Submitted by Will Arscott

 

Visit of District Governor Peter Neufeldt

 

The meeting was presided by President Mark Gryba

Greeter - Bev Johnson

Cashier - Wayne McGillivray

Visitors and Guests - Avis Hardy

Set-up - Al Morton

Grace - Al Morton

 

We had a good turn out for District Governor Peter Neufeldt and his wife Janet. The meeting started a little late as there was a rush to seat everyone present.

 

O Canada was led by Wayne McGillivray.

 

Grace - Al Morton said an appropriate grace that asked for a blessing on Rotary leadership and Rotary service and gave thanks for the meal and fellowship.

 

Guests and Visiting Rotarians - Avis Hardy

- District Governor Peter and his wife Janet Neufeldt introduced formally later in the meeting.

- Assistant District Governor Colin Taylor

- Earl Newton of the Saskatoon North Club recently back from a visit to the Joy’s Center project in Uganda.

- Phil Doerkson guest and prospective member of our club.

- Danielle Sharp of the Bank of Nova Scotia another prospective member and guest of Joanne Fisher.

 

 

President Mark began by reviewing plans for upcoming meetings:

 

Next Meeting Oct 2^nd at the Bessborough. Mark will be away moving his son to Portland so the meeting will be chaired by incoming President Paul Gauthier.

 

No Meeting October 9^th as it is Thanksgiving

 

October 16^th our member Susan Blum on polar bears (and hopefully with some remarks on global warming).

 

October 30^th no regular meeting to allow us to serve breakfast and lunch at the Friendship Inn. PLEASE SIGN UP. There are too many blank spaces on the roster and Peter Z. is off to Malawi and is not available to twist arms.

 

November - No regular meeting November 6^th as there will be five club meeting Nov. 7^th.

 

November 7^{th –} 12 noon at the BESSBOROUGH, Five Club meeting on Red Cross and Syria situation, Kareem Nasser will also speak.

 

November 13^th meeting cancelled for Remembrance Day.

 

November 20^th no regular meeting due to evening Foundation Dinner at the Saskatoon Club.

 

The club does not have many meetings left till Christmas. Please try to attend all you possibly can.

 

Two prospective members were announced Phil Doerkson and Huey-Mind (HM) Tseng. Another prospective member was present. Please bring possible members out or at least share their names with Jim Weber and his committee.

 

Rotary Leadership Seminar will take place over three Saturdays. You do not need to be able to attend all three to receive credit. Please take in one or more as you are able. Dates:

October 28^th in Prince Albert

Nov 4^th in Saskatoon at the Park Town

November 25^th in Saskatoon at the Park Town

More information is available on the District 5550 website.

 

Club Elections will take Place December 4^th. Please see Paul Gauthier if you would be willing to serve our club on its board.

 

October 24^th is World Polio Day. Please look for further information from Brenda Banbury.

 

Kiwanis Apples goes this Saturday. We have four or five members participating but could use more. Our club gets 60% of what we earn. This year you do not have to wear the clown outfit. They will be available for those who wish. See Mike Giesbrecht if you can help out. The more who participate the merrier.

 

Joy’s Centre Project in Uganda. Earl Newton brought greetings from member Maureen Torr who stayed on after Earl left Uganda. She is working to complete a Global Grant (RI Grant) in support of this project. The grant process is moving forward.

 

There will be a membership committee meeting at the Saskatoon Club this Friday at 7:00am. All are encouraged to attend.

 

Jack reminded the club of the Five Club meeting on November 7^th (Tuesday), 12 noon at the Bessborough Hotel. Tickets should be available at next week’s meeting. It will be a served luncheon and the tickets will likely be $40. The subject is the Red Cross and Syria. Kareem Nasser will also speak.

 

 

 

- Members taking advantage of the great weekend weather to play golf were fined.

- Members attending the pre-meeting with the DG were fined. Board members who missed the meeting were fined double.

 

 

- Will Arscott a happy dollar for being able to attend the retirement dinner for Police Chief Clive Weighill with five other club members. The police chief has been a great supporter of the RAP program.

 

- Sad and Happy from Paul Gauthier for his wife’s stair fall and her being alright.

 

- Happy and Sad from Peter Zakreski for being able to return to the project on Malawi and the long and tiring travel involved in getting there.

 

- Also Happy and Sad from Wayne McGillivray for missing the Weighill dinner but happy for recent events in his family.

 

- Mike Giesbrecht happy for going to the climbing walls with the family and finding he could climb at least some of the walls.

 

- There was a happy dollar for a recent wedding. If it was your happy dollar remind the editor and he will put it in properly next Rotateller.

 

- DG Peter put in a happy dollar for being with our club.

 

- Jim Weber put in a happy dollar for having been given two-thirds of the names necessary to schedule a prospective member wine and cheese.

 

 

The District Governor was introduced by Assistant District Governor Colin Taylor. Colin explained that our new DG was a very shy and reserved person (NOT!). DG Peter has been a Rotarian since 1978 and a member of the Regina Eastview club. He owns a business as president of Peak Performance Consulting. When not doing Peak Performance or Rotary the DG likes motorcycles and spending time with his children and grandchildren. He is married to Janet who was present at our meeting.

 

The Remarks by the DG - Building Stronger Clubs

 

People make Rotary. There is a new RI President every year. This year it is Australian Ian Risely whom we met at our anniversary in August. The leadership comes and goes but what matters are the members. We are all different yet we all come together to make a difference in our communities and in the world. How we make a difference can be summed up in the Rotary motto of ‘Service Above Self.’

 

Our club is 100 years old which makes it an old club in the whole of Rotary. Rotary itself is 116 years old. Our club is smaller than in the recent past but it is also doing more. Our club is deeply committed to local community through programs like RAP and also committed internationally with a number of outstanding international projects. As District Governor Peter has set some specific goals. First he wants to support and strengthen clubs. He also wants to help us get new members and build our club. Peter asked several individuals in the room why they were a part of Rotary. First, he asked our prospective new member Phil Doerkson: Phil indicated he was considering becoming a member of our club because he wants to get to know people and to give back. He then asked one of our longer and more involved members why he was in Rotary. Dave Sundby replied that he really wasn’t sure. [Editor’s note: Dave passed the first leg of the Rotary Four Way Test about truth.] With a moments reflection, Dave said his is in Rotary because he wants to give back and has friends in the club. He also mentioned he came from a family where giving back was not prioritized. The DG pointed out that we need to build on these reasons and use them as our recruiting tools.

 

Ten years ago Rotary at 1.2 million members. Today we also have 1.2 million members. Over that period we have recruited 1.2 million new members. We have lost members to death and health problems, particularly as the average age of our members increases. We have also lost far too many members who have chosen not to continue as Rotarians. We need to address this problem.

 

 

DG Peter went over the Rotary Pyramid of peace which consists of six elements arranged in a 3-2-1 pyramid. The bottom layer has three blocks consisting of humanitarian service. The first block is clean water and sanitation. The second block is maternal and child health. The third block is disease prevention and treatment.

 

The second layer of the pyramid is basic education and literacy. A good example is our districts Ripple Effect program that began with one Rotarian building one school. To date 80 schools have been built. The total effect of this work extends beyond just educating children. These schools build communities. DG Peter told of a situation where after the school was built the community came together to clear jungle for a playground and sports field. It is unlikely this would have happened prior to the building of the school. The second brick in this layer is economic and community development. This includes projects such as the Beccas micro-lending initiative.

 

The final brick and top of the pyramid is Conflict Resolution and Mediation. Our RAP program is an example of work in this area. Together the work of Rotarians can build this pyramid of peace. Working in these areas will make Rotary and Rotarians stronger.

 

 

Rotary’s long running project to eradicate Poilio is nearing completion. Rotary has been a leader in this project from the beginning. We have been aided by others but we have always been at the forefront. Recently the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has assisted. We need to get recognition for our long term effort. The DG passed out a pin to all present reminding us that we can make a difference. He also presented a book on leadership to which he had contributed. A copy was presented to Assistant DG Colin and President Mark.

President Mark thanked DG Peter and announced that our club would recognize his vist by donating $500 to the Ripple Effect Program in favor of children in Guatemala.

 

Adjournment