MEETING RECAP - 21st September 2020
Submitted by Will Arscott
Discussion Meeting of Rotary Fees led by Paul Gauthier
This was our first in person meeting since the COVID-19 shutdown. It was held in the upper lounge of the Saskatoon Club. Some fourteen members were served soup, salad, sandwich, and dessert. For the first time we had a hybrid format with five of our members joining us on Zoom.
The zoom feed was nearly flawless using the equipment owned by the Saskatoon Club. They are in the process of acquiring even better equipment for the future. A huge thanks to Gary Rusu and Mark Cheriyan for organizing the technical aspects of the meeting. If it had been left to a lot of the rest of us, we would have had to do the zoom by standing around a land- line telephone.
‘O Canada’ was led by Gary Rusu. The club really tried to sing out and by the end all the members on zoom were standing.
Grace - Avis Hardy read a poetic grace appropriate for the occasion.
A special thanks to Wayne Palmer who acted as cashier and arranged payment with the Saskatoon Club.
Visitors and Guests
Gary Rusu reported that there were no visitors or guests as such but noted our new member, Edward from Uganda, was present. I had the honor of sitting beside Edward and felt a little guilty eating when Edward was maintaining his daytime fast. Diversity in our members is something that can only benefit our club.
Announcements
Paul Gauthier spoke briefly about the return to school and getting the RAP program back in action. Obtaining PPE for our RAP workers is a priority. Interview tables are being built to provide a barrier between the RAP worker and the students they are counseling. The Hopkinson’s have stepped up and had the tables built. The schools are impressed and there may be an opportunity to sell more of these to the schools.
There is no word on our Interact project. This may be difficult at this time with school scheduling based on cohorts.
Three Saskatoon Rotary clubs have stepped up to support RAP for this year with just one remaining to be heard from.
Happy and Sad
- H Jack Brodsky for finally getting to have an in- person meeting. Mark Cheriyan also agreed with this.
- 5H Avis Hardy for a successful walk for Ovarian Cancer honoring her sister and our own Joanne Fisher who is now a three-year survivor. Unfortunately, Avis’s knee did not enjoy the walk as much, but it is recovering.
- 50H Graham Pearson for being absent. Most impressed with how well the technology allows him to attend the meetings. As always Graham brought the best background to the meeting.
- H Gary Rusu for being able to help a friend with harvest. He reported driving a combine for the first time in very many years. The combine was likely a little larger than the last one Gary drove. He said the crop was excellent.
- H&S Mike LeClaire: For water line leak and resulting damage to his basement. He is happy with the company working to get the repairs made.
- 5H Mark Gryba for son Curtis completing his Chiropractic treatment and returning to Saskatoon. Curtis has the licensing requirements to complete in Saskatchewan and then intends to establish a local practice. On return Curtis was required to quarantine for two weeks. Mark was impressed that part way through this process he was checked on by the city police.
- 5H Paul Gauthier who now has an internet connection at the cabin. He claims he will now be able to compete with Graham for the best background when he attends meetings by Zoom.
- H Mike Giesbrecht for things finally getting back to normal with work, school, and sports activities. There is still a ways to go but family life is a little more normal.
- 5H Will Arscott on being invited on the maiden voyage of his son’s new boat. Ninety minutes from the dock the boat began to sink and had to be returned and winched onto its trailer. It turned out a PVC pipe was broken during an installation and water was being pumped into the bottom of the boat. It was an easy fix but a real disappointment in what should have been a special day.
- H Mark Cheriyan for his 50th birthday and for his daughter’s Confirmation. [It is great that Mark joined so we can finally get some young people into the club.]
We were a relatively happy group this meeting.
PROGRAM - A discussion of Club Membership and Dues and thedirection of the Club going forward was led by President Paul
When fees came due in June the club identified that dues have reached a point where they are an issue for a significant number of our members. The Board determined that there should be a general review of club fees. President Paul distributed a summary of a new proposal. The principal is that fees need to be sufficient to pay the costs of running the club.
It was decided not to address the new proposal in your Rotateller. There may be some need to look at District and RI by-laws in connection with the proposal. If you are a member and have not seen the proposal, please contact President Paul and he will provide the summary that was distributed at the meeting. President Paul did indicate that the new model would not be implemented without a survey of our membership.
There was also a very brief discussion using the in- person and Zoom meeting format. Everyone thought it had been a great success and should be continued and that the technology was sufficient. Avis Hardy indicated she would have been unable to be part of the meeting without the Zoom option.
Next Meeting
Next Meeting is Monday October 5th which will be a Zoom meeting - the link will be sent out in advance of the meeting.
Adjournment
