Submitted by Graham Pearson January 21st, 2016

JANUARY 18th, 2016 - MEETING RECAP - CLUB ASSEMBLY AT THE HOTEL BESSBOROUGH

Following a thought provoking Grace delivered by Claire, President Bev chaired our Club Assembly today. Before moving into the Assembly Agenda she asked Sergeant Steve to surgically secure savings from the surrounding simpering sycophants:

• Gary congratulating Samuli for the World Junior Win by Finland
• Wayne for Table Mountain being in great shape
• Graham for being able to spell "Samuli"
• Fining the room for not being able to spell his last name
• Bev for her daughter's singing of "Oh Canada" at the Rush Game and for her son's MC duties at the game
• Joanne for her judging duties at the U of S business school competition sponsored by Scotia Bank
• Wayne M. for the sad Rider talent losses
• Graham for a cold car jump start with the boat battery at the lake this morning
• Samuli for the World Juniors' win by Finland

President Bev then took us through the Club Assembly reports by the Board.

Program Committee
Bev reported for Bill J. about upcoming programs including Steve Mazurak of the Riders and vocational talks from new members. Also scheduled is Peter Stoicheff, the new U of S President. There will be no meeting on February 15 and on February 22 we will hold our AGM.

Secretary
Farook reported the membership update to RI advising of 51 full members and 8 honorary members. He also spoke to our new Facebook page and invited all to visit the Page.
 

Club Administration
Graham gave thanks to his committee members as being the unsung heroes, including Adriana for the Duty Roster, Al M. for his outstanding archives and the room setup and take down with Wayne M.'s help, Gord for the Website and email maintenance, and Will for his writing talents in taking a turn at the newsletter. Graham appealed to all the frustrated authors in the room that we still need more backup with the newsletter.

Club Service
Heather thanked Joanne as Chair of local projects for a job well done. The King George school Christmas party was outstanding and fits well with the Club's desire for more "hands-on" projects.

Peter Z. heads World Community Service and has held a number of well attended planning meetings for the year ahead. A recent request from a Uganda school had to be declined as our budget is fully committed to existing overseas projects.

January  22 is the deadline for District Funding proposals for International projects. Heather also reported that Exchange Student Leader Steve has secured Rotary families to host Samuli to the end of the program.

PR
Vic advised that a new Social Media initiative is underway for our Club including Facebook and Twitter. We are also reassessing the Club Runner website for updating needs versus replacing it outright. At the pending Gimli Conference there will be an announcement of a new $1000 budget for PR purposes.

Foundation
Bev reported for Mike G. that the recent successful Foundation dinner event is being reviewed for areas of even more future improvement. Paul spoke to a $5,000 donation to the Foundation from the estate of Kevin Wilson. Many thanks to the Wilson family! This is helping us reach our Foundation goal of $100 per member.

Membership
Bev and Wayne M. spoke for Jim on new membership initiatives. Wayne is also asking that sponsors make sure that new members are paid up and fully documented before we order up certificates.

Treasurer's Report
Wayne S. reported $46,000 in the bank at the end of November. The US Exchange rate is getting expensive for US R.I. costs and may impact us by about $1,000 going forward.

He reminded us that the Grocery Cards are a great fundraiser and members are encouraged to participate as the cost to the member is zero and grocery purchases are common to all.

The "Just in Case" estate planning binders are still in inventory and all members are encouraged to purchase one or more. They make great gifts too.

Exchange Student Update

Our exchange student Samuli gave us a quick update of his experiences since his last report. Unfortunately he suffered a concussion during a recent hockey game but is now on the mend, taking physiotherapy for the accompanying neck strain. He did go to the Forestry Farm over the holiday break and also played "shinny" with his host families.

The Youth exchange students met in Melfort for a fellowship gathering, that included snowboarding and bowling. Final exams are coming up along with a trip to Turtleford for hockey. Needless to say he is thrilled with Finland's Gold in the World Juniors!


Other Announcements

• Dave is updating name tags so please let him know of any required changes.
• Bev announced the closing of the Winnipeg North Rotary Club, but with many members moving to the five other Clubs in the City.
• Gary K. suggested we plan a nice big "splash" for our 100th anniversary coming up, which met with support from the members.
• President's council at will take place at 4:30 this afternoon.
• Peter Z. will be hosting Father John Kuziono as a guest next week. Father Kuziono, a Priest from Malawi will be in town following meetings in Ottawa pertaining to his PHD.

President Bev thanked new member Dean for being today's greeter, as well as our other volunteers, and adjourned the meeting.

Thanks President Bev for your inspiring leadership to our Club!