Submitted by Steve Wilson 

 

President Vic Dubois was our MC. Claire Heagy was the cashier, Paul Gauthier introduced Visitors and Guests, and Al Morton was on set-up.

Members sang ‘O Canada’ and Rotary Grace with the assistance of Wayne McGillivray and Gary Rusu.

 

 

Fred Matiko for STARS Ambulance who was our guest speaker. Our District Governor,

Fred Wright and Gail Marie Anderson, District Governor Elect were present. Cheyenne Bendall - guest of Wayne Palmer, and Donna Gauthier - guest of Paul Gauthier.

 

 

Graham Pearson gave $20.00. He is happy because health services in B.C. found a placement for his father, in Penticton.

 

Wayne McGillivray gave $10.00 as he has been MIA for a few meetings. He also acquired some boxes of cereal from the last fishing trip.

 

Jim Weber praised the staff of the Huskies football team. The team lost but they protected their quarterback. (Sorry, Jim if it was the Hilltops you were talking about).

 

Avis is part of a group supporting immigrants coming to Canada and she is pleased that they arrived safely and are happy to be in Saskatoon.

 

Paul is happy with the food card sales. More cards are available.

 

Gary Kerr attended his 50- year reunion.

 

Steve Wilson was at a Church Retreat and the weather was glorious.

 

 

We are at the Friendship Inn on October 7th. Sign-up sheets are going around.

 

Hippo Water is an initiative of the Gibson B.C. Rotary Club in Africa. A wheelbarrow has been developed for hauling vastly more water than women can carry on their heads. The club is looking for donations.

 

In India there will be a Ride for Rotary tour which is a 12 day event in January, 2020. President Vic has more information on this event.

 

 

He gave his own bio. He was born in Alberta and went into construction with the idea to save for greater learning and a profession in law and / or politics and ended up being in construction for his entire working life.

 

He says it is his duty to serve the district rather than for us and our clubs to look for ways to serve the District Governor. He emphasizes the theme for the year: Rotary Connects the World.

 

The number one goal for this year is to eliminate child poverty in our district. The child poverty rate in Saskatchewan is 26.7 % and in Manitoba it is 29 %. Along with that comes a toxic environment including drug and alcohol use and increased violence. RYLA and Adventure programs are a partial help - especially for the long term as more timid kids become strong leaders.

 

We need to attract younger members and it is best to invite them in groups of 2 - 4 at a time rather than alone, which is when they might feel intimidated or out of place among our older members. Soon after their visit we should ask them three questions: 1.What did you like?

2. What didn't you like? 3. What would you change if you could? Another way to recruit future members is to start and maintain Interac and Roterac Clubs.

 

 

 

Fred is with the Legacy Division of STARS.

 

His worked 30 years as part of SaskTel, 20 of which were in sales. He later got into professional fund-raising and ultimately, in 2012, became the Major Gifts Manager in Saskatoon for STARS.

 

Major sources of funding come from rural donors, corporate donors and former patients who were helped by STARS. Many people list STARS as a beneficiary in their Estate Planning/Will.

 

WorkSafe is a partner of STARS and safety is strongly promoted to all STARS staff.

 

HISTORY OF STARS:

 

The founder of STARS is Dr. Greg Powell.

 

STARS stands for Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service.

 

The first STARS was started in 1985 in Calgary. Then came Edmonton in 1991; Grand Prairie in 2006, Saskatoon and Regina in 2012, and Winnipeg, 2012. To date there have been 5500 missions in Saskatchewan. They also do inter-hospital transfers.

 

The helicopters are just now being modernized.

 

In the helicopters there are two pilots, a paramedic, and a nurse. The crew has 12- hour shifts. A transport is available by phone. Mechanical engineers are needed to maintain the helicopters.

There is also administration and dispatch as part of the overall team.

 

The helicopters run at about 200 km/ hr and there is a mobile intensive care unit in the rear part of the helicopter.

 

Training is ongoing. The pilots and the response team all get training. There is a Mobile Education Unit that is used 30 to 40 times a year. There is also outreach training where local communities are shown how to help land the helicopter. Sometimes airplane jet fuel is stored in convenient places if the helicopter needs to refuel.

 

STARS is a non-profit charity. $21 Million is needed to run STARS each year.

10.5 Million comes from the Saskatchewan government. $10.5 Million comes from fund-raising,

2 Million of which comes from the STARS Lottery. Watch out for credit card scammers pretending to be from STARS. The Rescue on the Prairie fund-raiser brought in $ 50,000.00.

SARM contributes $250,000 a year. Many individuals contribute monthly or annually.

 

 

Adjournment