed Mike McGuire to owning up to Lynne’s big win. Duncan Lloyd was happy to be sitting with 3 John’s. Barrie Orich is glad his budget is done, and that he lived up to his standard of the best budget presentation. Dennis Chinner is glad he doesn’t work for Global TV after the World Series game was pre-empted by The Simpson’s. Robin Hood was relieved to learn that the switch to The Simpson’s was not a sign of loss of prowess with the remote control. Tania Warren paid an umbrella buck to announce they are almost sold out on the excursion to the Mayan Riviera. A few spots left…..departure is January 17^th.

Kendall closed with fair warning that those not wearing a poppy next week will be shown no mercy…..either black or green at the center of the poppy will be fine!

Hanski waved the Finnish flag and shared some facts about her home country. Finland has 5.2 million people, which works out to 17/sq.km. The country is bilingual, with 6% speaking Swedish. Finland is 10% water, with 188,000 lakes, and 68% of the country is forest. They achieved independence in 1917. Finland is home to Nokia, which helps explain the ratio of 75 cell phones:100 people!

Mike Marcotte explained how to go from minimal involvement in the Club to participation on two committees, and being corralled into giving his Vocational Talk in one short week! Mike and his wife Denise have two daughters – 16 and 12. Mike achieved journeyman chef status at SIAST in Saskatchewan and has spent 20 years in the restaurant business, joining Moxie’s 11 years ago when it was a 4-site chain. Moxie’s has since grown to 375 restaurants. Mike started at the Southport location in Calgary, and moved on to various regional positions with the chain before purchasing the Lethbridge location in ’96. Despite the fact that 15 new restaurants have opened in Lethbridge since then, with 8 in the last 8 months, sales at Moxie’s are up 42% this year. Mike purchased the Medicine Hat location in April 2001, and carried out major renovations at both locations in the same year. Between the two locations Mike has 14 managers and 160 employees, and $5 Million in sales.

The restaurant is a love/hate business:

© Manpower is the most important resource, and Mike enjoys the opportunity to "mess with young peoples’ heads". (´ Manpower can be a pain in the ass.)

© Mike has the chance to develop his own technology. (´ Technology for the restaurant industry is weak.)

© Restaurants are hard to run, so Mike has job security. (´ Running a restaurant is hard work.)

© Mike answers only to his guests. (´ There is no one to blame but himself).

Mike and Denise love Lethbridge and we’re glad that they plan to stay. His future may include roles as a personal counselor, consultant and keynote and motivational speaker. Thanks to Mike McGuire for persisting in his efforts to get Mike to join Rotary.

Richard Beck is the Manager of Enmax’ Lethbridge Branch Operations, with a territory which also includes Cardston, the Crowsnest Pass and Fort Macleod. Dick and his wife Rose are newcomers to the community, having arrived in Lethbridge from Regina two years ago.

Dick’s career focus has been business management and customer resolution. He spent 25 years in the retail jewellery business downsizing and bankruptcies in the industry lead to a new experience: unemployment. Dick went back to college and then joined the Royal Bank in administering their student loans program in the four western provinces. This involved customer care work with students, liaison with provincial and federal agencies, and work with a staff ranging from a base of 125 to a peak of 325 in September.

Deregulation of the electrical business in Alberta presented Dick with a new opportunity. The City of Lethbridge decided to contract out the billing for electrical service and the administration of water meters to Enmax, and Dick manages Enmax’ first remote storefront location, at 410 – 8 St. S.

With deregulation, Enmax Power owns the wires from the sub-station to the client. Power is sold by Enmax Energy via contract or regulated rate option. Enmax Encompass is responsible for billing and customer care. Freedom of information legislation has added to the challenges of deregulation. Enmax Power cannot provide information to Enmax Energy. Among the efficiencies created by deregulation is an increase from 4 to 63 in the number of steps required to generate a power bill.

Approximately 200 customers visit the Lethbridge office each day. Dick designs appropriate workflow patterns to deal with the various processes. Dick admits Enmax still has a long way to go, but he enjoys the challenge. He commends southern Albertans for having a clearer understanding of deregulation than those in any other region of the province.

Thanks to Mike and Dick for introducing yourselves to us. We look forward to getting to know you better!

Canasta Question?

Dennis Chinner, with the misguided impression that Bridge players don’t have fun, asked whether members would be interested in a Canasta group. There was significant interest, and Joe Montpetit left his hand up too long and was conscripted as the organizer.

Self Help

Mike Marcotte drew his own name for $10 and Dennis Chinner’s for $5.