Submitted by Will Arscott 

 

 

This was our second regular meeting at our new home of the Saskatoon Club. A full meal with soup, hot course, dessert and coffee was served. The meal was a sweet and sour chicken salad. 

 

Greeter was Al Morton.

Cashier was Wayne Palmer.

MC was President Vic Dubois.

Set-up and Take-down completed by Paul Gauthier.

Visitors and Guests introduced by Wayne Storozuk.

 

The meeting opened with members singing ‘O Canada’ and Rotary grace led by Gary Rusu.

 

Earl Newton from the North Club who made an announcement later in the program.

Mike Steckhan who is our guest speaker.

Joan Steckhan is our guest speaker’s wife and operator of the accompanying slide show.

 

 

 This message came from President Vic Dubois and was received at 11:00 am Thursday March 20^th. It seems likely this suspension will last through to the end of the Rotary Year (June 30th).

 

The relocation to the Saskatoon Club: This was our second meeting in our new digs. For the last meeting we had soup, sandwich and dessert. This meeting featured a hot lunch. The next meeting will be catered at the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum. President Vic did an informal poll on what the club preference was for the meal. After a bit of discussion it was decided to undertake the current rotation two more times (four weeks). Maybe after this time a consensus will develop as to the preferred meal choice for the club.

 

Badge Shield and Star Dinner: Is now cancelled as Saskatchewan Regulations will not allow an event of this size at the present time.

 

Master’s Golf Pool: Is now cancelled due to the postponement/cancellation of the Master Golf Tournament.

 

Joy’s Project in Uganda: Earl Newton of the North Club spoke briefly and brought us greetings from Maureen who is now in Uganda. Things have been slow with getting the Global Grant in place and money remitted. In the end the district Rotary and RI have become involved. Everyone seems to think we have a worthwhile project but there are quite a number of projects coming on stream in Uganda and administration is quite burdened. However, everything looks like it will be moving ahead.

 

In related news the second well has been drilled to a depth of 150 feet. This well will not depend on rain water. It is now pumping at a rate of 1,500 liters per hour. It is being powered by a solar pump. The contractor contributed the drilling costs and this was most welcomed.

 

Earl thanked our club for our involvement in this project. He also reminded us of the Lobsterfest Dinner the weekend after the long weekend in May. This event is always a good time. This year if we buy special tickets $60 of the $80 cost will go to the Joy’s project. Earl has brought tickets to our club. (Let’s all pray that the current situation is well behind us before the date of this event.)

 

Federated Co-op Donation: Heather Clysdale presented a cheque to our club for $1,000 on behalf of her employer Federated Co-op. It is to be used for local projects. The grant is set at a maximum of $1,000 and goes to local groups doing good work in our community. We thank Heather for seeking this on behalf of our club.

 

Rotaract Leadership Seminar: Paul Gauthier reminded us of an email he had sent requesting members or people nominated by members to help teach at a leadership seminar Rotaract is sponsoring at Bishop James Mahoney High School. Please consider lending a hand. All our members are Rotarians, in part, because of their leadership skills. We can presume with the suspension of school that this event will not be moving forward.

 

Just in Case Binders: The club has a small supply of these binders. At their last meeting, the executive decided that members who purchase Sergeant’s tickets and donate them back to the club will receive a binder. Several are already spoken for.

 

Meeting at Aviation Museum March 30^th. There are cards with a map to the museum on the tables. The address is #5 Hanger Road Saskatoon. Lunch will be at the museum. This meeting is now cancelled.

 

Future Meetings: All members should watch their email concerning the status of future meetings. Meewasin and Nutana have already suspended their meetings. RI is taking a lead and suggesting that meetings do not have to take place in these circumstances. Mark Gryba asked the club whether we should be leaders in this area and suspend meeting as an example to others.  Overall there was some consensus we should try to continue if possible. The executive will be reviewing this on a continuous basis so watch your email. UPDATE: Future Meetings are suspended.

 

The President’s Dinner is scheduled for 25^th of June (Thursday). The meeting will be aboard the Prairie Lily. (May be cancelled)

 

 

Dave Sundby put in a sad dollar for the postponement of the Masters Golf Tournament. It is unclear at this time when it might be rescheduled. Our fundraiser associated with this event will not be going forward for this year.

 

Jack Brodsky put in the sad dollars he did not bring last week for the passing of our good friend Peter Zakreski. He also put in a sad dollar for the cancellation of the Badge, Shield and Star Dinner. This is the club’s major fundraiser and provides significant support to the RAP program.  The club had no choice in this cancellation as the COVID 19 regulations from the Saskatchewan Department of Health will not allow Prairieland to hold large events.

 

President Vic put in a happy dollar because our club was meeting with fifteen of our regular members present.

 

Earl Newton put in a happy dollar and brought greetings from our member Maureen Torr who is now in Uganda.

 

As one might expect we were a fairly subdued and somber group this week.

 

           

 

Our guest speaker was introduced by Gary Rusu. Mike grew up on a farm near Saskatoon. In 2011 he started Inland Marine Services (IMS). This is an industrial marine services business located in Saskatoon. This may seem like a strange business to have here but there is a huge amount of water throughout the province. The Northern half of the province is largely water. It is the only company of its type in at least two provinces and its focus is to deliver solutions on inland water ways. 

 

Mike served 27 years in the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve. He was trained to be a Chief Engineer of diesel- propelled warships. He achieved the rank of Chief Petty Officer. Mike used this time to develop both marine- based skills and leadership abilities. He further honed technical and entrepreneurial skills while operating his own mechanical repair shop. By mistake Mike was registered to receive a top secret intelligence clearance. He learned to use side scan sonar to map and check shipping lanes for items that changed over time or did not belong there.

 

In the navy Mike was trained on sonar. One of the main specialties of IMS is the use of side sonar in order to examine the conditions of objects in the water. Most particularly Mike’s company is called upon to map the condition of bridge piers. SONAR is the use of sound signals which are bounced off an object at 9,000 times per second. This allows a computer to generate a CAD quality drawing of an underwater object. Often IMS is asked to look at pilings in fast moving water where it would be simply too dangerous to put a diver in the water.

 

Mike showed us a graphic example of the bridge at Ogden (now part of south Calgary). The railway bridge carries the main line across the fast moving Bow River. The pictures he produced showed of 30 to 40% subduction of the bridge piers. This means that the current had washed away the ground supporting the piers and there was nothing under the piers. This was caused by current and the weight and vibrations of the heavy trains that crossed over top at a rate of one in every fourteen to eighteen minutes. Mike reports that even where the piers are initially set on solid rock the weight and vibration can turn that solid rock to shale over time. Mike’s company was able to provide the railway with quantifiable and measurable data. Mike showed a picture of a bridge collapse where this was not done in time.

 

Getting these pictures requires seamanship. The unit is mounted on the side of a heavy aluminum boat built for the purpose. It has a large outboard engine. The operator seeks to jam the boat up to the pier in order to create a set position to take the images. The final images look somewhat like a medical ultrasound (same basic technology) and require interpretation by an experienced eye.

 

The bottom of our rivers is always being scoured by the river current. The river in Saskatoon is now three feet lower than when the Sid Buckwold Bridge was constructed. This can create ‘horseshoe scours’ where material is washed away from an object blocking the current. Mike’s company does important work related to commerce and safety in our province and beyond.

 

IMT also operates landing crafts, remote location vehicles and has a jack- up barge. In this capacity they are often hired to find and remove objects such as vehicles that have fallen into water. They have also assisted in the recovery of bodies. In these cases they will map and mark for the divers.

 

Mike also owns ‘The Prairie Lily Riverboat’ which we see operating on the river. This boat was bought in Laughlin, Nevada and has since become part of the Saskatoon Landscape. Mike holds qualifications as a Transport Canada Master on passenger vessel up to 160 tonne. As senior captain he runs the operational side of the business.

 

Mike was thanked by President Vic and the regular donation will be made to Bethany Homes on behalf of his presentation.